Cant repeat

I was listening to some music the other day and a song came up that I've always liked, Can't Repeat by The Offspring. It is kind of related to a lot of things going on in my mind, I don't know what the song was originally supposed to mean but this is what it reminded me of, The first line of the song goes like this:

I woke the other day And saw my world has changed

I've been home for about 7 months this week, and... well I can't really describe It but I cant really describe to you the last little bit of my life, the last seven months kinda feel like a very lucid dream, and when I finally "woke up" (happened to be at the temple dedication on Sunday) I made a lot of connections that I hadn't been able to make. I miss my mission everyday and I think that's normal, I always knew I missed my mission but I had never been able to figure out what to do about it, going back really isn't an option for me, the next bit of song that stuck out to me is this:

Memories are bittersweet
The good times we can't repeat
Those days are gone and we can never get them back

The Memories of my mission really are bitter sweet and that's why the entire situation was so hard for me to figure out, more on that later. The next two lines describe how I feel sometimes, I've listened to this song many times the last 7 months and those where the ones I focused on. That's kind of a bleak outlook on my situation now that I think about it, that being said the truth is I'm never going to have that same kind of experience again.


Back to the memories are bitter sweet line, coming back was really hard for me to do and it was even harder for me not to feel like I failed, and if you look at it with thoughts of failure, what good can you say about the way you acted, the way that you went about daily things and most of all what can you say about what you learned. For the longest time I thought to myself that I needed to find a different way to go about life. It was logical for me to believe that if trying the way I did on my mission was flawed enough to bring me home it obviously wasn't very good at all, but what about those good memories I had?

I've realized that it wasn't the way that I handled or how much I changed that sent me home, it was the environment, missions are tough and you have to deal with a lot of stresses that normal people don't even think about, and ultimately what it was that sent me home (I believe) was thinking that I needed to change. I'm in a different environment now and while its not void of stress it is a lot easier, I know now that if I apply the things I learned on my mission and try my best to be the same Dan Box that I was out there I'll blow everything away, because quite frankly I was awesome! Anyway I'm sure some missionaries come home and already know this but it took awhile for me to figure it out.

My goal for the next couple of years is to strive to be what I became on my mission, I don't need to hide from it because it was good and the Lord accepted my service and now I accept that my service was good, I know I did the best I could and that's all that matters, I know that if I become as teachable as I was on my mission I will progress like I did, and that I can adapt to whatever comes my way.

the last part of the song that I want to talk about goes like this.

Now we must move ahead Despite our fear and dread

to be honest I don't know whats going to happen but I'm going to move forward.

Bear lake!

I just got back from bear lake with a bunch of friends, we had a lot of fun! The trip was great we had a great Beach house/Cabin thing right next to the beach



We had seven people total, the first day we decided to leave Springville at 6:00 AM (which of course meant we where on our way by 7:30)The way up was great (a little crowded, I had to be in a mini trunk with two other people for three hours)

When we arrived we decided to hit the beach as soon as possible, we went down to the beach and decided to swim out to a little floating dock about 500 yards out
(give or take) it was funny because most people would hesitate to swim that far in open water, but all of us swimmers didn't even think twice.

After a full day of fun we went back to the cabin and despite having a lot of sunscreen on I got way burnt.

we had burgers the first night




it looks pink on the picture for some reason but it was actually very well cooked and delicious, not to mention huge.

After the Burgers we played poker dressed up like the guys in the world series, after looking at some of the pictures of those guys online I realized the crazier the outfit the better it is.

Pretty ridiculous I know, check out that burn though!

Shane going for the simple look

If Anyone can pull off that look its Nugent.

Jeff and Jhonny looking Professional



My Complete lack of chips is proof that no matter how awesome your outfit is, if you don't know how to play poker your gonna lose all your money (your likely to lose it all even if you do know how to play)

That night we played poker well into the night, I went to bed early (1:30 AM) the rest turned in at about 3:00. (excluding the two youngsters who passed out on the floor at about 10:00)

The second day was great my sunburns had gotten worse and I had no desire to get anymore sun, we went to the north beach to play and I didn't even get into my swimsuit




no more burns for me, I just listened to my music and enjoyed the shade while watching Channing and Shane make some awesome sand sculptures!



That's a great Turtle and Shark



and I don't want any comments about the back fin going the wrong way! :)



I had a great time and would just like to say that Bear lake is probably the most beautiful lakes I've ever seen, its so blue! If you've never been I highly recommend it. Props to Channing for making it all possible






That's all for now you can expect something more philosophical soon! have a great weekend everybody