Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Summer Fun

Hello again everyone!  I am back from the dead.  I'm just providing some updates about my summer.  In a word, my summer was crazy.  It was a real rollercoaster period of time for me.  Life took so many twists and turns, and I had some peaks and valleys.  Overall my summer was very very good.  Some very big, important and exciting things happened in my life.

First, start with this video.

(Video will be inserted as soon as my dang computer starts cooperating)

This was a video which I recorded and created a blog post towards the beginning of the summer.  However, I had some problems uploading it.  For now, I will just say that the video provided an update on my life for the previous 9 months.  The "title" of the video was Everything is Awesome (you know, from the Lego Movie), and it described how at that point everything in my life was awesome.  Well, not quite everything, but I felt very good about where I was in life.  Within a week of me recording that video, I lost my job kind of rending the video pointless.

I lost my job in the beginning of June, which was very conveniently timed to occur right as my rent for the next school year came due.  In a way it was kind of nice because I was able to take a couple days and do things that I wanted to, but couldn't because I was spending 40 hours a week working.  The rest of my time was spent taking care of the other basics of life (laundry, grocery shopping, etc.).  However, I don't enjoy too much time with nothing to do anymore, and it kind of got old.

Then one day out of the blue, my brother called me and presented an idea to me that I absolutely loved.  Since I didn't really have anything keeping me in Logan at the current time, I could fly out to visit them on the East Coast.  It took a couple days of planning and adjusting schedules, but it worked out to get me out there in the next couple of weeks.  A couple days after we made plans, I got a phone call from my former manager asking me if I would like to come back as situations had changed.  I wasn't expecting it as it was a mere 10 days ago that I was let go.



I was filled with so much joy for this trip for several reasons.  I got to see my brother and his family whom I haven't really seen for a couple years.  I got to go see Washington DC which was always a place I wanted to visit before I die.  I also got to fly for the first time in my life, which is really big to me because I've always been a fan of aviation, and I've spent a great deal of time flying virtual aircraft.  It was a real thrill to go airbourne.

After spending a week back east, I returned to Logan and began working again at my former employment.  The next Sunday brought the biggest, and most important, twist of all.  I was asked to visit with my Bishop.  He told me that my name had been recommended for a calling.  As we went through the interview we got on the subject of the Temple, and, long story short, I received my recommend to receive my endowment!  I was really pumped about it because I had been preparing to receive my endowment for some time, earnestly for the past year.

After a lot of planning, I finally received my endowment on August 9 in the Idaho Falls Temple.  The really cool thing is that things worked out that most of my family was able to be there with me in the session.  It was awesome because it was the first time in a long time that so much of the family could be together.

I have since learned to really love and treasure the Temple.  I go there frequently, at least once a week.  I sometimes end up going two or three times a week.  It's really awesome that I live three blocks from the Temple.  I can literally decide to go to the Temple, get ready, walk to the Temple, and be in a session within half an hour.  I love it so much.

To finish off this rollercoaster ride of a summer, I decided that it was time for me to move on from my job for a number of reasons, which I may discuss at a later time.  It was a very difficult decision for me, and one that was filled with much prayer and Temple attendance.  However, it has proven to be a great decision as I have had some really awesome opportunities already.  I get to sing with LDV again, and I have made many new and wonderful friends.  Some friends that I've had before have become even closer.  I've also possibly decided on a completely new direction for my life.  I have a new calling which will test me and help me grow.  I am having a blast!

That is pretty much my summer in a nutshell.  I will be posting more specifically about some of these experiences and the lessons I've taken from them a bit later.  Now that I've resurrected my blog, you can experience more of my deep inner thoughts!