Luke Shirts

In 2005, 2006, and 2007 Luke took pictures with the pre-school kids. One of the things the Pre-School kids get is a T-Shirt with their picture on it.

Three of the Jacoby kids (they are in our ward) are staying the night at our house while their parents are on a journey (I am not sure where.) Well, Luke, Brock (the one Luke's age), and I decided to each to put on one of Luke's shirts and to take a picture.

We look GOOD.

Back From Provo

Well, I just wanted to let everyone know that Dad, Brent Nelson, and I all made it home safely!

The trip was really fun, and it was actually kind of sad for me to come home. (Probably because I have a busy week ahead of me with my new job/homecoming.) But it was really fun while it lasted, and it was excellent spending some high-quality time with some of my family members. :)

For those of you who don't know: BYU beat New Mexico 21-3. It was excellent, and I loved the atmosphere of the Lavell Edwards Stadium. It really makes me want to go back next year right before my mission. The Florida State game next September, perhaps? ;)

While we are on the subject: I called into work today to see when I work this week. They scheduled me to work on Wednesday and Thursday, which makes me pretty angry. I told my manager that I can't work on Thursdays, because I tutor and babysit those days!! This week, though, I am planning on going to Brent Nelson's house to watch the BYU vs. TCU game with him. AND I need to go over there anyways to get something from Angela's house for homecoming. Most of all--I still need to tutor on Thursday. So I am going to go talk to them tomorrow, because that's not going to work. It's probably mostly my fault for not reminding my manager that I can't work on Thursdays. :)

Well, like I said, I have a busy week ahead of me! I have multiple assignments due tomorrow and on Tuesday, and then I work at GameStop for the first time on Wednesday. Throughout the week, I need to get some stuff for homecoming (new tie, mainly), and Friday might be the only time I can do that. So yeah--hopefully I can get my Thursday back, because I could definitely use a break on Thursday from everything else going on the beginning of the week and the end of the week.

Well, until next time my friends! Enjoy the following shots:

On The Road Again

Well, my friends, I am going to sleep.

And then I am waking up.

And then I am going to school.

And then I am going to the bank.

And then I am coming home, loading up the car.

And then I am going to pick up Brent.

And then I am on the road again to head up to PROVO!! Woo-hoo!!


See everyone in a few days! :)

Our Journey To Boulder City

Homecoming is next weekend--October 18. Luckily enough, my side-kick and I have had the date planned out for a few weeks now, which is excellent. I remember last year--for both Homecoming and Prom--there was so much last-second planning. And good to not have any of that.

But alas! Today my very good friend, Jared Brummett (JB, for short), came over to my house. Our goal: Check out the area in Boulder City where we are going to do some fun activities for Homecoming. You see--there is a trail in Boulder City that leads to the top of a mountain, and that was our destination. (Yes, a mountain is a weird place to do something for homecoming, but just wait--it's going to be sweet.)

We drove up to the top today in my family's jalopy of a van, and it was excellent! You get a pretty sweet view of both Vegas and Boulder City, and I am really looking forward to seeing it at night. It truly is quite the sight!

At the top of the mountain, JB and I ate some Little Caesars pizza that he brought as a late b-day gift for me. And then he took me to McDonalds once we were done for milkshakes. Thank you, brother JB!

It was quite the adventure, and I am looking forward to next weekend!

My 18th Birthday

First of all, I just wanted to thank everyone who wished me a happy birthday. I got a lot of messages over the Internet today wishing me a happy birthday, along with a few phone calls from my family. It really helped me realize just how much I am loved, and I am truly blessed to have the family and friends that I do.

My eighteenth birthday was definitely a special one:

-My seminary teacher gave me a big chocolate fish, and I loved it. My seminary teacher said, "I am making you a fisher of men! Isn't that cool?" Haha. I thought it was pretty creative, and it reminded me of the scripture mastery Jeremiah 16:16 from the Old Testament. It was an excellent gift, as I will be preparing especially hard for my mission over the next year.

-After school and seminary, my friend Scotty and I went to Buffalo Wild Wings. It was delicious as usual. I then went to the nearest gas station and bought myself a drink and a candy bar as a birthday gift to myself. :)

-In the mail, I got a little package from my sister Cynthia. She gave me a book on how to be an "extra-ordinary missionary" by John Bytheway, and it was really sweet. :)

-I then went to Chuck E. Cheese's with Brent, Shayla, and Brighton, and it was really fun! I love my nephew Brighton, and I think spending some time with him, Shayla, and Brent was one of the best birthday gifts I've ever gotten. :) I am pretty excited for Brent and Shayla's new baby this month and--knowing me--I will tell everyone that Baby Nelson #2 is a late birthday gift to me from Brent and Shayla. ;)

-As we were leaving Chuck E. Cheeses, Brent and Shayla presented me with two gifts--a journal and a book called "The Nephiteologist." I am very grateful for the journal, because I've been in need of a new one, and I think writing in a journal over the next year will be an excellent way to prepare for journal-writing on my mission. :) "The Nephiteologist" book is super sweet, as well! When I got home, I read a lot of sweet stuff from it, and there was just a lot of stuff that made you say, "Really? Wow. That's tight!" When my Dad got home, I showed it to him, and he was pretty jealous. :)

-Last but not least--Bishop Stewart called me not too long ago,to wish me a happy birthday, and we talked for a little while. He said, "Well, the countdown finally begins!" I asked him about mission papers and when the earliest time I could start filling them out was. He told me that you can turn them in three months before your 19th birthday, and he usually gives us two months to fill everything out. And so he said I can start filling out papers and what not around April/May, and that was pretty sweet news! That's only six/seven months away. Yikes! :)

Again--I want to thank everyone for the birthday wishes and for the missionary gifts! :) It really means a lot to me, and I am very glad that I have family and friends who encourage and uplift me the way y'all do!

This Week

I needed a little break from homework, so I decided to write another post. :)

This week should be a good one:

-Tomorrow is my 18th birthday, and I am a little bit excited for that. It's going to be weird being eighteen. Only because it feels just like yesterday when I was fourteen, and it's kind of scary to think of fast time flew for me, and how fast time is going to fly for me. I mean--think about it: If the next four years fly by like the last four years did for me, I'm going to be off my mission and married before I know it. And that's just weird to think about, really.

-Tuesday and Thursday I tutor and babysit as usual. This time, though, I get to babysit until about 10 PM. That's going to be an adventure, and I am looking forward to it!

-Friday is the big day for me. I am heading up to Provo with my dad and Brent Nelson as soon as I get home from school (around 11 AM). I am really excited to go to my first BYU game in Provo, and it's going to be especially great, because I am in desperate need of a vacation right now. It's always been really good for me to get away from Henderson/Vegas for a couple of days. :)

So yeah, it should be a great week! The only con to the week is that I have a big government paper due the day I get back from Provo. I've always been a procrastinator, so I am not sure when I'm going to be able to do that. I'll try my best to do it through out the week, but something tells me I'm not going to have much success. :) I'll eventually get it done, though! No worries.

An Excellent Experience at McDonalds

My Dad and JoAnn went up to Utah this weekend for conference, leaving me and the brothers alone once again.

It's been excellent! We all watched/listened to General Conference together yesterday, and I loved it. I couldn't really decide what my favorite talk was, but I really enjoyed Elder Wirthlin's talk. His stories were hilarious.

In between sessions, I took my bros out to Burger King for some lunch. We got some stuff off the dollar menu, and then I talked myself into taking them to Sonic for dessert. That was excellent!

The best part of the day, though, was taking Timmy and Logan to Priesthood Session. I really enjoyed it this year, as usual. It's just always so special. And it was great taking Logan for the first time as well. All the talks were excellent--I espeically liked the three from the first Presidency.

An excellent experience happened during/after conference. During conference, the speakers talked about making sure we listen to the Spirit; they also mentioned Quoroms. Well, I was sitting there during the session, and the thought came to me: "We should go to McDonalds for ice cream after this session is over." I decided that probably wasn't an excellent idea because I had spent enough money already.

But the thought kept coming to me. And so I decided that we would go to the McDonalds next to our building after the session. I pulled into the parking lot, and Timmy asks me, "Why are we going inside?" And my reply was, "We have to, brother." And so we walk in.

I felt like I had to go to the bathroom, so before getting the ice cream, I decided to walk over to the bathroom. On my way to the bathroom, however, I heard a lady behind me say, "Are you LDS?" I told her that we were, but I was afraid of what she was going to say next--I thought she might criticize us or something; she had bags of luggage and I thought she was homeless. But the next thing that came out of her mouth: "I am LDS, and I've been waiting for someone like you."

She then told me her story. She was living in Boulder City, where she was converted many years ago. She told me that she moved back to her home town in Tennessee a few months ago, but that she was robbed of most her possessions, hence the reason she was back in Henderson.

She didn't know what Ward boundry she was supposed to be in or anything, so she wanted to speak with a bishop or relief society president. I gave her the number of our relief society president, and she was very grateful.

She told us that the two Elders that baptized her went on to become doctors. She asked us if any of us wanted to become doctors after our mission. I laughed and told her that I wanted to probably do something with computers. I told her that I was going on a mission in about a year, and she thought that was great. I shook her hand when we were finally done visiting with her, and she thanked us very kindly and told me she liked how firm my hand shake was. :)

The brothers and I got our ice cream, and on our way out, we ran into another person--one of my quorom members; his name is Brigham, and he is Hawaiian or something. He hasn't been to church in a while, and so I figured this would be an excellent time to talk to him and see how he was doing. We talked about Football (he plays for Green Valley), and it was great to know that he was doing well. He seemed very happy that we came and talked to him, and it felt great. He is a great, great guy, and I only hope that visiting with him last night will make a difference, perhaps making him more active soon. :)

On our way out of McDonalds, I told the brothers, "So that is why the Spirit was telling us to come to McDonalds, my friends." Logan and Timmy agreed, and both thought it was an excellent experience.