Day 15 - Sunday #3

There's not a lot to write about Sundays...but it is so nice to be able to attend a ward here.  You know, being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints brings great benefits.  No matter where you are in the world where there is an organized unit of the Church, there is someplace you can go where you are automatically and immediately accepted.  You also know what will happen during worship services.

The members of the North Bend, OR, Ward have made us feel welcome, and it's been a pleasure to attend, worship, and learn with them.  Thanks North Bend!

We attended all three hours of the block of meetings and were still able to get back in time for lunch at OIMB.  The rest of the day is personal time.  Students used their time to do all kinds of things, including napping, taking a hike to Tunnel Beach - a beach accessed only via a tunnel that goes through the point of a mountain and is about the sizeof a RR tunnel, and playing a board game.  Of course, some students had to pop into the lab to collect time-sensitive data and do basic maintenance of animals they are keeping there...you know, just like farmers who have to feed the stock,. even on Sundays.

The game players included Bailey, Jessica, Daniel, Dallas, Lindsey, Kristin, Tony, and me (Dr Holyoak).  We played the 6-player expansion of "The Settlers of Catan" (OK there were two teams of two, and it was the first time for some of the players).  Tony bushwhacked us at the end and walked away with the game when he built a stack of roads and took the Longest Road card.  Way to go Tony.

We had FHE after dinner, and Mackenzie gave a good thought for us, followed by additional comments from Lindsey.  I then complemented the group on how well they are doing, how well they are getting along, and how hard they are working.  That led to the parable of the Cheetos...

OK, it's like this.  I used this story to hopefully help everyone avoid tiffs or spats that just don't need to happen.

When I was in graduate school, before I was married, I was invited to share a townhouse with a fellow graduate student who was looking for a housemate.  His family owned a nice townhouse in a gated community in Santa Cruz, CA - nice!  The family didn't live there, so it was just the two of us, and all I had to pay each month was the homeowner's fee...a few hundred dollars...a real bargain in Santa Cruz.

I moved in and things were going quite well.  About now you should know that my favorite salty, crunchy snack is Crunchy Cheetos.  I had some soda in the fridge and a new bag of Cheetos in my food cupboard.  I came home from a full day at work, pulled out a soda, reached for my Cheetos, and saw that they were open and about half gone.

My knee-jerk reaction was, "That slimy snake!  He's been eating my Cheetos!!!"  I was ready to get on the warpath.  My housemate wasn't there, but I was getting ready to lower the boom on him when a thought came to mind.  It was this, "Wait a minute.  You have a pretty sweet deal here.  You live in a super nice townhouse, and all is costs you is a monthly homeowner's fee and half a bag of Cheetos."  I sat back and though, "Huh!  That's right."  So I never said a thing about it, and it never happened again.

To this day whenever I'm faced with some small inconvenience or interpersonal problem I often think to myself, "Hey, don't sweat the Cheetos", and that cuts the problem down to size.  This has helped me to avoid many confrontations that just aren't worth it.

So, DON'T SWEAT THE CHEETOS.

After the FHE thoughts and discussing the next day's schedule we played several rounds of a fun card game, "The Great Dalmuti".  It's a good game for around a dozen people.

Then those who wanted to, stayed on and watched the movie, "Chasing Mavericks".  If you haven't seen it, it's well worth your time.  It's awesome.

And that's a wrap for Sunday #3 of the BYU-Idaho MBFE.