Auld Lang Syne

It's time for another holiday, and it's time for another memory post.

But this is a unique holiday.

First of all, which day is the holiday--New Year's Eve or New Year's Day? After all, you have the party on the Eve, but you have it in anticipation of the Day. But after you've gone to bed, what exactly goes on on the Day? That's the legal holiday, but you don't do too much celebrating.

So in this post, unlike all the others, I've decided to do two days, the Eve and the Day. Which means there will be two years per memory.

Also, I've always loved holidays, but I didn't really consider the New Year a holiday until I was about 10--which makes my childhood memories rather scant.

2010-2011. On New Year's Eve morning, we got up early in Nashville to board our plane. It was about 6:00 a.m. (I think) but it was already 60 degrees. At the security scanner the woman asked me what was in my pocket. I told her it was a planner. She made me hold it above my head. I had a window seat on the plane. I mostly slept, intermittently reading Moby Dick and looking down at the snow-covered mountains below. My mom talked to the lady sitting next to her, who apparently was on her way to Nevada or California and had family troubles. We arrived in Salt Lake where it was snowy. It seems like we had to wait forever to get off because of ice troubles or something like that. We went outside to meet my dad who was picking us up. My mom waited at one end of the pick-up area while I went to find him. I was wearing my striped hoodie, and I discovered that a piece to Preston's magic set was in my pocket--I had picked it up off the ground in Nashville to take it inside, but forgot I had it. I found my dad in the Rav, and I got in and we went to pick up my mom. He was listening to the country station, which surprised me because I didn't know he liked modern country music. When we got home I remarked that it wouldn't be good for me to go running because it was icy. There were chocolate mint cookies on the counter, which our home teacher had given us before Christmas. That night we went shopping at Smith's Marketplace. We looked briefly at their clearance Christmas stuff, and I picked out a gold garland with stars that I could use for New Year's. I got some Gatorade and some ginger ale because my throat was a little sore. I wanted to get a CD, so I looked for Coldplay or Owl City. I didn't see any Owl City, so that made my choice easier. I got the Viva la Vida album with a bonus EP. On our way home I asked my parents if they wanted to hear the song I bought the album for. I remember having "Viva la Vida" play while we were waiting to turn left out of the parking lot. I wondered what my parents thought of the music. I had only heard that one song; the next song on the CD was "Violet Hill" which was a little more rough, and then it was "Strawberry Swing," which was mellow. For dinner we ate quesadillas made on my new quesadilla maker, using eggs and turkey as some of the ingredients. Then my mom and I went to Temple Square to hear Cherie Call, our favorite local singer. I brought her album Beneath These Stars to listen to on our way. We parked at a free empty parking lot and then walked up to the tabernacle. First we heard the end of a Polynesian group called My Sisters. There were some kids who sang a Jackson 5 song and I thought the kid sounded just like M.J. My mom and I stood at the back until they were done, and then we went and sat down. Next up was a Japanese drum group. The man conducting (who my mom said was in our stake) said that anyone walking outside would probably come inside because they would be able to hear it from outside. The group wore Japanese clothes and some of them wore T-shirts underneath but some did not. The spokesman for the group seemed gay. One of the drummers got so intense that he accidentally let go of his drumstick and then just kept playing as normal, with one stick. I looked at my mom and laughed. Then at a slower spot the guy grabbed his stick, and she looked at me and laughed. She told me later that she didn't know why I was laughing until she saw him go grab his stick--then she figured out what had happened. When we were done, we sat closer to the front for Cherie Call. We saw her standing on the edge of the stage. She was performing with Sam Payne. The man conducting introduced them as folk singers, and asked them if that was right, and they seemed undecided about how to classify their music. Sam Payne sang a song about a church dance and one about his ancestor, the namesake for Gardner Village, who escaped an angry town in Canada. Cherie Call sang four songs. Her first was "Invincible." She said she wrote it for her little girls, who were probably watching the ball drop back east. (Later I remarked to my mom that I wondered why her girls were back east, but she said she probably meant they were here in Utah, watching the ball drop back east on TV.) She sang "One Good Woman," and before she started, I could tell what song it was because of the intro. She told the backstory of why she wrote it, about how she heard she had an ancestor who came on the Mayflower so she visited her aunts, who gave her an amazing lunch and insisted on telling her the stories of all her ancestors. During this song Sam Payne accompanied her on a tube-thing instrument. She sang "Photographs," which she wrote about her aged grandma. When she told her grandma's old age everyone applauded. The last song she sang was "Believe." Then she said they were going to sing a song appropriate for the new year, and I hoped she would play her New Year song, but it was just some ordinary Sam Payne song. When they were done, the man conducting said, "It wouldn't be New Year's Eve without Cherie Call and, Sam." It was obvious he forgot Sam Payne's name, but in a minute he announced them again and got his name. We left and my mom said she thought we should make that a tradition. I remarked about the bad thing about it being in the tabernacle was that it meant they couldn't sell albums, and she said she thought the same thing. We walked back to our car. The song "He" came on and I pointed out the lyrics, "I am in The Sound of Music, and he is there to be my fan. I am a nun like fifteen others, but he knows which one I am," and said that applied to my cousin April who was a nun in The Sound of Music. When the song "Delivery" came on, I told my mom it was my least favorite Cherie Call song. We were rounding the corner from Lacey Way to Raygene Way while we had a conversation on the song. My mom said she didn't like the tune, but she liked the words, and that there would be people who would love that song. We would have watched Happy New Year, Charlie Brown. Then we watched TV. There was a little snippet about that year's ridiculous fashion of Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, and someone else, including Lady Gaga's meat dress. Some interviewer asked Katy Perry if she ever considered wearing jeans and a T-shirt, and she emphatically said no. A lot of the people talked about 2010 being a bad year, but I didn't think it was that bad. After midnight, [Jesse texted me, "Happy passage of time,"] my parents went to bed, and I shoveled snow.

On the morning of New Year's Day, we had a few things to do before going to dinner at Golden Corral with my mom's family. I brought my new Taylor Swift CD along in the car, since I hadn't really had a chance to listen to it yet. I needed a haircut, so we drove by Great Clips, but they were closed. I needed new shoes, so we went to Famous Footwear, and they were open. I got red Vans and some brown Levi's shoes, which were very cheap because they were on sale, they were half off being the second pair, and my mom had a coupon. I can't remember if my mom bought waterproofing stuff or if she was just offered some. I put on my Vans in the car before we got to Golden Corral. When we got there, my CD was playing "Mary's Song" and I wondered why it was called that. My sister commented on my new shoes. My grandma said my aunt wouldn't like them, since they were red. It was either this year or the year before that someone at the restaurant knew my grandma. We sat down at our table, and I was dismayed we weren't in our own room like usual. I don't know if my aunt commented on my red shoes, but she did comment on my small orange watch. I sat next to Cameron and talked to him to fulfill my New Year's resolution to start one conversation a day. My cousin Joey talked about what he had done the night before, and his mom asked him it was fun, since he didn't have alcohol, and he said no, but he was clearly lying just to defend alcohol. Later in dinner I talked about my brother's great idea that drunk drivers must have a green light on their car and drive no more than 25 miles per hour, and if they disobey those laws, they would be executed. Cameron and Joey ridiculed this idea (of course they would), Cameron talking about driving 25 mph on the freeway. He said, "I know it wasn't your idea." My cousin Renee had brought a new boyfriend. When we took a big family picture, he offered to take it, and my mom thanked him. After lunch we got gas at the gas station near Winegar's grocery store. It was around there that my mom explained that Renee's boyfriend was one she had met online, but while he was off getting food at the restaurant, Renee said she was planning on breaking up with him because he belittled her. I remarked that I was always a little skeptical of meeting people online, but I knew my high school friend Latecia (formerly) Pope had met her husband online. My mom told me that my sister met Matt online, and I was surprised that I had never known that. At some point my mom said she chose the particular Taylor Swift CD she did because it looked like there weren't many love songs--but after hearing it she realized that was not the case. (Oh, Taylor, there's more to life than love...) Then I put waterproofing stuff on my new Vans in the sunroom, and I wasn't excited to be in there because it smelled bad because our cat's litter box is in there. I wore these shoes at 4:00 when I drove our green car to my landlord's house in Eaglewood to get my apartment key and that of my roommate/former companion. When he answered the door he asked if I was Derek but I explained I was Mark--I was surprised he didn't know because I had emailed him that it was me who would pick up the keys. I wiped my shoes on the mat as if he would invite me in while he got the key, since it was cold, but he didn't. He told me about how one of my roommates, Zach Zimmerman, lived just up the road from him, and that he liked not charging a lot for the apartment. On my way back home from his house My 99.5 was playing the top songs of 2010. They played "Heartbreak Warfare" by John Mayer, and then a song with John Mayer and Taylor Swift. Then I was in my room packing and listening to my computer's playlist. I was glad when it played Cherie Call's New Year song, "Starting Again, Again."

2009-2010. If I am not mistaken, it was New Year's Eve when I went to Kohl's with my family. I got a clearance sweater and two pairs of Sunday pants. I got a clearance Peanuts Christmas shirt for about $3. Allie got some Hi-top shoes and somehow got the idea that they would make her run fast. In the store she asked me if I wanted to see her run fast, and I didn't like the idea of her running in the store. After Kohl's (or maybe it was before) we went to Arby's. I think I got a mint shake, but I might have only thought about it. Then we went home, and Matt came. Allie told him about her shoes that made her run fast, and then ran down the hall. He said, "Oh, I just saw a pink streak!" since she was wearing a pink shirt. Later she was about to run and said that everyone would just see a pink streak. My mom and her mom kept telling her that shoes alone wouldn't make her fast, that she needed to practice. Later that night we watched Happy New Year, Charlie Brown while Matt was in the other side of the family room. I ate a bunch of leftover Christmas candy while we watched a Disney nature documentary. Part of this documentary showed birds falling (purposely) out of a nest, and the narrator said they were "falling, with style." I remarked that I didn't like that blatant Disney reference in an otherwise mature documentary.

The next day we watched Rudolph's Shiny New Year in the morning and Allie had to leave the room at a tense scene with Eon the Terrible. She didn't say why she left, but I'm sure it was because it was too scary for her. Then we left to go to Golden Corral and I brought my new Cherie Call CD, Beneath These Stars, to listen to on the way. Allie looked at the case and kept asking about songs, but I can't remember exactly what for. We sat in a party room at the restaurant. My aunt brought her friend, "Other" Suzanne, who brought her seeing-eye dog, which sat under the table. Other Suzanne talked about having been to Washington but it was part of Washington where I'd never been. The guide dog was wagging its tail and my cousin April didn't realize it was a dog at first and wondered why my mom was kicking her. At some point Jesse said, "Remember when Susanne [meaning my sister] was cool?" and April said, "Susanne, remember when Jesse [she might also have included Peter] didn't say the same jokes over and over?" My grandma said she wanted to see the "Circus Olé" in Las Vegas. I'd never heard of it but my mom realized she meant the "Cirque du Soleil." I'm not sure when the topic was introduced that day, but my cousins wanted to get rid of the piano we had given them years before. I wanted to get it back. My dad was reluctant, but agreed to. As we were going he said something about them just getting rid of it anyway, so I knew he knew it was better for us to get it. We cleared stuff off of it in Quin's room, and Quin said, "Hey, don't I get a say in this?" I thought it was ridiculous he wanted to keep the piano just so he could put stuff on it. They backed Joey's truck up to the porch, and we moved the piano down the hall and outside onto the truck. We had it so that it was leaning. My aunt saw that and was worried about it (as I was), but there really wasn't a better way to have it, especially since it was going to get out of tune anyway. I rode with Jesse and Peter in Joey's truck. They didn't like Joey's music so they looked for something else to listen to. I think they came across an oldies station that was playing the Beach Boys. I said I didn't really like the Beach Boys, and they seemed mildly shocked. They backed the truck into our driveway. Then we had to figure out how to get the piano out of the bed of the truck. My dad asked my mom if she could also help us. He also said he didn't want anyone underneath the piano. Allie was watching, and I didn't want her in the way, so I told her to stand in the garage, and she said, "But it's dark in there!" We carried it up the stairs. I felt bad because my dad was huffing as he was carrying it, when he didn't really want the piano back, and I was too weak to really be contributing a lot--we knew it was primarily my dad's muscles that got it up the stairs. Peter was hurting because his finger got pinched in the piano. We briefly stopped on the stairs so he could move his hand. He said, "That hurt like a mother," and I almost said something about not knowing what a mother hurt like, but I didn't. Finally we got it up the stairs and I went and moved stuff in the living room for when it was wheeled in. Then I pulled out the old Sing with Me book (the predecessor to the Children's Songbook) and played New Year songs. I remarked about it being sad that now that we had a piano, I was going down to school.

2008-2009. New Year's Eve Elder Wilson and I went to Airway Heights to get those elders and we did a little tracting in their neighborhood. I told Elder Colton I didn't want to go to the house that said "No soliciting" but we did anyway. Then we went up to Cheney for our district meeting. We (as a district) stopped at the bowling alley to get pizza, and I paid for two pizzas since I had a huge amount of money on my card. I got a Hawaiian and some other kind. Then we went to the institute building to eat them before our meeting. Elder LaPratt and Elder Maurer had paid for their own pizza. Elder LaPratt remarked about pineapple on pizza being gross, but he was the only one there who was of that opinion. I blew a noisy balloon my mom had sent me. Elder LaPratt said he wished I had been transferred instead of Elder Love. (Little did I know that this diabolical fiend was to become my companion four months later.) After eating we had our meeting. Elder Wilson gave a training using some book he had. I gave one about using the Book of Mormon. I started it off my having volunteers to read the last verses of each of the gospels. Elder LaPratt volunteered to do John. Matthew and Mark talked about missionary work and Luke talked about temples. John talked about how the world couldn't contain the books that would be written if everything Jesus did were written down. I talked about how the Book of Mormon was a book that was indeed written about what He did and then continued my training, but I don't remember what else I said. After the meeting everyone played games there at the institute and I talked to Sister Van Noy and I think I played some on the piano. Then we went back to the Airway Heights elders' house to spend the night. Elder Powers went to bed, I went to bed on the floor but set my alarm to get up before midnight, and Elder Wilson and Elder Colton stayed up doing who knows what. I woke up before the New Year and after it came I did five sets of ten pushups, and then went back to bed.

The next day we were allowed to watch a Disney movie. We watched Monsters Inc. I was mad because at the end it started skipping, so I didn't get to see the ending. I didn't remember how it ended, but I remembered everything else I had already seen since my niece used to watch it all the time. Then the man the elders lived with let them watch Over the Hedge. I had no interest in watching this because we'd already watched one, we were supposed to watch Disney movies, and Over the Hedge is simply a dumb movie. Then we went to do our shopping but Walmart was closed (because their roof caved in, we later learned). So we went to Cheney to the bowling alley and it was only us four there--no one else from the district came. Elder Wilson filmed himself doing some bowling. Then we drove down to Ritzville. We did our shopping at the Harvest Foods store, which was expensive. One can of chicken was like four dollars, so I decided I'd wait on that until Walmart opened again. Elder Wilson insisted on getting some Martinelli's for New Year's. At our apartment I turned on the holiday lights and we did our planning and drank Martinelli's. And then we went to bed.

2007-2008. Elder Chun and I tried to contact a less-active in the Greenbluff Ward who lived on a street called Sycamore, but they weren't home. Then we went to meet the sisters to go to our district meeting. First our district stopped at Taco Bell for dinner. They of course asked what name to call. I probably gave the name of Mark; I know Elder Wakefield used Zak. Sister McNaughton gave the name of Sister Jen. Then we watched the zone leaders illegally drive the wrong direction so that they could make it past the island in the middle of the road. We went to the Francis church building for district meeting. We practiced teaching. We pretended to teach our investigator Debbie, played by Sister McNaughton; her boyfriend, played by Elder Yarbrough; along with Sister Cunningham, played by Sister Shaw. We taught Lesson 3, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We asked about faith, and Elder Yarbrough, pretending to be the boyfriend, quoted Hebrews 11:1. I know I taught the principle of baptism. Then after we all practiced people critiqued. People said I did a very good job (since I was a greenie) and Elder Clyde said that our baptism teaching was a little weak but made it clear he meant no offense to me. Then Elder Chun and I and the sisters left. There were flares on the road. We sang "Sweet Hour of Prayer" in parts and said we could sing it in church. We went home, where our members, the Welshes, were visiting with some other ward members, the Sokolowskis. I suggested setting our alarms to get up before midnight. But Elder Chun decided just to stay up, but he didn't tell me, so I kept waiting to say companion prayer. I went to bed, and then got up before midnight. I played "Ring Out Wild Bells" on my Hymns CD after midnight, and I might have remarked how the song was nice and depressing. Brother Welsh was outside lighting fireworks.

The next day, after playing dodgeball (since it was P-day) we came home and the sisters invited us to come to their house for crêpes. Elder Chun and I raced to see who could shower faster. I called Elder Gammon and invited them to have crêpes with us and the sisters. He made fun of me for pronouncing it the French way instead of the widespread anglicized pronunciation "crapes." On our way the sisters called and asked us if we could buy some Nutella, and I said yes, but I asked where I would find it. They were impressed I knew what Nutella was (Elder Chun didn't), and told me it would be with the peanut butter. We stopped at Yoke's and Elder Chun bought some Ice Breakers Sours, along with the Nutella. We ate crêpes with the sisters and then we practiced "Sweet Hour of Prayer" with Sister McNaughton playing the organ their member had. Then we went to Walmart for our ordinary shopping, and then to the Marxes', the members other missionaries lived with, to watch a movie (since we were allowed to). When we got to their house Elder Chun put some snow in a plastic bag and put it in the trunk to keep his coconut popsicles cold. I told him that my mom had bought those in November 2004 when she was sick, and he didn't seem to care. We debated what movies to watch. Some wanted to watch a Work and the Glory movie. Some wanted to watch The Incredibles, which I strongly opposed, since it was rated PG and we were supposed to watch G-rated movies. We ended up watching The Emperor's New Groove, which I liked since I'd seen the beginning several times but never the end. Elder Yarbrough said that we probably all had old ladies in our ward just like Izma. Then we went and had dinner with the Pughs. They had a barbecue and lemon cookies. Then we played a game with them. It was a Mormon-themed game, I think it was like Mad Gabs, and there were responses like "plural marriage" and "Aramaic." I was surprised the Pughs didn't know what Aramaic was when even Elder Chun knew what it was. Then we went home for our weekly planning.

2006-2007. My parents and I went to sacrament meeting on New Year's Eve with the plans of immediately leaving to go to Fillmore--we were heathens in skipping the rest of the meetings. Allie didn't come with us because she opted to spend time with her mom's boyfriend at the time, Darrin. I was disappointed when I looked at the program and we were singing no New Year songs. But our sacrament meeting was the one where everyone gets up and says their favorite hymn. Toward the beginning of the meeting I got up and said, "I was disappointed to come to church on New Year's Eve and see that we weren't singing any day-appropriate hymns. I would like to sing number 215, 'Ring Out, Wild Bells.'" As I left the podium Brother Weight, a member of the bishopric, said "Thank you" to me, and I thought it was because he was glad for the hymn I chose, but now I doubt that was the reason. I second guessed myself because the first verse (the one we sang) of that song isn't very spiritual. I was a little annoyed when one girl--a Drinkall?--wanted to sing "Joy to the World," because Christmas was over and that's the most boring Christmas song in the hymnbook. After sacrament meeting I changed into a red polo with blue stripes and a red tie. Then we went to Fillmore. We put a bunch of goodies on the counter in my late grandparents' kitchen, such as Chex Mix, truffles from our home teacher, and those soft peppermint lozenge things. There was a Church-wide youth fireside that night, and my aunt Sarena was taking my cousins. But I wasn't very dressy and I was convinced everyone hated me, so I didn't assert myself into going. I said I didn't want to impose. But then afterward I felt dumb for not going, so I went into a side room and turned on the delayed broadcast on KBYU, but I felt dumb doing that so I turned it off. My aunt brought the movie Step Up (is that what it's called?) and her family and my dad were in the living room watching it. But it was almost midnight! My mom and some of us turned on the TV in the kitchen to watch New Year's coverage. The New Year came, but they kept watching their movie, and when it was over, Sarena said it was time for them to go home. I was appalled at such apathy to the New Year! After everyone else went to bed, I turned on my VHS copy of Happy New Year, Charlie Brown really quiet and turned the closed captioning on because some of my little cousins were also sleeping in there.

The next day we drove back in our Suburban. I remember being depressed it was 2007 because of the changes that would happen to me that year--graduating from high school and going on a mission! For part of the drive we listened to the Beatles LOVE album I got for Christmas. I thought my mom was singing along to "Strawberry Fields" but I'm not sure if she actually was. Then we went to Golden Corral with my mom's family, and then to a hardware store. That night I watched Rudolph's Shiny New Year and then I remember sitting in our family room, with a string of blue lights draped around the room, talking with my family. I told my family about the unintentionally funny scene from the TV version of The Miracle on 34th Street when Kris Kringle rather violently beats the show's antagonist--a somewhat shocking departure from the movie. We all laughed about it.

2005-2006. On New Year's Eve I wanted to have music continuously playing in my room. I did this because I had a strange manner of listening to music and doing so would rotate my CDs. But the only one I remember playing was the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory soundtrack. Dave, Ya-ping, and I went to the house of my aunt's blind friends, John and "Other" Suzanne, before going to see The Nerd at Hale Center Theater. I was sitting in the car with David and Ya-ping and Ya-ping didn't like David's suggestion that she not speak Chinese so she could improve her English. We went inside John and Suzanne's house. David had to tell Suzanne I was there, and told her I was the "strong, silent type." Then when we were leaving John asked, "Everyone out?" but no one responded so he closed the door on some of us. I felt bad for not speaking up. I remember hearing my aunt describe what was happening for her friends. After the play David talked to the title character because he had been the TA for his acting class. As we left my aunt was saying Jesse would like the story (which had a significant plot twist) because he liked "twisted" stuff like Tim Burton and Danny Elfman, but then she realized Danny Elfman was just music. David said, "He probably would."

New Year's Day was a Sunday, and the Thompsons came over. I watched Rudolph's Shiny New Year. My sister said sardonically, "Why are we watching this?" Quin enjoyed identifying all the fairy tale characters from the Island of 1023, but he didn't know who Rumpelstiltskin was. That surprised all of us, and his mom said she'd have to tell him the story. After the show I remember something about the candy cane Lifesavers in a dish upstairs.

2004-2005. I remember playing the last level of Warioland II. My mom asked me to pick a movie I would watch, and told me it couldn't be one of my sitcom things. She told me this rather firmly. But I don't think I ended up picking anything. Instead, we watched the 100 Most Memorable TV Moments on TV Land. Before every commercial break they showed little snippets from the program and one they kept showing was Linus saying, "That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown." After everyone went to bed I stayed up and watched the end. They picked September 11, 2001, as the most memorable moment, with man walking on the moon as a second. But after they did their 9/11 segment they had a segment called "A Final Thought" in which a man disagreed with 9/11 being the most memorable moment, because he said 9/11 was part of a war, and wars have gone on forever, but that 500 years later we remember Christopher Columbus opening a new frontier, and walking on the moon was a new frontier.

The next day we went to Golden Corral. My mom told the Gildersleeves how boring we were on New Year's, that we just watched TV. She emphasized that we didn't even watch movies, just TV. Uncle Rick said, "We at least watched movies."

2003-2004. Allie was wearing a purple outfit when I put a hat with padding and a little glittery sash saying "2004" on her. We took pictures, but I don't know where they are.

The next day after our family lunch, Dave, Ya-ping, and I went to the Eaglewood Golf Course to go sledding. It was very windy, so Ya-ping was able to sit on a sled on flat ground, hold another sled up in the air, and have the wind push her. Then when we went home I think she was listening to the Moulin Rouge! soundtrack on the computer.

2002-2003. On New Year's Eve David had some friends, including Preston and Marie, over to watch Citizen Kane. Marie yelled at one scene transition involving a bird. David was raving about the cinematography in a scene where a fireplace was enormous. We put chips and dip, I think guacamole, in my "Happy New Year" platter.

The next day I remember being downstairs looking at the candy David's friends had left. It was a bag with lots of chocolates, including Milky Way Midnights, which I'd never heard of before. We went to Golden Corral for the first time, and I remember having Vanillamynt Myntz in the car. My brother described Golden Corral as like Chuck-a-Rama but better.

2001-2002. April and her then-boyfriend Brandon and some other friends came to our house for New Year's Eve. After midnight we went outside and lit fireworks. It was snowing and April's male friends waved excitedly to the poor snow plow guy who had to work New Year's Eve. [I think this was the year we had bought some candies called Snoopy Treats--little chocolates with Snoopy on the wrappers.]

The next day we went to a Chinese restaurant for our family dinner. I sat by Jesse and Wayne. Wayne asked me if I'd seen Lord of the Rings. I told him I thought it was boring. He said he loved it but couldn't remember anything--all he could remember was Frudo. Jesse corrected him, Frodo, and Wayne said that proved just how little he remembered.

2000-2001. New Year's Eve was a Sunday. I was at church when I got horrible ear pain. I remember being in priesthood in the upstairs classroom and I sat on the floor because I was in so much pain. After church we went to Instacare and I had an ear infection. After there we went to Walgreen's and my mom went in and bought my medicine. She also bought several clearance boxes of chocolates with Snoopy ornaments. I commented on her buying stuff on Sunday but she said she wasn't making them work any more because she had to buy the medicine anyway. My grandparents and cousins' family came over to our house. Joey brought an M&M dispenser he got for Christmas. I remember debating if I should use a noisemaker from the previous year since it said "2000" on it. I remember sitting on my banana chair outside my room, playing my National Geographic card game with my cousins. When midnight came I tried to pop a balloon with confetti in it with my bare hands but it wasn't working well. I had hung some of these balloons on a garland hanging above a couch in the family room and my grandpa took his pen and popped them, since he was sitting under them. I had put a bunch of confetti on a giant pretend nickel and I was going to have my cousin Peter drop the confetti on us over the railing. But when Sue and Wayne saw this, they forbade Peter, saying it would break the nickel. So they took it from him and put it on the railing. I thought it was more likely to break from being accidentally knocked off from there. (I wonder if they thought he was going to drop the nickel and not just the confetti.)

1999-2000. David watched 2001: A Space Odyssey with his friends before he went and hung out with them. [I was with my parents at Top Hat Video to get movies. I rented The Phantom Tollbooth. My mom said she wanted to rent a Christmas movie, so I suggested Rudolph's Shiny New Year, which I had heard of but never seen. My mom was rather firm in her opposition to this, and ended up renting some cheesy TV movie. I found a VHS that had Rankin/Bass specials, including The Leprechauns' Christmas Gold, but I didn't rent it.]

The next day he reported ringing in the New Year at his friend's house, and another family in the neighborhood came outside banging pots and pans. That night I remember he had some friends come over, one of whom was Lyle Toronto, who had walked me home when I was in kindergarten when I was "lost." I was for some reason on my hands and knees in the dining room when he said hi to me--I think it had something to do with putting Christmas decorations away, because I remember our bamboo nativity.

1998-1999. All five of us Melvilles went down to Fillmore on New Year's Eve. Somewhere along the way we stopped and ate at Taco Time, and then we went and saw A Bug's Life. At the end of the movie they had their fake blooper real, which we all found hilarious. My mom guffawed heartily at a flatulence gag, which surprised me because our family is above that kind of thing. Then in the car we talked about the movie, and there was the conversation that it was a good movie. They said it wasn't like, "It was good, but..." and David said, "except, 'Turn yours off,'" referring to a line in the movie. The radio was on and there was a Smith's commercial with a party horn blowing and the narrator guy said he was practicing. In Fillmore I found a tiny dry leaf just inside my grandparents' door. I decided to save it because it was so small. I think my family watched Armageddon but I didn't.

The next day we came back to Salt Lake. I wanted to make sure my tiny leaf didn't get ruined. We met my mom's family at a fancy restaurant that still had decorations of pine trees on cottony snow. Jesse said this restaurant was "buffet--all you can eat!" and Peter echoed him. They had lots of different kinds of eggs and I didn't know what poached eggs were. Then I rode with Thompsons back to my grandparents' house. Quin asked what day it was, and I, eager about the New Year, said, "It's January 1, 1999," but Sue and Wayne both forcefully said he was asking about the day of the week (it was Friday). I knew that; I was just excited it was a new year. At that point in time my cousin Todd and his wife Deanna liked to have me sing, so I sang my New Year parody of "Holly Jolly Christmas," with lyrics like "Have a happy snappy New Year" and "I don't know if there'll be confetti, but have a cup of champagne." When I was done they cheered and Deanna said she especially liked the part about champagne. Jesse was pleased with his own (inferior) New Year song that went, "We wish you a Happy New Year, we wish you a Happy New Year, we wish you a Happy New Year, and a Merry Christmas." Then Thompsons left and Nan and Dave and I waited at my grandparents' for our parents to come and I played some imaginary game involving my Veggie Friend Seedies in their living room. I don't know why we were at my grandparents'.

1996-1997, 1997-1998. I remember there was one year my mom had made homemade pizza, one of which was on a pan with little holes in it. I ate too much pizza and got acid reflux. I didn't like the burning feeling so I kept drinking water to try to ease the discomfort. I ended up throwing up that night due to all the pizza and water. But I don't remember what year that happened. I also remember a year in which I saw the new year flash on the screen in front of Jay Leno or David Letterman, but I can't remember the year.

1995-1996. I'm thinking this was the year that on New Year's Eve my parents had rented a movie that I really don't know why they thought it was appropriate with a seven-year-old in the house. It was about this creepy woman who liked to swim in a tub in her house wearing nothing but some thing draped in front of her--which means, if I remember correctly, this show had rear-view nudity. This creepy lady was able to make people immortal, and one of her clients fell down some stairs and ended up having their neck twisted but they still survived.

On New Year's Day, I remember being in the family room with my new tepee, the Christmas decorations I got for Christmas, and my cousins. We had crackers called Sociables and I thought it was a weird name for a cracker but my sister explained what "sociable" meant.

Other posts in this series:

The Ghost of Independence Days Past
A Pillowcase Full of Trick-or-treat Memories
Remember Every Detail, Volume 3: Thanksgiving
Yuletide by the Fireside, and Joyful Memories There

Merry Christmas!

Well, the Christmas season will end in just over an hour from the time I am writing this sentence. It always surprises me when it comes and goes--but when I think about Thanksgiving, which was just a month ago, it seems like a long time ago.

I had an eventful week preparing for this holiday. On Monday I went to my singles ward's Christmas party. It was a white elephant exchange. Someone brought a BYU shirt and a non-BYU fan got it. He was trying to convince people to steal it--so I did. Then he got a basket with pinecones. He was wanting the shirt back. It's a mite big for me--but it's better than anything else I would have got at the party.

On Wednesday we had a work party. They gave us Subway and those plastic candy canes filled with candy. Since most of us had to clock out for this and there wasn't a whole lot of work, they sent a bunch of us home early. I used my free time to go Christmas shopping. I couldn't find anything suitable for my mom, but after I got my niece's present, I was ready to go, either home or to another store, but my car wouldn't start. So I called my folks and left messages, and while I waited to hear back, I wandered the stores and was able to finish my shopping. My mom picked me up, and then we went later to try to jumpstart the car. That didn't work, and even the tow truck driver couldn't jumpstart it.

I drove my mom's car to work on Thursday. (Actually, all of our cars, including "mine," belong to my parents--they're just awesome enough to let me use them.) At our weekly meeting, they told us we would start work at 6:00 the next morning (Friday) with the goal of getting out as soon as possible. But an hour or so later, one of the leads told me to take Friday off! (After working five Saturdays in a row, it was about time...) Which meant a four day weekend! I don't remember the last time I got one of those! That night we saw my visiting uncle, Paul, who was sporting a ridiculous ponytail. (I actually don't like talking about hair...it's one of my many weird psychological traits. Perhaps I'll tell you about it some time...)

On Friday I went to go running. My months of darkness and overtime have prevented me from this exercise, and I have become out of shape, lazy, and apathetic. I only lasted a measly seven minutes before I stopped. Seven minutes! I could do better than that sixty pounds ago! Oh, well. That night I went to a homecoming party for an old friend in the neighborhood, Hillary Ulmer, who went to my mission (but not at the same time as me and not the same language, either).

Yesterday, Christmas Eve, we went to go out to lunch with my sister's family. "My" car was leaking transmission fluid, so we didn't take it. Keep in mind that the only driving it got was home from the mechanic and for the quick jaunt to my failure run. They'd better fix it! In the evening we watched White Christmas and then my mom made food for Christmas, while I tried to help. Per tradition, I slept downstairs, and watched a very weird 80s-esque film on BYU TV that involved a little Hawaiian girl whose dad was laid off and a mysterious wreath lady who kept disappearing. Christmas brings out both the best and the worst in movies.

Christmas is not about getting, but I'll tell you what I got anyway. I got a GPS. That is a bit of a boring present, but it is one that will really help me--I have a real knack for getting lost. I got two CDs, Taylor Swift's Speak Now (don't judge me!) and the Black Eyed Peas' The Beginning. I looked up the lyrics for the Peas album, and exactly half of the songs fit my music-listening standards--which means I'll rip the clean songs to my computer, and I'll have no need to listen to the CD. (I didn't look up Taylor's lyrics, but I don't worry so much about her.) And my sister continued her perfect streak of odd gifts since I've been home from my mission by getting me a ball to make ice cream.

My singles ward didn't have church today so I went to the good ol' Orchard 11th Ward. Sacrament meeting was...interesting. It was long, like an hour and a half. Which I don't find too big of a deal, since that's the only meeting we had. But there were some poor choices. We had two older people sing, one of whom has sung "O Holy Night" every year for as long as anyone can remember. A few years ago he abandoned having an accompanist because he just makes up his own tempo (and tune) and he also makes up his own words. There were somewhat long readings--one about the life of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow before he wrote "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day." That was OK, I guess... But the other one was a long passage from A Christmas Carol. I love the Dickens story as much as anyone else, but I didn't think it was fitting for sacrament meeting--especially the part they read, about Jacob Marley appearing to Scrooge and telling him about how he had to wander the earth. That doesn't fit our doctrine! Not to mention that they chose this over certain elements of the Christmas story, such as Simeon and Anna or the Nephites' day and night and day as if it had been one day. Maybe I'm just too cynical.

We went to my grandparents' house. Usually I don't play video games on Sunday, but I forgot what day it was so I played Wii with my cousins when they invited me. (I don't regret it or think it was inappropriate.) I actually won the Mario Party game, due primarily to luck.

Then tonight we watched It's a Wonderful Life. This is a wonderful movie. But one of the show's themes, no man is a failure who has friends, isn't entirely comforting for people like me who have no friends...only kidding, of course...

This year, as I have read the Christmas story both personally and with my family, I have felt the proverbial calm in the "Silent Night" song. And we always read the Christmas story--but I learned I really need to apply the "goodwill toward men" part.

Phonology is my friend

This week, my work reduced significantly.

Which meant I was finally able to put up a lot more Christmas decorations. It's almost Christmas, but I didn't just want to give up.

They sent me home early (early meaning earlier than I was scheduled to leave) three days this week. On Tuesday I left at my scheduled time, and on Friday I stayed late because they were behind because there were problems with the conveyor.

But we didn't have to work Saturday! We got a lot of work done last Saturday which has left us with a lot less work, which is nice.

At work we use a headset that we talk to. We strap on a belt, put a device on it, and plug in our headset. Sometimes the headset gets really annoying because it doesn't hear us right. I also think they should have hired a phonologist to suggest things we say, so that it doesn't confuse what we say with other words.

Fortunately, we can retrain our words, so that we can say whatever we want but the headset will think we are saying a particular word.

When we stock boxes on the shelves, we have to read in four characters using a phonetic alphabet. Here's where I really think they should have hired a phonologist:

S is Sierra. Sierra sounds too much like zero. I mean, /s/ and /z/ are the same except that /s/ is voiceless. So I retrained it to say Seattle. I have had far fewer problems with Seattle. Sometimes it thinks I'm saying seven, but it never thinks I'm saying zero, which it used to all the time.

U is uniform. That worked OK, but often it thought I was saying four or uniform four, which really doesn't make sense. So I retrained it to unicorn--and I have had no problems whatsoever!

Friday was really, really bad. The headset did not understand me at all. I ended up retraining three words. The boxes we stock come down in order, so the first of the four digits we read are the same, or else right next to each other, on any given day. On Friday, the boxes started with V.

V is victor. This has always been problematic. It thinks I'm saying six or, even weirder, X-ray. On my very first box it thought I was saying Eight two instead of victor like six times in a row! I could tell that if that was the first box, and I was going to be on Vs all day, that was not going to work. So I retrained it to say Vermont, and had no problems.

One expression we use frequently whether we're picking orders or stocking boxes is no more. We do this when we are done signing in to boxes. On Friday it would not hear me at all. Sometimes I would say it at least ten times and it would never hear me. Sometimes it would even think I was saying a combination of fours and some other numbers. So I retrained it to say nevermore, and have had no problems, except when I forget and accidentally say no more. (But even then it often works!)

T is tango. It often thinks I'm saying eight, but Friday was really bad. So I retrained it--I didn't change the word, I just gave it a Spanish pronunciation. Which actually is more consistent with my foreign pronunciations of Lima and Quebec. (There should be an accent aigu on that last word, but my laptop doesn't have the number pad, so putting in the accent is more complicated than I feel like dealing with right now.)

Since I didn't have to work yesterday, I tried to go running. But in the last month I've gotten both lazy and out of shape. Yesterday I only ran twelve minutes before I turned around and walked. I walked for eight minutes, than ran for another five, and then walked some more. But I'm kind of glad I did--later in the day I was coughing more than usual, and it's probably because of the air quality.

We went to see Hugo at the theater. I didn't like the 3D (I really don't understand why my dad likes it), but the movie was good. I think there are only two other movies I've seen in theaters this year, the last Harry Potter installment and Puss in Boots. The others are ones I don't plan to watch again because of language, but Hugo was very clean. The only offensive parts were some overheard conversations about a man not knowing if his wife's baby was his. Just when I lose faith in the world's morals, a clean movie like this will come out.

Two whole years

This week wasn't really too eventful in the way of something I did. All I did was work. A lot. As usual, I worked six days. On Wednesday I worked from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. That's the longest I've ever worked--previously the latest had been about 7:30. Because our pay period is from Saturday to Friday, sometime on Wednesday night I went into overtime pay. Which meant all of Thursday and Friday were on overtime. I think this week was the first time I actually felt tired simply from working. I tried to go running yesterday, but it was a failure.

However, there were two anniversaries this week. On November 28, 2007, I entered the MTC. On November 30, 2009, I came down the airport escalators to the very surreal experience of meeting my family after not seeing them for two years.

I have now been home from my mission for as long as I was on it. And since a few days have elapsed since the anniversary, I've actually been home slightly longer.

Weird.

But I think at two years I've finally made it to that point where I no longer need to be on a mission. I no longer am depressed I'm not a missionary.

My mission was a great experience. It was a springboard for the rest of my life. And I still think fondly of it. Yesterday at work, I filled an order for the Eastmont Ward, parts of which were once the East Wenatchee 1st Ward, which I served in in 2008. It was good and fun to see it, and I wrote a note on the ticket. And I'd like to go back (to visit)--but I don't need to. I never said my mission was the best two years of my life, but I suppose I could, simply because it's not like my life has been all that interesting or fantastic.

Sometimes I miss my mission. But there are many ways I'm glad I'm not a missionary anymore.

I like to listen to the radio.

I'm so relieved I never have to go tracting again. Ever. (I hope.)

And everything is so much more convenient with a computer.

My first year of college, I wished I could go back. I somewhat felt this way my second year. I will be starting my third year in January--and I'm glad I'm in college now. It's more fun, but it's still a lot of work--just a different kind of work.

I think I've finally gotten to the point that I'm grateful for my mission and all the experiences I had--I'm less awkward than before (if you can believe that), I'm obviously much healthier, and I'm a better person all around--but it's past me. I'm moving on with my life.

And I'm glad.

Yuletide by the Fireside, and Joyful Memories There

In honor of the Christmas season, I have gone up to the attic of my head, dusted off some old memories from the corner, and brought them out to display.

Yes. This means that, once again, I am going to remember as many details as possible about all the holidays I've experienced--this time, the holiday is Christmas. But I'm only going to remember what happened on December 25 itself--not Christmas Eve or Boxing Day. New Year's Day will come later.

2010--Matt, Nan, and Allie came over in the morning. My parents had the fireplace on. Nan's family sat on the couch, my parents sat on the rocking loveseat, and I sat on a chair near the buffet. I looked in my stocking, and got a cheap orange watch, and a Taylor Swift CD. For my presents, I got a cookie press and a quesadilla maker, and a Peanuts chess set from David. I got my mom a New Testament commentary and my dad a book called Presidents and Prophets. I wondered what my inactive sister and nonmember brother-in-law thought of these churchy gifts. I got them a family gift of Despicable Me, and Matt seemed impressed it had a Blu-ray disc. My dad gave my mom an iPod Touch. I think I added my new music to my computer's playlist, and then we went to my grandparents' house for a Christmas brunch. It was sunny on our way there and my mom was complaining about how we weren't having a white Christmas in Utah but we would in Tennessee, since we were leaving later in the day. At breakfast we had an orange syrup. Jesse asked me what I got for Christmas, and I told him about the quesadilla maker. Chancey had bought expensive gifts for his brothers. He gave me a little flier for his Revv energy drink to give to my brother, since my brother had talked about how this drink had carcinogens. Peter told me we had to bring Franklin back from Tennessee, and the way we could do it would be to have me ask David some science question. He would get so long-winded, and while he was talking my mom could sneak Franklin out. We went home, and I started watching It's a Wonderful Life, but I was unable to finish it before it was time to leave, so we packed it to watch in Tennessee. My mom had packed a package of tools to give to my brother in her carry-on. When we were standing in the security line at the airport, I saw a sign that said you weren't allowed to have tools in your carry-on, and told my mom, but she still seemed to think it would be fine. I was mortified when she eavesdropped on a family's conversation, and piped up to tell them that her underwire once made the metal detector go off. That's not something you tell strangers! I pretended not to know her. After we went through security, they came and told my mom she couldn't have the tools because they could be used to open a window. I apologized to my mom for not having tried to convince her earlier not to pack them in the carry-on. So she called my dad to pick them up, and was crying over it. I was sitting to wait for her, and the airport people asked me to move to another bench. We were sitting near a bookstore in the airport, and in the display window they had the new biography of Thomas S. Monson, which I thought was interesting, considering all the non-Mormons who surely went through the airport. There was a man with a thick beard and tight pants, who I could tell was a Mormon. When my mom came back from having delivered the tools to my dad, I commented on her crying, and she said it was just stressful. I think I looked at a display of CDs and DVDs at an electronics store in the airport, but didn't get anything. Our plane had an insane amount of noisy kids. My mom sat by the window, I sat in the middle, and a girl who had to sit away from her husband sat on the aisle. I remember her looking back to her husband and non-verbally communicating about how noisy the plane was. I happened to glance at her iPod and noticed she had Elvis Presley on there. Later in the flight, she pulled out the conference issue of the Ensign, so I knew I was sitting next to another Mormon. Later in the flight we had a conversation, and she said she had graduated from BYU and her husband was still attending. She was from a small town outside of Nashville, and I asked her what it was like being a Mormon in a small southern town. My mom told her she was going to see her Chinese grandsons. When we landed and we stood up, the girl told me she liked my Peanuts shirt. We stopped at the restrooms in the Nashville airport, and I saw her outside of them. Then we went outside to get a taxi, and all the taxi drivers were foreign. On the way to David's house, we saw one accident at an on-ramp. When we got to David's house, it was icy. I for some reason thought their door would be on the side of the house (since I'd never been there before), so I started going to the side, and my mom told me it was right in front of us. She told the taxi driver, "He doesn't know where he's going," and I didn't think the taxi driver cared. David and Ya-ping had a Christmas tree lit up, and David told us that the next day's church had already been cancelled due to the weather. Even though it was after 10:00, Preston was still awake. We went into his room, and I said "Hi Preston" and he said "Hi Uncle Mark." I was glad he knew who I was. He showed us the Pokemon cards he got for Christmas, including a special one that had a picture of him. Franklin was sleeping in his diaper in a crib. I wanted to see Baby, since I'd never seen him before, so I opened the door to the room where he was sleeping. But he was awake. Since I could tell he was moving, I left so as not to disturb him, but it was too late. He started crying after I left, so his parents brought him out. He was sick, and he would stare at my mom and me, and then start crying. David said he must have been thinking about me, "That guy looks like my daddy cut in half." We stayed up for a while, and I told David I liked the chess set he got me. My mom asked me if I wanted to watch the rest of It's a Wonderful Life that night, or wait until the next day. I said I wanted to watch it that night, but reconsidered and said it was already midnight so Christmas was over. My brother remarked about having an OCD brother.

2009--I slept downstairs, and in the morning Nan had Allie wake me up. Allie seemed a little hesitant about waking me up. Preston and Franklin had slept upstairs, but for some reason Preston still needed to come up from downstairs. In my stocking I got a game--Set?--which to this day I haven't played. We got a lot of Dum-Dum pops in our stockings. I had previously mentioned to my sister that the only kind of lip balm I liked was Burt's Bees, and she took it a little far at Christmas. Allie got me a little tin with four Burt's Bees sticks, and seemed pleased when I thanked her for it. Nan got me a Burt's Bees gift set with lip balm, cuticle cream, lotion, and face wash. David and Ya-ping got me a Balderdash game and told me I had to use it at college. My parents got me a keyboard (the piano kind, not the computer kind). Franklin was excited at all his Elmo gifts:

I got him a little round Elmo and a round Snufflupagus (however it's spelled), and when David opened it, he remarked about it being Snufflupagus. Ya-ping told Franklin to thank me. He stared at me, and Nan laughed and said, "Are you and Uncle Mark having a stare-down?" Finally, he did his little characteristic blowing a kiss without the blowing, which we all found both hilarious and adorable. Allie got a lot of games, some of which were Spongebob-themed. Preston and Allie both got little MP3 players. Ya-ping got Susan Boyle's debut album, and later played it, and I didn't know who Susan Boyle was. After the presents were opened, I pulled out the Children's Songbook and played Christmas songs on my keyboard at the table. Nan and Allie went to Matt's house, and when they came back, she told us that he had proposed and got down on one knee and asked Allie if he could be her dad. He gave Allie a necklace and Nan a fake ring until they got a real one. I ate white fudge with cherries that my grandparents had brought over the day before. I got on Facebook while eating lots of candy from my stocking. I made a status about how it was strange to think that a year earlier, I had been stranded in Edwall, WA, and wished everyone a Merry Christmas, which a convert from my mission, Katelyn Heath, "liked." Chancey had made a status about knowing the true meaning of Christmas. Jesse commented with, "You can't be George Bailey this soon after watching It's a Wonderful Life," and I commented, "Did your small heart grow three sizes today?" Someone else commented that his heart had always been that size. When the Thompsons arrived, Chancey told me he liked my comment on his status, and Jesse laughed at my lack of enthusiasm. After dinner, Cameron and some of the Thompsons played poker at the table, and I heard Cameron say a four-letter word. I was standing by the buffet, and he said, referring to me, "Who is this?" I and my mom laughed, and he said, "No, really, I don't know who it is," since he hadn't seen me since I'd been home. He was amazed when we told him who I was. In the evening our home teacher, Mike Taylor, dropped by, and my mom told him that Susanne was engaged, and he said, "Let me see," referring to the ring, but they told her it was just a fake ring. We watched White Christmas. Ya-ping laughed at the scene when the men take over the sister act. My brother said Rosemary Clooney must have been cast for her voice, because she didn't have the looks, and then he said that the other female lead was anorexic because her legs were too thin and she was a dancer, which meant they were muscular. Then we watched It's a Wonderful Life, and in the scene were Mary hides in the bushes, David said, "This is about as raunchy as they could get under The Code," but said it was "perfectly adorable raunchiness."

2008--Elder Love and I woke up in the home of the Christensens, outside the tiny town of Edwall, WA, since we had been snowed in the night before. Since they lived in the middle of nothing but wheat fields, the snow drifted quite terribly. This is their front gate: The Christensens adopted their grandchildren, and in the morning Sister Christensen had her five-year-old daughter (granddaughter) Bailey look at my T-shirt, and she excitedly said "Snoopy!" The Christensens had given us a bunch of spare gifts and stocking stuffers--very dark chocolate, cheap mint chocolate, bowls with an old-school Kellogg's cornflakes Christmas ad on it, a mug, and a book full of Christmas stories. Elder Love and I had brought our presents from Sister Barnett, and opened them to find hand-knit slipper things. Mine were blue and Elder Love's were green. The Christensens let us call our families. My dad said he was glad I called earlier because they didn't have to worry about talking to me since my mom was leaving for Nashville in the afternoon. Allie told me she had seen on the news that Santa Claus was on his way, and said, "It kind of freaked me out." I told her, "You sound so big," and she said, "I know, because I'm five." I talked to my mom about how we were going to watch Mary Poppins later. Then Elder Love talked to his family. We went in the Christensens' shed to help him with their snowblower. (Actually I didn't do much helping--it was all Elder Love.) I played with Bailey by pulling her around on a sled. The snow had drifted up on their trampoline so that you could walk on the snow over their fence (although I didn't do that). At one point I heard Bailey call out for help, and I looked and she was suspended by her clothing on a bush. None of her was touching the ground. I rushed over to help her down, but I wish I would have taken a picture first. That may sound mean, but when I told her mom/grandma about it, she said I should have taken a picture. The snow plow plowed their road, so we were able to leave. Sister Christensen made us sandwiches before we left. On our way back to Davenport, I asked Elder Love about his phone call. He said he talked to his nephew Gabe, and his mom had accidentally told Gabe it was Uncle C instead of Uncle T. I told him about my niece saying, "I know, because I'm five." When we were in Davenport, we stopped at the Stackhouses', who had invited us over in the morning, but obviously we couldn't make it. While we were in our car, just before visiting the Stackhouses, we saw "Brother" Murray, the husband of a very inactive couple we had befriended, who lived almost across the street from the Stackhouses. From our car Elder Love called out to him, but he didn't recognize us, since it was dark, we were in our car, and we weren't in our proselyting clothes. We visited the Stackhouses, and then went back "home" to the Herrons. We showered and then watched Mary Poppins. I made some spiced cider on the Herrons' stove, and felt guilty about the spills, but I made sure they were cleaned up. I ate a bunch of Christmas candy, including the gumdrops an inactive sister, Sister Wolfrum, had given us. At the part where the cook slams the wall to make the pictures go straight again, Sister Herron and Elder Love laughed. At the part where Andrew the dog talks to Mary Poppins, the Herrons' Scottie, Butch, was very attentive to the TV. Elder Love also laughed when all the bankers were nodding at each other in their song.

2007--Our mission president had given us permission to sleep in this day, so we did. Elder Chun said he was going up to open his presents, but I told him he could go without me, since I didn't have any. But he told me he saw some for me. So I went upstairs too. The Welshes had a Christmas tree in their living room, but they also had one in their side room, and underneath the tree in their side room, lo and behold, was a pile of presents, all of them addressed to "Elder Medville," except for one which was addressed to "Elder M" and one addressed to "the greenie." They were all from Santa, except for one from Mrs. Claus. I got quite the generic haul--a container of peanuts, a container of Slim Jims, a package of breath mints, some lotion, a pair of Snoopy pajamas, some ugly size 11 slippers, I think some Chapstick, and some other stuff. The Welshes also gave us stockings, but all that I remember was in them was deodorant. The Welshes provided us Christmas breakfast, including homemade applesauce to put on our waffles. Elder Chun borrowed my camera and took all sorts of random pictures, but now I can't find any. I called my family, and told my parents how we had been tracting earlier in the week and only three people answered but all said we could come back. (But none of them turned out to be really interested.) My sister reprimanded me for having sent a Christmas card to Allie but not mentioning her. Elder Chun talked to his family. For five hours. So much that the Welshes made him get off their phone, so he used our phone. This was a double no-no, since we were only supposed to talk for 45 minutes, and we weren't supposed to use our phone. I don't know why, but we weren't. He was trying to justify it by saying he had a big family. If I had been less green and a better greenie, I would have told him to get off the phone so we could be obedient, keep our appointments (since we entirely missed one, without even calling them), and watch the Disney movie we were allowed to watch. But I didn't do any of this. We went to an appointment with one Sister Summer, but her family wasn't there, and we had another dinner appointment, so we told her we'd be back. We drove to the Kearls' house up a mountain. At dinner I sat next to a man holding a baby, so I dished out his food. When we left, Sister Kearl gave us a box of crackers cheese, and sausages. She also gave us a bag of Dove dark chocolate, and told us they had antioxidants, and her black granddaughter laughed at her for prescribing chocolate like a medicine. We went back to Sister Summer's house, but I think before that we sat in our car and Elder Chun recited 1 John 4:7 to me. Sister Summer's house was awkward, because we just sat there while all her family (all of whom were nonmembers) opened their presents simultaneously. One teenage son explained to us about how excited he was for his somewhat nerdy gifts. Then we visited a member family who lived up in the mountains because Elder Chun wanted to wrestle their son. We shared a Christmas message, and then Elder Chun changed into some spare small clothes they had so he could wrestle. Somehow the conversation turned so that I said I didn't have an athletic bone in my body, and one teenage daughter said that was sad.

2006--In our stockings we got those little 20 Questions games that guess what you're thinking. Allie got a toy dog called Lucky that responded to voice commands, and this giant storybook pillow:
I got a cheap MP3 player and a stereo, which I thought were interesting gifts, since I didn't listen to that much music. I said I thought they probably got the stereo more for them since I was going on my mission in less than a year. (And when I came home from my mission, the stereo was, indeed, in the living room...) I got my mom the DVD of Miracle on 34th Street.I remember being in my room trying to find Christmas music on the radio on my MP3 player. I was wearing a Christmas shirt and Christmas socks, and I might have been wearing green shorts. We went to my grandparents' house and brought our 20 Questions games. My grandpa was sure he could outsmart it, but was annoyed when it guessed he was thinking of a pig. Chancey tried to outsmart it by thinking of nothing, but it guessed it. Quin and Jesse would laugh at its guesses, since some of its guesses conflicted with some of the answers they would give it. When we got home, we watched It's a Wonderful Life and I watched the TV version of The Miracle on 34th Street, which was on the DVD I got my mom. I did this while eating candy cane Kisses from my stocking and while my mom slept on the couch. I was surprised at the scene they added to the TV version, when Kris Kringle rather violently beats the antagonist in front of a room full of children.

2005--Santa Claus had set up a toy piano for Preston in the corner, along with a guitar, and Preston was so interested in his piano that he wasn't interested in any other presents, such as the small toy guitar Nan got him. Allie got Cinderella and Snow White dolls. I got the second season of The Munsters and the DVD of The Year Without a Santa Claus, which included Rudolph's Shiny New Year. I also got the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory soundtrack. TV Land was doing their annual Merrython, so that morning before church I watched the Christmas episodes of Green Acres and The Addams Family in my room while "napping," after I did my scripture study. Allie took one of her dolls to church. I thought it was a little big to take to church, but her mom and my mom said it was OK because it was Christmas and she was a little girl. Church was unusual because Nan came and because we sat on the left side of the chapel, instead of our customary right side, and we only had sacrament meeting. After visiting my grandparents, for some reason the Thompsons decided to come over to our house. While we were loading up from my grandparents', Chancey was carrying a dish my mom had brought and slipped on ice, shattering the dish. I rode home with the Thompsons, who were listening to 103.5 because they were doing all-day Beatles as a Christmas present. We watched It's a Wonderful Life. I remember them laughing when the dancers were unwittingly on the edge of the swimming pool, and then when George said in the next scene, "This is a very interesting situation." Near the end I remember thinking what a great movie it was. After it was over I remember being in our hallway upstairs and Chancey said it was really good, but when I asked Jesse what he thought of it, he said it was "all right." After they left I watched the Christmas episode of The Andy Griffith Show on the Merrython and had some eggnog. After I was in bed and it was after midnight, I watched TV Land's "Top Ten Holiday Moments."

2004--In my stocking I got a Monkees CD, which I was not excited about (but ended up liking). I got four Game Boy games--Warioland 2, 3, and 4, and the Mario and Luigi Superstar Saga (which my cousin's kid took last summer...hmm...). I got a portable DVD player, and was really surprised to be getting something so nice. My dad got some elk-skin gloves, and cheered when he got them, which was very surprising since he so rarely shows emotion--even less than I do. It was later said that he got the award for the best reaction, although my reaction to the portable DVD player was pretty good too. I started playing Warioland 2, and my brother started playing the Superstar Saga, which he took to my grandparents' house where Quin played it too. My grandparents gave Allie a little musical toy train.

2003--I got a Warioware game (at least I think that's what it's called--I haven't played it in forever) for my Game Boy Advance. I got Allie a little texture book about kittens. We went to my grandparents' house, and I remember sitting on one of their chairs playing my Game Boy, wearing my Charlie Brown Christmas tree shirt and red and white socks, while their acquaintance Scott Grow walked by. My aunt Sue complimented me on my shirt. I'm thinking that this was the year that on the way home my brother took a picture of the road with a new digital camera, and remarked that it was Christmas and the only colors in the picture were red and green--red from the taillights and green from the freeway signs. But this might have been 2004. When we got home, I wanted to watch A Charlie Brown Christmas, but David was watching his new Moulin Rouge and explaining what was going on in one scene, and I didn't think it was appropriate for me to be seeing a movie about prostitution. So instead I went in my room, got out my little keyboard, and looked at Christmas hymns. This actually turned out to be better than A Charlie Brown Christmas would have been. It started snowing and I thought it would be wonderful if it snowed all night so that everyone got snowed in and had to spend time with their families.

2002--I got two Game Boy games, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. I remarked about getting two games based on movie sequels. I got David Citizen Kane. We went to my grandparents', where I got a cheap public domain DVD set of The Andy Griffith Show and the musical Oliver!. I was wearing a Christmas light tie with a red shirt. I remember looking at my grandparents' Christmas songbook for New Year songs. My brother wanted to watch a scene of one of the newer Star Wars movies, and said something about it being fates battling. I made what I thought was a clever comment about which one would have to win for us to be together at Christmas, alluding to the Christmas lyric "Through the years we all will be together if the fates allow."

2001--I believe this was the year I got my Game Boy Advance. I also got the box set of the Peanuts holiday specials. My mom said she had planned to get me the first season of The Simpsons but got me that instead. I was glad she returned The Simpsons then, and I'm especially glad now. While my parents were downstairs sleeping, I watched the Peanuts specials I hadn't seen before: You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown and This is America, Charlie Brown: "The Mayflower Voyagers." I think I also watched A Charlie Brown Christmas. Then we went to my grandparents' house, where they gave me gifts my mom had actually picked out. One was a 10-tape VHS set of public domain episodes of The Beverly Hillbillies. The other was the Warioland game I already had. I said a very unenthusiastic "thanks," and my mom asked me if I already had it. I said I did. She said that the guy at the video game store had told her it was Wario 3, but I explained it was Wario 1 and Mario 3--Marioland 3 was the same as Warioland 1. When I explained this my cousin Renee said, "What?" After we left my grandparents', I went to Susanne's little apartment, where she had her Christmas tree up, and I watched an episode of The Beverly Hillbillies, the one where Jethro thinks he's in love with a stripper, while I waited for my parents to pick me up. When we came home, I remarked about how I was sad Christmas was over, and my mom said, "I'm sorry." After they went to bed, I went downstairs and watched The Simpsons at 10:00. It was the Christmas episode from 1999 when Bart accidentally burns all the Christmas presents.

2000--I was still in bed in my room when Susanne arrived, and she made me get up. She got me a blue banana chair. I also got a National Geographic card game and a toy keyboard. [I got my mom the Broadway recording of The Sound of Music on CD.] We went to my grandparents' house where they had their Samoan friends visiting. I remember being upstairs and hearing their friends singing a Christmas song in Samoan from downstairs. I thought hearing it in another language was really cool, so I perked up, excited, and my dad wondered why I was excited. Later I joined them, and they sang regular Christmas songs, as well as singing "Happy Birthday," putting in "dear Jesus," which I found unconventional. I remember playing with my keyboard at my grandparents' house--talking about how it only had one preset Christmas song, "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus," and how it also had the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse song and "Wannabe" by the Spice Girls.

1999--Nan, Dave, and I all slept in the family room with the downstairs Christmas tree on. My parents had said we could open our presents as early as 3:00, so at 3:30 I woke up and woke up my siblings. They wanted to sleep more, so they told me to wait another hour. So instead of going back to sleep, I sat up, eating my sister's Starbursts. I had discovered that you could take a red one, break off a little piece, roll it, and then bend a yellow one around it, and it looked like a hot dog. After an hour I woke them again, but they told me to wait another half hour. So at 5:00 I woke them, and said I would go crazy if I had to wait longer. My brother said, "Let's wait five more minutes," just to see what my reaction would be, but angrily unplugging the Christmas tree was as crazy as I got. Per tradition, my parents made us sing to wake them up. I wanted to sing "O Holy Night," even though I didn't know many words. My brother said it was his strong bass voice that woke them up. I got a tiny one-and-a-half-inch nutcracker (which was really an ornament, and my grandpa later said it could only crack a birdseed). I think I got a chess set, and I got a colorfully illustrated out-of-print copy of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, as well as the Disney version of Alice in Wonderland, which I watched that morning. [I had bought my mom a craft book, and I had decided to do a treasure hunt for her to find it. It was an abysmal treasure hunt. One of my clues was something about "a polluted city," which meant my bedroom--because it was a mess and because the window looked out to the valley. My mom didn't get that. Another clue was about something "recently broken." My mom asked what the Thompsons had broken. But I had to explain it wasn't something they broke; it was the garage door, which had quit opening a few days earlier. The present itself was in the sun room.] Then we went to my grandparents', where they gave me holiday nutcrackers from Zim's craft store. We were up in their family room, and Sue was telling us how on the way there they were listening to the new Weird Al CD Jesse had got with the Star Wars spoof of "American Pie," and she had been singing the lyrics of the original song while the boys were singing the Star Wars version. I thought it must have been quite the singing party. Joey was sitting on the floor with headphones on, listening to his portable CD player, singing along to his new Britney Spears CD. I remember no one said anything, but there was kind of a mutual feeling in the air between my family and the Gildersleeves about how strange it was, especially since his nine-year-old singing sounded like moaning. I remember going to the duck pond with Jesse (it was quite a warm Christmas), and I remember thinking how much I liked my new nutcrackers. The big pond was frozen over except by the fountain, so we watched as the ducks would swim where there wasn't ice, near the fountain, and then get up and walk on the ice. Then we went to the smaller pond, which was completely frozen over, and Jesse for some reason put his foot on the ice, and it went through. He wanted to go back to my grandparents' after that. Then we went home and I decided I wanted to watch A Christmas Story, since I hadn't watched it that Christmas. I watched it in my parents' room, and a few hours later, my parents woke me, because I had fallen asleep. I hadn't just dozed off, I was veritably asleep. That's what happens to an eleven-year-old who gets up at 3:30 a.m.

1998--My brother gave me a Wallace and Gromit desktop calendar from Barnes and Noble. I got a Furby. At that time I was huge into a series of fruit and vegetable toys, and I was excited that morning when I got all of the Nutra-Fruit Heroes, except for Shakes Pear, which I already had. My friend David Christensen had already given me Awesome Apple, so my mom said she would take back the one she got me (although I didn't see anything wrong with having two). I also got the Nutra-Fruit Heroes backpack. My sister also got her own Power Prune. That morning I decided I wanted to watch a Wallace and Gromit film before going to my grandparents'. As we were loading up the car, my mom had a popcorn box. I asked her what was in it, but she wouldn't tell me, so I knew it was for me. I took my Furby, as well as all my Nutra-Fruit Heroes in their backpack. (Later Rhys asked me if the backpack was my stocking.) All the Thompsons had received their own Furby, so there were six at my grandparents' that day. My grandparents had two of what I call living rooms, a front one and one off of their dining room. I was in the one off the dining room when I opened the popcorn box, which had all the remaining members of another fruit toy family, the Fruit Seedies. Then I was playing with them in the front living room when Sue asked me about them. I told her all their names, and when I said "Tutti Grapefruitti," she repeated it as "Tutti Grapefruit," and I remember thinking she obviously didn't catch the pun on "Tutti Fruitti." Then I remember being down in their family room. David sang lines from "The Christmas Song": "And so I'm offering this simple phrase to kids from one to ninety-two." Peter was trying to sing along, only he didn't know the words, so his singing was delayed. I pointed that out. I also said that was a dumb lyric. Joey came down and excitedly told us that all the Furbys had been placed in a circle, and one said, "We sing," and they all started singing, but Peter and I didn't believe him. I remember we were trying to figure out our Furbys' names, and I thought mine was Koko, but I realized that was just a word it said. Christmas was a Friday, and my cousins (and I, to an extent) always watched ABC's TGIF, which started at 7:00. I had noticed that the first show in the TGIF lineup was preempted that night for some skiing special. When 7:00 came and that non-TGIF show was on, my then-uncle Wayne was complaining. I said, "Well, it's Christmas," meaning we were lucky to get any TGIF at all, and he said, "So?" But I was OK with this; I preferred to watch Kids Say the Darndest Things on CBS at 7:00. One of the questions they asked the kids was how much a house cost. We were all too young to know how much a house cost, but one of the kids said something about a house price "in Malibu," and Joey laughed, I think because he thought the kid made up "Malibu." I was sitting on the futon-like chair, and I remember showing Quin my banana named Slam. Jesse was playing Pokemon on his Game Boy, and Rhys came up with a blanket to cover him. Jesse objected, and when Rhys covered him, he said he lost the game because he couldn't see. He kicked Rhys and started crying, and his mom reproved him. Rhys had a stunned look on his face, like he didn't know why he'd just been kicked.

1997--I got [a Tamagotchi, and] an M&M machine for Christmas that came with M&Ms from Nan. We had Christmas at our house since my grandparents were on their mission. I remember thinking I was clever saying "Talofa" to them when we talked on the phone. The Thompsons came over, and I remember Quin being on our landing and calling out to his mom that he was going potty. She yelled "No!" and he wet his pants there on the landing. (Fortunately it wasn't on the carpet!) A little later I remember seeing a puddle on the landing and wondering if it was melted snow or if it was from Quin. My dad told me it was from Quin, but I wasn't convinced, so I unwisely decided to smell it, but I wisely didn't step in it even though I didn't smell anything.

1996--In my stocking I got a keychain that was a little bottle with seashells and a seahorse, a bag of pistachios, and a pack of Fruit Stripe gum. My brother and I got matching green six-inch-tall nutcrackers. I got Mario Paint for the Super Nintendo. My mom told me the Thompsons were getting their own SNES, so it would be nice for me to take my new game to my grandparents' house so they could play it. But I decided that since we were going to Fillmore afterwards, I didn't want to take it, since I would have to take the mouse and the mousepad, and I didn't want them to get lost or broken. My brother told me I didn't really need the mousepad, but I didn't believe him or ignored him. At my grandparents' my aunt asked me if I brought my new game. I said, "No, 'cause I would have to bring the mouse," and she said, "I would think they could just use the controllers." I thought she obviously didn't know anything about Mario Paint. My grandparents gave me Tetris Attack for my Game Boy, but I wasn't too big into puzzle games; I preferred Mario and Kirby. The Thompsons were all in the basement, enthralled in their new Nintendo. Then we went to Fillmore. I remember my brother saying he didn't like Fruit Stripe gum because it was good at first but lost its flavor really quick. A lot of pistachio shells were collecting in the bottom of my stocking. I was excited when I discovered that the Tetris Attack game had Yoshi and other Mario characters. This may have been when I was excited my paternal grandparents had chocolate-flavored candy canes.

1995--In my stocking I got a Gumby keychain and a ceramic nativity. I got a red nutcracker. I remember having a discussion that it was red and white, which was bad because they were U of U colors, unlike my blue nutcracker from the previous year. But I determined that the top of the crown was a blue part, and since it was higher up than all the red, it was OK. On top of the blue was a little gold ball, which my brother said represented some other team we liked. My siblings got me Christmas decorations--a little building that was Santa's workshop that opened up to toys on the inside, and a Santa figure holding a doll and something else. I got a reading lamp. We went on a treasure hunt for my last present, and as we went downstairs I noticed a note on the doorknob, so I was going to read it, but my mom told me not to read that one yet. She said that (noticing a clue before you were supposed to) hadn't happened before. Ultimately I ended up in my room where I found a tepee my mom had made. Then I remember playing with my reading lamp while my dad listened to his new Abbey Road CD; I distinctly remember "Octopus's Garden" playing. We were going to my maternal grandparents' house and then my paternal grandparents' house in Fillmore. I wanted to take my stocking but my family discouraged me; my sister said she was just taking some candy. But I took my stocking anyway, including my red nutcracker. At my maternal grandparents', I remember Nan sitting on the couch and the imprint of the candy in her back pocket staying on the cushion, including the imprint of the candy canes. This may have been the year I thought I was clever by rearranging my grandparents' NOEL decoration to say LEON, and Wayne changed it back, which I resented.

There is an incident that I don't remember if it happened in 1995 or 1994. My gut tells me it was 1994, but some of the details tell me otherwise. Since I don't know, I'll put it here. My maternal grandparents gave us a Bumble Ball, which they turned on while it was still wrapped. Then we took it to Fillmore. Some kids I didn't know, including my aunt Michelle's niece, were outside playing with it. I was selfish and resented that, so I sat and sulked in the car. None of the adults knew why I was sitting there. My mom came out and asked me if I, um, defecated in my pants, and I was silently appalled she would suggest such a thing. Then my cousin Kadee came out and told me she liked the necklace I had given her in our cousin gift exchange.

1994--I wore my Halloween costume, Santa Claus, on Christmas morning. In my stocking I got an apple, a banana, an orange, and a tangerine, and found the white chocolate Santa I had put inside earlier in the month. My sister got Sylvester (the cat) slippers. I got a watch with a black band, and a blue nutcracker. My grandma Judy had given us all kitchen towels, which my mom and everyone else laughed at. Mine had purple and pink flowers on it. Christmas was on Sunday, and I remember in primary opening exercises someone--Sue Palmer?--asking about what we did on Christmas. Our next-door-neighbor, Taryn Pay, talked about opening presents. We went to my maternal grandparents' house. My grandpa asked me if my watch said "tick tock," then listened to it and said, "Or does it go tock tick?" We went to Fillmore, and I asked my grandma why she got us dish towels. She said, "So if your brother or sister is using yours, you can say, 'Hey! That's my rag!'" As a six-year-old I accepted this answer--but now I don't.

1993--We got blueberry candy canes and butterscotch candy canes in our stockings. (I could have said blueberry and butterscotch candy canes, but that would be ambiguous--what a weird flavor!) We went on a treasure hunt before we went downstairs to find the big present--the weight set we dubbed "the moose" because the bar on it resembles antlers. We went to my maternal grandparents' and got ready to go with them to San Diego, but my dad couldn't come with. I remember him calling April December.

1992--I got my mom a cat ornament. She saw my name on the present, so she gave it to me, but when I opened it I told her it was really hers. We also got her pink socks. Our family got a copy of Hook--on VHS, of course.

Other posts in this series:

The Ghost of Independence Days Past
A Pillowcase Full of Trick-or-treat Memories
Remember Every Detail, Volume 3: Thanksgiving

A short holiday and looong hours

Any more, I don't feel like I have very much in the way of free time. We are understaffed at work, so we have to work a lot.

On Monday and Wednesday I worked until 5:00 and on Tuesday I worked until 6:00. I can't remember what I did when I got home on Monday and Tuesday. On Wednesday, I was super excited the next day was Thanksgiving. I finished a family history indexing batch that night.

Thanksgiving was enjoyable; we went to my grandparents' house. That evening I ate way too much pie and I was excited to see that a Peanuts special that came out on DVD in March, Happiness is a Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown, finally aired on TV--which meant I was able to watch it without buying it. Some of you may recall that before my mission I was big on a site called TV.com. I'm not so big on it now, but I am the editor for the Charlie Brown specials on that site, so I added information to the guide for Happiness is a Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown.

I had to be at work at 6:00 a.m. on Friday. I was scheduled until 12. Once 12:00 hit, I asked if I could go. They told me I could, but that I could also stick around. I decided to leave. I went to the temple with my parents.

I had to work Saturday, as well. Then Saturday afternoon I wanted to go running. But all my work prevents me from running and I'm losing my ability. I wanted to run for 47 minutes. After sixteen or seventeen minutes, though, I got lazy and I stopped. I don't know if I was just lazy or if I was more tired than I used to be. So I turned around, walked for about three minutes, and then ran the rest of the way for about seventeen minutes. So it was a failure run for me. But I have some consolation. One is that my ability is bound to decrease as I do it less and get more out of shape. Another is that what I ran will keep me in better shape than not running at all. And another consolation is that even the seventeen minutes one way is still better than what I could do four years ago.

My free time last night was taken up because today I gave a talk in my ward. I never read my talks verbatim, but this is approximately what I said:

First of all, I would like to point out that 364 days ago, on November 28, 2010, I stood at this very pulpit at this very time in the Orchard 14^th Ward. There aren't very many similarities between last year and this year. Last year it was very snowy, and I was hoping church would be canceled so I wouldn't have to speak. There's no chance of that today. The ward was also much smaller; there are a lot more people today. I can't decide if more people makes it more or less intimidating.

Shortly after general conference in October, at institute we had a big discussion about things we enjoyed about conference. I shared that I liked President Uchtdorf's talk, “You Matter to Him.” I especially liked the beginning where he talked about the stars in the sky. He talks about how God showed Moses the workmanship of his hands, and Moses said, “I know that man is nothing.” President Uchtdorf says, “The more we learn about the universe, the more we understand—at least in a small part—what Moses knew. The universe is so large, mysterious, and glorious that it is incomprehensible to the human mind. 'Worlds without number have I created,' God said to Moses. The wonders of the night sky are a beautiful testimony of that truth."

He continues and talks about how “one group of scientists estimates that the number of stars within range of our telescopes is 10 times greater than all the grains of sand on the world's beaches and deserts.” He has this perspective being a pilot, flying over Earth looking at the night sky.

I'm not a pilot, and I'm not an astronomer. I find this concept fascinating, but it's not something I can totally relate to. However, at BYU, I'm doing a minor in geology. I'm not very far in this minor, but I think this same concept can be approached from a geological perspective.

Sometimes when I'm down by the train tracks on Center Street, I look up at our hill, and I see all the houses. There are so many houses, yet they don't come even close to filling up the entire hill. And then there's another hill behind it! They're so big—but then I realize that our hills right here are actually rather small compared to other mountains, even in our own state. I think about how many hills and mountains there are all over this world, and it amazes me to think just how big the world is.

Just as fascinating as the size of the earth is its age. Once I did the math—I must have been bored-- and I determined that if you were to draw a line in which one inch equals 1,000 years—now think about how much has happened in a thousand years—with one inch equaling a thousand years, from now to the time that the dinosaurs died out 65 million years ago, the line would be over a mile long! And that's just to the time that the dinosaurs went extinct—I didn't do the math for the time that they lived, or for time before them, or anything like that. This boggles my mind!

Our human history is only a few inches in the miles of the earth's history. It can be easy to feel insignificant when you think about this. But I like to think of it this way. We know from Moses 1:39 that God's work and glory is to bring about the immortality and eternal life of man. That is why He created this earth. And yet the earth was around for billions of years before he formed man on it. We matter so much to Him that He created this world so beautifully, perfectly, and meticulously just for us.

President Uchtdorf uses this concept of the grandeur of the universe to warn us against a couple of tools of the adversary. President Uchtdorf says, "This is a paradox of man: compared to God, man is nothing; yet we are everything to God. While against the backdrop of infinite creation we may appear to be nothing, we have a spark of eternal fire burning within our breast." Satan uses both sides of this paradox. One of these diabolical tools is pride. He leads some—and, I might add, all of us to some degree—to think that they are more important or more valuable than everyone else. We must really remember, though, that our individual time spent on this earth is only a fraction of an inch in the miles and miles of eternity. President Uchtdorf says, “Those who will 'inherit the kingdom of God' are those who become 'as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love.' 'For every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.' Such disciples understand also “that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.'”

On the opposite end, Satan uses discouragement. He convinces us that we are small, insignificant, and forgotten. But this is not true. We matter to God. President Ucthdorf says, “The Lord doesn’t care at all if we spend our days working in marble halls or stable stalls. He knows where we are, no matter how humble our circumstances. He will use—in His own way and for His holy purposes—those who incline their hearts to Him.”

There's a scripture I really like in 1 Corinthians 12:14-23:

"14 For the body is not one member, but many.

15 If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?

16 And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?

17 If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling?

18 But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.

19 And if they were all one member, where were the body?

20 But now are they many members, yet but one body.

21 And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.

22 Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary:

23 And those members of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness."

I really like this analogy. If, for example, our body consisted of nothing but ears, we would be useless. We need all the members of our body. So it is in the Church. We can't all be bishops and Relief Society presidents. We each have our own unique abilities to contribute, and we may think our calling or our role in our ward is insignificant, but it matters not only to God, but to everyone else in the Church.

President Ucthdorf says, “God sees you not only as a mortal being on a small planet who lives for a brief season”--I find it interesting he calls this a small planet—I've been telling you how big it is, but it really is tiny--"He sees you as the being you are capable and designed to become. He wants you to know that you matter to Him."

I know that we may be less than a millimeter in the miles of eternity, and we are little specks of dust in the vastness of the universe, but we matter to Him. God loves us, and gave us His Son because He wants us to return to Him. I say this in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

(And I'm sorry for the inconsistent font size. I just didn't care enough to make it all the same.)