Aaron Carter's Advice

Hey everyone!

Remember Aaron Carter?  He was such the teen sensation not-too-long-ago.  Well, he is still doing his thing and recording and making exceptional music.  He plans on releasing an album this year, so watch for that to drop!  (There's my plug.)

Well, my buddy Aaron was in town to perform a set for a benefit concert that my great friend Jess (who I met Aaron through) put on last night in Allentown, PA.  I picked up my friend Mel, Aaron, and his manager slash assistant from where they were staying and make the 2 hour journey to the venue.

We had many a discussion throughout the car ride, but I just wanted to share something we are all jaded to hear, but something that we all need to be reminded about.  I was talking about how it would be fun to live in Los Angeles, and I was talking about schools out there.  Aaron replied by saying that: Yeah, while LA can be fun, you need to really watch out with the crowd you end up in.  He said that if you get invovled in the wrong crowd, things can turn down-hill very quickly.

How true this is!  Moral of the story: Be aware and on the defense.  Friends are such a blessing of life, but choosing the right friends can be tricky.  Sometimes people can seem great, but they may not have your best interest in mind.  You know the people that will uplift and love you.  Stick with them.

Here's a picture of Mel, Aaron, and I backstage from the show last night!

Oh...And something funny.  Our family always keeps a copy of The Book of Mormon in our car.  Aaron found it, flipped through the pages, and said, "Who's Book of Mormon is this?"  Mel says..."U, the Mormon driving the car."  End.

Love,
Sean

PS: This is probably going to be the last post for the next couple of days.  Tomorrow is my last full day in Jersey, and I fly back West on MONDAY!  Mission is COMING UP!  We will be going through Las Vegas and Southern California next week.  I'll update when I can, so please keep checking back!

We Believe

EFY stands for Especially For Youth. It's a program put on by The Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the summer to allow youth to gather and share positive and similar experiences. I went to EFY my 4 years throughout high school at Brigham Young University. I made some great friends while living at the Deseret Tower dorms. Each year at EFY they give out a CD of spiritual songs. This song, "We Believe" was the theme and song of my first year at EFY when I was 14 years old. I still listen to it today, and I love it. The lyrics are perfect.

"We believe in one name under heaven where all things are given by faith, love, and hope
We believe
We believe in obedience ringing the bell of the free
We believe, and we'll live what we know."

Listen below.



Love,
Sean

David Archuleta Concert

Last night I had the wonderful opportunity to attend the Christmas concert in Salt Lake City.  David Archuleta was the special guest this year to sing along side the world renowned Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

I went with my friend Courtney (who flew out from Connecticut), my cousin Calie, and my aunt Jenny.  We had such a great time, and the concert was incredible.  The backdrop was beautiful with cottages frosted with snow.  David's performance was just unbelievable.  His voice is so raw and so pure.  It's really amazing.  I feel very fortunate that I was able to get tickets.  I'm really glad he sang my favorite Christmas hymn, "Angels We Have Heard On High."  He also sang this Christmas song I've never heard of that was really cool.  It's called, "The Cat And The Mouse," and the song tells the Christmas Story from a cat and mouse's point of view inside the stable.

After the show, Courtney and I met up with my friend Kristin at Deseret Book where we had the opportunity to meet David Archuleta.  It was really cool meeting him.  He was so genuinely happy and friendly.  I spoke to him about working with my friend, and he was very excited.  Clearly, we are best friends now.

Pictures weren't allowed inside, but here are some that I found from last night that someone took.

Love,
Sean

Justin Bieber - Pray

I really respect and admire when popstars sing songs that are actually meaningful.  Justin Bieber has a new song off his latest CD release, "My Worlds Acoustic."  The song is called, "Pray" and it is very emotionally driven and inspirational.

Some lyrics:

It's in the papers, it's on the TV,
it's everywhere that i go.
Children are crying, soldiers are dying,
some people don't have a home.

But i know there's sunshine behind that rain,
I know there's good times behind that pain (hey)
Can you tell me how i can make a change?

I close my eyes, and i can see a better day,
I close my eyes and pray.
I close my eyes and i can see a better day,
I close my eyes and pray. 

For a pop song, it really puts things into perspective.  I'm really glad Justin did a song like this.  He has a huge limelight on him right now, and for his demographic (teenagers), I believe it's a great idea to send this hopeful message.  I also really think it's incredible that Justin not only put this song as a tract on his CD, but he made it a single.  I hope it catches a lot of radio attention soon.

Take a listen to "Pray" below:

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Love,
Sean

PS: My cousins and I met Justin Bieber's cardboard cutout this past weekend!

Who I Am

Hey readers!  I can not stop listening to this infectious song.  Fellow Mormon and extremely talented recording artist, David Archuleta, sings a song on his new album "The Other Side Of Down" called "Who I Am."

The lyrics read:
"The windshield looks like a movie screen
And the world outside is a big machine
And it moves so fast I can barely think
That's ok cause I know what I'm doing

Days like these
It's hard to breathe

I'm gonna take this moment that I'm in right now
Stop the craziness some how
Leave it all behind me
I know it's gonna find me
I've got nothing to win, I've got nothing to lose
Just trying to walk in my own two shoes
Gotta take some time now
It's time for me to find out who I am."

...This is totally how I feel much of the time.  The world moves so fast, and it's constantly throwing material things, work, media, and more debris from this never-ending storm.  It gets to me all the time, and for a moment I forget what's REALLY important.  But I feel so blessed to have family, good friends, and my church to bring me back to what matters most.  It is then that I am able to "Leave it all behind me..." and eventually come to "find out who I am."

You should take a listen to this song.


Oh...And last night I hung out with some friends.  We had our own special FHE and carved pumpkins.  Here is a picture of the pumpkin I made.  It turned out too scary for me...No me gusta.  But maybe you'll enjoy...?

 
Love,
Sean

I Look To You

I just watched this past week's new episode of Glee.  I am fairly certain that everyone knows or has at least heard of Glee.  It's a fantastic musical comedy TV show on FOX.  Um...Think High School Musical television series.

In any case, religion was the main theme of the most recent episode.  I got pretty emotional while watching Amber Riley's character, Mercedes, sing Whitney Houston's "I Look To You."  Mercedes sang this song to Chris Colfer's character Kurt, because his Dad was in the hospital.  Later in the episode, she told the non-religious Kurt that he doesn't have to believe in God, but he should believe in something you can not see, touch, hear, or smell, because life is too hard to go through not to believe in in anything.  I thought this was a great message.  And, that is one of the most beautiful things about our country; we have the freedom to believe in whatever religion we want...if we want to believe in a religion at all.

Another component of this past week's Glee was that as members of society, we should respect others' beliefs, and not force anything unwanted upon others.

Love,
Sean