Cabaret

Santa SPAM

We should have all guessed that it would be coming sooner or later. Santa has joined the dark side and now he sends SPAM. Goodness!

Love Mark

Let is snow!

Lindsey sent me these pictures from today. I guess winter is really here now!
Mark

Rexburg Temple Construction

Also if you want to watch the progress of the temple you can view a webcam of the costruction.
Rexburg Temple Webcam

Mock Interview

Today I had the chance to have a mock interview with the CPA firm of Schwendiman, Sutton and Simmons. It was actually a really good experience. Who would think that a mock interview would be fun but it was. The person, Zack, giving me the mock interview was really nice. He basically just went over my resume and cover letter and then he just talked to me about what I planned to in the future. He just gave me lots of good tips. I really enjoyed it.

Love Mark

Man glued to toilet passes polygraph test after his claim contested

DENVER (AP) — A man who sued Home Depot Inc. claiming that a prank left him glued to a restroom toilet seat has passed a lie detector test with questions about allegations that he made previous a similar claim in another town, a newspaper reported.
Bob Dougherty answered 20 questions in the polygraph test, including four related to a former Nederland town official’s allegation that Dougherty made similar claims there, The Rocky Mountain News reported in Thursday’s editions.
Dougherty, 57, had offered to take the test to dispel doubts about his story. The test, administered Wednesday, was paid for by television station KDVR.
Ron Trzepacz, former director of operations in Nederland, where Dougherty lives, had said that Dougherty claimed in 2004 that he was glued to a toilet seat in the town’s visitor center but pulled himself free.
Dougherty has denied that and has said he did not know Trzepacz.
Dougherty’s lawsuit, filed Oct. 28, claims that officials at the Home Depot in Louisville called for an ambulance after he had been stuck for about 15 minutes.
Paramedics unbolted the toilet seat, which separated from his skin, leaving abrasions, according to the suit.
The lawsuit also claims Dougherty was recovering from heart bypass surgery and thought he was having a heart attack when he got stuck.
The lawsuit claims he suffered pain, humiliation and financial losses and seeks $3 million in damages.

Baby Benson!

Hi everyone,
I had my ultrasound today. The baby checked out just fine and....it's a girl! We are very excited. The due date remains at April 3, so I'm exactly half-way there. Here is a picture from the ultrasound. The 3-D technology is quite new, so it will look different than what many of you are used to. She was shy and wouldn't let us see her face, but you can clearly see her ear, arm, and leg (from left to right).

Love Sharla

Winter is here!

Yesterday my roomate just wanted to get out of Rexburg so we all drove up to Grand Targhee. There is not that much snow up there but this morning I woke up and it was snowing in Rexburg. I think that it is going to be cold from here out.

Love
Mark

BYU-Idaho on ESPN top 10

It isn't very often that BYU-Idaho will make it on ESPN's top ten plays of the week but they did it this last weekend. I heard they made it at number #7. Below is the link to some pictures of the play (I think this is the play that made it in the top ten).

Love always
Mark

Pictures of the play

VIDEO FROM ESPN'S COVERAGE

Happy Halloween!

Spanish Postal Service

Stamped over Matt's addres is
A SU PROCEDENCIA
RETOUR

Word of Wisdom

“In the early days of the Church the Lord declared to the Prophet Joseph Smith "that all things unto me are spiritual, and not at any time have I given unto you a law which was temporal. . . . for my commandments are spiritual."
In harmony with this basic statement, the final and most important effect of the Word of Wisdom must be of a spiritual nature. Whoever obeys this law will be blessed in body, purse and mind, and also in spiritual development.
This is really self-evident. Obedience to the Word of Wisdom means eagerness and willingness to conform to the "word and will" of God, the beginning of all wisdom. It also implies conquest of the appetites of the body, the first step towards spiritual development.
…Those who, because of their acceptance and use of the Word of Wisdom, possess a clean body, a clear mind and a spirit in tune with the infinite, are best able to assist in establishing the Kingdom of God on earth, and thereby to render greatest service to their fellow men.”
John A. Widtsoe, Word of Wisdom: A Modern Interpretation

Sunrise

A firetruck, ambulance, and a police car all pulled into our parking lot tonight. I don't know what happened though.

Mark

Am I Matt or Mark?

Here is an e-mail from another student in my class and an e-mail from my professor.

Love Always,
Matt

From: Webster, Jed
Sent: Sun 10/23/2005 9:38 PM
To: Durrant, Mark
Subject: bus. comm.

Matt,
Hey, here is the rough draft of 8.5 that I did. I don't care if you rip it apart, go for it. So, I guess you can revise it and send it back to me. Let me know if it made it.
-Jed Webster

From: Harmston, Maralyn
Sent: Mon 9/19/2005 7:37 PM
To: Durrant, Mark
Subject: RE: Personality Quiz - Section 2

Thanks Matt.
Sis. Harmston

A after noon with Kurt

On Friday, Sharla and Kimball came here to go on a date. We got to have Kurt for the early evening while they went to the movies. It was fun to get to play with him. Then we had dinner together and Kimball took Kurt home. Sharla stayed here because she and I (Mom) were going to a bridal shower for Talya (Alan's fiance). So on Saturday morning Sharla and I went to Provo for the shower and a little shopping on the way home. It was good to see the Durrant family.

At home Dad put in new door knobs and dead bolts for the front and back door. He also watched the BYU game and was joined by Kimball and Kurt after half time. Then they collected the leaves and let Kurt jump in them and have fun. And they enjoyed taking lots of photos of his fun. So that is where the cute photos came from.

Right now Suzanne, Annie and Megan are baking cookies to take to friends and ring and run!!! Such spookie bakers!!

Cutest 18 month old in America

Christmas Music!

You can start listening to Christmas music right now! If you can't tell I am really happy about this! Christmas if the best time of year and it is ever better when it starts before Halloween! Just click on either one of the pictures below.

Mark

Only at BYU-Idaho

On Friday Lindsey came up on the bus. So I met her and I walked with her through campus to my apartment. As we were walking by the Hart Building someone handed us a flier. It was for some kind of party this weekend, and the girl says "Even married people can come and have fun." I was like what?? I guess if you hold hands on campus people assume you are married.

Mark

Our Mountains

Congratulations Mark

BYU-Idaho

General Conference

Only in America

Economics

Oh boy. I was just studying in my Economics book and it is amazing. They are talking about products that no matter what the price is people will buy the same amount of. So they give two examples: #1 insulin - that is a really good example because without it you will die if you are diabetic and #2 HEROIN!

Mark

College

Have you ever been reading a textbook and they are trying to give you a "real life" situation that shows how important this information is to know so that you can survive in "real life"? Today I was working on my Accounting homework and I ran into this problem:
19. You run into Rex Grossman at a party and begin discussing financial statements. Rex says, "I prefer the single-step income statement because the multiple-step format generally overstates income." How should you respond?
First of all what kind of party are you at? I never ever want to be at a party and get asked that question. What a joke! It made me chuckle. Maybe hard-core accountants have "accounting parties". I hope not. It might just be time to change my major if this is a real part of "accounting life"...

Mark

Good FHE story

Two Dimes and a Nickel
By Richard A. Robb

The son did what he saw his father do.

Richard A. Robb, “Two Dimes and a Nickel,” Ensign, Dec. 1986, 53
During my first Christmas as bishop, a single mother with three small children lived in our ward. This young woman had a strong testimony of the gospel and lived it to the best of her ability. She cleaned homes and did sewing to try to make ends meet, but often she could not.

Single-handedly raising three boys under the age of eight was a real challenge. These active, energetic youngsters always seemed to be in some sort of trouble. I remember extricating them from more than one tussle with their classmates.

Several good people helped this struggling family. I’ll never forget the brother who came into my office one Sunday just a couple of weeks before Christmas, asking to speak with me privately. He was concerned about the young mother and her family and wanted to do something for them. Would I accept his contribution and use it in the best way I could to help them? As we spoke, I hardly noticed his small son, who remained in the office with us.

The man explained that he did not know what the woman and her family needed. He just wanted to help and felt that I would be inspired to know what to do. He then entrusted to me quite a remarkable sum of money—not remarkable in the amount, but remarkable relative to his modest means, of which I was well aware. I knew that this gift meant a sacrifice of his own family’s Christmas, at least in the temporal sense. But this wise brother knew where real rewards come from.

Seeing the resolve shining in his eyes, I protested only gently. Then I cleared my tightening throat, thanked him for his unselfish gift, and promised to do my best to make Christmas a little brighter for the young mother and her sons.

I also agreed to honor his request for anonymity.

The story might well end here and still be memorable. But the event that has etched this experience in my mind had yet to occur.

It wasn’t the way I was able to help the family with the contribution—although that turned out to be most gratifying—but rather what took place in my office one week following that brother’s visit. It was just a few days before Christmas, and I was between tithing-settlement interviews when I heard a soft knock on the office door. I opened it to see, standing quite alone, the six-year-old boy who had sat quietly in my office while his dad and I had talked the Sunday before.

He asked politely if he could talk to me for just a minute. After we walked into the office—which I presume is always a bit of a frightening experience for youngsters—I invited him to sit down. He fidgeted with something in his pocket and, after some struggle, pulled out two dimes and a nickel and laid them on my desk. He apologized that the coins were all the money he had, and that they were a little old and dirty, since he had had them quite a while. The money, he explained, was for me to use to help his three friends, like his dad was helping their mother. As my heart swelled and my eyes became moist, he added that he felt I would know best how to divide his treasure among his friends and that he was sorry he did not have three dimes so that each could have one.

What lessons culminated in that moment! A father’s unselfish example, the trust of a small boy in his bishop, and the humble, Christlike act of a child obviously without guile. Only a few weeks before I had pulled this boy from a scuffle involving the soon-to-be recipients of his forgiving love and charity.

I hugged him, partly to camouflage my now obvious tears and mostly to tell him how much I appreciated him and how much I knew his Father in Heaven loved him. I then walked him to the door, shook his hand, and assured him that I would do the best I could to help his friends this Christmas with his generous gift. As I turned to go back into my office, he whispered after me, “And remember, Bishop, don’t ever tell anyone it was me.”

Well, I never have told anyone until now, my young friend. I hope relating our special story in this way is all right so that others might feel a bit of the quiet Christmas spirit of love and charity that we felt that day.

A test for Lindsey

I wrote this test, with the help of Suzanne, and I sent it to Lindsey and here are her answers. Hopefully this will help all of us know her a little better.

Mark

1) How often do you need to wash your sheets?
a) Once a week.
b) Once every two weeks.
c) Once a month or less.
d) Every few days.

2) What time is a good time to wake up?
a) 5 AM
b) 6 AM
c) 7 AM
d) Sometime after noon.

3) What is the best country?
a) Spain
b) Texas
c) Honduras
d) North Korea

4) How many kids should there be in a family?
a) 12
b) 14
c) 16
d) 18

5) What is the best school?
a) BYU
b) Lone Peak
c) Box Elder
d) Bear River

6) How often is it necessary to vacuum?
a) More than once a week
b) Once a week
c) Once a month
d) If you can't see the dirt then don't worry about it

7) How many days can you wear a pair of pants before you wash them?
a) Once
b) Two to three times
c) For a whole week
d) You can wear them until people notice that you aren't changing your pants

8) How often should you clean your toilet?
a) Twice a week
b) Once a week
c) Once a month
d) Whenever anyone comes to visit

9) How much should you pay for a pair of pants?
a) $20
b) $30
c) $40
d) $5

10) How long can you keep food in the fridge?
a) Less than one week
b) Two weeks
c) One month
d) Until it smells so bad that you can't stand it

11) What is an appropriate pet?
a) Gold fish
b) Skunk
c) Dog
d) Snake

12) How much money does it cost to eat for a month?
a) $40
b) $75
c) $100
d) $2,000

13) What should take to your neighbor when they have something bad happen to them?
a) Green Jell-O with carrots
b) A casserole
c) A pizza
d) Just give them money

14) When should you change a diaper?
a) When you smell it
b) When you can see that there is leakage
c) Just change the kid every 2 hours regardless
d) When someone says, "Hey do you want to do something about your kid - he stinks?"

15) What should you do with disposable plastic plates, cups, or silver ware when you use them?
a) Throw them away
b) Wash them and keep them for later
c) Don't ever use disposable plastic ware - it is tacky
d) Wash them even if they have been thrown away in the garbage

16) How should you eat pizza?
a) With a fork
b) With you hands
c) Pizza is bad for your health
d) Eat from the crust end first

17) How should you drink milk?
a) Drink it straight from the jug
b) Pour a glass
c) Just drink the milk from your cereal in the morning and you don't need to drink anymore milk that day
d) Don't drink milk

18) What time should you go to bed?
a) 10:00
b) 11:00
c) 12:00
d) 1:00

19) How long should you wear a pair of shoes?
a) 1 year
b) 2 years
c) 10 years
d) Wear them until they fall off your feet

20) Who would you vote for?
a) Bill Clinton
b) Hillary Clinton
c) Bin Laden
d) Pedro

21) Which car would you prefer to drive?
a) A blue 1975 Ford Pinto – a real “sports car”
b) A brown 1985 Honda
c) A light blue 1990 dodge mini van
d) An orange 1980 full size truck

Kurt's Spoken Word

Kurt has spoken!! He was reading a library book with his Dad and saw pictures of apples. And then it happened...he said "Apple". And has done it a lot since. I, his Grandma, even heard him say it over the phone. So Apple is a word he continues to say to impress his fans. But he also said, "Basketball". This one is only at his will and more rare. But he did say it. So it is all note worthy. He is going to be joining our conversations with his redition of "Apple" and maybe a "Basketball" at times. Yea Kurt!!!

Kurt Benson

A Big Bug

Tonight I was walking home from the GYM when I ran into this bug. I decided that I need to take him home so that I could take some pictures with him. He did end up dead though. The neighbor stepped on him.

Mark

The Bensons

Greg Olsen Painting

Here is a picture that my roomate used today in his Sunday School lesson. I had never seen it before but I really like it.

Mark

News from Mérida

siento decir que la rama de merida se cerro la semana pasada porfa orad por nosotros
petri.

I am sorry to tell you that the branch in Mérida was closed last week. Please pray for us.
Petri

I was disapointed to here this news. I just hope that the missionaries are still in the city. I responded to her e-mail but I haven't heard back from her yet. Hopefully she will respond and give me more information on what exactly happened. I assume that there just werern't enough people going to church there so they have to travel to another city. I just don't know where they would send them since the nearest chapel is over an hour away.

Mark

Sanlucar - Matt's New Home

This is the Plaza of the Bulls in Matt's new city of Sanlucar. Once again he is in a coastal city. The town has a branch that is part of the Cadiz Stake.

Tie One On

These are the ties Matt sent from Spain. The one on the left is for Dad. The two on the right are for Mark. Trades are possible.

Their 3 Sons

From left to right: Caleb, Jacob, Josh

Box Elder - Bear River Football

Box Elder 20, Bear River 17
Mitch Daley carried the ball 16 times for 168 yards and the game-winning touchdown in the third quarter. After falling behind 14-0, Bear River rallied to take a 17-14 lead in the 85th Battle for the Golden Spike. The lead was short-lived though thanks to Daley. The Bears, the defending 3A champs, are now 0-3.

Pictures from the Trek

We never published pictures from the ward handcart trek so here are a few. The trek was August 4, 5 & 6.

Matt's current Residence

This is a picture of Nerja, where Matt is currently serving.

Mount Timpanogos