Service runs deep for SUN student leaders

This archived article was written by: Amanda Mair

A love of service was in the air this past week as three SUN Center leaders were interviewed; Colby Majors,  Bob Jensen and Kris Lester.   Each has a deep appreciation for service, and wants to share that appreciation with you.
Colby Majors
Colby Majors comes to CEU from Huntington, Utah.   He is working on his generals and eventually wants to get an elementary education degree from Utah Valley State College.   Majors first got involved with service and the SUN Center in 2005.  
He came back to the SUN Center this semester because he missed being a part of service and he missed his friends.   He feels that “service is the best thing that anyone can do in order to grow and become a strong individual.”   With a strong desire to serve, Majors is excited for his project this semester.   Majors is kicking off a recycling project at CEU and needs your help.   Located around campus are blue recycling boxes and Majors would love to see them all full.   You are invited to take any of your excess paper to these places, and he will see to it that they are properly recycled.  
When Majors isn’t busy with school or service, he enjoys spending time with his wife and friends, reading and he considers himself a “big movie buff.”   Majors has a fun sense of humor, and leaves you with this joke – “What do you call a cow that just had a baby?   Decalfinated.”
Bob Jensen
Bob Jensen (known to some as S.C. but you didn’t hear that here) comes to CEU from Price.   He is working on his generals and wants to someday end up at the University of Utah, or Utah State University.  
Jensen first joined the SUN Center because “it seemed like something fun to do” and had a personal invitation from Heather and Tom.   Service has been a part of Jensen’s life for as long as he can remember, at least from Cub Scouts on.   Cub Scouts led to Boy Scouts, which led to the LDS Young Men’s organization, which in turn led to him serving an LDS mission.   This path of service had obviously led him to the SUN Center and prepared him for this experience.  
One of Jensen’s most memorable service experiences came from his mission, when he helped with the clean-up from Hurricane Katrina.   Jensen was amazed to see how the people all came together with the common thread of service, even though their homes and lives had been destroyed.   Seeing the willingness that these people had to reach out and serve made an impression on Jensen, and he wanted to be a part of something so good for the rest of his life.   When asked his feelings on service, Jensen replied, “If you don’t serve, you don’t deserve to live.   Not really, but if you don’t serve, you definitely don’t deserve dessert.”  
When Jensen isn’t busy with school and work, he enjoys eating milk and cookies, giving presents to small children, teaching people to ride reindeer and building sleighs.   Jensen enjoys laughing and shared some funny insight on himself, “sometimes, I forget to breathe!”  
This semester Jensen is making a video about service learning and needs some assistance.   He is looking for someone who can narrate the movie, but he has many other areas that people can help with.   If you think this is the thing for you, please contact him at 435-650-6912.
Kris Lester
Kris Lester comes to the SUN Center from a mystical place, known as Huntington, Utah.   He is working on his generals,  and isn’t sure of where he would like to end up after graduating from CEU.  
When asked why he first got involved with the SUN Center, he said that his (LDS) mission had been the happiest time of his life, a time which was spent in service and this is the closest thing that he could find to duplicate that feeling.   One of Lester’s favorite quotes states that “The sole purpose of life is to serve humanity.”   (Leo Tolstoy)   He also loves people, and saw this as an opportunity to meet and interact with people on a new level.  
Lester found himself in love with service at a time when he least expected it.  “When I was younger all I wanted was a good job, a nice truck and my own place.   I had all that, but it still felt like something was missing.  
On my way home one Christmas Eve, I stumbled upon that missing something.   My tire was a little low, so I pulled into Chappy’s Service Station and Convenience Store in Spanish Fork to add air to it.   I ended up behind a van that was taking forever, and I was getting pretty frustrated.  
I got out to see what the problem was, and found a young girl that was trying to put air in a tire that was obviously beyond repair, so I simply tried to help.   I grabbed the spare tire, and soon realized that it too was hopelessly flat.   I spoke briefly to the young girl who explained that they were on their way to Old Mexico for Christmas.  
I told her to hang on a second while I ran into to use the pay phone.   I called Sam’s Club  but they had just closed. I explained the situation to the guy, and he told me to come over.   I went outside to let the family know what was going on.   Since the young girl was the only one who spoke English, I told her to tell her  family to wait until I got back.  
Long story short, I got them on the road with a good tire and a spare that wasn’t flat.   Through Providence I had found what was missing.”         The poem The Secret of Happiness, explains what exactly was missing, and how it is found.     I followed Happiness to make her mine. Past towering oak and swinging ivy vine.   She fled, I chased, over slanting hill and dale, over fields and meadows, in the purpling vale. Pursuing rapidly over dashing stream, I scaled the dizzy cliffs where eagles scream; I traversed swiftly every land and sea, but always Happiness eluded me. Exhausted, fainting, I pursued no more, but sank to rest upon the barren shore.   One came and asked for food, and one for alms; I placed the bread and gold in bony palms; One came for sympathy, and one for rest; I shared with every needy one my best; When lo! Sweet Happiness, with form divine, stood by me, whispering softly, “I am thine.”
Some of Lester’s interests and hobbies include basketball, learning, girls, anything outdoors, hanging out with family, meaningful conversations, thinking philosophically about life, and reading.   Some of his favorite works are “The Road Less Traveled” by M. Scott Peck, and “The Wisdom of James Allen” by James Allen.   Lester would like to send a shout out to his friends on campus by saying “Make like a woman and  cook something!”