Maren Parsons

She is the girl I had a crush on for forever. She was sweet and kind and beautiful and I never managed to get anything going, but she is among my best friends and always will be. She is someone who the world doesn't even deserve. Seriously. I love her like only a close friend could. We have spent days speaking to each other. It's her birthday today. Happy birthday. Anziano Duclos is pulling for you.

Carley Sturgis

Her awesome will blow the classical music out your butt. She is seriously one of the best people you'll ever meet. I am grateful that Car Crash Carley and I became friends because she has helped me remember who is in charge of my destiny: God and me, but mostly God. I love you, Carley. Thank you for all you've done for me. See you in a year, my good friend.

P.S.

I AM GOING TO FREAKING ITALY! NOTHING ELSE CAN EVEN COMPARE!

Final post

Hey. You remember me. You love me. I haven't been blogging too long, but in less than twelve hours, I won't be able to blog again for two years.

I want you to know something right now. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the true church on the earth. This is a fact, which means it's non-negotiable. That is how it is. Fact. I have a testimony, otherwise I wouldn't be leaving everyone I have ever loved to go to a place that won't be too receptive of non-Catholic missionaries. It's not the most enticing thing, but because of my testimony, I am not scared to go. I am excited. I am ready. I want to be mocked and spit upon and see the spirit work in someone's life to the point where they are changed forever. I seriously can't wait.

My last word of advice: Don't spend your life looking forward to a day. For 138 days I looked toward tomorrow that I didn't even realize that Trevor and I couldn't spend these two years together. It's like we were two patients in a waiting room. We made it, but now we have to say goodbye. I wish I had lived more for this time in my life. I should've lived to a point where I didn't have time to say it was taking forever. Don't waste your time waiting for time to end. Now here are a couple of W.R. Duclos original one-liners.

"Faith without works is fake."

"If you have faith, God won't let anyone mess up your future, especially you."

"Sometimes what we want will get in the way of what we've worked for. Don't do that."

"[High school] seems hard when you start out. It's the biggest struggle you've yet to face. And it seems hard, looking back. Like you could never do it again. But in it, in the very moment, it isn't that hard. Among the tests and projects, there are moments we never want to let go of. That's what makes high school so remarkable. It sucks, but you love it more than anything."

"...If you ever wonder, Am I good enough?, just remember, He knows you are and no one else can even compare."

"I live my life in a way so that there are two undeniable facts: I am a total nerd and I am too 'cool' to really be a nerd. Those are the two ways people describe me. It's not a big deal though. I like making people wonder."

"The atonement has got you covered. Don't fight it, embrace it."

The world is hard enough without you trying to hurt those you love."

"You are everything to God, so don't think for a second that you deserve anything less than His eternal goodness."

“And to Thee, My God, the Fame”
By Wyatt Duclos

I sat in heaven,
 With my friends and family,
Dreaming of a perfect life,
And an immortal body.

We pled with the Father,
Asked, “Please let us go,
To Earth to live,
To love and to grow.”

There sat our Father,
The Master of my soul,
He spake softly and said,
“One must pay the toll.”

Saddened and scared,
Too meek to volunteer,
I sat and watched our brother stand,
Loving and sincere.

“A sacrifice to be made,”
The Father sighed in pain.
“It is my lot,” the Son replied,
“And to Thee, my God, the fame.”

Christ, our Lord,
Suffered and died.
He did it not for money,
Or for adoring fans,
He did it for love,
For you and for me.
The Savior of All?
He made us free.

I love the gospel. I love you. Christ is always the answer. Live to please Him. I know that's what I do. See you in two.

The beginning of the end

Today is my farewell. I have looked forward to this day for 2/3 of my life (and the important two thirds, not the third I can't remember). It doesn't seem real. Honestly, I have never felt so nervous. Not because literally everyone in the world will be at my talk (yes, literally all 7 billion people), but because I want this day to live up to my expectations. It's going to be great. Scary as heck, but great.

I am here still

Less than a week. Exactly less than one week. I am so ready to go to the MTC, you have no idea.

Finishing up

I don't think you understand. I am leaving the world. I am not a permanent resident of your life anymore. I am going to be a ghost of your past. I am dying. I can't go on without leaving it all behind. That is my mission so I can do well on my mission.

Leaving you is leaving my heart

This was it guys. My last Strawberry Days where I am definitely going to be a Pleasant Grove resident. Strawberry Days literally is my favorite week of the year. It was like everyone in my whole city was just celebrating. For once, I don't know how well I can actually convey my feelings. Just know my biggest fear for this post is that I start crying while writing it. That's how much Strawberry Days means to me.

Believe it or not, Missouri does not celebrate Strawberry Days. Neither do Wyoming, Nebraska or Ohio. So why am I here? Well, I wanted to go to my niece's baptism and my other niece's baby blessing, plus it was the last time I could get a chance to see my brother and his family before my mission. In complete honesty, if you offered me a free trip to anywhere that didn't have these family things mixed with them, and I had to go on the trip during Strawberry Days, the answer would be no.

Yesterday was Huck Finn Day. It's such a stupid thing for me to be sad because I missed, but I am. Helping with Strawberry Days wasn't always super fun, but I loved every second of it because I was making the magic happen. Somewhere there was a kid who is celebrating the first Strawberry Days that he will actually have memories of and I am making that experience just amazing. Huck Finn Day was one of the best. Every year I would be up to help with anything except lifting kids on and off horses and every year I would have to do that for at least an hour. I almost got sued because a kid stole a prize and his mom saw me grab his wrist. Little brat. I would have unlimited access to soda, doughnuts and bubble gum, not to mention plenty of time to flirt with the royalty while they painted faces. Huck Finn Day was where I could be in charge for a few minutes, where I could get a taste of what would be coming the next day.

The finale of Strawberry Days has been and always will be the Mammoth Parade (most people don't even realize that is the name of it). I would walk to the high school drag at 7:00 in the morning and then, then I had the power. If you watched the parade the past three years, the second half would have been a total disaster without me. I made sure people went to the right spot, made sure the knew who they were following, and finally I would make sure they followed that person. The amount of responsibility you have is directly correlated with the amount of times someone yells at you for something out of your control. This was the day that happened every five minutes, so basically I was the powerhouse of control. I was even in the Parade once, but I still organized it up until I had to put on the Viking suit and walk the entire parade route in a rubber head and 100 degree weather. Best day ever (NOT sarcastic). The one time I was in the Strawberry Days Parade and I was literally a walking symbol of Pleasant Grove, the high school mascot.

The city of Pleasant Grove is literally the best city in the world. No, I'm not exaggerating. Literally, nowhere else are the people as amazing as where I grew up. It was like everyone in PG was your best friend. It's a place where a kid could work so hard on the grease pole climb and the mayor himself would help him crawl to the top (true story). It's a place where love was passed around cups full of strawberries and cream. It's a place where no matter what happened to make your life worse than anything you've yet come across, you wouldn't have to worry because the people of Pleasant Grove still cared about you.
People say that on their missions, the hardest part is saying goodbye. The hardest part for me will be different. It will be driving from the MTC to the airport. Driving past the exit to the happiest place on earth without getting off. Seeing the G for one last time with getting the chance to consider hiking to it. Not being able to go through the streets I know so well and say hello to the familiar faces. Not being able to go to the high school and say thanks to all my friends and all the teachers who changed my life. The hardest part will be driving by for the last time with nothing but a glance.  I will be leaving my home for two years and the last time I see it it will be from the freeway.

I don't want to end this blog post because when I do, I feel like I'm already saying goodbye to Pleasant Grove. I guess I couldn't help but cry. I love Pleasant Grove. It is, and always will be, my home and the greatest place ever to exist.

Sometimes

You just don't know what to think. You don't know what you want to think. Everything is perfect in a twisted way, but you don't want to fix it.

The best thing to remember is thirty five days. Thirty five days and one hour and nine minutes. And my life is getting so perfect, I just want to be gone. Because no matter what, my life right now is going to end July 23. Everything. Everything will be different. My name won't be W.R. Duclos, it will be Anziano Duclos.

Wyatt will be gone for two years. Not just gone from Utah, but gone from everything. I don't want to be the limited, short sighted Wyatt anymore. This is going to be a change that will make me better, but the thing about change is you can't change halfway. All or nothing. I am going to embrace this growing experience and I am completely ready to do whatever Heavenly Father wants me to do.

I want to grow in the spirit. Nephi didn't question for a moment who was telling him to kill Laban. He knew is was the spirit. If I were him, my first thought would probably be, "Hahaha! Nice try Satan!" Nephi, Alma, Moroni, Abinadi. Those guys are what I need to aspire to be. It's hard. I have a lot that I could embrace instead that would honestly be more rewarding right now, but I don't think I can wait until July 23 to grow up. I need to do it now.

This post could be really vague, it could make a lot of sense. I am tired because I just had a great night that won't happen again until a long time from now. I don't know what to think. But I think the easiest thing is to just be done with everything, because Italy and I have a date set up for a couple years and if you can say one thing about Wyatt, it is that he does not neglect his date. Those Italians need me and I need them. It's weird that I love people I know not at all, but I do. These people are the ones that Heavenly Father sent me to. Ammon and King Lamoni type friendships are overdue for sure.


So say arrivederci to girl crazy, lazy, flirty, weird, loud, random Wyatt Duclos and remember why he is leaving. Because I mean, come on, Anziano Duclos is about a billion times better.

And that is worth it to me.



Oh yeah, "anziano" means "elder" in Italian. Fun fact for you.

I'm so lucky

I met this girl. She is amazing. She is just like me in the right ways. It was a fluke that we met but it was definitely not a coincidence. The only problem is thirty five days. Why? Why do I find a girl who is what I've always wanted during the one time in my life where I am not looking for her? It's just my luck, really. Now, it'd be perfect if she didn't like me. Then yeah, I'd like her but that's no big deal. But nope, she likes me. A lot. To the point that I think she needs therapy because no one in their right mind likes Wyatt Duclos that much. So yeah, here I am, stuck in the most depressing situation of my life: finding a perfect girl when I can't think about her for two years. Just call me Bad Luck Wyatt.



Plus kissing isn't bad. Like, pretty much the opposite. 

Things I want

A turtle, a lion and an elephant.

To go on my mission.

Girls to be unattractive for a couple years (if you don't understand, I don't really want to explain).

I feel like the sooner my mission is, the more girls just love me. I just. I can't type it. So...

VLOG

It's different, vlogging. I think I prefer the written word because I can't just speak gibberish. And apparently "gibberish" is spelled with a "g" not a "j." I don't hardly care. Sorry it's really low quality. Blame the fact that I am not trying to do well. That's why I made a video and didn't type. I am being what we in the business call "lazy."

Potential to be a hero

I seem to forget.
I forget, in moments when I want something so trivial.
I forget that I was made for something better.
I have potential to be the best I can be and what I desire in those small moments are not what I need to become better.
They will do nothing but hold me back.
I am made for better things.

This world will never be enough for a son of my Father.



But I can be more than enough for it.

This is Clark Kent

I have been aware of the releasing of Man of Steel for a very long time. So long, in fact, that once people starting asking, "Did you know they are making a new Superman movie?" I was amazed that it was news to them. I cannot wait much longer. I get to see it at 7:00 PM tonight then again at midnight. Sorry if you had plans of capturing my attention for the next ten hours, but I think you will most likely fail. Today is a day I have been waiting for. Imagine how excited I am to witness a film produced by my favorite active director, Christopher Nolan, about my favorite superhero of all time, Superman. Not only that, but Hans Zimmer is doing the soundtrack? What. I don't think I have ever been this excited for a movie. Ever. 

They will look to you as a beacon of hope. What will you give them?

The Future

I blog a ton these days. Wow.

I don't know what I will be doing in the future. I probably will go to the University of Utah, but I don't know what I am going to study. I don't know what career I will pursue. I don't even know when I want to get married.
So to know that starting July 24, 2013, Heavenly Father will be telling me exactly where He wants me to be and do what He wants me to do really brings comfort. There are forty three days and eleven hours left until I enter the MTC. I don't plan on changing much. I think the biggest change is I will have seen Man of Steel. Granted, that is huge for me, but really that's about it. My life for forty three days is completely planned out.
I will have to say goodbye to Maren earlier than the rest of you guys. She is going on vacation to Italy (go figure). I have been really scared to say goodbye. I crushed hard on her, guys, let's be real. It's not completely over. So when I thought of saying goodbye, that was scary because what if she is married? What if I get back and there is no way she can be in my life anymore because people don't have crushes on their married friends? I was scared because if I had to say goodbye to Maren, it could be forever, basically. When I say goodbye, our friendship would have to end.
But tonight Heavenly Father blessed me with the gift of tongues. Not in the traditional sense of the term, but more the ability to say something I didn't realize I felt. Maren was about to get into her car and I confessed my love for our friendship and I told her that more than anything I am glad we weren't more than just that: friends. Her liking me back could've made life better, but I think chances are it would've been worse. With every inspired word I spoke I felt more and more relieved. Suddenly I realized she was my friend, no matter the past. I cannot express how truly happy that made me feel. Maren is one of my closest friends and the thought of losing that relationship scared me more than an army of Italian Catholic Priests. She never became the girl who finally loved me back. It wasn't a cheesy romantic comedy ending. No romance. Way too much comedy. A little drama. But in the end, she and I became close friends. She really has helped me become a better person in ways I don't think any one else could have because I have never thought of anyone else quite like I thought of Maren.

Life is changing. It's hard and sometimes it seems to be getting worse. But it will always be getting better if you are following the Lord.

Side note: Last night I basically slammed my face into my night stand because I thought I was two feet in front of it. Nope. That's what I get for thinking I can do things in the dark. It hurt a lot.

I finished it.

High school is over. I graduated yesterday. I am no longer a high school student. It's summer. And you know what? I don't like it. Holy cow. I still have fifty four days until I enter the MTC! I don't know what to do with my life. It's ridiculous.
High school was great, but I was more than glad to leave after the senior all nighter. It may be that I already pulled an all nighter this last week finishing my viral mission call video, but all nighters are a little immature. I like sleeping. I feel like I should just love not getting any sleep, but I don't.

For the heck of it, here is a list of things I never did in high school:

• Never kissed a girl.
• Never sluffed class to go to Hart's (however on many occasions I sluffed Pretend to Exercise (PE) many times to go to seminary).
• Never got in a physical altercation.
• Never got detention.
• Never had to go to attendance school. That's right, this guy is no slacker. On time most of the time.
• Never did the school talent show.
• Never gave a speech to the school while running for Student Body President. I don't care that I didn't win, but I love public speaking. 
• Never was in a play/musical.
• Never played football as a Viking.
• Never read Lord of the Flies.
• Never had a girlfriend.
• Never bumped into a girl in the hall and as we're both picking up her papers, we accidentally touch hands, look into each other's eyes and then fall in love. That never happened. Close, though.
• Never went on a date with a cheerleader.
• Never got beat up by the star quarter back.
• Never won anything significant besides third in the state science fair.
• Never tried out for a sports team.
• Never really managed to get any of the girls I liked to like me back.
• Never build a birdhouse in Wood shop.
• Never called it Wood shop until just now.
• Never had a limo for a dance.
• Never went in the tunnels. This one is actually really disappointing. I have wanted to go in the tunnels since I knew they existed. I always wanted to make videos in there. Not even videos about the tunnels, just videos in the tunnels. I have failed because I once said I would not graduate without going in the tunnels first.
• Never blew up the Death Star.

I think that last one is proof enough that I am out of ideas. 

Honestly though, as much as I will miss high school, I am ready to move on because I really just want to be in the mission field. There will be a few good things this summer, but all in all I need to go to Italy. I am taking online courses free on memrise.com. Check it out. It rocks.

Have a good summer. See you in a while.

I still have a glob

You know those times in life that you are super busy and when you aren't super busy you're too tired and wanting to relax to talk about how busy you are? That's me. I didn't sleep last night. At all. I was awake for thirty one hours straight doing the average Wyatt All-nighter job: editing a video that people actually need. I seem to do that. I am so tired. I slept for four hours, so at least I've got that. Also, the video isn't working. So that's about par. Three months of work topped off with an all-nighter and the product doesn't work. 

Seriously. I will never produce films because I can only do 95% perfectly and that last 5% is always broken. Not that the 5% is always the same. Sometimes it's blurry camera work. Sometimes it's crappy sound. Sometimes it's just a lack of time. Sometimes it's because my computer needs refurbishment but the only Apple employee that doesn't think so is the only person who could fix it. Sometimes it's a completely random problem that I have no idea how to fix. I'm done with high school and I want to be done with this video.

So I am done.

I'm getting too old for this

The activities at the high school are different. I don't know what's up. I feel like I am more like a teacher. I feel like I am not the focus; not the target audience. I am literally getting too old for this high school thing. One month left. I hope I can do it.

I'm the same

So I didn't blog for 19 days. Longest gap I've had in a long while. But be grateful Juan Pablo, because a lot of what happened in the last 19 days was a lot like this crap. I don't like a lot of those blog posts because:
A) They're annoying and vague.
B) They show me at my weakest.
C) Who wants to read that crap?

Thanks to my lack of ambition, a side affect of senioritis, you don't have to read those posts I could have written.
Here are the last 19 days summed up in nineteen words:
California
Disneyland
Girl Relapse
Eagle Court of Honor
Senioritis
Lack of Ambition
Confusion
Done with high school
No money

That's all you need to know. Here are some thoughts that I have had lately:

• Ferris Bueller's Day Off is a completely different movie when you are a month away from graduation.
• I am really popular. I don't know what happened. Suddenly, I am not that nerd everyone thinks is weird. I am that weird nerd that everyone wonders how someone like me got so popular.
• Clark Kent would be a lot like me. You know what I mean? I mean, really. To totally dissuade anyone who might think he is Superman, he would be a total nerd who isn't into much physical activity.
• I am so done with high school. My new favorite line from Ferris Bueller's Day Off is, "It's a little childish and stupid, but then, so is high school." I mean, really, give me one thing that I need to learn in the next month that I haven't learned some time in the last thirteen years. High school really is childish and stupid.
• I have eighty five more days in my home. Pleasant Grove and I are parting ways, maybe (probably not) for good. Okay, I don't have a girlfriend. I won't have a girlfriend before my mission. But I have PG. This town has given me everything. I'm telling you, there is no where in the world that can compare to Pleasant Grove. She is my first love. 
• Sometimes I can think for a little bit what I want to do with my life, but it only sticks around for a couple days, maximum. A couple serious considerations: secret agent, writer, journalist, director, movie writer, neurological scientist, brain surgeon, chef, restaurant owner, psychologist, life counselor (I don't know what that would be, exactly, I'm just good at advice), astronaut. I have no idea. I just wish it would be simpler. Freaking heck. 
• My wife>>>>>>>. (And I never do the greater than thing, so that proves how true that is).
• Man of Steel is going to be one of the best movies ever made. I am going to promise you that right now. And if it's rated 'R,' I may have one of the biggest life decisions ever to make: whether or not I see it.
• I seemed to have lost my lactose intolerance. But at the same time, I got allergies. That is pretty weird.
• I am so ready to be going to Italy. I won't be sad leaving. I'm ready to just move on. But driving on the freeway between the MTC and the airport past the only place ever to be my home will be the hardest part. I'll probably cry.

That was April for me. Sorry I never posted. It's not that I'm not good at it, typically. 

85 days.

Only nerds write papers for fun

I haven't written for a while. Being busy and stuff. I don't want to write about me, though. If you know me, you know I love the novel To Kill a Mockingbird. That book has heroes and villains. Some of the greatest people have the worst situations thrust upon them, yet they pull through. Atticus Finch. Heck Tate. Judge Taylor. Tom Robinson. Arthur Radley. But those people won't really be the focus of what I am writing about tonight. I want to write a paper about a man who dies in the first chapter of the book. A man who literally never talks in the whole novel. A man whose first name we don't even learn: Mr. Radley.

The first time through the book To Kill a Mockingbird, it is very easy for one to think that Mr. Radley is a rigid, total jerk. In fact, having read this novel over ten times, I can tell you that that perspective is probably going to stick. I never thought about it, really. He was a jerk and he died. Done deal. However, I have been thinking about it. I have really been thinking about it. To the point that now when I think about Mr. Radley, I tear up. I submit to you that Mr. Radley was as great of a man as Atticus Finch. The only difference was that he had a rougher situation.

Here is a little thought I had that you probably haven't considered (I say that because I just barely thought of it and that was on a fluke): Arthur Radley was mentally handicapped. Now mind you, I don't mean that he had a lot of disabilities; maybe just a little autism. The book takes place in the 1930's in the South. Heck, this was a time when they hardly understood that skin color didn't change the worth of a person. They almost definitely didn't understand mental illness. Now keep that in mind as we go on.

Mr. Radley was said to be devoutly religious. A man whose only law was the law of God. A man who was most likely extremely happy to have a healthy baby boy, Nathan. A man who was probably extremely distraught when his second son, Arthur, was born with problems he didn't understand. A man who probably prayed to God asking why he had been given this unsolvable trial. A man whose already stiff living became stiffer, thinking he had done something to upset God. His children grew up living fairly normal lives, his younger sons slight disability not too noticeable, but just noticeable enough for Mr. Radley to want to change it yet was unable to do so. Mr. Radley was aware that his younger son did not have many friends. He was sad that his son was so distant. Then finally Arthur got some friends. Mr. Radley didn't care who these kids were; they were friends with Arthur and that was good enough. His son was finally normal and Mr. Radley was so happy. He really loved Arthur.

That's why the arrest came as such a shock. It wasn't as bad as everyone said it was. Small towns always blow things out of proportions. The biggest problem was not the charges. The court wanted the boys to be sent to a correctional school. But Mr. Radley knew better than most: Arthur wouldn't do well there. He just wouldn't be able to make it with all his special needs. Not only that, but ever since the incident (of which he was just an observer), Arthur was scared. Mr. Radley told the courts that he would never send his son to that school. People took it as a sign of pride, but it didn't matter. The thing was, Arthur didn't need to be encouraged to stay indoors. He was scared. His simple mind couldn't think of anything outside of his house that was good.

After Nathan moved out, the Radley's reached a very easy point in their lives. Mr. Radley, now retired, bought groceries. Mrs. Radley took care of the house and her plants on the porch. Arthur was Arthur. He was content as long as he had newspaper and scissors. Mr. Radley started to love his son more. Mr. Radley went from seeing his son as a curse of God and started to think of him as a gift from God. Mr. Radley, a typically calm, reserved man, started playing with his son. He may have been an adult, but he had the mind and the heart of an innocent child and Mr. Radley loved that. In contrast, as his love for Arthur grew, his resentment for Maycomb also grew. Their stories of Arthur become wild exaggerations. They didn't know Arthur. Who were they to judge his blessing from God? The neighborhood starting calling Arthur the cruel name of Boo, as though he were just a creature and not a beautiful, wonderful, innocent young man. Mr. Radley started to speak to Maycomb citizens as minimally as possible. 

One night, Arthur and Mr. Radley were playing a game. Arthur got excited. Too excited. It was an accident. He didn't even really realize what he had done. He stabbed Mr. Radley in the leg with his favorite pair of scissors. They went to Dr. Reynolds and of course he had to call Heck Tate. When he got to the Radley residence, Arthur had forgotten the incident. Mr. and Mrs. Radley thought it was understandable. No one else did. The whole thing got blown out of proportions again. They locked Arthur up. It made Mr. Radley mad. His son was not a criminal. His son was not crazy. His son was a beautiful young man who just had a different understanding. Arthur was locked up and Mr. Radley couldn't get him out fast enough. Finally the courts heard his appeal; Arthur was coming home. Mr. Radley couldn't wait to have his little boy home again. 

The nights in the courthouse basement changed Arthur. Now he was silent. He was deathly afraid to go outside. It broke Mr. Radley's heart. His son was so sweet and they had ruined his life. His special son, and he was lost because of their ignorance. Mr. Radley's personality in public was so cold that before he seemed personable in comparison. He had little to say to these people. He didn't care what they thought. He didn't care about their lives. Even the good ones like the lawyer Finch became strangers. Mr. Radley spent all day every day trying to get Arthur to become what he used to be. After years of trying, it finally hit Mr. Radley: Arthur was gone. All that was left was Boo.

The day he realized was the day he started dying. Within a month he was on his deathbed. The typical people came over. Boo stayed away. Mr. Radley died thinking his son was broken and he couldn't do anything to change that. As far as he knew, no one could fix him. 

Of course, that was before Dill bet Jem that he couldn't touch the Radley house. That was before Boo met Scout and that was before Arthur started watching the lawyer Finch's kids.

That was my paper. I hope you like it. Because that was all I would need to use it for. Also, if you want to disprove anything I wrote, most of it was guesswork. It all came from the first chapter. Now if you haven't read this book, ask yourself, "Why in the world would a senior in high school write a four page paper for fun?" That is how amazing this book is. That paper was written from the first chapter. Seriously, if you haven't read it, do it now. I promise you it will change your perspective on life. It is so amazing. Thanks for reading this. Here's your prize. I have no idea what the heck it is. I spent like thirty seconds exploring, but have at it. That's all. Goodnight!

I gave a talk yesterday

This is my talk. Enjoy.

The following is a true story, a story that touched my heart very much. Years ago, a good friend of mine was walking along the banks of a river with his very young sister. It was a Sunday afternoon and they went for a walk in their church attire. The sister shrieked with delight as she saw the lily pads that covered the surface of the river. She begged my friend to get her one. It was not very practical and most would just say maybe later, but my friend could not say no to this young sister that he loved so much. So, rolling up his pant legs and taking off his shoes, my friend plunged into the river. The water was cold and the rocks underfoot were sharp. The current was strong enough that he knew she would never have been able to retrieve the lily pads herself; she was simply too small to do it. As he continued, the jagged rocks hurting his numbing feet, he reached for a lily pad. From the banks of the river he heard his sister cry, “No! Not that one, the other!” My friend noticed a large lily pad that he was sure was the one she was referring to. However, it was almost to the other side of the river. This was going to be harder than he originally thought, but he knew it was going to be worth it, so he pressed onward. His feet had gone numb, so the rocks were hardly noticeable the rest of the way to and from the lily pad. Emerging from the water, he handed his sister the coveted lily pad. She was beyond happy. So happy, in fact, that she couldn’t even imagine how her older brother felt. His legs were numb up to the knees and he noticed that he was bleeding from several cuts on the bottoms of his feet. Before he could bend down to inspect the cuts, his sister ran and hugged him with all her might. I don’t know if she will soon know what her brother sacrificed for her happiness, but she will still forever be grateful for his love for her.

“[On] Easter,... we commemorate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. This was not an ordinary thing. It was the greatest event in human history. I do not hesitate to say that.”

-Gordon B. Hinckley (“He Is Not Here, but Is Risen, April 1999)

More than anything, Easter is the day we celebrate Christ’s literally undying love for us. We celebrate His humble, perfect life that made the Atonement possible. We celebrate His ability to completely turn His will to God, even when faced with all the pains of the earth. We celebrate His willingness to die for us, die even for the ones that killed Him. Do you realize that He loved them just as much? That if Christ was atoning for just Judas or Pilate or Herod, He would still do it? That is the level of love He feels for us. The culminating event of the Easter morning is Christ’s willingness to overcome death itself. His ability to come forth that Sabbath morning answering the question, “Will we live again?” with a resounding, “Yes!” We celebrate the only hope that was given to us: the atonement of Jesus Christ.

God had a simple but all too incredible plan. Send someone to live a perfect life then atone for the billions of His brothers and sisters’ sins. Not only did Christ volunteer for us, but He volunteered before the third of our heavenly siblings fell away! Think of all the sins that Christ would have had to overcome! But He didn’t care. He didn’t care the size of the burden He would be lifting, just that He would be lifting a burden. Christ did what the Father required.

“And to Thee, My God, the Fame”

By Wyatt Duclos

I sat in heaven,

 With my friends and family, 

Dreaming of a perfect life,

And an immortal body.

We pled with the Father,

Asked, “Please let us go,

To Earth to live,

To love and to grow.”

There sat our Father,

The Master of my soul,

He spake softly and said,

“One must pay the toll.”

Saddened and scared,

Too meek to volunteer,

I sat and watched our brother stand,

Loving and sincere.

“A sacrifice to be made,”

The Father sighed in pain.

“It is my lot,” the Son replied,

“And to Thee, my God, the fame.”

Christ, our Lord,

Suffered and died.

He did it not for money,

Or for adoring fans,

He did it for love,

For you and for me.

The Savior of All?

He made us free.