Deep Thoughts From The Course

Well Saturday night we had the adult session of Stake Conference and Elder Cook was there as the presiding authority, due to the fact that our Stake Presidency was being reorganized. However, when the session first started, Elder Cook was not there. The conducting member of the stake presidency said that he (Elder Cook) was down on San Diego with those members of the church who house has burned down. After meeting with them, he returned and gave us the number of house that burned down the belonged to members of the church. He said that there were about 45 houses that burned down that were owned by members of the church. That is 45 of the 2100 structures that burned that were owned by members of the church, which is awesome. I honestly thought that there were more that burned down.

From there he began to talk about how he felt when he was called to be a member of the 12 and the impressions that he felt. After listening to him I really feel that even though they might have this awesome calling and responsibility as an apostle of the Lord, but I came to the conclusion that they are just like us and they have to same feelings that we do when we get huge responsibilities assigned to us. I was really impressed with Elder Cook and the love that he has for the saints as well as his love for the Lord. I wish that when I have a responsibility as huge as something like he has that I can be as strong as he is and just move forward and not be afraid of being left alone to fend for myself. But I know that if we are faithful we will never be alone and the Lord will protect us and guide through everything.

Twelve firefighters are trapped atop a ridge off Santiago Canyon Road in Orange County after flames jumped the road. The blaze roared up the hillside and prompted the crew members to deploy their fire shelters. They were surrounded by burning brush, but they made it out alive. "We just remained calm, everyone did," one firefighter said after he was checked out by paramedics. All of the firefighters were treated at the scene and did not want to go to the hospital.

The picture above is courtesy of www.latimes.com who got the picture from a lady named Karen Tapia-Anderson. This is of the Santiago Fire which is burning due east of Irvine; Foothill Ranch; and Lake Forest, California. This fire as many of you know by now has been burning since Sunday as well as most of the other fires that are currently burning in California. I have to honestly say that these 12 firefighters are my heroes because of the guts they showed to go into that area and fight the fire, get trapped, and then not want to go to the hospital. To see more about what is going on with the fires go to cnn.com; foxnews.com, or any of those major news sources' websites to track the firefighting and to see more pictures.

Ann and I are sighing with relief right now, because we could be those people who are now spending the night either with family members in their houses or in hotels, or sleeping in the El Toro High School gym tonight. We almost renting an apartment in a new development by the Irvine Company called Portola Springs, which is right down the 241 toll road from where the fire originated and right below where it has burned. This area was one of the first areas evacuated once the fire started. Thank goodness for the promptings of the Spirit. I hope that we all can keep in mind those who have lost their house, loved ones, or who don't even know if they have lost their house or loved ones in our prayers tonight and for the next little while. Because who knows, that could be you or someone you know that has been evacuated from their house and has lost it. Good luck to all those who are fighting the fires and to those who are stranded not knowing what is going on with your house, you are in my prayers.

Well the other day I was sitting at my desk at home thinking that I was having a hard and it was never going to end. Then I looked next to my computer at the Beta Fish and thought, man do they have it easy or what! The only thing that they have to worry about is when am I going to be fed and when is my water going to be changed. So I thought that they really do have it easy, but I also thought that I have it easier than others do, because I don't have to worry about whether my house is going to be bombed, of where my next meal is going to come from, whether I am going to make it to the next day. So basically what I am saying is that things are better for me than I actually thought and that I really shouldn't stress the small things and I know that there are worse things out there for me to be worrying about what I am going through right now.

Now to refer this to an earlier post, when I was talking about being excited for school to start, now I can say that I have officially changed my mind! I am now no longer excited for school and can't wait for it to be over.

After eating a great brunch with Ann's parents at their house I got to work on my homework that is due tomorrow. After working on that during the whole time the afternoon session of General Conference I got to relax for a little bit watching the San Diego Football Chargers beat the Denver Broncos BIG TIME, much like Notre Dame beat UCLA (which is for another post)! We went with Ann's Mom and her sister to Big Corona Beach to see the sand castles that were built during a contest that was held today. When we got there all the sand castles had been destroyed, trampled back into the ground that they had come from, so we went back the Ann's parents house.

While relaxing some more, watching older episodes Iron Chef America and other shows on the Food Network, Ann's mom asked me to help her find the spray from a cat that had been inside their house and was stinking up the area were it was. Now I have to say that I could not smell a single thing outside of the food what was being cooked. So we turned off all the lights in the area where we were searching and used a black light that would make the pee show up. so after having turned off the lights and taking the black light from Ann's mom I started to wave it in front of me lighting up the ground, with all the dust specs appearing in the way that white items appear under black lights. After I looking for a few minutes I found one area where the cat sprayed the wall by their kitchen, and other areas on the carpet that was on a small step into their kitchen and on the floor by a chase lounge in a little sitting area just off of their family room. While looking some more around the house Ann's mom said, "This is like CSI!" I thought, "For sure it is," as I waved the black light in front of me trying to illuminate any other that might have been sprayed while the marking of territories too place, but I didn't find anymore (luckily). I actually enjoyed waving a black light around looking for stuff, I actually thought about what else I would find and then decided not to search anymore because I could see all the lint on the clean shirt that I was wearing.

I know that out of everything that happened today; this was the thing that I was posting about and how completely weird this is, but I just had to share this story with everyone! I also hope that no one else has to go through this, not that it was a bad experience or anything, but it was something that I hope to not have to repeat. I also hope that everyone enjoyed the great General Conference weekend.

The best thing about October is General Conference Weekend. Two sessions on Saturday, plus the always great Priesthood Session. The most surprising thing, but not really surprising, was the calling of a new member of the 12 apostles, and a new councilor in the First Presidency. The new Apostle is Elder Quentin L. Cook and the new councilor is Elder Henry B. Eyring. The surprise was not the calling of a new member of the 12 but the calling of a new councilor in the First Presidency and who it was. Now I am not saying that I am not happy with the choice, because I support it with all my heart, it was a surprise because I never thought of Elder Eyring as a possibility. I only thought of Elder Holland or Elder Ballard. I know that the Lord has called the right councilor for his presidency and it will be a great opportunity for the church to grow under this presidency.

Elder Eyring gave GREAT talk tonight during the priesthood session, because he talked about how to over come adversity when receiving a priesthood calling that you might think is to much for you. He said that there are three things the come from your prayers about you new priesthood calling, the Lord will give you a three fold answer; 1.) Assurance that you can get through any adversity from the calling, 2.) Forget yourself in the calling, 3.) well I really don't remember the third one because I didn't have anything to take notes on and I am tired at the moment, but I will update this post when I can see what it is. But I remember that it was such a good talk and it was something that I was thinking about just last week and how overwhelming it would be for me to have a major calling in the ward, but I had the same feelings that Elder Eyring mentioned in his talk. I hope that you all enjoyed Conference today and will enjoy it tomorrow, because I know that I will.