Tennessee & Beyond

Spring and I are getting pretty well settled here in Tennessee! Spring was able to quickly find a job, and one that she enjoys at that. That has been a huge blessing for us. Our ward has been nothing less than amazing. I don't think I've ever been invited to so many dinners! Spring received a calling as a Relief Society teacher our second Sunday in the ward and I got a call to be a Gospel Principles teacher and a Ward Missionary. Our callings have been challenging and rewarding (as are most callings). School is keeping me pretty busy. I love finally learning everything that will apply to what I want to do! On top of the school work I was voted as one of the two Honor Code Representatives for my class, was invited to represent my class during a Board of Visitor's Meeting by the Dean, and have been invited to become a Student Ambassador by the Admissions Committee. Oh, and on top of that they already have us out in the field working at pharmacies. It's been a great experience so far. The semester's already gone by so fast... Almost too fast!

Quick Update

We made it! We're finally in Tennessee! As a quick update, Spring and I got married in the San Diego temple July 11th. It was a beautiful day, albeit a little too windy for Spring's liking. We drove back up to Utah a few days later and packed all of our stuff into a 16 foot Penske truck. The next day we began our 2,000 mile move across country. We drove for about 10 hours a day for the first three days and our 4th and final day was only a 5 hour day. It is absolutely gorgeous where we live! Everything is a robust green. We have a little swing on our front porch which overlooks the rolling hills of the area. Our town would definitely be considered "country," which definitely adds to the beauty. We're only a minute or two from a couple food stores and Pizza Hut, Pappa John's, McDonald's, Taco Bell and Dairy Queen! So we have the sites of the country with the closeness to the "essentials" of a city. I'll be sure to post pictures soon, but for the time being we don't have internet at our apartment and have to come to the local library to use it. That's all for now. :)

Some Untouched Engagement Pictures

School is Out!

My last semester at Utah Valley State University has finally come to an end! I now have about a 3 month summer before I begin another 4 years of my doctorate program. There's so much to do in the next three months, but I'm looking forward to every minute detail of it! I get married on July 17th! We've only been engaged for a couple weeks, but most things seem to be taken care of already. Spring has already found her wedding dress! I think the last few things we need to get done in regards to the wedding are finding a tux for myself, taking reception photos and sending out wedding announcements. I am so looking forward to getting married in the temple. I'm grateful for the opportunity I have to be sealed for time and all eternity to the most amazing girl I've ever met. I do not know what, if anything, I have done to deserve someone of her magnitude. Whatever the case may be, it is my solemn pledge to work everyday to be worthy of her. It's difficult for anyone to truly comprehend "eternity," and I am no exception. Even so, may I be so bold as to suggest that eternity alone may not be long enough to spend with Spring? I am so grateful for the opportunity to create not just a family with her, but an eternal family. I have been taught from early on that families can be together forever. When your young it's difficult to comprehend a blessing of that magnitude. Heck, if you were anything like me as a kid, you may have cringed at the thought of spending more than 5 minutes with your family at some point, let alone being with them for forever. Thankfully, I have matured. I now realize the magnitude of such a blessing. I am grateful for the opportunity to be with my current family forever, and am all the more excited to create an eternal family of my own. Two blessings my fiance has blessed me with: A growing capacity for love and a growing desire to become more Christlike. So... pretty much I've found the perfect girl :)

On another note, I was reading and came across the following: [The Lord] doeth not anything save it be for the benefit of the world. I thought a lot about that. Certainly it is the Lord who bestows blessings upon us. In which case, how might our personal blessings "benefit the world"? My thought is that we do not possess sole ownership of our blessings. Heavenly Father expects the blessings he freely gives us to benefit those around us as well, thus benefiting the world. The blessings we receive should have a positive impact on those around us. We can provide positive impacts by doing something as small as smiling. Sometimes that's all it takes to change the mood of another.

I'm Engaged!!!

I suppose the best place to begin this blog is to say I'm marrying my dream girl. She's everything I could have hoped for, and so much more. As far as the engagement goes, I wanted to propose on Saturday the 25th. Spring (my fiance) I think was catching on that I was going to propose to her soon. To throw her off my scent I told her the fulfillment department of the ring store contacted me to tell me that there was a two week back order on the ring. The scent was lost! The weather reports weren't looking too good for the weekend. The last decent day weather wise was Thursday. On Wednesday I decided I was going to do it on Thursday. Wednesday night I went to see Spring's dad and asked permission to marry his daughter. He said yes! Thursday afternoon I took Spring up the canyon under the false pretenses of a hike. We walked a little ways to a spot where two little streams come together to become one. I told her that before we went any further I needed to tell her a story about these two little streams. I said, "These two little streams are cool all by themselves, but they wanted to be a part of something bigger and better so they came together. Now they're both apart of something bigger and better than anything they could have been on their own. We're both cool, you and I. I want to be apart of something bigger and better though. That something is being with you for all time and eternity. I want to learn with you. I want to grow with you. I want to grow closer to Heavenly Father as we both grow closer to one another." I then got down on one knee and asked her to marry me. She said yes! We're getting married July 17th in the San Diego temple. We're both ecstatic about everything! Here are some pictures:

The Two Little Streams




Where they converge









And this is where we'll be getting married!

Nodding Off

Making it to church has become somewhat of a struggle as of late. I no longer make my own schedule at work, and as a result I often find myself working the Saturday night shift from 10pm til 6am Sunday morning. Having church at 9 doesn't make it any easier. I have found out the hard way that should I attempt to catch a couple hours of sleep before church I won't wake up to my alarm, let alone make it to church. Instead I try to stay awake. By the time the 3 hour block is over I'll have usually been awake for 25+ hours. Staying awake in church under ideal circumstances can sometimes be challenging. Obviously 25+ hours of wakefulness is less than ideal. I recall as a kid rather enjoying watching some of the men in my home ward as they dozed off during sacrament meeting. There was certainly finger pointing and most definitely snickering, especially if one began to snore. I now have a better understanding of the sacrifices they made to make it to church. I now realize the importance they placed upon being there every Sunday, regardless of the circumstances. This past Sunday I was very happy that I made the necessary sacrifices to attend church. As the 1st hour ended the bishop announced that the stake president would be in attendance during sacrament meeting. I remembered just then that months prior I had told the stake president I would bear my testimony the next time he came to fast and testimony meeting. The first thought that ran through my head, admittedly, was "Oh no!!!" My testimony aside, it was one of the best meetings I can recall being in. The Spirit was so strong. Most people, for whatever reason, talked about the value of the friendships in their lives. One individual stated that being a friend was one of the greatest callings one can have. I would have to agree with such a statement. Similar to the common adage "you are what you eat," is "you are who your friends are." I have been lucky in life to be around people who place within me an aspiration to be better, as well as an aspiration to draw nearer to Heavenly Father.
I have also received a request to put more pictures on my blog. Not that this picture has anything to do with this blog, but here's one anyways.

Spring Break!

Spring break is here... and not a moment too soon! At last a break in the storm of life, and off to enjoy the calm of home. Calm? Is that how I would describe home? I suppose it would be difficult to describe anything containing 3 kids, all under the age of 9, as being anything resembling calm. So I suppose that's not how I would describe it, but one does not have to encounter the calm to find joy. My nieces and nephew are as full of energy and spunk as any kids, and yet they fill my heart and soul with unrefined joy and happiness. In a lot of ways they rejuvenate me by allowing me to see what's really important. I do wish I could see them on a more frequent basis than current circumstances permit, but the extended absences make the times I do see them all the more special. This week is not about finding the calm, rather it is about making up for lost time... lost time with those that we find closest to the heart, despite any physical distance.