The reasons behind my long absence... hopefully you find them as good as I do

Dear Family and Friends,

Now that I have defused myself of those horrid ramblings I suppose it is about time to divulge what has been happening in my life over the last few months.

First, I met the most amazing girl in October and we have been dating ever since. Her name is Haylie Ferguson. She is an Anthropology/Archeology major at BYU. And yes, she is in my ward (religious congregation). We were in the same Monday evening social group at the beginning of the semester, but unfortunately I was so overwhelmed by other pursuits (the Marshall Scholarship and such) that I did not even notice her for

the one week that we had an activity. Fortunately she noticed me and made a point of coming over to watch General Conference at my apartment Sunday morning, we had invited anyone who wanted to come over and watch. I may have failed the first time, but that Sunday I sure noticed her; she was beautiful. Yet, fate as it would seem had me leaving that afternoon to go up to Salt Lake to watch the second session of General Conference live. We would have to leave socializing to later.

No sooner had I returned from Salt Lake did she turn up at our apartment once more. This time she was dressed in a Chicago Bears jersey… and if possible looking even better. She had asked Trent, one of my roommates, if she could come over and watch the game. I quickly changed and sat down. That evening I determined that I was going to ask this beautiful young lady out. Well, even the best of intentions don’t always work out.

I called her on Tuesday afternoon for a date on Friday evening. She kindly declined, stating that she had plans with her sisters. I thought to myself, “okay, I’ll just wait until next week.” Then to my utter surprise I received a call on Thursday afternoon from Haylie. She was asking me out! If Sunday hadn’t been enough to peak my interest her courage to call me back and ask me out for Saturday evening clenched the deal.

We went out Saturday evening and the rest as they say is history. We have been dating for a little over three months now and have enjoyed practically every minute of it. She has made the long journey to AZ twice now; once for Thanks giving and once for New Year’s, and is still sticking around… that says more about her that most anything I could write.

As for me, I have decided to pursue our relationship over other plausible options (immediately pursuing a PhD). I am graduating in April from BYU, majoring in economics with minors in mathematics and international development. In conjunction with graduation I have written my honors thesis, which is being published as part of a conference I am attending this month in India to present my research at. I leave on January 18th for a weeklong conference in Varanasi, India. It is the oldest continually habituated city in the world and the religious center of Hinduism. Varanasi is where Hindus come to die so that they will have to wait for the reincarnation. It is only fitting that I should be going here seeing as on my last trip to India I went to Vrindavan, the reported childhood home of Lord Krishna. I am excited to go to India once more; and even more excited to have my first academic conference presentation. Hopefully everything will go well and I can answer all of the questions about my research.

Other than that I am still alive and well. I wish I could be with you all, but for now may it suffice that I love you all and my prayer s are with you.

God bless,
David