We sometimes get more then we were expecting

As per required policy wednesday just occurred and thus a new post is guaranteed.

As I mentioned in my last post, I spoke with my Bishop about receiving a patriarchal blessing. We agreed with me that it was time to receive such a blessing and I received my recommend for that blessing. On the recommend is a box asking for which position of priesthood is held by the member receiving the blessing. He looked and me and said, "Elder right?" I quickly corrected him and stated that I was a priest actually. He glanced up at me and then said, "Well have we started to do anything about that?" I assured him that we had not and he asked if we could just have my interview for becoming and elder and receiving the Melchizedek priesthood. I felt like this was the correct thing to do and it was done.

What this means is if all goes to plan, and it probably should, I will be receiving my patriarchal blessing this Sunday in Ardmore, Oklahoma from Patriarch Jack, and my father will ordain me to office of an Elder and to the Melchizedek priesthood sometime over Christmas break.

It's amazing how things work out. With stake priesthood conference coming up, if I had delayed in talking with my Bishop and he had not mentioned that fact that I was not an Elder who knows when this would have occurred. It is another testimony of perhaps a coincidence or maybe more. I'll let you decide for yourself which one it is. I know this for sure, it was not a coincidence.

Tonight is Survivor: Samoa and I'm still cheering for Russell! You should definitely check it out if your interested at all. I know I am. Also, coming with Survivor is the office, but I'm going to wait until Friday/Saturday to watch that with Natalie and Jacob. I leave for their apartment tomorrow after class and I can't wait to get back to Stillwater. OSU plays Texas this weekend and I'm personally hoping for the best. Utah plays Wyoming which should be an easy win for them. Chelsea FC plays Bolton this weekend and it should be an easy win as well. RSL plays the first half of their playoff series with Columbus and they have a good chance of an upset if they can pull off a win at home, and they could.

It is of course no matter in the end who wins and who loses as long as the good games are played(and state wins).

Go Pokes!

Only the Good Die Young

While I contemplated the subject matter of what is to be another quite excellent post this song come up on my iTunes. I feel like its a mostly appropriate heading.

The past little while, as can be seen by previous post, has been a roller coaster of sorts. Extreme highs followed by debilitating lows. Right now, I feel like everything has leveled off and is on a general upwards incline. I was able to accomplish everything that needed to be accomplished last night and I see no reason for that trend to discontinue. I guess when it comes down to it, I just had to remember what I was doing here and for that I needed to talk with my brother.

Now he won't recognize the role he played in this, and in truth, it wasn't him that did anything. Either way, while we were talking about how things were going out here I rehashed how my only goal was to do my best and let the chips fall as they will. This expression of my inner self was undoubtedly the most truthful thing I needed to hear at the moment. Ultimately, fail or succeed, I will be proud of myself as long as I do my best. As such there is no need to get down or depressed at minor setbacks. They are indeed only minor setbacks in the grandiose theatre that is my life.

In other news, it was a surprise to me that I could go almost 12 months without going to church and now after only attending 10 straight weeks I feel like I've never left. Perhaps I never did? This Wednesday I'm meeting with the Bishop and I'm going to ask him about receiving a patriarchal blessing. I feel like this is the next big step for me. I'll post later to address how that goes. Tonight is family home evening at the Hack's, the second counselor of the ward. Should be an interesting time and I'm excited about attending.

Other than those two things, the rest of the week should be rather tame until Friday night. Once again, I'm making the trip to sojourn in Stillwater with Natalie and Jacob. We are then attending the Oklahoma State v. Texas game at Boones Pickens Stadium! Should be the most exciting game of the week and perhaps an upset is brewing? My thanks should go out to Natalie and Jacob. I didn't realize how much I would miss the family when I was out on my own and they have provided great support.

Along the church front it should be noted that I've set three major goals for myself for the rest of the year. Those being that I'm planning on reading through the Book of Mormon, to maintain 100% church attendance, and to pray twice a day. So far success has been seen and I'm nearly through the second book of Nephi. This is probably the furtherest I've been on my own. As well, last night I nearly forgot to pray and found myself unable to go to sleep until I did so. Hopefully, I will be able to maintain these good habits.

Oh well, I should be leaving for class right about now and so it is time to go.

Nathan

P.S. My current desktop picture is a continual reminder of who I am. I will share it with you.

Morale is High

For every night there is the dawn and I feel like I've finally reached the symbolic morning of sorts.

I don't know if it was the weather or if I just needed some time, but I know I Natalie and Jacob did make a difference. I've spent the last two weekends with them, and I totally appreciate their time. Hopefully, I'm not too burdensome to them. Other then that, the weather was changed from a misty/foggy/gray skied mess to a lot more sunshine and comfortable weather. I love that!

Other things are looking up as well. I still feel like I doing pretty well academically and a little bit better socially. That is due, of course, to church related activities and such as the social life in the section is not any better. Oh well.

This is kind of a throw away post. I guess so lets see if I can add some deep impressive thought. I think, over the next few days, I need to reevaluate what I want in life. Both spiritually and temporally. I've already started to evaluate this and I've decided that if want that revelation, I will need to put the work in. So as per that, I've decided to recommit myself to finishing the Book of Mormon within the year and that means reading scripture both morning and night. As well, I'm going to try and make sure I pray morning and night as well.  With continual church, FHE, and institute attendance coupled with these other two factors, I'm hoping I'll be able to get some revelation that is needed.

Well today is Monday and so there is a lot of week to go until some extensive free time. So here we go!

Morale is Low

I'm feeling horrible enough that this is my second writing of this post. The first draft sounded too pathetic to post and perhaps a little bit whiny.

The last few days have been a continual cycle of ups and downs... FHE was enjoyable as the activity was a lot of fun and I feel like I met a few more people there. Monday night after that was wasted though as I just couldn't focus. Tuesday, I felt I did pretty well in class, but again I feel like I wasted a lot of time. I had a dinner of pasta that night and I thought I was full but I got hungry a lot quicker than normal and was forced to prepare another meal. Today again I felt like I had a good handle on class but I've felt pretty lonely to be honest. I feel like an outcast and perhaps I've done this to myself through my actions, but I don't know. Last night, my roommates all went to Braum's together and I didn't get an invite even though they knew I was around.

I don't know... For someone who always feels like he is the life of the party today and yesterday have been kind of rough.

I don't wish to play the role of the victim as I don't feel like one, but I feel like academically I am as capable as anyone else, but perhaps I lack the social maturity that is required to be a member of these groups. I lack the shared experiences that are required to bond with the individuals. This fact seems to manifest itself day by day.

No matter what, I will prevail. I've done what I've done because I don't give up on the things that matter the most to me. Hopefully this will be a very cathartic event for myself. I realize that no one owes me anything and if I want something I will have to do it myself.

Another thing of note is the dreams that I've been having. Since I moved out here, I've had the strangest dreams. Nearly every night is a dream about some past acquaintances or friend and they've haunted me. I don't know what my subconscious is trying to tell me. Perhaps these are the individuals I feel the most grief about my actions towards them? That hypothesis doesn't make sense though as some of these dreams are about individuals I don't think I've hurt. Perhaps these dreams mean nothing and I need to just purge the recollection of them from my thoughts. Once again, the raw number of these dreams do not support that hypothesis. Perhaps I'm thinking about this just too much... Probably the last.

For those who might read this and worry about me, don't. This is a temporary downer moment for me which shall be overcome. If none of this post is understood by you, don't worry about it. In the end this post is for me.

Quick post to help get back to the regular schedule

The last week has drugged on... Not because anything big or special happened but rather because it was just another long week. Monday was class and FHE with broom hockey. I sadly did not score but I did cut myself pretty well on my broom. Tuesday was library day and I spent a good amount of time there. Wednesday was institute and that night I went to Braum's. I do love those Sherbet Freezes! Thursday deserves its own paragraph see below. Tonight has been fairly tame so far and probably remain so. Kind of a bummer but I'll get over it. Tomorrow is General Conference and I'm currently planning on going to the stake center to watch. Sunday is General Conference again and then the week begins again.

Thursday, Justice Anthony Kennedy of the United States Supreme Court was in town and he taught all the 1L's a class in constitutional law. Although the material was nothing too dramatic or incredible, the person teaching it was incredible nonetheless. I don't know of many people outside of the law school who can say that they have seen and heard from a Justice from the Supreme Court. If I remember correct Chief Justice John G. Roberts is coming later this semester so that is awesome as well.