2008 January: Robertson

Greetings one and all,

January has been a busy month for us. If I can remember everything that has happened it has to run something like this: We celebrated New Years Eve and Day with Morgan's family in Minnesota by playing a lot of board and card games. We were all a little sick, but did all right. We came home on the 7th of January to a cold Rexburg. I spent the next couple of days getting ready for school to start on the 9th.

The day that classes started I walked into my classes - this time as the teacher and had some really strange looks. I think the vast majority of people were wondering what it was that I was doing there. I admit I would give someone my age an odd look too if they were up front acting like they were going to teach philosophy. I then commenced to lay it on heavy and thick. My goal was to scare as many students away as I could. The fire code only allows for 42 students to be in the room. I had 45 signed up for the class and a total of 50 show up on the first day. So I didn't sugar coat anything. I mentioned my strict attendance policy and all of the writing I require per class (one page single spaced typed for each class period, plus essays, plus written quizzes and tests). I got to vent all frustrations I have with lazy students and back up all of my ravings with the power of the grade book which I hold. Well, my ravings had a bigger effect than I thought possible. In my two sections combined I went from 100 students that showed up that first day to a current enrollment of 67.


The hardest thing for me during those first couple days was earning the respect of the class. I am not the oldest person in the classes, yet I have to be the one that is challenging old ideas and illustrating new ones. I had to answer (and still answer) questions that establish my credentials in teaching the subject. I must admit that each class is a rush. I get the jittery nerves right before I walk in the door, but once I am in up in front of everyone and going I love every minute of it. I like the challenging questions and even the frustrating comments that come from the students that don't get it, or worse - don't get it and think that they do. I like the class sizes being small. If I could I would have them be even smaller than they are right now. Twenty students would be ideal. Oh-well. We just got through the introduction section and are half way through epistemology (the study of knowledge). We just finished shaking the students' beliefs to the very core with David Hume's empiricism - using the credo we can't know anything until we experience it (which most of my class said is true) he proved that we really don't know anything. Monday we get to try and build their world back up with Immanuel Kant. We'll see. I think everyone in the classes are itching to get to philosophy of religion. They might be surprised what they find there. I'll keep you updated. Needless to say I am enthralled with teaching and am sure that this is what I want to do with the rest of my life.

On another, slightly different topic. The price of text books are going up even more in the fall, and accepting a challenge from our university president to do more with less. The philosophy department (Br. Merrill and myself) decided that we needed a new textbook that would be aimed directly at the students who attend here and would be fairly cheap. Looking around we couldn't find any. To cut to the chase - I am writing a text book - rather compiling. I am taking famous essays and books editing the parts that I like and inserting my own commentary when appropriate. I have two months to finish it before it is at the printers. Tally ho!

The family is doing relatively good. Morgan does get a little bored staying home with the girls while I am at work, but she does enjoy my new found freedom in coming home for lunch and my access to the Humanities department's movie library. They have a bunch of the classics such as Hamlet, The Birds, Moby Dick, A Man for All Seasons, To Kill a Mockingbird, Finding Christ's Face in Art, and Looney Tunes Golden Collections volumes 1,2, and 3 (we are currently on volume 2). The Girls celebrated their 1 year birthday with a quiet night home. We gave them each a cupcake that they destroyed. We caught it on camera. The girls also started walking this month. Daria is a bit better at it than Kyla is, but Kyla is a bit more daring (Morgan says "reckless") Within a few weeks they will be running and our lives will be over. We had a family birthday party for them where we gave them more cake to throw all over the floor. They were spoiled by grandparents. We also toured the Rexburg temple with my parents. It is a beautiful building and we are really excited for its opening.

Morgan got another job to do wedding flowers for a lady that she has already bailed out once. But we are still in the dark as to the date of said wedding. I had a neat experience the other night as I got to go into the Rexburg temple to help move furniture so they could put up chairs for the dedication. We cleared all of the furniture out of the celestial room (on floor level 3) and had to carry all of the couches into the basement because they wouldn't fit in the elevator. so after taking five large couches down three flights of stairs we were doing our best to remember where we were. It wasn't too fun. Then after the couches we went to the 4th floor where all of the sealing rooms are located and had to take apart all of the alters so they could use all of the room to fit people in for the dedication (they are planning on 1800 people in the temple during each session). Those alters are about as heavy as the couches were if not heavier. It took four men straining and grunting to move the alters (after we had removed the tops and the cushions that surround them). At least with the alters we got to put them in the elevator and carried them to the mechanical room that comprises the 5th floor of the temple (call it a glorified attic - pun intended). We got to see the supports that are holding the spire up, the ladder that goes up to Moroni and the beast of a cable that is holding the celestial room's chandelier up. It was pretty neat. I'm just glad that I am not one of the people that has to move everything back. They have to have all of the furniture back in place by Monday morning when the temple staff shows up for their first day of meetings and training. So the workers are going to start moving everything back at 7pm Sunday night right after the dedication and hopefully will finish by 4 am Monday morning. If any of you want to help it is open to anyone who has a recommend and a hankering to perform 9 hours of labor intensive grunt work in the Lord's house in the middle of the night at break neck speed. Too bad I have to be to work early the next day...

We are saddened by the death of President Hinckley. He truly is a prophet of God. We will miss him immensely. On the other hand we must rejoice that he has found his sweetheart again. That had to have been a very touching and sacred reunion. We also look forward with anticipation to get to know the new first presidency and what they will be focusing on. Not to brag, but their first official public action will take place here in Rexburg with the temple. The community has real bittersweet feelings about it. We are all excited for the new presidency to come, but there will be that twinge of sadness at not seeing President Hinckley's smile. Oh well, the church is true and the work of the Lord will keep marching on with His timetable, not ours. If it was up to us I don't think we ever would have let President Hinckley die. I suppose that is a deep testimony to the impact that he had on all of us.

We hope that this finds you all well and happy. Sorry for the epistle this month. Next month I'll try to keep it down to a simple pamphlet. Love you all.
God Bless,
Morgan, Kyla, Daria & Derik