around

love this place. any time you can see stuff like this…. (mind these were taken with my iPhone, I can’t find my camera charger)

 

the smithsonian. i think you could go everyday for a couple years and still not see it all. This is the tunnel between the National Gallery of Art and the East Gallery (modern art), pretty awesome moving sidewalk ride.

I think I will always be in awe when I walk past this place. This is the pinnacle of all of the incredible architecture here in dc.

somebody was really thirsty. 40 gallons is worth a picture. She was looking right at me, but to me, you are asking for pictures when you have this much milk.

drove past this on a street in maryland while driving to a school. i can’t get over the leave here. we are still hanging on to a few of them, but winter seems to be trying to take over.

I went up to a conference outside of Philly at Penn State Abington. whoa it was beautiful up there! A little campus of old rock building surrounded by leaves like you can’t believe. i wish we could have had the conference outside.

The next week, I went back to Philly where Noah was kind enough to join me for an awesome day of work and meetings with the School District of Philadelphia. We conveniently planned the day of meetings with day the Jazz were in town to play the Sixers. Julie came up from DC and met us in time for dinner and the game. We went to Buddhakan, one of the coolest restaurants I have ever been to, not to mention incredibly tasty. Any time there is at 10 foot Buddha statue in the place, it’s gonna be good right (well, this was the first time I have experienced it, but I am 1 for 1 cause it was sweet). We then headed over to see the Jazz take it to the Sixers. It was awesome to be there rootin on the Jazz…even though they started up a little rough, but I think they are hitting their stride!

DC is an amazing spot full of great stuff, weird stuff, awesome people, peculiar people. One of my favorite things about being here is the great ward we are in. The Capitol Hill Ward is full of fascinating people who I am sure we’ll be learning a lot from. We’re excited to get to know everyone better. Today one of the lessons was on Service. It fit this time of year very nicely. Thanksgiving and Christmas should go hand in hand with service. We read in Matthew 25:31-40. Read it through slowly and think about it.

  31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:

  32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:

  33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.

  34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

  35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:

  36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

  37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?

  38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?

  39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

  40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

I think that when we serve (in any capacity) it is one small way that we can repay (or at least attempt to) our debt to the Savior. In a sense we get to be an extension of Him and do what he did. What does it mean to you? I am going to try to apply this more in my life. Really, I mean think about it, when we are sad/stressed, a lot of it is because we are spending a lot of time think about ourselves. Then think about how happy you are/the smile on your face during and after you have the opportunity to help someone, no matter how big or small the act. Thoughts?