Endowed from on High

Going to the Temple was a really great experience for me.  After attending I felt greater power to resist temptation.  It really helped me feel more prepared for this first journey away from home.  I knew that this was what I was meant to do and so I pressed forward with faith and I feel that this experience at the temple was a great help to me in whatever my future held for me.  In this picture I look quite enlightened due to the camera flash.  Also little would I know that I would be reminded of my whiteness for the next two years, with the comments of Whity, Whiteboy, etc.

Called to Serve

To be called to serve is a great feeling. It is really neat to hear the promised blessing of those who have been called to spread the gospel.  "The Lord will reward the goodness of your life.  Greater blessing and more happiness than you have yet experienced await you as you humbly and prayerfully serve the Lord in this labor of love among his children" 

Journal Entry
"I was extremely excited to open my call. I recieved it early in the morning. But went to work and held it until 7:00 at night untill my Dad got home from work. Well I opened it and read Kingston Jamaica. It was so suprizing. I didn't even know it was a mission. My parents didn't know where it was so we got the globe and found it. All through that night the phrase was ringing none stop."

Waiting for the Call

The wait for the call to serve can be quite strange. Not knowing if you will be sent around the world or an hour drive away, can really drive a person crazy. But yet I believe that deep inside we have access to God's omniscience of our preordained callings that God has for us. This is how I felt about my call. I must have checked the mailbox over a hundred times! Lucky my Bishop was a mailman and had a sneak peak at the mail. He called me up and told me to come over to the post office and pick it up. I was so excited. I picked up my call and thought "now what do I do for ten hours until my parents are both home?" I wanted to have my parents with me to open the call. This was a must. Well I guess having the Bishop as your mailman perk wasn't such a big perk as I thought. I remember going to work at Packard Bell (Packard Hell, some called it) The place you would work if you liked D&D, Magic cards or if you were late to your own wedding because it conflicted with the Star Trek convention. Anyways.... My call came in a large envelope and I propped it up on my keyboard as the time passed. Coworkers asked me how I could stand not opening it. But I kind of enjoyed the suspense. All I knew was that I would know that night.