Interesting Thought…

So, in 2 Nephi 25:26 it says:

“And we talk of Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophesies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.”

Today was fast and testimony meeting for our stake, since we have stake conference next week. Throughout the meeting, it seemed as if people weren’t really saying that much about Christ other than the vain repetitions, “I know that Jesus is the Christ, the Savior and Redeemer…yada yada yada…in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ, Amen.” And you know, other than the fact that I’m not God, that’s all well and good, but I think that we could do a little more talking about Christ. I think I will begin.

I know that the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ is real. I have felt it in my own life. Christ has the power to deliver us not only from the bonds of death and hell, but also the powers of temptation and evil and to comfort us in our times of need. We must rely on His Atonement if we are to have any hope of returning to celestial glory with Him and the Father in the eternities. It is the only way in which carnal man can be forgiven of his transgressions and to be brought at one with God.

I know that the Atonement manages to be both infinite and personal at the same time. Christ was able to suffer the magnitude of the pain involved with the punishment for sin and to know the despair that each individual would face in mortality and afterwards. I know that Christ suffered in Gethsemane, died on Calvary, and was raised from the tomb of Joseph of Arimathaea so that both I and any individual who has ever existed upon this earth might have the opportunity to return to the Father if they will repent and follow Christ with every faculty that has bestowed upon them from heaven.

I know that Jesus Christ was sent from heaven to loosen the bands of death and the bonds of iniquity and that He did win that victory for our sakes. And I say these things in the name of Him, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.

More Grad School, Oh Joy…Oh Rapture…

You might think that I would have said enough about grad school at this point, but there has been yet another confounding variable. Mah ho’aka, Feech also wants to go to grad school in approximately the same time frame that I do. For any who don’t know, she’s not an engineering major (she’s takin’ college algebra this fall…huzzah!) she’s majoring in speech-language pathology. Now, if we were married, it would make it somewhat more difficult to go to two different schools that are 2500 miles across the country.

Yes, I said 2500 miles…the two that we were thinking of were Georgia Tech for me and the University of Washington for her. That would leave us with a couple of options. We could get our master’s degrees at different times. (Probably hers first, since a bachelor’s in speech path is kind useless; whereas a bachelor’s in civil engineering can put food on the table.) Another option would be to choose another school that has good civil engineering and speech pathology programs. The last option that I can think of is for me to just get my master’s from the University of Washington…though I’d really rather not.

I think I’ve narrowed it down to about three or four actual options for timing and choices of schools.

Option A: Feech and I move to Seattle, Washington where she pursues a master’s degree in speech pathology. Afterward, we move to Hotlanta, Georgia, where I pursue a master’s degree in civil engineering.

Option B: We move immediately to West Lafayette, Indiana, where we pursue both of our degrees at the same time at Purdue University. Note: Purdue is ranked #2 in the nation in speech-language pathology and #7 in the nation in civil engineering grad programs according to US News and World Report. Similar cities/schools: Austin TX, U of Texas-SP #9, CE #4; Champagne IL, U of Illinois-SP #9, CE #1(tie)

Option C: We move to some awful town full of old people in Iowa where Feech pursues a degree in speech pathology from the University of Iowa and I establish state residency in order to pursue a degree in civil engineering at Iowa State University. Note: The University of Iowa in ranked #1 in the nation in speech-language pathology grad programs and ISU is ranked #41in engineering grad programs according to US News and World Report. Similar situations: Michigan: Western Michigan-SP #38; Michigan-Ann Arbor CE #9

Option D: I just suck it up, move to Washington and get my master’s from the university of Washington. It wouldn’t really be that bad, but it’s just not that impressive of a place to have a degree from.
I really don’t know what I’m going to do at this point, but I’m kind of leaning towards options A or B in all honesty. I’m thinking that Purdue would be the best school for option B since Feech never wants to step foot in Texas, I’m a big Texas A&M fan, neither of us like Illinois, and the University of Illinois doesn’t teach the sub-discipline of civil engineering that I want to go into. Though I’m still a big fan of Georgia Tech and could handle living in Washington. I guess only time will tell.