Once Again Planning My Future

Preparing With Honor

An assignment was given to me for school to write an essay about becoming self-sufficient. I took this as an excellent opportunity to finish schoolwork and at the same time accomplish something I've been meaning to do for quite a while now: plan my future. My most immediate goal is to finish high school, but I've often wondered what exactly I will do after the fact. Throughout this lesson I have learned the importance of planning before making any kind of big change—be it a permenant or temporary change, I must be ready. The big changes that I see in my immediate future involve taking upon myself more responsibility than ever before; I must learn to be completely self-sufficient in under a year's time because that is when I will go off on my own. Where am I going? I'm going on a mission, and, save for God, I must be completely self-sufficient if I am to succeed then.

I'm male and I'm eighteen, and for a young Latter-day Saint—or Mormon—the eighteenth year is a natural year of preparation because at age nineteen, we go on missions. A mission is a period of two years spent in a place far away from home—often it is in another part of the world—where a missionary devotes his or her entire day, everyday—for up to two years—teaching the people there about God. A mission is not forced upon us, but still I very much desire to serve an honorable full-time mission. There is a Latter-day Saint saying that goes something like this: "Honor; prepare with it, serve with it, and return with it woven forever into the fabric of your being." Serving a mission is not for everyone; it takes financial planning and strict observance of the Lord's moral code in order to be worthy of the honor.

This honor doesn't come for free. The going rate per month as a missionary is $400; now strech that out for two years and you have $9,600 to pay, but that's only if you already have a suit and other proper missionary clothes and supplies. The amount I'm really going to save up will be $12,000 so that I can purchase clothing, supplies, and whatever other costs that might come up. Missionary work is a completely selfless work, and it doesn't come without significant sacrifice. I am not yet prepared to make that sacrifice, but when the time comes I will know I have covered all of my financial need for the next two years of my life. How many other people can say that about their finances I wonder. This financial sacrifice won't be a light one for me, nor will it be the only one I make before my preparation for a mission is complete.

I also have to prepare myself emotionally and spiritually for this. If I am to be God's willing servant in this task, then I need to be willing to obey him in all other callings as well. I believe that God has given his children certain rules that he expects us to obey—this is one of the things I will be teaching people as a missionary—and if I do not obey those rules myself, then I would be a hypocrite and anything I said would be completely worthless. I expect I will err and often make mistakes—I do quite frequently, actually—but each week I try harder to be better and each week I repent and get a little closer to where I want to be. Some things you can read about and study in preparation for a mission, but nothing is worth more to a missionary than experience.

To me, serving with honor means doing the best I can possibly do and even if somebody else could do better, I will know that I have done my very best and tried my hardest. I believe that I must prepare diligently if am to be able to serve my mission with honor. Semper fi means always faithful, and that will be my motto as I prepare for a mission right now. I will always be faithful to my God.

Pride Can Choke a Friendship

There was this time in the 2nd grade where my best friend, Tom, kept telling me lies, or at least I thought they were lies. He was telling me all these things that would be really cool, but for some reason I thought that it was impossible and so I thought he was making it all up. He insisted that he was telling the truth, but I stubbornly resfused to believe him and I let him know that if he couldn't tell the truth, then I wanted nothing more to do with him.

The next day at recess, I couldn't find my friend anywhere so I walked around until another boy came looking for me. He said that Tom was up at the top of the playground crying and that I should go talk to him. I was taken aback that my friend who had seemed so cool and tough would cry, especially at school. I just nodded at the other boy and started climbing the hill to the top of the playground.

I found Tom sitting on a low cement wall looking down at the ground, eyes still red from crying. Cooly, I walked over to my friend and sat next to him, sayingnothing. After a bit, Tom looked up at me and said, "I'm sorry that I made you mad Erik." It sounded so sincere that I was again taken aback. Why was he apologizing? Maybe he hadn't lied to me at all and I was just being a jerk. I said, "Tom, I was a jerk, I'm sorry for not believing you. That was a dumb reason for me to get mad at you for. Let's be friends again, k?" And that was it; best buds were reunited and I was careful never to let my pride ruin another friendship.

True Love Begats Miracles

Before I begin, here's a bit more about myself, I'm seventeen, male, and have moved around nearly as much as a military brat, even though I'm not one. I've been to many, many different schools, and I've met all kinds of people; some amazing people, some famous people, and quite a few foreign people. I was raised in a loving home where I was privileged be taught all of the principles of the Gospel. I love God, and try to support his work as much as I can, but I am by no definition of the word, great. Still, I do a lot of thinking about great things...

I am also a teenager, which means I have begun to search myself for answers to life's many great questions, one of which is love.

What is love? I might as well be asking you to put the whole sky in a box and mail it to me...love is too huge to just define like that! I can try to describe it though: it's long and wide, tall and thick, great and spacious and grand. Okay, so I can't tell you what love is, because it must be learned through experience, however, I can tell you what love isn't.

Love isn't lust, it's not sex, it's not giving up everything for some girl or boy who says they love you back...love has to be more than that. I know that love is more than that!

Love is what prompted God to give his Only Begotten Son as a sacrifice for the sins and pains of mankind. God's love for us is perfect. When I feel the spirit, I can feel His overwhelming love for me. It is a miracle that even me, a sinner, could be redeemed of all my sins.

Love of God and freedom is what brought our Founding Fathers to declare their indepence from Great Britain on July 4th of 1776 and it is a miracle that they won the war that followed.

Love is what brought my mother and father together and I was the product of that union. They cared for me so much, even though I was not yet born, that they give me a chance to receive a body and live in their home. Heck, they love me so much I know without a shadow of a doubt that my parents would give their lives if it would mean that I had a chance to survive. Now I'm not vain enough to say that my birth was a miracle, rather I submit that the birth of a human child is a precious and miraculous event!

There's a pattern here: love begats miracles.

I'm sure you're all very intelligent and you've already figured out much if not all of what I've said. I just wanted to share some of my thoughts on the subject. Let me conclude with this final statement: love is a gift from God to make our lives better, if you find that it is making your life more difficult then perhaps you should take a step back and do some soul-searching. Perhaps you just need an attitude adjustment. Think about what you want out of life, what is most important to you, and then ask yourself if your current actions are taking you closer to it. I did, and it's done miracles for me. ;)

By the way, if you havn't read the FRG blog yet, you most definitely should!! We have really excellent writers posting on there. Please check it out at http://youth.fairblog.org.

I came home at midnight smelling like beer and my parents didn't care.

This is the first step down a dark path...not!!

So I made a big deal about coming home smellin' like beer because I think it's hilarious, but the truth is I hate the stuff. I'll never start drinking, not even if my wife, kids, and dog leave me lol

What really happened was service. This is fiesta month here in San Antonio and my church youth group serves the community by bringing chairs for people to sit on while the parade marches by. Don't think too good of me, as I just came along because it sounded fun, the real service was done by the people who organized this project. So I missed the set-up part of the project, but I got to have the pleasure of clearing the street of chairs before the terrifying streetsweeper wreaked havoc upon them. We had twenty minutes to clear out 560 metal chairs before they became part of the mass of garbage that blanketed the gutters like rivers on a rainy day. Beer cans were EVERYWHERE, and I was up to my ankles in trash and beer and God knows what else...

I had to actually put my hands in the stuff so that I could detach the cables securing our property so that we could pack it all up in a trailer. We finished around 11, but our adventure had only just begun. On our way out, our designated driver backed up into a dumpster while trying to get into a steady stream of cars who wouldn't let us leave. Then when we finally did get on the road, we got stuck on this ramp thing on which we moved about every 5 minutes.

While we say their waiting, two motorcyclists pulled up behind us and these guys had to be the worlds drunkest idiots. They began singing and honking and screaming and revving their engines, I was sortof expecting a fight when a guy and his girlfriend drove up next to them on HIS bike. But the knife-wound scars on that man's arm must have been good enough of a hint, even for these dorks, to back down because they became silent very suddenly.

As a result of my praying for my life that the drunken people didn't kill me, I made it safely back to homebase. Phew!

When I walked in I said hey Mom, hey Dad, and I got up real close to both of them...they didn't notice a thing. "How was it?" my mom asked. "Not bad," I said "I'm a bit tired though." At this point I was intentionally slurring my speech and subtly swaying so as to pop the question, "ERIK, WHY DO YOU SMELL LIKE BEER?!" But it never came, and I finally asked my Mom to take a sniff of my cloths, but it was in vain for all she said was, "You smell weird."

Now, don't get me wrong kids, this does NOT mean your parents don't know what beer smells like, it just happens that mine don't, but I'm glad of that. My parents have always been very temperate and I have had a happy life at home because of it. What you should take away from this is a smile and a knowledge that alcohol makes people dumb...so don't drink it! Duh!

Why Should We Obey?

Obedience is an important trait for a person to develop in spite of his or her age. Rules have been put in place to protect the integrity and safety of the American people, these rules are called laws. If you obey the driving laws, you are protecting yourself, your passengers, and the other people on the road from potentially lethal accident. If you don't obey driving laws and decide to run a stop sign, you could damage property or even kill someone. Some people feel like rules are just restrictions, and restrictions just ruin their fun, but in fact, I feel that restrictions can make life more enjoyable. Let me explain: my friend had given in to peer pressure and decided to try a cigarette even though his parents warned him against any kinds of drugs; well he got addicted and now that he's decided to quit, he's not doing very well. He's going through withdrawal symptoms and relapses frequently and I can see the pain written on his features...all that for one stupid cigarette. If he had followed his parents' rule in the first place then he wouldn't be in this mess now.

In my own life, I have realized as I've grown up that my parents are doing everything they can to ensure that I grow up strong, healthy, and wise. I've discovered that they don't just make up rules to bug me, but because they want me to be safe. I'm old enough to realize that I don't know everything and that I need to trust the rules even though I may not understand them yet because they will protect me from unseen dangers.

I feel that while everyone needs to learn obedience, it is even more vital for an adult to have this virtue because and adult's actions have farther reaching effects upon the community and loved ones. If a husband is not faithful and obedient to his wedding vows, or chooses to dabble in the dangerous territory of pornography, it will destroy his marriage, tear apart his family and cause extreme pain to all of the members of it. Adults are not only responsible for taking care of themselves, they are also responsible for securing the future of their posterity. Obedience to the laws of the land and God's commandments are vital to setting a good example and leading others to do good.

The last point I want to make is that blind obedience is no substitute for using your judgment to determine what you should or should not do. Blind obedience puts your life in the hands of another imperfect being which, unless you trust them, is a careless mistake. When somebody gives you a rule to follow you should a) determine if you trust that this person has good intentions and has your best interest in mind and b) be aware of the consequences should you not obey that rule. Sometimes people will call a person a mindless sheep because they follow the rules, but in reality a sheep can be more intelligent than we are because it applies smart principles of trust to obedience. A sheep trusts its shepherd and will do anything for him. That sheep is wise to do so because the shepherd will scare away predators and feed the sheep and all the shepherd asks in return is for its wool. In the animal kingdom, the only creatures that don't obey any rules are the sick or insane ones. Animal instinct is based upon survival, therefore they must follow the rules in order to survive. Let that serve as a reminder to all of us that obedience to rules is in our best interest.

I Have a Testimony of Jesus Christ

This Easter season brings us all closer together as we study and ponder the teachings and the sacrifice of our Savior, Jesus Christ, the Redeemer of the World. I just got back from Youth Conference where I had not only tons of fun, I was reminded of the wonders of God's plan for His children. There had to have been an atonement so that we could return home to live with our Father in Heaven. If Christ had not suffered and then died on the cross, we would be doomed to this spiritual death forever. I was reminded that it was my choice to take up this body, made in God's own image, and be separated from Him, but because of the Atonement, I can be with Him in Heaven again. Woohoo!

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is Christ's church on the Earth and through its saving ordinances we can have all of the blessings that God wishes to bless us with, even all He has. I believe this with all my heart, in Jesus' name I share that with you, amen.

What will I do to fulfill my life?

It would be easy to pick something cool and socially accepted and say yeah, B-) that's me! But it would also be lame, and it would be untrue to myself. Someone asked me today what "will fulfill my life?" I thought about it, and this was my reply:

"I have very simple wants in this life: a loving family, a happy life, and an inspiring legacy to leave behind when I'm gone. I am aware that the key to happiness lies with love, and that I am never happier than when I am with my family. Someday I will be married to a wonderful woman and have several children. I will have worked my way up in some company and all the while I will seek opportunities to serve my fellow man. I will leave a legacy of love and charity in this world after I am gone. Then will my life be fulfilled."

Comon Kids! If they can't do the work, it's up to us...

Sometimes I get fed up with the elected poloticians, after all, I didn't vote for 'em. Here's a poster I made about it...

Maybe adults arn't always the smartest voters, after all most of 'em aren't in school studyin' Civics like we are. I think teens should have a bigger part in election processes, print out my poster or make your own and take it with you on election date. Maybe ya can't vote, but then again, maybe you can convince others to vote your way.

Erik, the Patriot

On this historic morning, well in my own version of history, March 10th, 2009, I, Erik Slack, have added my signature to those of the founding fathers upon the Declaration of Independence. I didn't go Gates and steal it or anything, but I assure you that my name rests there. See look here, my proof is made manifest...

compliments of http://www.archives.gov/

Politikal, Radical, Mechanikal

I wrote this speech for Civics class, I think it's pretty good, check it out!

I have heard many views on the war in Iraq, many of which are founded on so-called fact. Although I believe the facts must be carefully examined if one is to make a conclusion about the ethics involved with occupying Iraq with American forces, I also believe that the lenses of logic being used to examine the situation are much too intense for looking at this particular situation. I believe that the overuse of logic in analyzing this war in Iraq is blurring the truth and clouding the judgment of the American people. What has happened and is still happening to those poor souls, our brethren who are citizens of middle-eastern countries but still our brothers, is undeniable, unforgivable, and among the most unjust of tyrannies—this was especially the case in Iraq. It was the case, that is, until American forces stepped onto Iraqi soil and fought for a people abused and oppressed by its own government which was ruled by terrorists. If it were not for the bravery of these American messiahs, the tortures, murders, and other crimes of that government would still hold absolute power over those unfortunate people in Iraq and terrorists would still have a safe-house in that nation's borders. These same terrorists launched an attack on the United States that temporarily crippled the Pentagon and decimated the World Trade Center in three horrendous strikes. I believe that there have been several more attacks attempted on US soil that have been halted by the precautions and protections of our armed services, including those on foreign soil. The best place to stop an attack is on the ground, away from the metropolises of this great nation. That is why I believe that it is a wise move to redistribute the American forces from Iraq into Afghanistan to apprehend the terrorist cells located there. The President and armed forces have my pledge of loyalty and support. These people defend my freedom, I will sustain them, won't you?

So what do ya think?

It's so nice to have you back where you belong, Erik.

I've been gone for two weeks visiting family in Colorado, but now I'm home and I miss it. I miss the weather, the mountains, the good feelings, and most of all the people I left there. It's much dryer in Denver, I feel like I'm choking on the air here...

I received a warm reception from a sentimental seminary class this morning. Haha, thanks guys, it was fun! And yet, here I am, sitting at this dumb computer where I have so stupidly put half of my life's work into. It's not a great computer, it's just that I rely on it for school, the online youth group which I spend so much time one, and my blog which takes a while to write. Not to mention I enjoy a video game from time to time. Now I realize I hate it. I don't want to be chained to my computer for life; I consider this a lesson learned that will be invaluable in the future.

I'm so happy to be reunited with my family here. You should have seen my dog, she was leaping 10 ft. in the air when I walked in! She's such a darling. Well, it's back to the grind for me...

Geo Caught What? (geocaching)

There I was hugging the side of the cliff, hundreds of feet of steep drop-off behind me, with the cold wind biting at my skin. I edged my way along, carefully side-stepping over an icy patch of rock, with only one thing on my mind...okay two things: "Dang! This is awesome!" and "Where is it?" I was in the process of finding the hidden cache supposedly hidden somewhere in the side of this Rocky Mountain cliffside. See, I was on vacation and my cousin, CJ, wanted to take me out "geocaching" and informed me that I was only a "geo-muggle" waiting to be instructed in the art. So we got up early, ate a scrumptious breakfast at the Bear Breakfast, or something like that, and headed out to go off-roading.

The first cache was rather un-extroardinary, we pulled up, mobile global positioning system in hand, and hiked to the top of a hill where we found a conspicuous mound of sticks. We dug through them and, "Voila!" there was a peanut butter jar wrapped in camo-colored duct tape. We opened it up and found a bunch of junk in there, but we were more interested in signing the 5-inch wide notebook claiming that we had found the hidden "treasure."

The second cache's location was even easier to locate, but the container itself remained elusive for almost half-an hour of our combined searching. The location was on the sloped side of a steep hill, upon which was a wrecked pick-up truck that was perforated with bullet holes. We had to ask ourselves,"How the heck did this get here?" which also happened to be the title of this geocache. I'll be posting a video next week showing where we found it exactly so that you can share in the fun (if you live in or near Colorado Springs, the video will be a spoiler for you).

That brings us back to the third cache, where I'm clinging on to the side of the cliff for dear life, while madly searching for the last cache. My eye was drawn several holes in the wall and I just randomly stuck my hand in one and pulled a rock out the size of my fist. There hidden behind that small rock was a canister wrapped in camo-cloth. I shouted to my cousin as I hastily snatched up my prize. Inside the container was some cool stuff, I guess not many people had found this cache because usually you just find junk. I took out the notebook, signed it, at returned it to the canister, but not until after removing a nifty keychain. My cousin then put in some playing cards and somebody's fake ear, and we returned the can into the hole and put the rock back in.

I am the newest member of the online geocaching community and I can't wait to go back to San Antonio to search for some near home.

Ice Cream Scandal

Lol! I wrote this for school...


TO: Mrs. Slack
FROM: Erik Slack
DATE: 02/12/09
SUBJECT: Letter of Apology (Ice Cream Scandal)



Dear Mother of Six Children Including Me,

I am writing this letter to make things right again between us. You probably haven't noticed yet, but I ate most of the chocolate mint ice cream that Nana had set aside for you, and to make things worse, I had it for breakfast. I figured you might just forget about the ice cream or when you found that it was missing, you would have assumed that you had already eaten it, I intended to keep the fact that I ate it hidden from you. Since then I've realized that my actions were dishonest and shameful, and I apologize. I have broken your trust, and in that lies the grievous sin. I seek to fully repay you for my misdeed, therefore I will buy you a whole new container of chocolate mint ice cream just for you next time I am able to get to the store. Please let me know if there is anything else that I can do for you. Thank you for always being there for me when I'm in a tough spot and for taking care of me for these past 17 years. I love you dearly.

Forever Your Son,




Erik S.

A Testament to Keeping Healthy

You know how tons of commercials and schoolteachers tell us that eating right and regular exercise will make you healthy? It's absolutely, undeniably true! I've moped around the house all day sneezing and coughing hard enough to shred tissues. Well I sat here talking to my mom for a while about something and in the middle of it I complained to her, "You know Mom, I havn't been sick in forever, so how come I'm sick all of a sudden?" As you can imagine, she didn't really have an answer for that, but then I started really thinking about it. I havn't been around any sick people, so how come I'm sick? Then I thought about my lack of exercise and poor eating habits that I've had of late, and I had my answer. For me, eating right and avoiding junk food means clearer skin, more energy, and longer stamina during exercise. If I regularly exercise then I feel more lively, opitmistic, and my day is just a lot more fun. I would suggest to you all, to commit as I have, to maintaining better health, a more appealing appearance, and a happier life. If I'd followed that advice earlier, I probably wouldn't have gotten this snotty cold.

Run, just keep running! Don't look back!

A year ago I had left public school and had begun to work for Wendy's and now it's almost over. There's only one thing standing between me and the trophy of graduation, one last sprint for the finish line of the race to finish highschool. When I started independent study, I knew what I was getting into, but I still wasn't prepared for the transition of my thoughts and goals. I'm now my own person; before I was a kid blowing bubbles in a pool of life, now I'm a man making waves and splashing all around me, but someday I will be a titan causing tsunamis of change with each step I take. How have I changed from boy to man? You see I've given this a lot of thought and realized that I have convinced my parents that I am responsible enough to be trusted to the reins of my own life and now I have control over its direction and speed. Yahh! I'm going 60mph now and I long for more speed, but...am I going the right way? I am, I'm sure of it! And that confidence is what changed that boy into this man.

Beware of Misinterpretation

Since I was five years old, I've moved from place to place. I've had a dozen homes, twice as many schools, and hundreds of different friends. As a result I may have adapted some odd quirks and strange manners. But there have been people that I've known that were exluded from the people around them and often mocked for their differences. I was taught at an early age to accept all people in spite of our differences, and to praise our similarities. If you praise each other for things you have in common, it builds a love in your friendship that will make it that much more beautiful and valuable. On the other hand, if you put people down, make snyde remarks to their face or behind their back, or ignore them, you are brutally damaging that person just as if you physically assaulted them. People need to be accepted and loved, it part of human nature.

"Compassion is sometimes the fatal capacity for feeling what it is like to live inside somebody else's skin. It is the knowledge that there can never really be any peace and joy for me until there is peace and joy finally for you too.”--Frederick Buechner

I'm not saying I'd sit in a circle and sing Koom By Ah or anything, but let's all try to be more compassionate this week.

How Video Games Helped Me to Succeed In Life

Heroes of Might and Magic

I've played video games since birth. At two years old I was learning and having fun with the first Reader Rabbit. At six I was playing Warcraft 2 and Mario Brothers, and at 8 Diablo and Civilization. When I reached 12 I played Empire Earth and Unreal Tournament. At 14 I was playing Splintercell Pandora Tomorrow online with some impressive skill. Now I play Left 4 Dead and Company of Heroes when I can with my older brothers. I've seen a lot of people frown on video games, and perhaps they do take up a lot of time, and perhaps a great deal of time spent with them will stunt your athletic growth, but in moderation video gaming can teach you a great deal.

When I was in the fourth grade, I recall getting extra credit for knowing the word artifact--which I learned from Heroes of Might and Magic--and I was also picked to be the youngest member of the Nerd Alert Force at my school =P. It was a lot of fun showing othe

Left4Dead

r people up with my computer savvy. Whenever there was a problem with a computer and nobody more qualified was around to help, my classmates or teacher would call me over. Now I am considering information systems business degree as my major. I may not be very good at basketball, but I'm just as physically active as anyone else. All in all I'd say that video games can be a part of a well-rounded individual.

The Only Person Fooled By My Poker Face Is Me

I took advantage of Martin Luther King Day to have some fun with my brothers, but now it's back to my work!

I had a lot of time to reflect over the weekend and I learned something important about myself: I'm bad at hiding my feelings. My emotions are written all over my face and eyes and the harder I try to contain them, the more they slip through. It's a good thing I was taught not to gamble, because my pokerface is a lost cause. According to a Steven Gaffney--don't ask--91% of people that took a survey lie on a regular basis; he points out, rather cynically, that the other nine percent were probably lying. If this were really true, I think I should be better at it by now...

Before You Reach For The Stars, Look Up!

I started highschool back in Arizona; my first year started in '05 so you do the math and you'll figure out when I'm going to graduate. Perhaps there was nothing I appreciated less at this time in my life than getting up early in the morning and rushing to a moldy old building where I would be informed of what is fact and what is fiction. I've come along way since then. Highschool is almost over, so now what? I've taken an inventory of my goals: go on a mission, go to college, and get an awesome job. Oh yeah, and I've got to fit getting married in there somehow. There's a really cool quote by a guy named Larry Elder,

"A goal without a plan is just a wish."

I'm going to make up a plan, I guess I'll start with my goals. Well, I probably won't get an awesome job without some college, and I won't be able to go to college unless I get good grades and save money now. Okaay, so first I need to make money, no problem, I work at Wendy's. I'll finish highschool in about half a year and I won't leave for my mission for a year and a half after that, soo...I think I'll work really hard and save at least 30% of my income. I might also take some community college courses to get some core credits out of the way before my mission. Then I'll go on a mission. Then I'll go to get accepted by BYU or UT and I'll become a famous businessman! Can't really plan to get married so I think that covers everything on the list. That wasn't so tough!

When the Saint Comes Marching Home, I Will Be Waiting

My brother Andrew is a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Ladder Day Saints serving in the northeastern US. He wears a badge that someday I'll be wearing; printed in bold white letters on a black background are

_

I'm so proud of my older brother and I can't wait to see him again!

If Only Moroni Would Wait to Toot His Horn Until Ten o' Clock

Before I started highschool I couldn't wait to start going to seminary classes. Well, nothing's changed, and I still enjoy spending time with my friends learning about God. But why has it got to be so darn early in the morning? Isn't there a saying that goes "the early bird gets the worm?" I suppose someday I'll be thankful someday. But right now I just want to sleep!

She Danced Into My Life

I've never been really into those reality shows about dancing, although I admit I have watched a season of Dancing With the Stars, but I really do enjoy dancing. Unfortunately, I think I was born with two left feet and try as I might, it is hard for to overcome that. Actually it could also caused by my status as an Awesome Video Gamer that gave me my poor dancing ability, but I prefer the other theory. Last night many girls danced through my arms and I had the time of my life twirling them around and around. They actually seemed surprised that I would spin them, but told me that they really enjoyed it. It seems that guys don't spin girls at church dances anymore. At least this guy does, so Ladies fear not! Erik is here now =P.

I'm Part of a Youth Foundation

I've joined with the Foundation of Apologetic Information and Research (FAIR) to start a youth group associated with their mission. I want to get involved in the work that FAIR does, and this is my way of contributing. Several other youth or young adults have joined with me and we've dubbed ourselves...get ready...Youth FAIR! Haha we're pretty creative right? Anyway, I think our name rocks, and besides our content will be fabulous! You can keep up to date on the doings of YFair by reading my blog.



If you're interested in joining our group, post a comment here.

Geared Up, Good To Go Now

I'm out of money again! Do you know the feeling? Was it all of the movies we went to? Maybe it was the winter clothes I bought? How about all of the gifts for Christmas? I had to buy those airplane tickets, didn't I? The truth is I am outa money again, but I actually do know where every penny went and have for the past six months. Financial Literacy, or Economics, is a class I had last semester. I thought the class would be lame, but I think it's been the most valuable class I've ever taken in highschool.



Have I told you 'bout my highschool? No? Ha! That's because I don't have one, or at least not in the normal sense. When I moved to San Antonio, Texas, I was excited to start school since it was right down the street, but then they told me I couldn't go...they said they had too many students...what kind of reason is that? So they shipped me several hours a day over to another school. I was feeling pretty low at that point. Then my friend told me about a way that I can teach myself and still get credit for highschool. Is it a good system? It's got its ups and downs. Did you think it was hard being a student? Try being both the student and the teacher.