Year of Halloween

Seeing those cute kids come to my door, dressed as familiar characters and evil witches makes my heart jump for joy! I love seeing them tough strong storms JUST for tradition and of course, the prize of a pillow case of candy. They're always dressed up so nicely. They love, for that one day, being someone else. Being who they want to be, just that once. Just for that one day, they're not told that they're not who they're pretending to be.

I remember my favorite costume I've ever had. The one that I had wanted and thought about for a year. Wolverine. I wanted to be the famous X-Men character tha was rough and wild. He had awesome claws sticking out between his knuckles, but most of all, it was his facial hair that got me. He had the greatest side burns known to man kind. No one, I repeat NO ONE could beat my man Wolverine's sweet facial hair style. He was my hero and I looked up to everything he'd do. Anyway, FINALLY I talked my parents into getting the thirty dollar suit and making some five dollar side burns. I was him. I was THE wolverine. Hugh Jackman, who was that? JON WALKER was the new sheriff in this perfectly groomed, sideburn obsessed town.

I will never forget when pretend became becoming. In my mind, I was no longer little Jonny Walker wearing an overly priced suit made from the cheapest material in the world, I was James Howlett, the feared Wolverine super hero. Though my cheap, plastic claws were bending in half, they looked like the sharpest steel weapons I had ever seen. I wouldn't even touch people for fear of mutilating them. I WAS Wolverine.

I thought back to that great moment, and realized I was now living in a new Halloween costume each year. I put on a mask, and slowly became a new person that I believed was me. I was no longer Jonny Walker that year, but I was a new person. Whether that was for better or for worse, I couldn't tell unless I took off the mask at the end of that year and looked at what I thought I was and realized how great or how rediculous I was being.

I look back to the beginning of last school year and realized how much I've grown since taking of, what I thought, was my cool mask. I've stopped caring about what people think about me, and decided that I should let my face always show. If people don't like the man behind that mask, that's not my problem, and I pray that someday they'll change their minds!

Though sometimes our mask are for better, we must become that masked person. If it improves our lives and draws us closer to our Heavenly Father, don't keep that as a mask any longer, but make that mask you. Become what you love, not what you hate. Often times we'll put on a mask that we thought would be too scary years ago, but because we think it's more mature, we wear it to impress. The only person that matters when it comes to impressions is our Father in Heaven. He sees behind our yearly masks to who we really are. We can't fool Him. No matter how different or scary the masks we wear are, He will pull them away and teach us that those evil, scary masks will only hurt us and cause us pain, even if others feel like they're the cooler ones or the better looking designs.

We must never forget that our Heavenly Father loves us for who we are and for who we hide. Take off the mask and become. Whatever the mask is, whether good or evil, be you and that's where the happiness lies. The the TRUE you. Don't be someone that thinks they are someone else. If we live behind masks, we'll never find who we truly are! Don't make all year a Halloween, keep that for one day a year and use plastic masks.

And don't forget the side burns. They're the most important part. :)
Food for thought!

Our personal 'Special Ops."

There she was. Smiling that beautiful smile I would soon be very familiar with. Those cute chin dimples staring right at me. The nerves set in, you know the type, the kind where it's not just butterflies, those butterflies are cold and they're SWARMING in your stomach. Your stomach starts the shake that leads to the rest of your body not necessarily shaking, but definitely stuttering. Shivers aren't going down your spine, but down your chest. You can't hide that you're staring straight at her because you're afraid if you look away, she'll be gone and you'll never see her again, even though you may see her at school everyday, you don't want to take the chance. She knows you're looking at her because she covers that smile slowly with her right hand, keeping her eyes on you, but whispering to her best friend, who now in turn is staring at you as well. You finally get control of you legs and you take a few steps towards her. She drops her hand, looks away from her friend, and pretends like she doesn't see you. 'Is this a good thing?' your mind questions. You take a few more steps and realize you haven't thought of what you're going to say! You quickly come up with something that you think is going to start a great conversation. She seems like miles away, which must mean she's a mirage, a figment of your imagination, but you finally reach her and she's real. The opportunity arrives and you decide to pursue and say what you had thought up, "Hey, you're a girl." 'Wow, that was it?' your mind screams at you. 'Hold up a second! That came out wrong.', you scream back at your nervous mind. She smiles, an awkward yet friendly, gorgeous smile (which, by the way, only makes matters that much worse because now your knees start to give out), and doesn't know how to answer your idiotic question. You take advantage of this moment, "And you're a great dancer, that's mostly what I was coming over to tell you. I like your dancing... Er I mean thanks for teaching us how to dance today you were a great teacher! I'm really glad you're teaching us cuz... Let's be honest... You're amazing. That will be all."

Awkward? Definitely, but the moral of this long, awkward story is that I seized the day. I took my Special Op (opportunity) and made it mine. I was really scared, I said the wrong thing, but this one Special Op led to what has become one of my most cherished relationships. I took hold of it, trusted that I would say what I needed to (eventually) and approached man's most feared situation with hidden confidence.

We all have been given so many 'Special Ops' each day of our lives. It's rediculous how many we have each and every day. How many of these opportunities do we back down from? I look back at that one day that I could've chosen a totally different path, and I thank the Heavens that for that one moment in time, I 'manned' up and did what needed to be done. I think of what could've happened and how I wouldn't have that one person in my life. I would be much worse off than I am now, and not as strong in my religion. I would not have the love for the gospel that I have attained through her instalation of it in my heart. I'm thankful that I took that one moment and made it mine.

How many moments do we miss because of fear, because of doubt? How many of each of these moments could change our lives forever? We must not only take these moments, but we must REFUSE to let them pass us by! Each moment that we lose is an opportunity missed. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying every person you meet should be looked at as a future spouse, but each could be a future life changer.

So, how about we all learn to conquer this fear. I still haven't. Not even close! But for that one moment I trusted that things would work out as they should and they did! So trust and do!

Oh and watch out for those green eyed, dimple-chinned, brown haired dancers. From my point of view, they're the greatest Special Op's you'll ever take :)
Food for Thought!

Getting 'ripped'

There it was. Lying in two pieces. Just staring at me, looking as if it had tears in its non-existant eyes. It looked like it had been ripped in half by one mad tear, but come to find out, my blanket had been ripping for years and I just never really noticed it. I mean there was this once where there was a fight (not sayin' it was between me and my sister, not sayin' it wasn't) where it may have recieved a ginormous rip right down the center of it, but that was quickly sown again by a loving mother. But the problem still remained, my favorite blanket was torn in two peices, and I knew who the culprit was. It was me. I wasn't aware that I was doing it, but slowly that big rip was re-opened and it ended with my blanket being dessomated.

I think my blanket might have been a metophor for some situations in life and relationships. Sometimes we get a big 'rip' in a relationship with someone else, where it seems like that relationship is over, done for, but it's still held on by a thread or two and over time it is 'sewn' back together making it just as strong or stronger than it was before. The big rip is easy to spot and fix, it's the small ones that kill a relationship over time. You can catch a big rip, you can see it right in front of you and feel the difference, those small rips sometimes are not noticable and go on and on and on... Until they seperate totally, with no chance of a full recovery or become near as great as they were before.

We MUST be careful of the small rips. Many small rips are worse than a big, giant rip. These rips can be anywhere from being too stubborn (that's what all my little rips come from, I'm about as stubborn as they come, but I'm usually too stubborn to admit it) from not being honest and even not fully forgiving and letting go. The big rip can come from the last two especially. But by letting go and forgiving, you create a stronger relationship than what was there before. The little rips come from ALMOST forgiving, but still holding onto things from the past, from not being 100% honest and only being 99.99999%... Those small lies sometimes hurt more than the big ones. Anytime you're stubborn with someone who means a lot to you, it puts a small rip into your relationship.

By catching these small rips early, and re-stitching our relationships, we can grow stronger again and again. Now, being mad at someone who calls you on something like this only hurts your relationships more! Be careful to not cause more rips to an already damaged 'blanket', that could be absolutely detramental to what you're trying to fix and get over. In fact, it'll rip faster and faster the less you change WITH each other. Never change for someone unless it's for the better, but changing WITH someone for good is the best thing that can happen to a relationship to make it stronger.

Relationships are the greatest resources we've been given. They're what gets us through life, and they make life interesting. We should always cherish them and make them one of our priorities, no matter what our situation is. Now if you'll excuse me, my blanket isn't going to stitch itself! MOM!!!!
Food for thought :)

A 'tall' tale of David vs. Goliath

Most people know the famous story of David vs. Goliath. David is a young, skinny boy who is very good at slinging stones. Goliath is a giant, ripped, blood hungry man, who has taken over most of the armies of Israel. So there you have the set up. To those who haven't heard this story, it would seem that Goliath is the obvious champion, and David should end up looking something like Frogger after a failed attempt to cross a freeway. As it turns out, David doesn't resemble Frogger at all, in fact he looks more like Rambo by taking one stone to Goliaths temple and killing him in that one shot. If you're not a religious person, this seems very unusal. This Goliath had torn apart armies that had bows and arrows, sharpened swords and spears. The King of Israel had no answer until this young shepherd boy came along with one stone and a peice of leather. How could a huge giant take arrows to the chest and yet not take one stone to the head? If you're a religious person, you know the answer is simple. David had help from his Heavenly Father. It wasn't just David throwing this stone, but his Father in Heaven empowered David and guided the stone. David was who he was when he was WITH God. Without Heavenly Father, David would've remained that shepherd boy, being guided by insticts and later on would've become a great shepherd man instead of a great king.

Today we have all sorts of Davids around the world. Good, hard working people who are doing all they can to not only better themselves, but better society. Now on the flip side of things, we have Goliaths roaming our earth. They may be 5'4" but they're evil giants. They seek only for their own gain, they seek to conquer man kind by being above everyone. Rarely do we see these Davids overcome their Goliaths. I've always wondered why!

My answer came to me while talking to a friend. She said, "Jonny, one day you're going to be famous (like those giant Goliaths) and I'm going to say to my kids, 'I grew up with him!'". At first I took this as a compliment and got all giddy inside thinking of my classmates telling their kids about how awesome I was and how great it is to know a famous person like me. Then it hit me in that instant, just a small voice told me, "The most important person to be known by is your Heavenly Father.". I realized that I'm not who I am without my Heavenly Father, and that most of these people had lost their sense of 'David' and had gained a sense of 'Goliath', thinking they can take on anyone or anything without anyone because they are larger than life, they are invincible. I quickly texted her back telling her what I heard and that I never planned on being a Goliath, but would strive to be a David.

In those short few minutes, I realized that these Davids aren't only overcoming their Goliaths, but destroying them. They aren't known very well. In fact I doubt the world knows who 99.9999% of these 'Davids' are, yet they carry on doing what they do because they know who is looking at them as the 'popular' ones, the most important person to be considered popular by, Heavenly Father. They're throwing their stones, not to hurt those Goliaths, but to defend themselves and their families against the danger they impose upon them.

In God's eyes, these Davids are no longer losing at all, but rather these Goliaths, who are starting to look more and more like Froggers in my eyes. Food for thought.

The Goal of GOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAALLL!!!s

Today I created one of my hardest goals I've ever decided to try. One that will test my strength, my man(boy)hood and my courage. This goal will change my life, forever. I know that if I'm able to accomplish this goal, I'll have a successful, wonderful life. What is this goal you ask? I'm going to start... Making goals! What was this inspiration you may ask? A Spanish futbol announcer.
Usually when I watch T.V., my brain is not only turned off, but unplugged, taken out and saved for a different time. Yet for this one time, my brain decided to turn on it's own on switch and jump straight back into my head. Commercials are for advertising, but this one was for inspiring. It consisted of two people playing a normal game of chess and one crazed Spanish announcer yelling GOOOOOAAAALLL in the background. Now for most people, this is just another funny, yet cheesy car insurance commercial, but for me, at that moment, it was an inspiration. It gave me what I needed to start my goals.
In our society, we take goals for granted. We always have amazing New Years goals that last up to a month, after that month is over, we ditch those and return to our brainless couch potato state of mind. We set our goals so far away from reality that they are no longer goals, but dreams. I will never get a six pack in 3 months. Though it is definitely possible, it's far from probable. We need to start setting the probable goals. The goals that are as simple as eating 3 meals a day. Start with the small goals and increase the intensity of these goals until they are where we need them. We see it everyday. Even our President does it. He sees a bad economy and creates an impossible goal or dream to fix it in four years. These goals only hurt our situations, they make us weaker and weaker. Everytime we fail, we get discouraged and our dreams get smaller and smaller. Some say we're raised to fail. I think we just learn to create impossible goals. As we notice from the Presidents goal, it's not that the goal was not probable, but that it was impossible and we see that our economy has only suffered from his goals.
Stopping dreams is not what I'm saying needs to stop. As Gail Devers says, "Keep your dreams alive. Understand to achieve anything requires faith and belief in yourself, vision, hard work, determination, and dedication. Remember all things are possible for those who believe." With out these dreams, we have no reason to carry on, because there's nothing to hope for. But making our goals our dreams solely is what leads us away from happiness. We can, no we must have dreams, but those dreams can be acheived through small goals.
If we use these goals, they lead to the achieving of our dreams, but we cannot set one goal that is just a dream.
Ya never know, by achieving these small goals, we might be shouting for GOOOOOOAAAAALLLS with my Spanish friend!
Food for thought

Two Peas in an I-Pod :D

So here I am. Sitting on my couch when I read the phrase 'two peas in a pod', and the first thing that came to my mind was not a vegetable, but in fact it was a musical device. It seems today, at least to me that phrases like this take on a whole new meaning! You think of two people sharing an i-Pod, one ear phone in an ear of two people and you think of them being 'two peas in a pod', either being 'besties' 'bff's' or 'gf-bf's'. It's funny that phrases that were used years ago are here today, they just take on a whole new meaning. If I were to go outside 100 years ago and express how 'gay' I was, people would come to hear my stories of happiness and joy. Now, if I were to go out today and express my 'gay-ness' people would look at me with concern and partial fear, being protective of their male friends. Or let's say I heard some one yelling and I said to them, "Cut the gas!" they would question if someone had a bad set of mexican food or if there was a leak somewhere, whereas I say that to someone in the 1950's and they would know to be quiet! Things to consider is why this language changes so much from then to now, why can't we keep the same meanings? I think it all starts with one. There are so many things that all start with one. Someone hadn't heard the phrase from the 50's and decided it sounded dumb, more would join until it snowballed to where it's not just that it's no longer cool, but that it's just not heard of, and they create a different meaning for themselves. Most of these phrases become disgusting to many ears or offensive. Now being happy, 'too happy' is gay, and any 50's phrase just means you're a 'hippie' (which we all know is a TOTALLY different time period) and now the first thing we think of when hearing the word pod is a music device. Funny how times change! Now, if you'll excuse me, my bff and I are going to go be two peas with my i-Pod. :D

The Times of Prep

Sometimes it seems like the only way that I will get my call is by preparation. This past few days I have not only felt unprepared for anything that will come, but I haven't focused one tiny bit on my preparation. I have tried so valiantly for months, I need to get over this stupid stupid bump that I'm set in. I would love some help :). Only problem is this, Jonny doesn't know who to ask! I feel like I'm back in my rut, where I have no best friend, and I was hoping that would go away very quickly when regaining a few long lost friends, but still, I have no best friend! I am so confused. Anyway, I will go up after this post and ready, negatory, I will STUDY my scriptures fully. Sometimes we find that we're just reading to read, and at some points in life that is what needs to happen, but at this time, I need to read, not only to read, learn and feel the spirit, but to participate in studying WITH the spirit as my guide. With it as my light. With the spirit as my all in all. The mind is a terrible thing to waste, and yet it's a terrible thing to trust as well. I can no longer trust in what my 'physical needs as a teenage boy' are, as that is what I have so heavily relied on my entire life, but in what my 'SPIRITUAL NEEDS AS A SERVANT OF MY HEAVENLY FATHER' are. The word SERVANT is a very funny and interesting word. When used in the 1800's that word started a war. When used in feudel
China, it would save a life to be the servant of a king. Yet when used in the context of a missionary, it becomes a sacred word, one that can only describe what a missionary truly does. We serve. We are servants of a king. I am what will end an eternal war with Lucifer for some of those that are in need of my service. In times past, servants have been given or shipped because of their race. Now I, as a servant of my Savior, my brother, am chosen to be shipped and given to a certain mission by my religion. Other servants devote themselves to their master. But in my situation, if I devote my whole heart, my mind, my all, my Master will devote Himself to me. There is no better deal. I'm trading two years of my life (which would be a tenth of my life so far, funny how the tithes work in lives as well :D) for a lifetime of my Savior by my side, leading me to the path that should be chosen. It sounds like a steal, yet all He asks is for me to do my best to not only bring sould to Him, but to stay with Him so that I can continue in this service. A life time of service on my part is worth a life time of guidence on His part. Oh the joys of the gospel. There honestly is nothing better. No person, no attribute, no thing can come anywhere near the joy the gospel will bring.