A Super Sunday!

This last week or two I've noticed myself becoming somewhat disconnected and apathetic. I was still trying to do good things, get all my homework done, study, etc. But I was just getting tired and to the point where I was having trouble staying motivated. Yesterday was kind of a culminating moment for that, and so Saturday night I thought about it a bit. I decided about a couple things that I am going to try and change for these upcoming weeks, but they are little things.

But I knew that it wasn't enough. I had to do something more, because it wasn't these little things that had taken me to where I was. Honestly they aren't bad things that I am going to be changing. It was really more like a reorganization of my time. But I knew that there was something fundamental that I have to work on. So I thought about it a little bit more, and thought that maybe I need to do some more service. Think a little bit more about the people around me and what I can do for them instead of being so focused on myself.

So, last night I knelt down and prayed. I talked about the changes that I wanted to make, and then asked if they were right. I didn't feel too much in the moment, just a small feeling of peace.

Then today was stake conference. And it was almost entirely focused on serving others. So, I am just going to paste the few notes that I took here.

Why should we want to be successful? Why do we want to help others? Is it because we want blessings for ourselves, or is it because we truly love them? Do we want to be successful for our own glory, or so that we can better lift our brothers and sisters?
"I boxed for eight years, and I've never seen anything as competitive as ultimate frisbee." Does our love extend farther than just Sunday?

Worthiness is based on three relationships:
Our relationship with God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost
Our relationship with others
Our relationship with ourselves
I've been invited to:
Ask God in humble prayer how I can change to become a better disciple of Christ
Repent and make the change

Get yourself spiritually prepared and serve others. That's everything!
What can I do to be more spiritual? The answer is always the same: Do more service!
5 things that will help us cast off the natural man and bring out the saint:
Service helps us overcome selfishness.
Service helps us generate love and appreciation for others.
Service is the principal way to show gratitude for our savior.
Service channels our desires and energy into worthy activities.
Service helps us cleans ourselves and be purified and sanctified.
As we immerse ourselves in service to others we find our spiritual selves.

Anyway, that is about as clear of an answer as can be expected, I think. I'm going to do my best to look for more opportunities to serve others, and to take advantage of them in these upcoming weeks. I'd encourage you all to do the same!

Uno Experiment: Suspended

So, it appears that I didn't think this through as well as I thought I did. I overlooked something pretty important. Or, rather, it isn't that I overlooked it, but that my plans didn't work out.

I don't own Uno cards.

I originally figured that I would just buy some from the Bookstore. I mean, they have to have Uno, right? Well, wrong. They don't. At least, not right now. So, I'm going to try to find some cards this week, and try to do it next week.

Sorry about that!

Uno Experiment: Day One

Complete failure.

Yup, that pretty much sums up the Uno Experiment today. I blame it on being distracted by a book though, so now that I have that out of the way (terrible things, books) I should be good to go! I'll add on a day to make up for it.

Sorry about that. I'll do better tomorrow though. :D

The Uno Experiment

So, on the way home this afternoon (had to eat, do laundry, and reschedule something) a crazy idea came to mind.

What if someone just randomly asked people to play Uno on campus?

And then an even crazier idea came to mind. What if I just randomly asked people on campus to play Uno?

And then I thought to myself. "Self, that is a completely crazy and brilliant idea."
To which I obviously responded, "Why yes, it is. I kind of want to do it."

And so, I'm going to do it.

Starting next Monday I will attempt to play Uno with at least one previously unknown person every day for a week. Stay tuned for updates from Fredjikrang's Uno Experiment!

New stuff, big changes!

So, I've been hard at work to keep all of you guessing! And I can bet that nobody guessed what I am going to post now. (And no, if I told you, you didn't guess it. There is a difference between already knowing, and guessing.)

So, first of all, new stuff!

On the mission I became a big fan of yogurt. There were times that I honestly bought a gallon a week. Partly because the milk down there is. . . not very good. And second of all, because the yogurt was VERY good. Now, as some of you may know, yogurt outside of the US is usually a bit different, in that it is more like the drinkable yogurt that you can sometimes find here. So, even though I've been eating plenty of yogurt here, it just isn't the same. And it is really hard to find plain, sweetened yogurt here!

But I had a bit of luck the other day! After munch and mingle there was some leftover milk! So, I grabbed a partial gallon, with the intention to make it into yogurt. And that is exactly what I did!

I basically followed this slow cooker yogurt recipe, but I think that if/when I do it again, I'm going to make some changes, for time's sake.

Time for some photos!

First, ya' gotta put the milk in the something to heat it up! The slow cooker recipe calls for two and a half hours on low. I think that my slow cooker is a little slow, because at two and a half hours on high it was just starting to get warm. So, I let it go a bit longer. (Also, I thought that my crock pot was a 5 quart, but when I did this I found out that it isn't. It's four and a half.)

Then, you have to wait for it to cool down enough that it won't kill the friendly little yogurt bacteria.

Then, you mix in some purchased yogurt, wrap it up in towels, and put it in a warm place. (I put it in our oven, as it is a gas oven and so always has a pilot light burning that keeps it nice and warm!)

Then, about 8 hours later, you get this!

That, my friends, is yogurt!

About 3/4 of a gallon of it! Pretty much for free!

Goes great with granola!

Anyway, it turned out alright. The milk was skim, so it is a bit thinner than normal, and way mild, but I think I might try it with some 1 or 2% next time. Still trying to figure out how to sweeten it a bit though.

And now for the big changes. I just found out where I'm going to be living for the next year.

I'll be living with a great guy that I met about a week ago, named Bernie McGuire.

Bernie is quadriplegic, and was a lawyer for about 20 years, and now sells cruises (which is what he says he wanted to do the whole time anyway!). We have only chatted a couple times, but he seems like a really great guy. I'll be living with him, starting this summer, for one year. During that time I'll be providing care three evenings a week, and every third Sunday. As pay, I will get my own room, together with two other BYU students.

So, it is pretty exciting, and also pretty terrifying. I've never done anything like this before. But I think that that is part of what drew me to it. I really think that it will be a great opportunity and experience. I'm also hoping to get some practical, useful engineering ideas out of it! And finally help someone with all this stuff that I am learning! So, here's to new experiences!

Cheers!

Oh, and don't die!

Mini Celebration!

So, today was a pretty rough day. I got up at 4:00 AM to try and get some homework done before it was due. At the time I only knew about my Spanish and Electrical Engineering homework, so I made up the presentation for Spanish and wrote the story that was due at home. Then I ate some breakfast, read some scriptures, and headed out to campus.

I got to campus at about 7:00 AM, and got my EE textbook from my locker. Then, as I was getting ready to start on my Electrical Engineering homework, I noticed an assignment for Dynamics that I had started, which I promptly realized was due at 10:00 AM, while my EE homework wasn't due until 4:30 PM. So, I went back down to my locker (leaving my laptop alone!) and got all of my textbooks, just in case. Then I worked through my Dynamics homework, and got it done just in time to turn it in and head off to Spanish at 9:00, Dynamics at 10:00, work at 11:00, and then I ate lunch at 12:00 and worked some more on my EE homework.

I was panicking a little bit by this point, as I knew that I wasn't going to be able to finish it on time. So, at 1:00, without even finishing the first problem, I went to EE, where thankfully our very, very kind and merciful TA decided to allow us to turn in the assignment Tuesday. So, then I went to Computer Programing, and then sat down to do that homework, which I finished just before 5:00.

Anyway, that is a long intro to this post!

I want to celebrate, so I am listening to some music! I've been rediscovering my music lately, but I've also found some cool new music that I want to share with you all!

These first two are covers:
"Somebody that I used to know" by Penatonix Love it!
"Secrets" by The Piano Guys (Also, vocal version.) Very, very amazing. It makes me happy!

Next, some good new stuff!
"Needing/Getting" by OK Go Incredible! (And the video is pretty good too. ;D)
"Would It Kill You?" by Hellogoodbye I got this album from them, where it is a name-your-own-price sale. And really, it is a great album! Clean, fun, new indie music! Go buy it!

So, yeah. That is my idea of a party today. But, I've got to get back to work! Talk to you later!

So, I took some pictures on my way home from taking a test today. Only one of them turned out decent. Looks like I'm very out of practice/not used to my camera!