Goal #52 Get scuba certified

My Scuba Class!

Last night at the Homestead Crater, I dove down to 66 feet and got scuba certified. I am SO happy! Two out of the three dive nights before last night, I didn't do so well. I couldn't get my buoyancy right. My ears wouldn't equalize and felt like knives stabbing through my sinuses. My tank wanted me to barrel roll, etc. It was the worst. And I wondered why I had decided to take up such an expensive, unenjoyable hobby.

And then there was last night. :) Last night we had two scuba instructors with our class, and one stayed with me for the first dive and helped me figure everything out. I got weighted. I achieved neutral buoyancy. I equalized my ears. And I dove deeper than I'd ever dived before. In fact, I made it to the very bottom. The crater is actually a hot spring, and I went to the very bottom and put my hand where the steamy water gurgles out of the earth. SO COOL! As a geology geek, that was the coolest part.

Since I didn't have my camera out in the crater, here are some beautiful Google images to show you what it was like. ;)

First we assemble our BCD on the dock

Then we get in. We did a seated entry though.

We go down to the platform, 15 ft below

And then to the pvc rectangle, 35 ft below

And down to the bottom

and back up!

This video encapsulates my experience. You'll feel like you were there. Except you can breathe through your nose and you don't have to stress out about equalizing yours ears.

I don't know if I like scuba diving yet. Hopefully when there's pretty fish to see, I will. But I'm totally proud of myself for doing something that was hard for me. :)


My dollar for completing this goal goes to providing in kind donations (socks!) for refugees resettled into Salt Lake City, through the International Rescue Committee.

Goal #83 See a silent movie with an organ playing

Seeing a silent movie with an organ playing feels like going back in time! SO cool! The film was made with short screens that show text dialogue that give you enough context so fill in the blanks. The organ music provides the emotion. And the audience does some inferring from the visual. The overall effect is a more intense emotional experience than a normal film. Kind of like how you get more attached to characters while reading a book. I highly recommend it.

If you wanna go, it's the Edison Street Theater. They have this crazy purple glitter organ that's over 100 years old, called the Mighty Wurlitzer. They show 1 or 2 silent movies a month, and a ticket is $6. This brilliant musician plays through the whole film, without a score or looking up at the movie. 80% of the audience is over 50 years old, and the other 20% is 20-somethings on dates. Nobody in between. It's pretty fun. :)


My dollar for completing this goal goes to funding young innovators in Sierra Leone, Kenya, and South Africa.

Goal #43 Missionary work: Give someone a Book of Mormon

Me + niblings

Over Thanksgiving I went with my family to the Tijuana Temple open house. It was fabulous. I was fascinated crossing the border (it was only my 2nd time despite growing up an hour away) and seeing everything change. The temple was beautiful--I loved how they incorporated regional characteristics and architecture. And afterwards we ate street tacos--best lunch ever!

Tacos El Gordo, I shall remember you forever!

We brought a family friend with us to the open house, and I was able to give her a copy of the Book of Mormon in her native Spanish. There was no pomp and circumstance; I hadn't planned it; and I didn't write my testimony on the cover page. I just noticed that she loved the open house, saw a copy of the Book of Mormon on a table in the reception tent, and gave it to her.

Us with the Christus statue

To make this post a little better, I thought I'd reflect on the role of the Book of Mormon in my life. I can recite what the Book of Mormon is "supposed" to do--a) bring you closer to Christ b) help you gain a testimony of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, because if the book is true, then Joseph Smith is a true prophet, then the Church is true--but those things aren't necessarily what I think of. If you want to know what the BoM is, go here.

What the Book of Mormon has done for me:

• It has brought peace. Sometimes I'm reading something completely mundane, but the simple act of reading in this book has calmed my troubled heart.
• It has brought answers. There have been times when I didn't know how to approach a situation, and then a verse enlightens my mind and I know what to do next.
• It has brought me to repentance. Reading the stories of these people and their interaction with God has reminded me of what I need to be and do, which has caused me to change my ways.

Some of my favorite verses from the Book of Mormon are:

"For he that diligently seeketh shall find; and the mysteries of God shall be unfolded unto them, by the power of the Holy Ghost, as well in these times as in times of old, and as well in times of old as in times to come; wherefore, the course of the Lord is one eternal round." 1 Nephi 10:19

"He (Jesus) doeth not anything save it be for the benefit of the world; for he loveth the world, even that he layeth down his own life that he may draw all men unto him. Wherefore, he commandeth none that they shall not partake of his salvation." 2 Nephi 26:24

"And now, my beloved brethren, I would that ye should come unto Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel, and partake of his salvation, and the power of his redemption. Yea, come unto him, and offer your whole souls as an offering unto him, and continue in fasting and praying, and endure to the end; ad as the Lord liveth ye will be saved." Omni 1:26

"Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend." Mosiah 4:10

"But he (Jesus) was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed." Mosiah 14:5 (in which this guy Abinadi quotes all of Isaiah 53)

"And he (Jesus) shall go forth suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people. And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities." (Alma 7:11-12)

"And now I would that ye should be humble, and be submissive and gentle; easy to be entreated; full of patience and long-suffering; being temperature in all things; being diligent in keeping the commandments of God at all times; asking for whatsoever things ye stand in need, both spiritual and temporal; always returning thanks unto God for whatsoever things ye do receive." Alma 7:23

"Nevertheless they did fast and pray oft, and did wax stronger and stronger in their humility and firmer and firmer in the faith of Christ, unto the filling their souls with joy and consolation, yea, even to the purifying and the sanctification cometh because of their yielding their hearts unto God." Helaman 3:35

"The light of the body is the eye; if, therefore, thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light." 3 Nephi 13:22 (also taught in by Jesus in Matthew 6)

"Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God." Moroni 10:32

Wow--I've never strung them together before. I guess I like scriptures about Jesus' character and how I come unto Him.

My dollar for completing this goal goes to funding young innovators in Africa.