I went to the Bean Museum a few times for class assignments when I was at
BYU as a student...
We went there again a few weeks ago with cousins and Grandma Rita.
I think the boys all had a great time. It is wonderful whenever Grandma Rita comes down from Washington, and the boys adore her.
But I have trouble every time I go into this museum and see these dead animals that were hunted and killed for no other reason but sport. They are all beautiful, and it is amazing to see them close up, kind of.
I was especially angered by this bear. The inscription on the glass talks about how "the hunter looked for this particular bear for 4 years before he caught up with him, and this bear, at over 8 feet tall is in the record books as one of the largest Kodiak Bears of all time"...it goes on about how the hunter used to display the bear in his living room so he could brag about hunting it down and killing it out of some selfish blood-thirsty desire to kill one of the biggest bears ever, a bear that has struggled to survive, and I think, earned the right to be left alone...that deserves our respect.
Every time I have gone to this museum, I hear the words of our prophet
Spencer W. Kimball:
"I do not believe any man should kill animals or birds unless he needs them for food, and then he should not kill innocent little birds that are not intended for food for man. I think it is wicked for men to thirst in their souls to kill almost everything which possesses animal life. It is wrong, and I have been surprised at prominent men whom I have seen whose very souls seemed to be athirst for the shedding of animal blood.”Spencer W. Kimball, “Fundamental Principles to Ponder and Live,” Ensign, Nov 1978, 43
I am not against hunting. But if it is not necessary, it is a sick game, and it is wrong. Killing these amazing animals that are in this museum just seems wrong. And that is how I feel when I go there. Just a feeling a death. It is stifling to me.
This was kind of cool. A butterfly made of dead butterflies. I remember for a zoology class, I had to make a bug collection, and catch and kill and mount bugs. I had to drop them in a jar with a chemical on a cotton ball that would kill them. It was awful. Watching them hope around in that jar, trying to hold on to life. I felt awful. And they were just insects.
I am teaching my boys to respect all life. They are both very kind to animals and bugs. I also want them to learn to hunt and fish, but I want them to have a reverence for animals that are sharing the earth with us. And this is a living snake. I like the living animals much more.
That's me in the stupid bunny shirt. I thought I was fat. I think I was a size 7. What I would give...
I have been thinking about my mission a lot mostly because I have reconnected with so many people from Chile on Facebook.
It has brought back a lot of memories...some good, some just really personal...
I really don't think there was a more defining time in my life. Friendships I made there that meant so much. Thinking I would never be able to really see or hear again from so many of these people...
There were really several people that I will always remember, and I am so glad that I knew.
Now that facebook has made the world so small, I have been able to communicate with so many of these amazing people again. 
There are others that I would love to still find.
Technology is a really beautiful thing...
And in spite of all of the hardships, I am so glad I had the opportunity to be there, in Chile, and meet some of the most amazing and beautiful people in the world.
A lot of things that didn't make sense to me back then are starting to make sense to me now...
Leaving was awful. 
I really want to go back there soon. I hope my boys go to Chile on their missions. And I hope Jeff and I can go on one there too. It is a very beautiful place. The ocean is amazing. But the very best thing about Chile is the people. 
Us.
"You are without doubt the worst pirate I've ever heard of."~
"You're off the edge of the map, mate. Here, there be monsters!~"
"You seem somewhat familiar; have I threatened you before?~ "
But this morning at Breakfast, Derek had an announcement for us. Jeff is usually home on Wednesdays, because it is my big day to get school stuff done. We were all sitting at the counter when Derek said, "Dad, you are 
