Plans for the Future

I feel blessed to have so many talents. I love listening to and playing music, I like doing math, I like playing sports, I like building things, and  being with friends. With these talents that I have I have many options for the future. I feel that I can do anything I want; I just have to decide which thing to do.

                This week I had the opportunity to visit and tour 3 colleges in my area: BYU, UVU, and U of U. I learned a lot about the individual colleges and also a lot about college in general.

                              

                Some things that I didn’t know about colleges are that they give you lots of cheap or free stuff! It’s not like high school where you live at home with your family and go to school for the day and then you’re on your own. In college you get better prices on food, living space, libraries, museums, and lots of other stuff. Our tour guides showed us places where you can rent movies for free and watch them in little theater rooms. They had big gyms where you can go work out for free. They have lots of activities where you can go have fun and meet new people (one of the main points of going to college! ;) ) all of the colleges seemed like great places to be. They have different feelings and atmospheres.

                It will be a hard choice to decide which talent I want to use to help others for the rest of my life. The two things I am considering going in to are architecture or music. Like I said I like math and building things. My dad is an architect, so I think I would like doing that. I also love playing,listening to and writing music.

This year I have been taking A.P. Music theory and have really enjoyed learning more about the music I listen to and play every day. Playing in the American Heritage Lyceum Philharmonic Orchestra which has been named best of state for 4 years in a row is one of my favorite things in the week and I think it would be fun to continue to make music every day and write some of my own music.

I have also tried out taking art this year. I like math and building things, but architects also have to be artistic to be successful. I have enjoyed art, but not as much as orchestra and music stuff. Probably because I am not as good at it yet… I like drawing three dimensional things rather than portraits, landscapes and stuff. I feel a little behind in my class, but I also feel like I’ve gotten a lot better at making art and have definitely learned to enjoy doing it more.

I just have to decide what I was born to do. Maybe I will be able to somehow do both! Whatever happens, I will just do my best and love it.

Using the Internet to Uplift

We can all use our individual talents and interests to be good examples and spread the gospel on the internet. We all have different interests. Some people might be interested in politics and can be a good influence on others involved with politics. Some may be interested in music and can share and “like” good music and avoid bad music and warn others to do the same. Whatever you are interested in, you can make a difference. As we do this, we can share the gospel through our examples and the light of Christ in us.

Check out some great uplifting videos at www.mormonchannel.org

Using the Internet for Good

The internet is an amazing thing. Elder M. Russell Ballard said: "The Internet allows everyone to be a publisher, to have his or her voice heard, and it is revolutionizing society. Before the Internet there were great barriers to printing. It took money, power, influence, and a great amount of time to publish. But today, because of the emergence of what some call “new media,” made possible by the Internet, many of those barriers have been removed. New media consists of tools on the Internet that make it possible for nearly anyone to publish or broadcast to either a large or a niche audience... The emergence of new media is facilitating a worldwide conversation on almost every subject, including religion, and nearly everyone can participate. This modern equivalent of the printing press is not reserved only for the elite." 

As he said, the Internet is not only reserved for the elite but it is for anyone who wants to use it. The internet is a powerful tool and i can be used for good or bad. Before the internet came around there were certain people who could publish things and that was their job. It took much longer to get information. Learning news or getting messages from long distances could take weeks or months. Now we all have the power to do it in seconds with the click of a button. Because we have this great blessing we have a great responsibility to use it well. We need to make sure that we only look at and post good and uplifting things. Not degrading or downright evil things that are on the internet. 

Elder M. Russell Ballard also said: "As you participate in this conversation and utilize the tools of new media, remember who you are—Latter-day Saints. Remember, as the proverb states, that “a soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger” (Proverbs 15:1). And remember that contention is of the devil (see 3 Nephi 11:29). There is no need to argue or contend with others regarding our beliefs. There is no need to become defensive or belligerent. Our position is solid; the Church is true."  

If we do these things we will help make the internet a better place as we stay true to our standards and  do what is right. We shouldn't argue with people, but we should say what we believe and turn the other cheek and be strong. There will be people on the internet that won’t do these things and use the internet to try to hurt others, but we can choose not to be those people. As M. Russell Ballard said, "There is no need to become defensive or belligerent. Our position is solid; the Church is true." 

M. Russell Ballard's talk: 

http://www.lds.org/ensign/2008/07/sharing-the-gospel-using-the-internet?lang=eng&query=sharing+gospel+using+internet 

My Perfect Day

My perfect day would start out with sleeping in! I would then eat a couple breakfast burritos with hot salsa in them. Then I would head off with all my gear to go airsofting with my 2 best friends Andrew Sessions and Michael Sorensen. We would own everybody else there and my safety glasses would never fog up. I would be basically invisible on the battle field and be able to pick anyone off without them knowing where they got shot from. After airsofting for a couple hours I would head home and shower and put all my airsofting stuff away. Then I would stop by Subway and get a Foot-long Meat Ball Marinara sandwich with pepperoni, pepper jack cheese, and jalapenos on my way to the school with Michael and Andrew to help set up everything for a concert that night  while listening to Michael's epic soundtrack music. We would have an infinite budget and we would be able to get anything we wanted. I would get several motorized intelligent lights and at least eight 36 degree Leko's. While we were at it we would just get a state of the art concert hall with a full sized stage. after we got all set up for that we would order 10 pizzas for the 6 of us working on the tech crew while watching a movie on a big screen with the big nice speakers in the concert hall while waiting for the concert. When the concert started, I would run lights for the first half of the concert and go on stage with an orchestra and play the grand finale of the concert. After the concert we wouldn't have to take anything down that we rented because it will all be ours. We will get payed for teching and playing and then  I will go home and fall asleep and have a good dream about flying.        

My Perfect day would include 3 of my favorite things: 

Airsofting

Tech Crew

Playing Music