Insulting the Utes.

Well, BYU beat the University of Utah on Saturday. Huzzah, Huzzzah! But then some quarterback by the name of Max Hall decided to rip the Utes a new one by saying,

"I don't like Utah. In fact, I hate them. I hate everything about them. I hate their program, their fans. I hate everything," Hall said. "It felt really good to send those guys home."
"I think the whole university and their fans and the organization is classless," Hall said. "They threw beer on my family and stuff last year and did a whole bunch of nasty things. I don't respect them and they deserved to lose."

(Edit, Max Hall apologized later for his comments.)

I mean, come on? Honestly? Mr. Hall, you've been a good quarterback and all, but if you're going to fuel the flames of the rivalry, at least do it intelligently instead of being upset about a poor throwing game and citing something that happened a year ago as why you hate U of U.

That being said, I now present you some intelligent and witty ways to insult the Utes without sounding like a total moron:

1) Mention some mistakes the Utes did. Things like how their young quarterback fell apart after the first quarter. Call him a newb.
2) Brag about your sacks and interceptions. How much more embarrassing and frustrating are those moments for fans and the team? Expound on that.
3) Laugh and don't be serious about it.
4) Don't insult the campus in general, there are several good things about it, and in some aspects, they have better programs than BYU.
5) Comment on their long hair. What's with that anyways?
6) Joke about their penalties. Like the call about disconcerting the snap cap. Or better yet, play off the idiotic call from the game the week before "Deceiving the defense" and make jokes about deceiving the Utes and not being called out on it.
7) Admit you made mistakes, but then boast that the Utes couldn't capitalize on them.

That's at least seven things you could have taunted the Utes about, something that isn't idiotic drivel. And Mr. Hall, didn't you say that you and the others practiced overtime plays a lot, so you were prepared? There's around thirty of you, and none of you got together to think of witty insults and comebacks? That is where you fail Hall. For not coming prepared to dish on the Utes intelligently. You're smart, that's why you are at BYU. Use that noggin and get some good quips in for after the game.

Unless you used all your best material on the field where the fans couldn't hear. But that's just lame.

So BYU football team, I charge you to come up with some intelligent and witty material for next years game, instead of ignorant anger driven babble. Is that too hard to ask?

Addendum: And if you really want to call University of Utah fans and football players classless, do it with style. Call them mudblooded half-goat sons of
Uruk-hai or something. Throw in literary references, have fun with it. Use fancy words that will make most people go "huh?" at. That will be classic. Better than some angry tirade at least.

Invasion of High Schoolers!

A few friends and me went to the South Towne Mall Thursday night/Friday evening, being informed that the mall opened at midnight for Black Friday. We were expecting craziness. We were expecting chaos. All we got was a mall full of high schoolers.

I took some pictures, which I'll share. But mostly we roamed. The Giant was disappointed that there was no electronics store in the mall at all, and another friend, Liza, has a gift card to Macey's that she couldn't use since it was closed.

Lots of people

More people

BYU Stuff of course. (There was Utes stuff next to it. I ignored it like any good BYU student should. ;) )

Lines to Bed Bath and Beyond.

Cheap deals.

Game knock-offs. What in the blazing abyss is this?!

Thankfulness

Well, I am at a cousin's house on their computer, so I am not going to do another 100 Grateful Things post, as I don't know how much time I have before I'll be kicked off.

But I am grateful, very grateful. I've been learning about the history of my family, and I am grateful for them and their sacrifice. My direct ancestors on my dad's side arrived in Virginia in the 1630's, with some traces of some pilgrims from Plymouth Rock. I am grateful for their sacrifice and what they fought for, even those who fought and served for the Confederates.

Anyways, I hope you all have a most splendid day. Have some most excellent fun.

Also, apparently I will be going with a friend or two to watch the chaos of Black Friday tonight. So I'll post pictures.

Missionary Transfer Wednesday

Dear viewers,

This week the work was on fire in Cicero, an no, our area book didn't catch on fire. We were finally beginning to see the fruits of our labor. We got new investigators, promising investigators, and the ones we had found before are progressing. Last Wednesday after we visited the aquarium, we taught a new media referral. She's a pastor for her church, but unlike all other pastors who just listen to humor us then ask us to leave and then never hear back from them again, this one was humble and open minded. she actually wanted to hear what we had to say and asked honest questions and wanted to learn more. She even invited us back. After teaching the pastor lady, we had another awesome lesson with Steve and Hannah. Steve is still lacking in a testimony and we are trying to help him better understand Christ. Hannah has come along nicely but isn't ready to commit yet.

Saturday was another awesome day. All of our appointments went through!!! We had another awesome lesson with a new media referral. Never before in my mission has the spirit guided me so well in what I should say. That lesson was perfect, we were very bold, extended the perfect commitment and gave a great warning of anti-Mormon sentiments. She is an ex druggie wanting to learn more about Christ, no longer wants to fool around with her boyfriend, and already knows what its like to be hated by someone of a different faith. Unfortunately she just got into a new church and has a scheduled baptism date for the next day in that church. She also believes every word her pastor tells her!!! This probably means that despite our boldness in telling her that her church doesn't have the full authority from God, she probably will just go back and ignore our warning and just believe her pastor; I've seen it happen before. These two things worry me, if it weren't for those she would be completely golden. I honestly hope that I didn't just waste all my talents and a perfect lesson on someone who will never go anywhere because of the above. Elder R. was very impressed with my boldness in that lesson and followed my example in the next lesson that we taught. I have more hope for this one because she was introduced to us by members.

Alas, despite a perfect day and a nearly perfect week all good things must come to an end. Saturday night we got the life shattering transfer call. After 14 months in the city, I am being transferred to the suburbs of Woodridge in the Joliet zone. This isn't right, that's not how it was supposed to happen, something went wrong. I know I should have stayed in Cicero. My replacement, Elder B. literally just switched places with me. He was only in Woodridge for one transfer; he should have stayed there!!! MOVING TWO PEOPLE LIKE THIS JUST ISN'T DONE, THEY HAD NO BUSINESS DOING IT. I think it must be my fault that we got moved like this, I think I did something wrong. Alas, I think I got moved because I didn't get good teaching statistics and that I lacked the faith to stay in the area. That is the only explanation. There was no other reason to move the two of us.

Sunday was spent in solemn depression. None of our investigators have progressed fast enough to be baptized from the last six weeks. I will never be able to see the fruits of my labor. I missed Beverly when I left, but after 9 months there I felt my time was done and that there was nothing more I could accomplish. Not so with Cicero. There was so much more I could have done, but now I'll never see it.

After church I spent the rest of the day saying my goodbyes to all the awesome people I've grown to love, who I may never see again. I will greatly miss the St family. Sister St.'s cooking was some of the best I've ever had! We would have spent Thanksgiving over there, except that now I'm getting transferee and have to spend it with total strangers!! I loved that family, Brad St. is a man who will make an awesome missionary some day, if he just listens to his mom.

after the St. Fam, I said goodbyes to the V. family. Honestly, they are one of the best families in Cicero. They have truly become some of the best friends I've ever had. Brother V. was the man who always had something for us to do, Sister V. would always have dinner for us even if it was inconvenient for her. Little Tatiana will be all grown up if, and when, I ever see her again, she won't remember me at all. I'll even miss obnoxious Mario. When I left that home for the last time, I felt a sinking emptiness like I've never felt before any other time that I've been transferred. Elder Rn. said it only gets harder with every area, but with the true friends I made of missionaries and members that I met in the city, I don't think it could get any harder than that to leave, at least not until my dieing/last area. I feel I honestly should have stayed and gotten a quad kill with Elder Rn., but i guess that wasn't to be.

I wasn't exactly happy to be leaving, but everyone I talked to tried to console me with stories of how awesome Woodridge is; a baptism about every month, being fed every night, etc... I still wasn't happy to leave but i decided to take some good advice and forget myself and go to work. I think with every day that passes by, I'll be a little less depressed over leaving Cicero. On Monday I packed all my stuff and left for transfers. I vowed that I would return to the city one day but I was just being overly dramatic about leaving, that it was just wishful thinking, I know it's out of my hands. After transfers, I left for Woodridge, bidding a fond farewell to the city I had gotten so used to every day.

I got to know my new companion, Elder Sn. He came out one transfer after I did, so he's the first companion that has less time in the mission than I do, he's district leader and area senior, so I'm still junior companion. He's the youngest of 6, who have all served missions, this is his third area and he has four baptisms. I asked him if we could be related, since he and my mom's side of the family share a common last name, but although he says that it is possible we are related, he doesn't know for sure. After getting settled in, unpacking, ect; we got to know some of the members, getting fed every night does help. Hopefully I'll be able to see the work progress in this area and see the fruits of my labor while still in the area.


With warm regards, Elder Fields.

Oh Ye Twilight Lovers

I agree with this video. It would have been hilariously ironic.

Wait, Which is it?!

Yesterday, seeing how the Family History Library was open, I went and immersed myself into Ancestry.com. Now before yesterday I thought that the vast majority of my Mom's side of the family had all immigrated to the United States upon joining the Church, but I found a couple of branches that lived in the New England area for a time. Obviously, I have too look into this more. But do you know what this means? I have Yankee blood in me!

Which now creates some confusion, because my dad's side of the family is all from the South, I even have a great great uncle who served as a confederate soldier and was shot in the leg in 1863.

So I have a very interesting conundrum: Am I a Yankee, or do I want the South to rise again? Obviously, I could go back further, but then I go back into England or the Netherlands, and there's no major provocations there that will cause an identity crisis. So I am unsure.

And another question too, if I go with the South, will I then know why the South wants to rise again? Is that something that all Southerners know from birth? I'm just not sure.

Also, Ancestry.com is awesome. Expensive, and thus requires me to use the terminals at the BYU Library, but awesome nonetheless.

Tales of Victory

Jumping out of bed, with a rhythm in his head. A slow pounding if you, an announcing of trumpets, possibly. Hints of grandeur and possibly of great things to come.

Months of sweat and hard work. Frustration and bitterness. Late hours and long days, battling it out for survival. All leading up to this point.

With the beginnings of the tune in mind, and breakfast in stomach, went the lad. Up, up, up the stairs of the southern walkway , walking full on confidence for the final bout. Go time. Passing other students, being silently cheered on, a whisper in the air, cheering for Sam to have a KO match. Marching on, passing the Marriott and seeing a last flight of stairs to reach the Independent Study building. Climbing, or rather running up, to jump in anticipation and excitement of reaching the top.

Running, and entering, hearing the cheering again. Hearing "Eye of the Tiger." Hearing the shouts of "Yo, yo, Adrian!"

Meeting the rival. taking time to size up the opponent. 63 questions of pure agony sure to come. But ready to rise to the challenge.

Sitting down, and given a sucker punch or two. A more readied and hidden defense. 63 questions. 58 Multiple choice. Most of that true false. Cockiness for a brief second before the punches flew. Carefully crafted questions, one after another, left a wishful thought that more studying should have been done. But battled on, persisted. Question after question, blow for blow. Until finally a few calculation problems. Though winded, the would-be champion glanced at this opponent again, and threw a few more punches. And down went the opponent. Completed. Handed in. Ready to be files and graded. Wasn't a perfect fight, but signs pointed to victory. The official tally and review still going on, the final outcomes of the match to be released in a week or two.

But the Champion didn't care. He strode out of the building, the "Eye of the Tiger" winding down and new music shaped. Music of victory.

And with a shout in the crisp fall air, the Champion shouted, "VICTORY!!!"
Twas a good day, a good day for the match.

--
So yes, I finally finished my Linear Algebra independent study class. Hazzah!

The Ending of an Era

The parting of a curtain,
The glimmer of hope,
A ray of sunshine.

For nearly a quarter decade
Suffering, tyranny, mind control
Things that just seemed to be

An empire. Controlling and inflating worth
Downward spirals, control
Control, control control

But today...
A new dawn breaks. A glimmer of hope.
A tearing of the great scarlet curtain.

For it was on this day that the news broke.
The toppling of an empire, the end of tyranny

The day people were free.
Free to think for themselves.
Not to be told what to do
Or who to vote for

All because of who said endorsed it,
But now people look, with hope.
Hope of a new future without such Tyranny.

For this is the day that Oprah Winfrey announced her resignation. The day that hope sprung forth into the world again.

And it was a good day.

Missionary Wednesday

Every Wednesday is my brother's P-day in the Chicago South Mission, and so excerpts of his weekly e-mails are posted here.

Hello Family and Friends,

Last Wednesday, Elder Rd. and I went to the aquarium. It was pretty cool except for the lame "fantasia" show they had. The aquarium handlers told us that instead of the animals doing tricks and us getting a chance to learn about the the animals, they would do this slightly different show where they animals do what comes naturally to them. Supposedly in the beginning they were going to make someone’s dream come true by letting an audience member get up close and personal with the animals. But the little girl they chose seemed to be too well behaved and her actions seemed scripted. When were were leaving we heard another audience member say that they used the same little girl from before, which completely ruined what little magic the show had. Other than that, the animals in the show really didn’t do anything at all. They just sat there most of the time while the people did the performance, and some of the promised animals weren’t even there. The best part of the show was when the dolphins actually did something when none of the other animals did. Other then that the aquarium was very good. I’m going back with Elder Rt. today because he didn’t get to go.

In regards to the work, last Wednesday night we met with Steve and Hannah again. Both Elder Rt. and I felt completely and utterly useless. Steve and Hannah had so many deep and probing questions that we had such a difficult time answering,and were it not for their friends from north Chicago, Rich and Jennifer, we would have accomplished nothing that night. I left feeling terrible. Not only did we have so much trouble in the lesson, but they told us before the lesson started about the challenges in their life that have been building up dramatically. Which, again, there is nothing we could do about that. I felt hopeless until Elder Rt. explained to me that those challenges is just Satan doing everything in his power to stop them from progressing, which means that Steve and Hannah are progressing and our work with them is worth something after all.(Editor's note: Steve and Hannah have some legal issues that they need to take care of before they can be married an baptized) I think they will be baptized, but with the ever increasing pressures of their life; getting them a testimony may just be the easy part. The real difficulty will be getting around the adversaries tricks and into the waters of baptism.

Anyways, this week Elder Rt. has been pulling the “New Guy Card” to get us in the door with the members in the area. It’s been working really well. We’ve scored lots of lessons and dinner appointments with him just trying to get to know the people in the area. Let’s hope this continues to work.

I also can’t believe how fast this transfer has gone by! Due to Thanksgiving, this transfer ends early so the departing missionaries can enjoy Thanksgiving with their families. So this transfer is just about up, We get transfer calls Saturday and transfers are on Monday. I sincerely hope that I will stay here through the holidays. Because, if I leave now, I really don’t feel like I’ve accomplished enough right now to be leaving the area happy.

Anyways, Happy holidays to you all, enjoy Thanksgiving

Love Elder Fields

Meme(ish) Time

It's been a while since I've done one of the meme quizzes that float about, and it's a Tuesday morning. So I can either post weird math jokes and experiences later on that happen as I attempt to keep my sanity in the Math lab, or I can do this. I chose this.

This quiz courtesy of Larissa, a girl in my last ward, who may not know who I am...

1.What's your current obsession?
Obsession as in something I do all day? Finishing up this blasted Linear Algebra independent study class I'm taking.

2.What's your zodiacal sign? Do you identify with it?
I'm a Taurus, I don't give a hoot about astrology usually, but for the sake of the blog, I'll post today's horoscope. In the daily horoscope thing from Horoscope.com it says:

You've had a day or two to think about your new business opportunity. This window could close at any time, so you need to make a move immediately. Take what information you have, form a solid opinion, and stick to it until someone else comes up with something better.

3.What are you wearing today?
Shorts and T-shirt that I slept in.

4.What's the last thing you purchased?
Divine Comedy Tickets, I think.

5.What do you think about the person who blog I took this from?
She's awesome, smiles a lot and strives to be happy.

6.What's for dinner?
Most likely Mac and Cheese

7.What's your favorite decade?
Let's go with whichever decade best fits in the Elizabethan Era.

8.What are your summer must haves?
Umm, a job? Fun? Sun? I don't really know.

9.What would you love to do?
Travel to Mexico again. Take over the world. Mess with the Space Time-continuum. Get more in shape. Hack into major porn sites and replace all the images there with Barney in a speedo.

10. What's your favorite item from your wardrobe?
My top hat.

11.What's your dream job?
I'd like to do ethical/anti-hacking for the government sometime down the road, protect national networks from all sorts of hackers.

12.What's your favorite magazine?
The Ensign, I don't read others too much. No money.

13.What's the biggest fashion faux pas?
Wearing all red and being barefoot?

14.Describe your style.
Usually jeans and a t-shirt. Throw in some nicer shirts on occasion for some spice. And the wearing of Top hats every now and then.

15.Favorite Beatle?
Umm, Pass.

16.What are your proud of?
I'm almost done with my math class. I'm proud to be a member of the LDS Church, I suppose. I'm proud... of being proud? I dunno.

They Have a Canon!

Can't write much, Gauss-Jordan, and other ghosts of linear-algebra mathematicians are pestering me with the school work that I have to do.

But anyways, I went to Divine Comedy with Shandra, and we had fun. You know what, Divine Comedy had a glowstick cannon now! It's crazy!

None of the movies they made are up yet, but I suggest you go to their site and watch the 2nd video listed. It's hilarious.

Anywhat, I truly have to get back to school work. Blast cumulative exams and all.

Searching... Searching... Searching...

I just thought I'd share some of the more recent searches that Google has delivered to my blog. Feel free to laugh, or be disgusted. I completely understand either way. Since many lead the same page, I'll group the searches by the pages they land on.

Close Encounters of the Cleverbot Kind:
cleverbot scam
cleverbot is flirting with me
female human cleverbots
how to stump cleverbot
is cleverbot a human
is cleverbot a scam
is cleverbot really a person
stump cleverbot
why does cleverbot think he is human?

Your Mom and Spooning:
spooning with mom
i said no spooning
no spooning
No spooning allowed
I spoon with mom

Math and the Crocodile Hunter
croc hunter memories
mathtv

Provo Politics
"coy d. porter" stop cindy
"sterling beck"
"sterling beck" "cindy richards"
beat cindy richards, provo
cindy richards sterling baeck
laura cabanilla or coy porter
provo mayoral debate
sterling beck
sterling beck cindy
sterling beck provo

November's CES Fireside:
ces fireside elder uchtdorf
uchtdorf ces -"to speak"

Other:
"what made red man red"
Finedoodles.com
Nanti
That Paul Mero Sutherland guy.
Samantha braces

Also, tonight I have my date with Shandra. Have a good weekend.

The Sutherland Insitute, Asexualism, and You.

With the two Salt Lake ordinances that passed this week granting work protection rights to gays, and with the LDS/Mormon Church backing them, you think all would be happy in Utah, right? Not so, one group, the Sutherland Group, disagrees. Upon hearing their representative talk, you'd think they're speaking out against gay rights equality.

Not so. If look into the bad grammar and oddly placed logic, you'll see that they're suggesting something else entirely:

Sexual orientation is an illusion. Your idea of rights is an illusion. Your equality is illusory.

"Sexual orientation is an illusion". Apparently the Sutherland institute believes we're all supposed to be asexual. This is further apparent by their statement,

It only exists in the minds of activists, and their academics, who need to explain away why people do what they do even when they don't want to do it.

So, according to Paul Mero of the Sutherland Institute, he has no sexual orientation and believes that there should be no sexual orientation at all. He's either a cyborg with robotic manly bits, or he's completely asexual. Although the more logical answer would be that he's a cyborg, his states,

The truth is that we are born male and female with moral agency.

See! He says we're all born male AND female. Not 'Male or Female', but 'and'. Clearly that means he is arguing that only asexual humans have rights.

Of course, it doesn't help that he contradicts his asexual argument by saying,

Because it's behavior, our sexuality is always a choice, and any other sexual construct is an illusion.

Of course he could just be saying that heterosexuality and homosexuality are both illusions. That's probably it. He thinks everyone who isn't asexual is actually holographically projecting their sexual behavior, since they aren't asexual.

And, as a follow-up Mero said,

Your idea of rights is an illusion. With the backing of every miserable misanthropic philosopher of the post-Enlightenment era, your initiative feeds on the unreasonable notion that you have these magically organic rights to do whatever you desire.

Clearly the only explanation is that Mero is Morpheus, an asexual cybernetic humanoid who is subtly informing us of the Matrix that we live in, and that we're all an illusion because we aren't asexual. It has nothing to do with his views on homosexuality or that a gay person could view heterosexuality as an illusion, it's that we're all battery-like slaves and he wants to set us free.

I think we should listen to the man, cause I can't wait to asexually split with myself.

Missionary Wednesday

Dear viewers,

This last Wednesday we had a zone activity which was about average. My favorite part of the day was was our appointment with "Steve" and "Hannah". Their north-side member friends were there and we taught them the Law of Chastity again, and this time with the help of there friends, we were able to commit them to live it. "Steve" told us that he admired our cajones, because he had been meeting with north-side missionaries for two years and none of them ever taught them anything about the Law of Chastity, but we taught it twice in two weeks. They also told us that they plan to get married right after their court situation is resolved and have decided to eliminate all unnecessary distractions until the court thing is resolved. They don't even want to talk about being married anymore until their situation is resolved. So the Law of Chastity is not an issue anymore and that feels good. (Editors Note: I weep for his innocence.) Now, for the next part of our challenge; helping them to gain a testimony! This will probably be harder then the law of chastity was.

Thursday there was a zone conference, it was basically a new twist on the old ways of teaching, but it was very enjoyable, I learned a lot. On Friday, as requested by the ward, we took Brother C. to an appointment with "Steve" and "Hannah". They hit it off very well. It sometimes amazes me how well members are able to teach. We also were able to obtain two other member-present lessons this week. We feel very accomplished in doing this, as we have had very little member involvement thus far.

There was a stake talent night on Saturday, which was very enjoyable. Most of the wards in Chicago are Spanish-speaking wards, ergo most of the show was too. Despite the fact that I barely understood what was being said and basically had to go along with the crowd for most of the show, it was still good. I do, however, wonder why when native Spanish speakers are present for meetings containing mostly English speakers, they are provided translator headsets, but when the opposite occurs English speakers receive nothing. Steve and Hanna were also at the talent show. I also find it very strange that while they are willing to attend our functions and attend church with there north-side member friends, they have yet to attend a regular sacrament meeting in the ward in which they rightfully belong to.
As for today, I'm on an exchange with Elder R., Elders E.'s companion. Elder R. and Elder E. have an employment workshop to attend, for those missionaries who have less then two months left in the mission.

...As far as my companions; yes, I am anxiously killing off my companions. I love to tell them of all the horrible ways in which I will commit the dirty deed, freaking them out by how dark and twisted I can be pretend to be. Then, when their time comes, I simply shake their hand and say "you're dead!".

That's all for this week,
Sincerely, Elder Fields.

Jeers and Cheers

I have an awesome friend who plays local league hockey at Peaks Ice. He's awesome and his team, the Chiefs, are pretty good.

However, I have the hardest time coming up with clever stuff based off the names of other teams. Take tonight's team, the Red Dawn, how are you supposed to mock that? They used to be the Fighting Squab, which is way easier to make fun of, considering squab are doves. But the Red Dawn? That's an awesome name, it's hard to think of clever word play jeers to shout during hockey games.

Of course it could be because all that I thought of when thinking about stuff I could use came from Lord of the Rings, where Legolas states that the dawn is red because blood was spilled that night (when they're pursuing the Uruk-Hai who took Merry and Pippin) and when Theodin was pumping his men up for the fight in Pelennor Fields. (Against the Southrons and their huge elephants.)

So how am I supposed to think of stuff like that? It's hard. And I've used up a lot of stuff cheering on the chiefs.

But I digress, I have a math final to prepare for. I have to get back to that.

- Sam.

Confusion

We all know what the SA in SARRMM stands for, right? Super Awkward. Well, even though I'm slowly raising my self confidence and all that, so I'm a little less awkward. Well, probably a tad but more than that.

Anyways, recent events only have served to confuse me. Heck, let's be honest; everything about dating confuses me. Or maybe it is girls who are used to guys who are scum and have to clarify?

Example 1: "Julia" and I were in the same ward together. We somewhat got along, I was awkward, of course, but we got along and talked fine. Then after a stake conference I ask out her out on a date, thinking it would be a good opportunity to get to know her. She then asked some clarifying question that confused me supremely, to which after I repeated myself, she said she wasn't in a dating stage of her life or something. It was odd. I think she thought I was asking her to be my girlfriend. I'm not sure. It was confusing.

Example 2: "Andrea". This was over the summer, we had hung out and surprisingly there wasn't that much awkwardness between us. Laugh Out Loud had show in June in or so, and so I asked her out. She then asked me if it was a date, or if I was planning a group thing, that wasn't a group thing, just to ask her out. I laughed. I clarified that I was asking her out. We had fun. I may have blogged about this back then, I don't recall.

Example 3: "Jennifer". She's a cool girl, she's in my ward. She actually introduced herself to me after one fast Sunday commenting on me always smiling and being happy. (Which surprised me since during the Summer I was feeling down and kind of depressed) and we've been good casual friends. I say causal because we haven't hung out. I haven't hung out with anyone really, mainly cause of school, and self-esteem stuff. But again, that's changing. I've started hanging out with people in ward.
Back on topic, in anticipation of Divine Comedy's show this weekend, I asked her out on Sunday, saying that I was planning on buying tickets, and asked her which day was better for he. We decided on Friday, she didn't care about the time. So I bought the tickets for Friday at 9 and went to her apartment last night just to confirm the time so she'd know what's going on. I went, I confirmed the time, she is starting to get sick and was probably headed for bed, ergo she didn't feel like talking much. So we just confirmed the time, and I left.

Then she calls 20 minutes later having to cancel. She told me she doesn't like date situations, being alone with guys, and apologized to me for buying tickets and offered to pay me for them and asked if we could still be friends. Obviously, we're still going to be friends. I'm the king of rejection, or rather the king of being rejected, something like this isn't going to affect me much and shouldn't ruin friendship anyways. I'm sort of confused as to why she didn't outright say no to me on Sunday, but most likely she didn't pause to register that it was a date. I got the impression that most likely she has had some bad date experiences in the past, and may just hugely feel awkward. I'm not exactly sure, and I genuinely hope that nothing major popped up.

So, yeah. Thus my confusion.

I guess the lesson to be learned is when asking someone out, use the word "date" or it may not register as a date.

I'll have to remember to use that word later today. Thinking of asking out "Shandra". I actually sort of like her, we've hung out a bit, but that's because she and her roommates always invite people over for a weekly game night thing, where we play cards and other stuff. She's a bit shy, but she's super intelligent (She's majoring in Math) but also cute and funny. So we'll see how things go. I actually asked her for help in math (cause I really needed it) and she greatly obliged. I unfortunately left after she answered my questions, instead of staying to hang out, but that's because I am a fool of a Tsook, er guy.

Wish me luck.

A Few Laughs

To detract from the seriousness of everything, here are a couple of awesome and funny video clips:





Have a good week people!

Political Hypocrisy

This is going to be short, but when watching the news and reading some News Stories about the Health Care Bill passing in the House, it was mentioned that Catholic Popes are directly influencing House Representatives. In fact, Jason Altmire, D-Pennsylvania told CNN that He must have approval from his Catholic Bishop before he can vote yes on the bill.

Now what sort of political hypocrisy is this? Catholic Bishops can directly affect legislation, can directly influence politicians and no one says a thing about it, but the LDS/Mormon Church asks it's members to donate money to Prop8, to fight what they see as a moral dilemma, and everyone gets outraged?

Come on. This is a load of bull. Really it is. There is clearly a double standard going on here, a severe double standard. Yes, I understand that people are upset because they see the LDS Church as "Voting on their marriage" and sticking their beliefs in the legal system and all that, but when Health Care Reform is being voted on, something that will actually affect the quality of life and so much more, nothing is said when the Catholic Church directly influences Congressional Representatives to vote yes or no on a bill.

I am so glad our nation is full of a bunch of hypocrites. I really am.

Post CES-Fireside Rant

Yeah, it's almost a week later, but better late than never I suppose.

First off, I have to say that Elder Uchtdorf is the man. He gave a great talk last week about not selling yourself short, not beating yourself up, metaphorically. Something that I've had to learn the hard way as I have low self-esteem.

Elder Uchtdorf also spoke on the important aspect that supposedly afflicts all single LDS people; marriage and soul mates. While it's good to hear that there is no one soul-mate, and not to despair, I don't think that Elder Uchtdorf, or the church, really has addressed the concerns of shy dudes.

While dating and going out on dates is cool and important, I think it's often overhyped and wrongly packaged. After all, our culture, in fact most cultures assume and a practice that the LDS Church doesn't resist is that it's the guy who does the asking out, and it is the girl who responds, politely refusing if she so decides. Why is that?

Yes, I know Elder Uchtdorf said that it's not just girls who may not have a chance to marry, but some guys too. Sure, that's reassuring, but that's merely playing up to, and recognizing, the gender role that has been long established, that it is the guy's responsibility to ask out the girl. Is there some gospel doctrine that says the guy has to take the initiative? Apart from reassurances from General Authorities about dating, there's nothing been said. Nothing been said to encourage females to take some initiative, to ask a guy out. Or maybe it's just not recognized in the church of shy guys having that problem.

But there are shy guys. Guys, who if they don't take the initiative to hang out, to ask anyone on dates, they aren't that social. And most girls just wait for it to come to them. (Waiting includes flirting, talking during church, being friendly, looking pretty, but discludes actually going to hang out with a guy you don't know all that well or ask someone out.)

And so where does that leave shy guys? At home alone, or in the library studying or whatever. If they don't step up and take initiative to talk to a girl, to be more social, then in my experience, it generally doesn't happen. And because of the tradition that the guy asks out the girl, girls who do take the initiative to ask out a guy are viewed in a skewed light, and thought of as weird when they should be thought of as awesome.

So that's just my rant on things, that the Church doesn't address shy guys and doesn't break the male stereotype that it is the guy's "privilege" to ask girls out.

Or, maybe I'm just shy and crazy.

Missionary Friday

Dear Family and Friends:

Wednesday we went to the Field Museum and this time we were actually able to get in. The Field Museum was awesome. We saw the Animal Life Exhibit which was basically a bunch of dioramas with animals around the world. We saw the Egyptian Exhibit which had a bunch of artifacts and mummies, etc. We then saw the Underground Adventure. We "shrunk down" and saw what its like just a few inches below the soil. Last was the Africa Exhibit with their history, countries, people, the savanna, and etc. It was a day well spent and it was even better that night when we had our teaching appointment with "Steve" and "Hanna".
We decided it was time to teach them the Law of Chastity. They both admired our guts for being able to teach them something like this to them. It actually went over very well and we had a good discussion. At least we hope so. Shawn is very good at controlling the conversation, so we don’t really know for sure how they took it. We think they felt somewhat guilty when we talked about it but all we know is they responded positively toward it. On the plus side we did find out exactly what their court situation is. If they get married right away then they wont be able to afford their kids. Their combined income is more what the two real dads support is. If they get married then the other dads can stop paying and they would get away scott-free. On the other hand if they were to wait until the court thing resolves Heathers’ income alone is less then the support the two father’s are paying and these two dad’s would have to pay child support, school, medical, act. She needs that income to support the kids and she can’t get it if she gets married right away.
This week we’ve been doing better with our referrals some of them actually keep our appointments with them and are showing promise. The ward is beginning to like the missionaries again. So if anything else the ward is back on track. Hopefully we will begin to see progress with the ward and investigators.
Saturday was Halloween and it was very different from last year. Last year it didn’t really feel like Halloween. I don’t know if it was just the area or circumstance or what. But this year it actually felt like Halloween. We actually saw trick or treaters this year. Around here the kids go out between 2 to 4pm which, at first seems weird until you realize what a scary place Chicago is after dark, then it makes since. We also got our car egged and it’s extremely difficult to remove egg stains from a car. We both wished speedy justice to come upon the throwers. That night was the ward Halloween party and we were exited to see "Steve" and "Hanna". They were their mixing it up and mingling with the ward. It was a night of fun and good times. I got compliments that night about how people admired how I would just go up to someone and talk to them. That was just a load... It was curiosity, not guts. It was Halloween after all! I wanted to know what people's costumes were. I’ve gone up and talked to people about their costumes since I was born! At the end of the night was “Trunk or Treat”. We got a load of candy. I was also surprised to see that I got a Halloween package! That was awesome. Brother V. of the ward was a DJ for the party and when it was over we followed them home and helped them get there stuff inside. We had heard that someone had threatened to steal their stuff. They couldn’t just leave their stuff out there. He told us he owes us big for that one but we were happy to do it.
Sunday at church another member, Brother C., told us that he had been assigned to be a fellow shipper for "Steve" and "Hanna". We were fine by this. Brother Cis a good guy and they need fellow shippers. The thing we didn’t like about this situation was the fact that the ward went over our heads and did not tell us or consult us in this decision in any way. They made that decision completely without our knowledge!! Honestly its like they don’t trust us to do the work at all! Other then that it’s been a good week.
That’s all this week
Love, Elder Fields.

Midnight Randomocity

First off, I can breathe again. I cough occasionally, but my lungs are restored to full capacity. I approve. I am a fan of breathing.

Also, apparently word of my laugh is getting around. I randomly decided to hang out with some girls today and when I started laughing when something funny was said, one girl in particular mentioned that she hadn't yet had the opportunity to witness my laugh. It is kind of cool, kind of embarrassing.

I also must learn how to tap into that power, the power of laughter. Maybe I conquer the world through laughter?

Time will tell.

Urge to Sail To Valinor...

I'm not sure why, but I have an urge to sail to Valinor... Maybe this has something to do with it?