Alma 32 Insights

I guess since today is Sunday I should post something gospel-related. So I will post an insight on Alma 32-you know, the chapter about planting the seed in our heart. But I cannot take credit for this insight because it was shared with me by a co-worked. He just walked up and said, "You know, in the scriptures when they talk about the gospel being a seed, it could be plural-seeds." Then he explained as follows:
He loves gardening. And mostly he plants things that he will harvest and use to make salsa. So he plants many different seeds-onions, tomatoes, different kinds of peppers, etc. that will become parts of the whole in a few months. But if he were to make salsa out of just tomatoes or just onions it would not be salsa. So, he reasoned, let's say the true gospel of Christ is like salsa-made up of many different kinds of vegetables, or doctrines. If all the doctrines aren't present, it cannot be the true gospel. Other churches may have some true doctrines; so they can make something out of that, but they can't make salsa because they do not have all truth, or all the ingredients.
I don't know if I explained that well enough to be understood by anybody other than myself but I thought it was pretty insightful. And I told him that he should bring chips and salsa to his sunday school class next week when he teaches the lesson on Alma 32. :)

Happy Fourth of July!

Okay, so it's true that the 4th of July is over, but that is what I am going to post about today. I drove up to Provo on Thursday night and stayed with my sister, Emily. We went and saw the movie "Emma Smith: My Story", which I highly recommend. I learned some new things about Emma's life and just enjoyed being able to watch a good movie without ever worrying about the content of it. There should definitely be more movies like that.

But the best part of my weekend was, of course, Friday! And that is because my little sister, Amy, got home from her mission. She flew in from Boston around 10:30 on Friday morning, so we all went to the airport dressed in typical freedom colors. I brought my camera so that I would have pictures to post, but the battery died before Amy even got off the plane. I guess I should have checked it beforehand. One of these times I think my family will be banned from picking people up at the airport because we always bring a big group and we always seem to get some annoyed looks and a little reprimanding from airport officials about not blocking doors and walkways. But, we always have fun. Besides, my family only has one more missionary to pick up so they can be patient with us through him. Anyway, it was fun to see her again! Then we went to my aunt's house and had a huge family BBQ and introduced Amy back into Babylon by teaching her to play Guitar Hero and other games on my cousin's wii. Later, we did fireworks at our house. Mostly we made fun of all the fireworks because for some reason they aren't quite as exciting as they used to be. All in all, it was a fun day and I am pretty much convinced that I have the greatest family in the world.

Elder Russell M. Nelson

Today I started reading the biography of Elder Russell M Nelson. I am only a few pages into it but I can tell it is going to be so good! Right now I am reading about his ancestry and how his family came to join the Church in the 1800s and came to America. His grandpa was even born and raised in Ephraim, Utah-near my home! Anyway, I just wanted to share a story from the life of one of his great-grandfathers named Johan Andreas Jensen. Johan was was living in Norway when he first learned about Christianity and he believed the teachings so much that he spent many years distributing his wealth to the poor. Even before he learned about the LDS church he would preach repentance in the streets of Norway and he even published an article calling the King of Norway to repentance. Of course, for this, he was thrown into jail. Six weeks later, he recieved roommates there-two Mormon misisonaries who were also jailed because they were caught teaching repentance! These two missionaries spent their time singing hymns, praying, and reading the scriptures. In the end, their actions served as the foundation of Johan's testimony and it was during his time in prison that he felt that the Church was true.

To me, that is a perfect example of how the Lord works in mysterious ways. Many times, when things do not happen according to our plans we seem them as negative events, but maybe they truly are blessings in disguise-things that the Lord will use to further His purposes later on down the road!

Medical Breakthrough: Stool Transplants

WARNING: this post contains information that is NOT for the weak of stomach!

Yesterday I attended a physician's seminar about Clostridium difficile, a bacterial species that causes very severe stomach cramps and diarrhea (a disorder called colitis). The disorder occurs mostly in elderly people and is commonly acquired after a long hospitalization.

Here is what C. diff looks like (a) under a microscope and (b) growing on a culture plate:

Okay, so usually the infection is treated with antibiotics and this is pretty effective. However, some antibiotic-resistant strains are starting to develop. For these, doctors often administer yogurt drinks that contain a lot of healthy bacteria. But this doesn't usually cure the patient completely. There is, however, one other method of treatment that has a 100% success rate since it was put into effect last year - A stool transplant!! I had no idea what that was until they explained it. You see, these doctors look at our waste products as organs and so here is what happens: doctors take a stool sample from a healthy donor, blend it up with some water or saline to form a "smoothie" and introduce into the patient's digestive system through a nasogastric tube. Here is the explanation again in layman's terms: the patient drinks somebody else's poop!

The idea of it makes complete sense: replace the bad bacteria that's causing disease with good bacteria so that the bad stuff can't survive. Even so, I'm not sure I could do it if I were the patient. But the FDA is working on a way to form capsules that can be swallowed instead of the liquid drink, which sounds a bit more bearable. So, my next money-making scheme? Sell my waste products to be made into pills! How is that any different than donating blood or selling plasma....

And if you are still reading...

"No hay rosa sin espinas; There is no rose without thorns"

I used to read all the time. But, with school and work taking up so much of my time, it has been a while since I have really just picked up a book and read for fun. A few weeks ago, a friend got me hooked on the Twilight series-those crazy vampire stories that everybody talks about. But, now I am finished with them and to satisfy my craving for another good book, I decided to read one of my mom's recommendations- called "Esperanza Rising". My mom is a T.A. for Fifth Grade and her class read this book, so it is definitely written for a younger crowd, but I like it. Here is the storyline:

Esperanza Ortega possesses all the treasures a young girl could want: fancy dresses; a beautiful home filled with servants in the bountiful region of Aguascalientes, Mexico; and the promise of one day rising to Mama’s position and presiding over all of Rancho de las Rosas. But a sudden tragedy shatters that dream, forcing Esperanza and Mama to flee to California and settle in a Mexican farm labor camp. There they confront the challenges of hard work, acceptance by their own people, and economic difficulties brought on by the Great Depression. When Mama falls ill from Valley Fever and a strike for better working conditions threatens to uproot their new life, Esperanza must relinquish her hold on the past and learn to embrace a future ripe with the riches of family and community.

Go UPS!

Somebody emailed this to me and I thought it was hilarious....

After every flight, UPS pilots fill out a form, called a "gripe
sheet," which tells mechanics about problems with the aircraft. The
mechanics correct the problems; document their repairs on the form,
and then pilots review the gripe sheets before the next flight. Never
let it be said that ground crews lack a sense of humor. Here are some
actual maintenance complaints submitted by UPS ' pilots (marked with a P)
and the solutions recorded (marked with an S) by maintenance engineers.
By the way, UPS is the only major airline that has never, ever, had
an accident.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
P: Left inside main tire almost needs replacement .
S: Almost replaced left inside main tire.

P: Test flight OK , except auto-land very rough.
S: Auto-land not installed on this aircraft.

P: Something loose in cockpit.
S: Something tightened in cockpit

P: Dead bugs on windshield.
S: Live bugs on back-order.

P: Autopilot in altitude-hold mode produces a 200 feet per minute descent.
S: Cannot reproduce problem on ground.

P: Evidence of leak on right main landing gear.
S: Evidence removed.

P: DME volume unbelievably loud.
S: DME volume set to more believable level.

P: Friction locks cause throttle levers to stick.
S: That's what friction locks are for.

P: IFF inoperative in OFF mode.
S: IFF always inoperative in OFF mode.

P: Suspected crack in windshield.
S: Suspect you're right.

P: Number 3 engine missing.
S: Engine found on right wing after brief search.

P: Aircraft handles funny. (I love this one!)
S: Aircraft warned to straighten up, fly right, and be serious.

P: Target radar hums.
S: Reprogrammed target radar with lyrics.

P: Mouse in cockpit.
S: Cat installed.

And the best one for last..................

P: Noise coming from under instrument panel. Sounds like a midget
pounding on something with a hammer.
S: Took hammer away from midget.

Friday the 13th

I've never really been a suspicious person; you know, believing in seven years of bad luck for not forwarding an email or something, but I think today may have convinced me that all those "Friday the 13th" rumors just might be true. I know today's calendar day is Tuesday, but it is my Friday. That is because it is the last day of my 7-day work week. And it has been crazy. It probably started with me not being able to sleep last night until about 3:30 am and then not being able to wake up this morning. Everything else went fine this morning, until I got to work and then it all started. I spilled a glass of water all over the break room floor, I kept dropping my gloves, I gave myself an enormous papercut, I spilled somebody's plasma all over the benchtop-don't worry I cleaned it up with bleach, I had to re-run about 25 patient samples because my co-worker didn't do controls on the test. And now that I am getting ready to leave, we have a problem sample that needs a lot of extra work and a lot more time until it can be resulted. Good thing it is Friday!

Anyway, there was one bright spot in my work-day: the Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream that SOMEBODY brought me for dinner!! Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream can fix just about anything! And so can wonderful friends! :)