tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932205621353797102024-03-05T10:42:25.687-08:00TowerboundMatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14563512061651399881noreply@blogger.comBlogger151125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-393220562135379710.post-8004517466272500542012-05-29T02:01:00.000-07:002012-06-21T16:55:32.611-07:00Radar Lab!<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“Seawolf departure, United 364 with you climbing through
eight hundred for four thousand.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Is that Alaska jet past his departure course yet? Yes it
looks like he’s clear, so I can turn this guy to the north toward his departure gate.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“United 364, Seawolf departure, radar contact.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Turn right heading three six zero, climb and
maintain five thousand.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“Three six zero and five thousand, United 364”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“Approach, Fedex 250 heavy, with you at one-five thousand
with information tango”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">This guy is flying the COUGA1 arrival, so I won’t need to
give him vectors…just altitudes to keep him clear of the departures, whose
paths he will have to cross to get to the final controller who will vector him
onto the localizer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The departures are
climbing to five thousand, so he can safely go down to six.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“Fedex 250 heavy, Seawolf approach, descend and maintain six
thousand, expect vectors ILS runway two-eight left final approach course.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">"uhh...say again for Fedex 250 Heavy?"</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I repeat the instruction...but the wasted time from having to say it twice means I'm going to be late giving a turn to a departing Delta jet...I'll have to do some extra vectoring to get him lined up with his departure gate to the east of the airport. When am I going to have time for that?</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“Got it. Down to six thousand, Fedex 250 Heavy”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Point and click to accept three more handoffs from the
center controllers adjacent to my airspace – looks like a big rush is coming in through the GILGN gate. And there are more
departures popping up off the main airport, as well as the smaller satellite fields
nearby.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“Seawolf departure, Baron two five niner whiskey papa, out
of one for four.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The radar scope is cluttered with data tags from the fifteen
different aircraft under my control, as well as a few primary targets from VFR
flights in the airspace, and more flashing handoffs from the center controllers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Where is this guy?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“Baron two five niner whiskey papa, seawolf departure, ident”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">A data tag near the Hillsboro airport starts
flashing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Check his flight strip…he’s
heading north, out the KRATR gate…great, that means he’s going to have to join in with the stream of fast moving jet departures unless I want to give him a
long reroute.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This will be fun, considering how slow he is.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“Baron niner whiskey papa, radar contact three miles north of
the Newburg VOR, proceed direct KRATR, climb and maintain one zero thousand."</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">"Direct KRATR and up to one zero thousand, Baron niner whiskey papa"</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Meanwhile the Fedex jet is about to pass over the top and
just behind the United Airlines flight.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“Fedex 250 Heavy, traffic 12:00, five miles, crossing right
to left – a 757 at five thousand.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“Fedex 250 Heavy has the traffic”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">By the time the words are out of his mouth they’ve nearly
passed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“United 364, traffic 3:00, two miles, eastbound, a heavy 747
at six thousand”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“we see ‘em, United 364”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Alright, they’ve passed and there’s nobody left in their
way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our agreement with the Center says
the jet departures need to be handed off climbing to 16,000 feet… <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“United 364, climb and maintain one six thousand”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“one six thousand, United 364”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And the final approach controller wants arrivals descending
to five thousand before I hand them off.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“Fedex 250 Heavy, descend and maintain five thousand”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“Ok, down to five, Fedex 250 Heavy”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">A couple keystrokes and mouseclicks, and the data blocks for
the two aircraft start flashing on other controllers’ screens, waiting for them
to accept the handoffs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The final controller accepts the handoff after only a few
seconds, and the block stops flashing and shows an “F” next to it, meaning it
belongs to him now.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“Fedex 250 Heavy, contact Seawolf Approach on one one eight
point six, so long”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“Eighteen-six, and we’ll see you later. Fedex 250 Heavy”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Oh great - I forgot about the Baron… that United flight is going
over a hundred knots faster than him and he’s about to climb straight into him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“United 364, amend altitude, maintain niner thousand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Traffic 12:00, four miles, same direction, a Beech Baron at one
zero thousand”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“We’ll stop at niner thousand, and looking for the traffic,
united 364”</span><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It only takes a few seconds for the airline pilot find the little plane</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“And we have the traffic, United 364” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">He passes a thousand feet below the slow-moving Beechcraft.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A small aircraft following a 757 needs five
miles between them to keep from getting flipped over by wake turbulence, but
with such a speed difference, that doesn’t take long.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Still, I don’t want to keep the 757 pilot
down low any longer than I have to…he’s burning tons of fuel, and he can’t
speed up to cruising speed until he climbs past 10,000 feet.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“United 364, climb and maintain one six thousand”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“Out of niner thousand for sixteen, United 364”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">There’s nobody left that the united flight could conflict
with, so it’s time to give him over to the center controller.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now why hasn’t he accepted the handoff yet?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’s getting close to the point where if the
handoff isn’t taken, I’ll have to turn the plane around, and he’s really moving
fast now that he passed 10,000 feet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That
would be inconvenient for everybody involved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Time to call the center controller.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“Seattle Center sector four, Seawolf North Departure on the
landline”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“Seattle four.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Go ahead”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“Handoff, seven south of KRATR, United 364 climbing through
one four thousand”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“ummm…I need him at eighteen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Radar contact. C.Y”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“M.S.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Okay, he's just leveled off at sixteen thousand, but the center controller only accepted the handoff on the
condition that I climb him to eighteen thousand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> It sounds like he has a lot on his plate as well. </span>This has already taken too long, though – there are
other planes I need to talk to, and time is precious.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“United 364, climb and maintain flight level one eight zero. Contact
Seattle Center on one two four point two”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I'm speaking so fast now that I feel like a rapper. Luckily, this pilot has flown out of this airport plenty of times and he knows the frequencies by heart, or else he might not have under stood that "wuhtooforpointoo" meant "124.2". He can tell I'm hurried and harried, so he wastes no time responding with his readback.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“Out of sixteen for one eight zero, switching to center, G’day,
United 364”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Thankfully the center controller remembers to accept the handoff
for the baron, so I don’t have to call him again.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“Baron niner whiskey papa, contact seattle center on one two
four point two, have a good flight.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“going to one two four point two, so long, niner whiskey
papa."</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Finally the Baron is out of my hair...now why is there a conflict alert flashing between those two jet blue flights?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">*****</span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">With the arrival of the summer semester, it's time for the long-awaited ATC Radar Simulator class. The radar simulator lab consists of 12 radar scopes (plus three smaller, computer monitor-sized screens for each radar screen with airspace charts, weather information, flight strips, voice switching control system, etc.) and the accompanying hardware (ARTS style keyboards, trackball mouses (mice?), etc.) Half of the class takes the role of air traffic controllers, and the other half act as psuedo-pilots and have the planes do what the controllers say by entering commands into computers across the room. The professor loads up a problem and tells us a little about what to expect and what he wants us to work on, we put on our headsets, and the fun begins.</span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Usually we work the traffic in the scenarios for about half an hour before switching roles between controllers and pilots so the other half of the class can have their turn. Throughout the problem, the professor and a couple lab techs wander around correcting us on incorrect phraseology, offering suggestions (when needed) about how to work through difficult kinks in the scenarios, and generally observing our performance. After that the professor tells us what we did well and what we need to improve, and we move on to the next, more complex problem and repeat the process.</span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The fast pace and having to keep track of so many different things at once makes it very involved, and sometimes stressful. Things can go from a smooth flow of traffic to chaos in just a few minutes if you start getting behind or make a mistake - every little slip-up ripples outward and disrupts the whole problem. Despite it all, I can't help but feel like this is just like playing a video game. (albeit the most expensive game I've ever played in my life) I can't believe they actually pay people to do this!</span></div>Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14563512061651399881noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-393220562135379710.post-45690011561820105192012-01-26T22:41:00.000-08:002012-03-13T03:10:45.367-07:00Signing my life away...Well, I should be officially in the FAA's database of CTI students now. The other day my aviation counselor came into one of the ATC classes and had us all fill out a bunch of forms saying when we were plan to graduate, verifying that we are US citizens, authorizing the school to release information to the government, etc. Hopefully I didn't make any mistakes, because falsehoods on federal forms are punishable by 10 yrs in prison and $250,000. Anyways, now the FAA knows that I exist, I'm supposed to be taking the AT-SAT sometime this semester, and the long and arduous government hiring process is begun.Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14563512061651399881noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-393220562135379710.post-91821609236773579912011-11-08T14:47:00.000-08:002011-11-08T14:47:19.439-08:00Field Trip - againAnother field trip today - this time we went to the control tower at Merrill Field (the airport at which the school is located) instead of a radar center. These guys definitely have the coolest job in the world. We got to go up in small groups to the tower cab and watch and listen to the controllers directing the planes. It wasn't a particularly busy day, so they were pretty talkative and told us all about their job. I can't wait to get started. (of course, the whole college experience is a blast, too, so I'm not in <i>that</i> much of a hurry...)<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
Merrill Tower</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNZ_0GjWLR0nFy-QFzRzyqKQz-EKSOK5J2yvNDnkZMPh-EbT79Lwrfde5cQIwoGZsqAF_C7NVagMNe-wrcAfykobkR1j890ArTFpnyDUjImDWC8mncEJJydnSkZyMemdPKBRSaZ7vYuwix/s1600/MRI+Tower.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNZ_0GjWLR0nFy-QFzRzyqKQz-EKSOK5J2yvNDnkZMPh-EbT79Lwrfde5cQIwoGZsqAF_C7NVagMNe-wrcAfykobkR1j890ArTFpnyDUjImDWC8mncEJJydnSkZyMemdPKBRSaZ7vYuwix/s320/MRI+Tower.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div align="center">
A couple planes at the airport are so weighed down with the snow on their elevators that they are sitting on their tails instead of their wheels. Gives new meaning to the word "taildragger"...</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaWVii9mp137hpu0c8CwaLYpPc9UigoFkg91zPQ5efBEF2lBvcdXFrX1MXcRq1NnmqNoMTesQkwSiQ7ceWxMjmn4euKIHxnFqoymfrYkSt54GVkm3FZy2P09Jfs5ui74EYRkhg7ek5OEu9/s1600/Taildragger.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaWVii9mp137hpu0c8CwaLYpPc9UigoFkg91zPQ5efBEF2lBvcdXFrX1MXcRq1NnmqNoMTesQkwSiQ7ceWxMjmn4euKIHxnFqoymfrYkSt54GVkm3FZy2P09Jfs5ui74EYRkhg7ek5OEu9/s320/Taildragger.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP46OPFGYmV07YoQ_UVgV-Cr9EMpWeRBbNz4o7TQCI_RqrZ1N6z57NxAUpvOoZyFriBR5se1UWns65V-oSs2NU2l-9XTdgSyyRV8vS3EWU6-E1dc2dTkc4qRu_KiexnOdfUvafyPm9dJW7/s1600/Taildragger2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP46OPFGYmV07YoQ_UVgV-Cr9EMpWeRBbNz4o7TQCI_RqrZ1N6z57NxAUpvOoZyFriBR5se1UWns65V-oSs2NU2l-9XTdgSyyRV8vS3EWU6-E1dc2dTkc4qRu_KiexnOdfUvafyPm9dJW7/s320/Taildragger2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzozPpw_48iL_tzR25oL9HQBtkDp6Sa6_X1zdqQfkWK76dTKPfTkBGWhAZmruzc2SgYgt2IP4Fig_o1_sZHlJf_oOid5KGIrv_TwJ3NmcGPpvoI-QwUo4vOAKrGJf0WpZXp3YhyphenhyphenfMODYN5/s1600/Taildragger3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzozPpw_48iL_tzR25oL9HQBtkDp6Sa6_X1zdqQfkWK76dTKPfTkBGWhAZmruzc2SgYgt2IP4Fig_o1_sZHlJf_oOid5KGIrv_TwJ3NmcGPpvoI-QwUo4vOAKrGJf0WpZXp3YhyphenhyphenfMODYN5/s320/Taildragger3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14563512061651399881noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-393220562135379710.post-55166167107493974562011-10-28T18:41:00.000-07:002011-10-28T20:21:12.074-07:00Field Trip!The other day one of my classes met up at the Anchorage Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) to take a tour of the facility. (An ARTCC controls high altitude traffic during the cruise portion of their flights, and hands the planes off to other facilities as they approach their destination cities.) It was a really cool place and they showed us and told us about a lot of newly implemented innovations such as GPS navigation, radio telemetry, and new radar systems that help keep the air traffic flowing smoothly. Interestingly, they still use a lot of old-fashioned equipment right alongside the cutting edge stuff - the hardware at their controller workstations is cold war vintage. Even though it dates back to the '70s and '80s, though, they said that the total downtime of the system in 2011 so far is 9 seconds. Not too shabby. I can't wait to get me a Hawaiian shirt and start talking to airplanes!<br />
<br />
We weren't allowed to bring phones or cameras since it's a high-security federal facility (we had to go through airport-esque security and everything), but these pictures are from the internet, so we can just pretend.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div align="center">
There are 22 ARTCCs in the USA</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv1nXQ4Nndc5S33RksiAnn-8tzjzeYKUX0u0iTRMpC8zDFBFvWW0DuLzRwsIUBXBlQCQMK3FoI19LylyGMVceTxW2FvF4icefLVCfU7NMbbV3yVGda7GP21u6o5woutN7jxuskK8m84AkV/s1600/usaartccs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv1nXQ4Nndc5S33RksiAnn-8tzjzeYKUX0u0iTRMpC8zDFBFvWW0DuLzRwsIUBXBlQCQMK3FoI19LylyGMVceTxW2FvF4icefLVCfU7NMbbV3yVGda7GP21u6o5woutN7jxuskK8m84AkV/s1600/usaartccs.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<div align="center">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
Which one do you think is the biggest?</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhNyLpiyf5T6wYnYZbQsJ9oxNJh4Ze65bxJ9jY4yERYjQ0ETvIazQaW343jm_bKP6oKhUqioO-md2jLM1gyC4xtQnCJjhSDSM3KVixFxhaFTnL-03dhb_XXLvpC7GlgnOOll_YQ6noTxwt/s1600/zanartccairspace.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhNyLpiyf5T6wYnYZbQsJ9oxNJh4Ze65bxJ9jY4yERYjQ0ETvIazQaW343jm_bKP6oKhUqioO-md2jLM1gyC4xtQnCJjhSDSM3KVixFxhaFTnL-03dhb_XXLvpC7GlgnOOll_YQ6noTxwt/s1600/zanartccairspace.png" /></a></div>
<br />
<div align="center">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
A typical controller workstation with Radar screen, flight strip bay, radio controls, and that stylin' trackball mouse</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_znDfFpXBKdBycUcWZwFQbTUzxzLexMcYiUatMYncfoBtiMOpJbrKz6BsT5AEqpU0hP4CHYX2znIgyRr1wpUkjPVtC_DiqrCGuWZXQAF2koyUGhmMYIeB7SveDY9X7dsytE2uUh8QOetd/s1600/zanartccworkstation.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_znDfFpXBKdBycUcWZwFQbTUzxzLexMcYiUatMYncfoBtiMOpJbrKz6BsT5AEqpU0hP4CHYX2znIgyRr1wpUkjPVtC_DiqrCGuWZXQAF2koyUGhmMYIeB7SveDY9X7dsytE2uUh8QOetd/s1600/zanartccworkstation.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Controllers work individual sectors of airspace (in the background) while others keep an eye on the "big picture" (foreground)</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKSLvimE930svS7JupHEfAP_thXhNTZsC37ChaLZqlJR5DWuG7cPbv4zSoagOKvsj1Q-zzD5skWA9OcyyxAQi8Spf-q7ELZsHFHlBnpXz3xokXY2AcUpNMrHlPcexM60hCQktOXM69UtrT/s1600/zanartccatop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKSLvimE930svS7JupHEfAP_thXhNTZsC37ChaLZqlJR5DWuG7cPbv4zSoagOKvsj1Q-zzD5skWA9OcyyxAQi8Spf-q7ELZsHFHlBnpXz3xokXY2AcUpNMrHlPcexM60hCQktOXM69UtrT/s1600/zanartccatop.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Anchorage ARTCC from the outside</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKFkYtkWYSz0z422UQ2wmHJXa92HTCBOPfcYDeaxWl4PNFFZOP83LGuWTRJsDFX3TrzT76EGV-oGweLHJ2CS1j-07LGxHAy8CTLemRBy7S27rAbadSYGoEvc54TNEIDt_CI-484PGDK6XW/s1600/zanartcc.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKFkYtkWYSz0z422UQ2wmHJXa92HTCBOPfcYDeaxWl4PNFFZOP83LGuWTRJsDFX3TrzT76EGV-oGweLHJ2CS1j-07LGxHAy8CTLemRBy7S27rAbadSYGoEvc54TNEIDt_CI-484PGDK6XW/s1600/zanartcc.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
</div>Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14563512061651399881noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-393220562135379710.post-70510187419337095742011-10-15T19:17:00.000-07:002011-10-15T19:17:40.614-07:00It hurts to move. It hurts to sit still.I just played ultimate frisbee and football for four straight hours. It was 45 degrees and raining. Stopping and turning were all but impossible, which means there were a lot of collisions with other players and the ground. End result: covered in mud, stepped in moose droppings, whole body feels like it got run over by a train. I can't wait 'til next Saturday!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBl7B-3aQ1QZKFJ3NcNoZjfotpn2IGB2vEdLqwS-bF5ZhZzOyeOEiMuFzBgpac7fyKCcKTbsH9JvO0-ZAeomSpbhnwGnL1J3ynAjiumHowNvn644ZbwV1ei7VL2F6Un5__SC_H3-WmXm39/s1600/P10-15-11_18.11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBl7B-3aQ1QZKFJ3NcNoZjfotpn2IGB2vEdLqwS-bF5ZhZzOyeOEiMuFzBgpac7fyKCcKTbsH9JvO0-ZAeomSpbhnwGnL1J3ynAjiumHowNvn644ZbwV1ei7VL2F6Un5__SC_H3-WmXm39/s320/P10-15-11_18.11.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14563512061651399881noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-393220562135379710.post-50527225869138571102011-10-09T21:29:00.000-07:002011-11-01T15:09:03.569-07:00SkypingSo Mom just got an ipad for her birthday and I got to Skype with the family after some clandestine text-messaging with Cody to get it all set up. I was reminded of a time on my mission, right after Christmas, when I was talking to a sister missionary about the experience of Skypeing with her family. She said it was fun but it might not have been a good idea because "You would think I'd be more mature than this since we haven't talked in six months, but most of the time we were just laughing at eachothers' funny faces on the computer."<br />
<br />
Here are some of the fun screenshots from our conversation: (not all of them, of course - I had almost 40 pictures by the time we hung up)<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHylMSukbYO9Sj0wg0lB6r8aVA-V4MquJ3gU7G1xQvwnnfxsD3px00FYgTmWgUg6pDzSPyHCCpSGdfKAOUbFehe2bj7Fzm6O2qtSQQDlTdefLfLvTiQ14M5za0s0pdEIgwVB7xCAu-at4s/s1600/Video+call+snapshot+4.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHylMSukbYO9Sj0wg0lB6r8aVA-V4MquJ3gU7G1xQvwnnfxsD3px00FYgTmWgUg6pDzSPyHCCpSGdfKAOUbFehe2bj7Fzm6O2qtSQQDlTdefLfLvTiQ14M5za0s0pdEIgwVB7xCAu-at4s/s1600/Video+call+snapshot+4.png" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPC7SnRqurp1kukNFRv1HiwtT_UZuTcabpnvRcaEGBSBNEp9vwYT21tzPo83fqC8X3YE4nesTbDEzhxfP-ff5xbOLc-mdA0edj2Tv9nFY_wGYvvzVyg6BJos8j6mF4xNAjGlf7lHYgdMJD/s1600/Video+call+snapshot+7.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPC7SnRqurp1kukNFRv1HiwtT_UZuTcabpnvRcaEGBSBNEp9vwYT21tzPo83fqC8X3YE4nesTbDEzhxfP-ff5xbOLc-mdA0edj2Tv9nFY_wGYvvzVyg6BJos8j6mF4xNAjGlf7lHYgdMJD/s1600/Video+call+snapshot+7.png" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj0-mvGlggPDm24zRKcCDju1duExJPriHXu2myUADZp4K_a1KEgT679ESqxBwalBS-Y_aEOfQLpINQRNlvPRP4cvTEsEqGeicGNQ0ewXSmo2beCCzXrviLLWQmhK35wwujuHmsvUqiYGmg/s1600/Video+call+snapshot+26.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj0-mvGlggPDm24zRKcCDju1duExJPriHXu2myUADZp4K_a1KEgT679ESqxBwalBS-Y_aEOfQLpINQRNlvPRP4cvTEsEqGeicGNQ0ewXSmo2beCCzXrviLLWQmhK35wwujuHmsvUqiYGmg/s320/Video+call+snapshot+26.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<br /><br /><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKmiiJ2ly7KXDwlFvHp30kyZ6-ZsfSXV1IG2Ibm8UoCJDuSpyvXNOkjXqXwnCDxTgotjXtrC3PLwnBKsFvM0tYuvKPKtA3Wm0WU1aH0JS6fDd_kERaj8uimWiMbpI1UJyQLXDEHEZ8MEWG/s1600/Video+call+snapshot+33.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKmiiJ2ly7KXDwlFvHp30kyZ6-ZsfSXV1IG2Ibm8UoCJDuSpyvXNOkjXqXwnCDxTgotjXtrC3PLwnBKsFvM0tYuvKPKtA3Wm0WU1aH0JS6fDd_kERaj8uimWiMbpI1UJyQLXDEHEZ8MEWG/s320/Video+call+snapshot+33.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLtKXT1Zgz38LDgSvbBJkxDNwXt9K0eeeSBIxFBEN-_dU8EXdwm8sc6u9imOzRJuEWc7Vlx0TuhQAU-QxTT39iwhig_eQ2rg7_-hFNV_N2LuDrzumRomklm_dtilKOH5vMsIR-inTjvPwc/s1600/Video+call+snapshot+11.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLtKXT1Zgz38LDgSvbBJkxDNwXt9K0eeeSBIxFBEN-_dU8EXdwm8sc6u9imOzRJuEWc7Vlx0TuhQAU-QxTT39iwhig_eQ2rg7_-hFNV_N2LuDrzumRomklm_dtilKOH5vMsIR-inTjvPwc/s320/Video+call+snapshot+11.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Happy Birthday, Mom!</div>Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14563512061651399881noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-393220562135379710.post-55283542850562443982011-09-30T21:50:00.000-07:002011-09-30T21:54:58.004-07:00Moose WarningSo..."Matt's Post-Mission Blog" was kind of a mouthful and didn't really roll off the tongue that well. Accordingly, the name has been changed to "Towerbound" based on the results of the poll that was posted last week to determine the blog's new name. I thought "SophoMormon" was a pretty good idea, but I'm a junior so it might have been a bit of a misnomer.<br />
<br />
So check out the picture below of the "moose warning" that was posted on the front door of the residence halls today - Anchorage rocks! There have been a couple moose hanging around the campus lately - mostly cows, it seems, but there have been a few bulls as well. Nothing huge, though.<br />
<br />
The other pictures are shots of the Lake Hood Seaplane Base - apparently the largest seaplane base in the world. It's made up of two lakes - lakes Hood and Spenard, connected by a couple big waterways large enough for floatplanes to land on. We had to visit as part of a class assignment. I thought the truck with no rear wheels (used for moving floats around on land) was particularly funny.<br />
<br />
Moose Warning<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilcFfz6kUwpH8oZrGZPlIzQnrNeUgMd-gr2bBdoN5uUjhhTQF0cG5w44blILckMMHYSsSOOltD8Cmw6hgcmV-_GqxjoDFo7QcIENtB4SxyAHlAfyKTwbUd_q_erM2Or3xVpSr8Zrbvr8j-/s1600/P09-30-11_10.09.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilcFfz6kUwpH8oZrGZPlIzQnrNeUgMd-gr2bBdoN5uUjhhTQF0cG5w44blILckMMHYSsSOOltD8Cmw6hgcmV-_GqxjoDFo7QcIENtB4SxyAHlAfyKTwbUd_q_erM2Or3xVpSr8Zrbvr8j-/s320/P09-30-11_10.09.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Lakes Hood and Spenard</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWorcH6MB-QGnVt4lOu1Q_5eVwr9eEG3L7qSLC26VMbCEs41jTtbZmTc0CC6eT4LX-9Gf2LJNLsyaI3LPmx8QvjeihHXHf-x1rsTv67l-2Ofvc7mxu6vDLM9q_eEyJgUPFFIOuVz9Yg3rd/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWorcH6MB-QGnVt4lOu1Q_5eVwr9eEG3L7qSLC26VMbCEs41jTtbZmTc0CC6eT4LX-9Gf2LJNLsyaI3LPmx8QvjeihHXHf-x1rsTv67l-2Ofvc7mxu6vDLM9q_eEyJgUPFFIOuVz9Yg3rd/s1600/images.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Planes docked on the shore of Lake Spenard</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYGRdlM1xmgrz_6T_ANQKjY0Vsrr_rsEjkIIZqesP9U7_e-C2G7Y_aESa2q-gLZcI0ib8pl_fp1Dn_NSS8ltoP0ccmh20kaXsR0y2snN7-mofeZreVLPYL3SHNrA3z0R582Ou-UGhFflxx/s1600/P09-29-11_13.28%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYGRdlM1xmgrz_6T_ANQKjY0Vsrr_rsEjkIIZqesP9U7_e-C2G7Y_aESa2q-gLZcI0ib8pl_fp1Dn_NSS8ltoP0ccmh20kaXsR0y2snN7-mofeZreVLPYL3SHNrA3z0R582Ou-UGhFflxx/s320/P09-29-11_13.28%255B1%255D.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Crappy picture of a plane taking off from Lake Hood</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbYeHrSxoqDDS4byj801xy5aTdZiTofUiguVS9EZqJOd_huzy7Agc2amA3q74d83aoHV1Zyd4YKhX8-WbUtCgF9TFkZ0Rj6Dse0HoR8r3PhEc1wcm-_BOH5e7OXm8DdweiQVfDN-7GnANH/s1600/P09-29-11_13.28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbYeHrSxoqDDS4byj801xy5aTdZiTofUiguVS9EZqJOd_huzy7Agc2amA3q74d83aoHV1Zyd4YKhX8-WbUtCgF9TFkZ0Rj6Dse0HoR8r3PhEc1wcm-_BOH5e7OXm8DdweiQVfDN-7GnANH/s320/P09-29-11_13.28.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Front-wheel only truck</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpHKAsOcNfcaOhfQeLfTUi4qcKjygGPEn_D6QL4w5-XZDKCciV6ZApekhCncfQMocWJ1YkYQ6adlCJ_fkIIY2DPlEBUrvHVFXd8ymp2GXTHSt-Wsfg6YirAPvz6N64oZGPttQSwVSqqNsB/s1600/P09-29-11_13.08.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpHKAsOcNfcaOhfQeLfTUi4qcKjygGPEn_D6QL4w5-XZDKCciV6ZApekhCncfQMocWJ1YkYQ6adlCJ_fkIIY2DPlEBUrvHVFXd8ymp2GXTHSt-Wsfg6YirAPvz6N64oZGPttQSwVSqqNsB/s320/P09-29-11_13.08.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14563512061651399881noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-393220562135379710.post-17590752049941577922011-09-21T15:48:00.000-07:002011-09-21T15:48:18.121-07:00N300PW, Merrill Tower, Winds 200 at 6, Runway 25, Cleared for TakeoffSo school is pretty cool - it should hardly count as 'going to college' because all my courses are about the fun stuff - aviation! Today I got to go up in a Kingair (a really nice twin engine turboprop) for about an hour and fly around (see the pictures below). The Marine Corps was doing a recruiting thing at the school and had offered to take the aviation students flying as part of it. I'm still not joining the Marines (much to Mom's relief and Cody's chagrin, I'm sure), but it was a cool experience. I asked the pilot who took us how much it cost the marines for the hour long flight and he said that after including fuel, maintenance, and the per-hour lease on the airplane, it was about $1,200 per hour. Thanks to all the faithful taxpayers out there for financing this trip for me!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsO29Pq4TVcWzL7EadGe6JMRBqmRZ6ti1CuKujZiHL6G0BHEtiEIa5dIPOpYb9l3hWAaiE_FfobTe7FD9SwQ3kDaoAFjSU8Qy0SUNvM3SDZgPjqwbi1qNkD14FSuDi2E95ndptoDMejLJH/s1600/P09-21-11_09.41%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsO29Pq4TVcWzL7EadGe6JMRBqmRZ6ti1CuKujZiHL6G0BHEtiEIa5dIPOpYb9l3hWAaiE_FfobTe7FD9SwQ3kDaoAFjSU8Qy0SUNvM3SDZgPjqwbi1qNkD14FSuDi2E95ndptoDMejLJH/s320/P09-21-11_09.41%255B1%255D.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhre9WU-uOdqP7YANIWsS2i9rxb5Elbk54-MIoeIrR8jH-p-mUnv7YgtKE5qOMfROJ32jA4-k7Z4UzHRRikaSmNLfqECNibgr_MHasbK_Wi3CI2fVjYl6InrtDSowOPbTwLXzXD6Vp-fgX0/s1600/P09-21-11_10.37%255B2%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhre9WU-uOdqP7YANIWsS2i9rxb5Elbk54-MIoeIrR8jH-p-mUnv7YgtKE5qOMfROJ32jA4-k7Z4UzHRRikaSmNLfqECNibgr_MHasbK_Wi3CI2fVjYl6InrtDSowOPbTwLXzXD6Vp-fgX0/s320/P09-21-11_10.37%255B2%255D.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzwS-cIWudIIZTtzeRtgAq1GBiNI-O7NNHejCqJuLqNv-o_6XMsVSK6lsvTNEHe_o6NiOJv-40TPWszPnNa6QFaqZw22lWKatXdJPHnWNo_DODa4LJpNIHuPMsCfMPs0vzzKtnGbXiSpiT/s1600/P09-21-11_10.37.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzwS-cIWudIIZTtzeRtgAq1GBiNI-O7NNHejCqJuLqNv-o_6XMsVSK6lsvTNEHe_o6NiOJv-40TPWszPnNa6QFaqZw22lWKatXdJPHnWNo_DODa4LJpNIHuPMsCfMPs0vzzKtnGbXiSpiT/s320/P09-21-11_10.37.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
It's fun to live here, too. There are a lot of campus activities to take advantage of, plus hanging out with roommates, other aviation students, and the singles ward. I can't say the weather is horrible, but it seems to be about 30 degrees below what it is in Riverton on any given day. Yesterday we got snow in the mountains and it was about 40 degrees. Shorts, flip-flops, and a T-shirt did a little bit to voice my objection to the temperature, but not much to change it. Despite living in Alaska now, I still haven't seen too much of it - I've only really been in Anchorage (which does, in its defense, sport the occasional moose). It was pretty cool today to get to fly up to a glacier without having to go too far from the city, though!Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14563512061651399881noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-393220562135379710.post-66626151936619883592011-09-14T21:31:00.000-07:002011-09-14T21:43:50.778-07:00Mission SummaryDue to popular request, I'm writing a post to give some 'closure' to the last two years of letters from Ohio. I'm somewhat at a loss for words when I try to think of how to describe my mission in summary; after much deliberation, I thought a few excerpts from my journal, written the day before I returned home, would best convey my feelings and thoughts. Brackets like these [ ] indicate additions made today for clarity. Ellipses (. . .) indicate that some material has not been included.<br />
<br />
August 3rd, 2011<br />
<br />
It's Wednesday morning - Elder Bills and Elder Baird [our zone leaders] will be here in a little while to pick us up to go to transfer meeting - me to return home, and Elder Barlow to meet his new companion ( he's training).<br />
. . .<br />
I'm excited to see my family - I can't wait for the emotion to hit me like a brick wall when I get off the plane and see them. But, despite the anticipation of good things to come, it is bittersweet. I've often reflected on my mission as the happiest and most fulfilling time of my life - although it often feels like just a day or two has passed. Many times during these two years I've told others or thought to myself how everything that happened before my mission seems like just a dream - like it was all just imagined and none of it actually happened. If it were so, then I guess I'd now be embarking on a trip to dreamland.<br />
. . .<br />
I don't think I've ever really been trunky on my mission, but I have looked forward with anticipation to a couple things that will be happening today. First, my departure interview with President Sorensen. There is a special bond between missionaries and mission presidents.<br />
. . .<br />
One of the choicest blessings of my mission has been the opportunity to learn and serve under his tutelage. It will be difficult indeed to say goodbye to him and Sis. Sorensen.<br />
. . .<br />
I also look forward to returning and reporting in the School of the Prophets. I am excited to give an accounting of my stewardship.<br />
. . .<br />
Finally, I look forward to this last night in the mission home with some of the good friends from my mission. These relationships with the other elders are among the richest of treasures. I've grown a great deal in love and respect for other missionaries with whom I've served here, but there is a special bond among us who came out together and will return together. [Also, I had served as companions with a couple of the elders with whom I was returning home]<br />
. . .<br />
[continued that evening]<br />
After departure dinner, we had a testimony meeting. All the testimonies powerfully affected me, but it was the closing hymn, the Ohio Cleveland Mission Song [a rendition of the primary song "Armies of Helaman" with a couple modified verses], really got to me. I was so choked up that I could barely sing every other phrase between the sobs.<br />
<br />
It was great to kneel in the School of the Prophets and end my mission with a return and report to the Lord about my ministry and give an accounting of my stewardship. I was initially disappointed to not have an overwhelming witness that my mission had been acceptable to the Lord. Thankfully, I did not have to wait long. . . .<br />
. . .<br />
<br />
[end quotation]<br />
<br />
Thank you everyone for your support all throughout my mission. I have a strong testimony of the power of prayer, and I'm sure I couldn't have done it without yours. I have come away from my mission experience with an invigorated knowledge of the reality of our Heavenly Father and His son, Jesus Christ, as well as a heightened testimony of the power of His Atonement. I know that Joseph Smith saw Him and was directed by Him to begin this final dispensation of the gospel, and that President Thomas S. Monson is called of God as a prophet today just as were the prophets of old.<br />
<br />
Love,<br />
<br />
Matthew Smith<br />
<br />
ps my new email is: <a href="mailto:whatamatt@hotmail.com">whatamatt@hotmail.com</a><br />
pps I'll probably write some updates about how school is going now and then, if anyone is interested.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0i2xsDJwIBSYXdoHdCNRFzYYRWkjQwcI4bvSd1bYLsjk2VRmdQmoTE81oi-nTy5sYHfU8HH_qu7laQ3pRSABZg6R-RiSCNtVnIcGxH5XFrMIoDyZmXkcmKo8Gc3qTU-eoppW-hSAjzEzf/s1600/071.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0i2xsDJwIBSYXdoHdCNRFzYYRWkjQwcI4bvSd1bYLsjk2VRmdQmoTE81oi-nTy5sYHfU8HH_qu7laQ3pRSABZg6R-RiSCNtVnIcGxH5XFrMIoDyZmXkcmKo8Gc3qTU-eoppW-hSAjzEzf/s320/071.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
The group that I went home with, plus Pres. and Sis. Sorensen:<br />
Standing left to right: Elder Palladino, Elder Anderson, Elder Berry, Sis. Sorensen, Pres. Sorensen, Elder Martinez<br />
Seated left to right: Elder Leake, Elder Haines, Elder Farmer, Elder Smith, Elder Hunt<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9TjMnsRSZDhxtm-nFnBCr4x1r0sQHl9z4qvjQLhBHHGG4fkudunr1Fh2QcXuFzgBK_Kn6VXvAh6KD7fleJR2Voi5XW00N6MthIhkMhZeNf6g3EWpmF2e7-W5hiIBXE_WTsGCRbRiSrcu3/s1600/070.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9TjMnsRSZDhxtm-nFnBCr4x1r0sQHl9z4qvjQLhBHHGG4fkudunr1Fh2QcXuFzgBK_Kn6VXvAh6KD7fleJR2Voi5XW00N6MthIhkMhZeNf6g3EWpmF2e7-W5hiIBXE_WTsGCRbRiSrcu3/s320/070.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
The same group in front of the Newell K. Whitney store on departure day<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14563512061651399881noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-393220562135379710.post-53522407151613708752011-08-03T22:10:00.000-07:002011-08-03T22:14:31.690-07:00Wow - see you in a few days<div class="ecxgmail_quote">Dear Family,<br /><br /><br />I don't really know what to say - I'll see you in two days.<br /><br /><br />The most memorable thing about my mission? Definitely not the tracting hours. The people are definitely what I am going to hold in my memory as most precious. It's amazing to see changes in peoples' lives and countenances that come from living the gospel. The relationships I have built up with other missionaries are very valuable to me also.<br /><br /><br />Yes, Bro. Horn was baptized on Saturday and confirmed on Sunday! It was great - I was especially impressed with the ward for having such a good showing at the baptism to support him - they've really done a great job of welcoming him into the ward.<br /><br /><br />He was baptized by Elder Kesweder (Elder and Sister Kesweder are church service missionaries serving from their home here in Akron. They are in charge of the cannery and storehouse in Brecksville.). Elder and Sister Kesweder have been his ride to church every week, and Elder Kesweder is one of his hometeachers. The baptism had to be done 3 times (4 if you count having to repeat the prayer once) because of legs coming out of the water. Finally the last time we had them start out on their knees and it worked out much better. Bro. Horn was confirmed the next day by Bro. Packer, our ward mission leader. Bro. Packer has come with us to most of our teaching appointments with Bro. Horn, in conjunction with other ward missionaries and fellowshippers.<br /><br /><br />Through both the baptism and confirmation, the Spirit was strong and peaceful, and these are days never to be forgotten.<br /><br /><br />Pretty much everybody I talk to now talks to me about coming home. It's really weird. Despite the constant reminders, I'm not sure if it has really hit me yet - I don't think I really understand that I am coming home yet.<br /><br />The Book of Mormon journey sounds great! I'll bet that was a fun and spiritual experience for all involved.<br /><br />I'll be fine without cafe rio on Thursday - I figure if I've waited two years, one more day probably won't hurt. Too badly.<br /><br /><br />Any requests for food? Ummm...Watermelon?<br /><br />School stuff sounds good.<br /><br /><br />Yeah I got a printout from church travel with my flight itinerary and saw that your email address is down as an <a href="http://msm.com/" target="_blank">msm.com</a> address instead of <a href="http://msn.com/" target="_blank">msn.com</a>. Your information is correct: I take CO 871 from Cleveland to Denver (9:00 am - 10:21 am) then a layover at Denver then CO 7902 from Denver to SLC (12:57 - 2:24). Yes I remember your phone numbers.<br /><br />Well, it's been a great two years - probably the best. I can't wait to tell you all about it on Thursday.<br /><br />LYMNB!!!<br />Elder Matthew Smith<br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-393220562135379710.post-23640235613317609282011-07-25T14:21:00.000-07:002011-07-25T14:31:52.690-07:00See you next week...Dear Family,<br /><br />Happy pioneer day! That's pretty cool about the fireworks - now people won't have to go all the way out of the state to get them! Why did they decide to repeal the law when it's so hot and dry?<br />I tell you what, it has been HOT and HUMID recently - and we've been tracting a lot in it. We tracted 19 hours last week, which is not much compared to some missions, but it's more tracting than I've ever seen anyone report when I was a DL, ZL, or AP. Luckily everyone feels sorry for us when they see the sweat running in torrents down our faces, so they offer us drinks.<br /><br />Yesterday we were tracting and were going to write down somebody's phone number at the doorstep, but realized that neither of us had a pen - good thing, because he invited us in out of the heat while he went to look for one. In his house were a bunch of football trophies, plaques, and pictures and stuff. Elder Barlow about went nuts - I guess this guy was a pretty good college player and his son is in the NFL and used to play for Ohio State - I think his son's name is Pittman, or something like that - maybe somebody back home knows who he is. Elder Barlow seemed to think he was a pretty big deal. Anyways, we got his number and a return appointment, so hopefully he gets baptized.<br /><br />Our church was good as well. Bro. Horn was there, of course, and is all set to be baptized on Saturday at 5:00. He's well fellowshipped and already has a couple of friends in the ward. Sis. Coburn spoke about modern pioneers and had some really cool stories. We ate at the Coburns later that day - they're a really cool family; they've got a son on a mission in France, two return missionaries (one at home for the summer - going to BYU studying mandarin after his mission in Hong Kong and another living elsewhere), and a younger son who's pretty solid. I just love being in the homes of so many solid families. It's really cool to have so many examples of gospel-centered homes. (none as good as ours, but they all remind me of it)<br /><br />They read a letter from Elder Coburn in sacrament meeting today - they regularly do that from the three missionaries serving in the ward. Anyways, Elder Coburn and his companion are teaching an olympic marathon runner from Cameroon - I can't remember what his time was, I think 2:20 or something...? Whatever it was, it was really fast. Cool, huh?<br /><br />I'm glad grandma is doing at least a little better! Hopefully she continues to recover.<br /><br />Youth conference should be great! I'm excited to hear what that is like. Yes, don't forget to hold on to the Iron Rod no matter WHAT Bishop Taylor says!<br /><br />Okay, I will bring all my ties home. I've cut down a great deal on the number of ties I have, though, so hopefully it's enough. Does Delaney go to the singles' ward? I'm excited to hear "I Stand All Amazed".<br /><br />That's great that Mekeli is going to Fiji. There is a Fijian brother in our ward here who goes out teaching with us pretty often and served his mission in Fiji and the Gilbert Islands. He loved it and had a lot of great things to say about the people there. I didn't know you could have guitar music in church - that's awesome! We sang "Come, Come, ye Saints" as a choir yesterday, but it would probably have been a lot cooler with guitar accompaniment.<br /><br />Eric comes home pretty soon after me, right? I'm glad he's doing well. He probably deals with a LOT more heat and humidity than I do.<br /><br />So, it's getting a little bit old that everybody here is asking how long I have left, how many days, if I am excited, what I'm going to do when I get home and stuff. I know they're just excited for me, but it's a little bit distracting.<br /><br />Yes, Brother Horn is looking good for baptism. We haven't seen nor heard from Bro. Hall recently. We've got a couple investigators committed to baptismal dates - Raymond and Britney, but they didn't make it to church yesterday. They're pretty solid when we teach them, but in between not so much.<br /><br />Thanks for sharing the letter from President Sorensen. That's nice.<br /><br />Well, it's really weird to say this, but I'll see you next week.<br /><br />Loveymnb,<br /><br />Elder Matthew SmithUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-393220562135379710.post-70026666170358902592011-07-21T06:32:00.000-07:002011-07-21T06:46:27.274-07:00Email from 7/18/11Dear Family,<br /><br />I'm glad to hear how great the week went, but sorry the hike didn't work out -I'm sure ice cream and golfing was a good backup plan, though.<br /><br />"How Great Thou Art" was probably pretty incredible on violins - way to go. Is anybody doing a musical number when I come home? How often are you visiting the nursing homes? Yes-I think my talk went well-hopefully I sounded just like a missionary and you could just feel my enthusiasm. I did overhear the stake president lean over to the bishop and say "you've got some great missionaries here, don't you?" and the response, "yeah, he was an AP". Even better, one of the priests said he actually paid attention, so I guess it was probably good.<br /><br />I'll bet Delaney will have a lot of fun teaching Katie violin - how often are her lessons going to be? Way to go on rocking your AP tests, also! Good choice getting AP Research into your schedule. Are you going to be able to graduate from high school with a college degree? You've probably got a lot of it out of the way by now...<br /><br />Bro. Horn (as it turns out, there is no "E" on the end of his name) is still looking good to get baptized at the end of the month - he's making friends in the ward like crazy and is committed to getting baptized. Unless he's on probation or parole, it looks like that will probably work out. Bro. Hall has been really busy lately trying to become a foster parent, going to school online, and working on familial issues, so we haven't seen much of him recently. His baptism will need to be moved back.<br /><br />I'm doing great over all, loving the area, the work, the investigators, the ward, the gospel, the food, the weather, Elder Barlow, and everything else about being a missionary.<br /><br />Loveymnb,<br />Elder Matthew SmithUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-393220562135379710.post-45065105235068828162011-07-12T09:50:00.000-07:002011-07-12T10:18:12.305-07:007/11/2011 emailDear Family,<br /><br />Counting down by weeks and weeks-and-a-half, huh? I hope YOU're not getting trunky! President Sorensen shared with me once that a certain missionary stopped reading his parents' letters when it was almost time for him to go home because "my family is just trunked out of their minds!". Don't worry - I think I'll keep reading your letters. (Note from Merrill: This paragraph was in response to the end of our email to him, in which we wrote: "Keep working hard and having faith to move mountains, or help Bro. Hall with the word of wisdom challenges, or find investigators, or help less active members return! Make these last 3 1/2 weeks the best of all!")<br /><br />Good job on your swim meet, Cody - how did you like it?<br /><br />We've made some good progress with investigators this week. Bro. Hall was unable to come to church, but we did have another investigator there - Bro. Horne. He is a member referral - his sister is in the ward. He is pretty cool and he accepted a baptismal date for July 30th. He definitely seemed at home at the church - I guess it helps that his sister is in the ward. It was his first time coming, though. He was making friends just fine and he even volunteered in Elders' Quorum to help a member of the ward paint their house, and to come to the ward service project in a few weeks! He seems like he will probably get baptized on the 30th, unless he has any Word of Wisdom issues; we didn't smell or see anything, but we haven't talked about it with him yet. That's the next lesson. Bro. Hall is doing well enough, too - he had some health hiccups relating to his diabetes this week and was pretty swamped with red tape since he and his wife are trying to become foster parents, and he's going to school online at the same time - all of which, put together, precluded him from meeting with us this week. He has been reading the Book of Mormon, though.<br /><br />We found a couple other new investigators from tracting this week that are in the very beginning stages of investigation. We were really excited for yesterday to meet a member's neighbor who the member had set up an appointment for us with, but they no-showed. Too bad - Bro. Jones moved up a stake high council meeting, shortened a high priests group meeting, and pushed back high council Ward Mission Process visits with the Medina ward in order to make himself available to introduce us to his neighbor that he invited to meet with us.<br /><br />I interviewed a girl yesterday for baptism that the Wadsworth elders (a neighboring area) have been teaching, and it was pretty ridiculous how prepared she was. Not only did this 12-yr-old have all the textbook (but still heartfelt) answers to the baptismal interview questions, but as we read Mosiah 18:8-10 together, she recognized the phrase "stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things and in all places" as part of the Young Womens' Values! I'm not exactly sure why she wasn't baptized yet, since her family seemed to be pretty solid and active, and it was pretty obvious that she'd been through the whole primary program. Interestingly, we talked a couple weeks ago with a recently returned missionary from the Utah Ogden Mission, who was in town visiting a relative - he said that they would go through lists of unbaptized 9-yr olds given to them by the bishops of the wards in which they served and see if they could baptize them, which usually involved reactivating families - he said that he once visited a family with his companion for one of these situations and found that the family was entirely active (even in leadership positions in the ward) and had simply forgotten to baptize their child! I guess they were on an extended vacation right around her 8th birthday and never got around to it. Thanks for remembering to have me baptized.<br /><br />Well, I need to go while I still have a little computer time so I can look up some information on LDS.org for my talk in church this Sunday on the Gathering of Israel.<br /><br />LoveYMNB, Elder Matthew SmithUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-393220562135379710.post-76294412604539998592011-07-10T16:29:00.000-07:002011-07-10T16:38:20.155-07:00Letter from President Sorensen05 Jul 2011<br /><br />Brother and Sister Merrill Kay Smith<br />2978 W. 12130 S.<br />Riverton, UT 84065<br /><br />Dear Brother and Sister Smith,<br /><br />On 4 Aug 2011, your son, Elder Matthew Kay Smith, will complete his missionary labors in the Ohio Cleveland Mission. He has made a significant contribution to the work in the areas in which he has labored. I don't have adequate words to express my gratitude to him for the excellent work he has accomplished. We love him dearly, and we will miss him a lot. He has a fine reputation among the other missionaries and has demonstrated his ability to work well, even in difficult situations.<br /><br />During his 24 months of service in the Ohio Cleveland Mission, Elder Smith has served in the areas of Barberton, North Olmsted, Lakewood, Sandusky, Perry, Southland, and Garfield Heights. He has served in the important positions of District Leader, Zone Leader, Trainer and Assistant to the President. This time of service can be a springboard for many wonderful achievements in the future.<br /><br />The Ohio Cleveland Mission will miss Elder Smith and his dedication in doing the Lord's work. We thank you very much for sharing your son with us during this important time in his life. We appreciate the love and support which you have provided during his mission. We extend our best wishes to you, and pray the Lord will continue to bless your family.<br /><br />Sincerely,<br />(signed)<br />Darwin D. Sorensen<br />Ohio Cleveland Mission PresidentUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-393220562135379710.post-75281788431768251982011-07-06T08:56:00.000-07:002011-07-06T08:58:51.260-07:00Email from 7/5/11Hello Family (also from a hot and sunny Ohio)<br /><br />Apologies in advance for a short email since we have to squeeze in time on a non P-day and we're at a different library than usual that doesn't give as much computer time.<br />I'm glad the party went so well, and that Grandma was able to enjoy it free from dolorous distractions! <br /><br />Testimony meeting in our ward was great as well - the Bishop specifically invited those who hadn't shared their testimonies in a while to come up and a lot of them did. I didn't qualify, but I figured I couldn't pass up the opportunity since this was my last fast sunday as a full-time missionary. I love singing the patriotic songs in sacrament meeting, too.<br /><br /><em>(we wrote:) </em>"Mom has had her internet phone since October. We all have texting plans now. Delaney sends thousands per month, and the rest of us are in the low hundreds."<br /><br /><em>(Matt wrote:) </em>mind-blowing<br /><br />Elder Barlow got a package (it was his hump day last week) and in it was a letter from his mom saying that mom had emailed her. cool!<br /><br />We found a new investigator this week who is pretty cool: his name is Bro. Hall. Elder Yukish and I originally contacted him a couple weeks ago tracting and we just got to teach him for the first time this week. He's really cool and open and he's accepted a baptismal date for the 30th of July. His main hurdle will be quitting smoking, but he mentioned to Elder Yukish and I when we originally found him that he was trying to stop smoking and drinking coffee already. He came to sacrament meeting on Sunday and had a good time. We're going to teach him later today, as well, and hopefully set some goals with him pertaining to the Word of Wisdom. <br /><br />LoveYMNB,<br />Elder Matthew SmithUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-393220562135379710.post-53662775818729607282011-06-27T12:05:00.000-07:002011-06-27T12:06:49.170-07:00Mom has an internet-enabled phone?!?!?!Mom has an internet-enabled phone? Wow.<br /><br />Sorry about your technical difficulties. I'm impressed you have so many recourses to try: home computer - work computer - test computer - laptop.<br /><br />I'm glad Lake Powell was fun. Are you and Mom still awesome slalomers, too, or just Cody and Delaney? How much air can cody catch on the wakeboard? Like two feet? Did Penny go with you?<br /><br />How long has Mom had internet on her phone?<br /><br />Have the Lays come to church any time recently? Will they be able to come when I come home? Any hunting escapades they have had recently? New companion info: There's two of them again. This is the sixth time on my mission that I have served in a triple-up.<br /><br />1st: Elder Malbica, from Vancouver, Washington (Vancouver, not BC, Washington, not DC). He was in my MTC district and came out with me. He's going home a few weeks early, though, so we'll be driving him up to the airport in Cleveland on Wednesday. President came down yesterday to have his departure interview with him. He works on cars.<br /><br />2nd: Elder Barlow, from Salem, Utah. He's been out for almost a year. He's really cool to work with - very good at teaching and contacting both. I really appreciate his ability to think outside the box and have new ideas to try with investigators or ward members to better fulfill the purpose of missionary work. He went hunting once and shot a duck. He likes football and weight lifting.<br /><br />Tim didn't come to church today, nor did anybody else - unfortunately we haven't seen nor heard from Tim all week. We did a whole lot of contacting in parks and on the streets and tracting this week, so we've got a couple new potential investigators to start trying to work with. I think I'll just try to sell the bike.<br />Sorry to hear about Grandma's shoulder - Is she going to be alright? There are going to be a whole lot of jealous hospital or rehab center patrons when you walk in with a multiple dutch oven dinner.<br /><br />Where is Greg going to school?<br /><br />As it turns out, Elder Malbica has a cousin in this ward - Bro. Evans. I hadn't met him yet because he is a resident physician and usually doesn't make it to church, but we went over this weekend and had dinner with the family - it reminded me of when I was serving in Cleveland and Elder Pickett's cousin would feed us all the time.<br /><br />I was talking to Sis. Sorensen the other day and she said a lot of the missionaries who went home last week had trouble getting there - one had his seat on the flight dropped and had to reroute through Dallas - then they didn't have a connection to his hometown from there so he had to spend the night with the Dallas missionaries. Another group got to Chicago and had no flight home - they had to stay the night in a hotel. I'm sure their parents were exquisitely stressed - especially the one whose parents aren't members! Hopefully we won't have any difficulties like that this time around, though.<br /><br />We had a pretty cool experience the other day when we were contacting at a park - we talked to a guy who was sitting at the waters' edge and fishing, and he opened up about some of the marital and other challenges he is facing in his life right now and how his faith had waned. He was totally taken aback by how upbeat, happy, and genuine we were, and he couldn't stop asking how we ever got to be so happy in life when he was quite the opposite. In essence, he asked us, "men and brethren, what shall (I) do?". Of course we invited him to repent and be baptized. He seemed very sincere and genuine. <br /><br />We got a return appointment, but unfortunately he wasn't there. His phone sounds like he is out of minutes.<br /><br />I'm working hard and loving it - missionary work is the best.<br /><br />Loveymnb,<br />Elder Matthew SmithUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-393220562135379710.post-17549732530294443322011-06-26T21:08:00.000-07:002011-06-26T21:11:15.669-07:00Email from 6/21/11Happy Fathers' Day!<br /><br />Dear Family,<br /><br />Congratulations on having a week packed with so much action - especially spiritual action, like going to the temple. Way to go, Peyton! What is the Oquirrh Mountain temple like on the inside, by the way?<br /><br />I'm always impressed with the dancing prowess of my female siblings (not so much with Cody, though...). I'm sure he's got drum prowess, though.<br /><br />I didn't know the waves on Utah Lake got high enough to really be dangerous - good thing you realized that discretion is the better part of valor. I'm sure the sprinklers working right was very gratifying, though. What has the weather and temperature been like back home? I saw some sprinklers the other day in Akron and nearly did a double-take. They're pretty rare here.<br /><br />It's firefly season, too - I don't remember seeing them in Utah either.<br /><br />I hope Lake Powell is awesome! That is a LOT of water to bring the lake up by a foot per day! How high is it? Is it just the immediate family going to Lake Powell this year or is anybody else going to be accompanying you? I guess you probably won't receive this email until Saturday then.<br /><br />Awesome about Greg and Mekeli getting the Melchizedek Priesthood - do they have mission calls yet?<br /><br />Unfortunately no, Tim hasn't come to church yet - we arranged for a member of the church to pick him up on Sunday morning, but he said he had some unexpected issues with his landlord and was unable to come.<br /><br />Transfers is tomorrow and Elder Yukish is leaving. So is Elder Gullerud, my former companion who was serving in our sister area in the ward. I'll be excited to let you know all about my new companion, though.<br /><br />So, do you think I should pay to ship my bike home (costs about $150, I guess) when I go home, or have a member try to sell it on craigslist or something like that?<br /><br />Loveymnb,<br />Elder Matthew SmithUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-393220562135379710.post-57926233692586673672011-06-19T22:55:00.000-07:002011-06-20T07:34:30.064-07:00Email from June 13thHello Family,<br /><br />No, we didn't get a new replacement for our 3rd companion - it's just me and Elder Yukish now.<br /><br />I'm really excited that Peyton has her first temple recommend! It will be amazing for her to be able to go and do baptisms for the dead in the temple! My temple recommend expires next month and I'll have to get a temporary one from President Sorensen.<br /><br />Good job not throwing up at your marathon, Dad.<br /><br />I'm glad that doctoring the horses was less injurious this year, and that Cody has mastered the racing start and flip turn.<br /><br />What's been going on with us: we're mostly tracting right now. We haven't been able to find any new investigators that have gone anywhere really, but we were able to set a baptismal date with one of our investigators, Timothy (the one from Arizona). He's committed to baptism on July 16th. He has a lot of changes he needs to make in his life to prepare for that point, including giving up smoking and alcoholism, but he understands the requirements and seems willing to change. We're also teaching a part-member family (kind of: the parents used to be members but had their names removed after being offended. Their eleven-year-old son was never baptized), but they seem to be gradually losing interest. The father still has a pretty good testimony, but the mother doesn't really anymore. It seems like she doesn't really want to feel the spirit, though, so she doesn't. <br /><br />We do a pretty good mix of biking and driving. It's probably about evenly split between the days that we bike and the days that we drive.<br /><br />We have a pretty good ward, with a lot of very supportive members. It seems like there's plenty of members trying to share the gospel, but not having too much success. There have been a couple members who have talked about the gospel with others and are working themselves up to referring their friends, but none that have really come through yet. There seem to be a lot of members who are willing to come with us to teaching appointments, and we take them out with us a lot, but we aren't really utilizing the full potential there because of lack of investigators to teach. We take active members with us pretty often to teach less active members as well.<br /><br />I'll probably be here the rest of my mission, yes. That was the plan when I came here, at least. Transfers is next week, so we'll know for sure then. (Because of transfers, I probably won't be able to email until Tuesday). I expect that I will stay in this area for my last transfer and Elder Yukish will be transferred, giving me a new companion.<br /><br />It's great working with Elder Yukish - he's very easy to get along with and a lot of fun to be around. I really appreciate that he knows how to have fun being a missionary and still work hard all day. He's a good teacher and is able to connect to people on a personal level very well.<br /><br />Sorry for 'starving' you of information on the work! It just seems like you wouldn't really want to hear about the people we are teaching who never show up for their appointments, or who don't keep any of the commitments we leave, or who aren't making any progress towards being baptized or reactivated. (or course, if people fall into those categories, we generally don't teach them for very long anyways.)<br /><br />Sorry about the lack of pictures, too. My camera broke, and I've never gotten around to getting a new one. (I guess it's not totally broke, it just has 'issues' - sometimes the buttons don't work, sometimes it runs out of batteries the same day you put new ones in, sometimes it won't focus, etc.) I don't think I even unpacked it when I moved from Sandusky to N. Olmsted.<br /><br />LoveYMNB, Elder Matthew SmithUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-393220562135379710.post-54409748870580047522011-06-06T08:34:00.001-07:002011-06-06T08:34:55.057-07:00Email from 6/6/11Hello Family,<br /><br />No near-death experiences this week, thankfully!<br /><br />Any of us would have loved to shoot the 2nd groundhog, but the missionary handbook says we shouldn't handle firearms. Your cruise sounds like a blast - especially the ancient Nephite and Lamanite references found among the ruins. That sounds like a ton of fun to learn about. I'll bet your class was spellbound. Do I know Elise or AJ's spouses? That is exciting news to hear! The guy from Arizona's name is Timothy. We haven't taught him this week because he was gone on a camping trip. Elder Quarnberg went home on Saturday for medical reasons. He may be able to return and finish the last 3 or 4 months of his mission, depending on how his treatment goes.<br /><br />Brother Schroth from North Olmsted was baptized on Saturday! Since we had already driven up to Cleveland that day to take Elder Quarnberg to the airport, we just stuck around and worked with some of the elders in that area for most of the day until the baptism. He was baptized by his son. The line-up of people who spoke at (and attended) his baptism was something like "who's who in the Cleveland Stake". Seeing him baptized was an amazingly fulfilling experience for me, and I can't imagine what it must have been like for him, Sister Schroth, his son and his son's wife, his home-teacher of many years, (the stake president), and many others from the ward and stake who have known and befriended Bro. Schroth and waited almost 40 years for this event. No unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing.<br /><br />We had a moderately slow week - we've found a couple of people who we taught once or twice and then they've lost interest, but nobody really solid that is new. However, there have been a couple of members of the ward who've had missionary experiences in the past week or two with neighbors, friends, or other acquaintances. While these interactions didn't result in invitations to be taught, they laid the foundation for interest in the restored gospel and hopefully will soon result in these individuals actively investigating.<br /><br />Too bad about the bunny.<br /><br />Are you running a marathon sometime soon, Dad? How long do you have to work off all those 2nd main courses or 2nd desserts?<br /><br />Thanks for checking on the school stuff. <br /><br />LoveYMNB,<br />Elder Matthew "Matty" SmithUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-393220562135379710.post-72800955915174119892011-06-06T07:11:00.000-07:002011-06-06T07:13:16.807-07:00Tornados and shootings ... a dinner to die for...Dear Siblings,<br /><br />I'll bet Mom will love this email...<br /><br />Junk food and frozen dinners, huh? Sounds pretty much like a missionary diet. (except for the times when the members invite us to dinner, which is generally delicious, and sometimes even ... to die for...<br /><br />So guess what? There was a tornado that touched down in our area this week! It was awesome! The sky was all inky-green-black, the rain, thunder, and lightning came down in torrents, the tornado warning sirens went off and everything! It was intense! I didn't see the tornado, though, which is probably a good thing. I thought I was going to die, though. A member was driving us home from a teaching appointment to our apartment during the terrible tempests that day. We got soaked to the bone running the 20 feet from the house we were in to his car. The windshield wipers were nowhere near keeping up with the deluge of water coming down from the ominous obscurity of the clouds. The visibility was terrible. As we were driving, the windows started to fog up. I asked if his defroster was on and he assured me that it was. It most assuredly wasn't, so I turned it on for him when he wasn't looking. By that time, he was using his hand to wipe portholes in the windshield (which quickly fogged up again) to see as we raced down the road. As I did my best to peer through the mostly opaque windshield, a parked car zoomed by us, inches from the side of our car, that I hadn't been able to see until moments before we passed it. Later, as we were stopped at an intersection, I looked out the passenger window and saw a double yellow line - we were on the wrong side of the road. I think he must have been driving by Faith and not by sight or something, because we got home safely.<br /><br />We also witnessed two shootings this week! It was a double homicide (or, more appropriately, a double pesticide). We were at dinner with a member family, eating around their dining room table, which had windows and a glass door to their backyard. As we ate, on of the teenage children cried out, "There he is, Dad!", pointing to someone walking through their backyard, heading for the vegetable patch. The father jumped up from the table and ran upstairs, quickly returning with a .22 rifle. He opened the glass door just a crack, took careful and steady aim, and fired, hitting the target in the middle of his body. The culprit fell to the ground, writhing. The father then walked outside and shot him again from point blank range, finishing the deed. The victim was a big, fat groundhog that had been plagueing the family all fall and winter long, digging holes in the yard and under their deck, and being a general nuisance. They had been waiting for an opportune moment like this for some time. You can doubtless imagine how excited they were when another groundhog was sighted and shot only minutes later. What was really funny about it was that, after the first one was killed, the mother of the family we were eating with was protesting how gross it was and how it wasn't appropriate to be shooting animals while the missionaries were over for dinner, but when the second groundhog came out of hiding, she was the first one to say, "Quick! Go get some more ammo!".<br /><br />The shooting was on Sunday afternoon, so when Sunday night came around and it was time to call the zone leaders to tell them about our statistics that week, I dressed up the story something like this:<br /><br />"Hi Elder Bills, we may have to be quick with our numbers tonight - I'm waiting for President to call me back - he said he'd probably call at about 9:30 once he gets off the phone with the police. We actually witnessed a shooting in our area today, but I can't really talk about it right now...<br /><br />He took it hook, line, and sinker. I told him the grisly truth eventually, though.<br /><br />So, did anything exciting happen back home this week?<br />What's going on in San Rafael? Rafting? Your swim meet sounds exciting - I'm prettyy impressed that you can swim a 200 free. What did you do for memorial day?<br />So now that you have no more math homework or calculus flashcards, what comes next in your life, Delaney? Just start studying for next year? Yes, we try to take the youth out with us as much as we can. We regularly go on splits with the priests, but we can't really take young women teaching with us. Sister missionaries take the mia maids out with them all the time, though.<br /><br />We've started teaching a couple new people, including a guy who moved from Arizona and had investigated the church a little bit there and gone to church a few times. Nobody came to church this week, though. You know that if Peyton gets a bunny for her birthday, it is going to be the butt of all the "target" and "lets go rabbit hunting" jokes instead of marshmallow, right? <br /><br />LYMNB!<br /><br />Elder Matthew SmithUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-393220562135379710.post-7422399427972821402011-05-25T08:30:00.000-07:002011-05-25T08:34:00.890-07:00Email from 5/23/2011Hola familia:<br /><br />Way to go on everyone's performances! We joined the church choir this week and we'll be performing "come, ye children of the Lord" on Sunday. My companions and I have also decided that we need to have a special musical number prepared for baptisms, zone conferences, etc., so we'll probably work on that too.<br /><br />Sorry about the horses. I vote against Lady, if that matters at all.<br /><br />We've been working really hard and tracting up a storm. <br /><br />We didn't get much success from tracting this week, but we did get a media referral for a book of mormon that we got to teach the other day. He's pretty cool and we had a good lesson with him. We'll be going back this week to teach him again.<br /><br />I also had a good experience on Friday when I went on exchanges with the fairlawn elders (the other companionship in our ward) - we got to teach a member referral for the first time. It was really cool how she has been prepared and is searching right now. She was very excited to read and pray about the Book of Mormon, and she came to church yesterday and loved it. Her member friend, Sis. Shaw, got baptized about 3 years ago and is very excited about sharing the gospel. <br /><br />Yes most of our time is spent in a pretty ghetto environment now. We have a car, but we mostly bike so as to conserve our limited miles. The two investigators we challenged last week haven't really progressed this week. We taught them once early in the week, but they stood us up on Saturday.<br /><br />LYMNB,<br />Elder Matthew SmithUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-393220562135379710.post-11470422990805384672011-05-16T09:14:00.000-07:002011-05-16T09:16:42.448-07:00Email from 5/16/11Hi Family,<br /><br /><em>How's Akron?</em> <br />Akron is pretty cool. It's an interesting change going from a wealthy suburban area back to the ghetto. Back in North Olmsted, nobody would talk to us, but if they did, they were usually pretty solid. Here everyone is willing to talk to us, but we don't get as far with them.<br />We've been wondering how you're liking your new area, companions, responsibilities, etc.<br />I love them.<br /><br /><em>How is the work going there?</em> <br />It's a little slow right now when it comes to investigators. The only investigators we are teaching are a couple people we found street contacting in the last couple of days. We have a lot going on in the way of working with less-active members of the church, though, and the Elders have been seeing some good success lately of bringing people back.<br /><br /><em>Did you inherit any golden investigators? <br /></em>No. We inherited zero investigators, but we've set a couple baptismal dates with new investigators in the past couple of days.<br /><br /><em>What are your companion's names and where are they from? <br /></em>Elder Andrew Quarnberg - Harrisville UT<br />Elder Jordan Yukish - Gilbert AZ (mostly grew up in Washington state, though)<br /><br /><em>Siblings? <br /></em>Elder Quarnberg - 2 older sisters<br />Elder Yukish - 5 Brothers, 2 Sisters. He is 2nd oldest.<br /><br /><em>Hunters?<br /></em>Elder Quarnberg - No<br />Elder Yukish - Yes<br /><br /><em>Other important info?<br /></em>Elder Quarnberg - very very intelligent, a little bit quiet, he's a very experienced missionary (been out 6 weeks less than me). He got transferred into this area with me this week.<br />Elder Yukish - Totally filled with love for this ward and this area. He's been serving in this area for 6 out of the 9 months he's been on his mission.<br /><br />Bomdiggity's sounds like a great idea for a restaurant name. Wow.<br /><br />Yesterday we had a stake or area or region conference. I'm not exactly sure what it was. We had an opening hymn and prayer, some stake business, and then most of the meeting was taken up by watching a live broadcast from Salt Lake City. They said it was being broadcast to 168 stakes and 1 district in the eastern United States. Bishop Edgely of the presiding bishopric, Sister Esplin of the Primary general presidency, Elder Ballard of the 12, and President Eyring spoke. It was really cool. Elder Ballard spoke all about missionary work and the need to share the gospel. President Eyring spoke about being 'wise optimists' and looking forward with an eye of faith to the fulfilment of seemingly impossible promises the Lord has made. One of the things from his remarks that really touched me was him sharing a vision he has that I've often pondered on myself. He said that the effects of Preach My Gospel on missionary work are only beginning to be seen, and that returned missionaries from the Preach My Gospel era will be the fulfilment of President Ezra Taft Benson's vision "Every Member a Missionary".<br /><br />He also shared an experience he once had with a wise optimist, an experience with which I was able to relate pretty well. He was in a mission office one day talking to one of the assistants who was soon to be released. President Eyring asked where he was going, and, when the elder told him what area he was soon being transferred to, President Eyring asked how the work was going there. The elder replied, "It's the deadest area in the mission - until I get there!"<br /><br />I'm glad you had so much fun at the pasta factory, Mom. I remember going to work there a couple years ago. I thought it was really cool. Maybe I should just ditch the whole college idea and work on an assembly line at a macaroni and cheese factory instead...<br /><br />I'm glad Cody has perfect flip turns sometimes. That's some progress. It took me a while to figure out what you meant by "We went to a swim team party (DRAT)". What an unfortunate name for a swim team. I thought you meant (DARNIT) or something like that at first.<br /><br />Yep, I saw the email about the physical. I'm thinking maybe I should just get one after I get home.<br /><br />On that topic, have you submitted the WUE application to UAA? Have my transcripts definitely arrived from UVU? Am I definitely applied for both the AAS and BS degrees at UAA? Also, to what extent do you think I will need student loans? I need to either "accept", "partially accept", or "decline" the available student loans on the UAA UVLINK website.<br /><br />Loveymnb,<br />Elder Matthew SmithUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-393220562135379710.post-72508188736398230512011-05-02T08:24:00.000-07:002011-05-02T08:25:42.094-07:00Email 5/2/11Hello Family,<br /><br />Well, I've been feeling a little sorry for myself because of how cold and rainy this april has been, but it sounds like yours has been even more mediocre. It was funny - yesterday as we were driving we passed a church with a marquee sign that simply stated the summation of everyone's feelings: "There better be a LOT of May flowers!"<br /><br />The cruise sounds like a lot of fun. I'd be interested to hear how the game show worked - good thing mom didn't lose: that would have been a bummer!<br /><br />The calculus bowl sounds like a pretty fun activity. Delaney must have loved it! Well done on scoring and preparing for the big test! When are the AP tests, by the way?<br /><br />That's really cool to hear about Mekeli & Hunter! Thanks for the update.<br /><br />We got a new companion Yesterday: Elder Tracy is going to replace me as an assistant. He came out the transfer after me and has been serving in the Lakewood area for the past two transfers. (Lakewood is the other ward that shares the building with N. Olmsted ward). The Lakewood elders live in the same apartment complex as we do, so it wasn't much of a move.<br /><br />Our investigators are doing great! We anticipate setting a baptismal date with Bro. Schroth on Wednesday when we teach him next, and the two children from the part member family will almost certainly be baptized on July 3rd. They've already invited all the family and everything. The parents are pretty much fully active at this point, and were just set apart for new callings yesterday. They were all at church yesterday. Bro. Schroth was, too, of course.<br /><br />I will be in the office and have opportunities to check email tomorrow and Thursday. I could potentially call on Tuesday or Friday at 6:00 since we don't have appointments yet, but a P-day would be best. Unfortunately, we don't have a P-day next week because of new arrivals and transfers and everything. Two weeks from today would probably work well, unless that's too far away. What do I need to ask or talk about with the counselor?<br /><br />loveymnb,<br />Elder Matthew SmithUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-393220562135379710.post-7590569531901404682011-04-27T09:41:00.000-07:002011-04-27T09:45:29.525-07:00Happy EasterHappy Easter!<br /><br />btw, the mailman just came into the office while we were sitting in staff meeting this morning and brought in your letter. I'll take care of it today.<br /><br />Cool story: I was on exchanges with the Findlay zone leaders in their area this week and we taught a super solid guy - he's known a couple of LDS families throughout his life and always been very impressed by the ways they lived up to their high standards and stuck together as families. He's had questions, but never been invited to learn more (until this week he was invited to meet with us by his friend who got home from his mission a couple weeks ago). It was an amazing lesson - the Spirit was super strong and he wanted to learn. A couple quotations from that lesson:<br />"So, I'm not sure if you have to be born a member of the church, or can I join?"<br />"I'll be in this area until August - is that long enough to become a member"<br />(after teaching the apostasy): Yeah, I've definitely seen that in a lot of my churches I've gone to - everybody's got a different interpretation!<br />(after sharing Joseph Smith's experience): Whoa - Hold on - I don't want be rude and interrupt or anything, but I just have to say that that makes SO much sense! Where did the prophets go?<br /><br />We invited him to be baptized on May 28th, and he accepted readily. He went to Kirtland the next day and had a great experience. The night after, he stayed up all night reading the Book of Mormon and praying to know the truth. He now knows. He is excited for baptism and would like to serve a mission as well.<br /><br />Arches sounds exciting! what was the weather and temperature like? Way to go doing the 9 mile hike! that's impressive - how long did it take?<br /><br />We had plenty of nonmembers at church yesterday, but no investigators (the Schroths were out of town). We're working on trying to get some of those nonmembers to become investigators, though. Easter is a great day for getting people to church. Sunday was probably the shortest and unorthodox sacrament meeting I've ever attended, though. It only lasted about 40 minutes and some of the pretty standard components of a sacrament meeting were missing - like the closing hymn, etc. (Due to a series of unfortunate and confusing events.)<br /><br />Loveymnb,<br />Elder Matthew Smith<br /><br /><br /><em>I emailed and said: We're all wondering what events happened to make sacrament meeting so interesting! </em><br /><br /><em>Matt replied:</em><br /><br />no "amen" in the sacrament prayer<br /><br />no closing hymn<br /><br />no "in the name of Jesus Christ" in closing prayer<br /><br />the bishopric left the stand when the choir got up to sing. The cantata was much shorter than expected. There was one speaker afterwards, and it didn't take too much time. After he got down, everyone kind of just looked around at eachother. The bishop had left the chapel to take care of one of his kids. So, the 1st counselor just pointed at the person assigned to give the closing prayer, and up he went. After that we all pretty much sat there in the chapel, because the other ward wasn't out of their sunday school classes yetUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-393220562135379710.post-63937168863362010172011-04-20T20:33:00.000-07:002011-04-20T20:34:06.477-07:00Happy EasterHello Family, Happy Easter<br /><br />We've had a pretty fair week. We tracted a lot last week and this week we got to start teaching a couple of the people we found, including a couple that moved from California about a year ago and used to live right next door to a bishop there. They were really friendly in inviting us in, and excited to tell us about all the members of the church they knew back in California. We also got a referral from a less-active young woman in the ward who we've started to teach. It was pretty cool, the young woman, who hasn't been to church in years, invited her friend to come to sacrament meeting if she wasn't working on Sunday. The ward seems to be pretty excited about missionary work in general. The ward mission leader asked during the opening exercises of priesthood if anyone had a missionary experience they could share and three people wanted to talk about their experiences. After that, the bishop spoke from the pulpit on an experience he'd recentlyi had with sharing the gospel.<br /><br />My birthday was great! Thank you everybody for the cards, packages, and letters! Yes, Mom, people knew it was my birthday. They actually announced it at a ward activity we attended on Friday. So how into golfing is Dad getting? He seems to be pretty serious about it now. Is he any good? Elder Hunt played on SUU's college golf team before his mission.<br /><br />Good job beating some little girls, Cody. I knew you could do it. Tuck your chin to your chest when you dive in and your goggles won't fall off. Or just make them tighter.<br /><br />We had a stake easter cantata yesterday, with all the ward choirs from the stake singing, as well as the stake choir and a couple solos, duets, and quartets. It was really beautiful. It was funny - we were eating at the Nelsons' house the day before and brother Nelson said he was singing a solo in our choir's song. He only had two words: "Crucify Him!". He said he wondered who picked him for that part.<br /><br />Mothers' Day - the second most important holiday of the year! I'm excited, too.<br /><br />Things are going pretty well with our investigators. Bro. Schroth is pretty much set on getting baptized now. He's even talked about how he wants to fly out a couple previous bishops from out west to see his baptism. He still hasn't decided on a specific date, but that seems to pretty much just be details now. We've got a couple new investigators in the beginning stages of investigation, so we'll see how they work out.<br /><br /><br />LYMNB,<br />Elder Matthew SmithUnknownnoreply@blogger.com