The Working Man's Words

September 23-29: Song Sung Blue by Hunter Schenewark

Neil Diamond is one of the best!

The c-suite executives came out to Utah from Orange County this week. We recently expanded our office, and I moved into the new space. The plan is to continue growing, and the execs wanted to look at places around the valley where they could grow the company. My hunch is that they'll move to Provo (which would be quite interesting) but our lease goes until June, so no changes will be happening anytime soon. The plan for a team activity had been to go axe-throwing and have dinner, but incredibly, all the axe places were booked on Wednesday already, so I suggested TopGolf.

In case the picture isn't clear enough, (don't worry, the window isn't actually that dirty) this is me looking out my bedroom at roughly 150 people dancing in my backyard. Friday, I returned home at 9:00, and was surprised to find this scene. One of Spencer's friends needed a place last minute to hold this party, and Spencer volunteered our backyard. It was funny because for the majority of the time, Tyler, Spencer, and I were all gone. And when we were back home, not one of us went outside. Just happened to happen at our place I guess. And it was over by 10:30, allowing for a nice night's sleep.

When I said I returned home Friday at 9, I returned home from my date with Caroline. The much anticipated date. We went to the soap factory, which she was really excited for. This time, the form I chose for my soap had a baby grand piano as the motif, and Caroline went with a seashell. Alas, while everything went well, nothing went great, and we just didn't click. I was still interested, and wanted to go out again, but was thinking she wasn't that interested. I put it off for a few days, but hating any degree of uncertainty, on Tuesday (Oct. 1st) I asked her out again. Per my hunch, she said she wasn't interested.

This is me, on Saturday, surprised by a flock of seagulls in Provo. I was sad things hadn't gone as good as I hoped the day before, and after going to the gym, I decided to go golfing. It never fails to make the sun shine brighter. I enjoyed pondering for two hours, outside, alone with nature, and 14 clubs.

Everything had gone south that day. I didn't do well on the practice LSAT, proctored at BYU that morning, and then ran straight to our EQ activity. Which also didn't go well, with way less people attending than we had expected. I asked Jacob W. for a blessing, and he came over at night. I am so thankful for friends who care and always help. It was the longest blessing I can remember receiving, about 10 minutes. The power of the priesthood is real, and I felt rejuvenated immediately. The next day, Sunday, was wonderful. W The best way to get out of a funk is through service. There was a stake meeting from 7-8:30 am, and then I met with the Ward Council from 8:30-10 as we discussed callings and ministering assignments in the ward. Church is from 12:15-2:15, and right after that, Dillon and I set apart 5 people who had been called. That was a tender experience, and something I'm still getting used to. The fam, Tanmarie, Nora, Porter and Cooper, came over for dinner, and we had biscuits and gravy. Ironically, I almost never use/drink milk, but the last few times I've had Tanner over, I've inadvertently made meals using lots of dairy, forgetting that he can't really eat it. Oops.

I witness that God lives, and He speaks through his servants. He has in the past, and he does so today. A few experiences to illustrate that. First, the aforementioned blessing I received from Jacob. The Spirit was so strong and bore witness to me of the truthfulness of his words. Second, I've brought all (or nearly so) my belongings from my parents house to Utah. Included in that haul, are my scrapbooks. Over the years, I've looked at them a lot - excepting the book documenting the first year of my life. That time as a baby has never interested me much, in part I think because I have no memory of it. Recently, I looked through it, and came across the blessing I received from when I was a baby. Obviously, I have absolutely no memory of that, and didn't even know the words had been recorded. It was quite sweet to be able to read that, and hear the words, for the first time in 24 years. In that time, much of the blessing has come to pass. It fortified my testimony that God speaks through his servants. I am thankful for a father who does his best to live worthily to be able to have the Spirit with him, and is ready to bless those around him. Third, the Bishop presented a plan for the ward, and the Spirit testified to me, that it is the will of the Lord for this ward.

God lives, he loves us. He has blessed us with leaders who speak his will, and work to carry it out. We have a prophet today, President Russell M. Nelson. As we follow his counsel, we will not be led astray, but will come closer to our Heavenly Father and our Savior Jesus Christ.