This'll be the last entry in this journal for two years. Wow. :) (My friend Byron will be updating the mission journal and pictures page periodically, though.) See you in two years. :)

I can't wait till Wednesday. I want to enter the MTC right now. :) But of course I must wait. I didn't get any packing done yesterday. I'll probably wait till the last minute like always. :) It's kind of weird saying goodbye to everyone and knowing that I won't see any of them for two years. Good thing I'll be able to write letters. Goodbyes really aren't goodbyes if people can stay in touch with letters. I'm still in a kind of dream world -- none of this seems real yet. I don't think it will seem real until I get to the MTC and realize I'm actually a missionary. Maybe it won't even happen until I get to Thailand. But I suppose it doesn't really matter if it seems real or not -- as long as I can do the work, that's all that matters. My dream world will catch up to reality sooner or later. ;) I haven't gotten sad yet. I'm sure that will come before long, though, so there's no rush. I hope the homesickness isn't too intense when it does arrive. I'm not actually worrying about any of this, of course. I'm not afraid at all. Yet. :) This mission will certainly be an adventure. Thailand is definitely not Utah. :) Tomorrow I'm shutting down my e-mail accounts. I'll probably go through withdrawals. ;) Writing letters by hand is fun, of course, but it's also rather slow, and postage isn't cheap (80 cents for letters to/from Thailand). Oh well -- I must write letters if I wish to receive them. :)

Only four more days. Wow, this is my last Saturday at home. Crazy. :) I'm going to get most of the packing done today, along with any last shopping runs.

I uploaded an MP3 of my farewell talk. It's rather hard to hear (noise and low volume), but at least it's something. I gave up on trying to clean it up -- I don't have enough time anymore. Oh well. :)

I'm working on LearningLore.com for my parents (it's their new business). I think I'll just take Blank Slate's layout (since I don't have time to develop an entirely new one) and modify it a bit.

I've been reading a book on Buddhism. Fascinating stuff. There doesn't seem to be much to write in this journal lately. (At least that I can write about in here. There's actually a lot going on that I won't write about in this journal. Hee hee, how's that for mysterious! :)) My life here at home is wrapping up as I move on to this next stage.

One week. Wow.

I bought my family an Epson Perfection 1250 Photo scanner. That way we can scan in all our old slides (along with other photos). It's a slow scanner, but at least it works.

I'm losing interest in the computer. (It's a good thing -- I don't want to go through withdrawals when I get to the MTC. :)) The time draws nearer. Eight more days.

I'm getting ready to post my farewell talk in MP3/Ogg. The Gnome Wave Cleaner looks most promising. (I found it from a link at this page.)

Only nine more days till I enter the MTC. Wow. It's so unreal. :)

Spent most of yesterday getting ready for my farewell and open house, which were today. Both went quite well. I saw lots of good friends and was surprised at how many people showed up. :) I'm dog tired, though. My legs ache from standing up almost all afternoon. :)

Only two more days till my farewell. Wow. :) 12 more till I enter the MTC. Goodness, it's coming quickly.

The Gutenberg Press has been rechristened The Gutenberg Gazette (trademark issue). I like "the Gazette" just as much as "the Press."

I finished reading James E. Talmage's Jesus the Christ last night. It's a hefty volume -- almost 800 pages. Very good book.

We've set a publication date for the first issue of The Gutenberg Press -- September 1. The submission deadline is August 23. I posted the submission info on the website -- hopefully we'll get a lot of submissions. :)

Two more weeks... Wow. :) Preparation for my farewell talk is going very well. I'm not afraid at all (of speaking at my farewell or of leaving on the mission). Yet. :) Actually, as long as I just focus on others, I'll be fine -- perfect love casteth out fear. Before long I'll be counting down the hours. :)

Oh, for those who are wondering why I spend all this time doing Project Gutenberg stuff (and all the other projects), I'm a workaholic. :) No, really, it's all service, it's fun, and it's making a difference out in the world. (There are many people in other countries who can't buy books, either because they don't have the money or because they're not available.) Reading enlightens a people.

Well, today was my last day at MyFamily.com. I enjoyed my time there, but it's time to move on.

The Lord of the Rings DVD came out yesterday ($20). I'm thinking about getting it, but I'm not sure yet... (It's hard to know whether I ought to get things like this when I'm going to be gone in two weeks. :))

15 more days till I enter the MTC. Wow. I'm continually amazed at how quickly the time is slipping away. Welcome to real life, Ben. :) Part of me is sad at leaving -- two years does seem like a long time, so far away from everyone I know -- but I'll be able to keep in touch via letters, and I am very excited about this new adventure. I'll spend eleven weeks in the MTC learning the language, then arrive in Thailand on November 4 (three months away). A while ago it was scary, but the fear (which was never very intense) has been replaced by an excitement. I'll be out there serving the Lord. Perfect love casteth out all fear -- as long as I focus on others more than on myself, I won't have any room for worry.

Yesterday morning I started gathering materials and jotting down notes for my farewell talk, and today I did some more of that. It's coming along quite well.

I just realized that these entries aren't so computer-oriented as they used to be. That's good. I'm finding myself focusing more on service than I used to. It's absolutely wonderful to be able to forget about yourself and focus on others.

I've been reading over the draft of Jim Tinsley's Project Gutenberg FAQ. It's quite good. Still working on the XML advocacy... :) I want to digitize all the pre-1923 Bobbsey Twins books (I grew up reading those), but I don't have time. If they're still not done when I get back from my mission I'll do them.

A couple of weeks ago I was browsing through LDS Music World and downloaded some of Stephanie Smith's music. Wow. Usually fledgling artists sound, well, amateur. Not Stephanie. It's wonderful to find good artists (and she is good!) with high standards. Sibling Revelry is another good group (LDS as well). When I find artists like these I tell everyone I know (and even those I don't :)) about them. :)

I went shopping with my mom for missionary stuff. We got a suit, four pairs of slacks, and shoes. It's expensive. :) But it's for the Lord. I would do anything for Him, even give up my life if I had to. The suit and slacks will be done Saturday morning (I hope :)).

Put together the PGXML page for advocating the use of XML in Project Gutenberg.

Just registered PGXML.org for the project. I'm impetuous and want to see this happen so much that I'm willing to plunk down $30 for a domain name. :)

I started preparing for my farewell talk this morning. It's coming along pretty well. Better than I expected, certainly. (That's always good. :))

Did some more work on the Gutenberg Press website (including a new logo). The mailing list is set up now and things are coming along very well. (We got a person to translate into German, too.)

I have a feeling I'm going to miss my family far more than I realize. You don't really appreciate things until they're gone.

I've been trying to advocate XML on the Project Gutenberg list (as have a few others). It would be ideal, but people don't like to change. Hopefully they'll have switched by the time I get back from my mission.

Today I was impressed again to work on my family history. Only 17 days till I enter the MTC, of course, so I won't be able to do a lot, but every little bit helps. I'm going to do a lot more when I get back from my mission.

Whoa, I just found that I've sent 50 e-mails since yesterday morning. Goodness gracious. :)

Went to my cousin's baptism this morning. Good stuff. :) The family reunion ends today, I think.

I've been pulling together a team to work on The Gutenberg Press, the new newsletter for Project Gutenberg. We'll have a website up before long. I obviously won't be able to do much with the project other than get it started, since I leave in 18 days. My farewell's a week from tomorrow. Whoa. :)

For part of our family reunion we went swimming down at BYU, and afterwards we went to the Creamery on Ninth. Imagine my surprise when I saw the president of BYU (Merrill J. Bateman) walk in. :) All nine of my grandparents' children graduated from BYU, and three of their grandchildren (including me) are currently there, so one of my uncles had President Bateman come over and introduced him to Grandma. :) I talked a little with him about my mission. Later that evening I took some of my cousins to Iceberg, and Gary Crowton, head BYU football coach, was there. :)

I don't exactly know why, but in the last few days I've started sweating a lot. (When I'm working, that is. :)) Maybe it got hotter; I don't know. At any rate, I'm beginning to get a feel for what it'll be like in Thailand every single day. :) My farewell is in just over a week. Whoa. I have a feeling that before long I'll be saying, "My farewell is tomorrow. Whoa." :)

I went on exchanges with the local missionaries this evening. We visited the Watsons, a family where the parents were members when they were children, but they fell away and got into drugs, alcohol, smoking, etc. Thankfully they have found Christ again and are slowly returning back. It was absolutely beautiful to see that they had felt His love for them and knew that to be happy again they had to run to His arms, figuratively speaking. This is what missionary work is all about. :) 20 more days...