Just another Mormon hiding his Horns and riding the bus. .

At my job I get the privelage to talk to all sorts of people. I love it to be honest. It has done wonders for my fake accents. The one thing that bothers me is how dim-witted the people that call in. I usually try to stay positive on life and people there in, but these guys can deflate any optimistic out look on civilization with in talking to them for 30 seconds. I dont understand why you feel like I need to hear about your cat missing a leg, your bunions on your feet, or how you think there are aliens stealing your remote! That has no relevance to cancelling your membership. . Don’t get me wrong I love my job, I have learned so much and I don’t know of any friends that has the honor of talking to someone at least once a week claiming to be Jesus himself or his mouth piece. Those are my favorite calls cause it always turns into a religion discussion.

I always get asked If I know God loves me (I do) who wouldn’t love me? Then the best question of all which religion are you? Usually at this point of the conversation all relevant business to the program has been taken care of and the customer/converter just wants to talk. I can deal with that. So when asked what denomination I belong to I proudly state I am a Mormon. That changes the tone of the entire call and its interesting to see it happen. What went from a friendly conversion now turns into a condemnation and rebuking for my beliefs. To quote Jim Morrison, “People are strange” probably the most honest statement out there.

I think different cultures are fun to learn about. Im not sure if I posted on here about this or not but I made a new friend on the bus. **Side note, if your ever bored or feeling down on yourself go ride the public bus! You’ll soon realize how lucky you are!** Anyways back to my new friend. Her name is Soon and she is from Korea. I helped her out once find the stop she needed to get to and now she won’t stop talking to me. Its not a bad thing but the ride on the bus is usually “me time”. She tells me about Korea and always has a bunch of Bananas which she has no problem peeling and just shoving into my mouth, She thinks its funny. . Today after cramming a banana in my mouth she took my phone to make a call. then my paper cause she wanted to read it. I guess thats cool in Korea. I doubt I would ever make it lving there cause I like my personal space. I try not to make a big deal out of her doing so because she isn’t used to our customs. It honestly makes me wonder what other people from different countries would do in a similiar setting. I hope one day to help out an italian straight out of Italy on the bus maybe he’ll sing opera the entire time or give me spaghetti… 

9 LOVES

10 DAYS

10 SECRETS 9 LOVES 

8 FEARS 7 WANTS 6 PLACES 

5 FOODS 4 BOOKS 3 FILMS 2 SONGS

1 PICTURE OF YOURSELF  

9 LOVES

1. My Family!

Brian, Mom, Thomas, and Myself.

Back Row L-R: Zach, Brian, Dad, Me

Front L-R: Thomas, Kenzie, Cyndie, Brigit, Josh (Miss you!) Brooklyn (my Beautiful Niece)

2. My Brother Joshua Michael Austin

03/29/1990 - 04/09/2011

Josh is seriously my hero, He was my older brother and we fought, laughed, cried, and got into trouble with each other. He was and is the greatest example of service I learned a lot from him. I don't think he ever knew how much I admired him.

3. My Friends

                                                                 Tori, Phil, and Dane 

                                                     James, Octavia, Me, Rachel, and Trevor

                                                             Jarom, Courtney, Mikelle, and Kayla 

                                                   Me and my beautiful best friend Mariah 

This is Parker, He is basically my greatest Friend in the entire world. We goofed off so much. To put it plainly we were basically J.D. and Turk off of scrubs. We were that close haha

3. FOOD!!!

5 Cars

One day I will own both of these cars

      1968 Ford Mustang GT500

VW Bus Need I say More? Though I want mine to be lime green

6 Music!

To me Music is everything whether it's playing it or just listening to it. I have a song that goes with everything I do. I love having my own Soundtrack to life

7. AUDREY HEPBURN

Need I say More? I realize this actress is the same actress our grandfather's had crushes on but who can resist? She is the epitome of class during the silver screen era! If I had a time machine I would go back to marry her.

8. Money

This actually more of a Love/Hate relationship

I love having money I love spending money. I hate that everything requires money. and that its pocket sized corruption

9. I LOVE LIFE!

I'm more or less High on Life. I think it's fascinating how every day merits a chance to be the greatest day in your life! I love seeing new things, meeting new people, and going to new places. I think those who embrace life are some of the happiest people out there. Life is an adventure waiting to be taken :)

These are things I love everyday. Its never changing and will always be the same

~END~

10 Secrets

10 DAYS

10 SECRETS 9 LOVES 

8 FEARS 7 WANTS 6 PLACES 

5 FOODS 4 BOOKS 3 FILMS 2 SONGS

1 PICTURE OF YOURSELF  

So I decided to try this 10 days thing it should be pretty interesting. I think it will be a great opportunity for everyone including myself to get to know me better.

10 SECRETS

1. I feel like I'm over weight even though people say I'm not.

    2. Sometimes I feel like people keep me around cause they don't                want to hurt my feelings                             

                                 

3. I hate knowing there is someone out there that hates me.

4. I always feel like I'm not good enough.

5. I feel like people misunderstand me a lot.

6. Sometimes I feel like I need to prove myself on everything before I'm accepted

7. I hate having friends leave.

8. I have no idea what I wan't from life. At times I feel like I have a pretty good understanding but ultimately I feel lost.

9. Though going on a Mission makes me more excited than a fat kid about to eat cake It also scares the tar out of me thinking about it.

10. I'm afraid of what will be different in 2 years and even further down the road.

~END~

A new day = new potential for an adventure.

As I do every morning I woke up at 6:45 so I could take my shower and eat a healthy breakfast and still be out the door in time to catch the 822 bus to BYU. arriving at BYU I board the 832 en route to the Timpanogos Transit Center where I will walk off that bus right onto the 850 Northbound that drops me off 100 yards away from my office. Easy routine right? I quite like it it never changes and is always the same. I can trust that my system will work. The funny thing about life is when you get comfortable with something to the point where it just becomes habit, life will shake things up a bit. Today I rode the bus to BYU got on the 832 as normal but instead of having Bob the friendly bus driver like I usually do I had instead who I will call Diane (I don't know if that's her real name is it relevant? I think not) Diane is  nice she greeted me with a smile and a "good morning" nothing too out of the ordinary. I took my usual seat next to the window and started working at my crossword 5 minutes went by and we still haven't moved. I looked up to see Diane doing her make-up in the rear view mirror! I was seriously thinking at this point are you kidding me?? I know that everyday is a new chance to meet your eternal companion but come on! No one boards the bus with the mindset of I think my future sweetheart might be the driver! I hope i don't miss the 850 because of this. Sure enough as we are pulling into the TTC the 850 is already gone i was 5 minutes late. I am a little peeved at this time cause that means I have to sit here for 30 minutes and stare at people. . As I was sitting by myself minding my own business and I probably had what my friends call "The Look" which is a look that says don't come and talk to me. I'm mean. Well a lady who I thought was Chinese came up to me and asked if I could help her with the schedule. I greeted her with a smile and said I would love to. She sat down next to me and  It turns out we would be riding the same bus. We both boarded and she motioned for me to sit next to her. I did and she started talking to me I found out that she is Korean and is from the Busan region. I told her that I had a couple of friends serve missions in that area and she told me that she was baptized a Mormon we talked the entire trip to my stop and asked each other questions about our backgrounds all through out the conversation she was giving me bananas to eat. I had 3 bananas before I got off the bus. I don't know what it is about me that says to complete strangers to come up and talk to me but it happens a lot. I can only smile and think that this will inevitably come in hand for the next 2  years. After getting off the bus I walked into my office in a completely different mood. What started out as annoyance towards Diane ended with me being in a very good mood because I had made a new friend. Life is funny how things work out. Everything happens for  a reason and now I'm grateful that my "schedule" was changed slightly. I doubt ill ever forget this experience, and will always be able to use it as an example of service charity, and missionary work. Every day is a new adventure in the game of life and i forgot that this morning. Its going to be cool what happens next. :)

Punched by a Robot

When your at the dentist getting work done, and they say let your jaw rest for a few does not mean you get to close your mouth. It actually is code for, "I'm pulling my hands out so my dental assistant can shove hers in your mouth." I just thought you all would like to know that. If you haven't guessed already I went to the dentist today. As always, it was such a treat. I had 4 cavities filled and a crown on my top center left tooth. That was a crazy experience lemme tell you! The start with the drill and shave your tooth down to a little nub and then pop a fake tooth on that they made out of resin and other composites thats shaped just like the tooth they destroyed. It was pretty neat watching them do the inevitable. You see when I was a little kid my 6 siblings and I got scooters for Christmas when they were a big deal. Anyways one day we were riding around outside and having fun I hit the little lip of concrete on the incline of our drive way. I flipped over the handle bars and chipped that same tooth in half that was replaced today. I was told years ago that there will come a day when it will need a crown, and that beautiful day was today! I'll get to go back in 2 weeks to put the permanent crown on and then I can finally turn my papers in for my mission. It seems like every time I get super close to turning them in something comes up haha. Would anyone like to guess what the next disaster would be? We can bet on it! In all seriousness though I am super excited to turn them in. It will just be the greatest thing to happen in my life so far. It was great being able to go home for this appointment I was able to  show Tooele to who I consider one of the greatest friends I will ever meet Dane Bjork. Im pretty sure he loves Tooele now. The funny thing is, now that I go back Im more in love with it than I think i'll ever be. Its just that feeling of being home. Its great. For those of you that hate your hometown dont take it for granted  its the greatest place you'll ever live in this lifetime and if you have the chance to go back and raise a family. I would jump on that faster than fat on cake!

I'm on my way

I was watching the other side of heaven at work (tough job right?)  I have never seen this movie all the way through before. For those of you who don't know what the movie is about, it's about Elder John H. Groberg of the presidency of the seventy, but back then he was just a kid from Idaho Falls who in 1953 goes on his mission to Tonga. the movie goes through the 2 years he spent there with the Tongan people. It shows the trials of learning the language, being immersed in a completely different culture. It show those who don't accept him because he is different. It also shows him overcoming every single one of those trials. There is one scene in particular that touched my heart. (I couldn't find a clip of it so bear with me) John is trying to learn the language he does so by kneeling on a small sand bar in the water with 2 bibles one in English the other in Tongan, he reads aloud a verse from the English then the same verse from the Tongan version. He does this until he finishes the books. In the movie it shows that it went through a space of I think 4 days. He didn't eat and he didn't leave until he was finished. What made this scene so special to me is that it shows that faith he had in the lord that he could learn a language that no one other than those who spoke knew existed back then. I'm so excited that in a little less than 2 days I'll be sitting in front of my Bishop to start the process of turning my papers in so I too can be thrown into a culture shock.

I've added a video that to me encompasses what Missionary work really is from the eyes of the Missionary. It makes me excited :)

Something to think about

I work in a call center so I talk to all sorts of different people from all over the country some who immigrated to the U.S. to live the american dream of public schools, healthcare, NASCAR, and obesity. That being said I talk to a lot of people who sound like they just hate life, and aren't happy. That makes me really sad. I think people have forgotten their true potential, and just how amazing they are! I was talking to my mom last night and during our conversation about a lesson we had on the Law of Chasity I literally laughed out loud and when she asked why I was laughing I told her, "Mom I'm amazing!" "Do you realize that I was the strongest sperm cell? I was like the Michael Phelps of the bunch!" (Once again my mind wanders away from the topic a lot). I think people who feel like they have no reason in this world should look at that and say hmmm . . If I was able to break through and egg and go through all stages of Mitosis or Meiosis I could get through anything. I think this world would be a happier place. There is so much to live for just look around! Listen to some music and for goodness sake find something to be happy about in this world. Its hard enough as it is when you turn on the news and in a matter 15 minutes could send anyone into a spiraling depression. Why doesn't the news report on happy stuff, or take a news story and spin it to something happy. I think every newscast should end with something like on Anchorman. Well until something else random pops in my head stay classy bloggers. .