Graduation

As far as things go concerning my trip, I have altered a couple of things in regards to how the trip will begin. I reached a point last time I wrote, where I needed to still get visas for both Paraguay and Brazil within a month. Well, in order to have been able to accomplish that I would have needed to expedite them, which would have cost me at the least $40 extra per visa and there was still no guarantee I would have had them along with my passport returned to me by the the time I leave. That's my own fault for procrastinating. So instead I called the Paraguayan consulate in LA who told me I could get the visa at a consulate in Buenos Aires. I tried to contact the Brazilian consulate in LA to find out the same information, but they did not even offer the option of speaking with a live person and their machine did not offer the answers I sought. So as things currently stand, I will purchase my Paraguayan visa in South America and attempt to do the same for Brazil. If this is not possible, then I suppose I shall have to postpone visiting Brazil until a future trip. Sad day. On a different note, in my preparations for the trip I have purchased some clothing that is supposedly pretty high quality since it comes with a lifetime guarantee on it. Not to mention it is the same brand that one of my heroes Bear Grylls wears on all of his adventures. It is somewhat costly, but if it comes with a lifetime guarantee then I am willing to pay. I also purchased my new camera, the Nikon aw100, which I hope will prove to be a fabulous camera that will bring you photos and videos that make you feel as though you are with me. I have yet to test them and I have yet to attempt to post anything of the sort for your viewing. I will try to learn and practice those skills in these coming two weeks so stay tuned. I would like to reiterate to all of you reading this blog to please feel free to share this blog with anyone, whether they know me or not. I do hope to not only help inspire people to live their own dreams, but I truly desire to help people along the way. I firmly believe that if enough people follow this that the odds of it inspiring someone to do even more than I can, will increase tremendously. So please feel free to guide people to this site. I have been terribly busy with finals and final projects that unfortunately this is all I really have to report. I finish finals on Tues and walk at graduation on Fri. The time in between needs to be spent in preparation for this trip so my next post should show a finalizing of most everything.
On a side note that does not wholly pertain to this trip, I would like to share with you another inspiring story I just experienced over the weekend. It is a perfect example of little miracles in our lives and a testament to the FACT that God truly does listen and answer our prayers. My friend Matt Thomas was in town yesterday so he and I randomly decided to go up into the mountains for a drive and a visit to one of our favorite locations on Earth. Well the last couple of miles of the drive are on a dirt road and the elevation is such that there is still snow, though not in too large of quantities. As we were pressing through the crux of the drive, the Ford Expedition we were in, slid into a deep snow bank and got stuck. We spent the next three and half hours that evening digging and trying all manner of ways to free the vehicle, but it was to no avail and we ultimately were soaked, exhausted, and fairly discouraged to the point that we decided to give it up for the night and set up camp and wake up early to start again. After about five or six hours of sleep, we arose and packed up and hiked back the mile or so to the vehicle which had sunk even deeper in the night. For the four hours that followed we dug and pushed and cranked with our come-along and managed to move the vehicle about thirty feet only to get it even more stuck than it was before. As the Expedition sank deeper and deeper into the snow, our hearts followed it as we became discouraged and were left at a loss in regards to what more could be done. As you may know, or have come to assume, I am a religious man who loves my God though I am frequently stubborn and prideful and, all too often, ignore or set aside His guidance in the ridiculous notion that I know what is best (something I have been working on all my life to be rid of). This occasion was no exception. All morning the thought would enter my mind that we should pray together to our God and seek His help, but I would brush it off with the excuse that my silent prayers would suffice. Each time this would happen, I would offer a prayer in my mind. Well, this continued for the entire morning, right up to the point when we sat with spirits dampened, even more than our soaked clothes, thinking we would have to hike a long ways back to the lodge where we had camped at to get additional tools that probably wouldn't even help anyway. Just before we decided to head back I finally gave in to the Spirit's whisperings and suggested that we offer a prayer. After all, what could it hurt? So I offered the prayer as humbly as this prideful heart could. Upon closing it, we looked up at each other and I said, "Shall we give it one last try?" Matt agreed that we should and jumped into the driver's seat. Now, I would have you remember that we had just barely tried before the prayer, but we were so high-centered that the wheels weren't even touching in some spots and the wheels just spun in place. He turned it on and I jumped back on the back of the suv. As he pressed the gas peddle, the vehicle began to move, as a matter of fact, it backed out as if it were on dry ground! As soon as we were out of the bank, we looked at each other with somewhat stunned looks and I said, in my bewilderment, "Uh, can you say, praise God.". Matt responded with, "You know...you could have suggested we pray yesterday." So we packed up and came home with no further incidents. I was reminded of a few lessons from this experience. Number one is that God is there and He DOES listen to our every word that is spoken sincerely. He wants to help us, but awaits the demonstration of our faith through the action of asking Him. My heart was in the right place in the sense that I did pray to Him silently multiple times, but He wanted to teach me a different lesson. God wanted me to show Him that I was listening to Him (and not just talking), and that I would obey quickly. Perhaps as my mom suggested, He is trying to train me for my trip when it may be necessary for me to heed His guidance immediately. As you can see, I have a long way to go, considering the fact that it took me four hours before I finally listened. Pride can be a painfully exhausting thing sometimes. Our Father loves His children and desires nothing less than their happiness. This can only come through our immediate obedience to His commandments and His guidance. It is my prayer that we can all be quicker than I was to listen to love. It will save us from a lot of unnecessary suffering and pain as I so adeptly discovered.

Bioarchaeology

It's been a few weeks since my last post mostly due to the fact that I didn't have a whole lot to update. However, I am very pleased to announce that I have made some progress since my last post and I must say things are becoming more and more real. First off, two weeks ago I got my vaccinations all updated including a typhoid shot, hepatitis A and B boosters (since I've had them before), a flu shot, and last but not least, the only actually required shot which is the Yellow Fever shot. My arms were rather sore for a couple of days afterwards, but they are now taken care of. The next exciting update was an email I got this last week to go in and discuss a research opportunity with a professor of anthropology and bioarchaeologist at Utah Valley University. His name is Dr. Haagan Klaus and he has been doing research at a dig in Lambayeque Peru for several years where he has dug up many skeletons and primarily analyzes how they died along with the sacrificial practices of the ancient culture. I saw a presentation he had given at a forum and found his research to be the most interesting of all those presented so I've been trying to communicate with him about the possibilities of joining him down there this summer. After entering his office he spent about ten mins telling me various reasons why he can't take me down there as one of his students citing lack of finances, space, and other logistics as reasons. I found myself wondering why he didn't just tell me he couldn't use me in an email, but just as I was about to lose all hope, he paused and said, "Now, that all being said, I'd love to have you show up anyway." You can imagine my surprise. He then proceeded to tell me that he'd love to have me come help them out in the month of June when they will be doing a lot of the work on the skeletons and he would show me the ropes and give me a taste of being a bioarchaeologist so I can decide if that might be a path of interest for me. He then gave me a list of about six textbook sized books to read up on before I meet them down there, you know, just some light reading. So that's probably the most interesting news I have to share so far. Also I have been given the opportunity to fly down to Buenos Aires to begin my adventure by meeting up with my wonderful parents who have been serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in that area for a little over a year now. So the plan is to spend a week or so with them as they give me le gran tour of that area after which I will decide what to do before I make my way up to Peru to meet with Dr. Klaus. Unfortunately due to the fact that it will only be a couple of weeks in between time I may have to fly to Peru from one of the larger cities in the southern region of South America in order to make it in a timely fashion. So that would mean that I would then do the rest of the hitch-hiking after the dig sometime around July.
On a different note it's been an interesting couple of weeks in regards to this trek as I've discussed it with a couple of people that have been nothing but supportive up until now. I am finding that for whatever reason people are only now beginning to express concern and doubts in regards to my sanity and my sense of responsibility. I feel as though many people are brushing this trip off as "just another one of Mike's adventures." or an avoidance of committing to something and rushing me to get home and be done with this and be "responsible". Others seem to be trying to get me to avoid certain areas or countries or to be a lot more cautious than what they know I will be. I will say this, I don't plan on being stupid on purpose as I might have done in years past, I value life, even my own believe it or not. However, you may all be comforted to know that I will not go where God tells me not to. Therefore you may find peace in knowing that whatever happens to me while on this journey is truly God's will and that good, will come of it even if it seems like none can. Know that I know in my heart that I am doing what is right for me right now and there is no one and nothing that will deter me from it save it be through inspiration from God himself. Sometimes in life there are people who are like the crabs in a bucket who upon seeing you attempt to aspire or overcome will pull you down back into the bucket. They may not do so unintentionally and they may even do so under the umbrella of love. However, if anyone tries to pull you down or keep you from being all you are genetically capable of being (a literal son or daughter of a very real God), then I advise you to sincerely consider what was said and acknowledge where it stems from (most likely a misguided or misinformed love), and then make a divinely inspired choice and adhere to it unshakably. I leave you with this until next time. May your dreams be what drives you and your God be what guides you. 

Visas

In spite of several tests for which I was studying I managed to do a little bit of research on the topic of visas for the eighteen different countries I will be visiting. I was happy to find out that only Brazil and Paraguay require an advanced purchase of a visa. This will prove to be problematic if I am to lose it along the way, but that's neither here nor there and we'll deal with it if it comes up. Paraguay may not be a problem since I believe I can get one at the Paraguayan consulate office in Argentina. Most of the other countries require what they refer to as a tourist card which is essentially a visa that can be purchased upon crossing of the border and shouldn't pose a problem at all. A funny thing I noticed though when reading through safety information about the various countries is that even though I already recognized the fact that one of the more dangerous locations I will be passing through is Mexico and I have been warned about it multiple times, but I assumed the more dangerous part would be primarily in the state of Chihuahua. However upon reading the State Dept. advisory Chihuahua was only mentioned in passing and paragraphs were dedicated to Vera Cruz. I wasn't too concerned initially due to the fact that I will pretty much be avoiding Juarez and therefore assumed I'd be avoiding the worst, but since I will be staying in Vera Cruz for some time it poses cause for a little more concern. Not that I'm really that concerned, but I'm sure this news will keep me a little more on my toes. Now that I've figured that much out, the next step for me besides actually applying for the visa to Brazil is the get my vaccinations including one I've never had before for yellow fever which is required for several South American countries. I'll update next week if I progress on anything this week.

Problems with organizations

So it seemed rather pointless to write last week considering I had nothing to report. I do have some things to report this week though. I didn't do a whole lot, but I did some more in depth searching on the volunteer organizations that I had a list of. I started with a list of about fifty and am now down to about thirteen. The problem I've been coming into is that all of these organizations cater to those who want to go on vacation and do a little bit of service while they are at it. So therefore they charge a good some of money and usually seem to only have projects set up for certain points in the summer and stick to a very strict schedule. This, as you can imagine, is not conducive to my plans nor my funds. Besides they don't seem to be exactly what I'm looking for. This is more complicated than I anticipated. I still have a few phone numbers I'm going to try, though I don't have high hopes. It seems a bit like a lot of things in my life right now are cutting down my high hopes. In some senses I think that it can be good if those hopes are directed towards something irrational or if those hopes are causing you undue stress. Letting go can break the heart sometimes if you have set you heart on something in particular and that something turns out to not be possible at the present time. Hopes are essential in our lives because they motivate and inspire and encourage us, but we need to learn to be flexible sometimes when God throws us those curve balls. Sometimes it may even require some matrix moves. If we can learn to roll with the punches things always turn out how they are supposed to even if they are not what we planned or may have thought we wanted. On the other hand we may get exactly what we wanted but it just required us to go about it a way we never would have dreamed we needed to. Sometimes it just boils down to patience and a willingness to trust God and see where he takes things. I know this can be scary especially for those who like the security of a plan. Well, be comforted in the knowledge that there is a plan. It just may not be yours. I have purposely placed few constraints on myself this trip so that I won't tie God's hands, but rather so he can guide me to where I might be the best tool in his hands. It is looking like this volunteer thing may have to fall more into His hands than I anticipated. I will continue to do my part in searching, but it may have to come down to small services for individuals here and there that I come into contact with. I will serve in whatever capacity I am capable of serving in.

No Time

Well, as I predicted, I did not have time to do pretty much anything in regards to this trip and its preparations due to several tests I have been preparing for along with several assignments that were and are due. I must say the stress of 18 credits and 16 hours of work along with trying to exercise daily compounded with other stresses in my life make things difficult to stay on top of. Nonetheless, it is always doable and as long as we trust in God and put forth our best effort, things will turn out the way they are supposed to. I did order and receive a couple of books that were recommended to me called Central America on a Shoestring and South America on a Shoestring and have begun to skim through them to find ideas on what to do and where to visit on my trip. I'll highlight those in future posts. I will say that I am not sure about the idea I had in regards to doing research along the way. We shall have to see, but it was pointed out to me that I really wouldn't be doing them a favor considering they would have to train me and could consider me a liability in certain situations. Instead in reality it would just be them doing me a favor. I would love to do it, but we'll see. Hopefully this week I can make some progress toward these goals.

Organizations

Since last week I was able to email and receive emails from a couple of connections I've made and in so doing have accumulated a list of about fifty different international organizations that have locations in many of the countries I will be visiting and as far as I can tell as I have briefly visited various of the websites the majority of them do have volunteer opportunities in things ranging from construction to taking care of orphans. I, of course, will be happy to do whatever they need me to do for as long as I deem sufficient in each of the locations. My next step will be to contact some of these organizations personally, preferably by phone and find out which ones are okay with someone just showing up without an exact set time of arrival. I certainly have a lot of locations to contact, hopefully I can find at least one per country. If I cannot find organizations to work with specifically then I will at the very least find people I can help in some way, even if that means just talking to someone in need. Unfortunately I won't have the funds to just be giving people money or buying food for people, but I'll figure something out. I have also had another idea presented to me by one of my professors who has been involved in a lot of field research in the field of zoology. If I can, I will make some contacts with scientists that are working in those areas that may need a hand in the field and offer my services. Needless to say I have a lot to do and a lot of people to contact. Sadly though, the next two weeks are riddled with various tests on top of the extensive reading assignments and homework in my classes. This will make it difficult to accomplish much else. However, if I just keep in mind the message President Thomas S. Monson has given in the Jan. edition of the Ensign magazine when he spoke on the ABCs of living an abundant life. A stands for attitude. Having the right attitude with the given circumstances in which I find myself can make all the difference, "We can't direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails.". I can't control my circumstances, but I certainly can control how I react to them. The greater part of our happiness or misery depends upon our disposition and not our circumstances. B stands for believe. Thomas Fuller said, "He does not believe that does not live according to his belief." Live what you believe and you may find that you believe in yourself. People will try to bring you down as they have with me by saying, "You can't do this." or You're not good enough." or even "It's too dangerous, you shouldn't try." their intentions may be pure or they may stem from jealousy or some other source and it really doesn't matter. What matters is that you stand by what you believe, especially if that belief is in yourself. If you think you can, or think you can't, you're right. The C stands for courage. I know that if I can just have the courage, God will provide me with the strength. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires some of the same courage that a soldier needs. Peace has its victories, but it takes brave men and women to win them.". I have always defined courage not as being fearless, but rather by pressing forward even in the face of your greatest fears. Pres. Monson said, "Courage is required to make an initial thrust towards one's coveted goal, but even greater courage is called for when one stumbles and must make a second effort to achieve...Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says, 'I'll try again tomorrow'". This combination of ABCs is infallible for accomplishing anything, but most importantly for pushing through our everyday challenges and trials which can often seem more daunting than an apparently insurmountable mountain. With these always in mind we can pursue our dreams.

Donations

So, since last week, I have not taken the time to search out specific places to visit or things to do in the sequential countries, but I was able to get some new information in regards to fundraising and such. As it turns out there are laws regarding the raising of money for charities and the like. Aside from that, I have not been able to figure out any ways to guarantee the security of donations which could cause potential problems for some people. Not to mention I would prefer the money go specifically to the groups or locations/charities I find that are in most need of the funds. So, to save on confusion and hassle I will instead post during my trip ways that you can donate to the organizations with which I will be volunteering my time. This way you can choose which organizations or people you would like to help through your donations along the way and I will not have to be a middle man. This will not only ensure more security for your funds or other donations, but I will also be able to provide you with specific pictures and info of what the donations will be doing for the people I visit.