Pray like a prophet

I was reading through my journal the other day. That is always amusing. But a couple of years ago when I was at the Purdue Singles Branch we had an FHE lesson by Matt Christiansen. It was a great lesson that has stuck with me for a long time. It was how to pray like a prophet. Elder Bednar had spoken to him and a bunch of other missionaries when he was on his mission and had told them a story. (Unfortunately I don't remember all the details, but the point will come across) He was talking about an early prophet in the church who was with a group of men and they were away from their homes. At the time they couldn't get back home and they were starving from lack of resources in the area. They had finally found something edible in area to eat but it was making the men sick and not sustaining them like they had thought. At first the prophet prayed to find better things to eat that would not be so hard on their bodies. He prayed for a while for this but nothing seemed to be coming along. It finally occurred to him to pray that their bodies would learn to digest the food and would give them nourishment. After that the men got better and regained their strength.

As Matt was telling us this story it occurred to me that his prayer worked because he was praying not for the world to change, or for God to change, but that he could change. We are not on this earth to conform the will of the Lord to our situation, but to be more like Christ and to fit ourselves to the will of God.

I was thinking about this on my drive home last night. I was wondering if i have ever prayed like a prophet. And if i have, if i have ever been changed to fit my circumstance. It came into my mind a time when i was with Amy. It was about 10 (or so) years ago. (Amy, you will love this story.) We were in Muncie and locked out of Amy's house. We both had to go to the bathroom really bad. I think we were both dancing on her porch. No one was home, and i am pretty sure Amy was laughing hysterically. (Which often occurs when she has to pee.) Cell phones were not a popular thing at the time and neither one of us had one. We were trying to figure out what to do. We decided on saying a prayer. I think Amy said it. And at some point she prayed that we wouldn't have to go to the bathroom anymore. We said Amen and both looked up at each other, neither one of us having to use that bathroom anymore. It was the early days of my (LDS) church going experience and i remember it made a huge impression on me. It still does. It showed me that the Lord loves us so much that he cares about even the little things like when we have to go to the bathroom. Amy's mom pulled up shortly after and Amy and I called dibs on which bathroom we would take.

So i have decided i am going to start praying more like a prophet.

Names

I get bored at work. All the time. Sometimes i go for 2 hours just leaving the same message on voice mails. Other times i get to listen to people go on and on about their lives. I am not complaining, but because i am bored a lot, i make up games at work to keep myself occupied.

One of the games i play is writing down peoples names who are famous and peoples names who are funny. I personally like the funny ones better, but some of the famous ones are pretty cool too.

I realize these people are not the real famous people, but it is fun to think about.
Famous name & the state which this person lives:
Steven King-Ohio
Jack Nicholson-Indiana
Billy Graham-Texas
Michael Jackson-Indiana
Michael Johnson-South Carolina (Famous gold medalist sprinter in the Olympics)

The following are funny names I have come across. Some are just crazy and I could never pronounce. Some are just unfortunate. And others rhyme.
Bobby Magee-From the Janice Joplin song!
John Catchen-Dunn
Larry Gottschalk
Billy Loony
Dickie Haines
Carey Dicharry
Shelly Kelly
Jose Cuervo-Isn't that an alcoholic beverage?
Xochill Valezquez-This one i don't get. Is it pronounced X-O-Chill? I don't really understand the letter "X" at the beginning of words.
Mary Derryberry-This is her married name. I think i would have kept my maiden name.
Barry Goldsberry
Mia Dimbo-Really? That is just unfortunate.
Rocky Lusti
Lemuel Askew-I have never heard that first name outside of the BOM. Who names there kid after one of the unrighteous?
Kevin Butts
Todd McJuckin
James Bloodsaw
Somavanh Mixayphonh-Yeah, I don't have any idea.

Officially official

So i got my Texas license yesterday. So much for it taking 2 and a half months. I was so excited to get it. My picture is pretty good. I can live with it. I am officially a Texan. Weird.

Moments

Do you ever have those moments in life where you figure something out about yourself? I have had a couple of those moments while in Texas. I think it is because i spend a lot of my time alone in my car and doing a very repetitive job. It allows me much time to think. (and i do a lot of thinking despite my previous reputation for never thinking!! lol) I find that most of the time these moments happen to me when someone else brings it up or calls it to my attention that i am a certain way. i usually deny it, but think about it often. I then tend to find that i am exactly what they said i was and was just denying it. It is really weird when you realize other people know you better than you know yourself. I mean, i have been with myself for 25 years now. i should know me pretty well. i have had many of these moments throughout my life. some have been really good and have allowed me to grow and be a more well rounded person. other discoveries i have made have not been so good. those times end with me crying a lot and then reminding myself that i can be who i wanna be. just because i am one way today doesn't mean i have to be that way tomorrow. a lesson i learned while in Maine! (thanks nicole and amy)

Official (maybe)

So i go to get an inception on my car the other day b/c Texas law requires it. i was pretty sure my car wouldn't pass. that would be so like my car to ruin my life like that. so take it in 2 days before my IN plates are due to expire. the place i took it to looked a little shady, but i was short on time so i proceeded. the guy takes my keys gets in and literally peels out of the lot in front of me. he takes it out on the road and drives like 50 feet then backs up and does some other stuff. then floors it into the garage. i am sitting outside just starring, like "did that just happen before my vary eyes?" you think he would be a little more cautious with me there. but no. then he only pulls my car halfway into the garage. so i can see the back half of my car. all i can see is my car shaking really hard. not good, right? then i hear him put it in neutral and rev the engine really loud for like 20 seconds. i really thought he was going to break it. i was like "great! i may pass but my car will drive away broken." my car is delicate. i have to take care of it b/c i live so far from work. but it did pass and my car does work fine, for now. but i didn't like the way he treated it. (i cant wait til i buy a new car!!!)

So then the next day i go to get my new license. i am waiting in line and the lady behind me starts to talk to me and ask me lots questions. i tell her i am from IN and then she jumps right into her life story about how she is from PA and misses it, and everyone here is so different. she then proceeds to say, "isn't so weird how Texas people are so talkative and friendly? PA people just look at you like you are crazy if you even say hi. everyone just wants to tell you their life story." i found it ironic that she had just told me all about her life and then said that Texans were weird. but she was nice and i liked her.

When it was my turn i gave them all my stuff and had my pic taken (i got all hotted out just for my pic). In IN they give you the new license right there, but in TX they mail it to you. but you cant keep you old license so they give you a paper with a copy of your old license on it that is "official." so i sign everything and the guy then tells me that they revised the layout of the TX license and it is taking longer. then he looked up at me and said, "i am just being honest with you, but there was a glitch in the system and it is taking longer than expected. here is the estimated time you should get it...but don't expect it by then..." he told me to add on at least an extra 2 weeks from the date on the paper. so guess when i "should" be receiving my new Texas license? JANUARY!! yep. that's right. i am without a license for 2 1/2 months!!! i have this crap piece of paper that anyone could have made that says i am okay to drive my car. good thing i have a passport. i don't know if the airport will take that (for if i go home for Christmas.) but after the guy tells me all this he looks up at me again and says "Welcome to Texas!" with a big smile on his face. dumb.

Goodbye Indiana license. I will miss you. but not that nasty picture.

Count you blessings...

...name them one by one.

#1: To be alive (no really!)
#2: Previous Indiana driving experience

Yesterday was not my best day in the driving world. Well actually is was great in that i missed near death experiences more than once, but bad because i came close to death more than once. First i start off trying to find the license branch to get a new Texas license. I see it on my left so i stop in the suicide lane and wait to turn left. as i sit there i realize there are two place to turn in and so i think to myself "oh it must be the second because it is technically on the right and you always drive on the right." (does that make sense?) so i pull up further and start to turn in. then i realized that is for exiting only. so i stop in the middle of the road on the oncoming traffic side. i think to myself "self? what do i do?" i decided to just do it b/c there were no cars in my way, just as i realized there is a cop in his car sitting in the lot facing me. looking at me. bad idea. so then i swerve back over the right to get back in the suicide lane when a car almost hits me. this all happened in a matter of like 4 seconds. luckily i didnt get hit or pulled over. but i looked like an idiot.
Then i get my new license...(wait for that story) and i am on my way to work. its raining. raining hard. not big drops of rain, but the hard misty rain that literally whites out the world making it hard to see anything more than 10 feet away. those of you from IN know what i am talking about. so i am on the interstate going 5-10 miles under the speed limit. i know from past experience there are 2 rules when you drive in this weather. #1 dont drive too close b/c when brake lights go on you become a little to close for comfort to the car in front of you. #2 never, never slam on your brakes in rain unless it is avoid sure impact with another car. sliding, spinning, hydroplaning, etc will occur. so this car (for whatever reason) had pulled off to the side of the road but hadnt pulled all the way off the road. a few inches of the car were sticking out onto the interstate. (what were they thinking?) i am in the middle lane and there is this Neon a little ahead of me in the right lane. at the same time both the neon and i see this car so uncarefully parked. The neon who is closest to it slams on his brakes and swerves to the left (into my lane). i am not sure i have ever gasped so loud in all my life. the neon could have just moved around the dumb car on the side and stayed in his lane but i am sure it just scared him (coming out of no where). now this neon is sliding toward me sideways. so i slow down and start to move over but there is a car in my way to move over. so i slow down harder. the neon seeing me about to T-bone him again swerves to the right to over correct. WHAT!!!!! never over correct in rain. are you kidding me? so now the neon starts to spin out and now its back end is sliding towards the front of my car. p.s. we are probably going 55 mph when this all occurring. (oh my gosh) so i slow down again and finally get to move over. again this all takes place in a matter of 10 seconds or so. finally the neon gets right and i move as far as possible from him. i was super stressed at that point. i just wanted to be off the road and safe. thank goodness for my past knowledge in driving in rain. Texans dont get it. they just rip around the road in dry weather virtually all year around.

the job

so my job is one of those jobs you dont want to do forever. it is a means to an end. i have gotten into it and learned the ropes and gotten better at it. my whole job is to get people to pay me (or their mortgage). We call those Promise to Pay's, or a Promise. on a good day i may get like 18 out of 350 calls. that is decent. at the end of the month getting anything above 30 is pretty awesome. more people call in to make payments at the end of the month so they dont receive a credit hit for being more than 30 days late. so yesterday i didnt have a good day, i didnt have a great day....my day totally rocked. i got 64!!! that may be the highest anyone has ever gotten. i have heard people brag about this one guy who once got 52. i totally blasted thru his # and set a new record. am i bragging a little? :) okay so i am. but so what. on top of that i got promoted yesterday. not because of my 64 yesterday but because i have been doing well all month. so i move up to what they call "30s". i will now be dealing with people who are 30-59 days behind on their mortgage. normally this move doesnt come with a raise, but they offered me a new schedule to go with my promotion. it is kind of the shift that no one wants so they offer a raise with it. i took it. i am trying to pay off debt and buy a new car. i will take their crappy shift and their money! so now i will be working 1pm-11pm M-Th and half a day on Friday. no weekends. i didnt think it was so bad. i wont get home til midnight, but no weekends?! and a raise?! so the best part is i got a 10% raise to go with it. are you kidding me!!!!???! 10%! all the sudden i feel really good about this job and being yelled at everyday!

San Antonio

I went to San Antonio last weekend. had a blast. i picked up Reina and we headed south. We met up with my brother and his girlfriend Erica. SA is a pretty cool place. there is a lot to do and tourists all over. We hung out on the Riverwalk and investigated some of the shops.

Reina and i saw a club that we thought we might want to hit up. as we investigated a little closer we decided it was not our kind of place (that is all i will say about that). I busted out my dancing skills one night with Erica since Reina wouldn't dance with me. she got it on video... uhhh. not sure i am okay with that.

We saw the Alamo. it was pretty cool. they are super strict about what you can do when you are there. you cant take pictures inside. you cant touch anything, including the walls. you cant have your phone on. the "guards" had whistles and would blow them as loud as possible if you were doing something wrong. i may have lost some hearing in one ear. (not from me doing anything wrong) i was a little turned off by their prowling guards ready to take you out in a second.

Reina and i went shopping. i bought a cowboy hat!!! that's right. i look good too! :) We ate at the Rainforest Cafe and this amazing place called "Mi Tierra". it is totally decked out with fancy decorations and they have a bakery that is to die for.

Pictures to follow...