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Monday, January 5, 2015

Happy New Year 2015!

Happy New Year 2015! Well, another week has come and gone. Time is passing all too quickly. I don't know why, but especially lately, it seems like the time I spend with my sweet wife Amy seems to zoom past so fast it makes my head spin, while the time we are apart seems to drag on interminably. I am nonetheless grateful for the many blessings I have received this week. In this post I will try to enumerate some of those blessings.

First of all, on the Church News front, on Saturday, the Church published an article about new temple presidents that will start serving later this year. Temple presidents usually begin service on or around November 1, with their assignments typically announced in the summer/fall prior to the commencement of their service. So why did they announce these three presidents now? Because these three men and their wives will preside over the three temples that are closest to completion: Cordoba Argentina (scheduled to be dedicated on Sunday May 17), Payson Utah (scheduled to be dedicated on Sunday June 7), and Trujillo Peru (which is nearing completion, though no formal open house and dedication dates have been announced for this temple). I also discovered, much to my disappointment, that the Payson Utah Temple dedication will only be broadcasted to stakes within that temple district, rather than the entire state of Utah as with previous Utah temple dedications. That bummed me out more than a little, but I'll get over it. Other than that, there has been no significant progress made on temple construction or groundbreaking or anything like that.

I kind of halfway expected that the First Presidency would be sending out another e-mail newsletter this month, but so far I haven't received word that this will be the case. I am therefore assuming that such newsletters will only be sent out when there are major developments the First Presidency wants to share with the worldwide Church.

The last time I updated my listings of the prophets grouped by tenure and age and the tables of ages of the current apostles was December 14. I hadn't intended to update those listings again until January 25 (since I typically do it on Sundays and since the 24th is Elder D. Todd Christofferson's 70th birthday), but I had some time this week, and I thought I might as well do it. So I did. The next major milestone after Elder Christofferson's birthday will be on February 3, when the First Presidency will mark 7 years of service together. After that, the next major event happens on March 1, 2015, when President Thomas S. Monson will replace President Lorenzo Snow as the 8th oldest prophet in the Church's history. The next event of note will be President Henry B. Eyring's 82nd birthday on May 31. I hope I don't bore you guys with all this trivia. If I do, I apologize, but I find this information very interesting and hope some of you do as well. And since I am using this blog to "sound off" about things that are important or of note to me, I wanted to mention these things.

That being said, this week has been an eventful one. Once again, I was playing telephone tag with the Pulmonary Clinic. When we did finally get hold of each other, they told me that the physician's assistant I am seeing had (finally!) called in a prescription for my cough. When I went to pick it up at the pharmacy, however, I discovered that my insurance wouldn't cover it and that the pharmacy didn't have it in stock. So I relayed this information to the clinic, and after some more telephone tag, they told me to try Delsym, an over-the-counter cough suppressant, and to call if that didn't work, in which case I needed to be seen in clinic. So I went to pick it up the next day. But my pharmacist advised against it, saying that the Delsym had a similar cough suppressant effect as some of the pain medications I was already taking, so I had to call the clinic again and let them know that the over-the-counter stuff wasn't an option either. The clinic left me a message saying I would have to get an appointment to see the PA, which I already knew. So at this point I was beyond frustrated. I called the clinic on Friday for an appointment. I told them I was working and needed an appointment in the late afternoon, after which they promptly tried to schedule me in the morning. I again told them I needed  an appointment in the afternoon, and we finally settled on Wednesday at 3 pm. I don't know what I'm going to say at the appointment. I feel betrayed by the lack of care and concern shown for my plight by this office and its staff. I am really ticked off about the whole thing. So I hope between now and then I can calm down and that I won't say anything at the appointment that I wouldn't regret later.

Aside from the fiasco with the Pulmonary Clinic, this week has been a good one. I have learned and grown from all I have experienced. Work has treated me well. On Monday, I left early so that we could get Amy to the dentist for her semiannual cleaning. Her dad has been struggling with some health issues, and he wanted to take the van he has been letting us use in for some maintenance, so we have a different one for now. We are a little nervous about it, because this one's not on our insurance, but we have thankfully not had to worry about anything too terrible happening. On Friday Amy's oldest brother had some seizures and had to be taken to the hospital. Amy went to visit him after bringing me my lunch. We have been kept up-to-date on how he's doing, and, thankfully, he's at home now. But we worried about him for a couple of days, because they found several other problems with him while he was in the hospital. So we have been keeping Amy's dad and brother in our prayers.

Thursday was New Year's Day. I unfortunately didn't get off work early on New Year's Eve, but that's not a bad thing because it's money in the bank. I enjoyed the holiday and getting some extra rest. It was back to the grindstone on Friday. We received another very small check from work on Friday, but it turned out all right because we still had money left over from the anonymous benefactor. While our situation is not ideal, it is getting better. On Friday night, we gathered with my family for a game night. It was a lot of fun. Yesterday I went to Physical Therapy, ran some errands, then came home and rested. I was up far too late last night. However, thankfully, we switched from the 9 am Church block to the 11 am Church block, so I got to sleep some more after taking my first set of medication for the day. I got up and had time to pray and watch "Music & the Spoken Word" and update my documents before Church. Church itself was wonderful and very inspirational. I greatly enjoyed my attendance there. I came home and had a nap, only waking up at around 6 pm. The rest of this day has been spent with my beloved Amy, and how I have enjoyed that! As I said above, the time with her passes far too quickly while the time without her drags on relentlessly.

One thing I almost forgot to mention. This week, Amy and I finally got the rest of our Christmas presents: the books we had ordered. I am very excited to read the ones Amy got for me, one which I read back in Junior High and the other which I have never read before. It will be good to spend some time with those books.

Amy has been asked to do some additional work for her Relief Society Activities Committee calling, so she will be busy with that this week. I see my neurologist on Tuesday, my pulminologist on Wednesday, and my dentist on Thursday to get the remaining two fillings done. I am looking forward to these appointments because it means more time with Amy and getting some important health issues resolved. But I am not looking forward to missing the work I will have to miss to make these appointments happen. Oh, well. Not much I can do about that.

We found out a while back that my older sister's father-in-law is a real estate agent, and we have decided to seek his help in finding a house for us. Hopefully this will expedite the process. We are still living paycheck to paycheck. I unfortunately did not get an SSI check this month. I am ticked off about that as well because it seems like every time I talk to my SSI benefits specialist, she changes the rules about how I can qualify to receive SSI. At first I was told that if I earned more than $1,500 per month I wouldn't get anything. I was also told that the determination for whether I get SSI on any given month would be made based on what I earned two months prior to that. But now I am being told that the determination for whether I qualify for SSI on any given month is made based on my wages for that month. The long and the short of it is, I doubt if I will ever get SSI again as long as I'm working. This upsets me, because I am earning more or less the same amount that Amy brought in per month and I was told that less of my income would be counted against me in determining SSI eligibility. So I can only hope my wages cover all our necessities.

Other than the cough, my health has been relatively good. All things considered, while life could be better in some ways, it could also be much worse. So I rejoice in the goodness of the Lord in giving me the blessings He has bestowed on me, and I take confidence and comfort from the knowledge that He will provide for my needs in the future. All I have to do is have faith in Him and do my best, and He will make up the difference. That is wonderful to me, because I know all too well how much I muddy the waters of my life. I am grateful beyond expression for the incomparable atonement that enables me to constantly and consistently repent and change and become better. I know that "all things will work together for the good of them that walk uprightly." I have confidence that the future will be glorious because of Him and His sacrifice for me. I am especially grateful to know that when I am troubled or struggling, He is only a prayer away. There is no doubt in my mind that He loves all His children. I have felt that love in sacred, unforgettable, and unmistakable ways.

"For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
"Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

I know the Savior lives, and, more than that, I know the Savior. I love Him with all my heart. I know He is my Advocate with the Father, and I could not have a better Friend or role model. I feel like I can say, with Bruce R. McConkie,

"I am one of his witnesses, and in a coming day I shall feel the nail marks in his hands and in his feet and shall wet his feet with my tears.
"But I shall not know any better then than I know now that he is God’s Almighty Son, that he is our Savior and Redeemer, and that salvation comes in and through his atoning blood and in no other way."

I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that He did live and die for all of us, that He was resurrected, and that He will come again someday very soon. It is my hope and prayer that we may all be ready when that great day arrives, with our lamps full and burning brightly, ready to receive Him. I leave these thoughts and this testimony, which I know of myself to be true, with you all, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Monday, December 29, 2014

Two Temples to be Renovated/Update/Christmas Miracle

Hello, friends! I realize it has been two weeks since I last posted. Things have been busy. I could have posted last week but decided against it. Therefore, I have two weeks to update my readers on. I am excited to do so. As a preface to that, however, I wish to share yet another exciting official announcement from the Church.

On December 16, 2014, the First Presidency officially announced the closure dates and extensive renovation of two temples, the Freiberg Germany and Idaho Falls Idaho Temples. The Freiberg Germany Temple will close to patrons effective Monday February 9, and is expected to reopen sometime in May 2016. This will be the Freiberg Temple's second renovation. The first renovation happened in 2002. Coincidentally, President Gordon B. Hinckley was involved with both the original dedication of that temple in 1985 and its rededication 27 years later. It will be very interesting to see who will be sent to rededicate that temple. My guess is that it will be either President Thomas S. Monson, who has ties to Germany, or President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, a native German. The Frankfurt Germany Temple will accommodate patrons from the Freiberg Temple district during the closure. The Idaho Falls Idaho Temple was originally dedicated in 1945 and was the only temple dedicated by President George Albert Smith. The 8th operating temple of the Church will have its first renovation starting Monday March 16, 2015 and is expected to be completed sometime in October 2016. The Rexburg Temple will serve patrons that typically go to the Idaho Falls Temple while it is being renovated. With these two announced renovations, there will be 5 temples undergoing renovation at the same time. Rexburg and Freiberg join the list of renovations underway in Montreal Quebec (projected to be completed late next year), Mexico City Mexico (also projected to be completed late next year) and Suva Fiji (projected to be completed either late in 2015 or early in 2016, depending on how construction progresses).

The First Presidency on December 12 also released a report on how under construction temples were progressing. Oddly enough, the list included Phoenix Arizona (already dedicated) and omitted any mention of the Fortaleza Brazil Temple, which, though ground was broken for it in 2011, has yet to begin full-scale construction. For the latest in temple information, please see ldschurchtemples.com, which, though it is not an official Church website, nonetheless has the latest sourced information about temples and includes projections about completion dates for under construction temples as well as up-to-date news about the announced temples. Some may question the veracity of information on that site, but I have always found it to be accurate. Even if information on that site is not currently validated by the Church, I have on good authority that the webmaster receives official temple news from the Church for his site. So I have no qualms about accepting information on that site as factual, albeit subject to verification by official Church News Releases. I know from what I've been able to learn from that site that at least two temples are anticipating their groundbreaking next year: Lisbon Portugal and Tucson Arizona. All the rest (except Cedar City Utah, Durban South Africa, and Urdaneta Philippines, which have yet to have an official site announced), are nearing the time when groundbreakings may take place. So I anticipate 2015 as being a great year for temple groundbreakings. Additionally, of the temples that are under construction, as many as five more (plus Cordoba Argentina and Payson Utah, which have already had dedication dates announced) may be completed by the end of next year, as well as up to three that are currently being renovated. What a remarkable era of temple building we live in!

That being said, it's time to update you all on what has happened since I last wrote. There have been so many wonderful things. I will talk about the most significant one first. I faced the week of the 15th as Christmas approached with the knowledge that we likely wouldn't have much to work with. I prayed for a Christmas miracle, for some way, any way, to make it special for Amy. Someone I went to High School with offered to take me shopping for a Christmas gift for Amy. As I was waiting to ascertain what I could get her with this friend's most generous offer, we checked our mail one day. In it we found an envelope addressed to the Stokes family, with the return address "Santa Clause, North Pole". Inside was a single sheet of paper. Written was the simple message, "Merry Christmas. Know that you are loved. From Friends." Enclosed in the message were two $100 bills. I cannot begin to explain the feeling of gratitude and love that filled my heart for this gift. What may not have been a big deal to our anonymous benefactor was a HUGE deal to us. Because of it, we were able to spoil each other for Christmas, and we had enough and to spare for our needs until my next check came in on Friday the 26th. As a matter of fact, we are still reaping the benefits of this Christmas gift.

On December 15, we went and saw an advanced special screening of The Hobbit (the last installation in the series) as a Christmas present from my work, and that was great. The next day was my birthday. I had a very pleasant day at work, after which I spent the evening with Amy and was visited by her brother Troy and received many well wishes on Facebook and by phone from family and friends, which was good. I got a very good start to being 28. On Thursday December 18, we marked four years since we were married. It was a great day to reflect upon all the wonderful experiences we've had together and to look ahead to the many wonderful things that would happen in the future. That weekend was typical, with me getting paid an about-average check and us spending it almost as soon as we got it. I also went to Physical Therapy on Saturday and enjoyed the Church meetings on Sunday.

This last week has been good to me as well. On Monday I sought for and obtained approval to get off early tomorrow so that Amy could pick me up prior to her dentist appointment, so that will be good. I had so many great experiences leading up to Christmas that I can't put into words. Suffice it to say, the job is still treating me well. I got off an hour and a half early on Christmas Eve and had Christmas Day off, so that was good. On Christmas Eve, Amy and I went to a get-together at the home of Uncle Chris and Aunt Jacqui Howden (Uncle Chris is Mom's youngest brother). We had a great meal and were able to share wonderful Christmas stories and sing many Christmas hymns. Our Christmas Day was wonderful. We went and had breakfast with Amy's family in the morning and saw my family in the evening. We were blessed to have a bounteous Christmas, both giving and receiving wonderful things. The Lord has been so good to us. We ordered gifts for each other online, and not all of them have arrived yet, but our new wedding rings arrived yesterday, and it is our hope that the books we ordered for each other will arrive soon as well. On Friday this week, I slept through my alarm due to getting to bed far too late the  night before. With Amy's help, I got ready for work in haste and still made it on time. On Saturday, I went to Physical Therapy, ran errands, came home and enjoyed relaxing. I completed my tasks for the day as swiftly as I could but still got to bed far later than I should have last night.

Today (Sunday) Church was wonderful. I got my new manual for next year's Priesthood lessons. I was able to spend the balance of the day relaxing. Before Christmas rolls around, I try to watch the four Christmas movies that I have: White Christmas and the three Santa Clause movies. Due to a hectic work schedule and other factors, I was unable to complete this goal before Christmas Day. We finally finished the last movie tonight, and, in retrospect, I think I almost prefer having Christmas movies left to watch after Christmas Day. It kind of helps keep the spirit alive longer. Also, for those that aren't aware, when we moved into this apartment, as it was near Christmas, we put up a Christmas tree. After our first Christmas was over, we both couldn't bear to take it down, so it has remained up all this time. This has helped us keep the Christmas spirit all year round.

One or two loose ends to tie up and then I'll be finished with this post. I have mentioned in my previous blog post how I was not feeling well, had been diagnosed with an infection at the urgent care clinic, and had taken medications for that infection. It didn't clear up at all. If anything, it's gotten worse. Much worse. Thankfully, I kept calling my pulminologist until she called in my emergency inhaler. The bad news is that she has not yet called in something to help with the persistent coughing and chest congestion I am experiencing, and she refuses to return my calls or contact me by e-mail. So unless I hear back from her tomorrow (Monday), I'm having Amy take me to the emergency care clinic again and see if they will give me something to help with the cough, because this is now beyond ridiculous, and I'm fed up with feeling sick and not getting any help from the one doctor who should be willing to assist me in such issues. So I'll keep you posted on what happens with that.

Still no word on whether or not I will get SSI in January, but I am expecting to hear about that any day now. I don't see why I wouldn't. In November, I earned far less than their $1500 estimate of my wages for that month, so I should get something Even if I get $300 or $400 from them, that will be a godsend and will help us greatly. I will know one way or another by next week what will happen with that. As a matter of fact, I will have the money or not by next week. I'll be sure and post about that then.

Well, I've rambled on long enough. I've probably put a few of you to sleep. I just want to close by saying I hope that you are all doing well, that you had a very Merry Christmas, and that you will have a Happy new Year. My first post for 2015 will likely be next week. I don't anticipate posting before then unless something monumental happens. Until I write again, all the best!

Monday, December 15, 2014

Upcoming Temple Dedications/General Update

Hello, all. By now, many of you have read the exciting news release from the Church about the upcoming announced open house and dedication dates for the Cordoba Argentina and Payson Utah Temples. For those that haven't, the Cordoba open house has been set for April 17-May 2, with a cultural celebration to be held the night of Saturday May 16, and the temple dedication to follow the day after in three sessions. The Payson Utah Temple open house will take place from April 24-May 23, with the cultural celebration to take place on June 6 and the temple dedication to take place on June 7. The Cordoba and Payson temples will be the 145th and 146th in the Church. On December 12, the Church also released an updated progress report on temples under construction. See the link below for details.

Mormon Temples Currently Under Construction

All are underway except the Fortaleza Brazil Temple, which has yet to commence full-scale construction efforts. Additionally, according to ldschurchtemples.com, in March of next year, the Church will begin an extensive renovation on the Idaho Falls Idaho Temple. The renovation is anticipated to last around 18 months. While this information has yet to be confirmed officially by the Church, I have never had reason to doubt the information on the LDS Church Temples site, and I am confident that sometime within this week, the Church will officially announce this renovation.

That being said, it has been an interesting week. I made it through my workday all right on Monday, but on Tuesday after I had been there about an hour, I took a break and was overcome by a fit of coughing. I explained to one of the team leaders that I wasn't feeling well. He couldn't have been nicer. He made all the necessary arrangements for me to be excused for the rest of the workday and then told me to go home and get feeling better. I called Amy and had her pick me up. I was terribly upset and distraught about having to take a day of rest for myself, but Amy was an absolute angel about it. She said the important thing was for me to get better. After consoling me sufficiently, she sent me straight to bed, where I slept for the next six hours, only getting up to take medication as scheduled. I woke up feeling much improved and returned to work the next day without incident. I wound up having to leave work early on Wednesday for an appointment with my pulminologist. She said that if I didn't start regularly exercising, she was afraid it would contribute to weight gain and increase sleep apnea. So I've got to get in gear and do something. After a day of work on Thursday, I discovered then that the next day I would be receiving the largest check I had ever earned from the job. That was very gratifying. The next day, my work day was like any other, some positive calls, some negative calls. Towards the end of my shift, it got very quiet. I thought I would get off work on time for a change. Then about 15 minutes before I could sign out for the day, I got a phone call. The lady needed lots of help. She apologized over and over again for keeping me so long. I told her it was not a problem. At the end of the call, she thanked me profusely for how helpful I had been. She said she wanted to talk to my supervisor and let him know what a good job I was doing. My team leader had already left for the day, though, so I told her to call back on Monday and speak to him then. It was gratifying to know that someone was so appreciative of my efforts.

Yesterday I went to Physical Therapy and we ran some errands and came home and rested. Last night we had our ward Christmas Party, and that was very enjoyable. We came home and enjoyed the rest of the day together. Unfortunately, with our financial obligations this week, my check was practically entirely spoken for the minute I received it on Friday. And because of the time I missed last week, I will be getting a very meager check this Friday. But we will be all right somehow. We have faithfully paid our tithing and leave the rest in the Lord's hands.

Today, Church was fantastic! I felt spiritually recharged for the week. I came home and rested, then got up and took some medication. I then rested some more while Amy visited with her new visiting teachers. After they left, we had a wonderful dinner and took time to relax. We went and visited my mom tonight, as it was her birthday. I love you, Mom! Thanks for all you've done for me over the years, especially staying with me in the hospital those long surgeries through. We had the opportunity to do some reminiscing tonight, and that was fun. We got to see my two sisters, my brothers-in-law, my nephew Grant, and the baby my older sister Joanna's family is fostering. I even got to hold the little guy for a bit. It was really neat, but it also made me ache for the day when we will have children of our own. I hope that day comes soon, especially as we have no idea why we haven't had success starting our family yet and we don't have the funds to do the testing to find out. It really stinks just barely getting by. But I have to believe that things will work out for us that way soon. I also found out tonight that Joanna's father-in-law, whom I had worked with in the temple, was a real estate agent, so we might be contacting him for help in our housing search. I hope something will work out that way for us very soon as well. Amy and I are really wanting and needing a place of our own.

This week promises to be a good one. Tomorrow night, my work, for Christmas, is paying for Amy and me to attend a special screening of the new Hobbit movie. That should be fun, though I don't know how I will make my medication schedule work with that. But I'll deal with that. Tuesday is my birthday, and Thursday is our anniversary. My supervisor heard that my anniversary was coming up and offered to approve time off for me to spend that day with Amy, but we determined that we needed the money I'd earn from working more than we'd need to be together on our special day. How many couples actually get to spend all day of each anniversary together anyways? Because of how little I will get paid this Friday, we are anticipating at best a very meager Christmas. I know that Christmas is about more than the gifts we give and receive, but I was really hoping to have more to work with to make this Christmas special for Amy, especially with all she's been through throughout her life and most especially in the last four years that she's been married to me. Amy keeps insisting she doesn't need anything for Christmas, but I wish I could give her everything she could ever want or need, especially now that I have a job. I guess if worst comes to worst, we will hopefully get an SSI check again in January and I can afford to spoil her a little bit then, even though it will be a little late for Christmas.

Sorry about letting my emotions get the better of me there. I've been thinking about this Christmas a lot. While I know the important thing is that we have each other and that we have life's basic necessities, and while I know the true meaning of Christmas, I wish there was more I could do for Amy. She deserves so much for all she's been through. And heaven help me, I can't do a blessed thing about it. I don't want anything for myself. I just wish I could do something special for her this year. Sorry. I'll stop complaining now. In reality, on reflection, I've never had it so good. I have the gospel in my life, along with all the blessings that come with it. I am relatively healthy. I have a good job that provides for our needs for the most part. And best of all, I have a wife who loves me and who looks past all that's wrong with me and loves me unceasingly. Without her, I wouldn't be who I am today. With her by my side, I can handle any curve ball life throws at us. The wonder and the miracle of it all is that the Lord saw fit to bring us together and to help her look past all that's wrong with me and into my eternal possibilities. She's amazing and I really don't deserve her.

Well, that being said, I should get to bed. The hour is late, and I have to be up early for work. But I wanted to pause and acknowledge the blessings of the Lord from this last week. I look forward to seeing how things will go this upcoming week. Whatever happens, I know that the Lord will be with me. And I take comfort in that knowledge. I rejoice in the goodness of the Lord to me. Until I write again, all the best!

Monday, December 1, 2014

'Twas the Night Before Our Savior Came: A Poem with a Powerful Christmas Message for All

As promised, here is the Christmas-themed message I made reference to in my last post. Many years ago, I was reading our copy of the December Ward Newsletter. The message featured a poem penned by Lou Pinter. It is a poem with a powerful message. I share it in the hopes that it will help us all remember the true meaning of Christmas.





‘Twas the Night Before the Savior Came

‘Twas the night before Our Savior came and all through the house,
Not a person was praying, not one in the house.
Their scriptures were lain on the shelf without care,
Thinking Our Savior would not come there.
 And Mom in her rocker with baby on her lap
Was watching the late show, while I took a nap.
Where out of the East there arose such a clatter,
I sprang to my feet to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash!
When what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But angels proclaiming that our Savior was here!
With a light like the sun sending forth a bright ray,
I knew in a moment it must be the day!
The beauty of His face made me cover my head,
It was Our Savior returning just like he said....
 And though I possessed worldly wisdom and wealth,
I cried when I saw Him in spite of myself.
In the Book of Life which He held in His hand,
Was written the names of every saved man.
He spoke not a word, as He searched for my name.
Then He said, “It’s not here.” My head hung in shame.
The people whose names had been written with love,
He gathered to take to His father above.
With those who were read, He rose without a sound,
While all the rest were left standing around.
I fell to my knees, but it was too late.
I had waited too long and thus sealed my fate.
I stood and cried as they rose out of sight,
“Oh, if only I’d been ready tonight.”
In the words of this poem, the meaning is clear,
The coming of Our Savior is drawing near.
There is only one life and when comes the last call,
We will find that the scriptures were true, after all....
 
I hope that during the hustle and bustle of the season, we will not forget that without Christ, there is no Christmas. It is my hope and prayer that we may selflessly give and joyfully receive this Christmas. I also hope and pray that we may be prepared for His Second Coming, for He will come again. I know this is true with all my heart, and I share this witness and this post with you in the sacred name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Big news from Church Headquarters/Important Events in Church History and Family this month/General Update

I am blogging today for three main reasons: the first is to share some big news from Church headquarters, the second is to share important events that will be happening in Church history this month, and the final reason is to give a general update of our situation since last week when I last posted. Hang on to your hats! This will be a wild ride!

The Church announced that on December 3rd and 4th, it will be sending out newsletters to all who have an LDS account. "The content is a message from the First Presidency and two messages concerning the holiday season," according to the news release on lds.org. The First Presidency writes, "We are pleased to announce this new Church email newsletter that we will regularly publish and share with members throughout the world. This newsletter is part of our effort to find more effective ways to communicate with our growing global membership in order to share timely and valuable messages that can strengthen our love for Jesus Christ, for our families, and for those around us.” There will be options to unsubscribe to these e-mails, but I doubt many will want to do so. All members need to ascertain that their e-mail as listed on their LDS account is accurate in order to receive the newsletters, which will be initially translated into 10 languages.

Elder Anthony D. Perkins of the First Quorum of the Seventy, who apparently has some involvement in this project, said, "In a world where communication channels are so numerous and fragmented, delivering a message that does not become distorted along the way is increasingly difficult. The Church has a unique advantage in that millions of faithful members have entrusted their email address to us. We feel the time has come to utilize these personal email addresses to improve the effectiveness of our communications to Church members."


E-mails will be part of the "News and Inspiration" subscription. The first e-mail will contain a welcome and introduction by the First Presidency which will serve as a greeting and explain the purpose for this and future e-mails. The e-mail will also focus on the Church's Christmas theme, "He Is The Gift." The e-mail will finally detail information about the upcoming Christmas Devotional on December 7.


Elder Perkins concluded: "One purpose of email newsletters is to assist members in becoming aware of Church resources that will strengthen their faith in Christ, bless their families, and help them serve in the community. We plan that over time members will have a few more specific choices in newsletters they would like to receive. But this email channel could also be used to notify members during emergency situations or for matters of urgent importance to the First Presidency or the Twelve."

This is an exciting new development in Church History. I for one can't wait for the Church newsletters. It will be interesting to see how such newsletters help to bring the leading brethren at Church headquarters closer to the people. I urge all who are interested to update their e-mail addresses in their online profile on lds.org. If you are unsure how to do so, your ward should have a technology specialist that can assist you in doing so.

That was the major thing I wanted to focus on in this blog post. But I also wanted to bring my readers up-to-date on a few other Church History events that are happening in December. Elder Holland will turn 74 on December 3. This may come as a surprise to some. He certainly doesn't look 74. Hopefully he will be with us for at least another 20 years. He may even live to be President of the Church one day, but please don't quote me on that. It's just a personal opinion. Again, speaking personally, I would love it if President Monson lived to break President Gordon B. Hinckley's record of being the oldest living prophet. That will happen on March 26, 2025. In the meantime, this December is significant also because of the fact that on December 9, President Monson will overtake President Howard W. Hunter to become the 9th oldest prophet in the Church's history. Also in the realm of exciting developments, though a site has not been officially announced for the Tucson Arizona Temple, a potential site has been identified, and the webmaster of ldschurchtemples.com projects that the Tucson Arizona temple will have a groundbreaking ceremony sometime in 2015. This means it has moved up considerably in the list of announced temples, since several other temples that do have a site announced do not have a potential groundbreaking time frame yet. These all stack up to make December an exciting month for Church History events.

No less significant to me are the important events that will take place in my family this month. Amy's dad, Gene Nuttall, celebrates his 74th birthday on December 8. Happy Birthday, Dad Nuttall! On December 14, my mom will become 59. I wish to express my love and appreciation to her for all she's done to support and encourage me over the years. Two days later, I will mark my 28th birthday. I'm getting older by the minute! And two days after that will commemorate 4 wonderful years since I knelt across the altar from my beloved Amy and heard those wonderful words that bound us together for eternity. These last four years have been wonderful. While our circumstances haven't always been ideal, we have always had each other, and that means a lot. I love you, sweetheart, now and forever!

On December 25, we celebrate Christmas. Either right after posting this post or sometime this week, I will post something specifically Christmas related, but for now, I just want to express my gratitude for the season, and more than that, the reason for the season. Without the birth in Bethlehem, there would be no garden of Gethsemane or cross of Calvary, and I would have reason to despair because of the weight of my transgressions. But because of Him, I will be redeemed from my transgressions and shortcomings and will triumph over all my trials. Because of Him, I have great reason to rejoice.

Life goes on. My work week went very smoothly. Thanksgiving Day, we spent the afternoon with Amy's family, came home and rested, then saw my parents and brother and sister-in-law that night. It was a great holiday that went by far too quickly. The next day, when I presented a list of my upcoming appointments to my supervisor at work, he noticed I mentioned a couple that were for Amy. He asked how long I had been married. I told him it would be four years on December 18. He asked if I had any plans for the anniversary. I told him I would probably be working on that day. He surprised me by saying that I should seriously consider taking that day off to be with my wife and said that he would have no problem whatsoever making the necessary arrangements for me and approving the request for time off. So I am considering it. It would be lovely to spend the day of our anniversary with Amy, especially as we have not always had that opportunity, but at the same time, I don't know what Kelly Services would say about my taking time off for that, as they would be approving the time off in addition to my getting approval from ROI Solutions. So we'll have to think about it and pray about it.

Got my third check from Kelly Services on Friday. Even with taking time off for breaks and lunch, and the time I took off for the appointment with Dr. Green, I worked 35.75 hours during the pay period. However, because of the demands on our pocketbooks and everything coming due at the same time, we will have to settle for paying our rent in two payments instead of one. I am glad our landlord is easygoing about when and how much of the rent is paid. I am also glad that, thanks to his flexibility, we will be all right financially until I get paid again on Friday.

Haven't found a house yet, but it's still early on in the game, so I'm not worried. I'll only hit the panic button if/when mid-May rolls around and we haven't found anything by then. Plenty of time still. And the Lord has confirmed that we need to stay in the American Fork East Stake, so we'll be focusing our search in that area. We have looked into some foreclosed homes, but who knows if/when they'll be on the market. I feel confident we will find the right place for us in the Lord's due time.

My health has been relatively good since I started working. I have struggled a bit more with coughing and allergies since then, and I have also had a lot more stress headaches and migraines. Unfortunately, these often hit when I am at work and can do nothing about them except plow through. With the Lord's help, however, I've not had to take any sick time yet. I know the Lord will continue to sustain me as I provide for my family. I am grateful to Him for His help in sustaining me through my work days.

Well, that's about all that's going on with us. While things could be a lot better, I know they could also be a lot worse. I feel incredibly blessed to be doing as well as I am in the situation I am in. I recognize that the Lord has given me all these blessings. I only hope I am giving Him sufficient credit for them and showing Him sufficient gratitude for them. I hope you, my readers, are all doing well and are still enjoying hearing and reading about my exploits and adventures. I know I am looking forward to seeing what this next week will bring, especially as it will be the first full work week I will have. Until I post again, my readers, I wish you well.

Monday, November 24, 2014

A Progress Report: My Job and Other Matters

Hello, all! I know it has been a while since I've posted. Life has been a bit crazy. But I promised myself I would update this blog before going to bed tonight, so here I am. When I last wrote, I had only completed one day of training because I had doctor's appointments lined up. The one that was scheduled for the following Monday was rescheduled. I was kind of ticked off about that because I had taken a week off of work to accommodate the appointment, and I was told that I wouldn't be able to see Katarina Waters after all. Instead Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Utah Hospital scheduled me to see Dr. Michael Green on the 20th of this month. So not only did I wind up unnecessarily missing a week of work, but I had to get another afternoon off because they didn't schedule me correctly in the first place. I will speak more of how that appointment went in a minute.

On Tuesday the 11th, I resumed training. I didn't take any notes on what I was being trained on because I have auditory recall and thus remember quite a bit of what I hear. I learned a lot in the training and had many valuable experiences. That Friday, I got my first paycheck. It was for less than $80, as it only covered the first day of my training, but it was the first money I'd earned at my first job. I cannot adequately articulate the feelings of satisfaction that I got from marking this milestone. It means more than I can possibly put into words to be providing for my family.

On Monday the 17th, I started my first day on the phones. I have had many interesting interactions with customers. Most of them are very good to work with. I've had a few calls that I've had to hand over to a supervisor because either the person on the line requested it or because I didn't have the know-how to handle the relevant issue. I have grown a lot as a call center employee this week, and am able to handle each call with greater confidence and assurance now than I had when I first began. I even logged in some overtime (staying past 4:30 pm), though it may not count as such because I have to clock out for breaks and lunch time every day.

On Thursday, we met with Dr. Michael Green. He listened carefully to my concerns and then gave me the prescription I needed for the medication I take for my muscles. He also talked about how to improve my walking and standing posture and the need to get serious about frequent exercise. He told me quite frankly that if I didn't develop a habit of regular exercise now, I'd likely be looking at an earlier decline in my mobility. I appreciated his candor and will do my best to do better in the future.

I had my first misunderstanding with a supervisor on Friday when he had heard I had said something I wasn't supposed to say about the the essential oils. I was quick to let him know that I knew company policy and would never do a thing like that, and he seemed satisfied by my explanation. I just wish I knew who was trying to get me in trouble with the supervisors. I'd very much like to talk to whoever it was. But it's all in the past.

Also on Friday, two other important job-related developments happened. My team leaders had handed out shift preference papers and had us specify, in order of preference, which shift we'd like to work. My preference order was as follows: 1. Tuesday-Saturday 8:00 am-4:30 pm. 2. Monday-Friday 6:00 am-2:30 pm. 3. Monday-Friday 2:00 pm-7:30 pm. I mentioned to my team leaders, however, that staying on my current schedule of Monday-Friday 8:00 am-4:30 pm would be optimal for me. And apparently they took me seriously. When I inquired of my supervisor on Friday after work what my new shift would be, he replied it would be Monday-Friday 8:00 am-4:30 pm. I am grateful that I can keep my current schedule and won't have to worry about working on an off day or at odd hours.

When I checked my e-mail Friday night, I discovered an e-mail from Kelly Services, the employment agency that got me the job at ROI Solutions. The e-mail directed me to check their eStubs website for my paystubs (note the plural). So I checked my bank account and discovered money there, and when I checked the paystub site, I discovered that with this job, I will get paid every week instead of once every two weeks. This will be a much better arrangement for us. We should be on much more firm financial ground as a result of this. Truly blessings abound!

The weekend has passed by all too quickly. I had physical therapy on Saturday, after which we went and got me some snow boots and ran some other errands. We came home exhausted, our week catching up with us. So we took a nap for several hours. I prepared the lesson I was to teach in Elders' Quorum today and attempted to edit the Sacrament Meeting. But in doing so, I found that there was a problem with the recording just as there had been the week before. Amy cleverly discerned that the problem was due to the batteries not being securely held in place in the recording device. So we replaced the batteries and taped up the back and hopefully that fixed the problem. As we habitually do, we were up very late last night.

Today, Church was great. My lesson went far better than I expected to it go. After Church, our home teachers came by. Amy had a meeting for her calling (she's on the Relief Society Activities Committee), and I had one home teaching visit to do. After we had both returned home, we enjoyed a very leisurely, relaxing rest of the day.

I don't know what all this week will bring. I do know I will be working every day this week except Thursday, when we will gather with Amy's family for Thanksgiving. Hopefully there will be an opportunity for me to see my family on Thursday as well, but we'll see how it goes. Hopefully, with all going well, I will be getting ideas soon for my book, which I haven't worked on in months. In the meantime, I've got more than enough to keep me busy. Hope you all are well and looking forward to reading about the next saga in my life. Until I write again, dear readers, all the best!

Saturday, November 8, 2014

Temple Predictions

On the LDS Chuch Growth Blog post about potential new missions, some people in the comments were making predictions about completion dates for future temples. That sounded like fun, so I just had to get on board. And since I am using this blog as a forum to discuss such topics, I thought I would reproduce my personal predictions here. The following is a verbatim copy of a comment I posted on that blog post just a few minutes ago. Enjoy!

Based on information about temples as found on ldschurchtemples.com, these are my predictions for temple order of completion and date:
First, of the three temples undergoing renovation, two will be dedicated in late 2015: Montreal Quebec and Mexico City Mexico. The remaining temple, Suva Fiji, will either be rededicated in late 2015 or early 2016.

Now, of the ones under construction, this is my prediction for completion dates and order:
144. Phoenix Arizona Temple: Will be dedicated on November 16, 2014.
145. Cordoba Argentina Temple: Will be dedicated in early 2015.
146. Payson Utah Temple: Will be dedicated in early- or mid-2015.
147. Indianapolis Indiana Temple: Will be dedicated in mid-2015.
148. Trujillo Peru Temple: Will be dedicated in mid-2015.
149. Tijuana Mexico Temple: Will be dedicated in late 2015.
150. Provo City Center Temple: Will be dedicated in late 2015.
151. Rome Italy Temple: Will be dedicated in late 2015.
152. Philadelphia Pennsylvania Temple: Will be dedicated in early 2016.
153. Hartford Connecticut Temple: Will be dedicated in mid-2016.
154. Fort Collins Colorado Temple: Will be dedicated in late 2016.
155. Paris France Temple: Will be dedicated in late 2016.
156. Sapporo Japan Temple: Will be dedicated in late 2016.
157. Meridian Idaho Temple: Will be dedicated in mid-2017.
158. Fortaleza Brazil Temple: Will be dedicated in late 2017. (with all going well. Note that though ground was broken on this temple in 2011, full scale work has yet to begin on this temple.)

Now, if I may be so bold, I would like to give a progress report on the announced temples that haven't had their ground broken. I provide a number for them as well, though the numbers are VERY tentative and will change based on groundbreaking date. This, again, is based on information found at ldschurchtemples.com.
159. Lisbon Portugal Temple: Planning and approval phase; land purchase finalized; groundbreaking
anticipated in late 2014-early 2015.
160. Concepcion Chile Temple: Planning and approval phase; temple and site designs complete; groundbreaking pending.
161. Barranquilla Colombia Temple: Planning and approval phase; temple and site designs complete; groundbreaking pending.
162. Star Valley Wyoming Temple: Planning and approval phase; initial design plans complete; groundbreaking pending.
163. Arequipa Peru Temple: Planning and approval phase; initial design plans complete; groundbreaking pending.
164. Winnipeg Manitoba Temple: Planning and approval phase; groundbreaking pending.
165. Kinshasa Democratic Republic of the Congo Temple: Planning and approval phase; groundbreaking pending.
166. Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple: Planning and approval phase; groundbreaking pending.
167. Tucson Arizona Temple: Awaiting official site announcement; proposal submitted to Pima County.
168. Urdaneta Philippines Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.
169. Durban South Africa Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.
170. Cedar City Utah Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.

Well, what do you think?

Friday, November 7, 2014

Potential New Missions for 2015: Matthew Martinich's predictions

Matthew Martinich, whom I've mentioned in the past, is a fellow blogger that focuses on posting developments in LDS Church Growth. Two of his hobbies are to post potential new temple sites (around general conference time) and to post sites where new missions might potentially be established. He has recently posted his projections for which new missions might potentially be created in 2015, and with his permission, I am sharing those predictions. Rather than having an extra long post, I will post a link to his post and anyone interested can follow his predictions there. Before doing so, I want to make it absolutely clear: These are Matthew Martinich's predictions, not mine, and a link to them only appears here with his express permission. That said, here's the link:

Matthew Martinich's Predictions for Potential Missions that may be created in 2015

This is really exciting stuff. His research is thorough, his predictions well thought out and reasoned. I am amazed at how well he is able to pinpoint such changes as this. So let's all show our support to him by keeping our eyes out for new missions in 2015, shall we? Thanks, friends!

My first published work

I am excited to announce that my first published piece will appear in the July 2015 Ensign in the Young Adult section, unless it gets bumped to a future issue for something more important. Here's how it happened: Years ago, I wrote an article in response to a request in the New Era. I sent it in to them. After the staff of the New Era read it, I received word from them that they couldn't use it but were handing it over to the Ensign. Soon after that the Ensign contacted me to have me fill out the necessary paperwork and set the rate for my work and give them permission to publish my work and ownership of it. I waited and nothing happened. I shared the article with only a select few because it wasn't mine anymore. Then on Wednesday I got word from the Ensign that they would be publishing my article finally. They sent me a copy of the final draft to look over. I was kind of bummed out a little because they cut out half of the experience I had written about. But they had warned me up front that the article would be edited for length and clarity. The most important thing is that something will be published under my name. This will be great, because this way I will already be a published author when my first book finally comes out. Anyways, I just wanted to post and let all my readers know this exciting news! All the best until I write again.

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Update/Three important Church History Developments/Four Church History Upcoming Events

Hello, readers! I am updating the blog for a few reasons, the least of which is to bring you all up to speed on what has happened since my last post. My weekend went about how I expected it to. I went to training for my job on Monday. When I mentioned that I would have two upcoming doctors appointments in the near future (one with my neurologist Dr. Sharon Weinstein the next day and another with spasticity specialist Nurse Katarina Waters the following Monday), my supervisors determined that, since the training built upon itself day after day, it would be wiser for me to discontinue the training for the job until the following Tuesday. So I enjoyed the training the rest of the day and then came home, tired but happy that I would have another week before I had to worry about continuing the training. I should mention that while I will be working at ROI Solutions, the company I will be serving will be Young Living Essential Oils. The instructor was  kind enough to give us samples of her four favorite essential oils: Stress Away, Peppermint, Lavender and Lime.

Then today, I went to see Dr. Weinstein. She determined that the stress headaches I have been struggling with will likely go away as I get into the job. She also said that the nausea should likewise diminish with the stress but that if it doesn't, I should see my gastroenterologist about whether there was a stomach issue. She said I could discontinue one of my medications since it seems I am doing better. I will be going to Physical Therapy tomorrow and hopefully enjoying the rest of the week before I have to be back at work on Tuesday.

That being said, there were three important developments in Church History that occurred and four Church History upcoming events that I wanted to blog about. First, it was announced by Elder Paul V. Johnson, Commissioner of Church Education, on November 2 during a CES devotional, that where in previous years CES devotionals had been held in January, March, May, September, and November, effective immediately, CES Devotionals will be renamed "Worldwide Devotional for Young Adults: An Evening with (name of speaker)." They will be held three times a year, "on the second Sunday in January, the first Sunday in May, and the second Sunday in September." The devotional will be open to "all young adults, both married and single . . . Students finishing high school or the equivalent are also invited to attend. January devotionals will be held at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah; at BYU–Idaho; or at BYU–Hawaii. May devotionals will be held in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City or at other sites at Church headquarters. September devotionals will be held at other locations in the United States." (announcement can be found here.)

Also at the devotional, Elder Johnson additionally announced a change in curriculum for religious requirements for Church-owned schools and institutes as well as seminaries, effective Fall 2015. There are four new courses that will span all standard works: “Jesus Christ and the Everlasting Gospel,” “Foundations of the Restoration,” “The Teachings and Doctrine of the Book of Mormon” and “The Eternal Family.” While the standard scripture courses will still be available as electives, these will be required for graduation. Those who have already completed the previous "required" classes are being encouraged to take the four new courses as electives. As I said, this is also supposed to be effective for seminaries, but I haven't found an official source to substantiate that. Here is a link to a couple of sources about that: LDS Church Announces Changes to Religious Education Curriculum
New Religion Classes

The third thing of note that happened was that Pope Francis of the Catholic Church has invited religious leaders and scholars representing 14 faith traditions from 23 countries to a meeting at the Vatican later this month to discuss how men and women complement each other in marriage. The LDS Church was one of the religions invited. The Church will respond to this invitation by sending President Henry B. Eyring, First Counselor in the First Presidency (who will speak on November 18 representing the Church), Elder L. Tom Perry of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and Bishop Gérald Caussé, First Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric. For more information on this monumental meeting, click here.

These developments stacked up to make November a very important month in Church History. But that's not all that's going on this month. President Dieter F. Uchtdorf turns 74 on November 6. Elder Richard G. Scott will turn 86 on November 7. A cultural celebration will be held in Phoenix Arizona on November 15, with the temple scheduled to be dedicated the next day, though it is still unclear who will dedicate that temple. (Though likely not President Eyring, as he will be at the Vatican at that time). On November 19, President Thomas S. Monson will surpass President John Taylor to become the 10th longest serving President of the LDS Church. All of these events stack up to make November a most exciting month.

It's past midnight on November 5, so I want to wish my dad, Lee Stokes, a very happy 59th Birthday. The older I get, the more I realize he is not perfect. But with that realization, I also acknowledge that a good majority of what I know about being a good husband and father I learned from him. So Happy Birthday, Dad! I love you!

Not much else to report. I will try to write again once my training is complete to let you know how it went. Until I find something else to "sound off" about again, all the best, dear readers!