My lovely wife Tiffy and I have started a new website... Again! www.ldsconvertstories.com
This site is for people to share their conversion stories and to help others feel the spirit. We are going to have some links to lds.org, mormon.org and will have some place you can go to get a book or audio from one of the GA's or anything else inspiring to help people through their hard times or find their testimony in our Savior Jesus Christ. Now some people probably think that I have become a religious nut! Well to a point I have I guess but these changes in my life have helped me become a very happy person. I'm always excited for things to come! Ever since my conversion I have wanted to help other people. It's been something that makes me happy and I love that feeling!
Something that I don't share much is my conversion story. I don't say it much because... well I'm not sure why. This blog has made me open up and throw everything on the table. I want to be an open book and not feel like I need to hide anything.
I was 17 years old, I was out of High School and making some good money for one of that age. I got into a fight with my parents. Nothing unusual for me at the time. I hated them and was bitter about everything. I hated how they forced me to go to church, how everyone cried in fast and testimony meeting at church, how everyone loved Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. It all seemed superficial to me and I didn't care nor did I want any part of it. I fought my whole teenage life not only with my parents. I remember telling them that I didn't think the Book of Mormon was true and I didn't think Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. This went on for years.
I moved out of my parents home when I was 17. Out of the window of my room I went as to not let my parents know that I was moving out(we only had a 800 sq ft home or so at the time so it wasn't easy to get things past them). I moved in with my buddy Don. Don(Who turned around, is an amazing guy and now is a great example of what a good person means) was in the same position spiritually as I was and it seemed like the right move to for me. We also worked together. At this point I had freedom! The world was mine. I could do anything I wanted and I didn't care! Well one night after our party ended and friends left I sat in my room. I thought about all of the things I had. I thought about my car outside, my brand new X-box and TV/ new Home Theater System, my couch and my comfy bed. All of the "R" movies I could handle(I was under the impression that if it wasn't "R" that it wasn't good). I sat on my couch that night and realized that each one of these things brought a temporal happiness. I hadn't talked with anyone from my family in months due to lack of trying and simply just shut them out. At that point and moment on that couch with my sadness I remember my parents telling me growing up that if I ever wanted true happiness to read the Book of Mormon and pray. Now growing up I thought that this was crazy. That book is 500+ pages, double column, small print and in Old English. I was thinking HELL NO! I humbled myself and surprisingly I had one in my room stashed away. I was in tears thinking about my life and where I had ended up. I came to the resolve to read something. I thumbed through the pages and started to read. I don't remember how long I read for or even where I read but I got on my knees and next to the couch prayed to my Father in Heaven. I asked him if the Book of Mormon was actually true, if there was in fact a Prophet again on the earth, if Joseph Smith was a true prophet, if families could really be together forever and not just till death. As I prayed I got a tremendous feeling of love come over me. A feeling of comfort. a feeling of peace and knowledge of the reality of my Savior Jesus Christ. This is a feeling that I have never had at this point in my life before. I knew that God loved me enough to call a prophet on the earth as he has before like Moses and Abraham. That families can truly be "Together Forever" and be eternal. I knew that Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God and that the Book of Mormon was TRUE! I cried myself to sleep that night in guilt and gratitude. The next morning I contacted my parents. My Mom was very happy to see me and hear from me and my Dad was like yeah right boy. I have been through enough with you and I'll believe it when I see it. I went back to church on my own accord and was 18 years old at this point. I got myself ready to go on a mission and served 2 years for my savior. I helped people overcome drug addiction, domestic violence and helped people understand the reality or a better way of life. I have done a 180 since then and am so grateful for it because that led me to my wonderful wife Tiffy and all of the blessings that we now have today(1 week a new baby girl!). This would have never happened and she wouldn't be my wife if I was living the way I was then. Becoming an optimist has given me hope and a better life as Tomorrow Always Comes!
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Seeking A Better Me
I was in church Sunday wondering what more I could do to better my family life, my personal life, and my spiritual life. Now, I'm trying to do everything I know that is right. I go to all church meetings, pay my tithing, fast offering, I read and pray with my beautiful lovely wife every day, and have personal prayers morning and night. Sitting there in church as the Sacrament went around I prayed to my Heavenly Father asking for guidance "What can I do to be a better Husband and Father". As I prayed and asked these things, I received my answer right then. Now it is very very rare that I will get an answer to things I pray for at the moment I pray for them. I'm not like my wife who gets everything she prays for but the guidance I received was that I have a daily personal scripture study. I had been counting my scripture reading with my wife every morning but that's just not good enough. I haven't been getting much out of it as it is early in the morning and it's not really a study.
I know some people say and have even said to me "well, when is it ever good enough! Haven't I sacrificed enough!?" The scriptures encourage us to be humble and become as a little child... willing to submit to ALL things. As I thought about this I realized that all things mean a lot more than I had understood before. I understood it as really just the first part of it as being humble and being good. That statement never had anything for me to do other than that. I have made a new resolve in my life to read my scriptures personally every day and get closer to my Heavenly Father. By changing my own life, I have noticed that the more I do, the more I study, and the more I put God FIRST I have had everything that I ever wanted work out for me. The Lord tells us to do ALL we can; then, the windows of Heaven will be opened and blessings will flow.
I haven't created this blog to shout out to everyone who reads to think what a great guy I am or what great changes I have made. I created this blog to first get my thoughts down. The second reason is to possibly help or inspire someone creating the understanding that there is hope. That someone may realize the reality of how much Heavenly Father loves them. That EVERYTHING in ones life will change dramatically if they make those seemingly hard sacrifices. No one is perfect but that's why we have the Savior. I'm currently studying the Atonement and our Savior per request of Elder Nelson in a stake conference. I have put this request off for years(for no reason other than being lazy) but the promise he made still holds true. As this knowledge is lighting up the darkness in my life I can see a small part, a wonderful small part of what the future holds, as Tomorrow Always Comes.
I know some people say and have even said to me "well, when is it ever good enough! Haven't I sacrificed enough!?" The scriptures encourage us to be humble and become as a little child... willing to submit to ALL things. As I thought about this I realized that all things mean a lot more than I had understood before. I understood it as really just the first part of it as being humble and being good. That statement never had anything for me to do other than that. I have made a new resolve in my life to read my scriptures personally every day and get closer to my Heavenly Father. By changing my own life, I have noticed that the more I do, the more I study, and the more I put God FIRST I have had everything that I ever wanted work out for me. The Lord tells us to do ALL we can; then, the windows of Heaven will be opened and blessings will flow.
I haven't created this blog to shout out to everyone who reads to think what a great guy I am or what great changes I have made. I created this blog to first get my thoughts down. The second reason is to possibly help or inspire someone creating the understanding that there is hope. That someone may realize the reality of how much Heavenly Father loves them. That EVERYTHING in ones life will change dramatically if they make those seemingly hard sacrifices. No one is perfect but that's why we have the Savior. I'm currently studying the Atonement and our Savior per request of Elder Nelson in a stake conference. I have put this request off for years(for no reason other than being lazy) but the promise he made still holds true. As this knowledge is lighting up the darkness in my life I can see a small part, a wonderful small part of what the future holds, as Tomorrow Always Comes.
Monday, June 21, 2010
Finding a Home... Post just below this one is first part of this story.
My Tiffy and I have been searching for a home for probably 6 months. Finances have gone more in our favor and we feel like we can afford to buy a home. The process was terrible to say the least. In my previous posts I have mentioned that I did loose a car, an apartment, and was plain out being STUPID with money! This all went on my credit and I had to pay it off. When cars are taken from you the bank puts it up at the auction and takes what they can get and charge you the remaining balance from your loan to the cost of the car. I ended up paying an extra 7k for my car and almost 3k for my apartment after lawyer fees and everything. Paying it off was hard. Not because of finances especially at the time but because if I was smarter my wife and I could have that money! But she had to watch those funds go somewhere else. I had everything paid off by this last January and started working on rebuilding my credit. Well come to find out(and I knew nothing about buying a home) that when you buy a home you go off of the primary income makers credit score. Tiffys was just below an 800. Mine was at a low 430. Yeah I know lesson learned. Since that was all paid and off my credit, my score has raised well over 200+ points. FINALLY! The past is behind me and those mistakes are no longer holding me or my wife back from our dreams.
I need to stop and hold on here for a second. Thank you Tiffy for changing my life and making me believe what my potential really is! You have been through a lot and have been there for me through thick and the very thinnest of points. You're an inspiration to me and I couldn't be happier to have you as my wife and the mother of my child. Words can't express what you mean to me but all I can do is love you and continue be the worthy priesthood holder in our family. Putting God first and doing anything I can to take care of you and Sammy(my little girl) has made me that happiest man on earth. I owe it all to you and am so happy you're the keystone of my life!
Now that my credit has jumped tremendously I now have the opportunity to get into a home! In the last 6 months we have looked in every city in Utah County. There are thousands of short sales out there! Great deals for these beautiful homes. Through our search we found a lot that was priced well. We had my father in law draw up some numbers for us and see if it is reasonable for us to build. Sure building a home would be nice but it isn't just building a home that we want! We love the area and come to find out almost everyone in the area is expecting a kid... This means people around our age, and our little girls age! This means that we can help out my father in law by having him build us a custom home that costs less than a short sale with all the upgrades we could want, and a design that fits our needs! This means that I'm closer to my work and shopping! I'm sure you get the picture by now. Today we go put our offer in for the lot and submit the plans of the home to the city for approval.
Every thing that has happened is due to Tiffy and I trying to live up to what is asked and watch the promises/blessings fall through the opened windows of Heaven and help my family out.Yesterday in priesthood meeting a story was told. I won't tell it because I don't wanna type all of that up! The story made me realize that all of the stresses I had and was going through at that moment was OK and I need to realize the reality of the molding process that takes place in ones life. Our Heavenly Father has a plan for us and WILL mold us into what our potential offers. I realized also, that not only does our Savior pick up our slack with sins but will with the dumb choices we make as long as we are trying out best. We may feel like we don't deserve blessings from our Father in Heaven and in all reality we don't! BUT as we try to be our best and live good righteous lives the "slack" the "inadequacies" are taken care of through the atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ.
This is what is going on with the Grovers and a part of my testimony. I started this blog and named it Tomorrow Always Comes because of someone on my mission that turned against the church after he came home from it. It was so pessimistic and down on everything. This is not who I am or what I stand for so I created this to show the world that life doesn't have to be so bad and terrible. It's WONDERFUL! Even with the hard times I know we can find a way to Not give up and see the light in the darkness even at the end of the tunnel as Tomorrow Always Comes!
I need to stop and hold on here for a second. Thank you Tiffy for changing my life and making me believe what my potential really is! You have been through a lot and have been there for me through thick and the very thinnest of points. You're an inspiration to me and I couldn't be happier to have you as my wife and the mother of my child. Words can't express what you mean to me but all I can do is love you and continue be the worthy priesthood holder in our family. Putting God first and doing anything I can to take care of you and Sammy(my little girl) has made me that happiest man on earth. I owe it all to you and am so happy you're the keystone of my life!
Now that my credit has jumped tremendously I now have the opportunity to get into a home! In the last 6 months we have looked in every city in Utah County. There are thousands of short sales out there! Great deals for these beautiful homes. Through our search we found a lot that was priced well. We had my father in law draw up some numbers for us and see if it is reasonable for us to build. Sure building a home would be nice but it isn't just building a home that we want! We love the area and come to find out almost everyone in the area is expecting a kid... This means people around our age, and our little girls age! This means that we can help out my father in law by having him build us a custom home that costs less than a short sale with all the upgrades we could want, and a design that fits our needs! This means that I'm closer to my work and shopping! I'm sure you get the picture by now. Today we go put our offer in for the lot and submit the plans of the home to the city for approval.
Every thing that has happened is due to Tiffy and I trying to live up to what is asked and watch the promises/blessings fall through the opened windows of Heaven and help my family out.Yesterday in priesthood meeting a story was told. I won't tell it because I don't wanna type all of that up! The story made me realize that all of the stresses I had and was going through at that moment was OK and I need to realize the reality of the molding process that takes place in ones life. Our Heavenly Father has a plan for us and WILL mold us into what our potential offers. I realized also, that not only does our Savior pick up our slack with sins but will with the dumb choices we make as long as we are trying out best. We may feel like we don't deserve blessings from our Father in Heaven and in all reality we don't! BUT as we try to be our best and live good righteous lives the "slack" the "inadequacies" are taken care of through the atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ.
This is what is going on with the Grovers and a part of my testimony. I started this blog and named it Tomorrow Always Comes because of someone on my mission that turned against the church after he came home from it. It was so pessimistic and down on everything. This is not who I am or what I stand for so I created this to show the world that life doesn't have to be so bad and terrible. It's WONDERFUL! Even with the hard times I know we can find a way to Not give up and see the light in the darkness even at the end of the tunnel as Tomorrow Always Comes!
Don't You Quit! You Keep Trying! There are Good Things To Come!
I'm very excited about this time in my life because a year and a half ago I was being very dumb. I didn't pay my bills and lost my job. This resulted in my car being taken away and my home being locked by management by the instruction of a lawyer. I got a job working for my dad as I cleaned out my great uncles home. I got his 1970 Ford LTD. This car ran OK but had a bad alternator. Back to the housing... All of my things were taken to a storage and I only had the clothes on my back, 15 dollars if that and a blanket in a car with windows that didn't work and giving plasma to keep me alive. The date, December 24 2008. I spent Christmas alone, frozen and feeling sorry for myself. I created this situation and I take ownership. This was the second time in my life I had hit rock bottom. The first I was 18 and found my testimony of the reality of how much my Heavenly Father loves me through prayer. I found myself on my knees in my old rusted car this time not due to having lost faith but being dumb and losing everything else. I had one friend and that friend turned out to be the love of my life!
My Tiffy, took me in and helped me through this hard time. I was able to find a basement apartment in north Orem and a job at Teleperformance USA/Verizon as tech support 4pm-12am. This wasn't the best job in the world but I can't complain because it pulled me out of the financial ruin I created and was in.
Well I pulled out of it with hard work and my Tiffy telling me and making me believe in the person I can become. Months later we got engaged and married 7 weeks after that.
I got my job back at OrangeSoda.com doing sales for their SEO program. it was tough. I was making $8.00 and hour part time while Tiffy made $11.00 an hour. She being the bread winner of our home did fantastic! she worked hard and I went to school part time as I worked. It was hard but I loved being married the the love of my life!
My wife Tiffy and I felt like we needed to start our family. This was crazy to even start to think about because we didn't have money... PERIOD! We remembered our stake presidents interview right before we got married. His words gave great comfort. He told us as a priesthood holder and in the name of Jesus Christ; if we felt that it was time to start a family God would provide financially if we lived righteous lives. Tiffy and I took it to the temple of our god and both felt like it was time to start trying for a family. That week(or around it) Tiffy got pregnant. More nervous than ever I put my trust in God and as I did he provided once more.
In my previous posts you will gather that I got a new job at Fortune Learning Systems. Since then I have been promoted and am looking at another in the months ahead. Director of Marketing! I need to back up a little bit though. 6 months ago my wife and I were so happy that I had a new job and 4 times the money didn't hurt either. We decided to plan a trip back to my second home Hawaii! So we bought tickets, a condo for a week and a rental car. Turns out we didn't feel good about the trip and we had to cancel. Just after that my best friend Matthew got a Director job at my company being our 5th job together in the years that we have been friends. I ended up working right below him and in the Accelerated & Advanced Coaching/Resolutions department all by chance. This, I have found is one of the best blessings that could have come into my life. In this case it wasn't who you know. I was a regular coach making pretty good money and was competing with 25+ people for the job. It turns out that I had a lot of clients that became successful and were really happy with my coaching. I had a few interviews with multiple people in the interview and turns out that I was the best fit and thus got a promotion. This promotion gave my wife and I the ability to get out of debt and start out our new life together in a great position that people end up dreaming about. I feel very fortunate and do my best to not take it for granted. From that time I have been in the Accelerated Coaching/Resolutions department and have excelled at that over any of the others in that department. I have been trying to find ways that I can become an asset to the company and have thrown my name in the hat for the new director position in the marketing department. From speaking with the owners and the directors over me they tell me and I understand that this position is mine to loose.
This has ONLY been possible through fasting, fast offerings, praying, tithing, and being a spiritual and moran support for each other. Things look big and bright for the future, as Tomorrow Always Comes!
"Some blessings come soon, some come late, and some don't come till Heaven. But for those that embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ they come! Trust God and believe in good things to come."
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nczw6xHJ0I
My Tiffy, took me in and helped me through this hard time. I was able to find a basement apartment in north Orem and a job at Teleperformance USA/Verizon as tech support 4pm-12am. This wasn't the best job in the world but I can't complain because it pulled me out of the financial ruin I created and was in.
Well I pulled out of it with hard work and my Tiffy telling me and making me believe in the person I can become. Months later we got engaged and married 7 weeks after that.
I got my job back at OrangeSoda.com doing sales for their SEO program. it was tough. I was making $8.00 and hour part time while Tiffy made $11.00 an hour. She being the bread winner of our home did fantastic! she worked hard and I went to school part time as I worked. It was hard but I loved being married the the love of my life!
My wife Tiffy and I felt like we needed to start our family. This was crazy to even start to think about because we didn't have money... PERIOD! We remembered our stake presidents interview right before we got married. His words gave great comfort. He told us as a priesthood holder and in the name of Jesus Christ; if we felt that it was time to start a family God would provide financially if we lived righteous lives. Tiffy and I took it to the temple of our god and both felt like it was time to start trying for a family. That week(or around it) Tiffy got pregnant. More nervous than ever I put my trust in God and as I did he provided once more.
In my previous posts you will gather that I got a new job at Fortune Learning Systems. Since then I have been promoted and am looking at another in the months ahead. Director of Marketing! I need to back up a little bit though. 6 months ago my wife and I were so happy that I had a new job and 4 times the money didn't hurt either. We decided to plan a trip back to my second home Hawaii! So we bought tickets, a condo for a week and a rental car. Turns out we didn't feel good about the trip and we had to cancel. Just after that my best friend Matthew got a Director job at my company being our 5th job together in the years that we have been friends. I ended up working right below him and in the Accelerated & Advanced Coaching/Resolutions department all by chance. This, I have found is one of the best blessings that could have come into my life. In this case it wasn't who you know. I was a regular coach making pretty good money and was competing with 25+ people for the job. It turns out that I had a lot of clients that became successful and were really happy with my coaching. I had a few interviews with multiple people in the interview and turns out that I was the best fit and thus got a promotion. This promotion gave my wife and I the ability to get out of debt and start out our new life together in a great position that people end up dreaming about. I feel very fortunate and do my best to not take it for granted. From that time I have been in the Accelerated Coaching/Resolutions department and have excelled at that over any of the others in that department. I have been trying to find ways that I can become an asset to the company and have thrown my name in the hat for the new director position in the marketing department. From speaking with the owners and the directors over me they tell me and I understand that this position is mine to loose.
This has ONLY been possible through fasting, fast offerings, praying, tithing, and being a spiritual and moran support for each other. Things look big and bright for the future, as Tomorrow Always Comes!
"Some blessings come soon, some come late, and some don't come till Heaven. But for those that embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ they come! Trust God and believe in good things to come."
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nczw6xHJ0I
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