Addresses

Here are my addresses.

MTC:

Elder Calvin Moisés Juárez
England London South Mission
Provo Missionary Training Center
2005 N 900 E
Provo, UT 84604

London:

Elder Calvin Moisés Juárez
England London South Mission
The London Temple
West Park Road
Newchapel, Surrey
England RH7 6NB

I'll also keep them in the sidebar over there   »›»›»›»

2 Weeks

Yesterday was the 2-week-preversary of the MTC for me. "I'll be outta here in 14 days," I kept thinking to myself. Well, actually, I was thinking "fortnight", but I digress. There's so much I wanted to do, but I know I'll forget most of it, or else be too Spirit-minded to really enjoy a lot of it. I wanted to start a band, go longboarding, catch a concert, commit "Nothing Better" by the Postal Service to memory, and finish the world tour on Rock Band.

Some things I think may have been good for me are:
1. A real date (number 5, it would be, for those of you keeping track at home). I'm not into dating 'cause I'm scared; not entirely of being rejected, more of her accepting and then my having to actually go through with it. I'mso terrible when it comes to people.
2. Shaved more (current count is 7, I think), although I haven't had to, which rocks!
3. A kiss. Don't get me wrong, I'm proud of my VL status, I just wonder what all the hype is about.

As I look back on the month since I got my call, I notice I've become much more family-concious. I find that the more closely I follow the commandments of the Lord, the more aware I am of my siblings. I have been trying not to forget about my siblings. I try to spend time with each and all of them; I don't want to leave thinking what I did when Sean left, "I missed it."

Sibs and padres, I love you guys.

New Management

As of right now, Both Olivia and Josie have been invited to this blog. Hopefully, one of them will have time to type in my letters home when I write.

Also, I'll post my MTC address sometime soon.

Reactions

Thoughts on my assignment, since opening my call:

Will I speak Chinese with a British accent?, or will I still sound decidedly American by the time I get home? And what about English?, y'know? Will I get to learn more German? Spanish? French?

Will Travis be able to teach me anything before I go?

Will my debit card work?

I'll be driving on the left side of the road, and the right side of the car. What if my left hand isn't up the the challenge? Like, shifting, and all. All it's ever had to do is power windows and power locks! I'm nervous for that. And for not auto-piloting to the right of the road.

I am Assigned to Labor in …

the England London South Mission.

I will prepare to preach the gospel in the Mandarin language.

By the way, I report to the MTC on April the 15.

Hey

I really like vinyl records.

Apparently, I'm not alone.  Who's with me?

A Post from Notebooke, my Notebook

Click to open a HUGE version (Achtung!: It could take some time to load.)

On Sean's Letter of December the Twenty-fifth

Sean wrote me a letter right after he and we (his immediate family here at home) hung up from* the Christmas call.  It's a short letter, but it's my favorite he's sent home.  He's changed a ton since he left; Even just since last Christmas.

It's a particularly good letter, I believe, specifically because of the decidedly greater interest he seems to have in how and what I'm doing than he previously had.

I think, perhaps, it's time I wrote him a similarly interested note.  By the power vested in my by ... the fact that I'm me, my two thousands plus nine New Year resolution is hereby the following:  "Write letters (comme epistle, not glyph)".

*What preposition do I use!?

Snowflakes

I love making paper snowflakes.  But hey, if you're going to make any, make sure you fold it first in half, then half again, then—here's the key—thirds.  That'll result in a snowflake with a pattern based on sixes, rather than based on fours or eights.  This is important because that's how water crystalizes.  Hexagonally, I mean.  It's because of the shape of the water molecule I believe.

It's a peeve of mine; I don't believe in "Creative License", especially with reality!  I mean, a level of inaccuracy is to be expected, because, heck!, I'm not God.  But something as simple as 4 instead of 6?  C'mon!

In elementary school we made snowflakes all the time, y'know?  I remember getting so annoyed in, like, 2nd grade (or maybe 4th or something like that), we did snowflakes during recess, 'cause it was snowing or something, so we couldn't go outside.  Everyone was folding quarters, then going for it, and I was like, What on Earth are you doing!?  Have you ever seen a quarters-snowflake!?  No!!  And it's a friggin square!!!

I got all worked up over the stupidest things back then, huh?  Isn't it funny that sometimes people don't change at all?

(By the way, if you have flash player 6, and you want to make some online—no mess!, no folding!—you can go to snowflakes.barkleyus.com).

Double-U Tee Heck!?

So, uh … Sean just called.  The Sean.  Of 'EVERettLASTING LIFE'.  He called me.  On my phone.  Not even my house phone.  Just the cell phone that Josie usually has during the day, but I have at night, y'know?  Sean's old phone (well, phone number).

He called.  I know, huh!?

He was all "Hello?"  Like, three times, just to mess with me.  Then we were like, "What's up?", and all.  And he was like, "I was just curious whether you still had this phone."

And I was all, "Yeah."

And he was like, "Does Olivia have a phone."

And I was all, "Yeah," and I told him her number.

And he said, "Oh, yeah."

And then I was like, "So why are you calling?"

And he was all, "I was just thinking, 'I have a phone, I should call'.  So I did."

And I said, "..."

And he was like, "Yeah."

And then we hung-out for, like, 17 seconds.  Then he said he'd call home tomorrow.

Weird.

Shoes

I've been told I need new shoes. What d'you think?

I know what I'm getting me for Christmas.

What? and Website.

What is up with "Santa"?  Since when has "St." been a first name?  I mean, it'd be like saying that my older brother's name is now Elder Rez!  We've gotta do something about this.  I say we call him The Santa from now on.

Also, Olivia has an assignment for school.  Well, actually, she has a few, but I digress.

She has one assignment that is very important—as far as this post is concerned—and you'll see why.  She is supposed to make a website and put it online.  She's made the site in her head, but because she has a ton else on her academic/professional plate, she hasn't had much time to actualize her vision.

And that's where I come in.  I absolutely love web coding.  I love that you can save a bunch of letters and numbers and symbols, open the file in a web browser, and see something TOTALLY DIFFERENT*! (and more meaningful, no less).  And the best part about this situation is that I don't even have to worry about designing the thing (something at which I've never really been all that great).  I love learning CSS and HTML;  It's fun.

Well, I gotta get back to work.

*Yes, the capital letters do indeed indicate that I am shouting.  That's how excited I am about it.

My New Toy

Here are some things I've done with Adobe Creative Suite 4:

This is a picture of a LEGO podracer I made a year or two ago.

I never tease Josie.

Some of my favorite guys.

CS4!! Office, too.

I just got Adobe Creative Suite 4!  I'm very excited.  I've been missing Illustrator and Flash especially, although Photoshop will definitely be welcomed home as well.  The others (InDesign, Dreamweaver, and Fireworks) are cool, too.

I also got Office, which means my computer will soon be put to use as a Homework computer.  *Sigh* Oh well.

The Introduction.

New blog.  It may happen this time.  Or it won't.  Suspense is fun.

Speaking of things and stuff, the word of the day today is introduction /ĭn,·trə·dŭk'·shən/. Cool word, eh?  Intro- + duc + -tion.  Intro- <= inter = Latin for "into, within"; duc <= ducere = Latin for "to lead"; -tion = a suffix indicating the word's a noun formed from a verb (defined in dictionaries as "The act of..." or "The result of...").

So, quite literally, introduction = lead-in.