I just wanted to clarify some confusion that could arise from my last gigantic post, over something I mentioned concerning the Book of Mormon. I said (honestly) that I don't hold it infallible, but I want to make sure every one understands how I feel about it.

If there was a list of things I hold important, God, my beautiful wife, and my amazing boys would be at the absolute top. Then my family in the larger sense. Then my friends. But very next in line, the first material thing on that list, is the Book of Mormon. That book is above anything else. Education, security, my own physical well being, and everything else that is still pretty important to me falls below. If there was a nuclear holocaust and my family had to choose one physical thing other than food or water to take into our underground cement box, I would choose the Book of Mormon. I definitely wouldn't choose an ipod (barf on ipods), or a playstation 3, or a fancy watch... I wouldn't choose my wife's guitar, my laptop, or even a journal to write in...I wouldn't choose a jar of curry spices, or a huge brick of chocolate, no photo albums, no family heirlooms....

Anyhow, I'm just trying to say that I value that book very highly. Although I feel that it is probably imperfect, and that there may still be editorial errors to be corrected in the future, as there were in the past, whether put there by Granden, Cowdrey, Joseph Smith, or maybe even Emma Smith during the translation process, (although I doubt she made any errors) I know that the Book of Mormon will bring a man closer to God than any other book. It is truely the keystone of my religion, and I am grateful that it is attached to a church which permits my attendance.

Perhaps I could also have said, more to the point, that I don't hold my own interpretation of the book infallible. If I got into some argument with an anti-mormon preacher, I am fairly sure that I would mess up the meaning of a few of the passages within the book. Although I read it frequently, I have not mastered it, and therefore for me to say "such and such is true because the Book of Mormon said so" has the significant risk of error that the book may not actually say such and such.

I know that Christ lives, and I know that the Book of Mormon contains His words. I know that the Book of Mormon is another testament of Christ, to accompany the witness given by those of the old world. I am grateful to those who sacrificed to bring the Book of Mormon forth, both in ancient and modern day, and I'm grateful to my parents for placing it in my life. I'm sorry that I don't share it more often in a more intense way... but we all need to grow in a few areas, right? A few of us need to grow in all areas, but everyone knew that about me already...

Anyhow, the Book of Mormon is a true record of a real people unto whom the Savior personally ministered after His resurrection. I love the book as much as a person can hold material objects dear. I guess I ought to show that more by sharing it with others.

Merry Christmas.

We just arrived in CO yesterday night after a pretty harrowing adventure of a drive. Actually it wasn't the craziest drive I've ever done (ask Michelle about the time we braved the closed Blue Mountain Pass to get to BYU in 2004) but there was a part that was ridiculous, through a little state called Iowa...

One of my best friends at Ave, Stefan Knudsen, is from Iowa, and when he found out our trip plans, he volunteered his parents house just in case we needed to stop. He did so about a week and a half before the trip, so there was no way he could have accurately predicted the conditions we encountered. Yet I think his gut instincts were that we had no idea what an Iowa winter could produce, and so he did everything possible to protect us...

Anyhow, the storm actually hit us in Illinois, with a pretty decent amount of snow slowing us down a little bit. But I distinctly remember that the second half of the bridge over the Mississippi River, as its slope began to arc downwards to the distant shore, felt like an icy luge designed for bobsleds. And thus began something amazing. Thereafter, the road was literally covered in ice, perhaps from freezing rain, I'm not sure, accompanied by very strong winds that slowed our travel to around 25 or 30 mph. I feel like half our drive was spent in that state. Thankfully, we had no mishap, just extremely slow going.

We counted over 60 accidents from the storm, defining 'accident' as a car that had clearly spun out of control, ending up either in the median facing backwards, or in some farmers field, all of which were either now abandoned, or in the process of becoming such. A decent portion of which involved overturned vehicles, and three were huge jack-knifed/destroyed semi trucks. One of those semi trucks was almost comical in its position, having ended up in some poor farmers grove of cottonwoods. Of all things, I was worried about the farmers barb-wire fence. All of the accidents we saw were current, meaning the tracks in the snow they had created were fresh, not snowed over. In other words, tons of accidents resulted from this one crazy storm.

Anyhow, pioneers rock. I'm proud to be from American Stock, and I'm grateful to Heavenly Father for all of my blessings, especially the noticeable things like a car heater that works. Here are some pictures, only a couple of the last, more mild ones:

I took a civil procedure test yesterday, it blew my brain. Then me and John and Stefan went to Buffalo Wild Wings, and I got some Blazin' wings...yummy. Then I came back to school till 1PM and studied torts. I don't really like that class. Then I did some fun spins in the parking lot, take out some frustrations...