Book of Mormon : An Introduction

Sugar: What Is It Good For

I edited this video for my friend Abbey for a class project. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed putting it together!

Eureka! - How to Randomize Playlist on PSP

I love my PSP. I always have it with me so I have access to my movies, music, pictures, and more importantly my games. Unfortunately it has one flaw: there is no easy way to randomize your music playlist files...until now. Here is what you will need:

• Sony PSP
• Media Go to create a playlist and transfer it to your PSP
• USB Cable to connect PSP to computer
• Microsoft Excel (2007 or later)/Google Docs Spreadsheet/OpenOffice Spreadsheet*
• Notepad

*Excel 2003 and earlier does not have one of the necessary functions that you need to perform, so if that is all you have, I suggest using Google Docs Spreadsheet or OpenOffice Spreadsheet, both free.

The first thing to do is to connect your PSP to your computer, open Media Go, create a playlist using Media Go, and transfer said playlist to your PSP using said Media Go.

Then with you PSP still connected to your computer, go to the following directory: My Computer/E:/PSP/PLAYLIST/MUSIC

Find the playlist you created (it will have a .m3u8 extention). Right click, select "Open As", and select Notepad. This is what the file will look like:

All your songs are displayed by album, alphabetically. Select everything, (starting with the second line), hit Ctrl+C to copy everything, go over to Excel, select cell B1, and hit Ctrl+V to paste the information you just copied. Starting on cell A1 go down along with the file names and number all the cells (1,2,3,4...all the way to the last song). It should look like this:

Starting on cell H1, hold Shift and select all the cells down to where your list ends (similar to the step above). After all the cells are selected, type "=randbetween(1, 50)" without quotation marks ("1" represents the first number on column A and "50" is the last number on column A). Hold Ctrl and press Enter to fill all the cells you selected with random numbers between 1 and 50. You will use these random numbers to randomize your song list.

Repeat the same step on cell I1: select all the cells down the column until the end of your list. Type "=OFFSET($B$1,RANK(H1,$H$1:$H$50)-1,0); hold Ctrl and press Enter. Voila! Your songs are now shuffled and Excel will look like this:

Copy the newly-created, newly-shuffled list of songs and paste it back onto the original Notepad that has your playlist, starting on the second line. Save and close the playlist. Your playlist is now randomized when you access it from the Music menu on the PSP.

Guess Who's Back!?!

Hello Loyal Readers:

I know it has been a long time since last we saw each other. I have not forgotten. I have simply been overworked, overstudied, and over-anything-else that would indicate why I have not written for such a long time. Rest assured, things are well.

Here is what has been in my mind lately:

I am very blessed because wherever I go because I am always surrounded by (1)family, (2)good friends, and (3)good food. Living in Idaho was the biggest change I have made in my life and I am so happy I did it. I cannot imagine being anywhere else, and I am humbled/grateful that Heavenly Father is in charge because He led me here. If it was up to me...well, let's say I would be the same person I was last year and I would most likely not have grown the way I have because I would not have had the experiences I am having here in this frigid land that people call Rexburg.

Things are good, even if all I can think about is chemical reactions and ventricular chambers. I know that because I am where I am supposed to be I will continue to be blessed, and I will grow even more that I already have.

The Wind Beneath Our Faith

Today I spent the day studying for upcoming finals and preparing the Sunday School lesson.

The title is King Solomon: Man of Wisdom, Man of Foolishness. I read through all the material

(it was quite long) then I decided to take a break and I went to YouTube and searched for videos of Star Trek Voyager. I had already watched some episodes earlier this week, and I was looking for some different ones to watch. I stumbled upon The Void. In this episode, the starship Voyager gets pulled into this strange place that is completely devoid of stars and Voyager immediately attacked by a couple of other ships. The captain is confused and wonders why they are attacking her ship. It turns out Voyager has been pulled into a void and there is no way of escaping so everyone that is already there will steal from each other in order to survive. The captain's set of moral values is ultimately what she sticks with, no matter how difficult or what the consequence and because of her choice everything worked out.

I was very moved by the story (my summary does not do it justice)and the idea, and while I was watching the episode and thinking about choice and consequence (and how to apply that to my lesson), I was reminded of another T.V. show episode that had a very powerful message that moved me profoundly.

In 2003 I went to Montana to clean a Smith's grocery store. I had been there for almost an entire week, and the only thing to do during the day was watch T.V. and play Dreamcast in the hotel room and my favorite show to watch was 7th Heaven. The only thing I remember about this episode was the video below, but I was so moved by it and I have never forgotten the message or how it made me feel.

While the reverend doesn't talk about Solomon, what he said goes perfect with what I studied for the lesson: Solomon had been so greatly blessed and and so have all of us. We have all received wonderful spiritual gifts and we have to put them to good use. Not once. Not twice. Not three times. We have to always take the blessings we have received and use them for the benefit of others, no matter how great or insignificant we think our talents are. We have them for a reason, and as we can learn from King Solomon, how we use our talents and blessings will determine what we ultimately will become.

Solomon was not a bad person. I mean, he built the first Temple and he used the best of the best. He spared nothing for the Lord. He simply made mistakes after that (like we all do) and we have to take the good and the bad so that we can learn what it is we need to do and/or avoid.

Thanks for Nothing!

I have re-learned a valuable lesson -- don't rely on other people! Here's how the re-learning process came to be:

I have been looking for a cheap place to live after this semester. Because of my plan to super-penny-pinch as much as possible I have been looking for something that fits my budget and is still considered decent (no living in the car), and I found this lovely (by which I mean dirt-cheap) that perfectly fit my plans. I called the number listed and got voicemail and left a message. Three freaking days later and no returned calls, so I stopped by to ask. The woman asked me to return later because her husband would know if they had a room for me. I returned at the appointed time and found nobody home and felt like kicking the door but decided instead to go to school and meet with my study group (which I was going to do anyway). Soon after I got to school I received a call from the lady apologizing for not being there, but that she would call me back the next day (at the latest) after talking to her husband who would talk to the guys living there to see who was leaving and who was staying. Well, that was 2 FREAKING WEEKS AGO!!!!

Today I was quite discouraged at the prospect of having to spend more money than I would like to spend. After more searching I found this place that had good price (not as good as the first one) and ran over there and signed a contract (and paid rent)and felt really good because it is closer to campus than anything I found before.

Just 10 minutes ago I received a text message saying the perfect apartment (the cheapest) was indeed available (I should mention I kept calling the lady but there never was any answer and voicemails remained ignored).

I don't regret paying a bit more. Don't get me wrong. It bothers me that there is never any consideration/regard for other people. Before doing things (or not doing things) people need to stop and think about how much actions affect other people.

Anyway, that's out of my system. I feel better!

No, This Is Not A Dream (Nor A Nightmare)

Dear Readers:

I am back! I am sure it has been very hard to be almost 6 months without an update from me, but rest assured things are about to change!

Here is a quick recap: I moved to Idaho in April to attend BYU-Idaho and I could not have made a better decision. It all started in September of last year when I started to look for schools that had a reputable nursing program. My perfect plan was to attend BYU Provo and live with my dad and his family. I talked to moms and dads, planned the details, submitted an application to BYU Provo and everything was set. It was the perfect plan.

Skip ahead to February. There has been no answer from BYU. My work authorization was set to expire April 10, 2010, which meant I had to be accepted to school soon after that and an answer from BYU would be appreciated. My perfect plan didn't look so perfect anymore...

On a fateful night I was talking to Dawn about how bad I had been treated on a visit to BYU Provo and she recommended I apply to BYU-Idaho. Long story short, I did and was accepted in 2 weeks. Then in March I planned a one-day trip to Rexburg to find housing and work out some details. Rigo and Luci also came because he had also been accepted, and to me it was an amazing opportunity to see that Rexburg was what was meant. I don't remember the last time I was treated so genuinely nice. Everybody on campus was sincerely nice and helpful and I felt really good. Before we left Rexburg at five in the evening Hernan (who tagged along) called a friend to ask if we could take a nap in her apartment before we left. We got to the apartment and were greeted by fellow students who brought blankets and pillows for us, and they even baked bread! What crazy city is this?

Like I said before, coming to Rexburg is the best decision I could have made. I fell that all the events before had led to this and I am excited to see what opportunities and challenges will come.