Scott Chester

It was good to be back at church this week. I really missed being home last week. Many people told me I was at least a few shades darker. I guess that isn’t hard when you can serve as a white card. I don’t see it, but I’m sure I am. I did spend a lot of time out in the sun and didn’t wear much sunscreen.

We debunked myths regarding the atonement today. I really liked the style of the talk. It was so nice to have a homemade dinner at the Dowden’s tonight. I seriously need to come up with a plan for this week so I don’t have to go out to eat. Problem is there is nothing in my house to eat. I need some new food ideas for things that don’t cost me more than a meal at a nice restaurant. Maybe I just need someone to eat dinner with! I haven’t been over to the Rodriguez’s for a while, maybe its time I drop in there.

No one showed up for the CES Fireside tonight, which was fine with me. I just always want to make sure that people have the option. I’m sure most people who wanted to watch it watched it the night it aired or sometime in the past few weeks. But I guess you never know who could have been out there. I still have it if someone wants to come watch it. This is the only reason I have TV and a DVR in my house, so that I can watch these things on the BYU channel. I’m sure my roommates would love it if I canceled every channel but KBYU!

I spent some time talking with Sister Draper, one of Tara’s companions who has been released. That was kind of fun and got me thinking more about the one and only Tara of course. I guess she has really been on my mind a lot lately. Maybe some part of me knows that she is going through some harder times on her mission and wants to be there for her. Maybe it was just the Bosch trip which I’ve been dreading for a year since I knew she couldn’t come. Or I guess it could have been all the people that asked me about my wife on the trip!

Well, I think I’m going to toss in early tonight. I’m thinking about trying to get into the office early tomorrow to install some software updates before everyone else gets in, or at least to get some work done. I’m also thinking it will help me get ready for getting up early on Tuesday to be at the temple which I have missed dearly.

I’ve been so lazy the past two days I can’t even think of what to report today. I still need to catchup on Maui, but I’m too tired to do that tonight. I’ve enjoyed a lot of relaxing time lately. I’ve managed to catch up completely on my major tv shows on the DVR and am down now to the extras that I record just for backup.

I started working on clearing out iPhoto so I could get new pictures in there. I learned that if you command-delete something from an album it will delete it from the library as well which will be very useful to me in the future. A normal delete will work with smart albums too, which might be useful if I started doing things with smart albums, although I’m not sure how that would work.

I got a letter and picture from Tara today which was greatly needed. She said the fruit bouquet came just when needed, as it seems her letter did to me. She sent a picture of her eating the fruit which is just awesome. I’m glad the timing ended up working out so well when I dragged my feet for so long. She said she has been learning more patience which is surprising to me because I think she has a lot of patience already. I’d say she certainly has more than me, but that isn’t saying much. I can’t believe how long she has been out and therefore how long it has been since I’ve even heard her voice or seen her.

I’m totally ready to go back to church tomorrow. It feels like I haven’t been in forever. I’m also anxious to get home teaching fixed (again) so we can keep pushing towards 100%.

So I’m a few days behind. I had thought that my trip to Maui was going to be filled with boredom and lots of relaxing time. As you can see, I haven’t even had the time to write, or maybe more correctly, I’ve been too tired to write. I’ve learned that there is no point in taking books or movies on trips with me as I never end up reading or watching them. I finally read a chapter of one book while we boarded the airplane on the way back, but that’s the book that I always have in my laptop bag anyway! The other three books I brought and none of the movies even got looked at.

I learned how to surf on Monday. That was interesting, but painful. I was able to get up a few times, but got tired of it pretty quick. You certainly use a lot of muscles that I haven’t worked in a long time surfing and that just became too much for me. I thoroughly enjoyed just sitting on the board watching the waves go by and taking in the scenery though.

At some point I explored the pool and found that the water in it was not very warm, so I quickly decided there were better ways to spend my time.

I spent most of my time it seems just exploring the island and taking pictures. I could have easily spent a few more days on Maui and would have loved to have gone to the other islands as well. I guess I have a list of things to do for the next time. I need to give more details about things, but here are two final thoughts to leave you with tonight. First, I ate at entirely new restaurants the entire time I was there except for the morning I couldn’t find anything other than McDonald’s for breakfast. I even tried new things which is even more adventurous for me.

And finally, the road to Hana was amazing. It was so breathtaking and beautiful. The road would narrow constantly and just be one lane - as in not enough room for two cars to pass each other. That kept things interesting, but it was so worth the few hours. It was totally like a rainforest down there. The humidity was so high that water was condensing on the sides of the air conditioning vents in the car. I had to keep the windows down because the a/c couldn’t dehumidify the air enough for me to see where I was going. It was hard to get shots along the way because there weren’t many places to pull off the road. There were a bunch I wanted to get on the way back, but at one point the tire pressure sensor in the van started complaining and I didn’t want to get stranded hours from civilization, especially with the hunger mounting and my departure flight quickly approaching.

I must admit that I was too exhausted and lazy last night to write, so this will have to do. I spent most of the day traveling. It was about six by the time I got checked into the hotel and time for the first activity before I was even settled. P.S. I was starving! It took about an hour to get our luggage from the flight and then we had to wait for the bus and so forth, it was ridiculous! Next time I’ll ship my luggage and rent a car so I can skip some of the waiting.

The flight was actually pretty good. I scored an empty seat next to me which is second best to having a friend there. I really wish Tara had been in that empty seat. it was a long flight. I got to watch both Journey to the Center of the Earth and Wall-E. I also tried to do some soduku on the flight, but wasn’t having much luck. I hope it was because I was being distracted with the movie, but it may have been that my brain just wasn’t working.

I rented a car this morning to go to church. I first had to get my massage appointment rescheduled, but Carla was nice enough to handle that for me as always. She took my appointment and is getting me a new one later in the week. I was totally worried about lds.org having the wrong information in the meetinghouse locator, but I decided to go with it. I drove past the local meetinghouse which started at 9 to the one on the south side of the Island which was supposed to have the YSA meeting there at 10. Well, there was another ward finishing up fast and testimony meeting there when I got there. Another couple asked me if I knew what was going on. A local member told me the next ward started at 1. The sister missionaries found out for me that the YSA meets at the stake center (back by the airport) and that the next ward was a Tongan ward. I decided to try out the stake center. I got there just after a ward had started and just missed sacrament. I stayed through their testimony meeting and Sunday school when I found out that the YSA ward did meet there at 10 and was going on simultaneously. I then stayed for another sacrament meeting so I could take the sacrament.

In that final meeting, I met another couple from Northern California who is vacationing in Hawaii. They told me their GPS had directed them wrong and they finally found the stake center two blocks from their hotel or ship (I’m not quite sure). I realized that clearly the adversary didn’t want me to take the sacrament today. It all started with the spa, then Enterprise didn’t have cars, i showed up at the wrong building (at the right time), and then just missed it when I showed up at the other building. I knew I needed to stay and take it. I was going to just take the sacrament and leave after, but I felt that I needed to stay for my third fast and testimony meeting today. I almost got up to bear my testimony even, but people seemed to be rushing the stand, so I didn’t go.

I think this was one of the most powerful meetings I’ve ever been in. It was definitely worth it and I was so grateful to have been there and to have finally been able to take the sacrament. How wonderful it is that we can travel to the corners of the earth and yet come Home every Sunday in worship. I did really feel at home in that stake center of our Lord’s Church today. There was something special and I don’t mean the people saying aloha. The congregation would say aloha back to anyone who said it from the pulpit. That was strange! We don’t do that anywhere else that I know of. Normally it is only a one way communication.

After church I saw a fire just after it got started on the side of the highway. I called it in and then started taking pictures after I realized it was growing. I got quite a few and some good ones I feel. I came back to the resort and posted the pictures and was reminded again that I need to backup and cleanup iPhoto.

We had our welcome dinner tonight. I got to see Jim & Susan and meet their son. I had dinner with them and I think we are going to hang out again throughout the week. I haven’t seen the couple from SLC that we had last year. Unfortunately I can’t remember their names to check the guest list. I guess we’ll just have to see if I can find them. Where’s Tara when I need her?

The Luau was pretty cool. The Samoan fire knife dance was amazing. I don’t know how that guy was able to do what he did, but I’m sure he doesn’t have any hair left on his body. There is probably/definitely more to say, but I’m so tired, I need to get to sleep!

On my way back to the resort from church this afternoon I came across this fire on the side of the road that had clearly just started as there was no one on the scene. I called it in and then later pulled off to take some other pictures. When I looked back I saw that it had grown substantially and decided to go back and check it out. Here are some pictures:

Tomorrow I leave for Hawaii. I will be traveling alone, even though I found lots of interested people today. I thought I had publicized a month ago that I was looking for people to join me, but I guess I didn’t do a good enough job. In any event, maybe I will be able to enjoy some alone time and get some things done I haven’t been able to do for a while. I’m not sure what all I’m going to do out there though activity wise. I want to travel to the temple, but I’m figuring it would probably end up costing me $300 by the time I do it. I will probably go see Scott & Desoree one of the days, and that is going to probably cost about the same. Maybe if I spent the night with them I could catch a plane to the other island the next day and make a round trip of it. Of course, it would be a little strange to be in a $300/night resort/hotel and not go back to the room to sleep!

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has issued a statement in response to the protests over the success of prop 8.

Church Issues Statement on Proposition 8 Protest - LDS Newsroom

So it looks like I’m back to going to Maui by myself. I guess it will be an interesting week.

Today seemed like it dragged on at work and I even left for lunch. I was ready for lunch at like 10 and the hours after lunch seemed even longer. When 4:45 rolled around I decided I was done and started wrapping things up.

I’m disgusted that this prop 8 battle is continuing. The people have spoken and approved to designate marriage as being between only a man and a woman. The people who have lost need to understand that only 2-5% of the citizens in California are LDS. Our church is not pushing anything on anyone, we simply headed up the campaign on a moral issue. I still maintain that because only a man and a woman can create a family only a man and woman should be entitled to be married. This is discriminatory, I understand, because it is biology. We also discriminate against many other things in life. Birds can fly, people can’t. Can we change the laws of gravity? No. Can we change the laws of marriage? No.

I must take a minute to publicly thank the no on 8 supporters who have made it clear exactly the level of tolerance they would expect from us. Even after the election, the hate continues as well as protests. I think they have actually helped our fight by indicating to the public that they aren’t able to tolerate the public opinion.

I am appalled though at the attacks on the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Protests outside of our temples and attempts to take away the tax exempt status of the church are uncalled for.

It appears that we have emerged victoriously! It was only by a narrow margin though and there are still votes to be counted, but with 100% of precincts reporting and we have a 52.5%, I think we are safe to say we won! I think they still have to count the absentee ballots which I guess could take up to a month.

I totally slept through my alarm this morning and was a little late to work, but it felt so good. We had a 53′ FedEx National LTL truck deliver a 2′ x 2′ x 2′ box to us today. The packing slip says it was sent on a pallet. It gets even better. Inside the box was a 3″ x 3″ x 10″ box without even any packing material! I think they could have sent it US Mail! I have pictures for the fun of it. I’ll have to post them later.

I enjoyed a quiet evening at home tonight. I bought Melissa’s plane ticket, watched some TV and talked on the phone. I really was pretty much just lazy tonight. I was able to talk Melissa into coming with me to Maui. I don’t think she has realized yet that this means she is stuck with me for the bulk of the week. I wonder when she will figure that out! The flight I’m on jumped to $1800 today, it is absurd. I booked her on a flight that was $570 by the time I got it booked, but was $360 or so earlier this afternoon. I guess I still haven’t learned that it pays to book flights early.

I discovered that my website is #4 for yeson8 and #5 for proposition 8 text. I’m sure I’m in the top results for other searches as well. The daily visitors on my site have about doubled over the past month. I’m sure it will die down here again soon.

I’m sure there was something else I wanted to write about tonight, but I need to get some sleep and stop writing. Good night to all and thank you for your support!

Well, it is going to be too close to call tonight. As of 10:25 p.m. we’re looking at 29% of precincts reporting with 52.3% supporting a YES vote on Proposition 8 to protect marriage. I truly hope that our efforts will have been enough. I pray that the difference will be made up for us. I think we made our best efforts on this and I hope we emerge victorious in the morning and the coming days.

The fight has gotten really nasty in the last day. The home invasion video was so absurd. I called most of the Los Angeles and San Diego television stations on my way to the temple at 5 o’clock this morning and left messages for the advertising directors imploring them not to air the video. Since I wasn’t watching TV most of the day, I couldn’t tell you if they played them or not.

I had a good time at the temple this morning and was happy I was there and not somewhere else stressing about this proposition. I got to go through a session and then officiated for one. It was kind of nerve-wracking to officiate, but I heard I was a winner. Of course I have some things to work on, but I’m sure I can get it down shortly. I’m really bummed to be missing my shift next week. Sadly, I’m not looking forward to this vacation, but I’m sure after a few days I’ll be able to enjoy myself. It’s been a while since I’ve had some real time to myself I guess. I even looked at flights again tonight and they are too expensive now to consider bringing someone along. Actually, I guess that is just my flight. There are some other ones with a stop in Honolulu that could work I guess and maybe even some from SAN. I need to figure out that game-plan tomorrow. This may be your last chance, so speak now or forever hold your peace!

I also need to get to sleep. Didn’t I say i was going to get some sleep once this prop 8 thing was over? Well, I guess it isn’t over quite yet, so I haven’t broken any promises.

I totally think I saw some lady this morning going to steal a YES on 8 sign near the San Diego Temple. I should have stopped and taken pictures, but I wasn’t thinking clearly at 6 o’clock on the morning I guess.

So, even though it is over now, something to keep in mind. Steal a sign, get a year in jail or pay $1,000. I wonder if that is per incidence…

YouTube - more arrests for stealing Yes on 8 signs

… We have always emphasized that respect be given to those who feel differently on this issue. It is unfortunate that some who oppose this proposition have not given the Church this same courtesy.

ksl.com - LDS Church responds to Prop. 8 ad

A little video recounting the road to the polls. If you haven’t yet voted, please get out and vote YES for Prop 8 now.

YouTube - The Story of Prop 8

Clearly not the best article I’ve ever read, but you may find it useful nonetheless.

Mormons’ $22M Backing of Prop. 8 Incites Critics :: EDGE Boston

Here’s some logic for you: If Man and Woman can create a family (i.e. children) then they should be the fundamental unit of the family through marriage.

Most Men & Women can create children. I don’t know of once instance where a man and a man or a woman and a woman were able to create children.

Therefore, it follows logically: Only the combination of a Man and a Woman can create a family and therefore only a man and a woman can be married.