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the author at 10 years old digging up a time capsule

Someone Stepped on the Y2K Bug

The year 2000 was an eventful year for me, especially in the way of time capsules. I participated in my first time capsule on January 1st, and then on the Fourth of July of the same year, my family and I travelled to the Texas panhandle to meet my uncles and cousins and to unearth a time capsule that my dad and his brothers had buried 24 years earlier in 1976, the bicentennial of American independence.

Now, I realise that reading about time capsules may be somewhat like listening to someone tell you their dreams鈥攎ildly interesting at best. But this post is mostly for my own benefit and reminiscing, so keep reading or not, it鈥檚 up to you.

Where was I? Oh yes, year 2000. Although I was only ten years old at the time, some of my most vivid memories of childhood are from this time period. Digging up the time capsule that my dad and his brothers had buried was fun. All my uncles and cousins were there, even the ones from California, and I remember the sensation of wonder when we cracked open something that had lain undisturbed for 24 years, buried before I was even born! (Although recently I found out that my dad had exhumed it in the 80s to remove some coins that he had included, since he didn鈥檛 trust his brothers not to steal them.) As far as the contents, what I remember most were the firecrackers and smoke bombs from 1976, that amazingly still worked.

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How to buy a car in Mexico with cash

I am a US citizen living in Mexico as a temporary resident, and after going through quite an ordeal trying to buy a vehicle here, I thought I would share what I learned in case someone else in a similar situation is about to go through the same process.

First of all, I use TransferWise to move money from my US bank account to my Mexican bank account, and when I found a vehicle I wanted to buy, I thought I had all my ducks in a row. I live in a fairly small town, so when I went to the big city to buy a car, I just located the nearest branch of my bank and told the seller to meet me there.

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Want to learn a language? Join a community.

Some people have wishlists of things they hope to get for Christmas, or places they would like to go to on vacation. As a language nut, I understandably have a long list of languages that I would like to learn. There are so many interesting languages in the world, and so little time to learn them!

Looking at the languages I have tackled, however, the thing I’ve realized is that I only become proficient in a language when I have a community of people to speak it with. Take Spanish, for instance鈥攆or the past 9 years, I have spoken Spanish on a weekly basis with Spanish-speaking Christians, and thus I have gotten pretty good at speaking it. However, I still cannot speak Greek, even though I have been studying it even longer than Spanish. And why is that? Perhaps it’s because I don’t know anyone who speaks Greek, and it is a language I only use for reading and writing.

Recently I watched some interview videos on Chickasaw.tv about Joshua Hinson, the current director of the Chickasaw Language Department. He grew up in west Texas, and dabbled in some of the Chickasaw language early on, but he didn’t become proficient in the language until he reconnected with the Chickasaw community in Oklahoma聽and began actively seeking out native speakers to talk with. Read More

How to Learn to Speak a Language

Did you know that you can learn to speak a language in only three simple steps? As a language nut myself, I’ve learned a few things about learning languages, and I want to share those with you, the aspiring language learner. I won’t call these “secrets,” because they’re hardly hidden, but I would guess that a lot of people have overlooked them.

I know you’re dying to know what the three steps are, so before describing them in more detail, here they are:

  1. Study.
  2. Practice.
  3. Repeat.

Well OK, I guess it’s more than just three steps when you start iterating on #3, but you get the point. Learning a language can be boiled down into these three parts, and if you leave out any one of them, you’re bound to be disappointed. Now then, let’s look at each one in detail! Read More

It’s All About Love

When I was younger, I was embarrassed by love. Don’t get me wrong, I loved my parents and they loved me more than I knew, but whenever it came to romance, love songs, and even the word “love,” I would have nothing to do with it. I can’t say entirely why–my parents made sure I knew that at my age I had no business getting into romantic relationships, and the time when I could was so far ahead I couldn’t even imagine it. But looking back, it seems rather silly, because now I realize that love is the main purpose of my life. I may not be married or have a girlfriend, but the more I think about it, love is behind most of what I do, or at least it should be.

Why do I go to Truth For The World every day and work? Because I love the people in the world who are lost and need the gospel. Why do put in hours of study to prepare sermons and Bible classes? Because I love my Christian family and want to give them something they can learn from. Why do I take time to pick out songs and lead them in the worship assembly? Because I love the Lord and His people, and want to help us all worship Him in one mind as one body.
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