#008 – Goodin’, Glasses & Gals

 

Tuesday,  October 31, 2006, 12:24 am

 

Hey Guys and Gals,

 

Happy Halloween!  These last couple of days have been a HOOT!  Mike and I went to his home town of Gooding Idaho which is “in-between (more or less)” the cities of Twin Falls and Boise.

 

So, to prepare for my weekend of fun I had to work some extra hours at the office.  That kept me busy until Thursday.  I only went to one of my classes and then left work around 2pm.  Came home and got my stuff together and we hit the road.

 

Before we could leave, we had to stop by Costco so I could pick up my new glasses.  I am really glad I ordered those because I was having trouble in my classes because I couldn’t see what my professors where writing down.  They look really great and you can give all the thanks to my personal stylist Mike.

 

We drove toward Idaho, we made a quick stop in Ogden to pick up a new car that Mike’s father had purchased.  That quick stop lasted an hour and a half.

 

We drove and arrived at Mike’s house in Gooding.  It is actually more than a house, it is a home and not just any home, a good American home with horses and barn in the backyard and farmland all around.  Mike’s parents came out to greet us and it was really fun.  Deby, Mike’s mom, made us an absolutely delicious all-American meal.  They grew their own corn and had mashed potatoes with some salmon that they had caught.  It was amazing.  We visited for a while and ended the night with scripture reading and a family prayer in the living room.

 

Friday morning we drove an hour and a half to Sun Valley, Idaho to check out the rich and famous of Idaho.  It is a pretty valley and hopefully one day I will get to go a little further to Stanley, Idaho which I am told is probably one of the most beautiful valleys in the world.

 

We went to Boise that afternoon to witness the wedding of Mike’s cousin and that was really exciting because the Father of the bride asked if anyone knew how to operate a camera and the Infanger’s (Mike’s family) said I did and thus they got me to videotape their wedding! It was a really nice ceremony they held at a church building.  After eating some food and visiting we drove to Jerome, Idaho where Mike’s sister Jill lives.  I ended up playing video games late into the night with Jill’s husband Jim. Mike’s sister Lisa cut my hair that night also and she did a great job!

 

Saturday morning we drove to Twin Falls and took family pictures!  It was tons of fun to watch the Infanger’s gather together and take these pictures.  We then went back to Gooding and went to work.  Mike taught me how to drive a tractor and we did some work around the farm.  We cleaned out the barn and burned all the garbage that was in there.  We went back to the home and had a great evening visiting with all the family that was in town.

 

Sunday morning we woke up and had a great breakfast.  We then all took our turns taking showers to get ready to go to church.  The time changes was really nice also.

 

Note:  I am really sorry that this is very long and probably not making any sense.  My story is about to get a whole lot more confusing because I am introducing more people.

 

My economics professor at BYU grew up in Gooding.  His parents live around the corner from Mike’s parents.  So I went with Mike’s father and visited Brother Pope, the father of my college professor.  It was really fun as we sat down, visited, and asked questions.  Brother Pope asked me to speak in Church for twenty minutes!  This happened less than a half-an-hour before Church started.  The Church services went really well and my little talk was well received.

 

After I was done speaking at Church we ran home and ate some food and started our way back to Utah.  We stopped in Centerville to visit one of Mike’s companions who had just finished his mission this week.  We got some more food and drove back to Provo.

 

This is already to long, but we did a whole bunch of things at home and went to a Halloween party tonight and this week will be very exciting.  Here are some pictures:

 

Halloween – Monday Night, tonight, these are our costumes that we wore to the Halloween party tonight.

 

Halloween 

Stud – This is me wearing a way nic
e black shirt with my favorite red flower tie!

 

Stud 

Rachel – Rachel is a pretty girl in my ward and this was taken at our family home evening activity we had last week.

 

Rachel 

Glasses – These are my new glasses that I got at Costco.  Mike choose them for me and said they looked really good.

 

Glasses 

Cowboy – This is Mike’s pumpkin that we made at our family home evening last week.  It is a cowboy.  It looks like a pioneer, but Mike told us it is a cowboy.

 

Cowboy 

Idaho – This is our fire that we made as we were cleaning out the barn.  Notice the big tractor to the left and Mike’s sister working hard on the farm!

 

Idaho 

I wish I could explain all the cool things that have been going on!  There are many interesting things that I have learned and some things that are just fascinating!  Mike’s family is a very special family and they were extremely nice to me.  I could go on for hours!  It is late and I have class early tomorrow.  Lets not forget that I have three midterms this week also!

 

I love you guys much and hope that all is well.  Life is keeping me pretty busy so catch you guys around. 

 

P.S. I am also sorry for any grammar or spelling errors – feel free to correct me. Night!

 

Farook Khan

#007 – Homecoming Week

 

Sunday, October 22, 2006, 4:10 pm

 

Hey Guys,

 

Homecoming Week!  This whole week has been fun with all the many activities surrounding homecoming.  Weather has been fantastic with sunny skies and a bright warm sun.  Everything else has been exciting also.

 

Other quick news: I went to Costco and ordered some glasses so I can see the whiteboard in my classes and also for distance viewing.  They should be here his next week.  Hopefully my grades will improve now that I can see what my professors are writing down.  

 

My roommate and I prepared for homecoming by selecting which dance we wanted to go to.  There were at least four different dances to choose from, so we went with the Hoe Down dance in American Fork.  We went to a western store to by a cowboy shirt, belt with a cool buckle and a hat.  It was fun.

 

Saturday morning we (Mike and I) went and played water polo for about two hours which was great, but made us super exhausted.  We then met up with our dates and went to the football game.  BYU beat UNLV 52 to 7.  We then separated to get ready for the dance.  Mike and I ate some food, then went to the mall and then went to the Toyota dealership.  We came home, got dressed and then picked up our dates.

 

The dance was way cool.  They had straw all over the dirt ground and it was maybe 40 degrees outside.  We dressed warmly and also went on a haunted hay ride through a scary haunted farm.  We went through the corn maze and pretty much spent the rest of the time at the dance.  Everyone was decked out in their country best with boots, holsters, and hats.  Our dates were stunning!  After the dance got over, we came back to our apartment and made some hot chocolate and danced to some music.  We then went hot tubing for a while and enjoyed the evening and took the girls to their apartment.

 

Today, we woke up tired.  But we woke up!  And now I am enjoying the nice afternoon writing you folks a little letter.  Here are some pictures:

 

Football – Us and our dates at the BYU football game.

 

Football 

Homecoming – Mike and I looking like cowboys. Please notice the matching belt buckles.

 

Homecoming 

 

Hunting – Mike owns a nice hunting jacket that we got at Cabela’s.

 

Hunting 

Work – This is a little card and a root beer that I got for being a “terrific employee.”

 

Work 

Hope everyone is having a great weekend and getting ready for an exciting week of school, work, and even more play!  Next weekend I should be in good ol’ Goodin’ Idaho!

 

Farook Khan

#006 – Movies, Midterms & Meetings


Sunday, October 15, 2006, 10:03 PM

 

Hey Guys, 

 

Happy Fall Season!  These last two weeks have been exciting and maybe you can use the word stressful.  My roommate, Mike, went and bought twelve movies for forty-eight dollars. So we have been watching movies.  We also had some midterms and I got 86% on my Economics test which made me really happy.  I got a 100% on my chemistry test.  I probably got something like 90% on my New Testament test also.  With midterms over, I have been able to get a jump start on the next sections that we will be coving.  

 

Today was pretty crazy.  My schedule:

 

7am – Stake President Meeting with Elders Presidents

9am – Choir – Quartet Practice

10am –  Presidency Meeting

11am – Ward Council Meeting

12 noon – Sacrament Meeting – I spoke during the services

3pm – Special Meeting

4:45pm – Stake Leadership Training Workshops

6:30pm – Dinner invitation to girls apartment #13

7:30pm – Ward Prayer

8pm – Michelle’s mini farewell party

 

Tonight has not ended yet, but it has been a very fun, productive and exciting day for me.  A small group of guys got together and we sang in church today which was really fun, plus the music was fantastic.

 

Some other highlights from the week include:

 

I got to talk with Mrs. Lisa Wilson who was my ninth grade English teacher who has been such an inspiration for me.  She was one of the coolest instructors I have ever had.  She sends her love to our little groups of students who had her freshman year of high school and I propose that we go and visit her during Christmas break.

 

Saturday, I watched part of the Florida vs. Auburn game and that was some great football.  

 

The pressures of society forced me to explore the FaceBook.com website and I gave in and subscribed.  It is actually a pretty cool website.

 

My roommates are fantastic scholars and gentlemen!  We have been having too much fun.  Mike and I went hot tubing the other night and we have made some interesting trips to places like Costco and to a random Mexican restaurant.

 

Some Pictures:

 

Cool Girls – These girls invited me over to dinner tonight and made some very delicious food like chicken, dinner rolls (homemade) and some great brownies.  We played some games and then took this picture at Ward Prayer.

 

Cool Girls 

Costco Trip – We went to Costco to make some purchases and had a fun time taking pictures of random people and shopping on a busy Saturday.

 

Costco Trip 

Fall Time – Pretty Mountains.

 

Fall Time 

Heading to Work – This is me right before leaving for work.  They have changed the dress code for my office.  NO more ties and No more dress pants.  I have to wear a collared shirt and… Drum roll please…jeans are now okay!

 

Heading to Work 

Home Baked Pizza – I went to Yasmin’s apartment they fed me some food and I wanted more, so they gave me a frozen pizza which I took home and devoured.

 

Home Baked Pizza 

More Fall Time – The same mountains but later in the afternoon on the same day.

 

More Fall Time 

My Roommates – I love these guys.  We were at a Family Home Evening when this picture was taken.  From left to right: Jaime, myself (wearing a way nice ITALIAN white tie), Bryce and Mike.

 

My Roommates 

My Studying Desk – This was my desk for a few nights as I studied for midterms.  Yes Mom and Dad, I do study.  Actually, my studying actually is paying off with some decent grades this time too!

 

My Studying Desk 

So everything is pretty much going great!  There are millions of little things I would love to share that contribute to this enjoyable semester.  Have fun with all that is going on and hope to catch you all later. 

 

P.S. I apologize for any grammatical or spelling errors, or for any terms or phrases that you might not understand. (is that grammatically correct?)

 

Farook Khan

#005 – Blindness, Parties & General Conference


Monday, October 2, 2006, 10:39pm

 

Hey Guys,

 

Each week seems to be getting better and better.  I am learning a little more about myself and about everything around me.  For example, I learned that I am partially color blind.  Full Story:  I was was work and I thought I was wearing green pants to work and they were really brown.  This was not the first time I had messed up with my color coordination, so we “googled-it” and I found this website:

 

http://www.toledo-bend.com/colorblind/Ishihara.html

 

One my co-workers asked me what numbers I saw in each circle.  Well… I failed.  There are some circles that did not have numbers in them.  After some review, I learned that I am partially “red-green” colorblind.  I have also gone to other websites to test myself.  Sad day.

 

I’m not really sad, because it has been a fun week.  It was nice and sunny everyday until today when it started raining.  Quick overview of last week:

 

Tuesday – Date: we went and saw Disney’s Cars.  I was very impressed with the movie and hope to purchase a copy of it. Four girls with two guys.  Fun stuff.

 

Wednesday – Sports:  I got a whole bunch of people together and we played Ultimate Frisbee for a few hours in the beautiful fall afternoon.

 

Thursday – BYU Football game party at our apartment.  BYU won which was amazing and then we watched a popular TV show called “the Office.”  Then we hiked the Y and then came back and watched more of “the office” but Season 2, which was downloaded using iTunes.  I managed to do some homework that night also.

 

Friday – Mission Reunion in Provo.  Many people from the Honduras San Pedro Sula (and previously) Belize Mission got together and we had a great time visiting.

 

Saturday – General Conference.  I went to Salt Lake City to attend General Conference with Liz.  We had fantastic seats and then we went out for a great Italian lunch.  Came back to Provo for the afternoon and evening sessions and then we went to the BYU girls soccer game and we got some girls to go with us and then we went out to eat afterward.

 

Sunday – General Conference.  I went to Salt Lake City with Kristin and we got fantastic tickets once again and enjoyed some inspiring discourses from leaders of the Church.  Came back to Provo and enjoyed the evening with some friends.

 

Monday – Family Home Evening.  We got together tonight and played a really fun name type game and Mike, my roommate, made some really good peach cobbler to share.  ( He also made some really good stake burritos for dinner for the two of us.)

 

There are a million other things that are also going on like midterms and studying, but I will save those for an other day.  I have three midterms this week and one more next week in economics.  School is going well at the moment and I will report after the tests are graded.  

 

There are some cool pictures I want to share:

 

Soccer Game – a date to the soccer game 

 

Soccer Game 

Soccer Girl – throwing the ball 

 

Soccer Girl 

Pizza – food after the soccer game 

 

Pizza 

Temple – the Salt Lake LDS Temple 

 

Temple

 

Clean Apartment – we had cleaning checks today and our apartment was the cleanest. 

 

Clean Apartment 

Activity – We watched the BYU football game, watched the Office and then hiked the Y. 

 

Activity 

General Conference – Liz and I after general conference with the temple in the background. 

 

General Conference 

Hiking – another fun trip to the top of the Y.  We got attacked by a military helicopter.

 

Hiking 

Quick note about taking pictures.  Many of my friends have been making fun of my excessive photo taking.  I want to add the fact that they make fun of me and then at the end of the night they ask if I can email them copies!  Go take your own pictures! (I’m not that mean though)

 

Have a great week and hope that everyone is doing well.  I think of you often and hope to hear from you soon. (If you don’t want to get these little updates… Please tell me.)

 

Farook Khan