Gifts!

When I got out of bed this morning I was thinking about my Christmas gift and the one I want the most is the gift of the Holy Ghost. Before I went to bed last night I was thinking of how I got to this point in my life. Well last year in December I was in a bad crash. This was my wake up call. I had been working two jobs, coaching football and going to school. I was not taking care of myself when I walked away without any broken bones I knew someone was watching over me. It was time for a change in my life. That meant I had to give up something and that was one of my jobs. I took a leap and quit the job at the high school. I was looking for something new in my life. It was time to open that door the Lord had been knocking on for the last 20 years! The gift of the Holy Ghost is something that I am ready to receive with open arms, heart and mind.

"SMILE!"

Moroni 10:17-19
D&C 14:7-9

Christmas eve......

Here it is Christmas eve and I am home happy as a clam. I do not have to go to work for the next four days! So Elder Thayne and Elder Brown came by to show the video of Joseph Smith. I have to say that was a very interesting movie. I recommend that you take some time and watch it. Merry Christmas!

Hurdles and Faith

Oh wow! What a week I have had. For one thing I could not go to sleep tonight so I am writing what is on my mind. I had a friend come by this week and ask me some questions on how I was doing. In a round about way he was asking me if I was making the right choice. I told him yes in my heart I feel I am making the right choice. Januray 3rd is my baptism and I know there will be hurdles for me to clear. I believe and I have faith that i will make it the finish line.

"If we were all blind, we would have to trust someone!" ..........."Well I trust GOD!"

1 Nephi 15:24
2 Nephi 26:33

Temple

The day started off not so well for me. I woke up with a headache that would not go away. So all day my head was hurting and nothing could make the pain go away. No matter what I am still planing on going to the Temple tonight to listen to one of the members from the Irvington ward sing. What I did notice once I parked the car in the Temple parking lot that the pain was going away. That was a good sign for me. I could have stayed home but I would have missed out on something beautiful. The lights at the Temple were so bright and the sky cleared up and you could see all the way to San Francisco. The closer I get to my baptism I know there will be things coming up to try and knock me off course.

"Even ships at sea need some direction!"

Planning

Tuesday the Missionaries came by and we started to plan for my baptism on the third of January. I know it is in a couple of weeks but for some reason I feel like a little kid. This day is very important to me, I think it is because my broken heart will be fixed. I am so ready!

D&C 20:37

"Open your heart and let the light shine on your life."

Ward Christmas Party!

OK so today I was just sitting back and reflecting what has been going on over the last couple of weeks. This past Tuesday was my fourth lesson with the Elder Thayne and Elder Brown. I have to say that I am looking forward to January 3rd. For those who will share that day with me thank you in advance! It means a lot to me that you showed up! The only thing that is going to be sad is that Elder Thayne will be done with his mission.

The Christmas party dinner, I am so happy that I can feel the love from the people in the Church. I meet someone new everytime I come to Chruch that knows who I am, which blows my mind. I did not know I had that much of an impact on the kids that went to Irvington.

"My home is your home"

Pictures

You know I have to start taking more pictures of the things that I do! There are so many places and things that I do. From this point on I will start to make it a habit to take a picture. It feels good to share those memories with my friends and family. Oh here is a picture of me and Jamie Kennedy!

"Show love, not hate!"

Three Things!

Yes, three things happened today that I felt was very great for me. The first thing was that I took a trip to the Temple in Oakland and saw the Angela Johnson’s sculpture exhibit called the “Healing Power of Christ”. That was a very moving art show with all the stories that each sculpture had. It really helped to understand why Christ has a plan for me. There was one sculpture that showed where people were in their life and the road to eternal life is not so smooth. It was showing that with Faith you can reach that level of joy if you keep walking the straight and narrow road. The second thing that happened today was Tebow and the Florida Gators won the SEC Championships, great job Tebow! The third thing that happened today was the company Christmas party. When the CEO came to the front of the room and was talking about who was the employee of the year he mentioned my name. Wow! I was very pleased that I got this award and I owe all the glory to the man upstairs, Jesus Christ. If it were not for him watching over me last year, I would not be here today. Last year at this time, I was in a very bad car crash where I walked away with no injuries. I am looking forward to going to church this Sunday!

"It is ok to let people know you love the Lord!"

Sunshine!

I woke up today and it was all foggy! But to me it was a sunny day. I was singing and my heart was full with joy. I felt like a man that had been locked up for 20 years and finally set free. That is funny how God works in your life. I can't believe that I have been in the dark so long!

"Just because everything looks sad on the outside does not mean that you have to be sad on the inside"

Friends

So when I was coming home from work I had to call my friends to let them know how thing were going with my walk to the light. I called my good friend Scott to let him and his wife know that I feel so much better for making this choice. Then I called another friend Christy she came over and we just talked about all the things that have changed in my life over the last couple of days. I think I got her fired up about church again. I told her that for a long time that I had a broken heart and now I can feel it starting to heal up from all the pain that I have had. It was very moving to her to see that change in me.

“Sometimes you just have to sit back and enjoy the things that are going around you!”

Alma 15:8

Wow!

OK, I came home and relaxed I did some reading and typing. The later in the day I had dinner with a friend and I was talking about praying. Then about my day at church and how everyone was so full of joy. I was explaining how I felt when I walked up to the doors and at that time.

There was this rush of emotions that just over came me. This feeling was like I had been lost forever and someone stopped me and said you can relax now! Tears were rolling down my face and I finally took the time to rejoice in the good things that have been happening to me the last couple of weeks.

"When the game is over the only thing you have left is the memories!"

Alma 36:18-24

My 1st day!

Well today I woke up really early for some reason I could not sleep. It is funny how something new makes you so full of energy and at the sametime I was calm.

I parked my car and walked up to the church doors and I was treated like they had been waiting for me. Here are people who I am meeting for the first time and they all have the arms open. The love is strong in this church and I am so happy that I came to church. Ok, well I kind of know some of the families in this church from working at the high school.

Let me tell you this for the first time in my life I really felt loved today! I have been on this mission to find where I belonged. I have friends in my life and I have always felt alone for a long time now and today that feeling was gone!


"It is never to late to fix a broken heart"


2 Nephi 25:26
Moroni 10:3-5

Baptism!

Well today I am meeting with the missionaries and we are going to my first baptism. To see how things work and get a better understanding of the church. To me this will be a big step in the right direction to living a better life!

Everyday is a chance to be suceesful!

The Start!

After reading the book for a week i was ready. The more I read the more I became calm the more I felt like this is where I belonged. When the Missionaries came over to give me the first lesson they took me in with open arms. This was very big to me. To me I felt I was just walking around for a long time and someone found me and said it is time to come home. This person was the Lord telling me you can relax you are safe now! For along time I have been wanting to be accepted.

I'm blessed to be given a new life!

Missing!

What is missing in my life?

I have been asking myself this question for a long time now! Was it the perfect job, no! Was it having all my friends around, maybe! Well in 2004 I lost my Grandmother and she was very close to me. She lived on the East coast but she always made time to call me to see how i was doing. So when I lost her I became more closed off and started to put up walls around me. Here i am a coach and the Campus Supervisor where everyone comes to me with their problems. I had a pain in my life and I did not know who to go to without looking like a lesser of a  man. Everyone looked at me to be the strong one and I was the one hurting inside and I did not know what to do. I have this empty feeling and I did not know how to fill it. I knew I was missing something?

So let me tell you how I got to where I am now. For 15 years I worked at a high school where I was the campus supervisor and a coach. One of the sports that I coached was football. This is one sport that all men should take time and coach. Well after one game I came home and the house was cold and empty. There was no one there to greet me. No one to say how was the game, did you win or lose? Yes, a wife that is what I am missing, right! So here I am searching for a woman to be Mrs.Right. Maybe this can help fill the void in my life. I have to tell you that was not it. I still felt like I was still missing something. Until one day I met this woman who changed the was I viewed the world. How could this person have such a big impact on me? I would spend a lot of time talking to her understanding her and she keep bringing up church. Why? I must be missing something here. Until one weekend she took me to Apple Hill and this is where I saw all these families that were happy enjoying time with each other. What was the glue that was bringing these families together? I found out it was church!

What church has this kind of impact on a family? I was raised in a church and it did not have that kind of impact on me like this. For a long time I gave up on church because I really did not feel that I belonged. One thing that I was willing to do is try different Churches, but I always left feeling like I was not really welcomed. The more she talked to me I found out that the church that made her famliy and others like hers stick together was The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I had to know more about this church and how can I be apart of it.

My best friend had the answer for me. During my time at the high school I had a partner who I worked with and became good friends I knew he was LDS. So I called and said I want to know more. We had dinner and talked and his wife gave me The Book of Mormon. They made some phone calls and later that night I was reading.

Some times the things we are looking for are always there the problem is we do not always pay attention to them!