Meeting Max at the Airport

December in Honduras

Selected Pictures of Chad at the MTC - More at Christmas Time

Elder Champlin the Younger at Home in Houduras

Attached you will find a few short videos and pictures sent by Elder Champlin the Younger along with a transcription of the letter he included.

November 13, 2008

The Fam,

So what's up? I am just chillin in my mansion of a house (see video and pictures below.) Getting ready to go to bed. So I'm sending home a disc with all my pictures on it so far. There are a bunch of pictures from the MTC and my first change her with Elder Morales. I took a couple videos too. One of our house and a couple others of of some sweet waterfalls we got to go to one P-day. There are some pretty sweet pictures, I hope you enjoy them.

So yeah, the mission is pretty sweet. It has its ups and downs, but right now I am doing great. So yeah, I'm loving it. I just thought I would write a little letter to go along with my pictures. So today was pretty sweet, I got to go on divisions with a gringo. That was awesome, we worked out butts off and had a good time doing it. His name is Elder Powers. We taught thin one little family about the importance of the scriptures and Prophets. Then we got to the subject of Joseph Smith. While we were teaching and testifying of Joseph Smith the spirit wasso strong. It was awesome. Also this morning while I was studying I read my farewell talk and it just reminded me again how awesome my famaily is. You are all so awesome and I am so grateful for all of you.

Things are going good here in the great land of the Lamanites. The mission has been such a sweet experience. I have had some experiences that I will always remember -- good and bad, but the good out weigh the bad, that's for sure.

My testimony has grown a ton and I have come to realize how much of a blessing the gospel is and have come to receive a sure testimony that the Book of Mormon is true.

Tell Talia thanks for the package. A few more things that would be cool if you sent them are church music (All the EFY music is in his Christmas package,)Disney music. Can you send another moleskin journal? Mine is filling up quick. Pictures are always good to get. But if you send picures, you should send a littel picture album thing too, for me to put the pictures in. Also, the book Our Search for Happiness, I think I left mine at the MTC, and pretty much anything else you feel like sending, I would love to have it. For now this is all I can think of that I want. Oh, I still need a picture of Trisha! She is the only person I don't have a picture of.

So yeah everyone take care. I love you allso much, it is unreal. I am so grateful for this gospel and for the plan of salvation, for our opportunity to a be a forever family. I know that Jesus Christ lives and that he suffered for our sins. And he also knows how we feel. No matter what we go through, whe we feel we can't take it anymore, just stop and think about Jesus Christ, He's been there before.

I know the church is true and I am so grateful for it. Thank you everyone for always being good examples and for helping me get on a mission. It really is the best thing I could be doing right now. It hasn't been easy, but I have recieved so many blessings and answers to my prayers. Thanks for everything, especially your love and support, and for your prayers.

Keep in touch, I always love hearing from the fam. I have the best family in the whole world, hands down, no one else even comes close.

I love you all and thanks for everything.

Your Bro, Bro-in-law, and son, uncle, whatever....

Chad

Casa Royale

Elder Champlin and Elder Morales

"Hey, only White Boy, take me north!"

I couldn't figure out how to load the videos....I'll keep trying.

Unhappy Americans

I can across the following while reading the comments to an article on the Herald Journal Website.

"'What are we so unhappy about?''

"A.. Is it that we have electricity and running water 24 hours a day, 7
days a week?
B.. Is our unhappiness the result of having air conditioning in the
summer and heating in the winter?

C.. Could it be that 95.4% of these unhappy folks have a job?

D.. Maybe it is the ability to walk into a grocery store at any time and
see more food in moments than Darfur has seen in the last year?

E.. Maybe it is the ability to drive our cars and trucks from the
Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean without having to present
identification papers as we move through each state?

F.. Or possibly the hundreds of clean and safe motels we would find
along the way that can provide temporary shelter?

G.. I guess having thousands of restaurants with varying cuisine from
around the world is just not good enough either.

H. Or could it be that when we wreck our car, emergency workers show up
and provide services to help all and even send a helicopter to take you
to the hospital.

I.. Perhaps you are one of the 70% of Americans who own a home.

J.. You may be upset with knowing that in the unfortunate case of a
fire, a group of trained firefighters will appear in moments and use top
notch equipment to extinguish the flames, thus saving you, your family,
and your belongings.

K.. Or if, while at home watching one of your many flat screen TVs, a
burglar or prowler intrudes, an officer equipped with a gun and a
bullet-proof vest will come to defend you and your family against attack
or loss.
L.. This all in the backdrop of a neighborhood free of bombs or militias
raping and pillaging the residents. Neighborhoods where 90% of teenagers
own cell phones and computers.

M.. How about the complete religious, social, and political freedoms we
enjoy that are the envy of everyone in the world? Maybe that is what has 67% of you folks unhappy.

Fact is, we are the largest group of ungrateful, spoiled brats the world
has ever seen. No wonder the world loves the U.S. yet has a great
disdain for its citizens. They see us for what we are. The most blessed
people in the world who do nothing but complain about what we don't have,
and what we hate about the country instead of thanking the good Lord we
live here.

I know, I know. What about the president who took us into war and has no
plan to get us out? The President who has a measly 31 percent approval
rating? Is this the same president who guided the nation in the dark days
after 9/11? The president that cut taxes to bring an economy out of
recession? Could this be the same guy who has been called every name in
the book for succeeding in keeping all the spoiled ungrateful brats safe
from terrorist attacks? The commander in chief of an all-volunteer army
that is out there defending you and me?

Did you hear how bad the President is on the news or talk show? Did this
news affect you so much, make you so unhappy you couldn't take a look
around for yourself and see all the good things and be glad? Think about
it......are you upset at the President because he actually caused you
personal pain OR is it because the 'Media' told you he was failing to
kiss your sorry ungrateful behind every day."

Americans are an interesting bunch of people

Back Roll

Wakeboarding

I love Wake boarding

Stupidity, Morality, and Prophecy

While I am at work I get the oppurtunity to hear a lot of the news that is going on in the world or to read about it online. This post is dedicated to my opinion on three particular stories that have made headlines today.

Story #1
"Researchers have found that there has been an 50% increase in skin cancer amongst women since 1980."

Does this surprise anybody at all. While listening to this report I couldn't help but laugh at the huge amount of surprise that the anchor expressed. Granted a 50% increase is something to be worried about. It is estimated that over 62,000 new cases of melanoma will be diagnosed this year.

It seems that many people are shocked considering the increases emphasis on the use of sunscreen this summer. Well, sunscreen isn't very effective unless you apply it every 2 hours and it is has a SPF over 30 and includes protection for UVA rays. Most sunscreens block UVB rays but UVA rays are the ones that cause skin cancer.

Because of the affect the sun has on their face, causing sunspots and wrinkles, that is generally the only place women put sunscreen on their face only and generally disregard the rest of their body. Granted there are many women that are smart and use sunscreen correctly...and they are the ones that aren't getting skin cancer.

Tanning beds are the other culprit in the increase of skin cancer. When you go tanning your body is bombarded with UV rays that allow you to tan faster and easier. The problem with this is that you don't allow your body to build up any protection from those rays. When you lay out, your body is exposed to uv rays for a longer period and they are less intense allowing your body to protect itself. It's like being sprayed by a garden hose(laying out) to being sprayed by a firehose(tanning). It's much more intense.

Overall, it is healthy for your skin to be exposed to the sun but like everything, moderation. Have Fun!

Story #2
"British woman in a Dubai prison for having sex on the Beach"

This one is a no brainer. Granted, I do feel bad for her family because of the heartache that this situation is causing them.

A British woman is in a Dubai prison for having sex on a beach there and is facing up to 6 years in prison because of it. Could this been avoided? Of course!!!

If you are going to travel to another country you don't have to understand/know everything about that country but you don have to understand that it is not your country and there are certain things that you probably should not be doing.

Dubai is a country where they practice the religion of Islam. In that religion that hold women to certain moral standards. Women are to remain modestly covered...hence the burka. Now a woman is having sex on a beach in their country. Taking Dubai's view of women into consideration, this womans arrest is not a surprise. Unfortunate? Yes. Your going into a country that holds women to strict morals and then you perform and immoral on a public beach! Come on!

Story #3 (less of a rant more of an observation)

In May (2008) the California Supreme Court ruled that same-sex marriages would become a legal marriage in the state of California. This ruling sent shockwaves throughout the entire country and very well may effect similar rulings in other states within the next couple of years.

I personally believe that marriage is between and man and a woman and is one of the most sacred steps that a couple (man and woman) can take in their entire lives. I was appalled by the original ruling considering the people turned it down in 2000 by voting against it.

Well if you have been watching the news lately you would have heard about the insane amount of wildfires that have been popping up throughout California in June and July. Thousands of homes have been destroyed and even more have been abandoned with tens of thousands of people having to flee from the path of the flames.
If it wasn't the brave fire fighters that have been working to put out the fires much more damage would have been caused and the families of these heros should be prayed for as well as the fire fighters themselves.

It is interesting to me that the worst fire season to date came shortly after the supreme courts ruling on same-sex marriage. In Genesis you read about the cities of Sodom and Gomora that openly practiced homosexuality. The Lord promised that as long as one righteous person remained in those cities they would not be destroyed. Well, Lott left and BOOM, the cities were destroyed by...FIRE!!! History does and will repeat itself if we do not learn from the mistakes of our fathers.

It seems that in this case it is possible that nothing was really learned and many people are suffering because of it.

I know this was a long post and I hope I didn't sound mean or cynical. There were just some things i wanted to talk about and since i'm at work i didn't have anyone really to talk to.

-Brock

very loud music

k so if any of you have seen italion job, the guy in it thats says he created napster wants to buy a stereo loud enough to blow girls clothes off.. i have this wonderful device in my jeep. we took an adapter that plugs into the cig lighter that is a box with a regular outlet plug thing in it then i plugged my bass amp into that and but the amp in my back seat then we have a cord that goes from the ipod to the amp.. and all i can say is i have never heard louder music before in my life. if you turn it up all the way it has 100 W of Angels & Airwaves that blow girls clothes off. ive been driving around with the amp in the back of the jeep and you can serioussly hear me coming from three blocks away it is so so tight. the coolest part is im getting good at timing the amp with the stereo that is already in the car so i just start both the songs at the same time for extra clothing removal power. its pretty white trash and jimmy rigged but its tight

Proud Grandpa

Prize Fighter Music Video

Shallow Day Concert

So yeah as brock said he went to the shallow day concert in st george they let me play the bass it was tight. here are some pictures

St. George

So Natalee and I had the chance to go down to st. george this weekend and it was a blast. On friday night we went to the Shallow Day show which was a rockin good time. Then we hung out at mike and brooke's house. We watched the Muse dvd...AWESOME!!!

On saturday Talia, Trey, Dylan, Natalee and I went to the pool. Natalee, Dylan and I played water basketball which consisted of natalee holding a tube (the rim), dylan (the basketball) and I (the shooter). Dylan would curl up into a ball and i would throw him across the pool and into the tube. He loved it. It was quite entertaining. the other people at the pool just sat there laughing. It was good times. that night we all went to the new Get Smart movie, which is very hilarious.

On sunday nat and i both woke up with stomach aches but didn't think much about it until we were on our way home. Before we even got to cedar city we knew that this was not going to be the funnest ride home. When we arrived in cedar we decided to take a break so we pulled into the Marriott parking lot to take a nap. Within 10 minutes i was hanging out my door puking like a firehose. This in turn caused nat to start throwing up and for the next couple of minutes that is all we did.

We started to feel better after that so we continued onward. At about nephi the pukes returned for nat. As we were taking the exit Nat's head was out the window and her insides were splashing all over the road and outside of the car. Her response was, "I feel like a drunk hippie after a party." Needless to say it took us a lot longer to get home then we had expected but we made it safely eventually.

i tried to download a family guy video that demonstrated what happened but to no avail. If you want to see it go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRn5-LQCg2s&feature=related

HOWIE 2.0

Here are some pics that we took with Nat's phone and transfered them to our computer via bluetooth.

Howie

Natalee and I have a new puppy. His name is Howie and he is a yorkshire terrier. Unfortunately we hae been unable to find nat's camera so there are no pictures of him. As soon as we have some we will post them.

-Brock

Shallow Day