Tonight, I conducted our first Family Home Evening night via the telephone. I have never attended a Family Home Evening night, let alone conducted one, so obviously I was a little nervous. As I was preparing, I asked Heavenly Father for guidance, as well as the guidance of the Holy Ghost.
Needless to say, in light of our recent blessings, I found it a fitting topic to talk about fasting.
We opened up the night with Melodie saying a quick prayer, and then continuing on with the reading of our scriptures.
I won't go through every little detail, but we spoke of The fast day and how to fast through the example of Jesus (Luke 4:1-4). We also spoke of why we pray when we fast, as well as why we should fast with a purpose.
Finally, we talked of the blessings we receive through fasting such as peace and spiritual power and how these things can help us to over come temptations, receive revelation and to do righteous acts.
I did learn that fasting should not be an event that is to be advertised. I am guilty of advertising my fasting and the reason behind it, ESPECIALLY when we had received our NOA2. However, I feel as though I was advertising is as my missionary work, to entice people to ask me more questions about the Church.
It was a beautiful evening and definitely brought Melodie and I closer... Again!! :)
Thursday, January 28, 2010
The power of fasting
Our visa process is long. Longer than it should be in theory. Since we filed our petition on the 21st of September, 2009, we have been kept in the dark with absolutely no contact from USCIS to say, yes your file is being processes, or no we haven't reached your file yet. For all we knew, we could be waiting for another 12 months.
On Tuesday evening (Monday evening US time), Melodie and I were talking on the phone. We read through our scriptures as we do every other night and we said our family prayer, as we do every night. For some reason, as we were saying our own prayer in silence, while still on the phone, Melodie said "We should fast tomorrow for the first two meals".
That evening, I ate the last meal I would be having for the next 24 hours. I knelt by my bed before laying my head to rest for the evening and prayed, with sincerity, and explained to Heavenly Father the purpose for our fasting - For a quick approval of our visa petition (NOA2). I prayed for the strength for Melodie and I to endure the small sacrifice we were making.
I am very active through my line of work, and was interested to see how the lack of food would affect my day. It turned out to be an extremely hot day and as I completed my own training at 10am, I was frustrated and absolutely dirty at myself for sipping on water. My 11am client wanted to go for a soft sand walk along Manly beach. By this stage, my mouth was as dry as a towel, and I could taste the nastiness expelling from my intestines. But, I knew the reason why I was putting myself through this temporary 'pain'.
At midday, I headed back home to get some rest before I was needed back at work for 7pm. I spoke to Melodie, who had done extremely well through the whole day (Melodie is 5 hours ahead of Sydney time, so she was getting ready to eat!!). We spoke about our experiences during the day and so on.
I fell asleep, only to be woken by my boss calling me at 4:55pm saying, "you have a class to teach at 5pm"... Awesome, thanks for the heads up! haha
I got into the car to drive down to the gym only to have my BlackBerry buzzing every 2 seconds with e-mails coming through from Melodie... 'call me when you can' ...
An email had come through from vistaprint.com which, at the time of sleepiness, looked very much like VISAPRINT.com... a couple of minutes later, I received this...
I was expecting to wake up at any moment and be faced with me running late for work again... And no email from USCIS. Thankfully, that wasn't to be.
Melodie and I had completed our fasting and had done so in a sincere fashion. We were blessed by Heavenly Father much sooner than we were expecting. We had endured minor pain and discomfort for a LOT of relief and happiness!!
More importantly, this event was experienced by us, as a couple, much like the blessing of meeting each other, falling in love and having a beautiful wedding. This has added to our testimony as individuals, as well as OUR testimony as a family.
On Tuesday evening (Monday evening US time), Melodie and I were talking on the phone. We read through our scriptures as we do every other night and we said our family prayer, as we do every night. For some reason, as we were saying our own prayer in silence, while still on the phone, Melodie said "We should fast tomorrow for the first two meals".
That evening, I ate the last meal I would be having for the next 24 hours. I knelt by my bed before laying my head to rest for the evening and prayed, with sincerity, and explained to Heavenly Father the purpose for our fasting - For a quick approval of our visa petition (NOA2). I prayed for the strength for Melodie and I to endure the small sacrifice we were making.
I am very active through my line of work, and was interested to see how the lack of food would affect my day. It turned out to be an extremely hot day and as I completed my own training at 10am, I was frustrated and absolutely dirty at myself for sipping on water. My 11am client wanted to go for a soft sand walk along Manly beach. By this stage, my mouth was as dry as a towel, and I could taste the nastiness expelling from my intestines. But, I knew the reason why I was putting myself through this temporary 'pain'.
At midday, I headed back home to get some rest before I was needed back at work for 7pm. I spoke to Melodie, who had done extremely well through the whole day (Melodie is 5 hours ahead of Sydney time, so she was getting ready to eat!!). We spoke about our experiences during the day and so on.
I fell asleep, only to be woken by my boss calling me at 4:55pm saying, "you have a class to teach at 5pm"... Awesome, thanks for the heads up! haha
I got into the car to drive down to the gym only to have my BlackBerry buzzing every 2 seconds with e-mails coming through from Melodie... 'call me when you can' ...
An email had come through from vistaprint.com which, at the time of sleepiness, looked very much like VISAPRINT.com... a couple of minutes later, I received this...
*** DO NOT RESPOND TO THIS E-MAIL ***
The last processing action taken on your case
Receipt Number: WAC0935112XXX
Application Type: I130 , IMMIGRANT PETITION FOR RELATIVE, FIANCE(E), OR ORPHAN
Current Status: Approval notice sent.
On January 26, 2010, we mailed you a notice that we have approved this
I130 IMMIGRANT PETITION FOR RELATIVE, FIANCE(E), OR ORPHAN.
I was expecting to wake up at any moment and be faced with me running late for work again... And no email from USCIS. Thankfully, that wasn't to be.
Melodie and I had completed our fasting and had done so in a sincere fashion. We were blessed by Heavenly Father much sooner than we were expecting. We had endured minor pain and discomfort for a LOT of relief and happiness!!
More importantly, this event was experienced by us, as a couple, much like the blessing of meeting each other, falling in love and having a beautiful wedding. This has added to our testimony as individuals, as well as OUR testimony as a family.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Building the Relationship
Setting the scene...
"I can't come to terms with loving anyone else more than you".
Melodie and I were reading the scriptures over the phone as we do most evenings and the discussion came up afterwards about the love we share for Heavenly Father. Even before things became serious between Melodie and I, I knew that Heavenly Father was number 1 and I respected that. I went on to explain about my slight jealousy towards their relationship. Melodie had grown up in the Church, whereas I am a recent 'convert', so I guess I haven't had that extensive time to build on that relationship. Not to the extent of Melodie's, or anyone else that is brought up in the Church
I finally got to make my first appearance at Church for 2010. It was quite a shakey start at first with unforseen car troubles the first week, and then a pretty bad illness the second week. I could definitely feel the weight on my shoulders as the days passed.
I found my seat in the chapel quite quickly, and had a sudden feeling that I was out of place. Almost like I didn't belong there. Something wasn't quite right.
The theme for today's sacrament meeting was "Obedience to the Gospel". The point came across quite quickly. To receive good blessings and eternal living, one must firstly Respect, understand and obey the commandments. The greatest commandment- "You should love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind".
This hit me immediately and I thought about my relationship with Heavenly Father. He is the creator of all things around me and the creator of me. Because I have love for Heavenly Father, it does not take away the love I have for my Wife, or my family or my friends. In fact, having that love for Heavenly Father increases the love I have for my Wife, my family and friends.
The most valuable lesson I took from today was the importance of Church for it had replenished the energy my spirit demanded. Reading of your scriptures and prayer helps to maintain the relationship, but I find attending Church is what helps to build upon that.
"I can't come to terms with loving anyone else more than you".
Melodie and I were reading the scriptures over the phone as we do most evenings and the discussion came up afterwards about the love we share for Heavenly Father. Even before things became serious between Melodie and I, I knew that Heavenly Father was number 1 and I respected that. I went on to explain about my slight jealousy towards their relationship. Melodie had grown up in the Church, whereas I am a recent 'convert', so I guess I haven't had that extensive time to build on that relationship. Not to the extent of Melodie's, or anyone else that is brought up in the Church
I finally got to make my first appearance at Church for 2010. It was quite a shakey start at first with unforseen car troubles the first week, and then a pretty bad illness the second week. I could definitely feel the weight on my shoulders as the days passed.
I found my seat in the chapel quite quickly, and had a sudden feeling that I was out of place. Almost like I didn't belong there. Something wasn't quite right.
The theme for today's sacrament meeting was "Obedience to the Gospel". The point came across quite quickly. To receive good blessings and eternal living, one must firstly Respect, understand and obey the commandments. The greatest commandment- "You should love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind".
This hit me immediately and I thought about my relationship with Heavenly Father. He is the creator of all things around me and the creator of me. Because I have love for Heavenly Father, it does not take away the love I have for my Wife, or my family or my friends. In fact, having that love for Heavenly Father increases the love I have for my Wife, my family and friends.
The most valuable lesson I took from today was the importance of Church for it had replenished the energy my spirit demanded. Reading of your scriptures and prayer helps to maintain the relationship, but I find attending Church is what helps to build upon that.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Distance Makes the Heart Grow Fonder.
I remember back to June 27th, 2009. This was the date that I said good-bye to Melodie. We knew this separation was imminent and there was nothing we could do to delay its conclusion. We had opted for this option, as a couple, as we knew it to be the most appropriate route for our future arrangements- That is for me to move over to California. Due to Melodie's visa restrictions here in Australia, there was no other alternative.
The following months passed extremely slowly. I was working the same job, coming home to the same apartment and living the same old lifestyle, only, I was missing something that was apart of me. In fact, I missed it so much, that I felt myself changing. My manners had diminished, my sense of humour was stale and I couldn't, no, I didn't find the time to socialise with anybody else.
For those of you who have found true love and have experienced it day in / day out, knows how hard it is to suddenly lose that. My heart would physically ache, so bad at times that I thought I was on the verge of having a heart attack. I had heard people use the term "broken-hearted" before, but never did I ever think that it was possibe to have a feeling such as the above mentioned.
It wasn't until Christmas time just passed that I was finally able to be with my Wife again. After 6 long, hard months we were able to share the love between us again. I was able to find my politeness, people thought I was funny again (errr....???) and I didn't mind a bit of socialising here and there haha.
So, what does this have to do with my spiritual journey?
I was baptised on 23rd December, 2009. I was confirmed on 27th December, 2009. That was my last day in Church since then.
The following Sunday, I was running late, only to find out I had a flat battery and was unable to make it to Church. As for this weekend, well, it's Tuesday now, and I'm only just starting to get over an illness that I've had for the past 4 days. Melodie suggest trying to make it only to sacrament. Unfortunately, I didn't. That turned out to be a good thing because I wouldn 't have made it even part of the way through :(
The distance I've experienced from Church and its community has made my heart grow fonder. Although I have kept up my prayers, as well as reading of the scriptures, there's still that part of me that doesn't feel fully satisfied. It's kind of like getting a cheeseburger meal from McDonalds and only eating the fries and drinking the drink. Wait, did I just compare Church and Heavenly Father to McDonalds and Ronald McDonald? Well, no... Purely just a lame attempt at an analogy. Isaac would have liked it.
This Sunday is not coming quick enough. Although I repent on sins daily and I pray for forgiveness, the feeling of not attending Church for whatever the reason, slowly eats away at you until that "Heart broken" feeling returns. It returns in the form of self loathing. This is not a feeling that I want to feel week after week.
I can make it happen!
The following months passed extremely slowly. I was working the same job, coming home to the same apartment and living the same old lifestyle, only, I was missing something that was apart of me. In fact, I missed it so much, that I felt myself changing. My manners had diminished, my sense of humour was stale and I couldn't, no, I didn't find the time to socialise with anybody else.
For those of you who have found true love and have experienced it day in / day out, knows how hard it is to suddenly lose that. My heart would physically ache, so bad at times that I thought I was on the verge of having a heart attack. I had heard people use the term "broken-hearted" before, but never did I ever think that it was possibe to have a feeling such as the above mentioned.
It wasn't until Christmas time just passed that I was finally able to be with my Wife again. After 6 long, hard months we were able to share the love between us again. I was able to find my politeness, people thought I was funny again (errr....???) and I didn't mind a bit of socialising here and there haha.
So, what does this have to do with my spiritual journey?
I was baptised on 23rd December, 2009. I was confirmed on 27th December, 2009. That was my last day in Church since then.
The following Sunday, I was running late, only to find out I had a flat battery and was unable to make it to Church. As for this weekend, well, it's Tuesday now, and I'm only just starting to get over an illness that I've had for the past 4 days. Melodie suggest trying to make it only to sacrament. Unfortunately, I didn't. That turned out to be a good thing because I wouldn 't have made it even part of the way through :(
The distance I've experienced from Church and its community has made my heart grow fonder. Although I have kept up my prayers, as well as reading of the scriptures, there's still that part of me that doesn't feel fully satisfied. It's kind of like getting a cheeseburger meal from McDonalds and only eating the fries and drinking the drink. Wait, did I just compare Church and Heavenly Father to McDonalds and Ronald McDonald? Well, no... Purely just a lame attempt at an analogy. Isaac would have liked it.
This Sunday is not coming quick enough. Although I repent on sins daily and I pray for forgiveness, the feeling of not attending Church for whatever the reason, slowly eats away at you until that "Heart broken" feeling returns. It returns in the form of self loathing. This is not a feeling that I want to feel week after week.
I can make it happen!
Monday, January 4, 2010
My Testimony
So, I wrote my testimony down about a month ago. And then, I lost my testimony. It was awkward to see the look on Melodie's face when I said that. Then, I realized what I said. I meant that I lost my physical testimony...
But, it went a little something like this...
My journey started, unknowingly, 22 years ago. I had grown up in a house hold where religion was evident, but never explained. I attended classes that were 'Religious' but never captivating to my attentive needs. I had prayed, but never knew who I was talking to.
At age three, I was diagnosed with a meningitis. A life threatening disease which saw the lives of 7 young people taken away in my area within the weeks I was hospitalized. The left half of my body was limp and not a single muscle was able to be used. I could not even smile. I was number 8. My body, my mind and my heart had given up, and I was ready to succumbe to its wrath. I was dead. The Doctors were amazed at tens-of-millions of white blood cells that were fighting the disease through and through. Normally, this number should be in its thousands.
Typically, I have always been one to shrug of incidents of this nature as pure luck- no more, no less. I was lucky that my body really had not given up. That, something inside of me perked up and kept the fight going.
My utter ignorance is what gave me this belief. Knowing what I know now, I would be a fool to express gratitude to 'luck' for this event.
The only expression of gratitude is towards Heavenly Father for giving me the strength and the spirit to endure through the pain suffering.
"Coincidence is the one thing that brought me to meet my Wife" is what I WOULD be saying if I did not know what I know now. Through my line of work, I came to take the opportunity to share my line of work on a cruise ship. Prior to obtaining a ship to work on, I had to spend a couple of weeks in London for further education. The normal wait for a ship was about 2 weeks. I made a lot of friends, and I celebrated with them as they, one by one, got given ships to go work on. I made new friends that came into this academy, and said good-bye to them. After 6 weeks, I finally had by ship set up. Holland-America's MS Maasdam. The MS What? This was not a cruise line I had heard of, nor did it sound like a ship that I could write home to my friends and family and explain my excitement of the MS Maasdam. I hadn't been on the ship for more than 2 weeks when I met Melodie.
Coincidence? No! Luck? Doesn't exist! There was no other reasong for me to stay in London, other than to wait for the MS Maasdam to become available to me so that I could have the opportunity of meeting my future wife.
Even as a personal trainer, I had fallen into the sociably acceptable habits of smoking and drinking. They were not habits I enjoyed in the sense, but a habit nonetheless. Since taking this journey recently, reading the scriptures, praying and learning of eternal life with the ones that I love, I have not wished for a sip of alcohol, nor a puff of tobacco. The choice is extremely easy.
I believe that Joseph Smith was the First true prophet of the Church. I know that his Father believed him and his recollection of the first revelation and I know that any man, when faced by death, chooses to stand up for what he believes rather than disregard it for the sake of saving himself has true belief and love.
I believe in our Modern day prophet Thomas S. Monson and thoroughly enjoy the sincerity of his talks as well as himself as a Messenger of God.
I believe the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the true Church of Jesus Christ and I am honored and grateful to be apart of this Kingdom here on Earth.
I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ.
Amen.
But, it went a little something like this...
My journey started, unknowingly, 22 years ago. I had grown up in a house hold where religion was evident, but never explained. I attended classes that were 'Religious' but never captivating to my attentive needs. I had prayed, but never knew who I was talking to.
At age three, I was diagnosed with a meningitis. A life threatening disease which saw the lives of 7 young people taken away in my area within the weeks I was hospitalized. The left half of my body was limp and not a single muscle was able to be used. I could not even smile. I was number 8. My body, my mind and my heart had given up, and I was ready to succumbe to its wrath. I was dead. The Doctors were amazed at tens-of-millions of white blood cells that were fighting the disease through and through. Normally, this number should be in its thousands.
Typically, I have always been one to shrug of incidents of this nature as pure luck- no more, no less. I was lucky that my body really had not given up. That, something inside of me perked up and kept the fight going.
My utter ignorance is what gave me this belief. Knowing what I know now, I would be a fool to express gratitude to 'luck' for this event.
The only expression of gratitude is towards Heavenly Father for giving me the strength and the spirit to endure through the pain suffering.
"Coincidence is the one thing that brought me to meet my Wife" is what I WOULD be saying if I did not know what I know now. Through my line of work, I came to take the opportunity to share my line of work on a cruise ship. Prior to obtaining a ship to work on, I had to spend a couple of weeks in London for further education. The normal wait for a ship was about 2 weeks. I made a lot of friends, and I celebrated with them as they, one by one, got given ships to go work on. I made new friends that came into this academy, and said good-bye to them. After 6 weeks, I finally had by ship set up. Holland-America's MS Maasdam. The MS What? This was not a cruise line I had heard of, nor did it sound like a ship that I could write home to my friends and family and explain my excitement of the MS Maasdam. I hadn't been on the ship for more than 2 weeks when I met Melodie.
Coincidence? No! Luck? Doesn't exist! There was no other reasong for me to stay in London, other than to wait for the MS Maasdam to become available to me so that I could have the opportunity of meeting my future wife.
Even as a personal trainer, I had fallen into the sociably acceptable habits of smoking and drinking. They were not habits I enjoyed in the sense, but a habit nonetheless. Since taking this journey recently, reading the scriptures, praying and learning of eternal life with the ones that I love, I have not wished for a sip of alcohol, nor a puff of tobacco. The choice is extremely easy.
I believe that Joseph Smith was the First true prophet of the Church. I know that his Father believed him and his recollection of the first revelation and I know that any man, when faced by death, chooses to stand up for what he believes rather than disregard it for the sake of saving himself has true belief and love.
I believe in our Modern day prophet Thomas S. Monson and thoroughly enjoy the sincerity of his talks as well as himself as a Messenger of God.
I believe the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the true Church of Jesus Christ and I am honored and grateful to be apart of this Kingdom here on Earth.
I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ.
Amen.
Mike!! Mike? Where are you?
HERE I AM!!!
So, what have I learned since my last entry??? Never, ever write pages and pages and pages of notes at General Conference, THEN, try to summarize and describe your feelings on them in a blog. During General Conference, you don't realize how many notes you actually take (well, according to most, including my ward's Bishop, I seem to be some king of note taking freak! haha [Not necessarily in those words]).
So much has happened since my last postings... Where to begin.??
Well... No, maybe I won't begin there. Let's go back a little further.
I experienced complacency in regards to my scripture readings, which was very difficult for me to over come. I kept telling myself "I was GOING to", which was kind of like a fall-back for me. Yeah, I'm GOING to read my scriptures... Just not now :-) Thankfully, I'm back into it and looking forward to another splendid reading this evening with my beautiful wife over the phone.
So, I got baptized. "YOU WHAT?" Yeah, I thought that might come as a suprise to most. I figured, heck, what have I got to lose?
No, seriously. As I have mentioned before, I have known for some time that the right thing for me to do was to be baptized. To make the sacred covenant, wash myself clean of sin and let myself loose through the gates and follow the holy trail led by the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Believe me, I would have done it sooner, but I felt the right thing to do would be to have Melodie there. Not so that she could hold my hand and help me through the process (which she did anyway), but so she could be there to witness it and share in the experience.
23rd December, 2009
The baptism was set for 7pm on this very night. I could still hear Elder Nelson in my ear... "Make sure you bring 2 white shirts, a white T-shirt and white underwear and a change of underwear". Wow, it was almost like going away on school camp again!
I was supposed to be at the Church at 6:30pm. The time was 6:30pm. Low and behold, I realised, I don't own any white underwear. "Do you think they'll mind if I wear these red ones, Melodie?" By the look on her face, I assumed a 'no' so I turned away and kept rummaging through my junk. As time was winding down, we realized that we had to try our luck at the local supermarket. Luckily, I had not been washed of my sins yet, so I sped down to the supermarket and we ran in to look for some. Black, grey or navy is all they had to offer. It was either that, or womens underwear. I knew heavenly father would not appreciate me being baptized in womens underwear. I finally found a 6 pack of white at another store and we were on our way to Church.
We got there at about 6:50pm. I was able to get changed with Elder Nelson beatboxing and Modlik rapping 'be still, my soul'. I now know how they have been so successful Gq'ing on the streets of the Ghet... I mean, the Beaches.
To my disappointment, they didn't have a white tie for me to wear. I offered Elder Modliks tie to myself, but apparently he 'NEEDED' one, so I couldn't look like I was doing a new Boyz II Men music vid. It's all good though, I enjoyed rocking the white shirt and pants with no shoes.
A friend of mine from Church, Isaac te'u, gave a talk on baptism. It was cool to hear him talk about it and his views on Baptism, and how he felt it would help me. I was suprised when he started to choke on his words towards the end of his talk, but could definitely feel the sincerity and the love behind his words.
Melodie gave a short talk on the Holy Ghost, who and what the Holy Ghost actually was, how and when it should be used and other cool stuff like that. I surely was excited to have my Wife fly across from the US to be there, and having her talk made it that much more special.
THEN I WAS DUMPED. It was kind of nerve racking. Hold your hands like this, bend your knees like that, don't bang your head on the tiled walls etc etc. So many instructions, I was sure I was going to stuff something up. Wasn't to happen though, everything went smoothly and I came up, out of the water clean and feeling like a new spirit inside.
I had a few minutes to contemplate what just went down as I was drying myself off and getting changed. Awesome Mike, you forgot socks... Whatever...
There was no going back to what just happened. And I didn't want to. Everything felt so right.
That feeling was backed up by Melodie singing 'Be still, my soul' accompanied by Sister Manwell on the piano. That particular hymn seemed to be a running theme for the evening and it sat very well in the pit of my stomach.
The baptism was followed by a tremendous feast consisting of any kind of food you could possibly think of. Well, kind of. there was some tuna salad, some pizza, some chicken, some other stuff and it was all grand!
Christmas came and went and I was back at Church on Sunday 27 December, 2009. Today was the day of confirmation. I was asked by Bishop to arrive at Church at 8:30am for an interview he wanted to conduct with me. I agreed (as if I was going to say 'no') and made the awesome effort to be there right on time. He explained to me what would happen today and what he thought of my progress thus far. He then told be that, today during Elders Quorum, I would be ordained into the Aaronic priesthood.
Since my Baptism, and confirmation, I have felt a great deal of peace within. My stress has decreased and I find I have a lot more patience. More importantly, I find that I'm more aware of my actions and reprecussions the might have the near future. I feel as though it has improved my relationship with my Wife. Not that we needed our relationship to improve,but we are both on common ground and I feel something that has been apart of her Life since she can remember.
People were telling me months and months ago, "Mike, if you take this journey, you will be happy."
I'm happy to say I recognise that true, everlasting happiness and I'm proud to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
So, what have I learned since my last entry??? Never, ever write pages and pages and pages of notes at General Conference, THEN, try to summarize and describe your feelings on them in a blog. During General Conference, you don't realize how many notes you actually take (well, according to most, including my ward's Bishop, I seem to be some king of note taking freak! haha [Not necessarily in those words]).
So much has happened since my last postings... Where to begin.??
Well... No, maybe I won't begin there. Let's go back a little further.
I experienced complacency in regards to my scripture readings, which was very difficult for me to over come. I kept telling myself "I was GOING to", which was kind of like a fall-back for me. Yeah, I'm GOING to read my scriptures... Just not now :-) Thankfully, I'm back into it and looking forward to another splendid reading this evening with my beautiful wife over the phone.
So, I got baptized. "YOU WHAT?" Yeah, I thought that might come as a suprise to most. I figured, heck, what have I got to lose?
No, seriously. As I have mentioned before, I have known for some time that the right thing for me to do was to be baptized. To make the sacred covenant, wash myself clean of sin and let myself loose through the gates and follow the holy trail led by the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Believe me, I would have done it sooner, but I felt the right thing to do would be to have Melodie there. Not so that she could hold my hand and help me through the process (which she did anyway), but so she could be there to witness it and share in the experience.
23rd December, 2009
The baptism was set for 7pm on this very night. I could still hear Elder Nelson in my ear... "Make sure you bring 2 white shirts, a white T-shirt and white underwear and a change of underwear". Wow, it was almost like going away on school camp again!
I was supposed to be at the Church at 6:30pm. The time was 6:30pm. Low and behold, I realised, I don't own any white underwear. "Do you think they'll mind if I wear these red ones, Melodie?" By the look on her face, I assumed a 'no' so I turned away and kept rummaging through my junk. As time was winding down, we realized that we had to try our luck at the local supermarket. Luckily, I had not been washed of my sins yet, so I sped down to the supermarket and we ran in to look for some. Black, grey or navy is all they had to offer. It was either that, or womens underwear. I knew heavenly father would not appreciate me being baptized in womens underwear. I finally found a 6 pack of white at another store and we were on our way to Church.
We got there at about 6:50pm. I was able to get changed with Elder Nelson beatboxing and Modlik rapping 'be still, my soul'. I now know how they have been so successful Gq'ing on the streets of the Ghet... I mean, the Beaches.
To my disappointment, they didn't have a white tie for me to wear. I offered Elder Modliks tie to myself, but apparently he 'NEEDED' one, so I couldn't look like I was doing a new Boyz II Men music vid. It's all good though, I enjoyed rocking the white shirt and pants with no shoes.
A friend of mine from Church, Isaac te'u, gave a talk on baptism. It was cool to hear him talk about it and his views on Baptism, and how he felt it would help me. I was suprised when he started to choke on his words towards the end of his talk, but could definitely feel the sincerity and the love behind his words.
Melodie gave a short talk on the Holy Ghost, who and what the Holy Ghost actually was, how and when it should be used and other cool stuff like that. I surely was excited to have my Wife fly across from the US to be there, and having her talk made it that much more special.
THEN I WAS DUMPED. It was kind of nerve racking. Hold your hands like this, bend your knees like that, don't bang your head on the tiled walls etc etc. So many instructions, I was sure I was going to stuff something up. Wasn't to happen though, everything went smoothly and I came up, out of the water clean and feeling like a new spirit inside.
I had a few minutes to contemplate what just went down as I was drying myself off and getting changed. Awesome Mike, you forgot socks... Whatever...
There was no going back to what just happened. And I didn't want to. Everything felt so right.
That feeling was backed up by Melodie singing 'Be still, my soul' accompanied by Sister Manwell on the piano. That particular hymn seemed to be a running theme for the evening and it sat very well in the pit of my stomach.
The baptism was followed by a tremendous feast consisting of any kind of food you could possibly think of. Well, kind of. there was some tuna salad, some pizza, some chicken, some other stuff and it was all grand!
Christmas came and went and I was back at Church on Sunday 27 December, 2009. Today was the day of confirmation. I was asked by Bishop to arrive at Church at 8:30am for an interview he wanted to conduct with me. I agreed (as if I was going to say 'no') and made the awesome effort to be there right on time. He explained to me what would happen today and what he thought of my progress thus far. He then told be that, today during Elders Quorum, I would be ordained into the Aaronic priesthood.
Since my Baptism, and confirmation, I have felt a great deal of peace within. My stress has decreased and I find I have a lot more patience. More importantly, I find that I'm more aware of my actions and reprecussions the might have the near future. I feel as though it has improved my relationship with my Wife. Not that we needed our relationship to improve,but we are both on common ground and I feel something that has been apart of her Life since she can remember.
People were telling me months and months ago, "Mike, if you take this journey, you will be happy."
I'm happy to say I recognise that true, everlasting happiness and I'm proud to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
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