Watching the FA Cup w/ Nick

Nick joined me today (January 6, 2007) to watch Arsenal stomp Liverpool in the third round of the FA Cup, 3-1. This is the Henry goal I missed while I was doing pictures with Isaac’s basketball team.

James Little: The end of a great season

I was fortunate to see the last game of James’ soccer season. James is quick on the ball with great control. Not super tall or physically dominating, but someone that can sneak the ball through a defense. Kind of a Michael Owen-type of player.

Anyway, here’s one of the last moments of the 2006 season.

I like to sleep

So, I drew the short straw and will be sleeping over at the activity this Friday night. Those who have dealt with me in the evening (Busicos) know that I’m not fond of late nights. So go gentle on me. Let’s all agree to be promptly asleep at 10:31.

A spirit by any other name…

In following on from my talk (”Agency and Wisdom”) yesterday, I was thinking this morning about things that help me feel good, but aren’t “Church-y”, per se.

Listening to The Essex Green (”The Late Great Cassiopia” ) this morning, I realized that much of the music I listen to does. The Flaming Lips, The Shins, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah: all of these really make me happy. When Scout and I drive in the car together, we crank The Smiths or something and it’s like being in Sacrament Meeting. Sort of.

There’s a great deal of other music that I like, but which doesn’t make me feel good. Aggressive, yes. Depressed, yes. But not good.

Or when I see a great goal, it feels awesome.

I guess my point is that there are lots of ways to “color within the lines” of the gospel without being a dork. The coolest people I know also happen to be the most spiritual.

Busicos in London (pictures)

I just got the pictures back from Luke, Nick, and Tom, from our trip to London. Had I been a better guide, we would have taken more pictures (there are more than I’ve shown here, but not thousands). We had a great time (despite the lack of enthusiasm on their faces :-).

Despite the guys wanting to do this all the time:

We did manage to get out and see things like…Big Ben:

The Queen’s Horse Cavalry:

And even Hogwarts (via Platform 9 3/4):

Of course, being the supremely righteous guy that I am, we spent the Sabbath worshiping at Speakers Corner. Nick really seemed to get into “this religion thing”…

Tom was there, too, but his worship took human form…

I have more pictures, and will be including them in a YM slideshow/DVD sometime this year. I’m really happy that the Busicos came with me. Great guys.

What the YM leaders do when we’re not nagging the youth

Chris Snow, Jamie Whissler, and Matt Asay woke up at 6:00 (yes, AM) to get in an early ride to Dog Lake before General Conference started. We’d love to have the youth join us next time. If you’re not too wimpy.

A verse a day…

The Teachers of YCII are reading (at least) one verse of the Book of Mormon each day between now and October 20, when the YM and YW will have our Book of Mormon immersion program.

We’d like to challenge the other classes/quorums to join us in this. The only thing you have to lose is your soul.

Futsal night (YM/YW)

We had a great night at the local futsal “pitch” tonight. We had a great turnout of YM and YW, with the YW schooling the YM in many of the matches (and the leaders schooling them, too, to rub it in). Many thanks to all that came out. Everyone seemed to have a great time, and with YM and YW mixed on the same teams, it was a good chance for our youth to meet “the opposite sex.”

Here’s a picture of Hyrum’s winning goal:

September activities

Just a reminder for the YM that we have a few activities coming up this month:

• Ensign Peak Hike - Wednesday, September 20, 7:00 PM. Enjoy the great outdoors. Learn about your pioneer forebears. Hang out with cool old people. Like Snow.
• Indoor Soccer (YM/YW) - Wednesday, September 27, 7:00 PM. We’ll be playing down at Salt Lake’s premier futsal facility (Score-Goal), getting the Ronaldhino and Beckham (or Mia Hamm) out of us, and into the net.
• BofM Immersion (YM/YW) - Friday, October 20 - Saturday, October 21 (Overnighter). Advance notice on this one. It should be even better than the last one we had, which was fantastic and led to many an angelic visitation.

Also, please remember that between now and the end of the month there will be several days of school. Please try to attend. It’s one of those things that you will regret dearly in the future when you’re changing the oil in my car and I’m asking you to do it again and again and again until you get it “just right.”

Proof that the Busicos LOVE church

Some of you may know that the Busicos stayed with me last week during my trip to London. They fly for free on Delta, so it made sense to let them stay for free once they got here.

What surprised me was how much they LOVED church. I mean, it was all I could do to get them to leave. Luke and Nick liked it so much that they refused to leave. Or maybe it was that they refused to stay. I get confused.

Anyway, above you have proof that they went and enjoyed all 90 minutes of Sacrament Meeting. Bless them.

In fact, they just couldn’t get enough church for the day, so we spent last Sunday at Speakers Corner (Hyde Park). Luke and Nick wanted to preach the gospel to everyone, but Tom seemed to want to restrict it to a few young ladies he had just met….

You can watch the video here: