BYU Speeches

Ammon and I were talking a few days ago about a talk by Elder Bednar and he was wondering if I could email him a copy of the talk. I've uploaded a few of my favorites to a website called 'File Factory,' so you can click on the links below to download the talks (they are MP3 files). I hope you enjoy them. :)

This is a BYU devotional from 2001; Elder Bednar, "In the Strength of the Lord"--it's similar to his General Conference talk of the same title, but is longer and has some additional examples from the scriptures and his own life:

Bednar_David_2001.mp3

This is a BYU devotional from 1997 (if I remember right); President Eyring: 'A Child of God"--I used part of this in an EFY talk--it's a very good talk about how to achieve excellence (primarily as a learner) and humility:

Eyring97.mp3

And the last (for now, I have LOTS of favorites, so I'll probably post more later) is a BYU devotional by Elder Holland (when he was the President of BYU) and Sister Holland: "However Long and Hard the Road"--I've listened to this repeatedly. I love his description of the building of the Salt Lake temple:

Holland_Jeffrey_N_Patricia_ROAD.mp3

Rexburg 6

As some of you know, I was really nervous about EFY this year. Part of that was just because my session last year was so good, I was afraid that this year wouldn't be able to live up to my experience last year. I was really blessed though, the youth at this session at BYU-I were phenomenal. All of my classes worked out so well, so much better than I expected. Some of my talks involved some fairly abstract ideas, the type that most teenagers are not eager to discuss. So I usually plan a lot of activities and only plan on spending a few minutes in discussion. But these participants were eager to discuss the scriptures and the doctrines of the gospel. We sometimes discussed the topics for 15-20 minutes and they were perfectly willing to wrap their minds around the concepts and discuss them in a very mature and insightful way. 

Also (and I've never had this happen before), there were many participants who approached me after classes ended wanting to learn more about the topic--they asked me where I found certain quotations or what else I would suggest they study. That made me really happy. Also, they took copious notes--mostly of scripture references and other things they could study later, which also made me happy. 

And, they were among the most appreciative youth I've ever met. So many stayed after each class to thank me for the lesson. Their prayers nearly always included expressions of gratitude. One girl gave me a really kind letter, thanking me for my preparation and for helping her feel closer to Heavenly Father and the Savior during our classes. While at the dance on Tuesday night, I had probably 30 or so participants come up to tell me how much they had enjoyed my classes. 

Several participants came into my room at the end of all the classes to thank me--they hadn't been in my last class, so they went out of their way to come into my room and thank me (and I'm sure they did the same for the other teachers). I also had several that stayed well after the classes ended so they could copy down the quotes I used in my lessons. Basically, it was just a really blessed experience. I'm so grateful for the Lord's help and the dedication of the youth. 

I really, really wish I had had a camera with me so I could have taken pictures of the "Fear Factor" activity--this will sound really odd and gross out of the context of the activity, but I wish I had pictures of the three guys who chose to lick the toe of another participant. And of course, of the guy who sang (in a very earnest manner, while down on one knee and holding the girl's hand) 'Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree'--beautiful! :)

After the classes ended yesterday I went to watch the variety show tryouts. I love watching the kids demonstrating their talents. And they are so talented--some of their talents are rather useless and completely silly, but still... I'm always very impressed that so many of them are brave enough to share their talents. I think it's great.

On the way home I had a rather interesting gas station experience. I stopped for gas in Shelley, Idaho. As I was pumping gas, a man pulled up on the other side of the pump and started washing his windshield. He saw me and I smiled. He looked at me for a second and said, 'Aren't you a little dressed up for a Wednesday night?' (I was still wearing my skirt from teaching.) I laughed and said, 'Yes, maybe I am.' I explained that I just finished teaching at a youth conference at BYU-Idaho. He asked me what kind of conference it was, so I gave him more information about what EFY was. He still seemed a bit confused and he asked me about the topics of my presentations. I told him that I spoke on a variety of religious topics. He looked at me again, and asked, 'Are you a nun?' I laughed again and said, 'No.' He looked at me again in a pointed way and said, 'You are wearing black and white.' And I laughed again... he had me there, I must be a nun since I was wearing black and white. :) 

I found out while I was there that Brother Wahlquist is now teaching at BYU-I. One of the counselors logged onto his student account so I could use the Internet to look up Brother Wahlquist's number. I called him and we talked for about 20 minutes. It was fun to hear how they are doing. They have adopted two more girls. He invited me to stay with them if I'm ever in Rexburg again and told me that it is only an hour and a half from his house to Yellowstone. So my roommates and I may make a weekend trip to Rexburg to go to the temple (it was closed for cleaning while I was there this week, which made me sad) and up to Yellowstone. 

Anyway, that's my EFY story. I hope you're all doing well. I love you!

WE SURVIVED LAGOON!!!

Our trip to Lagoon started with a very slow morning. We were hoping to get there by 11 am when they opened, but it was closer to 12:30 when we arrived. We wasted no time and began visiting rides, but we quickly learned that our little shorty Bryn was about 1 inch too short to ride a lot of the rides. We tried to get her to stretch, but it was no use- next year we'll wear taller shoes. Jess, constantly said, "I'm not riding that". By the end of the day, Jess and I rode on WICKED, CLIFFHANGER, the old white roller coaster and many more! I had to promise Jess a treat to go on WICKED, we waited in line at least an hour to get on the ride, 20 minutes of it the ride was broken, and we wondered if we we're even going to be able to ride it. Once we got on, I was nervous Jess was going to hate it and be scared (because it was a little scary)! She said during the ride "your going to have to get me a BIG treat"! Grandma took Bryn and Amanda on a lot of younger kid rides. I'll post some pics once we get to a place with wireless internet. -Jared

Dad's inaugural blog

Well, I guess this is one way to get my share of the communicating with family going. Hopefully now that three of my kids are doing this blog thing, if I start it will be a way to keep in touch with you three. I am home alone tonight so I have enough time to do something for fun. We heard from Ammon this morning and they are safely in the Lansing area and looking for an apartment. They found one that sounded really good to me provided that something happens with their home in Cedar. Louise is with Jared and his girls on vacation. I think they would have asked me, but there was absolutely no room in the car, and I have to get ready for school to start. I'm watching an old BYU game on T.V. but may turn it off and watch an Alfred Hitchcock Thriller. Sounds perfect for a night home alone, don't your think? Dad

Truffle

Hello,

I am very happy to announce that I have (finally!) completed the duvet cover (aka quilt). Jen (my roommate) always names her quilts, which I think is a fun idea. However, I need to ponder a bit and spend more quality time with mine (to truly understand its personality) before I know what it should be called. For now, since a few people have mentioned that they crave chocolate when they see it, I am calling it "Truffle." It's in the washing machine now and I'm excited to see what it looks like when it is properly frayed. You can't really tell from the picture that it has four separate squares of material sewn on top of each other--so 'in person' the quilt has more depth than what appears in the picture.

When I tell people I'm making a quilt they always ask me if I'm giving it to someone... Having to say, "No, actually it's for me" has made me feel rather selfish. So, when I've recovered fully from this experience (in say, four or five years...) I will be happy to make a quilt for someone else. If any of you would like to get on the list of potential recipients, let me know. ;-)

Fun-Filled Family Weekend

So I think since Mom & Dad got home we've been together just about every day (except the 24th). I did see Ammon & Jesica and their family and Gary and Daneene and their family at the parade on the 24th. We spent most of the day in St. George - everybody except mom spent some time at the temple. Mom and I watched the kids while everyone else either did sealings or an endowment session. We went and saw Christy and her new little baby Erin. (Isn't she cute). I got to hold her for a few minutes - she is so tiny - we got her a bunch of clothes and blankets from the family.

After that the family and grandma went to Cafe Rio for lunch and then to Costco ( I spent too much money!). Anyway, I'm here working on my lesson for Sunday and then planning to go to the broadcast in an hour for the 24th! I'm sure it will be wonderful! Have a great weekend - I hope to get Mom, Dad, Alicia, and Gary/Daneene on here soon! - Jared

Hi

Hello everyone
I'm just trying this out.
Ammon