Reflections of a True Millennial

I'm sure all of you have been through a major storm. Possibly a hurricane, tornado, or just a bad thunderstorm. Either way, after the storm, the rain and wind has stopped and the world seems at peace. The clouds slowly begin to part and the sun shines through, just a bit. But it shines in that serene way so that you can see each individual ray of light. So for us the storm has passed. Of course the clouds are still overhead and destruction is around, thus causing sadness still. But our minds have had to to think, and light of the situation is visible. She died for a reason right? Everyone does. Maybe one of those reasons was to bring us all together. Maybe it was for us to be unified in the cause of truth. Look at how everyone has grouped together. People have rallied together to help the injured, honor the fallen, and comfort the mourning. Everyone has grouped together in love and a feeling of unity. So don't just forget about this. Honor her by letting this unity continue alw...

About yesterday at this time, I received a frantic call from a friend that a car crash occurred and a good friend of ours might not survive. After biking home, a facebook status confirmed that this friend had died. Have you ever had a dream and you pinched yourself to wake up? Well I haven't, but I tried that right now just to be safe. I know its not a dream at all, but it feels so unreal. My mind still hasn't processed what has happened, but I know that it has happened. But still I constantly check facebook to see any new things about her and her family, my phone is always next to me in case someone needs help. I know it happened. So what's a man to do now? Obviously life goes on and you can't just be sad forever. So you have two choices, have faith or give up. And I choose faith. We all know the truth, and if you don't then try and find out. Life is tough, but get back up and dust yourself off. We know that our deceased friend wouldn't want us to mourn forever...

Well none of us expected it to be through this early. Today we lost a dear friend. Everyday you glance at the news and see a car crash. The reporter says in his reporterly voice that someone was killed. Then you turn off the TV and go on with whatever you are doing. But somewhere, someone is mourning the death of that person. Tonight that is all of us. The loss of a dear friend has brought sadness to us all, but this is not the end. We all know better then that. We know we had an older brother who lived and died for us, and his death brought the mourning of many, but his new life brought the celebration of many too. And it should bring celebration to us today. Christ died that we may live. So someday, our friend will live again and we will see her. For she is not dead, but only sleepeth. Through the power of Christ her body will rise and reunite with her spirit once more. After that death will not separate them ever again. So this isn't the end. Its really just a beginning. And rem...

You forgot to do a huge project for english, your cat just died, and your phone decided to only send texts to the country of Mexico. Life stinks, right? Loljk it's summer, life is awesome! But seriously, sometimes it seems as if the whole world is against you and nothing is going your way. But all these trials that come your way have a purpose, even if its hard to see it. Some things you deal with seem like there is no purpose at all and some higher power just wants to make you suffer, right? Wrong, everything happens for a reason. It may sound as if I'm just spouting inspirational thoughts, and you may think I'm totally wrong (which I probably usually am.) But thats besides the point. From experience I know tribulations happens for a reason. If you know me, you probably know that I happen to attend a certain rich private school. Well upon arriving at that rich private school, I hated it by the end of the day. I didn't know anyone at all. This continued for the next few...

Happy Father's Day to all the fathers out there! Be sure today to take the time to wish your father a happy day and thank him for all that he does. Although many times it appears as if fathers don't do as much as mothers, remember all the things they do outside of the home. Most fathers are the primary breadwinners for they're family, they "bring home the bacon". Or maybe they don't if your vegetarian, I don't know what they would bring home then. But all joking aside, many fathers throw on a tie for eight hours of the day and labor at their work just to get money to support you. And there are countless other things that your father does for you that you might not even notice. So think a minute about all he does and give him a happy father's day! A card might be nice too, but it's all good.

The most pressing desire of many people is to be happy. But the common conundrum of these people is the question of how to become happy. Think of the happiest person you know. Maybe its a friend from Church or perhaps your mom or anyone else you know. Do they live a perfect life where everything is in order? Most likely the answer to that is no. So if they don't live a perfect life with no problems and free drinks all day, how are they so happy? Well, being happy is a choice. People that are happy don't live carefree lives, they just choose to be happy. If problems come their way, they stand back up and learn from what happened. They make the best out of every situation and accentuate the positive in their lives. No matter who you are or where you live you're bound to have problems, and you just can't control that. But you can choose to take those problems in stride and be happy about the positive things in your life. So whenever you feel down, choose to be happy. Count...

It's summer!! The time of year every kid dreams of and craves during the school year. But then it finally comes and it's not what you expected, right? Wrong. If your summer days are lackluster in comparison to your summer dreams then find some fun things to do. Here's a few ideas to get things popping: One great idea is to go to the Temple! Sure its in Orlando, but talk to your friends in other wards and see if they're going soon. If they are and they have room for one more, going with friends is a great opportunity to visit the Temple and have fun with friends during the ride. An obvious place to hang out is at your friends house. Invite over a couple of your best friends and even if you don't have something fun planned, its fun to just talk and hang out. If your looking to get ripped but still want to spend time with friends, then why not go to the gym with friends? They can be great motivation and you can have a good time while you're exercising.  The pa...

"Life is a journey, not a destination." -Ralph Waldo Emerson Where do you want to be in life? Perhaps you picture a future with a spouse at your side and college degree in hand and children running around you before you head off to work in your spiffy Hyundai Elantra. Whatever you invision the future as, it becomes your goal to reach that dream. So what happens when you get to that dream. Is life over? Are you stuck in a complacent situation filled with your perfect ideals? Well, no not really. You see, whenever you reach your dream you're happy, but that's not enough. Maybe once you have kids now you have a dream for what their life will end up like. Perhaps you wish for them to remain faithful Church members and be placed in all Honors classes. After your Elantra starts to wear down, maybe you can dream for a new Hyundai Genesis. Its kind of summed up with this dialogue from "Tangled": Rapunzel : I've been looking out of a window for eighteen years, ...

Unless you have been living under a rock for the past 7,000 years you probably know that the world isn't always the greatest place. (If you have been living under a rock, then hi my name is Brian, I'm free on Mondays and Thursdays but won't be available until I'm 16.) Anyway, the world isn't always the best, if you turn on the news you can see countless acts of hate, murder, deceit, and numerous other sins and problems. Granted, you probably aren't the cause or even related to these problems at all, but they're still happening somewhere. So looking on a grand scale of the world, it seems almost impossible to solve the problems of the world with just you and your circle of friends. But what if everyone "tried a little harder to be a little better" (Gordon B. Hinckley)? What if everyone you knew simply kept the Ten Commandments or something as easy as that? Of course there are many more rules to follow, but you have to start somewhere. So what if you...

So today in an attempt to increase my non-existent swag, I went into my closet to find my old yellow rubber Livestrong bracelet (yes complete with the "Made in China" stamp inside). So what does it actually mean to live strong? Is it sitting in your mom's garage your whole life pumping iron? Well lifting a few weights is healthy (and could help with the lady friends), but I don't think that's really what is meant to live strong. To live strong is to stand up and be yourself. Don't just wake up and go with the flow, be who you want to be. And if you get ridiculed for being different, don't just change yourself for others, remain strong and live your life. But being strong isn't just being who you want to be, it's also being humble enough to be who God wants you to be. So live strong and be yourself, after all everyone else is already taken. (I got that quote off the wall in my Spanish class :D) Just something to think about, have a great day.