Her Loss

If there is one thing I don't want to hear when a relationship doesn't work out as I planned, it's this. It bugs the heck out of me. I mean yeah, sure, whatever, but it hurts! It hurts me. Every time. When people say this phrase, do they really believe it is her loss? Do they see I'm angry and want me to be angry at her instead of myself?

Her Loss


First time I heard this was from my mom. I remember crying on her bed in high school. I don't remember which girl I was crying over, but I was definitely angry. I believe it was a girl I'll name here as Natalie, just to have a name. I had liked her since seventh grade and she was finally noticing that I was interested, and she started to like me, a little. Long story short, she started seeing another guy and said something to the effect of, "I think you're too good, too spiritual, etc... for me." Wow! Why would anyone ever say something like that? I mean, I have thought that about girls I've wanted to date, but I want to date them for that. I wouldn't bring them down to my level, instead I'd work my butt off to reach their level and reach my potential.
So when my mom said this to me, I thought, "Well she is amazing, and it's not her loss it's mine." Now that I think back to it, it was both of our losses, but boy am I sure glad I "lost" her. It was a long time until I heard this statement again.
Now it seems every time I start liking a girl and she denies my courting, I hear this statement (yes Stephanie, if you ever read this, that's usually you). Normally it turns out great for both of us. The girl finds someone else that loves her, and she loves him, and they get married (okay not always, but that's what it seems like :D). I find someone else and get over them. Everyone's happy. Am I really her loss though?
I am a great guy! I try to do my best in everything, and I'm definitely growing. So yeah, it's kind of her loss, but every love/crush seems to take something out of me, making it my loss. It will ultimately be replaced, when I find someone that loves me for me, even with my faults... Hopefully not my faults, but me! As for now, I will continue to try to find someone who will fill in my missing-ness and help me become the man my Father in Heaven plans for and needs me to be.

Average at Everything

I don't even know if I have anyone reading these, but hey, it is an amazing way to vent and just say what's on my mind and not worry about anyone's judgement. This post I want to explain the title to my blog. 

Average at Everything

Throughout my life I have been about average at everything. You can look at it in a bad way or in a good way, but I feel like it's a great thing! I have so many talents with which I have been blessed. Just to maybe write a small list (this is not me boasting, for as I said, I'm average at all these things):

Basketball- I was the sixth man on my High School basketball team, and I am average at it
Football- I played for seven years, and I felt like I was good at it, but now seeing other people play it, I am average
Frisbee- now here's a sport in which I have definitely improved in the last two years, for I play every Wednesday at 10
Tennis- only played two times and I absolutely love it, could get better but average for a beginner :D
Computers- I feel like I understand enough to get by, average
Looks- when a girl looks at me, normally they don't think, "Wow, he's hot," but they also do think I'm ugly either, thus average
Relationships- I feel my relationships (pretty much only when I try to start dating a girl) they end up being an average relationship of them dropping me, happens
School- in High School I thought I was the smartest kid ever, well kind of, but when I got to college I realized that a C- is just as good as a B- in some cases, especially if you think you're going to fail, don't get me wrong A's are nice and I'll try for them this year, but I'm just average in my major
etc...

I don't why, I'm just average in all these areas, but  I love it! I pretty much can do anything that someone wants me to do with them. I can all sorts of friends, and I do. Maybe it's because I don't really stick to one aspect of my life and work only on that at one time. I've never just focused on one sport in my life. I never ever just do school. I waste time doing anything and everything else.

Will average help me in the eternities? I sure hope so. I want to progress and find my potential! In my mediocrity I want to stand before my Father in Heaven and say, "I tried my hardest to do those things that thou hast asked of me, and through Jesus Christ I believe I can be cleaned to live with thee forever." Maybe this means I need to grow in certain aspects of my life better, to become a little higher than average. Areas in which I will need to grow:

My relationship with my Father in Heaven can't be average
My relationship with my Savior can't be average
My understanding of the gospel will not be average
I should feel the Holy Spirit more than average
My wife and eternal companion will be way way above average in her spirituality (she will also be the most beautiful woman in the world... don't judge me, I am still a little picky and shallow), and she will make me grow more than anything can in this life

Average is good. Average can be great. If I can be an average Civil Engineer, I will make enough money to support my family, and I will have time for them. I will be an above average father, just like my father was and is. Hopefully I can keep this up... I want to be average at everything, it is who I am, and it fits me perfectly.

Don't Make Me Say It Again!

Don't get me wrong, whenever I heard this come from my mother's mouth, I hurried to get whatever it was she needed, done (normally after finishing the level of Mario or what not). If this phrase didn't make you quake in your boots, something may have been wrong with your parents' disciplinary actions.

Just for the record my parents' discipline was super good for me! Whenever I did something wrong to them or my siblings I had to go sit on the repentance bench until I said sorry... For those of you who know me I am very stubborn and won't say sorry, unless it is truly needed to say. It usually took me a while to realize that I was in the wrong and needed to "repent". FYI the repentance bench was the fourth step up and I spent most of my childhood on this stair in my house:D.

Don't make me say it again

What did my mom usually not want to say again you ask? Normally, do you chores or do your homework... You know important things like that, and they usually ended with before you play anymore nintendo... Man did I fool her once the XBOX came out... It wasn't a Nintendo anymore:D.

Now that I think about what this one liner has taught me in my life, other than the fact that if it was important enough my mom would have said again anyways, I'm actually impressed with how deep this thought actually has the potential to be:D. Brace yourself... When has God ever said something like that? I mean I've never heard or read anything like that ever! Can you picture Heavenly Father saying, alright if I have told you once I've told you a thousand times. YOU NEED TO... ! Things that could be put in here could include but aren't only:

Repent
Be better
Love
Hometeach
Date
Pray better
Quit wasting time

I mean God, his wants and desires are for us to come back and live with him forever, should be the one constantly saying, "listen children I really don't want to repeat myself for the next millennium, so remember and write this down."

I mean he's already done the last part, yet we/I still need special reminders every day and every week that we need to progress better. I need to read the scriptures and have discussions on faith so I can learn faith better, even though the recipe for faith is written out plainly and simply in the scriptures.

There were members in my mission in Germany that said they had gone to church enough to hear all the lessons and they didn't need to come because they were getting bored with all the same lessons. What's the point of going to church if your going to hear the same lesson you heard four years ago, or even last week? It happens all the time. For example, this past week we talked about the last supper in my Sunday school class, it so happens I went to a ward the week before that had the same lesson. Instead of paying attention I regret to say that I just played on my new iPhone... (not to say I was playing games because I'm still not doing that until the end of the year). I got nothing out of the lesson. Where the week before, I absolutely loved the lesson.

The Lord doesn't repeat himself for his own pleasure and benefit, he does it for us! We are the ones here to learn, we're the ones wanting to come back and live with him forever. So I'd say listen to him the first time, if it's being repeated, listen to it again, and learn just as much the second time as you did the first time. Remember that Jesus Christ suffered for all of us, and through him all of us can be saved, but we have to do our part, and the more repetitious something is, the more important it is. Just trust me! And don't make me tell you again:D!

I made this my rule: When the Lord commands, do it

I am a fairly religious man. I feel like the Lord has blessed me with so many talents. He has blessed me in more ways than I can ever, ever, ever, ever (I don't think I have enough evers memorized) comprehend. This simple little one liner from Joseph Smith, Jun. means so much to me.

I made this my rule: When the Lord commands, do it


Growing up in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I heard all about the commandments of the Lord. I remember one day in my, I think, nine year-old class my older sister Shelly teaching the whole class the ten commandments through rhymes.
1- None- Thou shalt have no other Gods before me
2- Shoe (then we pictured a golden calf with purple shoes, at least I did :D)- Thou shalt have no graven images
3- Tree, trees have veins so- Thou shalt not take the Lord thy God's name in vain
4- Door- Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy
5-Hive, little bees flying around saying, "We honor thee" to the queen- Honor thy father and thy mother that thy days may be long upon the land
6-Sticks- Thou shalt not kill
7-Heaven, can't get to heaven if you commit adultery- Thou shalt not commit adultery
8-Gate-Thou shalt not steal
9-lion or line, no lyin'- Thou shalt not bear false witness.
10-hen, keeping her chicks and wanting more- Thou shalt not covet

But more important commandments that have changed my life even more are those ones that Christ taught while on the earth as well as those that he has taught through his modern-day Apostles and Prophet.

Thou shalt love the Lord, thy God, with all thy heart, might, mind, and strength
Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself
Do your hometeaching
Follow the Word of Wisdom
Be Honest, True, Chaste, Benevolent
Do Good
Treat women with God-like respect
Get married
Get an education
Choose the right
Repent
Grow
Go to the Temple

These are some of the commandments that are affecting my life the most right now. The Lord has blessed me so much and now that I am not living at home and having my mother there constantly reminding me to do these things, I feel like I am getting to know my Father in Heaven better, as well as my Savior. Sometimes though, I get into a slump and I forget who I am, what I am doing, and why I am doing these things. I forget the simple saying from Joseph Smith... When the Lord commands, do it. A simple primary song comes to mind when I think of this quote... (Now that I wrote that more than one came to my mind so I'll just write the words to multiple songs)

Keep the commandments, Keep the commandments
in this there is safety in this there is peace
He will send blessings, he will send blessings
words of a prophet
Keep the commandments, in this there is safety and peace.

and

I'm trying to be like Jesus
I'm following in his ways
I'm trying to love as he did
In all that I do and say
At times I am tempted to make the wrong choice
But I try to listen as the still, small voice whispers
Love one another as Jesus love you
Try to show kindness in all that you do
Be gentle and loving in deed and in thought
For these are the things Jesus taught

Is my rule the same? What are the commands the Lord has given directly to me? Am I doing? How can I get better at following his commandments? These are just some questions I ask myself... Sometimes I think about answering them but new things come up and change comes, and I need to focus on those things now... If you're reading this and want to write your comments that'd be cool :D. I think I need to make this my rule... When the Lord commands, do it, and do it NOW!