I want my ball

So earlier this week after classes were finished I headed into the city with my friend Sara to go looking for school books. We were one our way from one book store to another, when I noticed a little girl, probably around two years old, trying to reach her ball which was floating in the city center fountain. It was just inches away from her fingers, and her face was just a mask of determination in reaching her toy. My first thoughts were how cute, but that was rapidly followed by an almost audible UH-OH when she started raising her chubby leg over the small wall of the fountain. Those of you who have ever raised a two year old can already guess the outcome if she succeeds in mounting the wall.

Spying no parents on their way to intervene, I tapped her on the shoulder and asked if she needed someone to get her ball. She kinda looked at me like "Duh", but was kind enough to just simply point and say "Ball" a few times. Which was good enough for me. I asked her to hold some papers I had on me (schedules, syllabii, book lists, normal first week stuff) and then reached out into the fountain to get the ball (which had now floated farther away). I was just about to grab the ball, when a splash of water drenched my arm. Looking over I saw my chubby little friend had tried to use my papers to extend her reach, but had succeeded mainly in dunking my papers. She was about ready to go for it again, but by then I had the ball and as quickly as possible I exchanged her wet ball for my wet papers. Which seemed like a fair deal to her. And I went to dry off my papers while she looked ready to toss her ball somewhere else.

Crazy kids. They're just too cute and smart for they're own good.

Bednar

Last night the Mannheim/Heidelberg Stake a wonderful fireside, and I'm sure you can guess by the title why. Elder Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles was here and needless to say the meeting house in Kaiserslautern was PACKED! I arrived late because I had a class I couldn't miss, but when I got there the parking lot was so full that people had filled the lanes between the rows of parking spots. Everything was bumper to bumper, and you could say the same thing about the seating conditions inside. Luckily I managed to find an open piece of wall up on the stage I could lean on, and despite the heat there seemed to be enough people fanning themselves with their progams to create a subtle enough breeze through the place. I don't know if he gave a talk or not, but when I got their E. Bednar was doing a Q&A Session with the members.
While there were certainly tons of questions, some of the one that stood out in my memory were:
From a 12 year old deacon:How do I prepare to become a Missionary?
Bednar: You are a missionary now, and you should have a good 6 years of missionary experiences before you become a full time missionary. He pointed out that he could 1) Pray like a missionary, 2)Read like a missionary, and 3)Invite others to come unto the Gospel like a Missionary.

From a mother of five daughters: How do you raise children to be able to live in the world without being of the world?
Bednar: Speak less, Listen More, Invite to Action.

From a Father: Which form of Football do you prefer? American or European?
Bednar: I prefer the favorite sport of which ever country I am in.

And one answer to which I cannot remember the question I remember hearing E. Bednar give strong testimony to the amazing power of the atonement. He admonished that the Savior does in fact know us by name, and personality, and that whatever it is we're going through. WE CAN DO IT.

In the end he bore his testimony of the Savior and firmly admonished his role a a witness of Jesus Christ, and of the reality and divinity of The Man.

It really was a great evening. One that left me staring out the car window in thought on the ride home. Kinda cool to have what we have :D

First Day :)

Well It's 10:30 and I'm just about ready to head off to my first day of classes. Here I go :)

Help... someone stole the soap

Not joking... about that title their. So I've been in Germany almost a week now, and so far getting settled has had it's ups and downs. The biggest of which has probably been my search for an apartment(found one by the way.. but more on that later), so for the past week I've been bunking in a hostel just south of the university, and going into the city during the day to get stuff for school figured out. Registration, Paying fees, opening bank accounts, eating fatty cafeteria food, perusing the want ads for apartments, and so on and so forth.
Well not two hours ago I had just made my way back to my bunk, and given the incredible humidity of the day I was ripe for a shower. So I gathered up my things and made my way over to the showers only to find them occupied. Not really wanting to go back to my room just yet I figured I'd step outside and walk down to the Rhein(about 50 yards)while I waited for the showers to open up. A thunderstorm was rolling by in the distance and I figured while I watched the lightshow I'd try skipping a few rocks out onto the river. Putting my hat, shampoo, and towel, down onto a bench I walked the last twenty feet or so to the river.
The lightning was awesome, and the storm was close enough that the thunder felt like the sky was being torn in half. Even the wind was strong enough that I could stand out on a rock and lean out over the Rhein without falling in. It really was something to behold.
The storm was quickly passed, as most summer storms are, maybe five minutes at the longest, and then I turned around to find my bench completely empty with the exception of my hat.
Seems I'd just been robbed.
I tried to be upset, and it may have worked for about 3 maybe 4 seconds, until the picture of some homeless man walking around town with nothing but a bottle of shampoo and a towel and around his waist popped into my head.
I guess the guy really needed a shower, as that's all he took.
I still feel the need to chuckle when I think about it. Maybe next time I'll leave a razor and some shaving cream out. ;)

Leaving on a Jet Plane

Well it's T-30 hours, and it finally seems a reality that I'm going to be spending the next year in Germany. It's funny how the mind can refuse to truly comprehend something until the very last minute, while at the same time it while take the body through all the motions of packing, saying goodbye, and I dare say...flying. Even now I don't really think it's fully dawned on me yet that I'm actually leaving, and for how long. Strange...
Anyway as I woke up this morning and looked at my bare 10' X 10' bedroom it kinda hit me that I'm out of here :) All that's left to do is pay some final bills, roll up the sleeping bag, and unplug the tv. It's going to be weird. It's going to be hard. It's going to be alot of things, but most of all... THIS IS GOING TO FREAKING ROCK!!!! And if not... well at least I got to go on a plane ride :D

Me in Fifty Years

Ok... so my roommate Myka is a pretty big fan of the band Angels and Airwaves... He showed me this and while the movie is cool I really thought the old man was definitely a futuristic version of me. What do you think?

"HALLUCINATIONS" LOST FOOTAGE FROM THE ANGELS & AIRWAVES FILM "LOVE" from Angels And Airwaves on Vimeo.

Also this video is pretty rad as well. Kings and Queens by Thirty Seconds to Mars

WILL HE COME BACK ALONE??

Ok... so I'm sorry for not really being that up to date on my whole germany thing. Most of you were notified through text or phone when the exciting news came, but for those who don't already know. I'M GOING TO GERMANY or in other words ICH GEHE NACH DEUTSCHLAND. But what I find even more interesting is the vast majority of people who think I'm going to be getting married over there. Everyone from Professors, CoWorkers, Friends, Bishoprics, and even Family have all asked the daunting question. So if you look to the column on the right you'll find a poll. check yes or no as to whether you think I'll be coming back with a little Fraulein.