Music and Lyrics

Dear Reader, There is a song that I love called "Hand in Hand Together." It is a song written by Janice Kapp Perry back in 2001 about how the Book of Mormon and Bible work together to testify of the Savior and the gospel. I wanted to go into detail about something that I actually know about. Well, at least I knew a lot about it at one point in time. I have lost sight of it a little bit in recent days. That topic is the validity of the Book of Mormon. For those of you who don't already know the story, the Book of Mormon has roots in Jerusalem, dating back to 600 b.c. It is the record kept by people who left Jerusalem and traveled to America. The Book goes through about a millennium of wars, prophecies and other events. After being buried, the record found its way into the hands of Joseph Smith, Jr, a boy living in New York during the 19th century. Most of this is explained in the introduction of the Book of Mormon . There are a couple of paragraphs that I want to focu...

Dear Reader,  This song is from our favorite musical ever is quite interesting (hopefully you all catch the sarcasm in that statement). The video is one of the funniest on Youtube. I really have no idea where the inspiration for this song/scene came from, but it is complimentary to today's blog post.  There has been so much going through my head this week. I really just wish it would stop working for a little bit. I guess I better start with a warning: I am mostly just ranting today. The ending will hopefully bring out some inspirational and  uplifting thought, but you don't have to read on to find out. This week has been emotionally draining for no apparent reason. There are only two things that have happened which merit high emotions, but one of those things has nothing to do with me directly. To sum up: I have been missing people and not understanding certain circumstances. Who have I been missing? Three of my best friends. I have talked with two of them...

Dear Reader, Yesterday I was listening to  BYU Radio  (As is customary while I'm working) and heard another episode from the  Matt Townsend Show . The episode yesterday was entitled "Love." Obviously I was intrigued about what they would talk about. It was mostly marital advice, especially because one of the producers is getting married next week. It made me think a lot, though. What did I think about? Well, there were lots of things and the majority of them I either can't put into words or don't want to share publicly on the internet. There is one thing I will share. Love is surprising. There are some moments that come along and just smack you across the face as if to say, "Hey you! This is the best thing that you can possibly have in your life! Find THIS!" I had one of those moments last night. After seeing a good friend of mine, I realized that she is amazing and I want her around more often. Before I go off on a monologue of how amazing she is...

Dear Reader, Today is the birthday of one of the greatest people I know. Here is a list of things that another friend wrote about her a couple of years ago: "The Greatest Person Is..... I'll give you some hints. She's a GIRL She makes delicious Ham Fried Rice She meets her commitments She's dependable She understands my humor She is easy going She is aware of others She makes life fun She is a hard worker She's ambitious She loves the Lord She's very service oriented She's really pretty She's chillaxed She makes me laugh She and I can talk about whatever I've almost killed her and she still loves me Any guesses yet?? She's pretty great....basically. She's MORGAN!!" That comes from another blog written about Morgan. I edited it just a little bit so all of those things apply to me, too. Hopefully she is having a grand time on her mission right now. She is serving the Lord full time in Mexico....

Dear Readers, I never thought I would use this song as a premise for a blog post, but alas, the idea came to mind and this was the very first song that came to mind. It fits very accurately with what I'm experiencing today. Many of my friends have said that I know everyone. This is highly inaccurate. I only know half of everyone. Anyway, sometimes this leads me on a weird research chase online. I'll explain: on the feature "people you may know" on Facebook, sometimes there are people who show up who have about 30-40 mutual friends (sometimes more). In a situation like that, my mind automatically jumps to questions such as, "How am I not friends with this person? If we have so many friends in common, how have we never met?" The answer is rarely the same. Sometimes it is because one of us moves into a ward where the other lived before, so we have lots of friends in common from that place where we lived. Others are missionaries that I met once while in Chi...

Dear Reader, Brad Paisley sings a song about how creating a totally different person when one is on the internet. It is a funny take on how people change themselves to look better on websites like Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, or whatever other sites you can think of. It is a song geared mostly toward meeting people for dating. I'll share a couple of my favorite parts. I work down at the pizza pit And I drive an old Hyundai I still live with my mom and dad I'm 5'3" and overweight ... But there's a whole 'nother me  That you need to see Go check out Myspace 'cause online I'm out in Hollywood I'm 6'5" and I look [darn] good I drive a Maserati I'm a black belt in karate and I love a good glass of wine ... I'm so much cooler online This idea of changing who you are online is something I have seen a lot with people around me. My friends and family have accounts on all kinds of websites and da...