Your Mexican Auto Insurance Policy

At the conclusion of every summer I tell myself I'll never do summer school again. Yet, every summer I find myself in the same place. This has by far been my hardest summer ever, and after an extremely hectic week I can now breathe a sigh of relief knowing it's over. Before that sigh has so much as finished, however, I come to the realization that in 20 days I'll start all over again. I need to make the most out of those 20 days, so in a little less than 32 hours I'll be on my way to Mexico with the Charity Anywhere Foundation. I actually have no idea what I'm going to be doing down there, and it doesn't even matter to me. I'll be given the opportunity to serve those that stand in need of it. I've been so busy this summer doing what I've needed to do that I haven't had many opportunities to focus on and serve others, and I couldn't be more excited that I can finally take the focus off myself and and help those that stand in need. What a spiritual experience this is going to be!

The power of a friend

I have been blessed in so many many ways. Among the greatest of my blessings are the friends I've had the privilege of having. Friends that put your happiness even above their own, because they know that you being happy will make them happy. One night, a very long time ago, I was really upset about something and I needed someone there for me. I called up one of my best friends, Ben. When he picked up I wasn't even able to say anything. I just cried. Ben hung up the phone and a few moments later I heard the nearing 'thud thud thud' of someone running towards me. It was Ben. He didn't say anything and he didn't have to. Just being there was enough. On another occasion I was going through a very difficult time, yet was able to keep my difficulty a secret from just about everybody. One random night, however, my door bell rang. It was my friend, Mick. I hadn't seen him for a week or two and he had never really come to my house before so I thought it was a bit odd. In any case, he asked if I'd come out and take a walk with him. After we exchanged pleasantries I asked him to what I owed the pleasure of his visit. He said something to the effect of, "I actually don't know Adam. I just felt like you needed some help and wanted to make sure everything was alright." Even our innermost bottled up feelings are known by our Father in Heaven. I told Mick that everything was fine, and after that visit everything was. That visit did so much for me, and Mick didn't even know it. He just followed a prompting. Often times our prayers are answered through friends, and that was one such occasion where mine was.
Towards the end of high school I became really close to a family in my ward. I grew particularly attached to one of their sons, John. I could fill a book or two on all the crazy things we did! Last July I received a text message from my brother saying that he had heard John had died sometime that morning. I made a few phone calls. It was true. John was gone. I've always been exceptional around death. I had seen it more than a hundred times while serving in Iraq and it never phased me the least bit. Though, none of those hundred were a friend of mine. The few weeks leading up to the funeral I was ok. The emotions, however, flooded back when I went to the funeral. I, again, have been fine since the funeral and don't think of John all that often. For whatever reason I was talking to a friend about John recently and I started to get upset again about losing him. I wondered why. What I've come up with is that a friend, someone who puts your happiness even above theirs, is hard to come by. They're the ones that are so important to hang onto. Thankfully with the knowledge of the Gospel I know that I'll see him again, but it's still not easy to lose a friend. I'd be so much less of a person today without my friends. They are quite literally a blessing in one's life.

What do you want?

I always knew growing up when Thanksgiving was drawing near. The closer it got, the more advertisements for this that and the other would come in the mail. As a kid I would go through these advertisements over and over again. Circling and, often times, recircling all the many things I wanted from Santa that year. Just the thought of all the new toys is enough to make the naughtiest of little boys yearn to be placed on the good list, and mom's have a gift of leveraging their correspondence with Santa to whip these naughty boys into shape. As time passed, I found myself asking for fewer and fewer gifts. That didn't seem to matter as much anymore. What I've come to realize is that being able to spend quality time with my family is a far better gift than anything than can be bought at Wal-Mart (probably one of the few things left in this world that can't be bought there). I don't get to see my family very often but it's always special when I do. As my love for toys has dwindled the love for my family has grown. Every passing year I seem to love them just a little bit more than the year before. As much as I love my family, my love for them is surpassed by the love for my nieces and my nephew. They brighten my life. Nothing has ever been able to put so big a smile on my face. And then I realized what I want this Christmas... My family.

Memories

I've often been in awe of the effect that memories can have on our lives. Perhaps this is unique to myself, but I often seem to store only the good memories. Memories that uplift and encourage. It's been said that, "God gave us memories so we may have roses in the Decembers of our lives." I cannot underscore just how true that is. I remember I was watching conference. President Thomas S. Monson was giving one his articulate and uplifting talks when he quoted the above quote. I immediately rewound (thank goodness for TiVo) and jotted it down. I've always been fond of memories. All too oft I find myself remembering the good times of a not so distant past. These memories always serve to put a smile on my face. Sometimes, however, we forget some of the best of our memories. This only highlights the importance of keeping an up to date journal. Last night I was a bit down and needed something to uplift me. I began reading my old journal entries. I not only found myself laughing out loud, but also found myself with tears in my eyes. Happy tears though. It's always pleasant going back and seeing how much you've progressed. As you read journal entries from the past your more able to look at the situation with a much grander perspective, and in just about every case (at least for me) everything turned out wonderfully when I put my faith in my Heavenly Father. As simple as a lesson as that may seem, it's nonetheless important to be reminded from time to time. I've realized that some of the lowest times, times when it felt like the world was bearing it's weight on my shoulders, have often become my fondest of memories. It's times like these that have forced me to my knees, and ultimately grown me into the person I am today.

A deep thought at 3am

If I wasn't already prior to this weekend, I am now fully convinced of the fact that I will never stop learning. There is so much out there to learn. In both the seen and unseen worlds alike. And as much as there is to learn there is an exponentially greater amount of information that hasn't been tapped just yet. External lessons aside, we may spend the next 80 or so years in our mortal state and still never fully know ourselves. With every test, every challenge we not only become stronger, but better understand ourselves as well. If for no other reason, it is this fact that makes having a relationship with our Father in heaven so important. Because he does know us. He knows our weaknesses and strengths. Our highs and lows. And, ultimately, He knows the path that will lead to eternal happiness. We may at times want to do things our own way, or walk down our own path… but that's just us being stubborn. When our lives are guided by the Father there's only one direction we can go. We might face a season of unpleasantries on that path, but ultimately even those trials will lead us to happiness.

What I've learned (this is over a year old)

I'm a couple months shy of 24 years spent in this mortal existence. In this relatively short time I've experienced many things. More things, I think, than would a typical person of my age group be able to boast. Some experiences have brought me down while yet others have lifted me up. Although some of my experiences have brought me lower than I've ever wanted to venture I'm not quite sure how readily I would give such experiences up these "tough" experiences have made me into the person I am today much more so than those that have otherwise initially built me up. One's character is determined, I believe, not by how the individual responds to the good, but rather how one responds and reacts to the bad. As aforementioned, I've been through many of the good but have been through my share of the bad as well. Going through these bad experiences is always painful on some level. I've learned that bad experiences hurt the most when things are completely out of your control. If you can..t control a situation then you have no hand in the outcome. That, to some degree, scares me. What I've learned (and at the same time has at times hurt me the most) is that the path that YOU want to take isn't always necessarily the best path. In attempting to navigate a maze, the best route typically cannot be easily discerned while in the maze itself. Conversely, someone with an elevated vantage point would be able to map the best route. There..s only one person who has the vantage point in our lives. We too, as it were, are running around in a maze of sorts trying to find our way to the goal. We can decide to listen to the one with the vantage point or we can disregard it. Ultimately in the end we will be much happier and go through much less strife if we listen to the directions given us. Still, listening doesn't always take us in the direction that we want to go in. Going in the "right direction" will still have obstacles and trials. We may not want to experience or even navigate through such things.. but nothing worth while was ever easy and nothing easy is ever worth while. In the maze of life there will always be pain and suffering, both the good and bad alike. Likewise, choices and decisions will be placed before us.. some of which are much less than easy or obvious. As long as we listen to the "vantage point" we can be assured that we will head in the direction that we ultimately want to head. As we go through the obstacles in life we can take comfort that we always have someone to help us.. to guide us. Someone who has been through the same such obstacles.. who knows both exactly how to navigate such obstacles, and to comfort us if we don..t quite do as well as we..d like. Our vantage point wants to help, but it is up to us to heed the counsel given. He..s offering the map of the maze. It..s up to us to use it.

This could only happen to me

In my diligent effort to remedy my "singleness" I've been putting forth some effort as of late. My efforts, however, haven't borne any fruit but they have produced some funny stories. I was telling a friend about them today and she thought it would be a good idea to make a book of all of my stories (trust me, I have a lot of them). So, this is as much a way to appease her as it is wanting to find out the feasibility of such a book. Enough of the intro, lets get to the stories!

All pharmacy programs require their applicants to have successfully completed a psychology class, so I decided to take psychology 1010 this semester. So here I am, a 24 year old college senior taking a freshmen level psychology class. Being a freshmen level class, I'm easily one of the eldest students in that class, and for whatever reason, the female gender seems more interested in psychology than your average male. Thus, about 85% of the class was female. So the first day of class, I did what any single person does…. I "scoped" it out. I decided which girls in class I wanted to get to know a little bit better. Our teacher soon thereafter began class and was going over the grading scheme. Among other things, we were going to be graded on a group project that we would have to present in front of the entire class. She then split us up into groups of 10. Well, I was lucky enough to have two of the girls I wanted to "get to know better" in my group. I, of course, was delighted by this. Our group met and we all exchanged numbers with one another. That's the background information.

One day I walked into class and one of the cute girls in my group was sitting in my usual seat. I sat next to her and we started talking. Class started soon thereafter and we obviously stopped our conversation. Throughout the teacher's lecture this girl, Rachel, was texting non stop. Usually I don't mind, but in this instance it was a bit distracting. I decided I needed to pull a prank on her! I opened my notebook and turned to the page I had written down the numbers of everyone in my group. I found her number and I texted her. This is what the text said: "I would appreciate it if you refrained from texting during my lecture. Thanks, your teacher, Jan." She opened up her next text message and she couldn't help but have that certain look of bewilderment. She closed her phone and put it back her in pocket. It didn't come back out. Ten minutes I leaned over to her and asked, "Hey, you didn't happen to get a text message from the teacher, did you?" Her eyes got as big as softballs. "Na-Uh! Did you get one too?!?" At this point I couldn't stop from laughing and I fessed up to the deed. After that we spent some time together. We went to a concert and went on a motorcycle ride or two. Among our conversations, she told me she was 18. I didn't like that too much but I decided I shouldn't let that decide if I liked her or not… so I continued on. A few days later was Saturday. I wanted to do something with her, but she had to work until late that night, 11 pm to be specific. For all those out there that know me well, I'm sure you'd agree that I'm a "retard". I decided I hadn't done anything retarded for a while, and that I should fix that. So, in my effort to do something retarded, I went to the store Saturday night and bought a long stem rose and a bottle of Martinelli's. If you don't know what that is your seriously missing out. In any case, I got to her work at 10:30. I parked a good distance away from her car so Rachel wouldn't be able to see me. I then walked over to her car, hid the rose and two glasses in a tree near her car, and placed the Martinelli's on top of her car… so she wouldn't miss it. I then returned to my car and waited. Finally, around 11:30, a car pulls up near Rachel's car. Two girls hop out. One girl grabs the Martinelli's and both girls hop back in the car. Combining the darkness with distance I was from Rachel's car I couldn't tell if Rachel was over there or not. So, after a minute or two, the car that the two girls jumped into parks and three people get out: the two girls and a guy. Again, couldn't tell who was who. At that point I had three options: Save face and leave, go over there and perhaps Rachel is one of the three people, or if Rachel isn't one of them go over there and get my Martinelli's back! I decided to go over there. As I was walking over, one of the girls went into the backseat. I wasn't trying to be sneaky, but the girl and the guy had their backs to me, and when I was about 5 feet away from them I exclaimed, "HEY!" The girl flips out and commences to cuss me out. After a moment of shell shock I made my way over to the backseat of the car and Rachel was indeed there. I asked Rachel what was her friend's deal, and I found out they were best friends. So I got a little turned off. I left a few minutes later just feeling absolutely retarded….so mission accomplished I guess. The next morning I woke up to 6 text messages from Rachel. In paraphrase the texts said, "Adam, I'm so sorry. I should have told you sooner. I thought it would have come up in a previous conversation, but it didn't. I graduated from high school a year early…. I'm only 17!" lol. How do you handle something like that? And if your wondering, she had in fact told me she was 18.

Two weeks later I went to class and the teacher informed our group that we were scheduled to present our project in two days. So, being the eldest, I took charge and called everyone that night to make sure everything was getting done. In doing so, I inevitably had to call the "other cute girl" in my group. We ended up talking for about 45 minutes… while she was at work. She obviously could have gotten off the phone had she wanted to. When she did get off work she called me and we talked until her phone died. So I thought this looked promising! The next day we met up to go over what we had with the project and after 5 minutes we started talking about pretty much everything but our project. About 40 minutes into our conversation she mentioned that she was working a full time job, a part time job and going to school full time. I inquired as to her reasoning for doing so. Her answer: Bills. I called her BS and told her that I had way more bills than she has. To try to figure it out I asked her how much she pays a month for her car. "Nothing, it's completely paid off." I was even more confused so I asked further about these bills. Before I let you know what she said I want to remind you that we had been flirting for a good solid 2 days now. Ok, so her response to her "bills"…. "Well, I'm getting married in 11 weeks, and we're going to have a lot of bills, and I'm just trying to stay on top of them before they really get bad." I immediately thought to myself, "Seriously? What are the chances… I seriously have the worst luck… wait, maybe she has a ring on her finger and I just didn't see it." I took a few glances at her ring finger… nothing. So I asked, "Where's your ring?" "Well, my boyfriend said he's going to propose to me sometime this week, I just don't know when it's going to be," she replied. The next day in class, guess what was on her previously nude ring finger? You guessed it. She got proposed to that night. Very likely within an hour or two after we had finished flirting with one another.

About 2 hours before that, however, I passed up a chance of a lifetime! I was on campus at BYU going to a basketball game. A very attractive young lady was walking in my direction. This, obviously, was reason enough for excitement. We neared each other and, in so doing, made eye contact. I said hi and she returned my hi with a hi of her own. Just as we passed she stopped and turned around… and I did the same. "Sorry!" she said. "I couldn't see you. The sun was right behind you. YOU LOOKED LIKE AN ANGEL!" Those were her exact words! "You looked like an angel!" I responded, "Wow, that's a really good first impression!" She followed up, "Yeah, it is!" And then, being the retard that I am, I walked away. I know, your probably asking yourself, "What the heck are you thinking?" Funny thing is, the stupidity of the situation didn't quite hit me for about a minute, but when it did hit a minute later it hit hard! I felt so absolutely retarded. So this took place on a Tuesday evening, right before 7. Guess where I was the following Tuesday right before 7? You guessed it! I had been sitting there for about 20 minutes when I saw the girl I thought I had seen the week earlier. So, I followed her and she got in her car. At that point I completely chickened out and walked right past her car. A few seconds later I was able to must up some courage by telling myself, "Dude! Freakin grow a pair! Worst case you'll have a funny story to tell!" So I turned around and walked back to her car. Luckily, the car door was still open. I walked up to her car… "Excuse me, did I run into you last week?" She looked at me for a moment, "No, I don't think so." "Really? I look like an angel…. Not ringing any bells?" She looked me over again, "No, I'm sorry." So maybe it wasn't her, but she was still a cute girl. I really considered asking her out anyways, but come on… that would be weird, right? So I thanked her for her time and I walked away. So yeah, that's my dating situation for the past month. Hope you enjoyed. Let me know what you think.

-Adam