Blogging Spree: No Tengo Nada En Mente

These last few weeks (months, even) I have been in this whacky artsy and/or creative mood. And that may or may not explain all these blog posts that I have thrown out there recently. I dunno. It actually might not be all that artsy or creative. But I'll blog anyways. Why? Because I can. And I want to.

This time around, though...I really have no idea what I want to write. But I  have gained a great love for something called improvisation. Rather, I like to improvise and make things beautiful along the way. Don't get me wrong...I prefer to plan things out in advance and execute those plans exactly. And that's usually what I do with blog posts; I have a nice little plan of what will be written.

But not this one. It's coming out just as quick as I can type all these words. No plan whatsoever. The above picture is giving me an idea of what to write about, though. You see, I ran into this Slender look-alike while I was cruising along the Las Vegas strip. Las Vegas Boulevard, to be exact.

You might be wondering why I was there. Well, the simple answer is I had no choice; I had to go to the Belagio Gallery of Fine Art for an art assignment. And while I was out there on the strip, a sudden realization stuck me. "This is great. I have never been on the strip alone."

The truth is: It was an adventure, yes. But it only was an adventure because I got lost a handful of times. I won't go into detail, but I will say this...I am grateful for a lot of skills I learned as a missionary (i.e. speed walking, asking for directions, etc.) I was walking around like a blind cheetah; I was walking with haste, but I had no idea where I was or where I was going.

That adventure took place...well, yesterday. And now that I think about it...As awesome and fun as it was to be out there on that journey, it also kind of stunk. I was alone in an unfamiliar environment. I didn't have a friend, a sibling, or a companion to turn to. And that's what I am used to! I am almost never alone. I like figuring out crap myself. But when I can't figure it out, there's always that comfort that comes from knowing that I have a sibling, a parent, or a friend that I can turn to for answers.

But I simply love figuring out the crap; I love the adventure. And I think getting out there and being in unfamiliar environments is the key to growing and progressing.

A Confession, A Cure

Meet BDN-PC. He's my new laptop that I recently got with my scholarship money. Although he's a new friend, he and I have shared a joyful memory or two already. I love this piece of machinery.

However, I must confess that I was a little heart-broken when I realized that a good 50 GB of its 120 GB hard drive space has already been used up with the operating system, the programs, DROPBOX, and mission pictures.

The question haunted me for days: "What the devil is going to happen to my thousands of files of music?" You see, I personally own a good 30-40 GB of music. But with only 70 GB of HD space left, what was I to do with this crap load of beautiful music?

I decided that I was never going to listen to ALL 30-40 GB of that music. So I decided to tone it down and only put my favorite albums on this small piece of machinery. I began to transfer the music over wirelessly. But it was taking forever. And something didn't seem right.

A voice suddenly spoke to my mind. "Screw it. Spotify is the key."

It hit me like a sack-full of potatoes. I immediately deleted all the music from BDN-PC, and I downloaded and installed Spotify within a matter of 2-3 minutes (thanks to BDN-PC's quickness).

Spotify had everything I wanted to listen to (PLUS MORE!) as long as I had an Internet connection. It was love at first listen.

But little did I know that my love for Spotify could run even deeper. It all happened so quickly. In fact, it was about ten minutes ago (11:17 PM). I am sitting here waiting for my little brothers to call for a ride home from the Foothill vs. Basic game. And I have a huge urge to put on some Ben Folds Five.

I turn on the first album that catches my eye. The Unauthorized Biography Of Reinhold Messner is its name. And I am thinking, "This looks good."

Oh, it was blissful. The album started off with a tune called Narcolepsy. And I am thinking, "Okay, okay. Pretty good, pretty good." Before I knew it, I am hearing Don't Change Your Plans. Then Mess. And then Magic. By this moment, the tears are beginning to roll down my face.

"Beautiful music." I say to myself.

Then Hospital Song- A Cappella begins to play. I start to bawl.

And now I am rocking out to the some-what explicit Army while wiping those tears from my face one by one.

My confession is simple: I love Spotify. It's an antidote to BDN-PC's inability to hold my personal collection of music.

The Only True Church, Personal Revelation

Another General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ has come to a quick close. As always, I am left thinking, "Darn. It's already over? How could it possibly be so?"

A lot of other things have been on my mind, too, of course. It may have something to do with all the wonderful talks and words that were heard all across the world. So many simple truths have been taught and learned these past two days. And I am simply overwhelmed by how much these past two days have helped me spiritually. I am beyond grateful to belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I know it is Christ's church. It's His, and there is no other.

That simple truth and belief of ours is found in the Fifth and Sixth Article of Faith:

5 We believe that a man must be called of God, by prophecy, and by the laying on of hands by those who are in authority, to preach the Gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof.

6 We believe in the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, and so forth.

A man must be called of God. He must be given the authority, the keys to preside over Christ's church. This is nothing new. We saw it again and again and again in the Old Testament in prophets such as Moses and in Abraham. They were entitled to know God's will for all of His children. They talked to God and received revelation straight from Him.

It is no different today. As Latter-Day Saints, we believe in a latter-day prophet who receives revelations straight from the Lord. We saw that this weekend when President Monson announced the new, younger age requirements for Elders (now 18) and Sisters (now 19). How awesome is it to recognize and know that such an announcement didn't come by chance? It is the Lord's will. We may not quite yet understand why the Lord needs these slightly-younger missionaries, but I can assure the world that there is a purpose behind it. It's not because "it makes more sense" or "it's more convenient"; otherwise, it would have been this way a long time ago. The Lord needs more missionaries, and He needs these younger Elders and Sisters.

Aside from the revelation that our prophet receives for us as God's children, I am grateful for the personal revelation that each of us can receive be listening to conference. As I listened to Elder Holland speak earlier today, he said something along the lines of (referring to being a true disciple of Jesus Christ), "The call is to come, to stay true, to love God, and lend a hand. I include in that call to fixed faithfulness every return missionary who ever stood in a baptismal font, and with arm to the square said, 'Having been commissioned of Jesus Christ...' That commission was to have changed your convert forever. But it was surely supposed to have changed you forever as well."

When I heard those words come out of Elder Holland's mouth, I couldn't help but start to tear up. It was a reminder to me that I need to do a better job of being a disciple of Christ. I wasn't only meant to be affected by my mission during the two years that I served. I am meant to let those baptisms and those mission experiences continue to change me.

I want to be a faithful Christian soldier. I cannot and will not stop--no matter the price.

The Dreams That Will Haunt You

I have absolutely sucked at this blogging thing as of late. Heck, I have struggled since returning home from my mission. I am just not as creative anymore. Well, I wasn't. I feel like a lot of good ideas for some blog entries have been popping into my mind as of late.

It's a miracle that I am even here writing this. My choices were as follows: cut my hair, sleep, watch the re-run of the BYU vs. Hawaii game (which I attended with my good friend Megan Marie Shill), or...blog. And I chose to blog. Why? Because I feel like the cyber world has been lacking the BDN love that is scattered about through the writings of this blog.

My simple, late-night thought is this: I dream a lot. And I dream a lot of crap. It's great! My dreams are always entertaining--even if they happen to be the most bizarre things to ever enter my brilliant mind. Some of my dreams come true. Some of my dreams come half true. Some of my dreams are incorrectly analyzed; others are over-analyzed. Each is unique, and I believe they all serve a purpose.

My favorite kind of dreams, though, are the ones that will haunt me. That sounds a little strange. But let me elaborate. I don't mean a nightmare or a bad dream. Perhaps haunt isn't even the right word. (Oh well. It sounds more dramatic.) When I say "haunt"...I really mean the unbelievably awesome/unreal dreams that will never leave you alone. They never vanish; they cannot be erased. And it's not a bad thing. It's like that because we cherish those dreams, and we never want to forget them.

For example, as a veteran missionary in Chile, I dreamed a dream that will never be forgotten. I won't go into detail because to me it was very personal and even sacred. But I will say that it opened my eyes and helped me gain a better understanding of a sliver of the Plan of Salvation. That dream will definitely "haunt" me for the rest of my days.

When I napped earlier today, I had a dream that will "haunt" me for a while, methinks. It was unbelievably random, but it was real. And while it was so real and unforgettable, I don't even think I could explain it in words if I had to. But in the dream I just remember being surrounded by some of the people I love most. There were smiles; there were laughs. And the dream was an instant reminder that I am who I am thanks to these beautiful people.

Yeah, it sounds silly, but my favorite dreams haunt me. And they always will.

Seventh Grade Memory #2: The Land of The Question Marks?

Okay, so this isn't from seventh grade. It was from sixth. But it's all the same thing, right? This is a short story that I wrote in sixth grade for no apparent reason. You can either read it or listen to the audio. Either one is pretty darn ridiculous.

"The Land of the Question Marks?"

      By:Benjamin Nelson?
           

            Once upon a time in a 1982. There was a land of Question Marks. In this Land there was a Question Mark Castle A.K.A Question Mark Castle. In this castle was a Queen and a King. The King A.K.A Kyle is a big fat question mark. He's such a big Question Mark he doesnt even know his wifes name. The Queen A.K.A Linzlu is not like the other question marks. She’s very smart. She tries to teach Kyle a few manners, but its hopeless.
            Well one day King Kyle called in his servant A.K.A Bangers A.K.A The King's servant. (Bangers is a very stupid question mark.)  The King then told him to say "Question Mark." (Heck. The King couldn't even say it.) Well Bangers ended up saying I think I messed my pants. They sent Bangers to jail.

            Bangers is now stuck in his jail room. He had no way to get out. He then grabbed a stick from the floor and hit him self upside the head. “Oh gosh that hurt!” Bangers thought to himself. I thought hitting myself would send me to heaven. He thought again. Well Bangers in now stuck in this jail so next paragraph.

            Kyle and Linzlu were recently trying to win a war. This war was Question Mark Castle versus Exclamatory Hills. Well they couldnt to anything at the moment so they needed to get help from Commas. They then sent out there finest soilder A.K.A Chetter the Fierce Warrior. Chetter is about to enbark on a journey to save Question Mark castle!
            Before Chetter could embark on his journey he had to find a servant. Well he thought to himself. “A servant should be in the Jail.” So Chetter walked down to the jail rooms.  Chetter then heard a helpless voice. Which was saying “Help me.” Chetter then went down to the Jail room 5. He then busted the door down and saved Bangers. They then left the castle side by side.
            When Chetter and  Bangers were resting in a valley they wre attacked by percent signs. The percent signs were well trained. They then killed Chetter. Bangers then ran for his life. He came across Chetter's axe he picked up the axe and killed all the percent signs. The barely made it out alive.
            When he got to the City of Comma's he fell to the ground. When he awoke he found the king by his side. What happened he thought to himself.  The king then ask him why he was there. Bangers told him everything. He also told him about Chetter's death. The king then sent Bangers and some comma's back to Question Mark Castle.
            When they got back they took out a lot of the Exclamation Points. Then the entered the castle. When they got to the castle they found out that Queen Linzlu was queennapped. (Of Course Kyle couldn’t do anything about it. He was clueless.) So then Bangers became a knight and went to save his queen, Linzlu. He took question marks and commas with him by the way.
            When they found the Exclamatory Hideout they took out every exclamation point that got in there way. When they finally found the King of Exclamation Points they found the Queen. The King of exclamation points was about to finish Queen Linzlu. But Bangers jumped in front of the bullet and with his last strength finished the King of Exclamation Points off.
            When Linzlu and the men got back to the castle they were having a funeral for Bangers. They gave him a medal and Linzlu gave him a kiss. (Woah!)  

The End?

Seventh Grade Memory #1: GENIUS (8-14-03)

The following is something I wrote nine years ago in seventh grade. It's proof that I was living in my own world. And still do sometimes! ;) The below link is a hilarious audio. The transcription is below that.

GENIUS (8-14-03)

It is now my third day of seventh grade. It is going really well. My study hall is very nice. But P.E. is the worst. But I will live. 

I wonder how Brent is doing at work. Good, I hope! Because he has to help me build my computer. 

Kelli is lucky because she gets another few days of summer. Of course, I am luckier, though, because I get out earlier. I wonder if Mom was able to get a hold of a stamp? I need one of the junts for Kelli's letter. I really enjoyed/loved her letters. They were the victory-ness-er-est. 

Speaking of Toots...That stink nuggets needs to get online. He must be having a good time. And that's all. That traitor! We aren't cousins anymore. Now my best cousin is Jonny Brunner. He married my other cousin Theresa, and he took the title of Brunner. What a sight that was! 

Well, Mom gave me a dollar when I was young. Too young so I ate it in one bite. It was good. I wonder how Dad is doing? *fluffs* Well, my computer comes today. That will be great. But I will need some more supplies. I shall need:

1. Five stink nuggets.

2. Fifty honey buns.

3. One chicken bone.
*fluff*

4. Six fresh-baked undies.

And that's about it. But mostly those undies. I keep fluffing. Haha. "For the kids! The greatest!"-Skittles and Seth in my head.
 

Well, THE END.

Randomize Me

Who reads this thing anymore?

I have a lot on my mind, and I actually have no idea what I want to write. But I feel like writing. So I am going to do it. Because I want to, and I can.

The Four Freaks (a club of which I personally belong) are living the dream. Like I talked about in my last blog post, I made it a goal to help prepare my little brother Timmy and our friends Skyler and Levi prepare to serve missions. I think it's been something that very few people understand, but as stated in my last blog post...I know without a doubt that it has been the right thing to do. Timmy and Skyler are still in the early days of their missions, but they continue to press forward with a lot of faith and humility. The day after Skyler left us for the MTC, our good friend Levi received his call to Spain. I am so proud of all three.

Many of you (if you're still reading this) might remember my obsession that came along with my many viewings of The Dark Knight four years ago. And as I am sure you're all aware, the Batman trilogy is now complete with The Dark Knight Rises. Like I did with The Dark Knight four years ago, I'd like to label this gran finale as another masterpiece. Although, I must admit that I have been troubled and disgusted the last couple of days by the massacre that took place during the midnight showing of that very masterpiece in Auora, Colorado. It's hard for me to understand how someone could do such a terrible thing. It saddens me. My hearts and prayers continue to go out to the seventy people and their family members who were affected, and my only desire is that justice is served on behalf of the twelve innocent lives that were taken.

Today while I was working at the Las Vegas Convention Center, I experienced something that I haven't experienced since I was a missionary. I won't go into specific details on what was said, but to make a long story short...I was helping a co-worker haul a shelf across the gigantic building that is the Convention Center, and as we are carrying this big old thing, I learn that he is a Seventh Day Adventist, and he learns that I am LDS. And out of no where (as I experienced many times in my mission), this co-worker of mine tries to convince me that I am living a lie. Again, I won't go into detail about what was exactly said, but I will say this: I said a silent prayer as soon as he started bashing my religion, and I am grateful that I did because my prayer was answered. I wasn't afraid, I didn't panic. I held my ground. In the end, he wasn't very pleased with what I had said. He didn't believe me that I received an answer from God Himself that The Book of Mormon is indeed true. And although he didn't like or appreciate what I had to say, I was just grateful for that opportunity that I had to open my mouth and testify of the truthfulness of the Gospel.

I will end with this:  I look forward to Matt and Jessi's wedding next weekend. I am in great need of a break/vacation, and it will be great to spend some time with my family as we celebrate this new life that Matt and Jessi are beginning. After the wedding, I will be spending a few days with my brother Brent and his family in Seattle. It'll be an exciting way to end the summer! :)