hey guys! leaving on a mission in 2 hours. innnsaanne.

here is my mtc address -

Sister Jessie Riddle

Illinois Chicago Mission

Provo Missionary Training Center

2005 N 900 E

Provo, Ut 84604

United States

and here is the mission home address until I get my first assignment in the field, or if you want to send me a package. which I would love. :.)

Sister Jessie Riddle

Illinois Chicago Mission

1319 Butterfield Road Ste 522

Downers Grove, IL 60515

United States

my mom's e-mail address if you would like to get my weekly e-mails or if you have questions:

krischandlerstories@yahoo.com

phone for the mission home if you have more questions:

1 630-969-2145

Best of luck to all of you! I love you like crazy. Take care of yourselves.

love, Sister Riddle

Another song. Sorry guys.

Mumford and Sons are geniuses. No doubt about it.

"Awake My Soul"

How fickle my heart and how woozy my eyes
I struggle to find any truth in your lies
And now my heart stumbles on things I don't know
This weakness I feel I must finally show
Lend me your hand and we'll conquer them all
But lend me your heart and I'll just let you fall
Lend me your eyes I can change what you seeBut your soul you must keep, totally freeHar har, har har, har har, har har
In these bodies we will live, in these bodies we will die
Where you invest your love, you invest your life
In these bodies we will live, in these bodies we will die
Where you invest your love, you invest your life
Awake my soul, awake my soul
Awake my soul
You were made to meet your maker
Awake my soul, awake my soul
Awake my soul
You were made to meet your maker
You were made to meet your maker

Watch this now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDPHYaMQm8Y&feature=related

This is beautiful.

window of rock+meta-cognition.

So, once upon a time I went to a red-rock canyon, and it was beautiful.

In other news (this is going to be a mind-blurb) how do you think we know anything? How can we know anything beyond what we have experienced with our own minds and bodies? And what we have "experienced" with our minds must necessarily be our individual perception of reality and not ultimate reality itself. I know this question has been asked by millions of people throughout history, but I am still wondering - because, ironically enough, I want my own answer. Maybe the solution is to go off of what works - what fulfills us mentally, spiritually, emotionally, and is materially effective in our lives. Or maybe the answer is to just not worry about the question, and worry instead about all of the actual hard things that are happening in the world, and enjoy the good things that are everywhere. Maybe.

But I believe that there are truths. I don't think it's possible for us to understand entire truths because I think they are infinitely faceted and made up of the trillions of experiences, emotions and moments of life that happen on the planet (and other planets. I need a bigger word than trillion.) And, although I may be wrong, I believe with all my heart that every single one of those facets of reality are connected to other pieces, forming an infinitely expansive and varied but related whole that is the living organism of reality, and tied together by one or a few ultimate truths. Life will go on. I believe that God watches over that organism, but even more I believe that he is a part of it - he extends through every piece of the living whole, because he shares the breath of life that ignites it.

Sometimes Utah's slow reaction time is a good thing.

NPR's recent story "Chlorine Substitutes in Water May Have Risks" is a little upsetting. It would be a lot more upsetting, though, if I lived in one of the many states where water treatment plants have started using Chloramine (Chlorine + ammonia) as primary water disinfectant in response to recent EPA guidelines. Apparently Chlorine (what has been predominantly used in the past) actually produces small levels of carcinogenic byproducts. Cancer is a bad thing, so the EPA recently advocated the use of Chloramine. Good, right? Nope.

In Washington D.C. health officials have discovered that Chloramine not only produces nitrasomes, a carcinogen much more harmful than the after-effects of Chlorine, but fails to prevent lead from leaching into the local water supply. "Unheard-of" lead levels started to appear in D.C. water districts and in D.C. children. Apparently, problems with Chloramine may manifest differently or not at all across the country, depending on the reactions of individual water systems, and many companies will be reticent to make the high-cost switch back to Chlorine. That's a big, fat, expensive question mark.

Whether it's because Utah is slow on the uptake, dislikes the EPA in general or just has really good judgment, we're still using chlorine. Is that all good? According to NPR, "There are still good reasons for many water systems to move away from chlorine...but [Sedlak] says local authorities need to remember that a new disinfectant may bring its own problems." If Utah does decide to make a change, hopefully we'll learn from the mistakes of our neighbors. More importantly, I hope that US citizens will become AWARE of environmental changes in progress and not just react to them after the fact.