Just Me.

Testimony

2011-05-08T17:33:00.001+01:00

I have a firm testimony of the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. Not through any outstanding experience but a lifetime of small, Spiritual, undeniable experiences, that I must not forget. I know that the Book of Mormon is a true witness of the Saviour, and the more I read it the more certain my testimony grows. As George Cannon said, "No wicked man could write such a book as this; and no good man would write it, unless it were true and he were commanded of God to do so." It was through the work of the Prophet Joseph Smith that the restoration was brought about; even through persecution and hatred, the work continued. I have felt the incredible power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ in my life. I know that Christ lives, and that the only way back to my Father is through an enduring faith on the Lord Jesus Christ. Although parted by a veil of forgetfulness, I look forward to the day when I can personally thank the Saviour for giving me the opportunity for Exaltation. How remarkable that day will be. I know that President Thomas S. Monson is the living Prophet here on Earth. He personally signed my mission call, and it is now my chance to go forward and serve my Saviour, my Father, and the people in the Greece Athens Mission. The work is true. God be with you till we meet again.

Mission Farewell

2011-05-08T17:14:00.004+01:00

Today has been an excellent Sabbath Day. It was my farewell talk in Sacrament Meeting, and it was so good to have so many friends and family come to the Ward. Teddy and Fran was there, and some of Charlotte's and Mum's friends. I was actually nervous before I spoke; this is one of the most important talks of my life, and I haven't given a talk in months. I spoke for 20 - 25 minutes on missionary work, and how the Lord can make your life so much more if you have faith. I read 'The Master's Hand', and bore my testimony of the Gospel. The Spirit was so strong, and I was in tears by the end. This Gospel is beautiful. Saying goodbye to so many people was difficult, but at the same time, it feels like the right time, and just another step. As I put my faith in the Lord, I know everything will work out. I'm being set apart as a full-time missionary this evening - in just a couple of hours. I'm going to the Missionary Training Center tomorrow, and then I'll be heading to Greece in just a couple of months. How incredible.

D&C 68:6

2011-05-07T23:54:00.003+01:00

"Wherefore, be of good cheer, and do not fear,
for I the Lord am with you, and will stand by you;
and ye shall bear record of me, even Jesus Christ,
that I am the Son of the living God,
that I was, that I am, and that I am to come."

A Day In London

2011-05-07T10:27:00.007+01:00

Friday was spent in the greatest city on Earth. I went up with my family to enjoy the sights, the sunshine, and the atmosphere. It was a beautiful hot day, and the city was packed with tourists blocking the pavement and bringing us well-needed revenue. I got to see my friend Amberly from BYU who's on a study abroad here for a few weeks, and got to chat with her for a bit. Then we went to all the best places, beginning at the Houses of Parliament, Wesminster Abbey, and the Eye, and then walking through St James' Park to Buckingham Palace. Some of the flags and decorations were still up from the Royal Wedding last week. From there we headed to Picadilly Circus and then Leicester Square. We ate in Garfunkel's and then grabbed a drink from Café Nero.In the evening we saw The Mousetrap at St Martin's Theatre, the longest running play in the world. It was excellent. A tube ride back to the car, and head home.

"It's so good like this, these are times we'll miss,

2011-05-05T22:19:00.002+01:00

the memories I hope will never fade..."

-'Last Summer', Lostprophets

It's been a great couple of weeks at home. I've spent time hanging out with friends, seeing family, catching up and talking about everything that's gone on in the past few months. I've driven my car every single day, enjoying the music. I missed driving so much while I was in Provo. The sun has been shining here in Great Britain, it's been so warm and beautiful. I got to bro out with Teddy and Chris a few times. One day we went down the park and played with Ted's dog Buddy, just enjoying the time together. It was great to relax, and not worry about school. I've been to the London Temple a couple of times, which was quite the experience. On Saturday I went for my own Endowments, and really felt the Spirit as I was in the Celestial Room. Wednesday I went back with Mum and Dad, and had the opportunity to do some initiatory work and sealings. I went out with Natasha on Wednesday evening, and we were in the restaurant talking and laughing for hours - they had to kick us out because it was closing. We had such a great time. I've seen Laura, Sam, and Fran and I've got just a couple more days to get finalise everything. I've got everything sorted and organised, almost ready to go. It's been an eventful two weeks . . .

Ten Days

2011-04-29T14:05:00.001+01:00

I'm very excited for my mission. The more I learn about the Gospel, the more incredible it is to me. It all makes sense, and it brings so much joy into my life. I have one more week in Great Britain before I head back to Provo to enter the MTC. I love the Gospel. As I was studying Preach My Gospel last night, I found a brilliant quote.

"We do not preach and teach in order to 'bring people into the Church' or to increase the membership of the Church. We do not preach and teach just to persaude people to live better lives. . . . We invite all to come unto Christ by repentance and baptism and confirmation in order to open the dooes of the Celestial Kingdom to the sons and daughters of God.
No one else can do this."

-Elder Dallin H. Oaks, 'The Purpose of Missionary Work,' April 1995.

D&C 24:11-12

2011-04-24T22:47:00.002+01:00

"In me he shall have glory, and not of himself,
whether in weakness or in strength,
wheather in bonds or free.
And at all times, and in all places, he shall open his mouth
and declare my gospel as with the voice of a trump,
both day and night. And I will give unto him
strength such as is not known among men."

"Make it a sweet, sweet goodbye...

2011-04-23T01:26:00.002+01:00

...it could be for the last time, and it's not right..."

-'Lullabies', All Time Low

Tonight is my last night in Utah. This has been a fast, hectic, emotional week. I've finished up all my classes, ending on Wednesday after handing in a ten page research paper and taking my 3 hour 40 minute Bio final. It felt so good to be done. My Mum and sister flew in to help me pack. It was a momumental task. But it's all done. We're staying at a friend's house tonight. I'm all moved out of the apartment that's been my home for the past eight months.
I spent time saying goodbye to the incredible friends I've made. This has been the absolute greatest year of my life. I've made so many memories. I love BYU. I love the restored Gospel of Christ. And I love these people. It's the end of an era...

"More than a moment in time, it's the life of leaving home..."

2011-04-16T23:42:00.001+01:00

-'Life of Leaving Home', Yellowcard

I can't believe it's finals week already. The semester is over. Reading days are done. And I completed a couple of finals today. The weather has been so perfect these past couple of days. Life has been great.
        A couple of weeks ago we headed to Bro. Wilcox's house for Home Evening (April 4th). I didn't even know we were going over there, until we left to actually go there, but it was really fun. It was great to get to meet him and talk with him, and he was excited to hear I'm going to be serving in Greece. I'm pretty excited too.
        Then the very next day (April 5th), I was interviewed by the Church for a new online video, to be featured on the Youth LDS website. John Hilton III contacted me on Facebook and asked if I wanted to be a part of it. Of course, I didn't decline. I put on my favourite shirt, and tried to think of what to say. (Kinda like a date, really.) It was pretty cool to be in front of the camera, with a mic above me and a light shining on me - a professional set-up - in the middle of the JFSB square. They asked me questions about chastity and sexual purity, and I certainly did my best to answer them! I want to see the finished product, but it won't be done for a little while yet. Look out for it.
        Classes are completely finished now. For the past couple of weeks I've been kinda nostalgic, and not looking forward to it. Right now, I'm really excited for the future. On my last day of Book Of Mormon (Rel A 122) with Bro. Marsh, I got a pic with him. I had him for 121 last semester too, and he's such a brilliant teacher - award-winning, in fact. I've learnt a lot from him, and would love to be as knowledgeable as he is. I love going to his class and feeling the Spirit. It increases my testimony every Monday and Wednesday morning.

There's been a couple of things I wanted to do before the semester came to a close. The first was to go on a date with Ashley. Ashley was my dance teacher for Social Dance 180 last semester, she's a Junior, a Finance major, Dance minor, she's on the ballroom team, and she's one of the most beautiful girls I've ever met. It was, honestly, quite awkward when I asked her out last Thursday. It took a lot of courage, but ask her I did. The date Monday afternoon was perfect. Rose in hand, I met her by outside the Tanner, and we drove, with the windows down and sun shining, to Tucanos. [Alcohol-free] cocktails were ready for us on the table, and then we enjoyed all-you-can-eat meat and good conversation. She's just great, and I really like her. And she's helping me with the Marriott School application process. As I dropped her back at her apartment, I got a picture with her.

My second aim was to complete getting my BYU Basketball poster signed by the team. Kyle Collinsworth told me after Ward Prayer when he visited to add him on Facebook, which I did. I met him again after the Unforum on Tuesday, where he gave me his cell number to arrange getting my poster signed. And I met Pres. Samuelson and his wife outside the Marriott on Tuesday, and got to briefly visit with them, which was a great privilege. So Kyle gave me his number and, cut a long story short, got me into a closed signing on Thursday. I was just heading into an Econ review, when I saw I had a text from him: "Meet me at the marriott center in 10 mins". I biked over to the Marriott and waited. I walked with him to the Stadium and got inside. It wasn't open to the public, so I sat quietly and tried not to get kicked out. The entire team had what looked like thousands of items to sign. I only needed three more signatures to finish up my poster: Zylstra; Anderson; and Fredette. I got Brock and James' as soon as I got in, and then waited for Jimmer to turn up. While I was in there, I gave my good friend Katie a call, and she couldn't believe I was in there with the team. I even got Jackson to talk to her on my phone for a minute while he was signing t-shirts, and she was almost in tears when I got the phone back. She later dropped a couple of posters off to get signed, but couldn't come inside. A did get asked by a couple of girls who were organising the event if I was with someone from the team, and I let them know I was with Kyle, so they let me stay. I talked with Charles Abouo, and when he found out I was going to Greece, asked me to send him my mission email address so he can write to me and let me know when the team are going to be there - apparently the team are going there in August. Abouo is so awesome, we were just chatting, and he's so friendly. I got a picture with him and Jackson Emery. Emery's really cool too. In the pic he looks so nerdy haha. Finally the team finished up and left one by one, and then Jimmer turned up. He's such a fantastic player, and he was the last signature I needed on my poster. I really wanted a picture with him, but some other woman who seemed in charge who I hadn't spoken to already just wanted me out. In her words, "this wasn't supposed to be open to the public." One of the other girls let her know I was friends with Kyle Collinsworth, but they still kicked me out pretty pronto after my poster had been signed by him. I was pretty excited that I had got my poster signed by the whole team, and watched each player sign personally. They're my favourite team, and it has been such an incredible season. They're one of the greatest teams in BYU history. My poster is a perfect souvenir to commemorate the season.

I wish I could write about everything, but this post is taking enough time as it is. I went to the BYU Ballroom Concert, "imagine", last week with Hannah. I was good to see Ashley performing in that show. For the record, my favourite dance that evening was "A Drop in the Ocean", performed by Jared Kelson and Elisha Thompson, the 2011 US National Amateur Cabaret Champions. Last night I went out to Cold Stone with Meredith, which was a great date after a busy day studying. I went with Olive for a photoshoot on Monday, to get a picture for my mission plaque back home for when I leave on my mission. I posted my favourite one below. I hung out with Michelle on Wednesday, and we sat outside discussing the best parts of the year.
I've enjoyed sleeping in the past couple of days. I've had a chance to see some friends, relax in the sun, and get a whole lot of studying done. Waking up late, biking to campus through the fresh morning air, and then studying. I love how the semester winds down to a finish. Today, I was on campus nine hours straight, including 4 hours in the library and almost three and a half hours in the Testing Center. I took my Book of Mormon and Econ finals today, and I'm really pleased with how they went. Just a few more days to go, and college will be over for good. For this year anyway. This really has been the greatest year of my life. I made extraordinary friends, made the most of every opportunity, and created unforgettable memories. One more week...

"Now my feet won't touch the ground..."

2011-04-03T23:42:00.002+01:00

-'Strawberry Swing', Coldplay

It's been a really brilliant weekend. Just a couple more weeks of school, and then this semester is over. It's gone by so quickly. It's been so awesome.

Friday

It was a beautiful day on Friday. The sun rose over the mountains as I biked to school early in the morning. I had a great breakfast that set me up for the day, and went to class, studied some Bio outside, and then took my test in the Testing Center. That went well. Then I got a Mike Black Burrito from Taco Bell (when you're next at BYU you should definitely try it, it's fantastic), and then rode home in the 70-degree sunshine. It was the weekend. Friday night was a blast. #2 BYU Volleyball played #4 Long Beach State, and we went and cheered on the Cougars for the last home game of the season. It was great. 3 - 0. I wore my 'Front Row Fanatics' tee I won from the Daily Universe of Thursday, and we sat with the loud kids cheering BYU and jeering the opposition. Way to go Cougs. We met Alex DePron #23, a senior on the team, after the game. He's legit.

We went to the rest of the rugby game after the volleyball game. They played University of Wyoming. My mate Pete, also from England, is on the team, and we went in and hung out with the team while the B-team were playing. We got pictures with the team, and then when the game was over, we threw and kicked the ball around on the rugby field until we got told not to. I was still pretty good at playing, it was so much fun.

To finish up the day, we headed to Peaks Ice Arena for College Night and went skating for a couple of hours. Cody and I put on knee-pads and did some hockey drills, and then we practised transitions, backwards skating, cross-overs, and sprints. Tara taught us a couple of figure skating moves she learnt this semester, but being hockey players we weren't very elegant. There were a good group of us there, and it was great to socialise and have a laugh at the end of the week...

181st Annual General Conference

of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

        Conference this weekend has been so uplifting. I've felt the Spirit as I was listening to the speakers, and really enjoyed seeing a couple of the sessions live in Salt Lake. We had tickets for the Saturday morning and Prieshood Sessions, and watched the Saturday afternoon in the Tabernacle in Temple Square. Having got only a few hours sleep, we napped during a couple of talks, but on the whole we took notes and were uplifted throughout the day. It was great to go up to Salt Lake City with Cody, Gary, and Kerby, and we saw some friends in Temple Square throughout the day including Carley and her family.
        One of my favourite talks was during the Saturday morning session by Kent F. Richards. He spoke about how pain in a gage of the healing process, and can teach us patience. It is through sorrow and suffering that we gain the education that we came here to acquire. We may suffer because of the actions of others. Trials are a part of God's plan of happiness, and the Atonement of Jesus Christ can heal us. "Return unto me . . . that I may heal you."
        Neil L. Anderson spoke about missions, and preparing the world for the Second Coming of Christ. I was so excited when Elder Anderson was talking, and couldn't stop thinking about serving in Greece later this year. "The blessing of bringing others into the Gospel far outweighs the sacrifice." Salvation truly does come only in and through the name of Christ.
        There were a lot of excellent talks given. I loved hearing from the First Presidency and other Apostles. And Pres. Cecil O. Samuelson spoke, it was great to hear him speak at Conference! Today we made chocolate chip pancakes and watched the sessions with friends here at BYU. Watching all ten hours was brilliant and I loved it. Conference is always so uplifting and encouraging. Next time I watch Conference, I'll be in Ελλάδα...

Chris and Kyle Collinsworth

The Collinsworth brothers came to ward prayer tonight and spoke. It was so great to have them at ward prayer, and I was so excited to meet them both. They talked about what it's like to be on the BYU Basketball team, and really emphasised going on a mission. I'm actually going to be in the MTC with Kyle next month. Chris talked about his mission in Australia, and his assualt while he was there. He talked about how he and his companion got stabbed, but the Lord was watching over them and angels truly were protecting them. The Spirit was strong as he related the story to us. We got to hang out and get pics and signatures after ward prayer, and I spoke with Kyle for a bit. He's really awesome, and so chill.
A great end to the weekend.

"And if you bring the heart, then I'll bring the beat..."

2011-03-25T23:41:00.003Z

-'Enemy of the World', Four Year Strong

Life at BYU rarely slows down. There's always something going on, and never enough time to go to everything. Here's a snapshot of incredible BYU events that have been stimulating my life recently...

Elder L Tom Perry Elder L Tom Perry of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles spoke at a CES Devotional at the Marriott Center on March 6th. He spoke about focusing your life on Christ, building your foundation on Christ, and to follow Him, and live His Gospel. We talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ. Those who embrace His Gospel and follow Him will gain Eternal Life, the greatest gift of all.

Biology Outing
We receive well-needed extra credit in Bio 100H for going to the Utah Nature Days. Oh, and we go because it's fun, naturally. This outing was Tundra Swan Day. Here we are, looking for the swans. We could only see a few about three miles away in the distance. But it's ok, because it was a fun road trip, and we got five points.

Dancesport
This semester's Dancesport was on the 11th at the Marriott. This year, we were competing American Triple Swing at 280 level. I'm not the greatest swing dancer, but I had a fantastic partner, Mariah, and we made it through a couple of rounds. We didn't get as far as last year, and I wish we were competing Waltz or Cha Cha, they're my favourite, but it was great to get onto the dancefloor, heart pumping, dancing in front of judges and an audience.

Hiking the Y
Utah weather can literally change within minutes. Today, it was blizzarding on and off for hours, and then within half an hour it was bright sunshine with barely a cloud tainting the sky. Sunday the 13th was a beautiful sunny day, and we took the opportunity to hike the Y. The views from the mountain are stunning, and we just chilled at the top - well, Cody and Tara went ahead and climbed even higher while Cameron, Carley, and myself relaxed. You can see for miles and miles from up there, looking over the entire Utah Valley...

Hunger Banquet and Invitational
Last Saturday, the 19th, was the 21st Annual BYU Hunger Banquet, and the formal Invitational dance. Olive kindly joined me to both events that evening. At the Hunger Banquet, everyone is randomly assigned a class, and there's a 70% chance you'll be lower class on the floor, eating very little. Unfortunately Cody and his date fell into this category, and had to share a small burrito. We we middle class, and as such expected a decent meal. We got a small hot dog and crisps. It made me realise how fortunate I am, and how 70% of the world's population really would love to eat that small hot dog for their evening meal. There were dances and speeches, and it was a great event.
We changed into our formal outfits after the dinner and headed up to the Wilk for the Invitational. It was an impressive set up. The Eiffel Tower and Big Ben were present, with a chocolate fountain, drinks bar, ice cream, photographs, mini-golf, horse-drawn carriage rides anndd even a dancefloor. There was good music, good lights, and we got to ride in the carriage. We had a blast, what a fun night.

Mark Zuckerberg and Sen. Orrin Hatch
Mark Zuckerberg spoke at BYU this morning in the Marriott. This highly anticipated forum was his first ever university address, and the arena filled up with about 10,000 people. One of his opening lines was: "I'm a bit nervous because I've never spoken to a stadium full of people before." He was well received, and was confident, intelligent, radiated awesomeness - just as a 26-year-old billionaire should. The forum was essentially a Q&A session, with Senator Hatch asking questions that had been submitted by BYU students. When asked whether management or marketing is more important to a successful business, he answered that success comes down to the people: it's about working well as a team. He answered questions to do with technological advances, entrepreneurship, and how to be successful. "It doesn't matter what you're passionate about, but be passionate about something. Show initiative . . . Do something." He's incredibly smart, and didn't appear like the socially inept character 'The Social Network' (David Fincher, 2010) made him out to be. The forum was an hour long, but it could've gone on for hours longer. I was so interested, and admittedly, quite starstruck. Here was one of the most successful entrepreneurs of all time, named Person of the Year 2010 by TIME Magazine and he's speaking at BYU. Brigham Young University really is one of the best schools in the world.

BYU Volleyball vs Hawaii
Tonight we played Hawaii in volleyball. It was an intense game: we won the first set 25 - 20; they pulled back and won the next two straight; we beat them 25 - 22 in the fourth set, and then it all came down to the final fifth set. After hours of playing, the atmosphere in the Smith Fieldhouse was incredible. It was such a tight game throughout. The crowd was cheering and screaming for the Cougars. The 15 - 13 score in the end finished off the game perfectly. The BYU Volleyball team is currently ranked #3 in the nation. Tonight they showed why.

And that's not everything...
There really is so much going on. My roommate Cody got his mission call to Mexico City, Mexico. I went on a date with Krystle to a phenomenal Divine Comedy show. We ate desert pizza, and played a game of poker. There's been awesome devotionals, free food on campus, a dance lab with performances, and on top of that, homework and exams to take.
BYU Basketball has done incredibly this season. We watched their NCAA Sweet Sixteen game yesterday against Florida at the Marriott on a big screen, in a crowd of a few thousand fans. The Cougars did really well, tying at full time 68 - 68 and heading into overtime. Florida pulled ahead and stayed ahead, beating us 83 - 74. They went out on a high, and I'm so proud of them. They're a fantastic team.
It's been a great month, and there's still more to come. And, as you all know, I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ so much. I know that it is true. It's the best thing in my life. And I'm very excited to serve a mission in just a couple of months...

BYU Basketball 2010-11 Championship Final

2011-03-05T22:04:00.002Z

There were two home BYU games this week. The first against the New Mexico Lobos on Wednesday night, and today's game was against the Wyoming Cowboys.

New Mexico
Wednesday I got in line at just after three. Doors at 6, with tip-off at 8. Time went by pretty quick, and we had pretty good seats. From the beginning, New Mexico was putting on the pressure and performing better than we were. At half-time they were just ahead, then in the second half they pulled ahead even more... The black ref screwed us over, calling bad calls and ignoring travelling and fouls from the Lobos. It's the first time I've ever seen a ref get someone from the crowd escorted from the arena for shouting at him. Everyone in the Marriott was booing him and screaming "Take his whistle!" It was bad. It was the loudest I've ever heard the crowd, but not because we were winning. Final score was 64 - 82 to New Mexico...

Wyoming
After the game Wednesday night, we got in line for the game today. I was in a group, and we put up a few tents and took it in turns to take shifts throughout the week. I was there Wednesday night, a few hours on Thursday, and a few on Friday. This morning, I got up super early and, with a few others, got to the Marriott at about 6.30am so that the girls in the tents could go back to their rooms to shower and get ready for the day. We just slept there for a bit, and then as more people joined us we went to get food and get ready for the day etc ourselves. Before the doors to the Marriott opened, there were 140 tents wrapping around the outside of the centre, and a huge line of people after that wrapping back on itself. We were right near the front of the tent line, and it was worth the effort; I was in Row 8, the closest I've ever been to the court for a game. It was an incredible view. As the clock ticked down the minutes until tip-off, the arena filled up and we all got so excited. As well as being the last home game of the season, this was Jimmer Fredette #32, Jackson Emery #4, and Logan Magnusson #12's last home game ever. The game began.
The team played incredibly. 2-pointer after 2-pointer after 3-pointer after free-throw. They worked as a team and put Wyoming in their place. Jimmer was on top-form, performing the Jimmershow. Jackson was on top-form, hitting a bunch of 3-pointers. Charles was on top-form with every shot he made. The crappy ref was there again, and people still didn't like him, but we were playing better as a team. The whole team played fantastically. Even though the score was close at half time, everyone knew we had it, and was chill. The atmosphere as the team scored more and more points was incredible. As BYU broke the 100-point mark towards the end of the game, there was possibly the loudest cheer I've ever heard.
During one of the time-outs, there was a flash-mob in the student section. We had practised a dance at the NM game and before any of the public arrived at the game today. Then today we performed it. The public loved it. It was so much fun. I found this video of the dance on Youtube - look out for me, I can see myself in this video:

We went on to win the game. Not just win, but pwn Wyoming. The student crowd was incredible. We won the game, and then each leaving senior gave a speech. BYU had just won the Mountain West Conference Season Championship. Cannons threw confetti into the air as the MWC Championship Trophy was lifted by Coach Dave Rose, Jimmer, Jackson, and others. Then they cut the net from one of the baskets. This was simply one of the greatest home games of the season. It was phenomenal, and way to end the season...

LINKIN PARK

2011-02-26T02:14:00.006Z

-Energy Solutions Arena, Salt Lake City

We just got back from seeing Linkin Park live in SLC a couple of hours ago. They performed such a great set, and the music was fantastic. The show was one of the best I've ever seen.

We headed up to Salt Lake with Randy and Mark, and then ate in The Gateway foodcourt before we went into the venue. They bought their tickets just a couple of days earlier, and although they had bought GA Floor tickets to be with Hannah and I, they picked up seated tickets. Even with the upgrade they bought, they couldn't make it to the floor. They had front row seats though. We got to the floor, got a decent spot, and waited for The Prodigy to come onstage.
Prodigy had an awesome set. They really performed, and even with a crappy crowd, they got everyone moving. They performed 'Breathe', 'Omen', 'Invaders Must Die', and a bunch of my other favourite songs. Almost no-one knew any words, but I had a great time singing as loud as I could. I just hated how much Maxim cussed. The rest was so much fun. The bass was so loud, and the guitarist was epic. At first the crowd wouldn't move, and then on Prodigy's last song, 'Smack My ... Up', Maxim got everyone on the floor to crouch down, and then at the drop everyone jumped up and really started the party.

As they finished their set, the crew began getting the stage ready for the headline act. It was an intense set up, with guys getting in chairs and being lifted and suspended above the stage to work the lights. We had a brilliant view of the stage, just four people back from the barrier. Finally the arena lights went down. Linkin Park began their set with 'Faint', and went into 'What I've Done' and other classics like 'Lying From You'. It was one of the best shows I've ever seen, with the lights and the screens and the music. The crowd really did suck, barely moving, and there was even one guy smoked some weed right in front of us. It was disgusting. But the band's performance was actually brilliant, and I the set was so great. They played a lot of my favourite old songs, like 'Papercut' and 'No More Sorrow', and then new songs like 'Waiting For The End', 'Iridescent', and 'Blackout'. One of my favourite songs of the night was the last song of their encore, 'One Step Closer'. The crowd really went for it, and a legit mosh pit opened up on the floor which I jumped into, until security came and broke it up. The sound was absolutely perfect at the venue, and it was impressive to see the band playing different instruments at times, like Dave playing drums and Chester on guitar. I had a great time... And as LP went offstage and the crew began taking the set down, I hung around to try to get the setlist. I didn't get the setlist, but I did get one of their Gatorades. Haha awesome

"What I've Done..."

2011-02-25T15:03:00.002Z

-'What I've Done', Linkin Park

What a awesome, busy week this has been. There's been so much going on. My Mum and sister came over to visit for a few days while Charlotte was on a break from college. I was so excited when I heard they had booked a spontaneous holiday over here. Then Sam and her boyfriend Cole came down to see them, and we all had a pretty good weekend.

Last Friday, the evening after the Pendulum gig, we went to College Night at the ice sheet. There was a whole bunch of us who went, and even though the ice was all chopped up and crappy, we had a great time. This time I took Ashley, and we had so much fun on the ice just messing around; we were racing, spinning around each other, pushing each other, and fell over, sliding on the ice a few times. I practised my transitions and hockey stops, and I just love ice skating. Ashley was so much fun to be with, we had such a laugh.

On Saturday, Mum treated us to lunch at Tucano's. That's the best restaurant ever. The continual flow of meat was delicious, and I was so full when we were done. That evening I spent time with Mum, and we watched an episode of 'Hustle', just like old times. Sunday morning we all headed to Church, then ate at the Cannon as we do every week. It was good to have everyone there. We were all chatting at dinner, and throughout the afternoon. (Well, everyone else was talking as I was sleeping on the couch haha) That evening, I went with Mum to pick up my PC and then we quickly bought snacks for the evening. After Ward Prayer Cody and I taught everyone how to play Poker, and then we played card games for the rest of the evening. Monday was President's Day, and after getting up and cleaning the apartment, we all headed to SLC and ate at the Lion House - a delicious steak with fresh rolls and honeybutter. Some of Charlotte's friends came to see her, and she loved spending time with them. We headed up to Sundance and went night-skiing later that evening. Cody and I showed her the slopes and took her down the more difficult ones. Some of the girls from our Home Evening group were there snowboarding, and we hung out with them for a bit. The snow was awesome that night, because it had snowed a few days earlier. It was powdery and perfect. Tuesday was Monday instruction at BYU, which was so confusing. After classes, we had lunch at Ruby River. I love that place. Then we had social dance in the evening. After dance, I was studying for a Bio quiz when Shelby called me up, and let me know that Randy from EFY back in 2008 was in town. After studying for a bit for the quiz, Robbie and I went out with them to In'N'Out, and hung out. Randy is such an awesome, funny kid, and it was great to see Shelby again. On Wednesday, my mission call arrived. BYU played CSU (84 - 76), and we left at half time to go to Elder Gene R Cook's Prospective Missionary Fireside. He instructed us, taught us how to prepare for a mission, and the blessings that come from serving. My mind was caught up in the Greece, Athens Mission. I was still pumped. Then after going to the Creamery on 9th and buying Graham Canyon ice cream, the best ice cream in the world, I had some friends over to officially announce my call. I was so stoked.
Then yesterday was Mum and Charlotte's last day here. We made the most of the time. Charlotte, Cody and I went to Provo Temple in the morning, and then for lunch Mum took Charlotte and I to Five Guys. After Hockey, we hit up BYU Bookstore and then to Pizza Pie Café. The cookie dough desert pizza was incredible. There was a social dance lab in the evening, and then we just spent time looking at photos together. They're on a plane heading home now. It was so good to get to see them again. I love them so much.

And over the weekend the hard drive on this computer failed. I had to back up all the data, get the hard drive replaced, install an operating system, download all the programs I use, and then restore all my files. It reminds me how blessed I am to have this technology to use. It was so stressful, and I hated not having a computer even for a few days, but after dropping 300 bucks and spending a few hours on it, it's all good again.

Mission Call

2011-02-25T13:36:00.002Z

My mission call didn't even make it into my post box when it arrived on Wednesday. I saw the UPS delivery van coming, and stood waiting by the letterbox. The postwoman asked if I was expecting a mission call and asked my name. In her hand she had an envelope with the Church's logo and my name on it. I was so excited, so nervous, so pumped, and a little bit terrified.
        I headed up to the Y Mountain and parked up, overlooking Utah Valley. Mum offered a prayer. Instantly I was in tears as she spoke to our Father, and I felt the Spirit so strongly. My whole life has pretty much been leading up to this time. After the prayer was said, we began our hike up the mountain. It was a bit soggy and snowy in places, but we made it up a couple of switchbacks, and stopped at a bench, even higher above the valley. We were overlooking BYU, the MTC, Provo Temple, Timpanogos Temple, Utah Lake, and the mountains to the west. It was peaceful and quiet. With the envelope in hand, Dad on the phone, and Charlotte recording the experience, I began to open it.
        "Dear Elder, You are hereby called to serve as a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. You are assigned to labor in the Greece Athens Mission. . . . You will prepare to preach the Gospel in the Greek language." I was so excited. It wasn't where I was expecting to go, but I felt so happy, so excited, and so good about my assignment. The call continued: "You have been recommended as one worthy to represent the Lord as a minister of the restored Gospel. You will be an official representative of the Church. . . . The Lord will reward you for the goodness of your life. Greater blessings and more happiness than you have yet experienced await you as you humbly and prayerfully serve the Lord in the labor of love among His children. We place you in our confidence and pray that the Lord will help you become an effective missionary. . . . Sincerely, President Thomas S Monson."
        I spoke to my Dad on the phone, and just burst into tears every now and then. He was very excited too. I read Alma 37:33-34 while we were on the mountain. The feelings are almost indescribable. I felt the Spirit, peace, and great love as I thought about my mission in just a couple of months. I'm to report to the MTC at the beginning of May, a month before my availability date. It was an incredible experience. Charlotte gave us another prayer, and we began heading back down the mountain.
        I began calling family and telling them all the good news. That evening, after half a basketball game against CSU and a Prospective Missionary Fireside with Elder Gene R Cook, we got back to the apartment and I invited a bunch of friends over to officially announce my assignment. The picture below is just a few of the people there. As I said "the Greece Athens Mission" there was an immense cheer. It was great to have everyone over to celebrate with me.
        I'm really excited for it. And a little nervous. I've already began learning some Greek and looking at the new alphabet. It's going to be an awesome time in my life. I'm so grateful to have the Gospel in my life. In know that Christ lives, and that we are all children of our Father in Heaven. Now I'm to teach that to the people in Greece. I was so stoked as I went to bed, saying καληνύχτα to my roommates...

PENDULUM

2011-02-18T19:42:00.004Z

-In The Venue, Salt Lake City

Last night was beyond phenomenal. Pendulum absolutely rocked my life. After years of waiting to see them, I finally got to see a live band set. They started off awesome and got better and better. It was the greatest light show I've ever seen, and some of the loudest bass I've ever heard.

Mike, Melisa, and I got to the venue just as Innerpartysystem were playing. It wasn't the greatest venue I've ever been to, but the dark rooms and dirty floors are all part of the experience. Innerpartysystem's set was pretty good. I'm not actually sure how much of it was live; there were just two guys up there pushing buttons alongside the drummer, but the drummer was pretty awesome. Finally the stage was set, and the lights went down. Pendulum came onstage. There was Rob Swire chilling on his synth, and MC Ben 'The Verse' Mount getting the crowd pumped. Gareth on bass was so cool, everytime he hit the strings the bass from the speakers hit you like a wall. And the drummer, Kevin, was incredible, hitting every beat, even speeding up the tempo on the double-bass before the drops. Once the music started the crowd came alive, and the entire floor was a mosh pit. Even though we were surrounded by drunk kids and kids smoking weed, it was a pretty good night. We were just a couple of people back from the barrier and had a perfect view. The music was so good, and we spent some time up the front, and some time moshing later on. My favourite songs of the set were 'Comprachicos', 'The Vulture', 'Blood Sugar', and 'Granite'. The night was so intense.

My mission papers are in.

2011-02-13T11:57:00.007Z

"The truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished..."

-The Standard of Truth, Joseph Smith

"Remember that there is no other way nor means whereby man can be saved, only through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ, who shall come;
yea, remember that He cometh to redeem the world."

-Helaman 5:9

"Preach unto them repentance, and faith on the Lord Jesus Christ teach them to be meek and lowly in heart; teach them to withstand every temptation of the devil, with their faith on the Lord Jesus Christ. Teach them to never be weary of good works, but to be meek and lowly in heart; for such shall find rest to their souls."

-Alma 37:33-34

I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the true Church here upon the Earth. I'm so blessed to have a testimony, knowledge, and understanding of the Gospel. I know that Christ lives. This is our Father's work. It is so real, so incredible, and so exciting.

RIVALS

2011-02-12T20:17:00.002Z

72 - 59

BYU Basketball vs Utah, in our house - The Marriott Center. At first it was a tight game. The Cougars got the shots but missed a lot. At half-time, we were only one point ahead, 31 - 30. They were playing pretty good. After half-time, the Jimmershow began. He was back on top form. Charles was playing phenomenally, and Jackson is a legend at basketball anyway. The cheers from the crowd were incredibly loud as BYU pulled ahead.

Utah got Jimmer'd.

Let's Go Cougars

2011-02-05T22:48:00.002Z

Wow. After being on campus yesterday for 11 hours, eating, studying, and being in the testing center for two-and-a-half of those 11 hours, I took a day off of studying. Get up and dressed. Head to the Marriott for basketball. Come back 4 hours later. Eat dinner. Quick game of human foosball. Head to the Smith Fieldhouse for volleyball. Come home. Eat Krispy Kreme donuts. Blog. Great day...

BYU Basketball vs UNLV

78 - 64

An awesome atmosphere. It began as a pretty tight game, and then we pulled ahead. Slam dunks. Steals. 3-pointers. There was almost a fight at the beginning of the game, as the ball was on the court and four people dived to get it. At our 72nd point, the announcer informed the audience: "Jimmer Fredette is now the all-time Mountain West Conference scorer!" The crowd went wild. An incredible win.

BYU Volleyball vs UCLA

3 - 0

The first BYU men's volleyball game I've been to, and it was brilliant. We have a great team. Ace serves. Blocks. Spikes. We won three sets straight. And I got this video of the winning point of the match:

Night Skiing

Last Friday (28/01/11) Cody and I went skiing with Kirra. We got there just as the sun was going down, shining beautiful oranges onto the surrounding mountains. That night I was getting pretty good at getting air from jumps. My only wipeout of the night was when Cody was filming me over one of my favourite jumps. I've landed it every single time, except the time Cody was recording. That video certainly isn't gonna be uploaded. Kirra had a phenomenal wipeout - in all my years of skiing I've never seen anything like it. She was speeding down a black run in snow plow, just straight down. She was heading for a patch of trees, and didn't slow down. As I saw a column on snow rise in the air, I saw her hat on the branch of one tree, her ski a way away, and she was crumpled in a little pile. I was relieved when I saw her get up and laugh. So much fun.

BYU vs San Diego State - Top Ten Match-Up

2011-01-27T00:41:00.001Z

71 - 58

I just got back from the greatest basketball game ever. BYU, ranked #9 in the nation, against San Diego State, ranked #4 in the nation. It began yesterday, as we fought for wristbands to get guarenteed entry to the game. Cody had been standing out in the cold from about 6.30am, and I joined him at 10.45 after my class. It was a blizzard, snowing so much, and freezing cold. The crowd had formed a mob around the barriers, with the police keeping everyone orderly and trying to form some sort of a line. The floor was icy. Snow was continually falling. 12.00 came around, and the police began letting people through to collect their wristbands for today's game. Cut a long story short, those who had been waiting since 3am had no advantage over those who had just got there. I got wristband #416. We were all so stoked.

Today we got in line by 3pm. It was cold, but it was sunny. We found out that they actually gave out 4000 wristbands, and the queue was winding around the Marriott, with a thousand more students in a standby line. We were standing outside for three hours, the anticipation continually building, cameras recording, helicopters flying overhead... 6pm came around, and they began letting people inside, checking the wristbands. Then they just let the crowd through. I got my All Sports Pass scanned, and ran with Cody, Tori, Kara, Jacob, and Kyle to the student section, finding a place on the benches not too far back. We had a great spot. Eric and his mate joined us. Then we had just two more hours until game time. Behind us were some awesome guys carrying giant Jimmer faces to hold up. The Marriott filled up with the sold out crowd, including Elders Anderson and Christofferson seated next to President Samuelson. SDSU began warming up to boos and jeers from the crowd. As the BYU team came onto the floor, incredible cheers filled the room. 22,700 people took their seats. The clock on the big screen, which had been counting down for over an hour, reached 0:00. Jimmer announces from the big screen: "Cougar fans, it's game time." The atmosphere is incredible. This is the biggest game to ever come to Provo. There are about 10 SDSU fans, and the rest of the arena is filled with Cougar fans. The lights go out. The curtain drops. The cheers are deafening as the audience is hyped up for the game. As they introduce the opposing team, the student section either turns their backs to the floor, or holds newspapers up, and the rest of the crowd boo the team down. Then BYU is introduced. The support from the crowd is undeniable. The game begins...

Being ranked above us, SDSU are good. The first half was so intense, entering half-time down one point at 30 - 31. We enter the second half, and the 22,700-person crowd is even louder, even more energetic. The monumental moment of the night was when Jimmer scored a 3-pointer, SDSU got the ball, BYU stole it back, and got a slam dunk. 5 points up in a matter of seconds. The atmosphere was absolutely electric, every single person on their feet jumping and cheering and shouting. Students were going wild, high-fives and screams all around. Chants of "This is our house!" fill the air. At this point, we had got into their minds, and began to pull away, ending up 13 points ahead of them. At the end of the game, final score of 71 - 58, students rush the floor, mobbing and cheering the team for the incredible score. I go with them, climbing over chairs and ducking under a police line to join the crowd in celebration with the team. This win brings both teams to a 20-1 win-loss ratio. The press is recording. The news spreads fast. BYU are now one of the best college teams in the nation.

That's why I bleed true blue.

Matthew 5:16

2011-01-23T13:41:00.000Z

"Let your light so shine before men,

that they may see your good works,

and glorify your Father which is in heaven."

Scott Pilgrim Vs The World

2011-01-22T19:47:00.002Z

This is one of the most random films I've ever seen, but it is so funny. I really enjoyed it. Lines like "You once were a ve-gone, but now you will be gone" and "You just headbutted by boyfriend so hard he burst" make the film so awesome. And the best song of the film was 'I'm So Sad, So Very, Very Sad' by Crash and The Boys. If you want to chill and just have a laugh, give it a go.

Check out the Official Website and IMDb profile.

"It's a great day to be alive..."

2011-01-22T19:42:00.003Z

-'Listen, Do You Smell That?', Four Year Strong

What a brilliant couple of weeks it's been. If I could write on here everyday I would.
Just a few highlights...

BYU vs Air Force
We won 76 - 66. The first game of the year I got to see. Awesome.

The Quarry
We went rock climbing the evening of the Air Force game at The Quarry, and it was so much fun. They'd changed the walls since we'd last been, and some of the routes were so much more difficult. There was one wall I just couldn't do, not matter how hard I tried. I worked on it, trying and falling, for about 10 minutes, before Cody had a go. I was actually quite pleased he couldn't do it either haha. My date Lauren was a good climber. We went to get a Starbucks afterwards, and then watched something ridiculous like three hours of IT Crowd. Love that show...

Elder D Todd Christofferson
Elder Christofferson's CES Fireside at the Marriott on the 9th was fantastic. He spoke about taking life day by day, taking time out each day to focus on the Saviour. The Lord is pleased with every effort, even the tiny daily ones in which we aim to become more like Him. Seek Him daily. Do His will each day. And aim to become one with Him.

Condoleezza Rice Secretary of State 2005 - 2009
On the 13th Condoleezza Rice spoke at the Marriott, and it was almost as packed as it gets for basketball games. There must've been at least 15,000 people turn up. She is a fantastic speaker, and gave some great advice and encouragement to the campus. Her main focus was "It doesn't matter where you came from; it matters where you're going." She talked about overcoming life's challenges, and staying optimistic: "You might not be able to control your circumstances, but you can control your response to your circumstances."

Ice Skating
Friday night I went ice skating with Rachel, and we had such a good time together. We were talking the whole night, and every now and then Cody and I would just goof around and chase each other, weaving in and out of the crowd. She was really good on the ice considering she hadn't been in a while, and we were chatting about everything. She's a really sweet girl, and I had a really great time.

BYU vs TCU
83 - 67. Elder L Tom Perry was there seated next to President Samuelson. And we were on the big screen 'shaking it' for the Iceberg shake it up contest! I got texts through with people saying how impressed they were with my dancing! Such a fun night...

Night skiing
After enjoying half of an XL pizza, we hit the slopes. It was gorgeous last night, and we got to Sundance before the sun went down. It was so beautiful. Donny joined us last night and taught us a few new techniques. I hit some decents jumps, getting probably the most air I've ever got in my life. I only had one fall, and one wipeout, but it was again probably the worst wipeout of my life. I was speeding down the bottom of Top Gun, and ended up rolling about 150ft down the hill. It was our penultimate run as well haha! I didn't hurt myself, and it was all good. Last night was a great night.

And...
I went to the Carl Bloch exhibition at the Museum of Art with Kamree last Thursday, and enjoyed Tuesday's devotional with Elder Yoshihiko Kikuchi about purifying your life and growing closer to the Saviour. I went to see Peter Pan at the Fine Arts Centre Wednesday which was fantastic, and on Thursday improved my hockey skills on the ice, getting better at hockey stops, backwards skating, and transitions. We had a game of poker last Sunday, and even though I was out first, I think I'm getting better. Maybe. Going to the Temple Thursday evening was just what I needed. And then a breakfast date with Shelby this morning completed the week. We were assigned French toast while others made muffins, waffles, German pancakes, and breakfast casserole. Delicious...

I'm enjoying life here so much...

"And it's all downhill from here..."

2011-01-07T23:54:00.007Z

-'All Downhill From Here', New Found Glory

Night skiing at Sundance is so much fun. Cody and I have been three times this week; Monday, Wednesday, and tonight... It's cold, but it's awesome. I've been teaching Cody how to ski properly, and he's picked it up so fast. There's only a few runs open during the night at Sundance, but they're pretty good runs, with some decent jumps and drops. Monday night when I tried 'Top Gun' for the second time, I managed to wipeout and roll down the hill; then the snow was so powdery as I tried to stand up, the snow came up to above my knees, so I ended up crawling up the hill on my hands and knees, putting my skis back on my feet. That's the only wipeout I've had this week. I got some pretty decent air, re-learnt how to 360, and practised skiing backwards. We got high fives off of the lift operators, and skied until the very last moment. It's been a good week, and we sure are making use of our season passes. Suzette came with us tonight, learning how to snowboard. Oh, and tonight before we left, we saw some ski notice signs just sitting in a corner, and asked if we could have one. So we got one. See a picture of it here. It's legit. And here's just a couple more pics...

"There's a fire in your eyes, and I hope you'll let it burn..."

2011-01-03T16:02:00.000Z

-'Seventeen Ain't So Sweet', Red Jumpsuit Apparatus

Last week was a good week. There just wasn't nearly enough time to get everything done that I needed or wanted to. Monday we spent at home, so I spent time completing my mission papers online, and filling in my scholarship application for BYU. Tuesday I went shopping with Mum, looked through some of the sales, and I got some new shoes, some Christmas presents for my roommates, and enjoyed some delicious English fish and chips, then went to Teddy's later that evening. I hung out with him for a bit and played with Buddy, his ridiculously cute new puppy, before heading back to my house just for an hour to see a missionary that was on a swap and was coming to see us for a bit. Then back at Teddy's we played on his new Kinect for hours - my favourite games were beach volleyball and soccer. He pwned me at volleyball, but I beat him on football. We were both getting right into it, and we got some awesome videos. Wednesday I got to see some friends as we went out for lunch, and caught up. Then Teddy and I went on one of our favourite mini-roadtrips, blasting music and chilling as I drove to see my good friend Alexandra. She's such a good friend, and it was great to see her. We were at her house just chatting for over an hour. Then Thursday I got to hang out with one of my best friends Jake, and we went out for lunch with Natasha. I just loved driving, listening to music, and seeing my friends every day.

We went out for a meal Thursday night to celebrate my Nan's birthday, and it was good to get all the family together again. Friday was New Year's Eve, and Teddy and Chris came over to say goodbye to me. We sat and talked for a while, and then went to Tesco to buy some stuff before I went back to Uni. Teddy drove me, and it's the first time I've been driven in his car since he passed his test. He's a really good driver. We stayed in as a family that evening, and Mum cooked a fantastic roast dinner with gammon, and then we watched one of my all time favourite films 'Slumdog Millionaire' (2008, Danny Boyle) until almost midnight, before turning on the TV to watch the spectacular firework show in London. It was the best fireworks show I'd ever seen, so impressive. I got some pics from the TV, here's one of the best:

The flight back to Provo wasn't too bad. It was tiring as long-haul flights are, but it was actually alright. I got a free upgrade to business class from Heathrow to Chicago, which was fantastic! I was laying down almost flat, with my legs stretched out in front of me as far as I could, and I still had more room. On the flight I watched 'The Social Network' (2010, David Fincher), 'SALT' (2010, Phillip Noyce), and 'Up' (2009, Pete Docter, Bob Peterson), and they were pretty good films. On the second flight, I found out my friend Michelle was on the same flight. She's one of my friends from England who's also at BYU, who I barely saw at all last semester, so we talked for hours on the second flight. One of Dad's friend's picked me up from the airport and drove my back to my apartment, where Cody was waiting for me. I unpacked and enjoyed getting to bed. Then yesterday was a great day. After Church, we ate at the Canon, and then designed our sofas in our living room to look like stadium seating, with the 3-seater couch on top of the 2-seater - it is so awesome. We went around to see some friends, went to Ward Prayer, and then gave ourselves another challenge to deconstruct and reconstruct the bunk beds in Cody and Robbie's room so they are parallel. That took a while, and it was difficult, but we managed it. It was so much fun. (See what it looked like beforehand here).

Today I've bought all my texbooks for this semester, enjoyed chilling out, ate pizza, and now we're just about to go skiing. Happy New Year Everyone.

Back In England. It's Christmas.

2010-12-27T12:36:00.001Z

I made it back to the UK as scheduled last Tuesday - I can't believe it's been almost a week already. It was so great to walk into arrivals and see my family waiting for me. I got to give them all a huge hug. It seems so strange that I'm back with my family, in my own room, in my own car, just for a couple of weeks as a holiday from school. But I love it. I think I've got over the jet lag now... Tuesday I was buzzing for a few hours, and first thing when I got home I did was drive Charlotte to work - I love my car so much, and have really missed it. I've been driving every day this week. I saw Jake at work, and got to speak to him for a couple of minutes between customers, and then drove over to Teddy's to say hi and see his new puppy. A wave of tiredness just as I was leaving Teddy's, and I got to bed before eight, enjoying almost a 13-hour sleep - I had almost no sleep on the plane flights.
The week leading up to Christmas was a good one. Although I was suffering from falling asleep at the most ridiculous times, I enjoyed the scenes when I was awake. I started my mission papers, and got my dentistry and physical done - I made sure I had my dentistry done in Great Britain so I could keep my wisdom teeth. My physical went well, and I got a typhoid jab, and the first of my course of Hep A & B jabs all in one go. I got to see and spend time with my Nan and Grandad who came over to visit me. I got to drive my car with my awesome new stereo, blasting my favourite tunes. I went shopping with Mum, getting some awesome new clothes I can't wait to wear on dates next semester.
And on the Eve of Christmas Eve we went to the world's most popular venue, The O2, to see the 2010 Christmas Spectacular with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Choral Society, and Capital Voices. Before the show, we went to the Titanic Artifact Exhibition, which was so interesting. We got to see parts of the ship which had been brought up from the bottom of the ocean, learn of it's construction, see the living conditions, learn of its passengers, of the class system - a first class ticket cost $500, which in today's money would be over $65,100, for one ticket. We got to touch a fragment of the ship's hull, from the starboard side, between decks C and D. It was a great experience. After a fantastic meal at Gaucho, we headed to the box on level 3. The show was very good, hearing the Christmas music, listening to famous singers such as Rhydian Roberts, presented by Myleene Klass. I really enjoyed hearing the carols; my favourite song of the night was 'O Holy Night' performed by James Edwards. I was so tired somewhere in the middle of the show, and managed to fall asleep for half an hour or so on one of the sofas, but woke up in time for the pyrotechnics at the end of the show. It was a lot of fun.

Just like old times, I got to hang out and mini-roadtrip with Teddy on Christmas Eve afternoon. We played music loud (Teddy caught me up on music I'd been missing out on while I was away), and cruised to see some other friends that I hadn't seen in four months. I got to see my good friend Laura for a while, and we talked about what's gone on with school and life, and reminisced the fun times we had in college. Nothing's really changed. Once we were together it was as though we'd never been apart. We went to see Chris next at his work, and it was fantastic to see him again. I didn't realise how much I'd missed these guys until I saw them again.

That evening, we went out as a family to eat at Chiquito, and then went to see 'Little Fockers' at the cinema. It was a good show, but wasn't as good as its predecessors. Then just as we got home, Mum sent Charlotte and myyself out to deliver a couple of Christmas cards. We had so much fun in the car, playing music and singing as loud as we can, rapping to songs like 'Handlebars' by Flobots and 'Shut Up' by Black Eyed Peas. We saw our piano teacher from much earlier this year, Naomi, and it was great to speak to her again for a couple of minutes. Then we ended the night watching 'The Nativity Story' (Catherine Hardwicke, 2006) as we do every year. I love that film. I feel the Spirit when I watch it, reflecting on the birth of our Saviour in the humblest of conditions.
Christmas Day was excellent. Gifts before Church, gifts after Church, and Mum's incredible Christmas dinner. Just a few of my favourite things I got for Christmas included my BYU watch, my BYU [American] football, my new AE hoodie, IT Crowd Versions 3.0 and 4.0, Toy Story 3, Shrek 4, Inception, and of course, my new digital camera. And the new music I got. It's all good. The missionaries joined us for dinner and the evening, and we watched Shrek 4 and then played card games after Christmas tea. Then after speaking in Sacrament Meeting at Church on Boxing Day yesterday, we headed to Nan's for another Christmas dinner. It was fantastic, and good to see my cousins again too. It was so good to be home with my family for Christmas.

I Know That My Redeemer Lives

2010-12-20T12:45:00.000Z

This semester at BYU has been some of the best months of my life. I've made some incredible friends there, and unforgettable memories. The semester finished strong, academically, socially, and Spiritually. I'm so excited that it's the Christmas season, when we can celebrate the life and birth of our Saviour. On Sunday, the Ward Choir sung the most incredible Christmas programme I've ever heard. I was in tears at the end of it. One of my favourite songs was 'It Came Upon A Midnight Clear':

When with the ever-circling years
Shall come the time foretold,
When the new heav’n and earth shall own
The Prince of Peace their King,
And the whole world send back the song
Which now the angels sing.

I have a testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ here upon the Earth. I'm so grateful for his life, example, ministry, Atonement, and love. I love it at BYU. And I'm excited to go home now.

The end of the semester

2010-12-20T12:39:00.000Z

Finals week really wasn't too bad. I did one exam every day Monday through Thursday last week, and got them all done. Heritage could've gone better, but I did the absolute best that I could on it. Book of Mormon and Accounting were awesome. I'm so stoked with them. It felt so good when I walked out of Accounting Thursday evening, but I felt as though I should still be studying or doing homework or something! To celebrate, Robbie, Cameron and I went out to In N Out to eat, and then just went to visit people and chilled out. It was awesome. Then at midnight, we headed to Denny's and met a big group of people there including Breezy, Rachel, and Solana, celebrating finals being over. It was so good to have cooked breakfast at midnight - sausages, eggs, bacon, toast, orange juice... We were there until gone half past one, having such a laugh... And the waitress in the picture was so much fun. It was a great way to end the exams.

When we got home from Denny's, Robbie and I began cleaning the apartment (Cody still had an exam to take). We worked on the kitchen until about 3am, and then crashed. I woke up pretty early Friday morning considering the time I went to bed. So when I got up just after ten, I wrote to a couple of missionaries, did some laundry, and carried on the cleaning mission. I was cleaning for hours, and just got it done before our 2.30 cleaning check. A quick run to campus to sell back a couple of books, and then I changed for my date that evening. Megan had tickets to the Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert and asked if I would like to join her, Steph, and Cameron. The girls cooked for us that evening, a delicious lasagna - there's a funny story behind that. After the food, we headed up to the Conference Centre, and got there just after 7. They had already shut the doors and didn't let anybody else inside, even though we had tickets - there were hundreds of people with tickets that they didn't allow inside. Instead we got to watch it from the Conference Centre Theatre, which was still excellent. David Archuleta has a phenomenal voice. It was so cold in SLC that night, but we enjoyed walking around Temple Square a bit after the concert, before heading back to the car and blasting the heat. Back at Megan's apartment we stayed up as late as visiting hours allow, and made smores and watched 'Enchanted'. That's such a great show.

When I got back from Megan's apartment, I began sorting out all my stuff and packing my suitcase. It was another late night, but I got everything sorted. Kirra came to pick me up Saturday morning, so I could get to the airport in time for my flight to Paris at 4.30. I got there and found out the flight had been cancelled because of snow in France. Cutting a long story short, I got another flight booked for Monday morning, and had to see if anyone would be able to take me in for a couple of nights. I called Shelby, and she, her dad and brother came to get me from the airport. They were so good to me over the weekend; I had so much food, watched films, relaxed, and had a bed to sleep in. Saturday night we rented 'The A-Team' and had pizza and desert pizza, and it was such a good film. We watched 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas', and then played 'Sorry!' until it was time to sleep. I had 10 and a half hours of sleep that night, sleeping late into the morning, and it felt goood! They have Church at 1pm, so Shelby woke me up at 11.30 for me to get ready. I love sleeping... Church with Shelby and her family was excellent - everyone in their ward was so friendly, welcoming me. And we got muffins. That's always good. After another fantastic dinner, we watched 'A Christmas Story' from waay back in 1983, but it was so funny! You should watch it. We got to hang out with Jessica later that evening, after five pieces of French toast and folding Christmas cards. It was great to see her after two and a half years! She's so funny, and we talked until 2am, which is so late considering I had to be up three hours later to get to the airport for my flight. I really appreciated Shelby's family's hospitality and generosity for the weekend, and it was brilliant to spend time with her all weekend.

This morning I got to the airport and again found out my flight was cancelled. After a lots of prayers and phone calls, I managed to get booked onto another flight leaving today. The Lord really did listen to and answer my prayers straight away, it was incredible. So here I am, sitting by the gate, chilling on the computer. I'm wearing my white BYU basketball tee, and just an hour ago, the entire Utah basketball team and coach was here, getting on another plane heading to Hawaii for a tournament. Part of me was excited, and the other part was kinda scared. I was tempted to ask them for a picture, but thought that might be pushing it. The plane is delayed, and just landed and unloaded, so I should be boarding soon. So I'm finally going home.

Forever The Sickest Kids, The Christmas Pageant Tour

2010-12-14T00:24:00.003Z

Tonight we went to the Christmas Pageant Show featuring Forever The Sickest Kids and Family Force 5 at the Avalon, Salt Lake City. It was an incredible show, and I had such a great time.

Cameron, Nick, Kelsey, and Hannah got to mine at around 6, and Nick drove us up to Salt Lake City for the show. Got there around 7. It was around that time that I realised I didn't have the tickets on me. I felt like such a douche. I called Smith's Tix, but their ticket office was closed. So I talked to the girl at the front desk, brought up my confirmation email on my phone, showed my ID and card that I bought the tickets on, and we were in. Actually, Hannah, Kelsey, and Nick were already in, going in through the stage door because Nick knows the opening band Never Ending Summer. So Cameron and I joined them just as FTSK were coming onstage.
The Avalon is the weirdest music venue I've ever been to. Wooden benches line the floor towards the stage, which doesn't make for good moshing. And there's no cloakroom. And no bar - just vending machines. What's that about? But the music was awesome.
FTSK opened with 'Woah Oh!', and then their set consisted of 'Keeps On Bringing Me Down', 'Catastrophe', 'She Likes', 'The Way She Moves', 'Hip Hop Chick', I think they did 'Believe Me, I'm Lying', 'She's A Lady', and some other awesome songs I can't remember right now. I crowdsurfed over the crowd onto the stage just after the intro of 'She's A Lady', and was up on stage with Forever The Sickest Kids for the third time. The crowd was pretty good for FTSK's set. Santa came onstage and threw out presents. And they played a new song from their new album, coming out in March, called 'Life of the party'. It was good. And Kent held up big boards with the words to 'Jingle Bell Rock', and the entire crowd sung along. They finished up with one of their best songs, the classic 'Hey Brittany'. I had a great time, and it really was an awesome show.

Family Force 5 were on next. They really did put on a good show. Opened with 'Carol Of The Bells' - "Merry merry merry merry Christmas, Christmas!" So awesome. They were in costume, and got the venue bouncing. The bassist was so intense, so awesome. My favourite songs that they played included 'Bulletproof' by La Roux, 'Love Addict', and 'Earthquake'. The bass was so loud, and the band had a bunch of tracks playing behind them - at one point the drummer stopped playing and stood on his drums, but the beats kept going haha. The singer had an awesome scream on him. More presents were thrown out into the crowd. Hannah crowdsurfed up to the stage on one of the songs, and danced up there until security pulled her off. The crowd loved it. And on the last song of the night, 'Kountry Gentlemen' - according to the setlist wiki I'm looking at - we pushed to the front and went all out. I started a mosh pit in the small room we had to move because of the benches. That turned into a bit of a fight. But we were jumping, pushing, enjoying the music. It was a great show.

It was great to have a break from studying and enjoy seeing one of my all time favourite bands in concert for the fifth time... Now back to studying for finals...

"Oh Christmas lights, keep shining on..."

2010-12-07T01:23:00.002Z

-'Christmas Lights', Coldplay

What a brilliant weekend. I had so much studying planned, but actually didn't get any done. Instead, I had such an awesome time with friends, sports, and beautiful girls... Read all about it.

Bowling on Thursday was a blast. I took Mallory, and she was awesome, winning the game with 78. We played air hockey before bowling, and then began the game. We were playing bowling with Skittles, where you have to close your eyes, pick a Skittle, and then the colour you pick shows you what action you need to do as you bowl. For example, green was backwards between the legs, yellow was laying down, purple was spinning around 10 times before you bowl. We had such a laugh playing, and it was great.

The Best of Divine Comedy Show was Friday night. After getting Jamba Juice and getting to the JSB early, we waited in line. We got to see 'Reception' for the first time, and 'The Sound of Music and The Spoken Word' again - it was so funny. And we got to see some new and old sketches, some of my favourites were the better than NCMO cookies, the wedding and funeral planners, the universities... I love it.

Saturday was a great day. BYU played Hawaii at the Energy Solutions Arena in Salt Lake City. I took Kamree, and Cody took Rachel. We headed up to the Arena, and found our seats. BYU have an awesome basketball team. Before half-time, I predicted they'd win 78 - 58. The final score was 78 - 57. One off. It was such a great game. Afterwards, we headed to Temple Square to look at the lights and enjoy the atmosphere. The Christmas lights were so beautiful, the Temple looked awesome lit up, and I really felt so peaceful and happy as we were walking around. After grabbing a bite to eat, we headed back to Provo.

Saturday night was the BYU Freezefest. I met Robin there, and started off playing Broomball. It was the first time I'd ever played, and it was so so much fun! Being on the ice in regular shoes, going after a ball. We tied 1 - 1 after a short 12 minute game. Then we headed to the skating rink, and skated until midnight. I practised my hockey stops and backward skating, and enjoyed talking with Robin. She's a beautiful girl.

Sunday, after Church - with a phenomenal Fast and Testimony Sacrament Meeting at Church where all those leaving on a mission bore their testimony - and lunch at the Canon, we headed up to Salt Lake City with our FHE family to see the Temple Square lights with them. We got there at around 5.50, and got on the next Trax train that stopped and headed straight to the Conference Centre to see if we could get into the First Presidency Devotional. We found the standby line, and managed to walk straight in and find seats in the balcony. I was so so so excited! We got to enjoy seeing the 2010 Christmas devotional live, with the Tabernacle Choir, and hear talks from the First Presidency. I loved being in the presence of the Prophet, and feeling the Spirit from the music. My favourite song was 'O Come, All Ye Faithful' after President Eyring's message. It was so beautiful. The rest of the night we went to Temple Square, and the visitor's centres - it was just so foggy Sunday night that it wasn't as clear and colourful. We enjoyed the ride home singing Christmas songs as loud as we could...

Christmas really is coming. Just need to get finals out the way...

"Jelly-fish. Jellyfish."

2010-12-03T17:15:00.001Z

R O A D T R I P - Las Vegas, NV

2010-11-29T21:51:00.001Z

After a long drive through the snow yesterday, we got back to BYU after an awesome Thanksgiving break in Las Vegas, Nevada. I went with Cameron and a bunch of other guys to his beautiful home sin city itself, and it was quite the trip. It was fantastic to enjoy a well earned break from school work, relaxing, unwinding, eating, sleeping, reading, playing, chilling...

We enjoyed two Thanksgiving dinners: one on Wednesday, one on Thursday. It was my first ever Thanksgiving, and it was really great. The food was brilliant. We played football Thursday morning with some other people - my first ever time to play American football! I made a couple of decent catches, and a couple of first downs, which was awesome. We played basketball, played Halo for hours, watched a lot of football on TV, and enjoyed the time to do nothing. We ate French toast, German pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon, and blueberry muffins for breakfast. We went to the Vegas Temple and walked around the grounds. We enjoyed boating on the lake by the Hoover Dam - that was so much fun. Only Brett and Angus were man enough to jump into the icy cold water. And we got to drive and walk the Vegas Strip... Cameron's family were awesome. They were so nice, feeding us, making us feel at home. It was really just a fantastic trip.

Vegas is a pretty immense place. The lights, the fountains, the classy shopping malls where people spend huge amounts of money... It certainly has an exhilarating atmosphere. The buildings and hotels are incredible. The shopping centres are unlike anything I've seen before. I was wearing a BYU hoodie there, and as I was walking along, someone noticed it and shouted "BYU! Go Cougars!" It was awesome! Even in Vegas people know the Y. Or maybe they were just from Provo haha... I enjoyed it there, looking around, soaking up the atmosphere, taking pictures. Just be careful where your eyes look, and who you talk to. I found it just a lot more blatent than other cities I've visited. We got offered free cocaine samples, free entry to strip clubs, and countless leaflets for girls for hire. Ignore this, and you've got a pretty decent city. I had a great time.
Check out some of the pics I got there...

Stuff that's gone on

2010-11-23T10:37:00.000Z

There's a lot of stuff that's happened since I last posted on here. I love it here - there's always something going on, and I'm always busy. There's always homework to do, a game to go to, a girl to ask out.. Here's a look at what's happened in the past few weeks...

Divine Comedy / Humor U
The Sound of Music and the Spoken Word was awesome fun, one of their best shows I've seen. It was so funny. I took Kirra, and we had so much fun there. The sketches before the headline show were genious, and we had a great time...
Then a couple of weeks ago, we saw Humor U for the first time. The comedy was pretty good. I was laughing a lot - the jokes at UVU were fantastic. And Stephen Jones' treadmill routine was awesome. We got a picture with him after the show. I took Rachel, and afterwards we went with Mitch and his date Ashley to get ice cream at Sub Zero. Love that place.

Sam came to visit!
Just for a day, but it was brilliant to see her again! We went for dinner on a group date, and then Sam and I went for a walk, talking about life, about America, about people... It was so nice to see her again, I just wish it was for longer...

Scott reported to the MTC
One of my best friend's Scott entered the MTC a couple of weeks back, and popped by to say Hi to me before he reported. It was fantastic to see him, he was so excited to be a missionary. He spoke to me like a wise father as we were talking, encouraging me to prepare for my mission as best I can. He's going to have an awesome time for the next two years. I was sad to say goodbye, but he's doing good serving the Lord.

BYU Basketball
I love basketball games. I went to the home opener against Fresno State on the 12th, and then the USU game on the 17th. We didn't actually get into the opening game; we got there at 7 and the student section was full. I tried to explain that our friends had seats saved for us, but they wouldn't let us in. We waited, and then someone from the inside just pushed a door open, and a few of us ran inside. So I got in and saw the game, but I did feel a little bit bad. Wednesday night against USU, though, was incredible. It was the best basketball game I'd ever seen. It was so intense - at half time we were tying, and at full time, it was 78 - 74 to BYU. The atmostphere was electric as the team did it for the school. I loved every second. I came out of the Marriott with a sore throat and ringing ears, but it was awesome...

Dance
Social Dance is one of my favourite classes. It's so much fun. I got to compete in the BYU Dancesport Competition a couple of weeks back - even though it seems like it was only yesterday. It was tough getting up early on a Saturday morning to head to the Wilk, but once were were on the floor competing, we had such a great time. We were competing the American Cha Cha with over 200 other couples. I was dancing with Becky, and at first we just wanted to make it through the first round or two. I wasn't too nervous to start with, and we managed to make it through the first round. And then the second. We were always in the last heat, so come off of the ballroom floor and head straight for the screen to see if we'd made it. The wait was so intense every time. The further through the rounds we got, the more nervous I was to dance. The fourth round we danced in was the best we'd ever danced, and made it through to the fifth. I was just so nervous on the fifth, it wasn't the best we'd ever danced, and it needed to be to get through. I'm just so proud of how well we did. We know we're in the top 60 of all those competing, but could be anywhere between 45th and 60th. Cameron and Tara made it to the quarter finals - they were really good. But I really enjoyed the experience. Ashley, our dance instructor, was really pleased for us all too. We went back to watch her compete Latin ballroom later, and she is such a brilliant dancer.

And then just last week, we had our Medals Dance Exams. We had to dance the Foxtrot and Cha Cha with our instructor in front of a panel of judges. I got to practise with Ashley beforehand, and she really helped me with my frame and movement. The actual exam I danced the Foxtrot the best I ever had, and the Cha Cha went very well too. Ashely's great to dance with, and helped me to relax and enjoy the exam. All of us passed the exam with Honors, which was awesome.

Mum's here to visit!
I was so so excited to see my Mum after Church on Sunday. I've missed her so much, and she flew out with her friend Sue last week and spent some time in Salt Lake visiting people, and then drove down to spend a few days with me. We went out for dinner on Sunday and then joined us for Ward Prayer after a Stake Fireside, and got to meet a lot of my new friends. Then yesterday we toured campus, shopped in the Bookstore, drove to the beginning of the Y Trail to look at the incredible view of Provo, then headed to Provo Towne Centre for shopping, food, and Harry Potter 7 in the evening. It's so great to spend time with her. I'm excited to go home and see all my family at Christmastime...

That's most of what's gone on. Plus, there's the five exams I had in one week, the football game against New Mexico, the homework, the dinner date dance, the ice skating, the snow... It's great.

R O A D T R I P - St George, UT

2010-11-01T04:36:00.010Z

We got back from a two-day roadtrip so St George this evening. It was really so awesome. Why did we go in the first place? My friend Christy from EFY a couple of years ago asked me to Sadies. It's a pretty good story actually. If you want more details, ask me in person. Did we have fun? Absolutely. Google Earth says it takes 4 hours and 16 minutes to get from Provo to St George. Coming back today, it took Cody 3 and a half hours. That's pretty fast. (The cop thought so too haha)
Getting up early Saturday morning was difficult, after going to bed just five hours earlier. But we got up and headed out to the I-15. The drive went by quite quickly; we were talking for an hour, played some music, stopped to food, and watched 'The IT Crowd'. SO funny. We got the hotel, met Christy and her parents, and checked into our hotel room. We had time to change and get some food and stuff from Wal-Mart, before the girls came to pick us up for the day date. I had no idea what they had planned for the date, and when we came out to join them, they blind-folded us so we didn't know where we were going.

We got out and were in a grassy field, and waited on a bench for everyone else to arrive. I still couldn't see anything at all. Then, once everyone was here, we were all given a pool float noodle thing, and had to hit each other. I think it was actually more fun for the girls to watch us all not knowing where we were going, and swinging wildly at the air! I ended up wrestling on the floor a couple of times. And Cody had an intense weapon - we found out after we were done that his had a pipe down the middle, and it hurt when he hit you with it! Part two involved paint. Christy told us to bring clothes we can get messy in, and so we hit up DI Friday night, and bought clothes we can just throw away afterwards. And yes, we got absolutely covered in paint. We were supposed to be painting shirts, and ended in a paint fight in the middle of the field. It was so messy. And so much fun. We all got soaked. But the t-shirts sure looked good!

Back at the hotel, it took a while to get ready. By get ready, I mean trying to get all the paint off of our bodies and out of our hair. Christy picked us up.

Pictures. Games. Eating dinner with our hands tied to the person next to us. It actually went quite well. Then the dance. It was a great night.

We dropped the girls off and headed back to the hotel, before heading out to see the St George Temple. It was lit up in the dark, and we walked around it, enjoying the peace of the night. We didn't get to sleep until about 2.30am, and then woke up at around 11. We were just laying in bed, trying to get more sleep, when our hotel phone rang. It was the receptionist, asking if we were checking out today. Apparently we were supposed to have checked out by 11. I asked if we could check out at 12. The nice lady kindly agreed. So, we hurriedly got ready, packed, and checked out. We explored St George for a bit, enjoying the beautiful scenery and the warm sunshine. We sat in a park for a while, reading. Then headed to Christy's ward for Sacrament. We hadn't been to a family ward for months, and it was so noisy! But great to get an opportunity to partake of the Sacrament. Then it was time to hit the road again. We grabbed something to eat, got changed, and started our 3-and-a-half hour journey on the freeway back to BYU...

Soccer. Hockey. Rock Climbing.

2010-10-24T21:58:00.000+01:00

This week has been so much fun. Thursday was a long day; after going to the Temple in the morning, I had Social Dance and Physical Science, and then a BYU Marketing Association lecture on People Skills. The guy doing the lecture - Roger Preble - was fantastic. As soon as I walked into the room, he shook my hand, and I really liked him. I found out later that there are methods of shaking hands to get the decision making in the situation to like you. In fact, he called me up by name to demonstrate on my in front of the 100-person classroom. I was so stoked just being there; I love marketing and advertising and branding and representation. We were learning how to brand ourselves. Some of the tips he gave us were awesome.
I went for dinner at the Legends Grill with some friends, and then had a ISys101 orientation lecture, before I headed to the women's soccer game against UNLV. I got there with just half an hour to go, and so met my friends there. It was a pretty good game. We tied. After the game I got a picture with Jessica #22 - she is really very cute.

I took Rachael to the hockey game on Friday night, where BYU were playing USU. It was the first ever hockey game I'd been to, and it was pretty good. It was a good game, but we lost. Pretty bad. 11 - 3. We were 11 - 0 down after two-thirds, and then managed to get three points in the last third. And there were two legit hockey fights in the last third. It was pretty intense. Helmets and shirts ripped off, smashing into the barriers. After the game, we were hanging out with the players just in the foyer, when one of the players recognised me from the American Heritage lab. That was cool. It was great to spend time with Rachael, she's awesome. And she got to take home the puck at the end of the game too.

There was a football match Saturday afternoon, but it was raining, so we didn't go to it, instead attempting to fill our time wisely. In the evening, I was planing a date with Christine to make cookies, and then watch the last home soccer game, but it was still raining. SO after cookies were done, we headed with Cody and Suzette to The Quarry. Awesome indoor rock climbing centre. It was so legit. We were there for three and a half hours, and managed to get two and a half hours of climbing in; it was so exhausting, and after climbing a few times, it took so much effort. Christine was really good at both climbing and belaying - some of the time, I'd fall and just sit in the harness, taking a breather and chilling before I decided to attempt to continue. I love climbing, and am pretty good at it - definitely not an expert, but ok - but there was one wall I tried which I just couldn't do. I just couldn't. So I cheated and got to the top a different way. It was seriously such a good night. I was just so exhausted afterwards. Good times. It was great to see Christine again that night.

Homecoming 2010

2010-10-10T16:55:00.000+01:00

This weekend has been so much fun. It's Homecoming week here at BYU, and it's my first ever Homecoming, what with me being British and all. It was so much fun. I went to a dance Friday and Saturday, and the football game vs San Diego. It all started on Wednesday evening, when Mitchell and I attempted to write traditional Shakespearean sonnets for the ladies we wanted to ask out. That failed. So we wrote them a note with a rose and left it by their door for them to find. I was so stoked. And it really was awesome. We went on a treasure hunt, made messages in a bottle, petted sting rays, and enjoyed the music. Christine really was so much fun.

Then the football game last night was the best I'd ever seen. We were 14 - 0 up within 13 minutes. It was legit. We got there about 8 minutes after kick off and they had already got a touchdown. It was such a great atmosphere.

Then after the football game, a quick change, and then out to dinner and the Music Through The Ages dance. We picked up the tickets, picked up my date Rikki, and headed to Brick Oven. Such great food. And the dance was fantastic.

"Grab me a glass of malk"

2010-10-04T22:38:00.004+01:00

Conference Weekend

2010-10-03T23:14:00.003+01:00

Conference Weekend was fantastic. Saturday morning, we got up just before 10, and headed over to a friend's apartment to watch it. I had pancakes. Elder Holland's talk this Conference was awesome. He is such as incredible guy. Then, after tidying and cleaning the apartment, we headed out for Salt Lake; our apartment had tickets to the Priesthood session. We were so stoked. We grabbed a Little Caeser's and made our way to SLC. The Priesthood session was probably the best session I've ever seen. Every talk was brilliant. After conference, we went to see my friend Sam who was sick. We gave her a blessing, bought her some hydration fluids and tablets, and then headed back. It was an early start this morning to head to the Sunday Morning Session. It was great. A break, and then the concluding session. President Monson is an incredible man. Some of my favourite speakers over the weekend included Elder Holland, Patrick Kearon, President Packer, Larry R Lawrence, Mervyn B Arnold, and of course, the entire First Presidency. Here are some of my favourite quotes:

We must give up following the world and humble ourselves before the great physician, Jesus Christ, who will recover us from the sting of sin. We can recapture our joy and our inner peace. His Atonement is infinite, and embraces us all -Patrick Kearon

We are here to live according to Christ's law and to build up the Kingdom. We are hre to roll up our sleeves and go to work. We are here to prepare the World for the Second Coming of Christ. In all things, seek to do the will of the Father. Be humble, and full of love. -President Uchtdorf

Stay on the strait and narrow. Don't take a detour. Keep our hearts, eyes, and determination towards that eternal goal. "Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow."

-President Monson

If there was a train coming, would you warn your daughter to get off of the tracks, or would you not want to appear overbearing? Have the courage to say 'no'. Be strong and of good courage. Be not afraid. -Larry R Lawrence

How will my name be remembered? Christ can perfect us. We are free to choose for ourself, but are not free to choose the consequences of our actions. The commandments are there to protect us. Jesus is the Christ. -Mervyn B Arnold

30 Seconds To Mars LIVE

2010-09-26T11:48:00.002+01:00

-UVU, MTV Campus Invasion 2010

The concert last night was immmense. I've been wanting to see 30STM for a long time, and they put on incredible show. Shelby picked me up and we headed to the UVU Campus. I was so stoked. I'd been excited since we got the tix. And the day had finally come. We got inside, I decided on a new tee, and we headed inside. Neon Trees were just coming on stage. Their drummer is phenomenal. I was so impressed - seriously, on of the best I've seen live. They played 'Animal', which was the only song I knew by them, but they did a great set. We tried to get onto the floor, but apparently only the first 1200 people to arrive got wristbands to get onto the floor. That kinda sucked, but we found some good seats and enjoyed the music. After Neon Trees's set, I went outside to get water, and saw Tyler, the singer of Neon Trees, hanging out with the crowd, so go a pic with him. I showed Shelby once I got back to our seats, and then we went back so she could get a picture with him. He was awesome live.

Just a couple more minutes until 30 Seconds came on stage... I was so excited.Lights went down. They opened with 'Escape' and 'Night Of The Hunter'. The crowd got jumping. The music was so good. They played 'Attack', 'A Beautiful Lie', 'This Is War', 'The Fantasy', 'Alibi', 'From Yesterday', and a couple of others. During 'Search And Destroy', Jared stopped the music, and was like "Woah woah woah... You, in the white shirt, you weren't jumping" He got us to all practise jumping in time with the music, and wouldn't continue until everyone in the arena was jumping. It was so funny. As they carried on, I was screaming the words, and loving the show. My favourite song of the night, which is my favourite 30STM song anyway, was 'Closer To The Edge'. Awesome. And one of the best songs of the night was 'The Kill', which Jared played acoustic before the band came back on stage. He begun by saying "This is a new song, and I've never ever played this live before..." And then he plays the opening chords of 'The Kill', and it was incredible. Here's a vid of the song:

They encored with 'Kings And Queens', but before they played, they were getting people up on stage. I run to near the stage, and ran down the steps... Jared was picking people at random, and he didn't pick me... But kids just kept going up on stage, and one guy in front of me squeezed between the barriers, and headed up onto the stage, so I followed (managing to rip my jeans in the process), and then jumped up on stage. It was on the best concert moments of my life. Shelby did a great job of getting pictures and videos. Here's a picture of me on stage, followed by some more pics from the night... I had such a great time. At the end, I got high fives off Jared and Shannon. They're awesome.

Three Guys At Five Guys

2010-09-16T00:34:00.001+01:00

We had so much fun asking McKensie, Sarah, and Paetyn out on a triple date by leaving them a poem on their door. We wrote out the poem on the back of card which had their name on it, clipped it next to their door, and then waited for Wednesday to come around. They really had no idea who they would be going out with. We were excited to pick them up, holding in our hand a rose for each girl as we knocked on their door. It was so good going out with McKensie Saturday evening, and I was stoked to go out with her again tonight. We knocked on the door, and heard a little scream just before the door opened. And we had a really great time with them. They really are beautiful girls.

Hiking The Y

2010-09-14T11:43:00.000+01:00

We hiked up to BYU's famous Y on the mountain last night for FHE. We began the hike at around eight, with the sun gradually silhouetting the west mountains before setting. The view of the valley as we were walking up the mountain was phenomenal. As we were walking, wild deers ran across the path and down the mountain. Then, as darkness fell, the twinkling lights below lit up the streets and houses. As we got higher, we could see not only Provo Temple, but Draper in the distance too. It took about an hour, but we made it. The hike was great, and the views were incredible. The Y is enormous. It was a great night.

"I did exhort them to keep His commandments in all things always"

2010-09-12T15:55:00.000+01:00

-1 Ne. 15: 25 [Edited]

Today has been fantastic. We had the Priesthood session of Stake Conference earlier this morning, which included brilliant talks, and then we headed over to the Marriott Center, where we got to watch the Multi-Multi-Multi-Stake Conference. This was being broadcast live to a lot of Stakes in the Utah Valley area, and over 500,000 people were watching. The speakers included Elder Snow, Sister Beck, Elder Holland, and President Packer. The arena was packed full to the brim, but we had a good seat behind the stand, and were close to the speakers. The talks were so good. There was an empahsis on doing good yourself, keeping the commandments, and having the Spirit always with you. Here's a few of the notes I took from President Packer's talk: A lot of the things we need to learn are simple things: how to feel the Spirit; how to turn away from inappropriate material... We are children of God, and we need to live up to that Fatherhood. We are promised that Christ will not leave us comfortless. The Spirit was so strong. I loved it.

"Let's make this last forever... Forever... And ever..."

2010-09-12T00:22:00.001+01:00

'First Date' - Blink 182

Last night was epic. An eighteen-person group date to the ice arena? Yes please. I took Christine, a beautiful young Californian girl I met at the Canon Centre a week or so earlier. She was so much fun to be with. I picked her up from her Hall, and walked for a while to meet up with everyone else who was going. We got to the ice arena, and skated the night away... It was a late-night skate, 10pm until midnight. I had a great time with Christine, she's a brilliant girl. And we had a great laugh with everyone. It was just so much fun...

After skating, we played Quorum vs Quorum Capture The Flag... We started at about quarter to one in the morning, and we were pumped to get started. It really was fun - for the first couple of hours... But it went on for hours, and it got so cold. I tagged a couple of kids, and literally got so close to the flag, before getting tagged and heading back to prison. Me and Tara were on the phone, and we were stragetically discussing how she could make it to the prison to get me out... We were on the phone for fifteen or twenty minutes, as I told her where the prison was, how to get to the prison without guards seeing her... It was so much fun. I was saying stuff like "You shouldn't come to the balcony now; there might be police around the corner" [Don't come to the prison now; there's a guard just around the corner] She managed to get over to the prison, and tag me out... Then, just as we were right near the flag, we got caught again. At about 3am, we called it a draw. Everyone was tired, and cold, and had had enough... So we sat outside and had a hot chocolate to finish the night off right...

Today, we got up to go to Provo Temple for a noonside with our ward. Today's been such a good day. After the noonside, Cody, Robbie, and I went to Cameron and Dustin's for french toast - it was the best. I love those guys. After some serious studying, and then working out, it was off to dinner, and then the Saturday session of Stake Conference. We were watching a broadcast of the confernence in our chapel from the Stake Centre, and unfortunately the tech wasn't working great... Half way through the session the video cut out, so it was just sound. But Dustin, Cameron and I used the opportunity almost as a Presidency meeting. We were, very quietly, and through phones and writing on paper, discussing who we should call. We've been working it out throughout the week, through prayer and pondering, and made the final touches to the list tonight. I'm so excited. Revelation is so real. The Spirit in the conference was so strong. And the talks really were good. The closing hymn, 'The Spirit Of God', brought me to tears on the last lines. It was so powerful. I love it here.

Having only had six hours or so of sleep, I planned to go to bed early tonight. But then Cody invited me to join him in going to the Temple - he was going with a date, so now was the perfect opportunity to ask out McKensie, one of the girls I like. So, I went over to her apartment, and asked her out to do Baptisms. She agreed. I was so excited. Cutting a [kinda] long story short, we got there just after it closed for the night, so spent time walking around the grounds, and talking, looking at the Temple and the mountains and the stars... It was so nice, and she's amazing. I love going on dates...

Cookies Are Always Appreciated

2010-09-09T07:00:00.002+01:00

I've eaten more cookies in the past week here at BYU, than in the past six months back in England. Girls just love to deliver cookies. And I love eating them...

23 - 17

2010-09-06T22:12:00.006+01:00

1. There is so much to tell. 2. BYU is the best thing in the world. 3. Go Cougars.

I've been having the best time of my life here in Provo. We've actually started classes now, which is alright. It's a lot of work. I've dropped Econ110 already. Save that baby for later. But PhySci100 is cool, Acc200 is cool, Book Of Mormon 121, and Social Dance 180 are awesome. American Heritage is difficult for me, just because I have no idea about the American system, but my new friends are helping me out with that. I love it here, being surrounded by people my age, with the same standards as me, who are smart, but so much fun. I've been trying to fill my time wisely, getting ahead on my homework. Today is Labor Day, meaning a day off of school, which is muuch appreciated. I've spent time getting ahead on my work. I've been going to bed super late too; today I went to bed at 2am and woke up at 12. It's fine when there's no school, but when I need to study I need to get some more sleep. But it's great to just hang out and chat about whatever - music, politics, philosophy.

So, last Saturday was the NSO finale, with an enormous dance, inflatables, and a comedy show, including The Dating Game, and Divine Comedy sketches. The Divine Comedy show was, quite literally, the funniest show I had ever ever seen. Sketches about Twilight, Sunday School, muffins and babies, Mormonads, a guy bleeding to death in a car, and and angel on someone's shoulder... It doesn't sound hilarious when I write it like that, but I was crying with laughter. It hurt so much. Walking back to the apartment, we stood and watched the moon rise over the mountains. It was beautiful. We live in a beautiful world.

Sunday was fantastic. I felt the Spirit so strongly at Church. I got to bless the Sacrament, and the reverence and silence as the Sacrament was being passed was incredible. Our local leaders introduced themselves and spoke. They're all so awesome. In Sunday school, we were all together, and spent time introducing ourselves. With a ward of 190, we didn't even get through half the people. The Elder's quorum lesson after that was immense. The Spirit was so strong.
Sunday was also Mum's birthday, so we headed up to SLC and to Ruby River steakhouse. If you're ever in town, go there. It's the best meat you'll ever eat. It was such a great meal, and great to spend time with my family for the afternoon. That evening we had a building meeting, and then ward prayer. I love my ward.

Monday - the first day of classes. Thankfully my first class isn't until 10, meaning I have time to lay in, chill out, and walk to class. Beginning the week with Book Of Mormon is so awesome. Classes really have been pretty good though. I really like Social Dance. And our instructor is beautiful. Like, really. I've been making lots of new friends in all my classes. And I'm getting into a routine of when to do homework, when to do reading, and all stuff like that. There's a of reading to do. I spent all week studying, like a good student. It was only on Tuesday evening I went out with my family for the last time for dinner before the went home. We went to Olive Garden, and had a good chat. It was sad to leave them. They're back home now, and I'm missing them, but I'm still having a good time here... And in the evenings we've been hanging out with friends. Wednesday evening we had a great time taking a cut-out of Taylor Launtner and putting it in front of girls' doors, knocking, and running away. Some of the reactions were perfect.

Then Friday. Party night. We went to the latest Divine Comedy show, with sketches based on HP6 (HarrY Potter And The One Where Dumbledore Dies) and AvYtar, where a UVU student takes on the body of a blue BYU student, and learns how things work on the campus. It was really good. Then a dance in the evening to finish things up. I made new friends there, and me and this guy called Nick (who was faking a British accent and going by the name Oliver) opened up a pit. It was so much fun. Then I hung out with Nick, Rachel, Breezy, and Solana, and we played music in Breezy's apartment. Then, I hung out with the rest of the kids, and we had a massage line... That was nice. I got to bed at 3 that night...

Saturday was BYU vs Washington - the first football game I'd ever watched. I was sitting with Cody, and he explained the rules, and what was going on. It's a pretty good sport - it's very slow, but was also very exciting. And the Cougars won, 23 - 17. We got such an awesome touchdown. The atmosphere was incredible, with over 64,000 person capacity, and cheers erupting from the stadium. We won. Plus, at half time, President Samuelson, LaVell Edwards, and Elder Holland, amongst others, came out and spoke on the field. It was a good night.

Then Sunday, yesterday, I got a calling in the Ward. I was called to be First Counsellor in the First Elder's Quorum of our Ward. Cameron is the President, and I was so so stoked to be a part of the Presidency. We had our first Presidency meeting, and it's just so exciting. Today, we each prayed, and received revelation about who we should call as a Secretary and Instructor. I felt the Spirit so strongly as I was praying, and was literally receiving revelation. The Church is so true. It is so amazing. I love it.

So today I woke up at midday, got ahead on some work, and then went out on a spontaneous date with a very beautiful girl named Rachel. We only had an hour, so headed to Cafe Rio and had a quick meal, but it was great. Then, FHE this evening was also good. There's always something going on, something to do.

I can't believe we've only been at school for a week. It feels like so so much longer. And it's only just beginning.

We Are BYU

2010-08-28T19:29:00.006+01:00

I'm here on campus. In my apartment. It's real, and it's amazing.

Let's backtrack to Monday evening. Monday evening I saw Shelby for the first time in over a year. It was really great to go out with her again. She came and picked me up in her awesome ride, and we went and got some food. We spent the evening eating food, chatting, driving around, hanging out. We got ice cream and drove up the mountain to near the Y, overlooking Provo city... It was eally great being with her. She's an incredible girl.

Brigham Young University is phenomenal. It's so inspiring. The Spirit on campus is so strong. The kids here are so good. I've made so many friends already.

I began moving in on Tuesday; I met my roommates Robbie and Cody, and dropped some of my stuff off. Then Wednesday it all kicked off. We had to move everthing in, unpack, put everything away... I've got a really great room, and the apartment is really nice. New Student Orientation began with a bbq for all new freshmen - there are a lot of new freshmen. Seven or eight thousand at least. There are just kids everywhere. I met a lot of cool new people that evening... Cody and I met a couple of girls - Kim and Katie - and talked with them, and played foosball in one of the Helaman Hall lobbies.

Thursday, the programme began. We met up in our Y Groups, and headed for Convocation, where President Cecil O. Samuelson spoke to us all. He's a great man. The rest of the day, we went on the Cougar Walk, the Information Fairs, the Honors Program Meeting, the Financial Survivor Meeting, then the Honors Battle Of The Bands, before Traditions of Honor. It was a packed day. Just like Friday. We had to meet really early, and going to bed at half 12 didn't help. But it was worth getting up for the devotional with Todd Parker, a religious professor here. What is it that makes the difference? 1 Nephi 4:18 reads: "Therefore I did obey the voice of the Spirit." Education In Zion followed, then after lunch, I went to the Business college showcase. I was so excited when the marketing professor was speaking about marketing, and how BYU teaches students correct and moral marketing. That's what I want to do. After the Freshment Mentoring Meeting at the Marriott Center, we headed back to the apartment quickly, before continuing to the Cougar Pep rally. Cheerleaders, drill team, free stuff, and free food. We were going to watch the women's soccer game, but it started really raining, so headed over to the HFAC early to see Tuesdays with Morrie. If you get a chance, watch it. It's now one of my favourite shows. I felt the Spirit, I laughed, and I cried. It's really strange to start everything - including the show last night - with a prayer, but it's fantastic. The Extravaganza was cancelled because of the the weather, but instead, Cody and I went and hung out with our new friends, Megan, Mitchell, Tara, Robbie, and some others. Megan had made us spaghetti, and then we played Phase 10, Spoons, Ninja, and sat and talked until half 1. We had such a laugh, telling stories and chatting. I love it here.

Now, I need to get going. I've still got things to do. But this is the best. BYU is the best.

Every day here is an adventure.

2010-08-23T11:56:00.012+01:00

Every day here has been fantastic. After blogging that last post, we picked Charlotte and Hillary up from her house, and began the long drive to Boise, ID. We don't see my Aunt, Uncle, and cousins except from our yearly visit, so it was good to spend some time with them. Over this past week, we've spent four days in Boise, three days in Rexburg, and then the last couple of days back here in Provo.

Up in Boise, I had fun spending time with Jared, Bradley, and Nathan. Friday evening, we were welcomed with a delicous meal, and then sat and talked, before we had to leave to get to our beds. Saturday, we had a much needed lazy morning - Dad and I went for a drive to explore the area - and then headed to the mall to meet Jared and Auntie. We were amazed at the prices; over here, all the shops are having a back-to-school sale, so we took advantage. I got an awesome new Paramore tee, two new pairs of Converse, and some Aeropostale tees for $9 each. Fantastic. Then Chuck-A-Rama in the evening.
Sunday, we got up to get to Church. It was a good meeting. I met some boys that are Freshmen at BYU, starting this week. Hopefully I'll see them around campus sometime. We sat under the gazebo oustide to have a BBQ, shading outselves from the intense heat. The food was really good. That afternoon, I went out with Auntie, Grandad, and the three boys, and we went for a walk with the dogs. I took my camera, and got some good shots. After walking the dogs up and around a hill, we went into the city, and walked around, taking pictures. It's nice to chill, and enjoy just wandering, taking photographs...
Monday lunch time, just our family went to the mall for lunch, before going back to the hotel, where Auntie and the boys joined us to play in the pool. I played tennis with Dad, and by the end of it we were completely tied, with a set each, two matches each, and deuce. Dad just got the winning point. It was so close. It was so hot outside. I had to jump into the pool afterwards to cool off... We went to Chuck-A-Rama for dinner again in the evening, and I spent time showing my cousins all the pics and videos on my phone, telling them about the shows and premieres I'd been to in the UK. It was good to spend time with them.
Tuesday morning we had to leave for Rexburg, but spent just a bit more time with them. We went to pick up Bradley from his football practise, and walked the dogs. I walked around talking with Jared. He's a really cool kid. It would be good if I could see him some more now I'm in Utah.

The drive to Rexburg wasn't too bad. It took about five hours from door to door. We dropped Hillary of with her friends in Idaho Falls, and then made it to Rexburg. We had an excellent dinner with the Tietjen family. Sam and Jordon joined us for dinner, and it was really so good to see them again. I'd missed both of them. After dinner, we went out for a Jamba Juice, and then went to the park. Jordon invited some of the boys from his dorm to come with us, and we played frisbee in the park until it got too dark. It was so good to hang out and chill. Just as we were leaving, I managed to give one of the girls playing tennis in the tennis court my number... Hahaha it was great. She looked pretty cute, so I just wrote down my number on a scrap piece of paper, and then walked right on over to her. "Excuse me, erm, I just thought you were quite cute, and wanted to give you this..." She texted me just before midnight, and we started talking. I found out her name is Ashley. What a great end to a good night.
We drove up to Yellowstone National Park on the Wednesday. It was a long drive, but it was worth it. That park is enormous. At least part of it is in three different states. I got some fantastic photos from there too. We saw wildlife - bison, deer, chipmunks - the Old Faithful geysur, and the Mammoth Hot Springs. We saw steaming geysurs all through the park, bubbling pools of mud, and hot springs. It was fantastic.

On our way back, we stopped in West Yellowstone, where Rob had planned for us to see 'Foreigner' at The Playmill. It was so funny. After a DQ burger, we continued the journey back to Rexburg. Charlotte and I rode with Shi and Aletha, and talked the whole way back, about driving, about education, about comedians... We had a great time. That evening, I also asked Ashley out on a date for lunch for the next day. She agreed... I was so nervous, but excited.

Thursday was one of the best days so far. We got up and got ready, and we straight to the Rexburg Temple to do baptisms. I love the Spirit I feel in the Temple. It was so good to do baptisms. Then, a quick change back at the hotel, and then heading out for the date with Ashley. We were meeting at Craigo's, got a pizza, and then sat in the park and talked for a couple of hours. We just kept talking. She was really awesome, and it was brilliant being out with her.

She had to go to work, so dropped me off with Char, Shi, and that lot (they were on their own triple date) at the DI. I hung out with them, and participated in the DI hunt, where each couple writes a list of things for another couple to find. It was really fun. I just tagged along with Shi and her date Jon. Then we got ice-cream (Italian ice and frozen custard) to finish it all up. After another quick change back at the hotel, we drove out to join Sam, Jordon, and all their mates to go bridge jumping. They left just before us, so gave us directions, but we got really lost. After a couple of hours of driving, we managed to find the right bridge. It was a lot of fun. I'd never been bridge jumping before, and at first, 25 feet seemed really very high. But it was such a thrill, jumping into mid air and free falling into the river. It was so deep, and so cold. If you're friends with me on Facebook, I've already uploaded videos. If not, the photos on here will have to do.

A final change at the hotel, before going to the sand dunes to complete the immense day. The sand dunes were so much fun. The night was clear, the sand was warm, and it was the best sand I had ever felt. It was soft and silky. I met Lucy, one of Sam's roommates there, and made friends with some other kids. It was great to hang out on the sand, by a fire, just chilling and enjoying life... Samantha and Jordon had breakfast at the hotel with us the next morning. We sat and talked for a while, before saying goodbye. They're only a drive away for me, but Mum and Dad won't be seeing them for a while.

We picked up Charlotte and Hillary (Charlotte stayed with them that night), and then began the drive back to Provo. We stopped in Logan to have lunch with the Wright family; we hadn't seen them for eight years since they used to be in our ward, and time just melted as we ate and chatted with them. They're such nice people, and it was brilliant to see them all again.

Saturday, we had a BBQ lunch with a return missionary who served in our ward in England, and his family. It was really good to see him and his family again. He invited me to join him on a triple date that evening. So a couple of hours later, I met him at his friend Chad's house. Chad was with Stacy, who's a transfer Junior at BYU, and is on the softball team, so I might go watch her play. Newel's date was Whitney, and my date was Chad's sister Kylee, and she was awesome. We spent time talking and getting to know each other. She was really fun to talk to. We went out to WalMart to buy glow sticks, and then headed to Chad's and played around-the-world table tennis until it got dark enough. Then we headed out to a golf driving range, collected up golf balls, covered them in the glow in the dark liquid from the glow sticks, and hit them. I did question the legallity of the activity, but everyone else seemed alright with it. Apparently I'm really crap at golfing, so I didn't do great. I hit a couple of shots which weren't too embarrasing, but the rest were plain awful. Kylee was doing really good though. Once all the balls had been hit, and the glow sticks empty, we sat on the grass and looked up at the clear night sky, just talking. I actually managed to see a satellite in the sky, orbiting the Earth. As I was speaking to Kylee, I found out she wants to major in Business Management, she likes the same kind of films and I do, and she loves photography. I almost fell in love with her right there and then. She was really cool. Just as we were about to leave, a few of the kids jumped the fence of the pool next to the driving range and jumped in. I hung back with a couple of other kids and watched. I thought that was kinda stupid, but the rest of the evening was way fun.

Sunday. We went up to Church in Oak City, to visit a family we're friends with. Church was excellent, and I really enjoyed the Sunday School lesson; the teacher is a piano tuner, and made one of the best analogies of how we need to be at the same frequency as the Holy Spirit, to live our lives the best we can. When we do something wrong, our frequency changes, and the result is not pleasant. Only through the Atonement can we bring ourself back to the correct frequency. I haven't written it nearly as well as the teacher described, but it really was a fantastic lesson.
After Church, we had a great dinner with the family; roast chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, salad, tomatoes, and cookie salad. Brent is a BYU graduate, and told me all the fun things to do at the Y. And then we got talking about Geocaching, and we decided to go find one in the Oak City area. We put in the coordinates, and then began the hike. We hiked up the enormous mountain, battling the intense winds, and climbing steep rocks, following the directions on the GPS. We only hiked a mile to get there, but it took something like 45 minutes. I was just ahead of the others, and was climbing up the rocks, and finally I saw the Geocache box hidden under some rocks above me. I was so excited. We'd made it. I waited for everyone to join me, and then opened the box. There were some random items in there, along with a notepad and pencil, so we wrote in the notepad. It was a lot of fun. We got some pictures, and began the hike back down. The wind had picked up again, and I felt like Gandalf walking, using a branch of a tree as a staff making our way back to the car. We said goodbye to the family, and got back to Provo.

It's been good to finally write all this down. I don't want to forget it. I've had some amazing adventures...

"Could you remind me of a time when we were so alive?"

2010-08-13T13:10:00.008+01:00

Two hours sleep is never sufficient, but after just that amount of sleep on Thursday morning, I had to get up and get ready to leave for the airport. Packing took far too long, and we left it far too late. But we got it done, got to bed, and got up again. At 3am. I had six-inches of my leftover Subway sandwich for breakfast at 5am in the taxi taking us to the airport. We flew from London to Paris, and then from Paris to SLC. It was in Paris, just as we were going through security to get onto our connecting flight, that one of the officials saw I didn't have a boarding pass. Mum and Dad did, but for some reason, I didn't have the boarding pass. I had a couple of sheets of paper, which was my itinerary, and boarding pass from London to Paris. That's all I had. We had to go downstairs to the airline desk, and get a boarding pass printed. To do that we had to go through security the other way, getting everything out of the cases, belts off, hoodies off, just to go 10 metres over to a desk and have to go back again. It was stressful. Then, back through security, and a quick walk to the gate. There was barely any time between the flights as there was. But we got on. It was a very long flight, at 11 hours, but it really wasn't too bad. I slept for quite a lot of it - maybe 5 hours? - grateful of my comfy neck pillow. I watched 'Déjà Vu' on our portable DVDs players, and listened to some new music on my iPod. The food was actually quite good on the plane. We touched down soon enough, flying down past the mountains. Passport control took far too long, and then I had to fill in an I-94, as well as having my Seevis, I-20, and Visa. I must remember that for future reference. Then we collected our cases and walked outside...

Heat hits you. It was beautiful, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. The mountains stood powerful and majestic in the distance. I had to change out of my jeans and hoodie and into shorts while Dad was picking up the car. It felt much better. I bought some cloudy lemonade, and everything was good. We went out for a salad dinner with Charlotte's friend Hillary's family, who she's been staying with for the past couple of weeks. Then we went for a short walk in the sunshine, soaking it all up. I love it here. It's breathtaking, and it's phenomenal. And it's just the beginning.

Plus, kudos to whoever knows the song those lyrics in the title are from.

Day And Age

2010-08-13T05:54:00.003+01:00

After getting some stuff done - I want to say yesterday, but it was a couple of days ago now - I met up with Teddy in town, and looked in a few shops, before getting a Subway sandwich (footlong Melt, extra cheese, toasted, tomatoes, BBQ sauce -just for future reference). Then we went for a drive, saying goodbye to some awesome friends I won't be seeing again for a while. I've been saying goodbye to people over the last few months, at school, at work, at Church, to my family... This was it. We drove to a few houses, but most of them weren't in. So we decided to head over to a little Tesco and buy some postit notes. They didn't sell them, so I asked at the post office desk, and the nice lady gave me some. So I wrote a note and posted it through whenever they weren't in. But I got to see Emma, Pel, and Wong. And I spoke to a few more friends on the phone. I would've liked to spend longer driving to houses, but we didn't have enough time. But I've got some really nice texts and FB messages, which I really appreciate. I'm so excited to be in the States right now, but I'll definitely miss my friends and family back home... Just if you ever read this, thanks to everyone who's been such a great friend to me. I've got some fantastic memories with you... Right from my first day in Year 7, doing the school plays, skiing trips, Young Enterprise, drama, results days, college... You know who you are. And of course my family back home, who I'll miss a lot. Just thanks for absolutely everything. To everyone. And I'll see you in a couple of months.

One day left in England...

2010-08-11T12:47:00.005+01:00

This time tommorow I'll be thousands of feet above the Earth, flying towards America. This summer has gone by so fast. I thought I'd have plenty of time to chill out, to see friends, to go places, to do things... In the past week I've seen some friends and enjoyed hanging out, but time really does go by too fast...

Monday last week I went to hang out with Michelle at her house. She's going to BYU too, and we're both very excited. BYU All-Sports Passes were released on Monday, so I took my laptop along, and we managed to buy a pass each. Even though it took over two and a half hours. I was talking to my roommate Cody online, and we were trying to organise getting into a group. It was far too much effort, but in the end we got them! I was so excited for it all... The rest of the day, I taught her how to play chess, and we played two games; she beat me on her first ever game (I seriously underestimated her; she's good), and then managed to checkmate her on the second. And we made delicious cookies, and played foosball, in which she beat me in every game. But I was getting better. We finished the evening off watching 'Monsters Inc.'. What a classic.

Tuesday, I had a close-down at work. For the first time, I was actually done early, but that was because I had help from Sonia, and the oven-cleaner said she'd mop for me. But at least I got out on time. I don't want to write details about work though.

Wednesday I spent at Teddy's house. We hung out, listened to music, played chess, and jammed on Guitar Hero. It was an intense game of chess - it really was; I was down to a king and a queen, and he was down to a king and a rook. We were playing for something like 90 minutes, listening to music - Paramore, Coldplay, Owl City - as we played. It was a really great afternoon. And probably the last time I'll hang out at his house for a few months..

That evening I went swimming at the gym. I timed myself doing a frontcrawl sprint, 25 metres, and don't know how I managed it, but did it in under 16 seconds. The best time I've ever achieved. I had another go to see if I could do it again, and I did it just slightly faster, as in just over 15 seconds. It was awesome.

Thursday I went out with Natasha, Lauren, and their friend Louis. We went bowling, and then to eat at a Chinese buffet. It was great to get to hang out with them and catch up before I go away. Bowling was a lot of fun. We played two games, and I won the first game with 132 points, but didn't do so well in the second, Louis winning that game. Then we filled ourselves up at the Chinese, eating all we could. We went back to Natasha's house afterwards, to watch a film, but talked through most of it...
That evening, I had my Melchizedek Priesthood interview with the Stake President. We were talking for an hour, about BYU, careers, the Gospel, and he asked me all the necessary questions. I was excited to get the Priesthood, but at that time, quite apprehensive. It's a big step in my life.

Friday. My penultimate shift at work. It wasn't too bad.
That evening, I went out for dinner with Jonathan, my mate from all the way back in Primary school. We've been friends since back in Year 1, but I hadn't seen him in over a year, and it was great to catch up with him. We ate and talked about how much had changed over the years, how everone else we know is getting on, and what plans we have for the future. After finishing Primary school together, seven years ago, I'd now finished college, and he's working full-time. After the meal, we went for a drive in both the cars, in turn, with him taking me for a spin in his new car, and then me driving around with him in mine.

Saturday was my last shift at work on Deli. It was busy, and we had some rude customers, but I just remembered it was my last shift there, and felt better. I was surprisingly sad to be leaving, and said goodbye to everyone, and gave some hugs. I've been there over two years, and it's gone by so fast... I've been counting down the working hours until I leave for a few weeks, and it was good getting to 2 hours, then 1, then 15 minutes... I've just got to go back to empty my locker and give in my uniform.

Sunday, Jake, Natasha, and Lauren all came to my ward. It was great to see Jake after five weeks; he'd been in the States for five weeks. I blessed the Sacrament with him during Sacrament meeting, and then was asked to give my testimony as it was the last Sunday I'd be in the ward for a while. I was ordained an Elder after Church. The blessing was one of the best I've ever been given. The Spirit was very strong, and I can't remember much of what was said, but I remember Dad saying that "those yet to come to the Earth, and those who have already been are rejoicing at this time", and "[I] will be sent to one of the four corners of the Earth, and will stand strong as I preach the Gospel". I'm so blessed to have the Gospel in my life.

That afternoon, Jake, Natasha, and Lauren all came back here for dinner. It was good to eat and chat with them. Then we went to the seafront, and went for a walk and sat and talked. I was talking with Natasha for about an hour about all sorts of things... Then we went to Jake's house, where his mum was just preparing dinner, so made 4 extra potions for us all. Two Sunday dinners! Excellent. We played on Jake's ukulele and acoustic guitar, and I learnt how to play 'Somewhere Over The Rainbow' by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole on ukulele, and then 'Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)' by Green Day on guitar. It was good to just listen and hear him play...

Monday, a couple of days ago now, I went shopping with Mum. We had a list of things to buy, including shoes, shirts, t-shirts, all that kinda thing.

Tuesday - yesterday - I got up and started packing. I played piano. I went to the gym. My grandparents came over to say goodbye, and we sat and talked. I'll miss them a lot, but had to say goodbye to them.

Which brings us back to today. I was determined to finally update my blog today before I went away. I've got things to do today, so I've got to get on and do them. Yesterday I was feeling quite apprehensive and nervous about leaving. But it is definitely exciting...

This is the time where everything changes.

"Sing us a song, and we'll sing it back to you..."

2010-08-05T21:16:00.007+01:00

Do you remember I wrote in my post about Paramore Live at Wembley Arena that during 'My Heart', the absolute highlight of the night, I was on my mate Mike's shoulders? Well, I've finally found video proof of it on Youtube. Look for me at 2:50, I'm next to the guy in white's face, behind the clapping hands, and I'm wearing a black t-shirt. The picture below the video shows where to look out for me. I'm only on the screen for a second, but that's me! What an incredible night...

London; the capital of England and the United Kingdom.

2010-07-31T20:52:00.006+01:00

Art on South Bank

"Tell me how much time has passed...?"

2010-07-31T20:07:00.007+01:00

It's been a very good week. Every day this week I thought, I'm going to blog today, and then I never made time. It's ridiculous how quickly this summer is going. I had a list of things I wanted to do, but time is going far too quickly.

Monday I had a lazy day. It was a brilliant day. I did whatever I wanted, all day long. I read for a few hours, played piano, went to the gym, and watched a film in the evening. It was great to completely chill out and relax.

Tuesday, I got up and went to the gym. We were going to do a powerplate class at 10.30, but when we got there at 10.30, found out it was at 10. I was gonna just go home, but decided to spend 20 minutes on one of the spin bikes. Heck that is hard work. My legs were weak after that, and I had a close down at work to do that afternoon and evening. That evening, around 7.30, as I was on the Deli, I had an almighty bang, like an explosion, from the chicken counter. I thought someone had dropped something, because that always makes a loud noise, but when I walked over, I saw that one of the fur front panels had exploded, and glass had shattered all over the floor and into the counter. It was terrible. That side of the counter was even off, it being near the end of trade. It certainly added some excitement to the evening. After work, we watched Top Gear, and saw Cameron Diaz and Tom Cruise make the top of the leaderboard in the reasonably priced car. It was impressive.

Wednesday I went up to London with Mum on the train. I love that city, and it's so great living near to it. We had no aim, but enjoyed spending time walking along Southbank, then Big Ben, Leicester Square, Picadilly Circus, and Regent's Street. It was packed in the tubes and on the street, with foreign tourists and school groups. But still, we had a great time, enjoying the atmosphere and the sights. I got lots of good pictures, which I'll upload later.
That evening, Dad joined us, and we ate at Gaucho. Mum and Dad had eaten there before, and said it was the best steak ever. I got a rump first off, medium-rare. I was excited to try it, but the first bit I had was chewy. So, I tried another bit more in the middle. That wasn't much better. So Dad called the waitress over, and I got to choose a new steak. I got the fillet the second time, medium-rare again. It came very quickly. I cut into it, and it was easier to cut. It looked delicious. So I tried it, and the outside of it was hot, but the middle was fridge-cold. The rest of the meat was like it, so the did me another one without hesitation. The third steak was good, but still not the best I've ever had. The rest of the food - the sweet potato chips, mushrooms, and roasted vegetables - and the service was fantastic, but I didn't have much luck with the steak. They took it off of the bill though.

Thursday I got up late - well, 10 to 10 - and quickly got ready to drive to my Nan and Grandad's house. They were taking me out for a farewell lunch, and we ate in a posh restaurant called Bartella's. It was delicious. To start, I had the crispy pork belly in honey mustard sauce. I can still smell it now. It was one of the best things I've ever eaten. Then the spaghetti bolognese was really good, and the hot chocolate was excellent. I had a great time talking with them about everything, about the past and the future. I really enjoyed the meal. Then, I had some more time, so we took their dog, Harvey, for a walk. He's a brilliant dog. We he got bored chasing a ball, I played with him, and he ended up chasing me. It was a lot of fun. Driving home took far too long. The traffic was ridiculous. But once I got home, I turned straight back around and went out to the gym. One of the things I've wanted to work towards was running 8k, or 5 miles. I managed it on Thursday, in 45 minutes, 29 seconds, and burning 574 calories. I was so happy. I was watching Simpsons, and then the Speedway World Cup, and that really helped me along.

Friday I was working all day, and then went out to the cinema to see Inception with Mum, Dad, and Teddy. Like I've already written, it was amazing the second time around.

Then today I was working all day again. And then spent some time writing on my blog.

Inception

2010-07-31T19:54:00.003+01:00

The is one of the all time best films I've ever seen in my life. It's unlike anything I've ever seen, and is flawless; absolutely perfect. I saw it for the second time last night, and it was even better than the first time; I noticed more details than the first time around. The story is incredible, and completely original, and you'll be thinking about it for days. It's very intense, the entire way through. I was shaking as the title came up at the end of the film last night. There were points in the film when I was close to tears, feeling the characters' emotions. Leonardi DiCaprio is brilliant in it.

It's emotional, energetic, and definately the best film of 2010. Go and see it.

Check out the Official Website and IMDb profile.

Toy Story 3

2010-07-31T19:36:00.007+01:00

It made me laugh. It made me - almost - cry. I was excited for this film since I heard about it, a couple of years ago, and expected a lot. And it delivered everything I could've asked for, and more. Toy Story has always been my favourite Pixar movie; it's my childhood film. Now, fifteen years since the original film, the trilogy is complete. The graphics and cinematography were perfect, seeing all the detail in the fabrics, and the 3D was the best I've ever seen - not gimmicky, but natural-feeling, and enjoyable. The narrative was an excellent way to end the series, with twists and turns, and classic Toy Story moments. And I really know how Andy feels having to sort through all his stuff before heading off to college... A fantastic film.

Check out the Official Website and IMDb profile.

Your History Is Mine: 2002 - 2009

2010-07-31T19:20:00.005+01:00

F U N E R A L F O R A F R I E N D

For a while I've wanted to get into Funeral For A Friend for a while, knowing they were pretty popular, and had some good albums. I've had 'Rookie Of The Year' on my iPod for a couple of years, and love it. It's an incredible track. So, I thought a good place to start would be their greatest hits album. It has some of their best tracks from all four albums. And it is brilliant. And I'd recommend it.

Highlights include: 'Juneau'; 'History'; 'Into Oblivion (Reunion)'.

Zoo

2010-07-22T21:52:00.002+01:00

Today, we went on an awesome trip to the zoo. We just got back a couple of hours ago. I went with Charlotte, Sam, Teddy, and Chris, and saw all the animals. We got to see all the animals we wanted to - the giraffes, monkeys, sea lions, penguins, kangeroos, rhinos, tigers, lions, wolves - and I even got to feed one of the elephants. It was a beautiful sunny day for the most part, and then managed to pour with cold rain just was we were finishing up. I took my camera with me, and these are a few of the best shots of the 262 I accumulated throughout the day...

Afterwards, we went swimming at a brilliant pool, with slides, a lazy river, wave machine, and hot tubs. We had fun and chilled out. Even the drive home was so mcuh fun, listening to Coldplay's Viva really loudly, and singing along.
A great end to the day.

This Is Summer

2010-07-22T21:22:00.000+01:00

It's been a really good couple of weeks so far. It's actually amazing how quickly three weeks goes by. I'm working three days a week now, so trying to fill what free days I have well. So far, it's been mostly just chilling out. I've been wanting to update my blog for ages now, but only just made time to do so. Here's what I've been up to.

Student Visa and Work
Tuesday 6th July I went up to the American Embassy in London to get my Student visa. I was pretty nervous before I went inside. I'd done all the paperwork and whatnot the night before with Dad, and he drove me up to the Embassy. At just before 12.00, I got in the queue and got inside. You're not allowed to take in any electrical items, like phones or iPods, and can't take in a big bag. So I just took my passport and paperwork in a plastic folder, and about a quid in cash. Well, the next three hours were definitely some of the most boring in my entire life. I sat there for about half an hour in a room packed with people, waiting for my number to be called. I thought that when it was called, it was your interview, but actually, that was just when you gave in the paperwork and fingerprints... I then had to wait another two-and-a-half hours before my interview. It was so boring. There was nothing to do. I bought a drink of water, which was quite exciting. Then I resorted to pacing the back of the room, and reading the descriptions next to various paintings. If you have to go to get a visa, take a book. Finally my number was called, and I went to have my interview. The guy only asked me three questions, and I was free to go. It was definitely boring while I was there, but I was so so excited to get my Visa to go to BYU.

That evening, I had my first close down to do at work. Now that I'm not at college any more, I've got extra hours at work. One of my shifts is a close down, and I was being trained that evening. I actually quite enjoyed it, because it was something new. It's good to have extra hours and earn more money while I can.

BBQs
Teddy had a BBQ and party at his house on the 7th July. It was so, so much fun, and I really laughed so much that evening. Kids were drinking, but it was hilarious. We ate some food and hung out in the early evening before people started really drinking, and then went inside and played Tekken 6 on the PS3. I was playing Clare, and she was shouting as loud as she could: "PUNCH!" "KICK IN FACE!" "PUNCH HIM!" "DIE!" I was laughing so much I actually lost a round because I was on the floor laughing. Then we watched 'Mean Girls' for a while, quoting most of the film. Here's pictures from the evening, first me with a very drunk Clare, then some of the kids at the party.

Teddy had another party at his house last night. It was pretty good, but I felt really really bad at the beginning of the evening. Basically, I was sitting down, and jumped up quickly to go and tell someone something, and accidenly knocked Katie's bottle of J20 that she was drinking, and it managed to chip a tooth. She was fine, and knew it was an accident, but I felt really bad. I kept apologising, and she kept saying it was fine. The rest of the evening I spent playing chess. I played and won four games, against Alex, Sam, Clare, and then Chris. It was Alex's third game of chess ever, so it would have been embarrasing if I didn't beat her, then I got Sam in checkmate after 30 seconds or something stupid. Clare was more difficult to beat, but she was slightly drunk, and didn't have a plan. Then Chris nearly had me. He took all my pieces but one pawn, my king, and a bishop. I managed to get my pawn to the other side and have a queen. In the last moments it was my three pieces against his five pawns, two queens, knight, and king, and I managed to corner him and checkmate him. The game must've gone on for an hour, and I just about won it. Look at me writing about chess games in detail. I was tired after that, and wasn't up to standard on Tekken, so left at about 11 to get some sleep.

Hanging out and stuff
Monday 12th I went round Teddy's to hang out. I took over our 8 octave keyboard to play some songs with him, with him on guitar, but we kinda just messed around and never got around to it. It was this day that I managed to beat him 5-2, but he didn't let me get a pic of it after 4 - 2. Here's the evidence:

Thursday last week, my sister had some friends over, so Mum and I went out shopping while they cooked and watched films and stuff. I didn't get anything, but it was good to spend time with Mum and chat.

I've been to the cinema four times in the space of two weeks. There have been a lot of good releases recently. 'Shrek Forever After 3D' was fantastic, really funny, and a good end to the series. Best line? "Do the roar." Then I saw 'Eclipse', and I'll be honest, I thought it was crap. I'm not a fan on the Twilight series, and this, in my opinion, was the worst film out of all three. Even the book was better. I didn't like it. But I absolutely loved 'Toy Story 3 3D' and 'Inception', but I'll write about those later.

Andd...
So, I've been going to the gym bit, working, playing the piano for hours at a time, and haven't been writing any of the fun stuff down. Sunday was a great day. I gave a talk in Sacrament meeting about Seminary, and people told me it was the best talk I'd ever given. I used the frame from a talk I did at Seminary Graduation, and padded it out with some more scriptures etc. I actually wrote the talk out in note form on the stand before the Sacrament was passed. In the talk, I spoke about how we all start at the same point in life, and it's the little decisions that can make big changes to our character and future etc. I actually used Heavy Rain as an analysis, how both me and Dad started at the same point, and then had completely different endings. I really enjoy talking.
That afternoon, we went out as a family down to the seafront for a walk. It was a beautiful sunny day, so warm, and we just walked for a couple of hours. I took my camera along and got some pictures. That's just about all for now.

D&C 76:22-24

2010-07-22T20:53:00.002+01:00

"And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives! For we saw him, even on the bright hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father— That by Him, and through Him, and of Him, the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God."

Playa Andaluza, Spain 2010

2010-07-03T22:11:00.002+01:00

A five star Marriott break in Spain for a couple of days? Yes please. It was great to just chill out, relax, and enjoy the sun. The Marriott Vacation Club Playa Andaluza Resort is right on the beach, with luxurious apartments, four swimming pools, and everything you could want. It was incredible.

We got up really early Tuesday morning and flew Ryanair to Malaga Airport, Spain. Because of some fault with an electrical box or something, we were delayed an hour, just sitting waiting on the plane. They got it fixed and we were soon on our way - I'm just so glad it wasn't a problem with the left falangey. We had a bit of trouble driving to the resort, getting lost a couple of times, but we got there in the end, and it was beautiful.

Each morning we got up and enjoyed breakfast outside, before relaxing all day by the pool. On Wednesday I did an Abs workout in the afternoon then went to the gym, and then Thursday morning Charlotte and I did a body toning class - both with Jose, the personal trainer. He was really cool. No-one else turned up to the class on Thursday, so it was just us three in the studio. Apart from working out, we were just chillin' in the sun. It was so hot there, but I was determined to get my pale body out and get a tan. It worked.

We ate dinner in the restaurant in the resort two nights - which was honestly some of the best food I've ever eaten - and once out of the resort with Sue and Alan. If you ever go to the Playa Andaluza Resort, eat the bruscetta, then the roasted pork meal, and get the white chocolate cheesecake for desert. It. Is. Phenomenal. Maybe the best desert I've ever eaten.

On our last day - well, yesterday - we met up with Elder Siddiqui who's serving his mission in Spain right now. It was so good to meet up with him after sixteen months, and really cool to hear him talk fluent Spanish as well. We went out for lunch with him and his companion, and then talked. He's doing really well at the moment.

It was really so good to just lay on a sunbed in the heat and relax, reading, or listening to music. And there were so many beautiful girls there. I was in my element.
Here's some pictures of the holiday:

Here's the story: the day previous, Charlotte had got a picture with one of our waiters because he looked like someone he knew. As a joke, we thought it would be funny for me to get a pic with a waitress too. That is all. She was kinda cute though...

It was an excellent couple of days away...

Freedom Feels Pretty Good

2010-06-26T21:23:00.006+01:00

Let's see, where shall I start. It's been an excellent couple of days. I had my last ever - I repeat, ever - exam at school on Wednesday. I was looking forward to the day, thinking it would be one of happiness and celebration. I didn't expect to feel sad. I've spent seven years of my life at that school, [almost] every single weekday I've spent six hours in that building. I've made some fantastic memories there, and it hit me that I never ever have to go back. I did revise a little bit for General Studies in the end, but not too much. I'm really not making excuses, but you really can't revise for it. Unlike the General Exam the week previous, I was pretty pleased with how this one went. One question was 'How far should we believe the media's representation of the economy's 'bleak' future?' and the second question I did was 'How far do you agree we should admit our failures?', or something along those lines. I had loads to write about, which was good. But the 2-hour exam started at 1.30, and the football started at 3.00 pm. By 3.20, we heard the cheers from the PE teachers watching the game, and knew we'd missed a goal. You don't get to see England score many goals these days, and missing one isn't good. I haven't really been watching the World Cup, but when I got home, I watched the second half of England's game, and it was actually brilliant. I was quite surprised. And I'm glad we're through to the last 16. Anything could happen now.

Thursday and Friday were awesome. Both days I set my alarm early, having plans to get up and get going, maybe going to the gym or whatever. When my alarm went off, both days, I listened to a song on the radio, then turned it off and went back to sleep for a couple of hours. I felt so good. Thursday I went shopping with Mum, and got some awesome new summer clothes. And some new Converse - they're dark blue low tops, and are sweeet. And some swimming shorts. And some new sunglasses. It was a good shop. Then Friday... what did I do yesterday?! I'm pretty sure I didn't do much. Ohh yes, I got up, watched TV, then played on the Playstation, and then had a shower before going out with the missionaries for an hour. Then I came back home, and played piano for about 90 minutes. I love playing. Now it's summer, I wanna play a lot every day, and really get into it and learn as much as I can. It feels great to play.

Last night, I went round Teddy's and watched Avatar with him and Laura. We went to Sainsbury's and got snacks before watching, spending far too much money, but it was fun. The pic at the top of this post is us in the supermarket. We found Nando's crisps! It was actually a lot of effort to balance my phone on the shelf and put it on self-timer, but it was worth it to get the pic! Haha! We got back, made smoothies, and then snuggled up and watched the film. It's so epic, but so long. And it felt good to snuggle up. For the most part, I was snuggling to Laura. It was just so comfy! Haha. It was a great night. And the film looked phenomenal in hi-def. Then, an early start this morning for work. By early, I mean quarter to 8. OK, early for me. It is difficult working an 8-hour shift every week, but it's good money.

Summer is really exciting. There's so much I wanna do before I got to the States. But it's dawning on me how enormous a change it's going to be. On Wednesday, I had to say goodbye to one of the girls in my year - Sarah - who I've seen every single day for seven years! She was in my form Years 7 - 11, and stayed on to Sixth Form. She's going travelling with her boyfriend around Europe over summer, and coming back after I leave, meaning I literally might never see her again. It's so sad. And today was the last day I'll ever work with Jake, one of my absolute best friends. We've been working together every Saturday for nearly two years, and he's flying out to the States for a holiday on Saturday, meaning I'll work every weekend over summer without him, and then I leave as he gets back. And Mike too, he's flying out to the US tomorrow, and I might not see him again for a year. It's so crazy, and so sad, and so scary. And so exciting to be going to BYU. It's an enormous, incredible change, and will be absolutely brilliant. I can't wait. It's just sad to have to actually say goodbye to people...

Still, I've got all summer ahead of me to hang out and chill...

One More Chance For A New Divide

2010-06-22T19:41:00.006+01:00

Last summer, I started mashing Bloc Party's 'One More Chance' with Linkin Park's 'New Divide', after listening to them and deciding they'd probably go well together. A year later, now my exams are out the way, I've finally got round to finishing it. It's definately not perfect, but I think it's pretty good. What do you think of it?

The Atonement, The Gospel, The Plan

2010-06-20T20:50:00.000+01:00

In our Elders Quorum lesson today, we discussed the Atonement of Christ. We actually got to talk about it, and how incredible and phenomenal it is. Christ went through unimaginable pain and anguish, and experienced every, single, person's physical and emotional pains that has ever lived on Earth, and ever will. He bled from every pore, and went was mocked and humiliated. Because He loves us. Because it is essential for us. He has the most vital role in the Plan of Salvation, and didn't let the universe down during His mortal ministry. And after all this, all he asks of us in return is to have faith in Him, and keep His commandments. Even the commandments are there for our own benefit, to help us obtain as much joy and happiness as is possible in this life.

"Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in Him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind, and strength, then is His grace sufficient for you,that by His grace ye may be perfect in Christ..."

-Moroni 10:32

I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ so much. The Spirit in class was so strong today, and even now as I write this post, I feel so peaceful and happy. It's important to remember the important things in life, and to take out time to ponder these things and feel the Spirit. Like Jake said a couple of weeks ago, it can be so easy to forget times we've felt the Spirit, because there's not an organ to physically feel it and remember it - that's why we need to feel the Spirit every single day, through earnest prayer and scripture study. I really wish I could just sit down with all my friends and explain everything from the beginning. The Gospel is perfect. The Church is true.

Exams. (Almost) Done.

2010-06-20T20:26:00.000+01:00

It's been a very good, but very stressful and very busy couple of weeks. Revising every day. This week I had the rest of my important exams - Media, and C3 and C4 Maths. And I had General on Monday, which was so crap. But, I had another blessing Monday night before my important exams, and it amazes me how much the Lord blesses me. I go into the exam calm, and, after a prayer at the beginning of the exam, open the paper. The exams all go so well - General Studies last Monday was the first exam I had where I literally couldn't think of enough to write. Thank goodness BYU doesn't accept it. Yeahh, Tuesday was a busy day - I had both Maths and Media exams both at the same time, meaning I had to do one, and then sit in isolation before I began the next. Amber took all the same subjects as me, meaning we both had those exams at the same time, so we sat together after Media and revised Maths while we were in isolation. We were talking to one of the external invigilators who had to accompany us, and make sure we didn't call anyone to get the answers to the Maths exam. But both exams went so so well, and I walked out of them confident and happy.

C4 Maths was the hardest exam of them all. Wednesday and Thursday I spent hours revising, doing questions, and learning the methods. Thursday evening I went to Teddy's house, and revised with him and Danielle. We had such a laugh there, almost in tears at points, just bouncing off each other's comments. We went through two question papers, and took it in turns to do questions, helping each other with them. I decided that what I didn't know by then, I wouldn't know. Although saying that, Friday morning (the exam was in the afternoon), I did learn how to integrate a^x, which becomes a^x.ln(a). This came up in the exam, so it was perfect to learn it an hour before the exam started. I could do all the questions in the paper, except question 5a (I think?), and 8. Question 8 was differential equations, and I took one look at it and went back to the questions I previously had trouble with. But I missed out on 14 marks, meaning if I got absolutely everything right that I did, I got 81%. But I reckon I got a solid B, which I'm so so pleased with.

Just one more to go.

Achievements

2010-06-18T22:13:00.003+01:00

Sunday was a pretty special day. In Sacrament Meeting, I got my award for completing my Duty To God. I managed to finish it Monday evening, just before my birthday. I was really excited. It feels good to get it all done. I'm the first person in my Stake to complete it, since it was released in its current form back in 2001. So, I went up and collected my medallion from Dad.

That evening was the Seminary graduation - and I've finished four years of Seminary. That feels like such an achievement; I remember my very first every Seminary lesson, getting up early in the morning, and thinking, 'I've got four years of this ahead of me...' Thankfully, I only did that one year of early morning, and did the next three years home study - which too was so difficult at times. But, I've finished it now, and as a graduate, I got to talk at the Graduation. All eight graduates spoke. I spoke about how it can be so difficult to live in these times as a youth, with your friends doing one thing and you doing another. I said how you need that constant encouragement, and constantly need the Spirit with you to help you, guide you, and support you. Jake spoke after me about how perfect and amazing the Gospel is. It really is. The Spirit was so strong in the room. And I love that's I've got a really good friend who's so strong in the Gospel.

IMRSTBFYSRN

2010-06-18T20:06:00.009+01:00

Guess what? I'm in Kerrang! this week. And guess what else? The FYS music video is out. It's really good. It's not actually released as a single until August, but the video is finished, and everyone in it has got to see it. It's being promoted on the Kerrang! homepage, and you can see it here. But actually, I suggest you watch the HQ vid from this link - it should start downloading and playing when you go to the link.

I come in a 2.04 from the left clapping my hands, and then you can watch me move through the crowd throughout the rest of the video. Check out the pictures:

Here's 2.04:

In the crowd at 2.42:

At the end of the video, 3.09:

You get to see Dan smash up the guitar he's playing, which I wrote about here. That was so funny - he really smashes it. It was so much fun to be a part of the video. And I guess you'll be seeing me on Kerrang! and Scuzz over the next few months! It's so awesome.

And the shoot got a section in this week's Kerrang! mag (Issue 1317, p12):

That's me, in the red circle (bottom right). Yeaah, I'm not really 'in it', but you see the main pic? I got pictures of them taking that picture...

It's really great that the videos done. Make sure you check it out.

Eighteen

2010-06-18T19:21:00.005+01:00

Is this my first blog post as a legal adult? Let me check... Yep, it is. That's pretty cool. Last Tuesday, I turned 18 years of age. That's really cool. I spent all day at college, diligently revising for my exams, and then went home opened some awesome presents, and continued revising. That's the reality. But what can I say, it was a great day - I had a Subway lunch (Melt, double cheese, and BBQ sauce), and went out in the evening to a restaurant with my friends to have the best Indian food you've ever tasted. Here's some pictures:

And yes, Teddy did buy me a new iPod Nano, 5th gen. Freaking ridiculous, but it's so awesome!

Today, I am a boy. Tomorrow, I will be a man.

2010-06-07T22:26:00.002+01:00

Can you believe I'm gonna be 18 already? That is crazy. And awesome.

All last week we were on holiday from college, enjoying the amazing sunshine rarely seen in England. I'm glad I did enjoy it while it lasted; it's been cloudy the last couple of days. I spent time last week laying out in the sun, 'revising'. Actually, I really have been revising, because I've got my last A2 exams next week, and I seriously can't afford to screw them up. I need to do the best I can. I'm spending a lot of time doing maths papers and questions. I've got C3 and C4 maths, two General exams, and a media exam, and then my academic life as I know it will be over. I actually enjoy doing maths, when I can do it. When I can't, it sucks. And right now, I really hate media. I could start venting about postmodernism, and how ridiculous some media theorists are, but I wanna chill out right now. They want us to be creative, but we've got to follow a set of rules while we're being creative. The course is just ridiculous. But, I know I've got to learn what they want me to learn, and then tell them what they want to hear. It's not worth screwing up at this late stage. But laying out, feeling the sun's heat on my skin last week was brilliant. I really wanna to get a tan for summer, and for BYU. That would be great.

On Wednesday, my friends and I went down to the park and hung out there. Do you know the giant hamster wheels that kids can run on? Well, while I was down at the park, I wanted to break my personal record for number of times gone upside down on this giant hamster wheel - where you lay on it, and someone spins it. My record before was 35 or something, and on Wednesday, I managed - wait for it - 101. I was so dizzy, but it was so much fun. I got out of the wheel, and tried to stand up, but fell into Chris and couldn't get up! Haha! We got it on video. I'm uploading to Facebook right now. If we're friends on there, you should definately check it out. Then we all came back to my house to have ice cream and cheesecake, and watch Junior Apprentice. That show is so funny. They're too young to be taken seriously...

Thursday morning, I went out for breakfast with one of my very good friends, Laura. It was really great. We went to McDonald's (I got pancakes :D), and just sat and talked for about 90 minutes! She's so much fun to talk to. We only stopped talking because she had to go to work. We talk about everything. And we've decided we need to go to Thorpe Park and Alton Towers before summer is over. That's gonna be awesome.

Then on Friday, I spent all day up in London at the Four Year Strong music video shoot. That was brilliant. I started a group on Facebook for everyone who was in the video, and so far twenty out of about fourty people have joined, including one of the directors. It's great to get to see other people's pics from the day. And on Saturday I was at work all day. It was a pretty tough day, just 'cause, well, you have those days sometimes. In the evening, family came over to celebrate mine and my sister's birthdays this week. We had some food, and chatted. Nan and Alan brought over their dog Harvey, and we both had fun playing with a paper plate haha. The Danish Speedway GP was on on Saturday, and it was so exciting to watch! Tai Woffinden won his first GP race, and Chris Harris came third overall in the final. Britain are doing alright. Then afterwards, we all watched Britain's Got Talent. Spelbound were incredible, and absolutely deserved to win. Watch their winning performance on Youtube here.

Yesterday was amazing too. We had the Seminary Grad's dinner at the Stake President's house - mexican. It was excellent. After dinner, we just sat and talked for like an hour. I was talking to Sam and Jake about the Gospel, and about how amazing and perfect and true it is. How it all makes sense. How we just want to tell absoutely everyone about it. I love it. I keep saying it, but I really do. And I feel so grateful to have the knowledge that I do in my life. As we were talking, I felt the Spirit so strongly, and wish I could always always have that feeling. But life goes on, and you've got to do what you can every day to get the boost you need. It's so great to talk with my own friends about the Gospel at length, and in detail. BYU is going to be better than awesome. And then this evening, I finshed up the last couple of things I had left to do on my Priest's Duty To God, just in time for my birthday.

So, I guess I'm going to be an adult as of tomorrow. The last 18 years of my life have been really brilliant. I've made so so many great memories - all the holidays, and friends, and experiences, and concerts, and exams, and just great times... Now I enter adulthood, and the next stage of my life... That's gonna be fun, right?! I'm actually quite excited! Haha

It Must Really Suck To Be In A Four Year Strong Music Video Right Now...

2010-06-04T18:40:00.033+01:00

Actually, it doesn't. It's awesome. Today has been so much fun.

A week ago today, I saw on Four Year Strong's status on Facebook that they were looking for people to be in the music video for 'It Must Really Suck To Be Four Year Strong Right Now'. You had to email to say you're interested, and I emailed straight away. I got an email back, explaining what they were looking for. Here's a print screen of the email:

I didn't know if it was worth sending a picture in - I'm not the most 'punk' kid you've ever met. But, I definately wanted to give it a go - I'd regret it if I didn't. I was busy all weekend, so I got up kinda early Monday morning, and sent a couple of pictures in. I explained that I love Four Year Strong, and I'd be so excited to be in the video. The next day, I checked my emails, and was so so stoked to see that the directors had emailed me back, and said I could be in it. I then had to send them my details etc, and then Rob called me yesterday to check that I wasn't going to drop out, and give me the details. I asked if I could bring a friend along, and he said just one. So I took Clare along. And we had a fantastic time.

The shoot was in Brick Lane, and we had to meet at the Vibe Bar. I met Clare just outside Aldgate East tube station, and we tried to find Brick Lane. We walked for about 10 minutes, in one direction, and then actually asked someone where it was. He said to go back in the direction we came, and then it was on our right. They'd already done a couple of run throughs by the time we got there, at just before twelve. We met the directors, Rob and Stu, and then began the wait.

The first run through we did, we really had no idea what was going on. No-one around us seemed to either. The directors said to just join in the crowd as they pass, singing quietly to the song, and then going crazy at the end. So, we joined in the crowd, and then everyone went seriously crazy at the end - it was an intense mosh pit on a street corner! It was so much fun!

The afternoon went on, and we did run through after run through. They were filming the whole thing in just one shot each time, and shooting on a Canon EOS 7D. Stu was walking backwards filming with the crowd following, while Rob, Katie, and some other crew members directed Stu along the street, and got people and cars out the way of the crowd. I figured that basically, it was a huge crowd mime-off to the song, with the Mexican Wrestlers and Superheroes 'fighting' at the end. I was just a 'punk fan', part of the crowd, but had such a great time. Everytime we went to do a run-through, the street would suddenly get really busy, with traffic and people taking up the space. Then, as we'd finish, it would all go quiet again. Isn't it ironic. And as we were waiting around, we had people coming up to us asking what we were filming, and getting pics of the costumes. One guy on the street came up to me and asked what was going on, and then started telling me about an Irish film he was in when he was younger! Haha it was so random. And we were joined by a few drunk guys, one singing "every little thing, is gonna be alright..", and another asking if we knew where he could get 'herbs and spices'.

The day went on, and we did more a more run throughs. It was such a hot day, I only put my white hoodie on when we actually did the takes. Then, the cats, superheroes, and mexican wrestlers, all got changed, and we did a couple more run throughs before Four Year Strong got there. When they did get there at four pm, everyone was cheering. It was so cool to meet them and just hang out with them. They'd been doing interviews and photo shoots all day, (and been shopping in Levi's!), before they got to the shoot. This is them arriving at the bar, and then one of Dan trying on a penguin costume! Haha

So then, we got some pictures with the band, and got on with doing some more takes, now with the band. The only difference was that now when the crowd reached Four Year Strong, they had to give them their blow-up instruments, and then rock out as FYS 'played' to the music. It was crazy as everyone was trying to get to the front. I managed to a couple of times, which was cool.

The final take was a lot of fun. We all knew it was going to be the last take, so put all our effort and energy into it. And moshed harder. And tried to get to the front harder. At the end, everyone cheered so loudly. And at the end, Dan smashed up one of the Guitar Hero guitars he was playing onto the ground - apparently he wasn't supposed to, and he smashed the wrong one... Hahaha it was funny. Someone was going home with a broken up guitar! Glad it wasn't mine. Actually, even though I'd taken up a Guitar Hero 3 guitar, and a PS3 microphone, I didn't use either.

The music video was finished. Everyone got loads more pictures with the band, and the Kerrang! photographer got a photo of everyone there to put into the magazine. We got to hang out with FYS some more, and I spoke to Josh about how awesome it was when he put the mic in my face at Slam Dunk on Saturday. I told him he put the mic in my face and I sung into it, and he said he thought I was gonna say that he broke my teeth or something! Here's the pics with the directors and the band:

It was a great experience, and just so much fun. There was an incredible atmosphere while we were shooting. It was so cool to hang out with the band, and to just be in a music video! Rob said that it would be released in 2 - 4 weeks.
Keep an eye out for it. And keep and eye out for me and Clare in it...