Best teens ever

Just imagine the title of this post said by the comic book guy on the Simpsons, "best teens ever." I'm lucky enough to be President of the Young Men's group at my Church, working with the absolute best young men in Montreal. I hope you enjoy the following pictures of some of our recent events.
Service at the Jensen's: you can see Jonathan, Jason, Zachary and Andrew behind me, helping Kris Jensen fix his collapsed retaining wall.

Me with the Morales brothers (Alex, Jordan and Chris) at the Montreal temple.

Jason, Jonathan and I bought videos at a yard sale while visiting people in my neighborhood of Verdun. They'd be happy to tell you some pretty funny experiences we had that afternoon.


On Saturday, the young men challenged the missionaries and the older guys in our congregation to a game of football (we did mix teams up a little, since me and Bill Kaufman counted as young men) Do I need to even spell out who won?

Oh, Rita

As Hurricane Rita was heading for Texas, so were my Mom, Step-Dad and step-sister Tiffany. Fortunately they're in Austin, which apparently is a 4 hour drive from Galveston on the coast, where another Step-Sister (Lauren) and her husband Chris live. Lauren said that this 4 hour drive took them 14 hours, and that by now it's at least a 24 hour trip. The hurricane hasn't even hit yet, and at least 20 people have died, due to the explosion of an evacuation bus. I'm glad my family is safe, though I'm sad that Lauren and Chris have to face the prospect that their house and possessions in Galveston are in serious danger.

Dr. Jones (soon enough)

Happy Birthday Dad.

6 Straight

The Yanks beat that Canadian team again this afternoon to win their 6th straight game. They're so close to the Sox and Indians in the pennant race with 2 weeks left in the season that there's great reason to hope. This picture is from 7 years ago, from the most exciting game I've ever seen. My Dad and I were sitting in the upper deck as Cone through only the third perfect game in Yankees history. The memory of that accomplishment still inspires us, as evidenced by the fact that we still have the cups we bought at the game that day in July 1999! Besides being able to share that moment with my Dad, one of the best parts was that my buddy Ithy and I got to meet Cone 2 weeks later in Boston. Below Cone's picture is the ticket stub that Cone signed for me. Go Yanks!

Sept 11, 2001 in Rigby, Idaho

The nice thing about having a blog is being able to express my thoughts and emotions as they arise. Today has been an emotional day for me, as I revisit the tragedy that occured in my home town 4 years ago. I hope you don't mind my self-indulgent effort to understand my personal experience that day.

Here's how I remember the Towers. The first thing I would do when walking out of the subway in lower Manhattan was look up to see which direction is south.

May 2001 - With only a couple weeks before I left to go to Idaho for 2 years, my girlfriend at the time came to NYC with some friends to say good bye. Here's a picture of Celeste (on the left) dancing in the fountain between the two towers.
Below is what the globe looked like by the time it was moved to nearby Battery Park as a memorialThis is the trailer I lived in with my two my missionary companions during Sept 2001. Things were so confusing and chaotic, especially without a TV, that throughout the week I learned that I was being sent home to be drafted for WW3, and that there was a bomb threat on the bridge outside my NYC bedroom window.
Sept 16, 2001 - Roxanne's baptism. For two years, I was in Idaho going door to door bringing a message of peace and hope to all those who listened. I think the only way I coped with the experience of 9/11 was the knowledge that I was working my butt off, 10 hours a day for 729 days, without a single day off, bringing peace to the lonely, worried and sad. I still believe that no force of evil could match the force for good I brought to Rigby, Idaho, my little corner of the world at that time. Baptism is a symbolic reminder of this fact, serving as a chance to celebrate re-birth, bringing hope to those who need it. Perhaps I needed to help Roxanne be baptized as much as she needed to be baptized.

Vote for Fields!

Vote for C. Virginia Fields in the primaries on Tue Sept 13th! Here's a fantastic picture of her protesting with Dr. Martin Luther King. Do you see Dr. King? She's in the row behind him, 4 people to your right.