Stokes Sounds Off: 08/25/14

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Monday, August 25, 2014

Meridian Idaho Temple Groundbreaking/Job Interview

I haven't posted in a while, so I thought I'd post today. I was pleased to see that ground was broken for the Meridian Idaho Temple on Saturday. I was also pleased to see that the anticipated completion date for the temple is sometime in 2017. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that Elder David A. Bednar presided at the groundbreaking. I should have guessed that it would be either him or President Henry B. Eyring, as both served as presidents of what was once Ricks College but became BYU-Idaho during Elder Bednar's tenure. As I previously mentioned, 8 of the 12 remaining temples that have been announced could potentially have their groundbreaking either this year or next year. The remaining four have yet to have a temple site announced. It is a great blessing to see the work of the Lord progressing. If any of you, my readers, are interested in keeping track of the progress of temple construction, you can go to ldschurchtemples.com, a great website that, while not owned or operated by the Church, nonetheless has the latest official information on temples.

In other news, I finally got a chance to take Amy to the doctor last week. After listening to her symptoms, he recommended a blood test. When he phoned us with the results, he reported that her thyroid levels were low. So he has given her something for that. She seems to be doing better as a result. We are cautiously optimistic about that.

As for my health, my headaches seem to be better now that the storms seem to have let up for the moment. I should have predicted a storm coming with how bad the pain was. However, the storm has passed, and all is well.

The only thing that could make our situation better is if we were better off financially. I have interviewed for at least 18 jobs in the last 18 months with no success. They always tell me that they were impressed with me but that they didn't have any positions that would match my unique talents and abilities, whatever that means.

That being said, I did have another job interview just last Friday, with a company in American Fork called BidSync. I found out from my mom that Elizabeth works there as well, though during the course of my interview I discovered that she worked in a different department from the one I interviewed with. How did the interview go? It was interesting. I was interviewed by a man and a woman. The man did most of the talking, with the woman chipping in occasionally. After looking over my resume and letters of recommendation, most of their questions centered on my work with Wikipedia and my time serving with the American Fork Youth Court. They seemed very impressed with me and told me I had done well. They did mention, however, that I was the most responsive candidate so far and that they had several other interviews lined up for the next week (this week). They told me that they would likely get back to me on whether or not I got the job by Friday. So I am just waiting to hear from them.

I don't know what to hope for. It's a good job with decent pay and excellent benefits, and it sounds like something I can easily do. But there's a part of me that always questions whether or not I did the right thing in applying and interviewing for the job. I have just been praying that the Lord's will might be done. I guess that's all I can do.

In the meantime, I got some excellent advice from Chris Heimerdinger and Brandon Sanderson about my writing that I will be using to press forward with my writing. I have also been reading the very interesting 3 book series by Brent (BJ) Rowley called The Light Traveler Series. It is interesting to me how he explores the concept of out-of-body experiences and one young man's adventures with those abilities.

While I can think about a lot of ways my life could be better, the fact of the matter is that it is pretty darn good right now. I have the gospel of Jesus Christ in my life and all the blessings that affords. I am surrounded by my family and my wife's family, and I get along well with all of them. I love them. While I am not working, I get to spend an unprecedented amount of time with my sweet wife, Amy. I have clothes on my back, a roof over my head, and food in my belly. Though life could be better, it could also be a lot worse. I love life, and I know that the things that aren't right now will be made right, in this life or the next. And in that thought, I take great comfort. I am a very blessed man, and I feel very lucky and happy to be alive. Never underestimate the power of the small and simple moments in your life. It is in those times that we find our greatest periods of growth and development and can improve ourselves to become what our Heavenly Father wants us to be. May it be so for each of us.