Don't Forget Fathers!

Happy Father's Day!

Notice Michael off being Michael

I want to start out with a disclaimer. This quote is from Elder Jeffrey R. Holland from a worldwide leadership training on 2009:

"...we talk about the pattern, the ideal, of marriage and family when we know full well that not everyone now lives in that ideal circumstance. It is precisely because many don’t have, or perhaps have never even seen, that ideal and because some cultural forces steadily move us away from that ideal, that we speak about what our Father in Heaven wishes for us in His eternal plan for His children. Individual adaptations have to be made as marital status and family circumstances differ. But all of us can agree on the pattern as it comes from God, and we can strive for its realization the best way we can."

If you've lived in the Western world anytime in the last century, but especially in my lifetime, you've come across someone who was offended by the notion that we live in a patriarchy where "women are expected to only be wives and mothers." And when put this way, I certainly hope the person was offended! What that says is that "Men need to go be something more important than women. Women are only suited to be mothers and wives."
Something more important than raising a family? Like.....what? Becoming a giant in corporate America?

You know my feelings on this one

That kind of thinking is offensive, backwards, and wrong, but not in the way it is usually called such. The common response says that if men can go off and do great things, women shouldn't be tied down to the archaic roles of wives and mothers. They should be able to do these more important things that men do!

This is where we are backwards. We're comparing apples to oranges. Men get careers and fame and glory, while women get parenthood. The truth is that the most important duty for a man is to be a husband and father. 

If you're a Christian, think of God. He is the Creator of everything, He runs the universe, He is omnipotent, omniscient, and all-powerful. Nothing we can attain in this life could equal His greatness and importance. He is called many names in the Bible, all representative of His power. And yet, when Jesus Christ taught his disciples how to pray, how did he tell them to address God? 

"Our Father, who art in Heaven..."

Of all the accolades we could pay this supreme power, the way we are taught to address Him is as our Father. Now tell me, what do you think He would say if He heard someone teaching "Men get to do X, women are only mothers."

The quote is important. The picture can only end in a dad with a broken nose.

In 1995, the leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (or "Mormons" if we're being conservative with keystrokes) issued a "Proclamation to the World." Herein we can find quotes further expressing the importance of being a husband and father.

"In the premortal realm, spirit sons and daughters knew and worshipped God as their Eternal Father...

"The first commandment that God gave to Adam and Eve pertained to their potential for parenthood as husband and wife. We declare that God’s commandment for His children to multiply and replenish the earth remains in force....

"Husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children. “Children are an heritage of the Lord” (Psalm 127:3). Parents [not "mothers"] have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, and to teach them to love and serve one another, observe the commandments of God, and be law-abiding citizens wherever they live. Husbands and wives—mothers and fathers—will be held accountable before God for the discharge of these obligations.

The family is ordained of God. Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan."

The religious teachings behind, the statistics on the importance of having a father in the home are significant and astounding. Fatherhood.org  has compiled the results of many sociological studies on the impact of fatherless homes. Just a few:

In a study of INTERPOL crime statistics of 39 countries, it was found that single parenthood ratios were strongly correlated with violent crimes. This was not true 18 years ago.

Father involvement in schools is associated with the higher likelihood of a student getting mostly A's. This was true for fathers in biological parent families, for stepfathers, and for fathers heading single-parent families.

A study with 441 college students revealed that a poor parental bond with one’s father was highly predictive of depression, a well-known predictor of alcohol abuse and related problems for both females and males.

Like so many things in this life, our ability to be fathers is sometimes out of our control. I'll refer you to Elder Holland's quote at the beginning of this post and challenge you all to strive to see how you can step up and be a father. (Or a mother, child, brother, or sister.)

For all of us, I think an important step one is to stop pretending that there is some greater duty for men than that of a husband and father.

Last Child: Or how I learned to stop worrying and love my life

Remember when I used to get out of studying by writing things on here? I think that time has come again. I have one final left this semester and am remembering that thing where my last final gets the least attention and can turn out a total wild card. Sort of like the last child in the family.

Pictured above: The fruits of exhausted parenting

So I thought I would step out on the front step of my blog, sweep off the sidewalk, and switch on the neon OPEN sign. Maybe I'll tell you a little bit about my life as of late. It has been completely fantastic. Bullet points may be required, and for that I ask your patience and remembrance that I like to write with lots of forward-slashes and bulleted lists.

• Schoolwork is prospering. I've taken all the prerequisites for the business program this semester and have conquered the challenge. I took more notes in class this semester than probably all my previous semesters combined. Pending a decent score on my accounting exam tomorrow, I'm fairly confident I will be accepted into the management program this fall (with an emphasis in Organizational Behavior.)

The last child syndrome can't be so bad it keeps me out of business school...can it?

• I've been back from my mission for over 9 months. When you think about it, that is long enough for a human being to fully bring a new human being into the world. Kind of intense imagery, but when you see past the icky you realize that I have been home a fair amount of time!
• I know the pictures with mystery girl have piqued the interest of several of you on facebook, so this bullet point is going to be a shout-out to the remarkable Tiffany. Through a fantastic talk given in sacrament meeting, Indian food, a popped tire, and weeks and weeks of studying (but mostly laughing and watching Once Upon a Time) together, we've been dating, but more importantly we've become best friends. We found each other at the tail end of some dark times and have helped bring tons of happy light to each other's lives for the last two months. And while I'll be packing my bags and heading back to the promised land next week and she will be packing her bags and heading out to preach the good word of God to the people of Brazil for a year and a half at the end of August and the list of question marks is a lot longer than the list of answers we have right now, two answers on that list stand out boldly and clearly:

1.  My life has been dramatically changed for the better because of Tiffany. 
2. Irma Phillips is going to be a fantastic ambassador for the Lord for two years!

A shout out that ends speculation and questioning. My favorite kind of shout-out

And so I can end this post with a line borrowed from the infamous James Kearl, of Econ 110 infame:

Self: great day!

...now to go tend to my last final before it ends up on a path that can only end with arrest for indecent exposure...

Seriously people, this isn't a metaphor anymore. Michael is a sick freak.

Home, home again.

Like a phoenix who was living in Sweden for two years preaching the good word, I'm back.

I guess this would be a fair place to admit that I don't really remember how to blog (and probably a fair place for you to admit that I never really knew how to blog.) But it is a hot Saturday afternoon and I am left with nothing else to do, so I thought I'd dust this thing off.

I know what you're probably wanting me to talk about- the oft repeated "How was your mission?" question. Anybody who has been on a 2-year adventure in a foreign country doing something way different than anything they have ever done would be equally lost looking for a response to this question. Can I sum it up in a word? No. Yet I usually do. "Good."

This isn't a lie. It really was good. But word(s) can't really serve justice to two years of midnight sun, 3pm darkness, rejection, humiliation, frustration, crazy happy joy, and lots and lots of kebab. Nor that sentence.

The real deal is way better than the restaurant, I can tell you this much.

I like to think I've grown a lot as a person, but I guess you will be the better judge of that. Whoever "you" are. 

So instead of trying to describe everything that has happened over a blog post, just give me a call sometime or come visit me or something like that. Like starting to write in a journal, I know I will fail epically if I try to cover everything in the past. 

Here's to the present. Me golfing and doing yard work in the cool morning and wasting the days of my probation down in the basement trying to stay cool. (Thanks for nothing, dearth.) 

Mission camera

 I just bought a new camera to take on my mission. It is the Panasonic Lumix and is way too fun. So today I have been playing around with it to get a feel for it. Here is what resulted:

Basically an awesome day. And an awesome camera.
PS: Two new suits!

Just a quote

Not the torturer will scare me
Nor the body's final fall
Nor the barrels of death's rifles
Nor the shadows on the wall
Nor the night when to the ground 
The last dim star of pain is hurled
But the blind indifference 
Of a merciless, unfeeling world.
-Roger Waters-

I don't have anything funny to write tonight (always open to suggestions!) but I came across some more of Mr. Waters' wonderfully penned poetry tonight and felt like I should share it! Happy Monday, let's make this week better than last week.

"Some people die by the drop"

My blog was very attention starved, as I neglected it for the entire month of May. My post from the other will clearly show you that the month+ break did not give me anything worthwhile to write/read. This was until yesterday of course, when the wonderful Christine wrote a post I am totally stealing the concept of.
I know everyone that reads my blog, I think. At least to a point. But now I am going to tell you 3 things about myself that you may not know. You have to return the favor by telling me 3 things about yourself that I may not know. You can comment on mine, send me a message, or even follow in my footsteps and write your own blog post to share the love and facts.

1. If you know me even a little, you will know that I love good food. What less people know is my super power to remember meals long past. I actually remember major life events by recalling the meals surrounding those events. I remember places much better if I had a meal there. For example, the other day my sister asked if we had ever been to Bethany. I struggled to remember, but finally went "Oh yes, we stopped at the McDonalds in Bethany on the way up to see Coldplay last summer!" It wasn't until later that I remembered my several trips there for different high school functions. If you doubt this super power, just ask my family. It is kind of a game we play sometimes. I don't think I have ever lost.

2. As mellow as I try to be, I am a serious over-thinker. I prefer email to phone calls because I can meticulously edit an email 12 times before sending it. Conversations are planned out in my head over and over before they actually happen. Sometimes I have to ask people if a conversation ever really took place. I spent an entire year of school with a huge crush on somebody and specifically planned to explain it on at least 6 million different occasions, but never did. Sometimes things wander into the ridiculous, like when I find myself particularly bored in the library and I start to wonder how I would Jason Bourne my way out of a situation if needed to (which furniture to throw through which window and such.) I have on at least one occasion wondered how I would Red Dawn my way out of a situation as I was falling asleep at night. Answer: Hide out in the field until the dirty soviets get comfortable in my house, then come in and go all Swayze on them.

3. I never cry.

Okay, I rarely cry. But I am easily moved and get goosebumps over lots of things. Sometimes I feel a little guilty because I will get goosebumps one night while watching the end of Return of the King, and get the same goosebumps the next morning singing my favorite hymn at church. Dark Side of the Moon gets me more often than not. Seeing Jack White jump off stage in the middle of "Carolina Drama" to lift a passed out girl over the safety rail gave me some serious goosebumps.
Actually, the entire concert being about 15 feet away from Jack gave me goosebumps.
The series finale of Lost DEFINITELY got me. Almost to tears, but not quite.

Now you know a little more about me. Maybe you understand me a little more or less.
Your turn to 'fess up.

Rambling for my sake more than yours

I haven't been on here in a while. I don't really have anything profound to say. It is summer and my brain certainly knows it. I have been down to Dallas twice in the last 2 weeks (drove down with mom, flew back solo, drove down with family, drove back up with family and mom [who is also family.]) There, I met and became completely best friends with Jackson Seth Jones. He is pretty much definitely the cutest baby nephew an uncle like me could hope for. Pictures are on facebook, as are all of you. Yes, you.
I've read a few books. Mostly Vince Flynn novels, but also A Hero of Our Time. It was excellent, and you should read it. Yes, you. I promised a blog post with my favorite excerpts, but now that I find myself on my blog my dad has the book because I told him to read it. And he listened to me.
I bought two pretty legitimate new albums. "Brothers" by The Black Keys and "Sea of Cowards" by The Dead Weather. I have been looking forward to Brothers since I heard about it and bought tickets to see them in Kansas City on June 4th (this friday!) It definitely did not disappoint. The second I was hesitant to buy, but that was foolish because Jack White was involved and I have never been disappointed in any of his albums. This one is funky, dark, and experimental. So I don't bore you to tears with my reviews, here is an article I found which happens to be about both albums:
http://www.boston.com/ae/music/articles/2010/05/30/indie_rockers_plumb_the_depths_of_neoblues/
What else? I'm getting very excited for my mission. It is quick approaching. My computer tells me it is now officially June 1st. Weird.
Also weird: sometimes I miss school. Maybe it is just the very limited social life I enjoyed very much in Provo (as opposed to the zero social life in Gallatin.) I think it is a mix of that and the fact that I miss challenging myself. My mind gets pretty lazy in the summer, no matter how much I promise myself that I'm going to read stimulating books and run 600 miles every day. The fact is that I wake up, do all the stuff I need to, and not do much else that requires any physical or mental effort. Maybe I'll do something crazy. I tell myself that every day, and it still doesn't really happen.

Alas.

Last thing: rockstars shouldn't get to hurt their backs and have emergency back surgeries and cancel certain concerts in 2 weeks. Yes Bono, this means you. I am thinking mean thoughts about you. But get better and stuff. Don't worry about me, who will be a little busy on the date you rescheduled the show for. Next year. Dislike.

This summer is...

• Going to bed before 11, waking up before 7
• Outside. Lots and lots of outside.
• Working with mom to finish all of her landscaping/misc. projects. Basically using a shovel in countless ways.
• Driving around in the Jeep
• Counting down the days until I enter the MTC (90) and Sweden (153...I think) and trying to read The Book of Mormon (following along in Mormons Bok) before then.
• Golf
• Grilling hot dogs and watching an episode of Star Trek (the Original Series) with mom during our lunch breaks.
• Rummy/movies with the family
• Dogs. Lots of time with the sheepdogs :)
• Leaving my blackberry/laptop unattended for long periods of time. It is like weaning myself.
• In a word: excellent.
• In two words: most excellent.

When I was a child I caught a fleeting glimpse...

Wow it has been some time since I have posted anything on here. So what is new in the life of Jon Youd?
First and foremost:

I finally retired my laundry hamper! It has served me well for two years, but there isn't much left.

As a side note, I've been called to serve in the Sweden Stockholm Mission as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. 

So that is pretty cool too :D Cool enough to make me use a smiley face. Yeah. I can't express how excited I am to serve the Swedish people and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ for two years.

I'm all done with school for two years. It is weird, I haven't taken this much time off school...well since before I started preschool. Kind of mind blowing. Kind of makes me step back and admit that I LOVE being a student and learning and all that stuff. 

Headed back to the homeland in a few days. Packing up kind of makes me sad, no matter where the destination. I am a homebody who gets attached to wherever I call home. I want to see/experience the world; I just want to come home to a hot meal and comfortable bed at the end of the day. Not as in every night, but I think that those of you who actually read this blog are intelligent to understand what I'm talking about. Y'all are pretty smart.

Saying goodbyes for two years/forever are kind of not my strong point. I'm trying to be honest and casual about it, which is hard in an environment like BYU where most people are taking the exact opposite approach. I've watched two years of goodbyes in freshman housing complexes and seen (twice) approaches to the situation which are rarely honest or rational. In my best Spock impersonation, they are "Highly illogical." *raises eyebrows*

Anyways. There are a few solid paragraphs of rambling to make up for my month absence. I'm just weaning you guys. Unless you write me on my mission (hint: you should.)

Youd out.

My inspiration for this (crappy) week

 "Anyone who imagines that bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around shouting that he's been robbed.
Most putts don't drop. Most beef is tough. Most children grow up to be just people. Most successful marriages require a high degree of mutual toleration. Most jobs are more often dull than otherwise.
Life is like an old-time rail journey -- delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders, and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed.
The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride."

(Quoted by President Gordon B. Hinckley)

Counting down the days until summer!

One, two, free four.

As the sands of time continue to chip the paint off my car, my blog has kind of fallen by the wayside. Sorry, buddy. It isn't that I haven't had anything to say. That rarely happens.
Life has been...life. I'm just in the busy routine and haven't had too much time to let drama enter my mind or anything like that. Just keep going from one day to the next. I'll hopefully get my mission call sometime in the next few weeks, which means other than a short summer, I won't have too much downtime to let drama get me down. Not until I talk to other people about my mission do I even consider how unique it is for me to "put my life on hold" right in the middle of my schooling like this for 2 years. I'm stoked.
...but I feel pretty old.

"Life is a short warm moment
And death is a long cold rest
You get your chance to try in the twinkling of an eye:
Eighty years, with luck, or even less."
 Free Four- Pink Floyd
Thanks for the morbid reality, Roger.