Surprise Blessing

Had a great experience tonight, got a phone call around 6:30 pm from the branch president asking if he could come visit me. Well he actually used the word "we", I did not know who that implied but I said yes anyways. especially since he said they were just coming over to check in on me.

This might seem odd but I need quite a bit of checking up on. Though I can take care of myself and another living creature, as shown by my dishes drying on the counter and my sleeping dog in the corner, it is nice to have someone of high authority come by and bring a priesthood presence to the house.

And that is what happened, though I was a little shocked that I was being visited/ home taught by the branch president and the stake president. When you open the door to that image you tend to wonder what exactly you did to warrant this visit. They truly did just come by to visit and talk though, and once they got past the vicious dog they were able to sit in peace. We talked about how I am doing in work and at home, with my finances and my interest in theater and what I am doing with that recently.

The best part of the night came when they were about to leave and unexpectedly the stake president asked if I wanted a priesthood blessing. I was taken aback by the question at first, I guess my first thought was why would I need one everything seems to be going fine right now, but when the stake president offers a blessing how can anyone refuse. So I accepted and branch president blessed me with all of the things that I need right now and somethings that I have been thinking about and some that I have not. What a wonderful experience to have tonight, when I was feeling a little low before.

It's Tuesday Night, Do You Know Where Your Children Are?

Tuesday nights are currently becoming my favorite night of the week. A couple of weeks ago before the school year was underway, I decided to make another great effort to take an Institute class this semester. It didn't work out the best last year but considering the craziness that I have felt in my life recently I decided that just going to church on Sundays and Family Home Evening on Mondays was not enough, so I decided to make sure that my friends and I get to go to Institute together.

I was worried that I wouldn't be able to go to class in the area because at the time they hadn't called a new teacher. Little did I know they would do just that shortly after my decision to make this extra effort. But just in case, to make sure I was going to get this extra learning that I needed, I knew about the Tuesday night class they offer in Saratoga. I had gone a couple of times the previous school year with a couple of friends in my branch and it was just an amazing experience, so I knew that if this was going to be the only way to take this class I was going to do it and I was going to take my friends with me.

Together with two of my best friends, we travel the 45 minutes each Tuesday and attend this class. Though we have only been going for three weeks it has been a great experience for me and hopefully for them as well. In the car ride there we get to talk about random things and sing all kinds of songs together. Once in the class we get to learn and grow spiritually. When the class is over we can stay and play volleyball with other young single adults in the area or we go eat dinner. We have currently taken to eating in different places each week and finding great food in the surrounding area. Eating together gives us a chance to talk about ideas and concepts that we learned in class that evening or even different topics that come to mind. Then we head home where we get to enjoy the warm evening air with the windows down and the radio up.

By the time I am home I am so happy. I love this time that I got to spend with my friends as well as the new concepts of the gospel that I have been able to learn. And even more so, as mentioned in and earlier post, I enjoy the Spirit that I get to share with my best friends. Their answers and questions are just a joy to hear and though we now have an Institute teacher in the area for Thursday night classes and I want to attend those as well, I hope that together the three of us can keep going on our Tuesday night adventures.

Institute

What an amazing Institute class we had tonight. I am so in love with the institute teacher Sister Dorff. She is amazingly talented and brings in an unbelievable spirit to the lesson. Going to her class is so worth the 45 minute drive that it will take every week to get to Saratoga to hear her words of inspiration.

But tonight it was more than just getting to listen to a great lesson from Sis. Dorff. Tonight I heard the voice of the spirit come from two of my greatest friends. Listening to the words that they had to say in response to the lesson we were being taught about what it is to know Christ, I really was touched by their words and could feel their love and understanding of the gospel parallel to my own testimony. It was the greatest feeling.

I know that we are not the quietest people and that we aren't perfect, no one is, but I was so glad that we were able to share this experience tonight. I think that is why I enjoy having them at church with me on Sundays because it feels exactly like that is where we are suppose to be together. And tonight was an even stronger bond, I have never felt as close to my friends as I did tonight when they were being sincere and sharing their thoughts and feelings about knowing Christ. My spiritual cup for the night has been filled and I have my two best guy friends to thank for that. I don't feel as bad for forcing them to attend class with me tonight.

From: Gospel Art Book