Be Better by Doing Better

I have recently contemplated what I have done to become a better person. It seems that I am never happy with what I do or who I am so I set goals to try to make myself better. I've tried huge leaps that never seem to work so I've made small efforts to slowly make myself a better person. The only way to become a better person, is to do better. So, the first act of improvement I made was organization. I make my bed every morning. This is something totally foreign to my life; I think these past two weeks (when I started) is the longest I've made my bed in consecutive days! So for 14 days so far I have made my bed every morning after hopping out. It really does make a difference, not only for the way the room looks, but it starts my day on an organized and positive note. My second goal for betterment is changing the way I pray. What started as a coincidence has turned into a goal that I have continually been able to fulfill. One night, I decided to pray and only be grateful for the things in my life, not requesting blessing or a good night's sleep, only the things I was thankful for. In my family I believe there is a curse. Once you go to college, you will develop sleeping issues that will keep you up late into the night and your mind will work non-stop. My dad has weird sleeping and so does my older sister. After I prayed, only expressing gratitude, all the worries seemed to go into the back of my mind. I could have been stressed about a paper, a test, or just general studying and it would keep me up late just because my mind couldn't settle. However, after expressing my gratitude for the lord, I don't think about the current issues and I can have a good night's sleep. I would recommend trying it out! Those are my efforts to become a better person. I like them because they aren't hard to do or anything out of my ordinary routine. I guess at this point I am just trying to refine what I already do before I can take on anything new.

School has been good. It's getting a little monotonous but that's school for ya! I like all my classes, for the most part, and I'm making lots of friends and bettering my relationships with my current friends. I recently put in my mission papers and I'm just trying to keep everything in perspective. Today in Church the Bishop called all the young men who received their calls and asked them to announce where they were called to. Two guys walked up and the first one said "Mexico", he walked back to the stairs and the second young man announced his location. He said "Italy" instantly, a huge gasp and "wows" could be heard along with quiet cheering. I thought that act of "wowing" was so rude! Nobody wowed for the Mexico call! It was embarrassing and just rude, the indecency just killed me. That Mexico call probably means the world to that guy! I think I'm being sensitive to the issue because I'll be getting my call soon and I don't want anyone to judge it for me! Each missionary candidate is chosen to a certain location by divine inspiration! I don't need some stupid Utah Mormons telling me a call to a state side mission or Mexico isn't adequate!

My Mom just sent me some pictures through facebook of me from I believe fifth grade! They are of me folk dancing! WHOA! I remember doing the folk dancing during recces but the pictures are from our performance. I totally forgot about the performance until I saw these pictures! I wish that my start with folk dancing in 5th grade would have made me better! I love doing it but I get pretty lost sometimes!
This one is my favorite...It shows I've got that double step down!


Now I get to just try to make it through the week! My roommate and friend Conner Blake got two tickets to the Sunday Morning First Session of General Conference so that will knock out one of my goals for being in Utah! I'm pretty excited! The only problem, is I don't know if I've ever made it through General Conference without falling asleep!