Next...on Reality TV

(Update): Recently, well just now, I re-read this post and realized just how incorrect I was. Progression, respect, and hard work are not best achieved at the hand of aggression by any means. What we really need is parents who love their children and have expectations for future generations. What we really need is more family time-even if you are spending no money. What we need are parents who know how to parent and programs to help them when they don't know. What we need is wiser decisions during adolescence and this all starts in the home. What we need is love in the home and love of mankind. This cannot be accomplished in any reality TV show created by an industry driven by ratings. This reality TV show needs to be reality, and it is your choice to make it happen. 

I was talking with my sister, Lorinda, this afternoon and came up with a great idea for the next Reality TV Show. I wrote a letter expressing my thoughts and have submitted it to 3 production companies for review. Get your voice out there and change the world for the BETTER!! See below for full transcript!

Proposal For a New Reality TV Show

Heather LastName
Address

To Whom it May Concern:

My name is Heather LastName. I recently came up with what I believe would be an excellent idea for a Reality TV show. Before I go into detail about the concept I would like to explain to you the back-story of this idea. Why it is so important to me. I will try to keep this section as succinct as possible while still expressing myself effectively.

When I was a child I did not know that we were poor. I am one of eight children. My father was a kindergarten teacher and my mom did an excellent job at home raising us. When I was eight years old my family moved from a small town to a slightly larger town in another state. The culture there was drastically different than what we were used to. By our second Christmas in the bigger town, we had noticed what “the Jones” kids had and we wanted more or brand names for Christmas, birthdays, and anything we else needed through out the year.

When I became an adult, I looked back at my life and realized that we were not wealthy by any means. As a matter of fact, after a recent discussion with my mom, I calculated how much our family's income was. After doing some further research I discovered that we were barely above the National Poverty Level at the time. We had no Medicaid assistance. We just made it work with what we had.

Going to college was never a question for me, because my grandmother had encouraged it for so long. Because her mother was very ill with breast cancer, my grandmother had forfeited years of her childhood education to be a homemaker for her nine siblings. I worked my way through my Bachelor Degree in Psychology. Psych introduced me to how society and culture changed over time. I saw so many things that were hurting American society: pride, selfishness, laziness, anger, hatred, disrespect, and entitlement, just to name a few. After much time pondering what I could do to help this world, I realized that in order to help America live up to the pride we have as Americans—we need to be a people worth being proud of. Whether or not we as individuals are becoming something worth being proud of determines whether or not America is worth being proud of. The behaviors and attitudes described above all seem to be due to either encouragement or neglect in the home. So, I thought long and hard about what position in society would allow me to improve American family's lives through instilling the positive characteristics worth being proud of. I knew from my studies and personal experience that the source with the strongest impact in our society is media. But that's still not quite where you come in.

I decided that if parents couldn't be there for their kids to teach them correct values and attitudes I would be there for them, and I decided to become a teacher. I began a teaching program and obtained a teaching internship at an urban public school just outside of Dallas, Texas. Boy, was I in for a huge culture shock. I grew up in Idaho, and it seemed like there was very little disturbance in classrooms. For the most part kids sat I their seats, listened, raised their hand when they wanted to talk, and returned their homework completed when due. In this school...it was a completely different story. I quickly discovered that I could not help these kids in the way I wanted as a school teacher. I still needed to get into the family somehow.

I taught an year of English in Japan and noticed many cultural differences. Some positive and some negative. Some were things I thought we should implement in America, and some where things that I felt Japan could learn from America. Something I noticed about Japanese culture is how hard they work for what they have. Even the most wealthy families I met did not have the “newest” and “latest.” Their children did not have everything they wanted. They were expected to work hard so that what they gave to society was worth being proud of. On the other hand, not long ago I decided that I needed extra income above and beyond my full time job to pay some unexpected bills. I got a second job at a very well-known retail store that I had worked at before and had quite enjoyed. My experience at this Plano, Texas location was completely different than the small town in Idaho. The workers at the Plano store avoided customers. They did the bare minimum to get paid. When a customer needed something, instead of walking with them to where it should be they just said “it should be over there” (with a gesture) “if it's not we don't have it.” The dream-inspired founder of this international company would be ashamed of this kind of work ethic. I am a “go above and beyond” worker. I do everything I can to satisfy and help my customers. After doing so at this store I was told not to anymore. I could not believe it! They were telling me not to do my job!! If we expect minimum wages to go up then our minimum wage workers need to show us that their position is worth the raise. My attitude and work ethic deserved a raise. The people I worked with deserved to be fired, because they weren't fulfilling their job duties as outlined by the founder.

Now, we are getting to my idea for a new Reality TV show. One of the greatest things that we as Americans are lacking in the coming-up generation is the concept of hard work to get what you want. Everyone seems to think that they are entitled to everything that is being sold, and that they don't have to do anything to get it.

My idea is to take this concept of entitlement and show today's adolescents what it means to work for what you want. Take them into a working situation where there are requirements that need to be met for quality production and give them a drill sergeant boss to push them. Whether it be manual labor, production, analysis, it doesn't matter as long as they are treated like a professional with professional output expectations. They get none of their toys or “wants” unless they meet the expectations of their boss. This can run over into the home also. Follow them home and train their parents how to have expectations to help out and do their part to get what they want. I'm sure that parents would be greatly appreciative of this and the ratings would be great as they follow techniques and tips given by experts in the areas of psychology, sociology, business, and others as necessary. Take a teen and put them through the ringer of responsibility, respect of self and others, expectation for greatness, willingness to dream and then to hard work to accomplish a dream, and any other social deficiency they seem to exhibit. When you are satisfied with that candidate's makeover...move on to the next one and instill in them characteristics of greatness. As you can see this new concept can be morphed into so many topics from episode to episode. New experts can be brought in depending on the situation.

This will benefit not only television ratings but also society in many ways. First, it will teach respect and a level of humility to today's teens. It will teach parents guidance skills. It will train today's youth to be tomorrow's leaders. With tomorrow's driven leaders comes an increase of production and economic well-being for all Americans. We drive the economy! Let this show drive not only ratings but also family improvement, societal/cultural responsibility, and economic growth for generations to come. We need to get both the low-income and the average free-loading teen off the couch and driven with dreams and expectations to change the world.

Let's change the world. Let's take what reality is and make it what reality needs to be to truly and proudly be able to call America the Land of Freedom and Opportunity. 

Yes...Jesus Loves Me!

There are truly so many things to be thankful for right now! I have an amazing calling at church! I am the 1st Counselor in the Primary Presidency. As part of that calling I am over the Cub Scouts. I recently went to a pack meeting where the boys learned about fire safety and then roasted hot dogs and made s'mores. So much fun and my hoodie still smells like camp fire! It just reminds me how much I want to be in the outdoors and go camping. Mountains, why do you have to be so far away from Dallas??

Anyhew, I just started a new job at the University of Phoenix. This is an answer to prayers, because I've been trying to figure out how to meet my financial goals and meet my self-imposed deadlines. There are a lot of big decisions to make. Most of them have been made and I am twiddling my thumbs until the day comes that I can do something about them. This includes moving to a house with roommates in May. Trying to save as much money as possible is proving to be difficult. Why do there have to be so many bills? Why does surviving need to cost so much? One of my major goals is to "Simplify." It seems to be difficult to do so. I think it's time for a girl's night/day. Texting Bekah....mission accomplished. Ok back to work--what else?

On Christmas morning I received a call from my oldest sister, Lara. I knew immediately why she was calling. Grandma Allison had been suffering from dementia for several months, but it had worsened significantly over the past month or so. Ruby Louise Killian Allison died at 4:16 AM PST on December 25, 2013. I started to make travel plans and we had a memorial service in Longview, WA on New Year's eve, December 31, 2013. I had been sleep deprived from working two jobs and did not sleep well with family wanting to stay up really late. 

However, there was a great blessing within this time period. Ten years ago a wonderful woman from my mission, Sister Norton, recommended that I read a book called "The Peacegiver." When I returned home, I purchased the book but did not open it to read it until recently. During the flight I read a third of the book, and it changed my life forever. I now understand how to overcome some of my greatest challenges in accepting other people's poor decisions, which frequently hurt others and myself. What a great blessing.

After returning from Washington, I had my first road trip in Texas! I drove the 4 hours to Houston where I visited my wonderful friends, Sarah and Christopher, and their two beautiful boys! What a great weekend. Just being around Sarah brings peace.

Since I have a couple of weeks free between jobs, I have been doing family history, which is always such a great experience. It has been difficult to motivate myself to go outside--even though it is good for me--because it is SO stinking cold. Warm Weather, you are welcome to come with your camping buddies whenever you'd like!

Sins Revealed and Unspoken Understanding

Well, as you have probably already guessed, I'm not very good at keeping a consistent journal. I do a little better in my physical journal. :)

A lot has actually happened in the past 2 years. Most of it is so sacred that I can not express it to the world. All I can say is that when the Lord speaks I must listen and obey. Someday all of the pieces will come together and that which I have learned over the last year-and-a-half, that no one else can understand, will be more understandable. I have recently become better acquainted with a few scriptural figures both in study and in life experience.

Half of me thinks I'm crazy. The other half reminds me that I believe in angels, manifestations of the Spirit, personal revelation, and a perfect omniscient God.

God answers prayers when we least expect them to be answered and in an even less expected way. As we accept His will our past makes sense and our future becomes as bright as noonday--full of hope, peace, and joy in the magnificent part we agreed to fulfill in premortal life. When we seek the Lord's will, He shows us how to fulfill our destiny. And our destiny is perfect.

Why I'm Leaning Toward Romney in 2012

Eradicating National Debt to Provide Financial Security For the American People

Recently, I heard a radio broadcast wherein Mitt Romney addressed the changes needed in our leadership to eliminate our nation's debt. I feel that in order to do so we must turn away from spending to fulfill our wants and focus first on what our nation needs. To do this, we must make drastic changes. I agree with Mr. Romney that Congress and others, including the President himself, should take drastic pay cuts or no pay at all until the national debt is absolved. I also feel that the tax system and all budgets associated with it need to be revamped. Paying off our nation's debt while still allowing the American people financial stability will be a delicate balance. The following will address things Congress ought to do and what it ought not to do in order to accomplish the eradication of our nation's debt. Freedom from debt and providing financial security will allow all Americans to truly obtain the life, liberty, and happiness that is every American's right.

First, we need to restructure the tax system's programs and budgets by cutting funding to programs that are not necessary. Programs for things that would be considered “necessary” would cut all taxes associated with and put caps on prices surrounding healthcare, food, water, housing, and clothing. A flat, unchanging tax should be set (ie 10% of EACH PERSON’S gross income no matter who you are or what your occupation is). Once budgets have been set, only spend money that has been budgeted and that we actually have! Find other ways for the government to produce money for its budgets if more is desired. If you want to have technologically and scientifically advancing projects, get wealthy private donors to pay for it or create an international coalition for the projects. Encourage production of items 'Made in USA' for exporting. Last, but certainly not least, stop borrowing money we cannot pay back!

Restructuring to give back to the people that to which they are entitled: Freedom in stability

The new tax system will eliminate taxation of businesses providing necessary goods, thus eliminating taxation retailer to customer because the budgeted portion the 10% flat tax would be utilized for those programs. For example, food and consumable liquids that do not fall in the 'others' category (others would constitute chips, soda, alcohol, candy, etc.) should not be taxed. Purchases of Hybrid, electric, or other eco-friendly (and thus healthcare friendly) transportation should not be taxed at any level at any point. Healthcare should be separated into three classes: preventative healthcare (immunizations, routine checkups, etc), major medical, and minor medical. A flat premium should be paid to the provider at time of service depending upon into what category the reason for care falls. Next, the healthcare budget would be utilized. A cap should be applied to healthcare providers and companies that produce supplies and medications associated with the healthcare system. Housing facilities, whether rented or owned, should not be taxed. Only properties and buildings used for commercial purposes should be taxed. Americans should be provided quality, reasonably-priced products and services, in connection with new budgets and programs, that are necessary to truly be a country founded on “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”. By setting budgets, having a set, unchanging tax rate, not borrowing and spending money we do not have, and by finding alternate ways to procure money for projects, I feel that we can have both a balanced budget and a happier people free of unnecessary taxes.

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Goodbye Japan, Hello Dallas!

Wow! It's seriously been 8 months since my last post?! That is seriously crazy! I did warn y'all that I was terrible at keeping up with things like this, however. So, I guess to bring you up to speed:


At the beginning of September my boss was caught trying to get one of my coworkers a working visa while still on a tourist visa (illegal since my coworker was working on a tourist visa). She exited to South Korea to the embassy after her tourist visa had expired and was "voluntarily exported" along with her willing husband. They are still waiting to enter the country again. There was an investigation and two other couples along with their children were involuntarily exported. We brought in a little temporary help but not enough to keep things going smoothly. Many classes were cancelled and the full time staff was worked overtime to make things work. The franchise owners were rightfully angry that my boss broke her end of the contract and 4 of the 5 franchises broke off. My boss was optimistic and opened 3 new schools under her own name to compensate with a much smaller student body. Most of the students from the franchises stayed with the franchises. Good for them. My boss had many legal issues involving immigration and tax fraud over the past 30 years.


On a brighter note--I made many wonderful friends and learned so much about myself. I have a renewed desire to cut out unnecessary things from my life and simplify to find greater happiness and openness to the promptings of the Still Small Voice (the Holy Ghost). I had the wonderful opportunity to introduce the Gospel of Jesus Christ to many non-Christians who were seeking greater happiness and purpose in life. I feel that my efforts in bringing others to Christ have been more effective in Japan than during my full-time mission for the Church. Much of that was probably due to the fact that I didn't know how to be "natural" as a missionary but since my mission I've learned how to apply bringing others to Christ to my everyday life. I wrote my testimony and a personal message in Books of Mormon and gave them to 9 of my new Japanese friends. In addition, I gave one to my gaijin (American) roommate whom I love and appreciate dearly. Four of those nine friends attended church with me at least once and two of them (a mother and daughter) want to be involved regularly. I am so grateful for this experience. I love them all so much and want them to have the happiness the gospel has brought me.


On March 18, 2012, I returned home to America. I stayed with my sister, Lorinda, and her husband for a week in Boise then returned home to Rexburg. I have been here since then-planning my move to Dallas, Texas where I will be attending the University of Texas at Dallas and a community college to complete math and teacher education courses to be a high school mathematics teacher. I am excited to experience a new environment and meet new people. I am even more excited to finally have a career in something I feel will meaningfully contribute to society and youth. I hope to teach math, psychology, and Spanish within the next 5 years. Time is flying--I still need to find a place to live in Dallas and a job...but my experience with being still and following the very gentle promptings of the Spirit will help me. I have never felt so ready for life and making decisions. I have never had such confidence in myself and the Lord. I'm ready for my next adventure.


P.S. In September I hiked Mt. Fujisan. In October I went white water rafting and canyoning. Also in October I started the P90X Extreme Workout Program. I have since lost about 25 lbs of lipids and gained about 8 lbs of muscle. I feel great!

Mt. Fujisan

Wow...I just got back from Mt. Fuji. I went with some great friends: Yuka, Masashi, and Emily. We hiked the Yoshida Trail in a total of 10 hours. Six hours up and four hours down. We met some new friends along the way. One had hiked Fuji 6 times already. After we had returned he told Masashi that the Yoshida Trail was one of the most difficult and many people do not climb to the top. They give up. He told us he was very proud of us for continuing.

There were many amazing things about this trip. First, we started climbing at the 5th station..which was already above the clouds.I took many pictures of clouds but only put one here. Ok, one more, why not?

The lava rock was awesome. I found several stones where you could see where the lava had poured out in layers. Others that had multiple layers of different colors.

There was a large stretch where we had to use our hands to climb up the mountain and make sure we had good foot placings. I started to get weak between stations 8 and 9. There are ten stations. We made it to the top and the coolest part was looking down into the crater. Unfortunately, my camera was acting up and it didn't save most of them. Including the crater pics. Rrrrrr. the pic below is one of the sides of the crater but I really wanted the one looking straight down the hole.

The climb up was draining. Down was exhausting. And by the end I couldn't even think straight. It wasn't until at the onsen later that I saw how bad my sunburn was. And it wasn't until the next day that the blisters started to appear. They are all over my face, arms, chest, and back of my neck. Not fun. Praying that skin cancer doesn't get me in the end. I will henceforth carry sunblock with me everywhere I go.

Holy Hannah!

Wow! So much has happened since I blogged last. Let's see. A couple of weeks ago a cockroach made it up to the 7th floor into my apartment...after Troy told me they can't go that high. Right. Evidence below.

There was also a cicada in my apartment last night. It was huge! Unfortunately, I did not think to take a picture.

A good friend, Scott, was only here for a couple of months and just left last week. I miss him already :-( He was a lot of fun.

Let's see, on Sunday, July 17th our district left for Fukuoka to do temple work. We left at 10:50 pm and arrived at around 5:30 am. I did endowments at 6:40 and then initiatories at 10:40. We started for home at around 2:00 pm and arrived at around 9:00 pm. I was able to talk with Alejandro in Spanish for about an hour and a half on the way there and most of the way home. Although, I feel like my vocabulary and grammar is getting bad, I was able to understand him about 95% of the time and communicate what I wanted to about the same.

 Believe it or not, there's a typhoon on it's way when these pictures were taken.

Tuesday, schools were canceled due to the typhoon. Schools had never been canceled before due to a typhoon so I was surprised. It didn't seem too bad so Scott, Tamara, Kristin, and I went to karaoke at Round One in Takamatsu. Unlimited free drinks were included. I was able to sing some songs that I've been wanting to sing karaoke. I think my favorite one/best one I sang was "Only Hope" from A Walk to Remember. Dedicated to a friend of mine who will remain anonymous. It is something I should have sang for him a long time ago.

Wednesday of the same week I had a meeting with my boss, her husband, her son, and Troy-whom was my translator. It lasted almost 2 hours and was basically a list of why Fumi didn't like me. We had not been getting a long from the beginning. I admit some of it was my fault, but a lot was hers also. Long story short, they wanted me to quit but stay as long as they wanted me to. They gave me the option of quitting immediately or in 3 months but refused to fire me even though they wanted me gone. A few days later they told me I had to move out of my apartment and could live with Fumi. Ummm....no. Troy gave me my options, as my translator, and was so stressed over it all that he literally cried on my shoulder. Fumi wanted me to sign a ridiculous contract saying I would not leave MIA earlier than 3 months (so she could find my replacement) and I refused to sign it. On Sunday I asked friends about jobs in the area and they gave me information about Gem School. I spoke with the owner and decided to go work for her when things fell apart. Which, turned out to be very quickly. I told Fumi she would have to fire me if she wanted me out of the apartment since it wasn't fair to kick me out with only one week's notice. She did fire me but within 12 hours took it back. How do you take back firing someone??! Anyway, I had already made plans to got to Gem, although I had not signed a contract yet, so I had to leave by the end of the week anyway. I told Fumi I quit but I would stay until the end of the week. Then she decided to try to make me feel guilty and manipulate me. I told her I didn't come to argue with her, but to quit and told her goodbye and walked out. The next morning I signed the contract with Gem School and was working for them. Yes, Jesus loves me! Not only that, but Miyuki, my new boss, told me she would prorate a bonus for me since my visa will expire in 8 months. So I will be getting 76% of a one year contract bonus as well as 76% of my return flight paid for! She seems to be very reasonable and thoughtful! 

On Friday, I cleaned the apartment in Marugame and organized information to help Ryan (my replacement) in his new position. I spent Saturday night at Kristin's house. Bless her! We went out for pizza (which was actually really good) and then hiked Sanuki Fuji (the miniature version of Mt. Fuji because it looks like it). It started to rain half way down and we were soaked! But it was great fun! Upon returning home Scott called!! Yay! His flight left yesterday afternoon for Portland. I miss Scott-but truthfully, I'll probably never see him face to face again. Sunday afternoon President Jackson and his family were SO amazing as to drive me to Takamatsu to move into my new apartment. Leigh has been a great help in helping me get acquainted with things here. 

Like I said, a lot has happened. One day I'm possibly going home, the next I'm fired, the next I'm un-fired, and the next I have a new job and am staying until April!

This is Eruni! She is the English teacher at Utazu Kita Elementary that I was a native English speaker aid for.

This is just me walking the railroad tracks...which are very active here.