Live Like You Believe

Recently, I read through a General Conference talk from last October, Be Ye Converted. In reading the words of Sister Bonnie L. Oscarson, I was suddenly reminded of one week several years ago that I spent near Manteca, California. I was a young teenager, excited for a trip away from home. Not too far from home, though, as I was going to stay with my Aunt Kathy. I flew by myself for the first time, and cried a little bit as I said goodbye to my mom. I really had no idea what to expect that week, but the things I learned changed my entire life.

My activity in the church started when I was barely 13, as a New Years' resolution. I could see that my friends were happier than me and church attendance was really the only difference between my life and theirs. I know, not exactly typical. I'm not entirely sure if my trip was the immediate Summer or the one following, but I was still getting a feel for the spiritual life.

 I always loved seeing my Aunt Kathy, and this year she offered for me to come visit for a week and attend girls' camp with her ward. She helped plan the camp and was going to be up there all week with the other 12-18 year old girls in her area. I was really excited for the opportunity, but also very nervous to be somewhere so new with people I didn't know.

While I don't remember a lot of details about that week, I remember being so touched and inspired. The theme was based on a song by Jenny Phillips - Live Like You Believe. I was in awe at the strength and happiness of my new friends. I grew up surrounded by the LDS faith. I basically lived the standards by default. These California natives talked all week about the trials they went through in picking good friends and sometimes being teased for the decisions they made based on faith. As a 14-year-old, I was incredibly impressed. I felt so fortunate. Besides the moral strength, the spiritual maturity in this group touched my heart.

On one afternoon, we had a special guest come up to camp. Lucky me, it happened to be my cousin, Matt Daley and his new wife, Kimber. In true youth activity fashion, they changed into their wedding outfits and visited with us about their story together. They put emphasis on a temple marriage. From the short time hearing from them, I saw honesty, love, and happiness in their relationship. From that time forward, a temple marriage became one of my biggest goals. I wanted so badly to have a relationship like Matt and Kimber...now they have two kids and live in Texas, and I'm hoping my family life will be just like theirs.

By the end of the week, I was so excited about life. I learned about camping, tying knots, hiking, and a lot of spirituality. All of these memories flood back to me each time I listen to "Live Like You Believe." Even without an emotional connection, the song is just beautiful. It has such a special place in my heart. I hope you enjoy:

Weekend Roundup

We've done quite a lot this weekend! The indoor soccer tournament I had registered for with a few buddies started on Thursday night. The tournament lasted from Thursday to Saturday night. We had a record of 3-2 during the group stage and were knocked out in the first round of the tournament. I scored three goals during our games! It was great, our team was full of upbeat and fun people. A lot of the teams in the tournament were really intense and would get mad at their own teammates for making mistakes. Watching them reminded me of a huge reason why I didn't stick with soccer. After the tournament was over, I was really hungry. Craving some calorie-dense food, my mind was stuck on eating a Big Mac meal. True to form, I had not used some McDonald's gift certificates that I had been given as part of a birthday gift about 8 years ago, so we drove home to get them. After 8 years, McDonald's accounts payable account finally balanced. And their accountants rejoiced exceedingly. Trisha and my teammates' wives/significant others were our team supporters, they provided us with halftime snacks and a solid cheering section, it was really great! I'm glad that Trish is such a good sport, coming to each of my games to support me.
After our games on Friday night, we hosted some of our team for a FIFA party. We had ice cream and played FIFA for a few hours. It was fun to relax at the start of the weekend and having played two games that night.
On Saturday morning, we went to a marriage symposium that had some great speakers. First, we heard from John Bytheway! I remember all of us loving his tapes with funny songs. He gave a great talk that gave 10 principles for a happy marriage. Along with the great lesson, he did a perfect impression of Barney Fife from The Andy Griffith Show. It was amazing! Following his remarks, we heard from Brother Goodman, a professor from BYU. He gave a great talk about intimacy within marriage. He focused on the Godly nature of this gift and how we can increase our love for each other through it. We were able to sit next to some good friends during this symposium and had lunch with them afterwards.
That's it for this week. Stay tuned for more regular updates :) Until next time!
Dave

A Return to the Blog

Soo... Sorry that we haven't posted anything in ages, I wish we had a good excuse, but it's mostly that we just forget we have a blog and then remember when we're going to bed and resolve to do it the next day, but never do. Then we repeat this cycle. However, today we are breaking out of our Groundhog Day-ish routine to bring you an update of our lives.
The beginning of the year has brought a lot of change in our house. For starters, we lost our roommate! Tyler moved up north for a good job opportunity. We miss him, but he really loves the job and sounds like he will do well with it. To compensate for not playing racquetball anymore, I have started doing "Insanity" with some goods friends up here in Cedar. If you have not heard of insanity, here is a link with a sample of a workout: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLK28BHJDd8. These workouts last for 45 minutes and they are the most intense workouts I have ever done. The first few days were unpleasant, but now following each workout I feel so good! It's weird, but nice:)
Another change is that Trisha has taken the semester off from school because she will start coaching softball for the Canyon View freshman team! She will be altering her work schedule so she can attend the practices and games. She'll start work at 7am, work during lunch, and leave at 3 so she can make it to the field for practice, which is held from 3-6. Needless to say, she will be very busy this semester! She is really excited, and I know she'll do great!
We have more to report, but for the sake of retaining reader interest, I will separate that into another post so those with glazed-over eyes can take a break. Again, we are very sorry for shirking our blogging, we'll put our shoulder to the wheel and blog along :)