Our new apartment buildings are pretty nice, the are called the 'Lakes of Carmel.' Carmel is the suburb just north of Indy (no one calls it Indianapolis) that we live in. Our apt is the on the building you can see just on the right. You look out the back door and see the fountain going up in the middle of the lake. It's a really nice area. It does rain a lot more out here...showers on and off, but people say that is just during the spring time. It makes everything green. Our complex has a swimming pool and a small weight room. My roommates are Caz who I knew from Foxwood, a biker buddy named Whit, a humble kid from guatamala named Carlos, and Jeff Lee who took Dad's Econ class. We have the funnest apt out of everyone out here by far. My new address is 275 Arbor Drive, Carmel IN 46032
A smell of burning was in the air and a very shadow of death. But the king sat upon Snowmane, motionless, gazing upon the agony of Minas Tirith, as if stricken suddenly by anguish or by dread. He seemed to shrink down, cowed by age. Merry himself felt as if a great weight of horror and doubt had settled on him. Time seemed poised in uncertainty. They were too late! Too late was worse than never! Perhaps Theoden would quail, bow his old head, turn, and slink away to hide in the hills. Then suddenly Merry felt it at last, beyond doubt: a change. The bent shape of the king sprang suddenly erect. Tall and proud he seemed again; and rising in his stirrups he cried in a loud voice, more clear than any there had ever heard a mortal man achieve before:
Arise, Arise, Riders of Theoden! Fell deeds awake: fire and slaughter! Spear shall be shaken, shield shall be splintered, A sword-day, a red day, ere the sun rises! Ride now, ride now! Ride to Gondor!
Suddenly the king cried to Snowmane and the horse sprang away. Behind him his banner blew in the wind, white horse upon a field of green, but he outpaced it. After him thundered the knights of his horse, but he was ever before them. Eomer rode there, the white horsetail on his helm floating in his speed, and the front of the first roared like a breaker foaming to the shore, but Theoden could not be overtaken.” (excerpts from LOTR p 818)
Lord of the Rings has always been a family favorite. Apart from all of us reading the books and having the movies memorized, it’s the only movie we ever got mom and dad to go to a midnight showing of. Everyone has their favorite part, Elizabeth always cries when Sam carries Frodo up the slopes of doom, Dave at the end when Gandalf leaves, Dad loves Aragorn’s last speech, but this is the part that always gets me.
Earlier in the story Theoden and Aragorn are talking and they see that only half as many horsemen came as they had hoped, and they know that only six thousand spears won’t be enough to break the lines of Mordor. So, when Theoden rides up and sees Minas Tirith, he knows he doesn’t have enough men to make the difference, or to change the war. He also knew that he would most likely die, leading the charge of his riders. Being the first one into a battle that you’re not going to win doesn’t give you very good odds of survival. But, he went anyway. Even though no help came from Gondor at Helm’s Deep, he would give his life for Gondor when they needed aid. Sometimes you have situations that look hopeless and it feels like you won't even make a difference, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't try. At the end you'll find that you did more than you thought possible.
But, perhaps the most important difference of all is what Theoden said as he was dying, "I go now to my fathers in whose mighty company I shall not now feel ashamed." The biggest difference of all was in the king himself.
We watched this ad in the very last day of marketing class.We talked a little about why people liked this ad as compared to other ones.But, when I watch it, it just makes me think.
The most influential people that really do incredible things in life are the ones that are able to see potential.Instead of looking at something and thinking that it’s mundane or mediocre, they are able to see what it could become.
Gandhi saw that his impoverished people were more powerful than the British empire. The Spartan king Leonidas saw that his 300 could stand against the Persion army.Gandalf saw that a hobbit could save middle earth, (yes, I am a nerd) and George Washington saw that farmers could stand up to the English military.
Ha! I laugh everytime I see this. You have to be careful when you drive big stuff around or else you make big mistakes! ...one time I ran into a barn with a huge tractor :(
This turned out longer than I wanted it to be, but I couldn't take anything out once I wrote it. This is about one of my personal heroes. Sorry if it bores.
William Wilberforce was born in England in 1759. As a child, he was sickly and delicate, with poor eyesight. His father died when he was nine years old, and he was sent to live with his aunt and uncle in Wimbledon. At the age of 17 he went to Cambridge and met William Pitt, who would be his lifelong friend. As students, Pitt and Wilberforce would go watch the House of Commons debates from the gallery. After a couple of years, Pitt finally convinced Wilberforce to follow him in a political career and by the age of just 21, while he was still a student, Wilberforce was elected as an MP (Member of Parliament).
Wilberforce was criticized for inconsistency, but he remained an independent MP and supported both the Whig and the Tory governments according to his conscience, voting on specific measures according to their merits. He became a great orator, and when he stood up, he would speak with an absolute conviction. The diarist and author, James Boswell, witnessed Wilberforce's eloquence in the House of Commons and noted: "I saw what seemed a mere shrimp mount upon the table; but as I listened, he grew, and grew, until the shrimp became a whale." In 1783, William Pitt became Prime Minister at age 24, the youngest person ever to assume the office. Pitt most likely offered Wilberforce a ministerial position, but Wilberforce opted to remain an independent MP. In 1784, Wilberforce was converted to Christianity, a decision which would change his life and ultimately his career. He made a habit of getting up early in the morning and reading the bible, resolving to commit his future life and work to the service of God. In 1787, after learning about the horrors of the slave trade, William sensed that he had a call from God, and wrote in his journal, “God Almighty has set before me two great objects, the suppression of the Slave Trade and the Reformation of [Moral Values].”
Wilberforce, however, had to fight through a lot. In 1788 he became deathly sick and couldn’t resume his work. Finally in 1789 he was able to get up and make his first speech on abolition in the House of Commons. He declared slavery morally reprehensible and an issue of natural justice. It was two years before Wilberforce was finally able to introduce a bill to abolish the slave trade. He gave a fiery four hour long speech before the vote was taken, but the bill was easily defeated.
The next year in 1792 he brought another bill calling for abolition. The memorable debate that followed drew contributions from all of the greatest orators in the house: William Pitt, Charles Fox, and Wilberforce himself. In the end this bill was defeated by a ‘compromise’ of gradual abolition that would be delayed indefinitely. In 1793, another vote to abolish the slave trade was defeated by only eight votes, and in 1794 Wilberforce brought another unsuccessful bill before Parliament. Even though abolitionists began to lose popularity and were fewer in number, Wilberforce continued to introduce abolition bills all through the 1790’s, and each time he failed.
During this time, he met Barbara Spooner and within eight days knew that she was the one he should marry and proposed to her. They were married a couple months later and would have six kids. Wilberforce suffered a bitter defeat to his bill in 1805 and even the usually sympathetic Pitt failed to support it. The next year brought a lot of change; William Pitt died, and Wilberforce decided to give support to the Grenville/Fox administration (Whigs). After adopting tactics proposed by a shrewd maritime lawyer James Stephen, Grenville took Wilberforce’s bill and got it passed through the house of Lords by a large margin. Then with tears streaming down Wilberforce’s face, he watched as the bill passed in the House of Commons by a vote of 283 to 16! He succeeded after over 15 years.
Finally Wilberforce decided to push for total emancipation, or freedom of slaves. The next years of his life were characterized by bad health, failing eyesight, and defeated bills. In April 1833 he gave his final abolition speech, and then got a severe case of influenza from which he never recovered. He heard while bed ridden with sickness that in July 1833 the Bill for the Abolition of Slavery passed, formally saluting him in the process. Three days later he passed away and was buried next to his friend William Pitt in Westminster Abbey.
Because of the work of one man, William Wilberforce, over 800,000 people were freed from slavery ranging from the West Indies and South Africa to the Caribbean. You wonder how one man with failing health could have such a profound effect on almost 1 million people, and you might say it was his persistence, or that God helped him, which are probably both true; but I like the line from the preview above that says “You have passion, and that matters more.” Often times the people that do great things are the ones that care the most about their work, and perhaps that gives you the power you need.
Passion - (from the Latin patior, meaning to suffer or to endure) is an intense emotion compelling feeling, enthusiasm, or desire for anything...
Escape the circus. Live beyond the limits of the imaginary lid. What heroes do you have that were able to break free from the limits others thought were put on them? Here’s just a couple of mine:
• Isaac Newton –developed laws of motion and gravity, created calculus • Albert Einstein – Redefined physics with the theory of relativity • Ghandi – Led the revolution of India without violence • I could go on and on here…
Everyone has their own invisible lids that hold them down. For me? Well…sometimes I think I’m spiritual enough just because I have a temple recommend, I think I’m smart enough just because I go to BYU, I think I’m rich enough because I can pay my rent each month, I think I know enough because I aced a test, or I think I’m charitable enough because I paid my fast offering.
Don’t let good things stop you reaching your potential.
People have a way of offering you advice on stuff, especially after you’ve made up your mind to do something.I guess that isn’t necessarily bad.It’s always interesting to hear what people say.Most of the time, however, when it comes to selling security (my job this summer) it’s a little negative and pessimistic.I just wanted to tell everyone that it’s possible to succeed, and if others have done it, then what makes them better than me?
So, I’m starting this blog to keep friends/family updated on how I’m doing out there, but also I am going to write down motivational stories and thoughts here that will hopefully keep me going throughout the summer and to help me keep them organized and to share them with you.I’ll throw in a joke here and there, don’t worry.
If all the people that have done great things in the world had listened to the pessimism around them, then there would be no upsets in sports, no United States of America, and no LDS church.Sometimes you have to live beyond the limits of what others think is possible and go for what you know you can do.
Our new apartment buildings are pretty nice, the are called the 'Lakes of Carmel.' Carmel is the suburb just north of Indy (no one calls it Indianapolis) that we live in. Our apt is the on the building you can see just on the right. You look out the back door and see the fountain going up in the middle of the lake. 
. My roommates are Caz who I knew from Foxwood, a biker buddy named Whit, a humble kid from guatamala named Carlos, and Jeff Lee who took Dad's Econ class. We have the funnest apt out of everyone out here by far. My new address is
