Who am I? My name is David.
I grew up in a rural town surrounded by fields and mountains, and that setting gave me a love for everything outdoors. My family moved quite often, and as a result, I am a bit of a restless spirit.
I am a voracious learner, and often, this learning comes from books. I enjoy reading almost every genre of book...including some of the "boring" classics that many of us dreaded reading in school. I find that learning expands not only my understanding of the world around me, but of myself.
I enjoy photography. I believe photography can capture a moment or a feeling in such a way that further insight can be obtained by looking at the photo over and over throughout life.
I am a deep thinker. This natural disposition leads me to ponder the difficult questions I find around me. I am not quick to make decisions, especially when there is still much to be learned about a topic. However, when quick decision making is necessary I am willing to act decisively.
I am quiet, though not shy. I am slow to share my opinions with those I don't know well because I feel that my ideas don't always get translated correctly when coming out of my mouth. A blog allows for editing, a spoken sentence does not.
I consider myself a political moderate, though to some my ideas may be extreme. I believe that honest opinions that are shared with an open heart and mind lead to understanding, while talking (or writing) at each other only leads to distrust.
I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I was born into this way of life and continue to follow it as a choice. I have a strong testimony (belief or knowledge) that Jesus of Nazareth is the promised Messiah spoken of in the Old Testament. I know that he suffered and died that we might be washed clean of our sins and be resurrected. I also know that his suffering enables him to help us through our trials,whether these trials undeserved or deserved. I know that in 1820 a 14 year old boy, Joseph Smith, saw God the Father and his son Jesus Christ. I know that through Joseph Smith, the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ was restored to the earth. I know that the Book of Mormon was translated by the power of God, and that we can gain a testimony of Christ and of his prophet Joseph Smith by reading it and asking our Heavenly Father if it is his word. I know that prayer has power to change hearts and to provide answers to life's most difficult questions. I know that we have living prophets and apostles which guide the Lord's church on the earth. They are not its head, Christ is. My testimony has grown through the years and I will work to help it to grow in the future. I don't claim to be perfect, but I am striving to be more like Jesus each day.
I served a 2-year mission for my church in Italy. I lived in Tuscany, Rome, and Naples. I have a love of the Italian people and their culture. I feel blessed to have served them and to have learned from them. My mission gave me a foundation on which to build a Christ-centered life. Overcoming trials on my mission gave me courage to chase after my dreams.
For a long time, I have worked toward becoming a rocket scientist. I have been fascinated with space since childhood. Some of my earliest memories are of playing with a plastic model of the Space Shuttle and building spaceships from Legos. My interests have evolved over the years, and when I left high school I wasn't 100% sure what I wanted to do for a career. After coming home from my mission, I had narrowed my choices to psychology, film production, and aerospace engineering. While I found all three choices exciting (all for different reasons), I chose aerospace engineering. I received a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and then a Master of Science in Engineering. My graduate school studies focused on how liquids behave in space. It turns out that things we take for granted, like water staying in a cup, can't be taken for granted when the effects of gravity aren't felt. The skills I learned in graduate school led to my current job designing, building, and testing rocket systems for satellites and other unmanned spacecraft.
What will this blog be about? The honest answer...I don't know for sure, but this is the current plan: Most blog posts will be my musings on various topics that interest me and some blog posts will highlight interesting things that have happened to me. Because I am both religious and a trained practitioner in science (aka an engineer), I hope that my posts will have a unique and beneficial perspective.
Why am I doing this? First, there are many topics about which I have an opinion. I feel that writing a comment in another person's article has very little impact on the discussion. I hope this blog will allow me to organize my thoughts about these topics, and share those thoughts, so that I can be a constructive part of the discussion. Second, I want to share my life with my friends and family. Finally, on a more humorous note, this blog will be a help for my poor memory.
I hope you enjoy!
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