Showing posts with label missionaries. Show all posts
Showing posts with label missionaries. Show all posts

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Love Basketball

I love BYU basketball. If you don't know this by now you should probably stop reading this blog. My friend Caroline is in the MTC right now and will leave on a mission soon so she didn't get to see the game against SDSU the other day. Her brother wrote this and I thought it was great so I'm reposting it.

Caroline requested that Robbie send her a Dear Elder letter today to let her know how last night's game turned out. He decided to maintain the spirit of missionary service as he provided her a recap...


1 Behold, I, Robbie, who am thy older brother, and do speak all manner of things pertaining to righteousness, or in other words, of things pertaining to the BYU Cougars


2 Do address this epistle to you, Sister Bullough, who art in the service of our God, which service causes me great joy


3 For thou art doing that which is great in the eyes of God. Thou art performing a labor that will bring souls unto Christ, yea, many souls, insomuch that no greater service can be performed than that which ye are performing at this time.


4 And I do write unto you this epistle to tell you of the great and marvelous battle which did take place in the land of the Cougars last night.


5 And it came to pass in the twelfth year of the oppressive reign of the Mountain West Conference – BYU having declared its freedom from those wicked judges


6 Which freedom was to commence on the first day of the seventh month –


7 And it came to pass on the twenty-sixth day of the first month, the Aztecs of San Diego State invaded the land of Provo.


8 And the Aztecs were mighty and strong, for they had yet to fall by the sword to anyone, being perfect in their record, and ranked fourth throughout the land.


9 But behold, the Cougars of BYU were also mighty and strong in their own right, yea, they were ranked ninth in the land.


10 And it came to pass that the Aztecs invaded the Cougars at the heart of the land of their possessions, yea, in the Marriott Center.


11 But behold, the Marriott Center was among the most fortified of all the strongholds in all the land. Yea, in 31 attempts to invade the land, the Aztecs had only been successful thrice.


12 And behold, the leader of the army of the Cougars was a man by the name of Dave Rose, he leading the Cougars to battle in the Marriott Center 88 times and defeating his enemies 84 times.


13 And it came to pass that this particular invasion marked the first time that two top ten teams did battle in the Marriott Center since Lehi left Jerusalem, yea, and probably even before that.


14 And the people of Provo did gather themselves together in the Marriott Center, yea, 22,700, many of whom arrived many hours before the battle was to commence.


15 And never before had there been a louder gathering in the Marriott Center. Yea, it was deafening to the ears and sent chills down the spines of all who had come to witness the battle.


16 And in the strength of their wives and their children and their bretheren did the Cougars go to battle with the Aztecs.


17 And it came to pass that there was one mighty and strong among the Aztecs, yea, and his might and his strength was known throughout the land.


18 And his name was Kawhi Leonard.


19 And it came to pass that Kawhi Leonard fell ill and did thrust up the contents of his stomach many times throughout the day and did receive IVs before the battle.


20 Nevertheless, he did fight diligently, insomuch that he did score 22 points and grabbed 15 rebounds for a double-double.


21 And he did hit a three-point basket in the final seconds of the first half.


22 Which first half was a truly great battle, for both sides did fight mightily for their cause, and neither team gained great advantage over the other, for it was a close and intense battle.


23 And it came to pass that the Aztecs had a 31-30 lead as the two sides pitched their tents for halftime.


24 And now, behold, the Cougars also had one mighty and strong, whose might and strength was also known throughout the land, yea, he was feared by many, and when others saw him tarrying in other parts of the land, his presence did cause them to quake, yea, quake even to the depths of their souls because of the great fear which he did cause to come upon them.


25 And his name was Jimmer Fredette.


26 And it came to pass that even Lord Voldemort did refuse to utter his name, and did call him he who must not be named.


27 And moreover, Chuck Norris did enter into a covenant with the Jimmer, whereupon the loser must grow a beard.


28 And it came to pass that Chuck Norris grew a beard.


29 And this Jimmer Fredette did have much weighing on his mind, for his brother TJ did perform for the students before the battle, yea, and twenty and four NBA scouts were there to observe the battle.


30 And it came to pass that the Jimmer did score from anywhere and everywhere on the battlefield.


31 Yea, the Aztecs did defend him mightily, yea, sometimes two or three Aztecs attempted to guard the Jimmer.


32 Nevertheless, the Jimmer did score 20 points in the first half, including the last 15 points for the Cougars.


33 And it came to pass in the second half that the Jimmer did dominate the battle.Yea, he did make a crossover three that exposed the foolishness of the ankles of D.J. Gay who tried to guard him.


34 And he did come off ball screens and hit fade away threes, yea, insomuch that he made shots that looked as if he were falling from off the face of the earth.


35 And he did drive to the basket and score, yea, and the number of his points was exceedingly great.


36 So great that never before had anyone scored so great a number of points in the Marriott Center among all the people of BYU.


37 Yea, the Jimmer did score forty and two points.


38 And it came to pass that the Aztecs of San Diego State were astonished, yea, exceedingly astonished.


39 And it came to pass that the Cougars won the battle convincingly by a score of 71-58, and the rumor spread throughout all the land that the unbeaten Aztecs had fallen and that the Jimmer had scored forty and two points.


40 Yea, even Kevin Durrant of the Oklahoma City Thunder – who himself scored forty and seven points in the NBA on this night – did tweet that “Jimmer Fredette is the best scorer in the world.”


41 And at the conclusion of the battle, the students, yea 5,000 strong, did rush the floor to congratulate the Jimmer.


42 And behold I tell you these things that you might know that the Cougars of BYU are perhaps the greatest team in the land.


43 Yea, they did fight mightily for their cause, insomuch that they were victorious.


44 And again, verily I say unto you, that never before had such a gathering of Cougars been so loud.


45 For those who came were filled with passion, insomuch that they shouted exceedingly loud.


46 And the people of BYU did celebrate exceedingly because of the greatness of their victory.


47 But behold, Dave Rose and his army did not celebrate exceedingly, for another battle did await them. Yea, in two days’ time, on the sixth day of the week, they will go to Albuquerque to do battle with the Lobos in the place that is called the Pit.


48 Yea, the Pit is not the Marriott Center, but is like unto it.


49 And Dave Rose and his army must be strong in mind and spirit so as to win that battle as well.


50 And behold, I, Robbie, do end my epistle.

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Confession Time

I'm feeling a bit dramatic, so I'd like to make a few confessions.

1) I've realized in the last few months that when I spend the night anywhere that's not my apartment (besides home) I still get homesick for home and my momma.  This is me and my momma during Christmas break 2007.  Neither of us look particularly good in this picture, but I love our matching pajamas.


2) I've now been to Arizona.  I still don't really like it.

3) When my friends make racist remarks, it makes me sick to my stomach and wonder if I really want to be friends with a person like that, even my friends who I love the most.  And then when I think that maybe I wouldn't want to be their friend, I feel like a bad person.  Racist remarks just make me so frustrated.

4) I missed Sarah this summer, a lot.  But, I think I was forced into finding and making other friends which was good for me.

5) I'm so ready for the "boys" to get back from their missions.  At the same time, it freaks me out because I know that it isn't very likely that things will be the same between us.  However, they'll be grown up men so hopefully we can be a new kind of friends.  

I feel like five is probably plenty of confessions and a little too much drama for one night, don't you think?  I know that I thought of a six, but I can't remember it for the life of me.  Enjoy.

Monday, March 30, 2009

Waiting: What Does That Say About Our Men?

The MGs. Missionary Girls. The ones who are waiting for two years until the man they fell in love with does his full time service to the Lord. Yeah, those girls. You know the ones I mean. Most of them don't make it. Those are just the facts. Like them, hate them, whatever, everyone (including me) has an an opinion about the whole waiting situation. That is not the point of this post, I'm just introducing the topic here.

Now, on to the main point. These girls do exist. These MGs we'll say for the sake of saving space and because I want to and this is my blog. There are girls waiting for missionaries. What does this say about our men? In most cases I'll assume that the guy knows that he has a girl at home (if not, then there's a whole other situation and problem going on). So, whether she makes it or not, how positive is this about our men? I'm serious. I was considering this and these people have to meet and fall in love. They decide that they at least think they want to spend their lives together and get married. And then...he still leaves! For two years! To serve the Lord! That's amazing to me. Really. I know in some cases it's societal, cultural, or familial pressure that leads these guys to serve, but I'd like to think that most of the time it's because they are righteous men and are willing to do whatever is necessary and make the painful sacrifices in order to do what is required. That's amazing.

Two disclaimers: I know that there are other situations and that these opinions don't always apply to every situation and that not everyone is righteous or whatever. Also, I have no idea who this guy is. I'm notorious for just google searching to find a fun picture for my blog.

Friday, March 27, 2009

Righteous Missionaries

I know a lot of people on missions. I love them. Espeicially Brady and Cody. I know a lot of RMs too. I love them as well. I think it's an awesome and righteous thing to do, the thing to do (if you're a guy of course, and an excellent idea for some girls). Anyway, that's not the point of this post. I know a lot of people who have been called, are in, or have been to places all over the world, and you know what? None of them are better than any other one because of where they went. I was talking to a friend today who said he wouldn't have been as happy had he been called to, say, North Dakota (that was his specific example). Really?! Are you serious? Is wherever the Lord calls you not good enough? This complex (that a lot of people seem to have) is extremely frustrating. A guy in my ward served a faithful mission to Salt Lake City. Seriously. There are both elder and sister missionaries on BYU campus. I have a friend in California and one in Arizona. A kid from my ward last year went to Wyoming and another of my friends happened to serve in DC South (the mission with my home ward in it). All these guys are righteousi -- just as righteous as the friend I have who went to Thailand, the one who went to Japan, and the ones who got their mission calls to Taiwan and the Phillipines. Let the complex drop. They're all good guys (and girls). The important thing isn't where they serve[d] their missions, it's how diligent and humble they are.

And a special shoutout to my roommate who served an ASL mission in New York City.

On a sidenote, I like to have pictures on my blog so I did a google image search. Do you know what you get when you search 'Mormon Missionaries'? Pictures from that Mormon Exposed: Men on a Mission calendar....Not sure how I feel about that.
Also, where is this guy's companion?