Chilean Earthquake - Nathan's Safe

As many of you know, my little brother Nate is serving a mission in Concepción, Chile and was near the center of one of the largest earthquakes ever recorded last night. We haven't heard from Nate himself yet, but my family has just received word from the Church's Missionary Department saying that all missionaries are safe and accounted for. So far, the official church statement says:

Eight of the Church’s nine Chilean mission presidents have checked in and are reporting all missionaries are safe and accounted for. We are still trying to reach the mission president in the Concepción South Mission, which is closest to the epicenter and two missionaries on the Juan Fernandez Islands off the coast of Chile. We will provide more information as it becomes available.

Not useful since Nate is part of the Concepción South Mission, but I'll trust whatever call my parents got and declare him just fine. Thank you to all of you who expressed prayers and concern on his behalf.

Immediately after getting word that Nathan was safe, Trevor said something like "Well lucky him. Or maybe it wasn't luck; perhaps it was destiny or really good reflexes." We continued in that vein and my perception of what Nate went through now has a lot to do with impossible dodges of falling rubble with two unconscious fellow missionaries on his shoulders. Epic.

Fun Fact: My father also went on a mission to Chile (Santiago) and almost exactly 25 years ago (March 3rd, 1985), he also experienced a huge earthquake there (8.0 magnitude, 177 dead, 2,575 hurt, 142,489 destroyed houses and about a million people homeless) (Yesterday's was 8.8 magnitude, 214 confirmed dead so far and who knows how much damage, so Nate...wins?). Crazy coincidence, yes?

And now for the sentimental part (complete with call to action!):

When I heard about the earthquake (thanks for the text, Nishi), my first thought was "Man, I should've written Nate more often. If something's happened to him, I'll feel terrible." He's one of my favorite people on earth, but I've been "too busy" to write. Life's short and unpredictable; regardless of how advanced our technology and medicine and all that is in this modern age, things happen all the time that straight up kill people.

Think of someone you care about but haven't spoken to in a while and get in touch with him/her. You'll be glad you did (probably). I'm picking my Little Sniddlyookins (I have no idea how that nickname came to be, but I'm Nate's Mother Sniddlyookins and he's my Little Sniddlyookins...yeah).

I have post Blog Title?

I spend all day responding to emails like this:

I'M I GOING TO RECEIVE MY LOAN NOW,I'VE CHANGED THE INFORMATION?AND ALSO DID I ALREADY SIGN ANYTHING ELECTRONICALLY,JUST IN CASE IF I DID RECEIVE THE LOAN?IF NOT PLEASE LET ME KNOW.

Or this:

I was curioud? Have I paid your company everything back? Please, if not withdrawl the rest today. Thank you when I needed it. I am sorry for the mess up, but, I was out of Country at a funeral.

I kind of love/hate my job.

Question of the Day #463

If you had the opportunity to go swimming in a substance that is not water, what would it be?

My answer: Champagne. For three reasons - 1) The alcohol would make it somewhat sanitary. 2) The bubbles would feel cool. 3) It seems like something people who are hilariously rich would do before throwing away the $3,000 gem-encrusted swimsuits they purchased for the occasion.

Saints or Colts?

Points for consideration:

• I lived in Indiana for two years.
• Drew Brees was a crucial part of my winning team in the office fantasy football tournament (oh, how they hate when the girl who doesn't care at all wins).
• My least favorite of the men I've dated was from the New Orleans area.
• Blue and white are BYU colors, so I like.
• Black and gold are Purdue colors, so I like (particularly because they use "old gold" rather than "that color that people call gold but is actually yellow").
• I've always kind of wanted to live in New Orleans.
• I don't want to be perceived as one of the masses who think the Saints somehow deserve the win because of Hurricane Katrina. (Onion story I loved from last season: http://www.theonion.com/content/news/bears_inspire_a_city_still_reeling).
• Even when I lived in Indiana, "the city" was Chicago more than Indianapolis. I actually pretty much only think of that one time I went ice skating in Indianapolis when I think about the place and I'm not really that fond of ice skating.
  

Ehh...the fleur-de-lis prettier than the horseshoe so...Saints it is.

Phone Home

I lost my phone a couple weeks ago, but luckily I was close to having to renew my Sprint contract anyway and just barely got a new phone for free. It's fancy with a little keyboard and everything...welcome to the future.

However, losing my phone means that I don't have many of your numbers anymore. Please give me a call sometime or send me a text if you would like to be considered for inclusion in The Address Book. It'd be good to catch up with a lot of you anyway.