So a downside of being at University is that I don't get half term in October, although I think it makes up for it by the fact that I get a whole month off at Christmas, not sure that I want to wait that long for my holiday though.
Instead I kind of had a mini weekend holiday back home. Friday at uni consists of one lecture 12-1pm, so after that finished I got a bus into the bus station in town and hung around for my coach to the North of England. It was supposed to leave at 2.45pm but it didn't really get going until 3.15 so a later arrival into Leeds. But all good the coach was nice and comfortable but still three hours, a good opportunity to catch up on notes though. After I got to Leeds I had to get a train to Wakefield, then my mum came and picked me up with William. He was super excited to see me which was really cute! He'd grown up a lot since I saw him last, it's crazy how much little kids change in such a short space of time. Spent the Saturday with the family and then church in my home ward on Sunday which was great I got to catch up with everyone. Then I had to get back to Leeds for my coach back so my dad and Louisa dropped me down at the bus station. I sort of fell asleep on the way back which was one way of getting through the trip. All in all not a bad way to travel, though I definitely prefer car.
Short night's rest after a late arrival and then an early start for university 9am lecture. What a horrible time to have a lecture on a Monday, I'm sure out of all the lectures in the week that is the worst attended, and the people who do manage to make it are usually half asleep.
This week seems to have gone very very fast, before I know it the weekend is creeping up and that means another trip homeward bound and beyond. The last one I think until Christmas, who knows we'll see. This will be a busy weekend though, coach up on Friday and then Saturday is hairdressers appointment (I trust my home town hairdresser too much to try a new one and they had no slots last weekend). Following that is a train ride further northwards to visit some friends who I haven't seen for a very long time, dare I say ridiculously long time, for a catch up and birthday celebration! Then another week in my home church ward before the coach ride back to Leicester.
The worst bit is packing and unpacking. Actually it's quite funny, because of the coach time up to Leeds and the times of my lecture on a Friday I have to take my suitcase to uni with me, and I do not have any mini suitcases. It is still a pretty small suitcase it just doesn't look it compared to everyone else's tiny ones and consequently it looks like I'm going away for a month not a few days - though I will say it isn't jam packed, but I guess you can't tell that from the outside.
Two essays are in the mix but then that seems to be it until exams start in January. I've managed to keep quite on top of them, I've taken six books out of the library to read up for my sources so so so much reading. But it's going well. My archaeology essay is on the ways cave art has been interpreted and my ancient history one is on the relationship between the people and their gods. Yes some mythology at last!
Thursday 30 October 2014
Thursday 23 October 2014
Non-Assessed Formative Essay
The first essay of university. Though non-assessed I still wanted to do well as it would set a mark for the rest of the year.
Today we got an email saying they had been marked and to sign up for feedback on Monday. On my way to sign up for a slot I bumped into my tutor and he said he could give me the feedback then.
It wasn't a rubbish essay but it wasn't brilliant either. When I handed it in I thought it was pretty good, just shows we are biased when we come to our own work.
The only reasonable explanation I can come up with is that having such a ridiculously long summer the process of essay writing had become to be erased from my memory because at college all I wrote was essays. I studied three essay based subjects. I got really good grades in all of them. Something happened between June and September.
The process of referencing especially seems to have gotten a little crazy with me putting just about everything in quote marks making for an essay split into equal thirds of my words, the books words, and citation references. Not the best.
The feedback is really good here though, better than college. They go into more detail. Hopefully by taking it on board I'll do better for next time for the essays that really count.
Though it wasn't to be assessed they said what it would have got. Mine came in at a low 2.2. Really not what I was aiming for. Although he did say that with work and taking on the feedback he thinks I can push it up a lot further. So I think it's just the step up to university level essays as well.
My next essay is due November 24th so I need to start reading for it now and preparing, I want it to be much better than this one, especially as it is marked and counts to my degree as well.
My next essay is due November 24th so I need to start reading for it now and preparing, I want it to be much better than this one, especially as it is marked and counts to my degree as well.
Settling In
Let's see so it's been 13 days since my last post. A lot has happened and I haven't the time to write it all up so I'll just summarise the main bits.
Monday I had to had in my first essay for the archaeology side of my course. It's non assessed just a formative one but I'm real excited to get my mark back I don't know when that'll be but hopefully soon. My next essay is due in November 17th. They have a very specific way they want you to lay the essay out which I found when I was reading the handbook. Specific ways of referencing - say goodbye to footnotes - it's all about the Harvard system. Extra bracketed information eating up my word count. What size and font and line spacing and margin widths. So I was glad I saw that because I think some people didn't realise there was a required way but luckily as it's non assessed hopefully we'll all manage the real ones okay.
I've been in my new ward at church for two consecutive weeks now. And the second week they gave me a calling. I'm now a teacher in primary I'm responsible for the sunbeam class which is 4/5year olds. I sat in and observed for the first and the four of them are really sweet so I'm looking forward to teaching them.
My cooking if not improving is definitely working. I'm managing to make a success of everything I make which is good. Definitely a plus if a) the stuff is edible and b) it tastes nice. The only downside seems to be I bought a bag of carrots which tastes really weird and not like normal carrots so it's now sat uneaten in my fridge. I think I'm going to have to have them smothered with ketchup.
I learnt how to use the smart printers at uni they are actually really easy to use. Though it's eating my money as we fund our own printing costs. You would think with £9000 fees printing or some printing might be included. Coughing up £4/5 every week to print out seminar/tutorial reading is not fun.
The weather on Tuesday was crazy, really windy. Several times I had to stop walking and just wait for the gust to be over it was so strong I kept getting blown about. Luckily it has improved somewhat since then.
Whilst managing to avoid freshers flu which everyone on campus seems to have I feel a cold coming on and I'm headachey a lot. But I think it'll pass it's just settling in. Tomorrow I'm going back to Wakefield for the weekend which I'm really excited about, I get a coach right after my lecture tomorrow.
Today should be good I have Latin, Roman History seminar and lecture. So not especially busy. Just lots of notes to type up afterwards.
I learnt how to use the smart printers at uni they are actually really easy to use. Though it's eating my money as we fund our own printing costs. You would think with £9000 fees printing or some printing might be included. Coughing up £4/5 every week to print out seminar/tutorial reading is not fun.
The weather on Tuesday was crazy, really windy. Several times I had to stop walking and just wait for the gust to be over it was so strong I kept getting blown about. Luckily it has improved somewhat since then.
Whilst managing to avoid freshers flu which everyone on campus seems to have I feel a cold coming on and I'm headachey a lot. But I think it'll pass it's just settling in. Tomorrow I'm going back to Wakefield for the weekend which I'm really excited about, I get a coach right after my lecture tomorrow.
Today should be good I have Latin, Roman History seminar and lecture. So not especially busy. Just lots of notes to type up afterwards.
Friday 10 October 2014
1/10 of the term complete in a week.
Wow, so strange the first week of university is over. I feel like it is going to go a lot faster now!
Today I only had one lecture which was about the myths surrounding the foundation of Rome. After that I came back home and tidied up all my university files on my google drive. Made sure everything was under the right heading, downloaded the corresponding powerpoints from blackboard.
This week has been fun. On Tuesday we have film for an hour and we watched a documentary called 'First Contact' and it was about the first time people from Papa New Guinea had seen white people. It was really interesting and I think each week we will watch another episode of it concerning different sets of indigenous people encountering westerners. One thing that made me think was why when other "primitive" tribes and people see "white men" they often perceive them to be spirits or gods or something special, whereas when the situation is reversed we only seem to perceive them as primitive and beneath us. Every time it seems to be that perception.
Wednesday was great I started Latin we learnt about the alphabet and pronunciation - did you know that Caesar should actually be pronounced Kaiser not See-sar? Some cool stuff, then on Thursday we learnt about declensions of nouns and conjugations of verbs. It seems pretty regularised, not many irregularities which is good. It was my landlords birthday on Wednesday and I went over to his family's house for the birthday tea which was nice. One of his sons ate a ghost chilli to see what would happen it looked painful and I wouldn't recommend it. Afterwards he dropped me and one of his sons off for institute alongside a friend. It was fun, they do two classes in Leicester the first one was on time management and then the second was on the Doctrine and Covenants. They got me to stand up and introduce myself because I was new, a few of the adults knew who I was by my surname but I didn't really know anyone. I talked to a couple of people though and they all seemed really nice so I'm looking forward to going back next week. Afterwards they went to play table tennis cricket which looked like an interesting game.
Thursday was in for two hours I had my other Latin seminar and then a lecture on Roman History which was just to introduce it and give us some ideas to think about. Then in the evening I walked round to my uncle and aunt's house (5 minute walk away) who were having a farewell thing for my Australian relatives who were returning to Australia this Saturday so it was great to see them all again! My two little cousins are really sweet, one of them, Zak, after learning mine and Hannah's names kept repeating them which was cute - although mine started to sound like gorilla a bit by the end!
I can't remember which day but, I went into town with the intention of buying some boots because I was sick of having soggy feet due to all the rain and my possessing only canvas shoes - not really the best thing for winter. I had a look around all the high street shops first but boots are actually quite expensive for what they are plus they weren't that amazing quality so I didn't feel like paying that much for them. So I paid a visit to Clarks instead. I should have gone there first they had loads of really nice ones, which although expensive I didn't mind paying for because they were good quality. I tried a few on and decided on the Orinoco brown snuff in a size 3 - I have tiny feet! Only issue was the standards felt a little tight over my foot but they didn't have any wide fit in store so I had to order them to my house. Did so and they arrived today :) They are still snug but I have a little more room so the wide fit was definitely a better choice and I am looking forward now to a day when it will rain so I can test them out!
Today I looked in the fridge and found a bunch of stuff past its sell by date oops, I need to keep on top of it more. I organised all my food and made of shopping list of what I need to get tomorrow so I can get back on track and not waste anymore food. I felt awful throwing it away and that is my lesson learned.
I'm looking forward to next week for university actually I'm just looking forward to the upcoming weeks. So much stuff is going to happen! So much cool stuff. I'll get to see so many people again, several of whom I haven't seen for a ridiculously long time! I'm so excited to be back visiting home in a couple of weeks. But in the meantime may I continue to keep on top of my work. So far all is good.
Today I only had one lecture which was about the myths surrounding the foundation of Rome. After that I came back home and tidied up all my university files on my google drive. Made sure everything was under the right heading, downloaded the corresponding powerpoints from blackboard.
This week has been fun. On Tuesday we have film for an hour and we watched a documentary called 'First Contact' and it was about the first time people from Papa New Guinea had seen white people. It was really interesting and I think each week we will watch another episode of it concerning different sets of indigenous people encountering westerners. One thing that made me think was why when other "primitive" tribes and people see "white men" they often perceive them to be spirits or gods or something special, whereas when the situation is reversed we only seem to perceive them as primitive and beneath us. Every time it seems to be that perception.
Wednesday was great I started Latin we learnt about the alphabet and pronunciation - did you know that Caesar should actually be pronounced Kaiser not See-sar? Some cool stuff, then on Thursday we learnt about declensions of nouns and conjugations of verbs. It seems pretty regularised, not many irregularities which is good. It was my landlords birthday on Wednesday and I went over to his family's house for the birthday tea which was nice. One of his sons ate a ghost chilli to see what would happen it looked painful and I wouldn't recommend it. Afterwards he dropped me and one of his sons off for institute alongside a friend. It was fun, they do two classes in Leicester the first one was on time management and then the second was on the Doctrine and Covenants. They got me to stand up and introduce myself because I was new, a few of the adults knew who I was by my surname but I didn't really know anyone. I talked to a couple of people though and they all seemed really nice so I'm looking forward to going back next week. Afterwards they went to play table tennis cricket which looked like an interesting game.
Thursday was in for two hours I had my other Latin seminar and then a lecture on Roman History which was just to introduce it and give us some ideas to think about. Then in the evening I walked round to my uncle and aunt's house (5 minute walk away) who were having a farewell thing for my Australian relatives who were returning to Australia this Saturday so it was great to see them all again! My two little cousins are really sweet, one of them, Zak, after learning mine and Hannah's names kept repeating them which was cute - although mine started to sound like gorilla a bit by the end!
I can't remember which day but, I went into town with the intention of buying some boots because I was sick of having soggy feet due to all the rain and my possessing only canvas shoes - not really the best thing for winter. I had a look around all the high street shops first but boots are actually quite expensive for what they are plus they weren't that amazing quality so I didn't feel like paying that much for them. So I paid a visit to Clarks instead. I should have gone there first they had loads of really nice ones, which although expensive I didn't mind paying for because they were good quality. I tried a few on and decided on the Orinoco brown snuff in a size 3 - I have tiny feet! Only issue was the standards felt a little tight over my foot but they didn't have any wide fit in store so I had to order them to my house. Did so and they arrived today :) They are still snug but I have a little more room so the wide fit was definitely a better choice and I am looking forward now to a day when it will rain so I can test them out!
Today I looked in the fridge and found a bunch of stuff past its sell by date oops, I need to keep on top of it more. I organised all my food and made of shopping list of what I need to get tomorrow so I can get back on track and not waste anymore food. I felt awful throwing it away and that is my lesson learned.
I'm looking forward to next week for university actually I'm just looking forward to the upcoming weeks. So much stuff is going to happen! So much cool stuff. I'll get to see so many people again, several of whom I haven't seen for a ridiculously long time! I'm so excited to be back visiting home in a couple of weeks. But in the meantime may I continue to keep on top of my work. So far all is good.
Monday 6 October 2014
The Sixth of October Two Thousand and Fourteen.
Today, otherwise known as my birthday started at 12.00am this morning when I was still lying in bed trying to sleep, turned over to look at the clock saw it was nearly midnight and so decided to see the sixth of October in.
After doing it I decided I really ought to get some sleep as I had a lecture at 9am that morning. I managed to grab some sleep but of course woke up excited at 7am. Made myself sort of presentable then google hangouted my family to open the presents and cards (normally we do it all together at home) which was fun. William wanted the balloon and got upset when he realised it was impossible to have as it was with me in Leicester and he was in Wakefield. I got some lovely cards from friends and family and gifts too it made a lovely birthday morning.
Even google said happy birthday to me!
Had to get ready sharpish after that to catch the bus to university. It started raining surprise surprise thank goodness I had bought an umbrella the other day. Incidentally when I bought the umbrella the guy from the shop said I sounded like I wasn't from around here and when I said Yorkshire he said oh yes I can tell, but when I'm in yorkshire people say the opposite they say I don't sound northern. Strange.
Not having any practical shoes for the rain I had to go out in canvas pumps - bad decision my feet were freezing - I think I shall be investing in some kind of boot. Arrived to university in one piece though wet and cold.
Lecture was really interesting it was the Introduction to World Archaeology BC and we looked at the palaeolithic age - interestingly palaeo means old and lithic means stone. We did a bit on when did we become human? But instead of spouting the "we evolved from monkeys" they took the "we had a common ancestor long ago" which I find more believable but still weird. But thinking about if we all come from the same maker (God) then of course there will be similarities in every species. Anyway that was a side topic, what we actually looked at was stone tools and when they started to be first used. And whether use and creation of these tools began to show the Hominins (humany creatures but not human) were becoming human.
After that I had a nice break until 4pm where I had a study skills lecture until 6pm. It was on things like how to get the most out of lectures, how to manage time efficiently and stuff like that. We have it for the whole of this semester I'm not sure about next. It was okay but so annoying to have such a big gap between 9-10am and then nothing until 4pm. Still it's all useful and it was a good presentation.
But until 4pm I went home and watched The Proposal. I had intended to stop watching dvds so I could study but I thought as it was my birthday I would extend it until today. It was a lovely movie to watch again and I had a nice laugh at it!
After study skills a call from Grandma B and then a bus home and then ordered dominos in for tea. As it was my birthday for a treat and I had so many vouchers from freshers to use up! I was going to give one set to my family when I went up but on the terms and conditions it says valid in Leicester stores only which is shame. The offer was buy one get one free but you had yo do it on medium or large so I got two medium knowing I would not be able to eat it all. The remains are in the fridge for me to take to uni tomorrow for lunch!
Then I had my birthday cake! Although I bought a battenberg my mum sent me a me to you one in the post with some other goodies which was lovely and some candles so I used that! And did it over google hangouts so they could see it and sing to me.
All in all it was a fairly good day. Uncle Simon and cousin Zak came round and surprised me this evening with a gift and card and Zak told me about his day at nursery! Despite being away from home for my birthday it was still pleasant and I rang my family enough to make up for not being there.
Absolutely shattered, and tomorrow is a busy day two lectures, a film and a tutorial but I'll be done 3pm. I like these shorted days college was such a drag. It makes me feel much more inclined to study when I get back when it is still light and warm(ish).
Every year people ask me "how does it feel to be 19?" or whatever age I am. I don't feel any different to last year. But it's weird to know I'm getting older and I feel like this next part of life is going to go very fast.
After doing it I decided I really ought to get some sleep as I had a lecture at 9am that morning. I managed to grab some sleep but of course woke up excited at 7am. Made myself sort of presentable then google hangouted my family to open the presents and cards (normally we do it all together at home) which was fun. William wanted the balloon and got upset when he realised it was impossible to have as it was with me in Leicester and he was in Wakefield. I got some lovely cards from friends and family and gifts too it made a lovely birthday morning.
Even google said happy birthday to me!
Had to get ready sharpish after that to catch the bus to university. It started raining surprise surprise thank goodness I had bought an umbrella the other day. Incidentally when I bought the umbrella the guy from the shop said I sounded like I wasn't from around here and when I said Yorkshire he said oh yes I can tell, but when I'm in yorkshire people say the opposite they say I don't sound northern. Strange.
Not having any practical shoes for the rain I had to go out in canvas pumps - bad decision my feet were freezing - I think I shall be investing in some kind of boot. Arrived to university in one piece though wet and cold.
Lecture was really interesting it was the Introduction to World Archaeology BC and we looked at the palaeolithic age - interestingly palaeo means old and lithic means stone. We did a bit on when did we become human? But instead of spouting the "we evolved from monkeys" they took the "we had a common ancestor long ago" which I find more believable but still weird. But thinking about if we all come from the same maker (God) then of course there will be similarities in every species. Anyway that was a side topic, what we actually looked at was stone tools and when they started to be first used. And whether use and creation of these tools began to show the Hominins (humany creatures but not human) were becoming human.
After that I had a nice break until 4pm where I had a study skills lecture until 6pm. It was on things like how to get the most out of lectures, how to manage time efficiently and stuff like that. We have it for the whole of this semester I'm not sure about next. It was okay but so annoying to have such a big gap between 9-10am and then nothing until 4pm. Still it's all useful and it was a good presentation.
But until 4pm I went home and watched The Proposal. I had intended to stop watching dvds so I could study but I thought as it was my birthday I would extend it until today. It was a lovely movie to watch again and I had a nice laugh at it!
After study skills a call from Grandma B and then a bus home and then ordered dominos in for tea. As it was my birthday for a treat and I had so many vouchers from freshers to use up! I was going to give one set to my family when I went up but on the terms and conditions it says valid in Leicester stores only which is shame. The offer was buy one get one free but you had yo do it on medium or large so I got two medium knowing I would not be able to eat it all. The remains are in the fridge for me to take to uni tomorrow for lunch!
Then I had my birthday cake! Although I bought a battenberg my mum sent me a me to you one in the post with some other goodies which was lovely and some candles so I used that! And did it over google hangouts so they could see it and sing to me.
All in all it was a fairly good day. Uncle Simon and cousin Zak came round and surprised me this evening with a gift and card and Zak told me about his day at nursery! Despite being away from home for my birthday it was still pleasant and I rang my family enough to make up for not being there.
Absolutely shattered, and tomorrow is a busy day two lectures, a film and a tutorial but I'll be done 3pm. I like these shorted days college was such a drag. It makes me feel much more inclined to study when I get back when it is still light and warm(ish).
Every year people ask me "how does it feel to be 19?" or whatever age I am. I don't feel any different to last year. But it's weird to know I'm getting older and I feel like this next part of life is going to go very fast.
Sunday 5 October 2014
The Weekend
So as I predicted I didn't do much. I feel like such a layabout but I did sleep in until noon. Oops that will probably never happened again although in my defence, it was a late night Friday and it was raining when I woke up so I think I was better of asleep anyway.
Stuck a load of washing on as after tidying my room I did discover I had enough to do one. Then hung it all up to dry on the airers in my room. Updated all my accounts and stuff, very important (but boring) I never ever want to go into my overdraft. Too risky and I am already piling up debt through going to uni I do not want to add anymore to it.
Rain sort of kept me indoors, although I had bought an umbrella the day before so technically I could have done. But, you know when you have the option to go out in the rain or stay inside dry...I stayed inside dry.
Brought my pillow and fleece downstairs with my laptop and dvd's and camped out on the sofa for the day. First watched The Tourist, I had seen it in Italy but in Italian so I thought I'd see the English version as it happens it made it a lot easier to follow the plot, understandably. I really like that movie, Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie make a good lead couple and the whole plot is entertaining. Only issue about twenty minutes before the end it started freaking out and not playing properly so I think I will take it back to the shop and get them to swap it for me! After that I watched Bridal Wars, again another entertaining one but not one I think I will watch again, it wasn't amazing.
I actually cannot remember what I did after that, I think sort out my washing and ironed it. Cooked some food, oh yeah I had the leftover pasta onion thing. I heated it up slowly so the onion had time to no longer be raw by the time I got round to eating it. Although saying that I think the pasta was thursday because yesterday I am positive I had tinned soup and bread. Foggy memory.
So for you guys reading this post that don't go to my church twice a year we get addressed by our world leaders in something called a conference. We get given talks on topics that have been highlighted as important for us to know more about or that should be re-emphasised. I love it because I always hear a message that's personal for me. Because it is broadcast from America we usually have to wait for the videos to be put online, but because I am now staying in a house with a television license it means I could watch it live. So 5-7pm saturday night I watched America's saturday morning session. It was really interesting and uplifting. One thing I thought was amazing was when the Prophet Thomas S Monson said there were more than 88,000 missionaries operating worldwide! It's such a huge number!
One talk I found particularly good was by Elder Lynn G Robbins, where he asked the question: Which way do we face? Do we represent God to the people, or do we represent the people to God? Are we willing to do what God wants us to do and stick to our standards even though the world doesn't like it or are we more scared and concerned about what our friends and associates will think of us to do the things we believe in and know to be true? Another good point was when Dieter F Utchdorf said that a trait of humanity is to assume we are right even when we are wrong. We have to recognise that we don't always act in an appropriate way and stop being stubborn.
So that was Saturday. Sunday I was invited to dinner at the family of my landlord's house which was lovely. They had a nice big cooked dinner with lamb and potatoes and vegetables with peach crumble for dessert it was great. Afterwards we watching another conference session the Saturday Afternoon Session. It was another good one. My favourite talk from it was by Elder Jörg Klebingat. He asked many poignant and thought provoking questions. Can we say in ourselves that God is happy with us? How would we feel if we had an interview with Jesus today? Happy or extremely nervous? He advised us not to let the adversary chip away at our souls and self confidence. And that the decision to change is ours alone. He then offered six ways that we can increase our self confidence to become better members of the church and better people. 1. Take responsibility for our own spiritual well-being, the Lord knows how hard we are or are not trying to become perfect and good people, we should try to be as good as we can within our own spheres of life. 2. Take responsibility for our own physical well-being, if we are not happy with ourselves we cannot be happy in ourselves. Body and soul are joined if we feel unhappy in one we can't be happy in the other. 3. Embrace voluntary whole hearted obedience, we cannot love God without loving his commandments. And casualness in spiritual matters will not bring us happiness. 4. Become good at repenting thoroughly and quickly. Embrace the atonement and apply it daily and establish ongoing happy repentance. 5. Become really good at forgiving others. As we make mistakes so will they and we cannot ask for forgiveness from God if we do not forgive those who ask for our forgiveness. Don't hold grudges against people or be easily offended but uplift others always. 6. Accept trials, setbacks and the surprises in our lives. We are all here to be tested, why should we not have trials if everyone else is? Some trials come through disobedience or negligence but they are not a punishment only a time to prove ourselves. They are there to make us stronger. We should acknowledge and face our weaknesses and try to repair them but not to become immobilised by them.
I thought that was the best talk I'd heard all of conference and when it becomes available online I want to print it out and keep a copy because it will remind me of what I can do to dissipate the discouraging voices of the adversary and restore peaceful assurance and spiritual confidence. http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865612418/Elder-Jorg-Klebingat-Approaching-the-throne-of-God-with-confidence.html
After that I got dropped back home and I watched the Sunday Morning Session of Conference 5-7pm English time but America's morning. It was another good one. It talked about how we should build up our relationship with God so we can receive personal revelation. Also how we can be more active in sustaining our Prophet. The last talk of this session was by the Prophet. He did a wonderful talk "decisions determine destiny". Our purpose on earth was to have a body and be separated from our Heavenly parents so we can have the same experiences they had and learn to choose well. Our decisions don't just determine where we will go on earth but for eternity. We are given the tools we need to get back. We have to walk as Jesus walked. Emulate Him. He is the light to guide us home. By following Him we can gain eternal life but we have to work. Only He can lead us safely home.
The last session Sunday Afternoon is showing 9-11pm but as I have a lecture at 9am tomorrow morning I think I will have to catch it later in the week when they put it on the website. https://www.lds.org/general-conference/sessions/2014/10?lang=eng
All in all it was a very uplifting day, which is what I needed after freaking out on the telephone this morning to my mum. Panicking over whether university is the right decision...again. New stuff is hard, but it's something I can work through.
Stuck a load of washing on as after tidying my room I did discover I had enough to do one. Then hung it all up to dry on the airers in my room. Updated all my accounts and stuff, very important (but boring) I never ever want to go into my overdraft. Too risky and I am already piling up debt through going to uni I do not want to add anymore to it.
Rain sort of kept me indoors, although I had bought an umbrella the day before so technically I could have done. But, you know when you have the option to go out in the rain or stay inside dry...I stayed inside dry.
Brought my pillow and fleece downstairs with my laptop and dvd's and camped out on the sofa for the day. First watched The Tourist, I had seen it in Italy but in Italian so I thought I'd see the English version as it happens it made it a lot easier to follow the plot, understandably. I really like that movie, Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie make a good lead couple and the whole plot is entertaining. Only issue about twenty minutes before the end it started freaking out and not playing properly so I think I will take it back to the shop and get them to swap it for me! After that I watched Bridal Wars, again another entertaining one but not one I think I will watch again, it wasn't amazing.
I actually cannot remember what I did after that, I think sort out my washing and ironed it. Cooked some food, oh yeah I had the leftover pasta onion thing. I heated it up slowly so the onion had time to no longer be raw by the time I got round to eating it. Although saying that I think the pasta was thursday because yesterday I am positive I had tinned soup and bread. Foggy memory.
So for you guys reading this post that don't go to my church twice a year we get addressed by our world leaders in something called a conference. We get given talks on topics that have been highlighted as important for us to know more about or that should be re-emphasised. I love it because I always hear a message that's personal for me. Because it is broadcast from America we usually have to wait for the videos to be put online, but because I am now staying in a house with a television license it means I could watch it live. So 5-7pm saturday night I watched America's saturday morning session. It was really interesting and uplifting. One thing I thought was amazing was when the Prophet Thomas S Monson said there were more than 88,000 missionaries operating worldwide! It's such a huge number!
One talk I found particularly good was by Elder Lynn G Robbins, where he asked the question: Which way do we face? Do we represent God to the people, or do we represent the people to God? Are we willing to do what God wants us to do and stick to our standards even though the world doesn't like it or are we more scared and concerned about what our friends and associates will think of us to do the things we believe in and know to be true? Another good point was when Dieter F Utchdorf said that a trait of humanity is to assume we are right even when we are wrong. We have to recognise that we don't always act in an appropriate way and stop being stubborn.
So that was Saturday. Sunday I was invited to dinner at the family of my landlord's house which was lovely. They had a nice big cooked dinner with lamb and potatoes and vegetables with peach crumble for dessert it was great. Afterwards we watching another conference session the Saturday Afternoon Session. It was another good one. My favourite talk from it was by Elder Jörg Klebingat. He asked many poignant and thought provoking questions. Can we say in ourselves that God is happy with us? How would we feel if we had an interview with Jesus today? Happy or extremely nervous? He advised us not to let the adversary chip away at our souls and self confidence. And that the decision to change is ours alone. He then offered six ways that we can increase our self confidence to become better members of the church and better people. 1. Take responsibility for our own spiritual well-being, the Lord knows how hard we are or are not trying to become perfect and good people, we should try to be as good as we can within our own spheres of life. 2. Take responsibility for our own physical well-being, if we are not happy with ourselves we cannot be happy in ourselves. Body and soul are joined if we feel unhappy in one we can't be happy in the other. 3. Embrace voluntary whole hearted obedience, we cannot love God without loving his commandments. And casualness in spiritual matters will not bring us happiness. 4. Become good at repenting thoroughly and quickly. Embrace the atonement and apply it daily and establish ongoing happy repentance. 5. Become really good at forgiving others. As we make mistakes so will they and we cannot ask for forgiveness from God if we do not forgive those who ask for our forgiveness. Don't hold grudges against people or be easily offended but uplift others always. 6. Accept trials, setbacks and the surprises in our lives. We are all here to be tested, why should we not have trials if everyone else is? Some trials come through disobedience or negligence but they are not a punishment only a time to prove ourselves. They are there to make us stronger. We should acknowledge and face our weaknesses and try to repair them but not to become immobilised by them.
I thought that was the best talk I'd heard all of conference and when it becomes available online I want to print it out and keep a copy because it will remind me of what I can do to dissipate the discouraging voices of the adversary and restore peaceful assurance and spiritual confidence. http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865612418/Elder-Jorg-Klebingat-Approaching-the-throne-of-God-with-confidence.html
After that I got dropped back home and I watched the Sunday Morning Session of Conference 5-7pm English time but America's morning. It was another good one. It talked about how we should build up our relationship with God so we can receive personal revelation. Also how we can be more active in sustaining our Prophet. The last talk of this session was by the Prophet. He did a wonderful talk "decisions determine destiny". Our purpose on earth was to have a body and be separated from our Heavenly parents so we can have the same experiences they had and learn to choose well. Our decisions don't just determine where we will go on earth but for eternity. We are given the tools we need to get back. We have to walk as Jesus walked. Emulate Him. He is the light to guide us home. By following Him we can gain eternal life but we have to work. Only He can lead us safely home.
The last session Sunday Afternoon is showing 9-11pm but as I have a lecture at 9am tomorrow morning I think I will have to catch it later in the week when they put it on the website. https://www.lds.org/general-conference/sessions/2014/10?lang=eng
All in all it was a very uplifting day, which is what I needed after freaking out on the telephone this morning to my mum. Panicking over whether university is the right decision...again. New stuff is hard, but it's something I can work through.
Friday 3 October 2014
Wed-Thur-Fri
Freshers week = boring. Apart from free junk it means ridiculous amounts of time to waste in front of the TV. There are only so many times I can go into the town centre and forbid myself to buy anything!
Wednesday and Thursday I was in uni, more information picking up, got my timetable and got to meet my tutor. Also we had a guest lecture by Professor Norman Hammond on Maya Pre-History. If you read that and thought pre-history? What is pre-history? (As I did) Because surely history includes all of the past and what can be pre the past? Well I soon discovered that history refers to things known so pre-history is the period we don't know a lot about. For example we know the Mayans as temple building wealthy sacrificing people but what were they before they became great? We don't really know. And that my friends is Maya Pre-history. It was a really interesting lecture and made me feel quite sad that my course is limited to ancient Greece and Rome only. My ideal history course would cover so much stuff it would be like a mega degree. Some areas that I am sad I wont get to study are: Native Americans, The War of the Roses - you'd think Leicester would offer a course on that - well they are kind of I got a leaflet for it that I can sign up to later in the year but it focuses naturally more on Richard the third rather Elizabeth Woodville and Edward.
Bought a Latin dictionary it looks very complicated.
My timetable is pretty good. Not a lot of contact hours, though I am rather annoyed about the random lecture on the middle of Friday. It would have been perfect if that was earlier in the morning or even just on another day. But can't complain I got a pretty good deal.
So a lot of free afternoons/mornings which is good and makes it easy to travel.
Today I booked tickets to go northward got a nice funfare deal on National Express cost me under £20 for journey both ways. Three weekends time I shall be gracing Wakefield with my sunny presence. Clear your weekends you northerners I'm returning ;)
More exploring in town, I found the central library and joined it. They give you two library cards, one normal sized one and then one for your key ring which I thought was a clever idea because if you forget your purse with your card in you're most probably going to have your keys with the other card on!
I also found Highcross shopping centre I was feeling hopeful that they might have krispy kremes. No such luck, only Millie's cookies which were disappointingly priced. 99p for one cookie. Well I shall visit Sainsbury's and get 5 for 75p which taste exactly the same. Lots more shops in there and they had...a disney store.
I never understood why everyone loved the shop so much...until I went in it and then I wanted to buy everything. EVERYTHING. The Little Mermaid is basically my all time favourite disney movie, it's also my favourite fairy tale and just everything and they had so much little mermaid stuff. Ariel dolls and squishy toys, a squishy Flounder and Sebastian. Ariel mug and cup and dinner plates and cutlery. An Ariel costume (which actually looks as though it might have fitted me! The advantages of being small) It was so much fun to be in that store! However I didn't buy anything :( Poor me on a student loan, but my plan is to save and go back haha! Because it is quite pricey.
After that I went and shut down my Halifax bank account which I never use and received a grand total of 26p. Oh windfall for me. Went into That's Entertainment (bad decision) and came out with three DVD's (I budgeted this into my accounts so it was okay!) The Proposal - cannot beat a bit of Sandra Bullock, The Tourist - mmm Johnny Depp and Bridal Wars - never seen it but I remember wanting to when it came out. All together not bad.
Then went to purchase my NUS card from the student union and picked up some bits from morrisons apples and milk and stuff...oh an a birthday cake for me!! Seeing as I'm not at home for my mum to make me one. I chose Mr Kipling's battenburg yumm-y! My mum said it should last me a few days....but the equation goes like this Maria + battenburg + five minutes = no battenburg. And I'm not talking about the mini five pack, I mean the big loaf! At least I can stick candles in it although it is going to kill me having it sat in my room not allowed to eat it until monday!
Plans for tomorrow? Hmm I think I'll call it sleep in and not do much. All my washing is done, nothing to prep for Monday. Maybe I'll make a start on some of my course texts. Get ahead of the game. I also have a gym free day pass to use up so I might go burn some energy there. And it's right next door to where I was born haha I pass the Royal Infirmary (which by the way for non Leicester people is a hospital, where I was born, not an infirmary for the infirm of mind) everyday on the bus to university. Circle of life or something.
Wednesday and Thursday I was in uni, more information picking up, got my timetable and got to meet my tutor. Also we had a guest lecture by Professor Norman Hammond on Maya Pre-History. If you read that and thought pre-history? What is pre-history? (As I did) Because surely history includes all of the past and what can be pre the past? Well I soon discovered that history refers to things known so pre-history is the period we don't know a lot about. For example we know the Mayans as temple building wealthy sacrificing people but what were they before they became great? We don't really know. And that my friends is Maya Pre-history. It was a really interesting lecture and made me feel quite sad that my course is limited to ancient Greece and Rome only. My ideal history course would cover so much stuff it would be like a mega degree. Some areas that I am sad I wont get to study are: Native Americans, The War of the Roses - you'd think Leicester would offer a course on that - well they are kind of I got a leaflet for it that I can sign up to later in the year but it focuses naturally more on Richard the third rather Elizabeth Woodville and Edward.
Bought a Latin dictionary it looks very complicated.
My timetable is pretty good. Not a lot of contact hours, though I am rather annoyed about the random lecture on the middle of Friday. It would have been perfect if that was earlier in the morning or even just on another day. But can't complain I got a pretty good deal.
So a lot of free afternoons/mornings which is good and makes it easy to travel.
Today I booked tickets to go northward got a nice funfare deal on National Express cost me under £20 for journey both ways. Three weekends time I shall be gracing Wakefield with my sunny presence. Clear your weekends you northerners I'm returning ;)
More exploring in town, I found the central library and joined it. They give you two library cards, one normal sized one and then one for your key ring which I thought was a clever idea because if you forget your purse with your card in you're most probably going to have your keys with the other card on!
I also found Highcross shopping centre I was feeling hopeful that they might have krispy kremes. No such luck, only Millie's cookies which were disappointingly priced. 99p for one cookie. Well I shall visit Sainsbury's and get 5 for 75p which taste exactly the same. Lots more shops in there and they had...a disney store.
I never understood why everyone loved the shop so much...until I went in it and then I wanted to buy everything. EVERYTHING. The Little Mermaid is basically my all time favourite disney movie, it's also my favourite fairy tale and just everything and they had so much little mermaid stuff. Ariel dolls and squishy toys, a squishy Flounder and Sebastian. Ariel mug and cup and dinner plates and cutlery. An Ariel costume (which actually looks as though it might have fitted me! The advantages of being small) It was so much fun to be in that store! However I didn't buy anything :( Poor me on a student loan, but my plan is to save and go back haha! Because it is quite pricey.
After that I went and shut down my Halifax bank account which I never use and received a grand total of 26p. Oh windfall for me. Went into That's Entertainment (bad decision) and came out with three DVD's (I budgeted this into my accounts so it was okay!) The Proposal - cannot beat a bit of Sandra Bullock, The Tourist - mmm Johnny Depp and Bridal Wars - never seen it but I remember wanting to when it came out. All together not bad.
Then went to purchase my NUS card from the student union and picked up some bits from morrisons apples and milk and stuff...oh an a birthday cake for me!! Seeing as I'm not at home for my mum to make me one. I chose Mr Kipling's battenburg yumm-y! My mum said it should last me a few days....but the equation goes like this Maria + battenburg + five minutes = no battenburg. And I'm not talking about the mini five pack, I mean the big loaf! At least I can stick candles in it although it is going to kill me having it sat in my room not allowed to eat it until monday!
Plans for tomorrow? Hmm I think I'll call it sleep in and not do much. All my washing is done, nothing to prep for Monday. Maybe I'll make a start on some of my course texts. Get ahead of the game. I also have a gym free day pass to use up so I might go burn some energy there. And it's right next door to where I was born haha I pass the Royal Infirmary (which by the way for non Leicester people is a hospital, where I was born, not an infirmary for the infirm of mind) everyday on the bus to university. Circle of life or something.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)