Naps

I may not be a real member of the Visser family. I hate naps.

Every member of the Visser clan (including my wife) are all terrific nap takers. I on the other hand hate them. I will tell you why.

I loved my mission. I have spent a good amount of time this week on the phone with old mission companions, members, and converts, catching up and inviting them to Weston's baby blessing. Maybe in my digging up memories of my long lost past, I have stirred up old habits.

On your mission, every P-day is like fine chocolate. You cant eat it all at once, it will make you sick. You cant let it get too cold or too hot because it ruins the texture. It needs to be a busy day, but everything that you do needs to be fun. The biggest way to destroy your P-day is to take a nap.

I quote Pres. Evans when he was asked by a missionary is he can take naps on P-Day "You can take a nap when everyone else takes a nap, at 10:30". He was referring to lights out for sleep. Ever since this day, naps have felt like such a waste of time. What could you have done in those 30, 60, 120 minutes? I hate to think about.

This reasoning explains why I am more grumpy when I wake up from a nap rather than before I take one. I do dumb things after a nap. For example, I snapped at Kelly for wearing my pajama pants an hour ago, right after I got up from a 2 hour nap. I then cleaned the kitchen in like 10 minutes to try and make up for my lazy nap.

Dear Weston

Dear Weston,
I should be spending this time working on homework as I am behind and the semester is about to end. The last three weeks have been so exhausting, but so worth it. You are a special spirit with limitless potential. Your mother and I often wonder how we got so lucky. This short note is the first of my fatherly advice. My first point is going to be the best advice that I can give you. Listen to your mother. She is a noble person full of charity and love. She and I will always be here for you. Despite our mistakes and the ones that you will make, we are a family and are only as strong as our weakest member. I want you to be independent and able to care for yourself and your family, but never be afraid to ask for our help.
As your father I look forward to those days were you learn life's lessons about work, trust, love, and faith. You and I share a common name, just like I share a common name with my father. I would consider it one of the greatest honors of my life to share my father's name, he is a hero in many ways. I only hope that you can feel the same way about me when you have your own children. I leave with you lyrics from a song that in 20 years will do nothing but make me feel old, but describe how I feel perfectly.

When I was,
A young boy,
My father, took me into the city
To see a marching band
He said "son when, you grow up, will you be, the saviour of the broken, the beaten and the damned."
He said "will you defeat them, your demons, and all the non-believers, the plans that they have made, Because one day, I'll leave you, a phantom, to lead you in the summer, to join the black parade."
My Chemical Romance "The Black Parade"

I love you,
Dad