Book of Lemuel

The book of Lemuel

Little known to the body of the church, during the summer of 1990, a hitchhiker traveling across the southwest desert of the US made a marvelous discovery while searching for a place to bed down in a cave.  Unable to sleep, the hitchhiker began picking at a crack in the floor of the cave, and to his dismay, found nothing less than the lid to a stone box.  Upon removing the lid he discovered a set of aluminum plates, a switchblade knife and a pair of fuzzy dice.

In his desperation for food the hitchhiker sold the plates to an archaeologist from BYU, whom he met at a KFC in Shiprock, New Mexico.  The relics were reportedly sold for $100 and a bucket of the Colonel’s extra crispy with extra slaw and mashed potatoes.

Archaeologists have determined that the plates date from approximately 600 BC and contain writings in reformed Egyptian, which seem to parallel the narrative account of the Book of Mormon.  It is thought that the engravings were written by several men, or by one slightly schizophrenic man.

The Church has delayed comment until the plates can be further translated.  Here is a portion of the translation so far:

Dear Diary,

I, Lemuel, having been born of nagging parents, therefore I have been harassed much of my life.  Not only by my parents, but also by my younger brother, Nephi, and my older brother Laman, with whom I get along best.  There, now maybe my parents will get off my back about keeping a record.  LEM

Dear Diary,

It has finally happened!  My father is a lunatic.  He has decided that he ‘feels’ that we should leave the big city and head into the wilderness.  God only knows where.  He started talking about leaving after he came home from yelling at people to repent.  He said they threw rocks at him.  I think one must have beamed him in the noggin.  He then went and laid on his bed for about 12 hours straight.  I thought he was in a coma.    LEM

Dear Diary,

It looks like dad is serious about this whole leaving thing.  He says that he had a dream in which God told him to leave Jerusalem.  I guess it couldn’t have had anything with the pizza he ate before he went to bed.  I always have dreams like that if I eat pizza before I sleep.

Laman and I are resisting, but it looks like we’re going too.  We don’t really have to, I guess, but if we don’t how will we eat? Despair!  I have a girlfriend and my own horse.  Dad is loaded with gold, which we can’t take into the wilderness because it’s too heavy.  Of course, that momma’s boy Nephi is eager to go.  He makes me sick.  I think I’ll hurl my lunch if I see him again today.  LEM

Dear Diary,

We’ve been living in a tent for three days now.  My neck hurts from sleeping on the ground.  It must show, because Dad and Nephi keep commenting on my stiffneckedness.  There are mosquitoes everywhere and I have blisters on my feet.  Today Dad said, “O that thou mightest be like unto this valley, firm and immovable in keeping the commandments of the Lord…. Blah blah blah.”  Whatever.  Constant nagging.  He never lets up, and Nephi isn’t much better.  Have to go now.  LEM

Dear Diary,

Hi.  I’m Lemuel and I’m retarded.

Dear Diary,

I didn’t write that last entry.  Laman must have somehow gotten a hold of these plates.  Sometimes I wish you there was a way to erase engravings.  Maybe I could get a jeweler to fix it.  Dad says we have to go back into town and get some brass plates from Laban.  Sure, like Laban’s going to say, “Here you go, take them.  Maybe you want my coat too?  You want that I go die of pneumonia, and then you’ll be happy, right?”  He hit me once when we were younger because I spit on him.  I am not going.  LEM

Dear Diary,

Just got back from the city.  It was alright, but the way back was murder.  Laman was picked to go talk to Lana.  He went over and got drunk with him.  Then he hit on one of his women so Laban pummeled him bloody.  After that, we went back home, got our gold, and tried to buy the plates from Laban.  He said no and had his gang chase us away and stole all of our stuff.  Laman was furious.  I thought the vein on his head was going to blow.  He got a stick and we beat Nephi and Sammy with it until we got tired.  Finally, Nephi found Laban by a wall.  He was hammered, so Nephi chopped off his head and took the plates.  LEM

Dear Diary,

Now Dad wants us to go back home and get Ishmael and his family.  He probably wants us to marry his daughters-  he’s got about a million kids.  I guess I don’t mind so much about going back to Jerusalem this time; some of Ish’s daughter have nice bods, but nothing upstairs.  But hey, what more could a man want?  I’ll write more when I get back.   LEM

Dear Diary,

Just got back.  Ishmael’s daughters are better than I remembered.  But there’s one that’s butt ugly.  She’s been hanging around Laman like a bad suit.  Nephi’s been on our backs the whole time.  He keeps telling me to repent.  Sheesh!  IT’s not like I am Cain or something.  LEM

Dear Diary,

I’ve had it out here!  I’m no camper.  I’ve had diarrhea for the last two months.  I haven’t been writing much lately because things have been really hard.  Now the old man’s got a ball he stares into for about 8 hours a day.  He says it’s telling him what to do.  I’m going to bed.  Mom’s pregnant, I think.  Either that or she has a humor.  I think she’s too old to have a baby.  LEM

Dear Diary,

Mom is pregnant.  She had a boy – named him Joe.  We all have families now, and most of us have at least one kid.  I have two – Frank and Jesse.  They’re terrors, but I guess they’ll grow out of it.  I’ve got to write more often, but I always put it off.  I don’t know why, but my wife is getting real buff.  I’m worried about it because she’s almost bigger than me.  Laman’s wife is huge.  She’s stronger then eight cows.  But then, I always told Laman he had an eight cow wife!

Dear Diary,

Oyveh!  Would that there was a good deli in the wilderness.  I’m craving some bagels and lox, maybe pastrami on rye.  Nephi says God told him to build a boat.  He’s never even seen a boat; Jerusalem’s landlocked.  I’ve never seen more than a glass of water at one time, let alone an ocean.  Now Nephi thinks he’s Noah all of a sudden!  He can’t even shoot a bow.  He broke his last one last week.  We went a day without any food because of it, but Nephi probably called it a fast.  LEM

Dear Diary,

Laman just gave me a tattoo.  It really hurts.  He rubbed salt on it before I could stop him.  He said it makes it feel better.  It hurts like the dickens.  I don’t why I left him do it; he can talk me into just about anything.  I can’t believe it’s been eight years since we left home, and here we are on a beach with a ship that probably won’t even float.  Mom had another baby – called him Jacob.  I can already tell he’s going to be nothing but trouble.  LEM

Dear Diary,

We’ve been having a party here on that ship Nephi made.  It works pretty good; we’ve been floating for about two weeks now.  We tied Nephi up yesterday because he was so stiff.  Laman got real mad at him when he was drunk.  It’s been stormy a lot.  If it gets much worse we might sink.  Everybody says God is punishing us with this storm and that we should untie Nephi.  Right!  I doubt it.  But maybe we’ll untie him after Family Home Evening is over.  LEM

Missionary Articles of Faith

The 13 Missionary Articles of Faith

1.  We believe in suits of all colors (black, blue, brown, gray and tan), and in white shirts, and in an assortment of as many ties as possible.

2.   We believe that speakers should be punished for speaking to long, and not the congregation.

3.  We believe that by blaming your companion you can escape all kinds of punishments.

4.  We believe that the first four principles of getting back borrowed articles are: (1) asking, (2) begging, (3) stealing and (4) the laying on of hands.

5.  We believe that a missionary should be raised by the sprinkling of water and the laying on of hands if not out of bed by 6:30.

6.  We believe in the same organization that existed in the previous mission: President, AP’s, ZL’s, DL’s and senior comps. 

7.  We believe in the gifts of cakes, cookies, candy, donuts, and money.

8.  We believe letters from girlfriends to be the word of love, as far as they are translated correctly; we also believe letters from our mothers to be the word of love.

9.  We believe part of what our companions have said, part of what they are now saying, and believe they will try to feed us a lot of bull in the future.

10.  We believe in the literal departure of Elders to their lives back home;  that zion will be built upon this, the state of California, and that we will not be trunky until we have received our honorable release.

11.  We claim the privilege of writing letters home according to the dictates of our own schedules and allow ALL missionaries the same privilege, let the write whom, who, where or what they may.

12.  We believe in not being subject to stop signs, yield signs, speed limits, nor common sense when smashing, crashing, and abusing mission cars.

13.  We believe in being handsome, chased, magnificent, virtuous, and in saying ‘hi’ to all young ladies; indeed we may say we follow the example of our Zone Leaders.  We question all things, we bother all things, we have put of many hours of tracting, and hope to be able to put off many more hours of tracting.  If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report, or praiseworthy, we will seek after her immediately following our release.

forward from An Education for Our Time by Josiah Bunting

 "Major General Josiah Bunting III was not given an easy task in June of 1996.  Although he had served as president of several universities, he was about to embark on his most challenging assignment of all: integrating women into the previously all-male Virginia Military Institute (VMI).  While he disagrees with the Supreme Court's decision declaring such institutions unconstitutional - and fought it zealously - he accepted it.  And he changed the university, accommodating it to the new cadets while preserving many of the traditions that had made VMI what it was.

In our day - when faced with demands for 'new' history, quotas for literature, gender equality, affirmative action, and women's studies - we see that times are changing in American higher education.  But General Bunting was responsible for changing within a year an institution that had gone more than 150 years without much change.  He understood that conservatism is not about dogmatic opposition.  It is, as Abraham Lincoln said, about preserving the best of the past.

Yet this book is the tale not of Bunting's personal or political struggle but rather of his ongoing exploration of timeless truths about education.  He writes that 'the business of undergraduate education remains the cultivation of character and mind, of instinct and ability, of leadership and service.  It is the way men should live and behave in our culture and our country that is the proper business of our colleges.'

Reading such passages, I was reminded of my tenure at the United States Department of Education.  In 1988 I gave a speech at Stanford University in which I responded to growing, hostile arguments for something called 'Cultures, Ideas, and Values,' a new curriculum meant to replace Stanford's Western Civilization program.

Here's in part of what I said to them:

'The point for contemporary higher education is this.  The classics of Western philosophy and literature amount to a great debate on the perennial questions. To deprive students of this debate is to condemn them to improvise their ways of living in ignorance of their real options and the best arguments for each.  Consider the point/counterpoint of Western thought.  On the ends of government, whom do we follow - Madison or Marx?  On the merits of the religious life - Aquinas or Voltaire? On the nobility of the warrior - Homer or Erasmus?  On the worth of reason - Hegel or Kierkegaard?  On the role of women - Wollstonecraft or Schopenhauer?  The study of Western civilization is not, then a case for ideology; it is a case for philosophy and thoughtfulness.  It considers not only the one hand, but the one hand and the other - and, just as often, the third and fourth hands as well.  Those who take the study of the West seriously end up living a variety of different lives and arriving at a diversity of opinions and positions.  And for the diversity, in the West as nowhere else, there is unparalleled tolerance and encouragement.'

I cite that speech in order to prepare the reader for Bunting's radical task.  General Bunting wants to show us how - that is, in what manner and by what means - we might resuscitate the serious study of fundamental, permanent human questions.  He wants to show how we might expand students' minds by refining their field of inquiry - how we might deepen their souls by locating, then cultivating, their better angels.

For many years, conservatives, and even some liberals, have raised concerns about the American higher-education system.  Indeed, most of us now know the failings, the scandals, the problems, and even the causes of the problem.  But Josiah Bunting does not just criticize; he has moved beyond the merely descriptive to the prescriptive and the constructive.  He provides a glimpse of a 'new and improved' American higher-education system ('new and improved' though it stems from the successes of the past) and shows how that improved education might lead to better citizens might lead to a better nation.

General Bunting presents an outline of an ideal university, organizing it around the answers to give specific questions he presents early on:

1.  What is our mission?
2.  Who should our students be?
3.  How should they live?
4.  What should they learn?
5.  Who should lead and teach them?

Of course, these are the same questions that were asked by Plato and Aristotle.  Bunting's answers thus, quite properly point back (and up) to the ancients, the classics.  We should teach our students to be virtuous - to be rugged, responsible individuals, as well as faithful, dedicated citizens.  Teaching students a specific technical skill is not as important as teaching them how to think.  Nor is it as important as teaching them to be good people.  These currently quaint lessons are what guide Josiah Bunting's tenure at VMI.  They are what guide this work as well.

George Washington made the relevant point in a letter to his nephew in 1790:

'To point out the importance of circumspection in your conduct, it may be proper to observe that a good moral character is the first essential in a man, and that habits contracted at your age are generally indelible, and your conduct here may stamp your character through your life.  It is therefore highly important that you should endeavor not only to be learned but virtuous.  Much more might be said to shew the necessity of application and regularity, but when you must know that without them you can never be qualified to render service to your country, assistance to your friends, or consolation to your retired moments, nothing further need be said to prove their utility.'

The proper business of our colleges in indeed to form citizens -  not simply doctors or lawyers or computer programmers.  You wouldn't know it by the numbers.  Less than 25% of today's undergraduates are liberal-arts majors.  Just over 25% are business majors; most of the rest follow vocational tracks to fields such as health care and primary and secondary education.  Bunting is right: 'The things our country requires are simply not the things our colleges are prepared to deliver.'  We must recover the idea that education is more than making a living.  Educations best claim, William James said, is that it teaches a person to value what deserves to be valued.

And in The Abolition of Man, C.S. Lewis writes: 'We make men without chests and expect of them virtue and enterprise.  We laugh at honor and are shocked to find traitors in our midst.'  Citizens are so made - with or without hollow chests - through education.  The education Bunting provides at VMI, and recommends here, makes citizens with chests.

Pledging our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor is not popular at the moment.  But it remains as essential now as it did in 1776.  And it remains the hallmark of a good citizen, a good American, a good person.  Education is more than knowledge of academic interests.  It is about the formation of character.  This latter point is the focus, indeed the noble thesis of Josiah's elegantly written book."

- William J. Bennett
May 1998

List of books this year

1.  The Guardian by Gerald Lund
2.  The Alchemist
3.  They also ran by Irving Stone
4.  Jesus the Christ
5.  Teach like your hair is on fire
6.  An education for our time by Josiah Bunting III
7.  Love is Eternal by Irving Stone
8.  The Story of the Book of Abraham by H. Donl Peterson
9.  The Book of Mormon and the Constitution by H. Verlan Andersen
10.  The Naked Socialist by Paul Skousan
11.  Brothers in battle; Best of Friends by Robyn Post
12.  The Imperial Cruise by James Bradley


The list is short, but its growing!

reading and school

So far this year I have read 4 books:  Jesus the Christ, (the third time) The Alchemist, Dream Team and The Guardian.  They are all really good.  Reading Jesus the Christ helped me a lot, as I was struggling with church attendance and reading the scriptures.  It just made reaffirmed my testimony that Jesus is the Son of God, who is my Savior.

The Guardian was an interesting book.  Through most of the book I thought that it was excellent, right up there with Gerald Lunds other amazing books The Freedom Factor and The Alliance.  It's a complicated story, where a mysterious pouch that is passed from father to son for generations falls into the hands of a teenage girl, whose family is the center of an elaborate extortion plot.  It is pretty interesting, but the story takes 200 pages to develop, and then drags on.

The ending completely ruined the book for me.  The book is 600+ pages, and the ending has to come in the last 3 pages.  It does not resolve anything, it doesn't set the stage for a sequel.  In short the ending is pathetic.  I do recommend this book, but be warned:  you will probably be disappointed unless you like a slow moving book with a stupid ending.

The Alchemist is a book that has sold millions of copies internationally, so I thought I'd try it.  It is a good story, with a good message.  It could have been one of my favorites, but I've read to many other books that are very similar: the Jackrabbit Factor, the Dream Giver, the Greatest Miracle in the World.  All of them say basically the same thing: follow your dreams.  It is hard most of the time, but following the dreams brings personal fulfillment, joy and happiness.  The story is about a Spanish sheppard who travels to the pyramids of Egypt to find his "Personal Legend".   A good story but one that's message I already know.

So now I am enrolled in Salt Lake Community College.  At first I was overwhelmed.  Now I think with 2 hours a day I should be able to stay ahead of schedule, and finish all my class assignments on time.  Figuring out online classes has been difficult, but slowly I am learning how to do them.  They seem to be kinda boring; my dad has told me that all college is boring.  This is why I want to change the way people are taught in college and their elementary/middle/high school years.  I am passionate about education but even I get turned off by how boring college is, and I love to learn!

I just hope I can not feel over confident in myself and my abilities.  I know I can do college level class work, I just am not that confident that I can navigate the online classes.

The Greatest Game Ever Played

I just finished watching the epic movie The Greatest Game Ever Played.  I am inspired by it.  The movie is about a boy, Francis Ouimet, who is the son of a rather poor family in Boston, Massachusetts.  He grew up next to a golf course.  Francis grew to love to play the game of golf.  As he grew older he began to be a caddie at the course, one of the most prestigious in the nation.

He managed to get a hold of some clubs, which he used to practice in his spare time.  Soon, he began to get quite good.  He was invited by the manager of the golf course at which he caddie to put his name in the US Amateur Open.  He wants, but he doesn't have the $50 entrance fee.  He asks his father, who is reluctant to give it to him, for the money.  His father is a realist, who works hard to support him and his family.  He wants a son who works hard and earns his keep; not a son who wastes his time playing a game.

Well, Francis promises his father that if he does not qualify for the tournament he will quit golf and get a good paying job.  His father agrees.  Francis misses the cut by 1 stroke.  He is crushed by this.

True to his word, Francis goes and gets a job in a department store.  He met a young lady named Sarah during the celebration before the Amateur tournament.  After a while Sarah comes to the store asking Francis why he gave up golf.  Francis is reluctant to tell anyone the real reason for his not playing golf.

Well, the 1913 U.S. Open tournament is being played at the course by Francis's house.  He gets invited to try to qualify, which he declines at first.  After thinking about it, he agrees to try.  He manages to qualify.  As the tournament begins he starts of badly.  As it progresses, he slowly inches his way up the scoreboard.  At the end of 4 rounds, he is tied with two Englishmen, Harry Vardon and Ted Ray.  Vardon and Ray are considered the best golfers in the world.

The tie forces a playoff, which Francis wins by 1 stroke.  He is elated, as is America.  The British had dominated the game of golf for a long, long time.  But no longer.

This movie follows a common plot: a seemingly simple person, without any gifts of talent, somehow wins a game, a series or a tournament.  This is a classic underdog story.  Why do so many movies follow these types of plots?  I don't have the answer to that yet.  But hopefully I will soon.

Is it because these types of stories happen in real life?  They do happen.  Nobody expects a new person to win until they do. Once they win everyone assumes that they are the best, because they've proven it.  A new person trying to be the best has a lot against them.  They are inexperienced, not as well known.  But once given the opportunity, some rise to the occasion while others falter.  For every time an underdog succeeds, one fails.

Why do some perform under pressure and others don't?  I believe it is because they do not allow the pressure to affect their performance.  They are able to block out all the noise, the hype.  It is hard to do, I know.  But those who can limit outside influence in their lives often times do better then those that listen to them.

year in review

2012 is now officially over.  2013 is the new year.  I hope I can have as good a year as I had in 2012.

So this year began for me having just had knee surgery to take out some extra tissue that was in both of them.  I had felt discomfort in them while serving in the California Riverside Mission.  I have never been a super active person, and riding a bike about 15-20 miles on any given day was not very fun.  We have 2 huge hills in our area, and we lived on the wrong side of them both.  We had to ride over one or the other to get to most of our area.

So the discomfort soon gave way to pain, and within 2 weeks of arriving in the area I was unable to walk without quite a bit of pain.  We had president interviews, so I told him how much pain I was in. Within a day we got a car to drive.

Well, my pain did not go away.  I struggled with it for 4 weeks in Menifee, and got transferred to Corona.  I spent 4 weeks there and had to come home.  That was extremely hard.  I was unsure if I was going back out. If I was, I wanted to go back as soon as possible.  I am a very impatient person, and wanted an immediate answer.

Well, to make this short, I did not go back on a mission.  But the first 3 months were confusing.  I became a member at the sports academy in Logan  and started exercising and swimming like crazy.  I took 2 months of physical therapy, trying to help my knees get strong enough to go back on the mission.  I was in better shape than I've been in for years, but the knees still hurt today.  I have trouble being on the knees, kneeling, squatting, or staying on my feet to long.

About once a month from September 2011 to March 2012 I met about once a month with the Wellsville Stake President, President Evans.  He kept trying to get me to go back out on the mission.  I wanted to, but would not unless my knees were fully healed.  They still hurt in March.  I remember one night visiting with President Anderson, who said things that caused me to become extremely angry.  He said if I didn't go back on the mission I'd regret it for the rest of my life.

I was so upset I felt like never going back to church again.  I had tried for 2 months in the mission to get better, and that didn't work.  I came home because I was useless as a missionary.  I literally sat at the apartment in Corona, or got dropped off at a members house all day everyday.  It was so annoying.  I wanted to badly to go out teaching and tracting.  After a month of sitting all day a week straight of tracting sounded like a blast.  To most missionaries it probably sounded like torture.  But to me it sounded like a ton of fun.

So because I was told this, I felt like what I had done in California was useless.  It wasn't like I was quitting on the Lord.  I still desired to go, but felt like I was unable to go back.  I did NOT want to go back only to sit again.  That was terrible.  I felt so bad that I was making someone babysit me.  But what President Anderson's comments did was make me think.

It made me think about how much longer I was going to wonder about my ability to serve as a missionary in the future.  I had been home for 6 months, not knowing.  I hadn't realized how much stress this was causing. I was so stressed that I was becoming physically drained.  I had no energy.  I was tired of this stress.

So I thought and thought, and prayed about what to do.  I came to the conclusion that I should not try to go back out anymore.  I was not giving up hope, but just not having that be my primary focus.  I had tried, and felt good about my effort. I think that it was the correct decision.

When I told President Evans this he was not very happy.  He kept trying to help me change my mind, but eventually gave his support to it.  I spoke to the High Council on March 11 to report on the mission.  I had my homecoming March 18.  It was a very small affair, unlike my farewell.  I hadn't wanted that many people to come to my farewell, and wanted less to my homecoming.  I kept the invitations private to only a few friends.

After the question of going back on the mission had a solution, I turned to job searching.  As many can confirm, job searching these days can be very discouraging.  There aren't very many jobs that people just starting in the workforce that pay well, and are available.    I searched a few weeks before I found anything.

During the first months of 2012 I was helping out once a week with a TJYC class that was taught by Heather Hansen.  I was not really helping that much.  I was more of a student than a mentor.  But I enjoyed the class immensely.  Heather is a great teacher and a great mentor.     She and I got talking about books, which we both love.  She allowed me to borrow a book called the Jackrabbit factor.  I've blogged about this book before.  This book helped me out a lot when searching for a job.

Basically the book is about a man who learned the secret of getting what he desires.  He had to believe that what he wanted was there, then go find it.  With not being able to find a job, it's hard to believe that you can find one.  But once I realized this, within a week I got not one job, but two!

The first job I got was at Artic Circle as a cook.  They needed someone to help during the lunch rush.  I had never worked fast food before in my life.  I has been a good job.  I didn't get many hours to start, but I got a lot during the summer.  What I love about Artic Circle is that they are willing to work with my schedule, which has become difficult.

The second job I got was at Comfort Inn.  The address is in Logan, but it's a few miles south of it.  Whenever I try to tell people where it is it's always hard.  But it's by the Common Cents gas station  I became a breakfast attendant, setting out the continental breakfast each day.  The jobs worked well together because the breakfast job started at 5 am, and Artic Circle started at 11:30.  So the schedules never conflicted.

Just before I started working I went to General Conference in Salt Lake City.  It was the first time in my life I had been.  I went with my friend Brian Baker.  It was an awesome experience.  The seats in the conference center were tiny, though.  My knees still hurt when cramped together.  I need leg room to stretch them periodically.  I was squished during the whole session.

Well, starting April 2 I went to work.  For April and May I worked maybe 30 hours a week.  But in June, July and August I worked probably at least 50 hours a week at both jobs combined.  Someone else was hired to do breakfast on the days I had off, but she quit within a few weeks.  I outlasted 3 other breakfast attendants during the summer.

I started doing days at Artic Circle, but soon worked some nights.  I learned how to clean during pre-close, and how to close as a cook.  That was pretty fun.  So my summer of 2012 was basically work and little play.   I remember one two day stretch where I worked from 5 am to 10:45, then 11 to 5 pm.  I had an hour break then back to Artic Circle to close from 6 til 1 am.  I had breakfast the next morning at 5 so the next day I worked from 5 am to 10:30, and 11 to 5 pm.  I was so tired after that I slept 12 straight hours.

But my summer did include a few fun things.  My best friend Taylor Hansen came back from South Carolina to Logan for a month before he left on his mission to Quezon City, Philippians North Mission.  That month was a ton of fun.  I was with him almost every day.  It was super sad to see him leave though.

This year 3 of my friends have left on missions:  Jeremy Gardner to Tallahassee Florida, Taylor Hansen to Quezon City North Mission and Sean McNees to California San Bernadino Mission.  Sean's is right above the Riverside Mission.  I am proud of each of them, and wish them success.  When each left I realized what each of them meant to me growing up.  I had some awesome friends.

Well, as summer wound down my work schedule did to.  The girl who worked breakfast on weekends, and the other girl that did 2 days a week quit at the same time.  So I was the only person able to set it out.  I did that for 13 straight days.  I realized I hate doing breakfast.  It's annoying to have to help guests make waffles, make eggs, and do the same thing for 13 straight days.  A night auditor was quitting during this same time, so I convinced my manager to let me take that job.

I stared as a night auditor in the middle of September.  The other auditor, David, had a skin condition that made his arms peel all the time, and he always left a pile of skin flakes whenever he worked.  Everyone hated working after him.  It was pretty disgusting.  He also viewed some inappropriate things while at work.  To keep it short, he got fired.  I feel sorry for the guy, but he should have tried to clean up his skin, but he never did. I caught him asleep a few times when I came in at 5 am.

David gets fired at the same time as the two breakfast attendants quit, so I am doing both.  That is hard.  I had to train Elena to do breakfast, and Chelsae as night auditor.  I liked that I had that responsibility.  I was super glad I got this night job.  It's been fun to get paid to sit and blog, read, play League of Legends, and watch movies.  I love it.

So this is where my years ends.  I worked a ton, decided not to return on the mission.  The main themes of my year.  I returned to visit the mission a few weeks ago, and saw the ocean.  That was a blast.  I went to St. George twice to pick up Daniel and take him to Elevation.  I still have not found a wife, ending this year single as I have for the previous 20 years.  3 of my good friends left on missions.  I went to 4 different temples, including the open house for the Brigham City temple open house.  I finished the year reading 140 books.  My goal was 155 but I fell 15 short.  Oh well.  I still read a ton.

All in all, 2012 was an amazing year.  I have learned a ton and grown a lot.  I love learning.  I love friends, and want to make many more.  I hope 2013 will be as good, if not better than 2012!