As I mentioned earlier today, I interviewed for the JET Program yesterday. One of the questions, as I said, was about how I, as a Christian, would cope with living in a Buddhist country. I gave some answer about how I get along just fine with people of every religion, and that I would be fine worshiping, if I had to, on my own.

Today in Institute class, we were reading in Moses 6, which says, in verse 17: "And Enos and the residue of the people of God came out from the land, which was called Shulon, and dwelt in a land of promise." We talked for a bit about "lands of promise." We discussed the various times in history when the children of God have been asked to leave a place, and go to a land of promise, a place of safety and refuge where they would be protected from the world: Enos and his children going to Cainan, Moses and the children of Israel venturing into Canaan, Brigham Young and the early Mormons crossing the frontier to Utah. We then talked about how today, we build our own lands of promise wherever we live. A thought came to me. In certain times of history, the Lord has required the children of God to leave a part of the world physically, and separate themselves so that, as a people, they can grow, and progress spiritually. We aren’t asked to do that in our time. We are asked to do something much harder. We’re required of the Lord to remain in the world physically, and separate ourselves spiritually so that we can grow and progress as individuals and families.

As I thought about this, my thoughts went back to my interview the day before when I was asked how I would deal with living in a Buddhist nation. I realized then that if I go to Japan, I will be physically separated more from the "lands of promise" which I have developed more than I ever have been in my life. Right now, I have my family a few hours away, and countless friends in the Church to support me when I need it. When I was in Scotland, I was in a land where there weren’t many members of the church, but I was constantly surrounded by other missionaries, and my mission president. I was in Germany for some time, away from my spiritual support, but it was only for a short time, and the ward in that town was still fairly large.

I may end up in a small village where I’m the only member of the Church, and I may be in a branch that meets several few hours away, and only has twenty members. I may not have the support structure that I have here. I may be venturing into Babylon, and if I, like one whose name I share, get thrown into the lion’s den, I need to be ready to close their mouths. I was looking at this as an opportunity to learn more about another culture and language, and to expand my skills, but this could, likely be a challenging spiritual journey for me as well. I’m going to need to shore up my spiritual reserves.

So, a couple of weeks ago, in an Institute class, my teacher challenged our class to come up with 100 life goals. I decided this was a great idea, and have started on my list. I want to share with you the ones that aren’t too personal. I haven’t come up with 100 yet, but I’m still working on it, and will post again when I have more.

If you notice missing numbers, it’s because that one was too personal to publicly share.

So, here’s my list so far.

Yesterday was my birthday, and boy, was it a great one. Around 6am, there was some noise right outside my room. It was just enough to not actually wake me up, but enough that I was able to hear what’s happening, and the sounds in the real world would meld with the sounds in my dream. So, as I’m on a boat floating down the Danube, I hear a whispering, disembodied voice say, “Alright, you ready? Now!” Then my door crashed open loudly enough to actually wake me up, as four or five of my friends start singing “Happy Birthday” to me. As my eyes flutter open, I see my good friends standing there, and as the song concludes, one of them says, “We’re here to take you to IHOP for breakfast.” I slowly roll out of the hammock in which I sleep as the words, “Ohhhhh, Mannnn” escape from my mouth. I walk over towards them, and in retrospect, I wonder if they were wondering if I was about to deck them. I didn’t, of course, because I love them, but instead put on my sandals, looked up and gave a groggy, affirmative nod. “Alright, let’s go” came from one of the crowd. And so, in my pajamas, we headed off to IHOP.

We went to IHOP where more friends were waiting. I was amazed at how many people came out at 6 in the morning to wish me a happy birthday. It was a great time, aside from our very grumpy waitress. Now to be fair, it looked as if she was one of only two waiters working at the time, and it seemed pretty busy. It may have been the end of the nightshift and she was tired. Nevertheless, a waiter should be able to put that aside. When she (finally) took our orders, one of my friends patted me on the shoulder and said, “it’s his birthday.” To that, she answered, with disdain dripping from every word, “I am not singing Happy Birthday.” A little later, when another friend said we’d like to pay with separate checks (which really is not that much of a hassle; I know) she said, with as much incredulity as she could muster, “Are you serious?” You’d think a waitress at IHOP in a college town would be used to large parties paying separately. Anyway, her disposition later improved, but I expect she overheard us complaining about her, and didn’t want to get a 2¢ tip.

Despite the poor service, we had a great time. After we got back, one roommate discovered that we hadn’t gotten the mail in yesterday, and a card for me was waiting there. It was from my little sister, was very funny, and included a very nice gift certificate. When I got on my computer, I discovered more gift certificates in my email inbox from other family members. I decided to spend the one from my parents for Amazon.com at once, and buy a couple video games and a few DVDs.

The day progressed as usual. Friday Forum at the Institute was great. Another friend reminded of a plan we had discussed to have a birthday video game party for me playing Super Smash Bros: Brawl. We arranged to do it at my house, since my roommate has a 64-in TV. So, after I got back from class, I sent out invitations to the party. We also decided to watch the first Batman movie, starring Adam West, since one friend had just gotten it on DVD. Because I sent out invites only a few hours before the party was to start, I didn’t expect to great a turnout, but probably over a dozen people showed up. Some of them came because it had been previously arranged to watch UT’s basketball game against Stanford at our house just prior to the party, and getting to play video games after was just icing on the cake (figuratively speaking, of course; we didn’t actually have a cake). I got one great present from Miss Stephanie Hall, and a couple others from other people, one of which I’m now eating.

All in all, it was a really great day. I didn’t even really announce my birthday beforehand, but my friends still made sure I had a great one. And I’m sure lucky to have such great friends and family.

Thursday afternoon, I was in a class at the Institute. The class was “The Gospel and the Productive Life,” taught by Bishop Simmons. The lesson was mainly about The Word of Wisdom, but one of the quotes that was read mentioned the benefits of wholeseome recreation as well. Bishop Simmons told us that the root of the word recreation is re-create, and that if recreation doesn’t help us re-create ourself, it’s not really recreation. I liked that a lot. Generally when someone explains something to me using etymology, it helps me understand a lot better. This was a concept that had never really occurred to me.

Fast forward to last night. The Institute hosted a “formal” dance: sort of like a mini-prom. I don’t really like dressing up, but I wanted to go to the dance. They were also providing dinner, and who’s gonna pass up free food? Not me, that’s for sure.

So, I went to the dance. I had a beautiful date, who’s also great company. The food was pretty good. The music was mostly good. And I danced up a storm. At one point, some fast dance song (maybe it was techno) started playing, and I was dancing pretty fast, and couldn’t really tell much of what was going on around me because I was moving too fast. I heard something like, “Go, Dan, go,” and I became aware that a circle was forming around me. So I kicked it up a notch, and when I slowed down to move to the edge of the circle to let someone else have a chance, I realized the circle was WAY bigger than I thought.

By the time I got home, I was sore from my hips down to my toes. I was also tired. I also felt really good. Throughout most of this semester, I’ve been a bit depressed for various reasons, but after that dance, I felt really good. Not just that I had had a good time, but my outlook seemed a little clearer, and some of my problems not so serious. I thought maybe it was just endorphins. I had expended a lot of energy, and I’m sure I was producing a lot of endorphins, which make you feel good. It was probably just a chemical thing.

This morning, however, I still feel really good. Somehow, going out and partying with good friends just changed my perspective. Which brings me back to the Institute class. This is what Bishop Simmons was teaching us. Thursday afternoon I understood the principle, but Friday night, I truly learned it. We all need some time from the daily grind to re-create ourselves. I guess I hadn’t really had that in a while, but last night I got it in a big way. I’m so glad I went to that dance, and so glad I learned that principle.