First Church Talk Part 1

I decided to copy my first church talk i gave Jan 1st 2012, i read it word for word.. here is the first half.

Be Thou an Example of the Believers, in Word, in conversation, in Charity


1st Timothy 4:12

There is a story of a boy walking on the beach collecting sea shells. His hands are full of shells, when he sees a large starfish on a rock. Instead of running toward the starfish and grabbing it, he simply looks dismayed. When his parents ask what is wrong and why he doesn’t go get the starfish, he begins to cry, “My hands are full of sea shells and I can’t pick it up.”

Many times we are too busy picking up shells or those meaningless tasks or things in our lives that when we come across a divine opportunity, we may hesitate or miss it. I missed my starfish opportunity many times throughout my life because my hands were full of shells. What I was filling my life with, and what my priorities were, were keeping me from the truth. For me, my starfish was finding the true church on the earth today, therefore I was able to become an example to the people around me. But if it wasn’t for the example of my friends who I have met throughout my life, I may not have ever gotten the opportunity to do so.

The verse or topic I was asked to speak on today was from 1st Timothy 4:12. Paul writes to Timothy, “Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.” This is just as valid for us as it was then, we should all be good examples as the believers of Jesus Christ.

Being the oldest child of 4 I heard my whole life that I needed to “be an example” to my younger siblings. When I was younger I didn’t quite understand the truth or responsibility that comes with this, and after my parents said it I’d probably let out a big sigh and rolled my eyes. As an adult I now see how important it was to be a good example to the people around you. For me, right now it is even more important to be an example to my family.

My family are not members of the church, and quite frankly I don’t see it happening anytime soon. My mom and dad are the most hurt by my decision, which is very understandable. They have done a lot of research, and considering the resources they use, which used to be the ones I did, of course they would be a little freaked out. They attended a conference a couple months back called, “Should we be afraid of the Mormons?” I remember the stack of take away stuff they had, books and DVDs and they spent 3 days learning from someone how the Mormon religion was wrong.

Shortly after the conference my car broke and I remember sitting with my parents discussing my options when my dad looks straight at me and says, “Now Katie, I know that you car is an issue and you need a new one, but we need to talk about a bigger issue, and that’s your salvation.” Now, I get a nice little chuckle out of it, because let’s be honest, it sounds a bit dramatic. I remember I had tears in my eyes looking straight at my dad’s eyes and I told him that “I am not worried one bit about my salvation because I know what I believe is more true than anything. And that right now although the topic of my salvation is important to you, I know where I stand with my heavenly father.” Then my dad asked me to say the words out loud that I believe Joseph Smith was a true prophet and the book of Mormon was real. I looked him dead in the eyes again and said those exact words. You could see the panic in my father’s eyes. I think whatever was said at the conference scared him, but not as much as those words did.

The worst feeling is knowing those words, ones that are spoken so freely here, really hurt my dad. It is believing in something so strongly and loving and knowing it’s the right choice and the greatest thing in my life and not being able to share it with my family, and them finding what I know to be the greatest disappointment to them. But this is what I know, no words I say will ever make my father happy with my decision, but I hope that every single day as I grow stronger in my faith and the way I live my life, that will be the real testament I have for my family. By being an Example.

I was baptized this past Feb, on the 26th. I am coming up on my year anniversary and I can’t believe how much of my life has changed this past year. It is incredible how Heavenly Father works, and how fast. This time last year I was very frustrated with the bumps in the road in my life that were starting to make me question what I believed. I was working at CCV a church here in the valley that I attended for 13 years and was growing very unhappy and frustrated with the holes in the beliefs that I had. I had this thought: God had been putting a certain type of person in my life consistently throughout my life. My LDS friends, my LDS roommate in collage, my LDS boyfriends, My LDS childhood best friend, my LDS boss... and I had this question was God putting these people in my life to show me the truth, or was the adversary putting them in my life to make me question my beliefs?

I was thinking about that question daily. One day I was talking to a friend about the church and for the first time I was really listening to what he said. He was talking about if there could be Prophets on the earth today, and he said, “Why can’t that be true?” For the very first time in my life, and if any of you know me I need the last word and I can be very stubborn. But I did not have a single word to say back. I echoed the question in my head asking myself, “Why can’t this all be true?” Right then and there I knew that this was going to be the start of a wild ride. I am not sure that he knows the impact his conversation had on me but I am forever grateful for it and for the example he was to me that day.

Shortly after that I fasted for 24 hours to make a decision on whether to further my investigation in the church, and after that day I knew that I needed to take the lessons.

Going back a bit I remember my first conversations about the church starting my senior year of high school where I met one of my greatest friends. We used to sit on the phone and talk for hours about nothing and then on rare occasions we would have talks about the church and the different things we believed. If I am honest I don’t remember too much about those conversations other then they lasted hours, and that is where all the myths I had heard like “Mormons cant drink soda” where set straight. Through him I had met some of the greatest people I will ever know. It would be these friends, who had been the greatest example of the church and love, that I would turn too when I needed them most!

I remember calling a friend of mine when I decided to take the lessons. I knew he would be the one to turn too because he is the kind of guy that gets things done. Within an hour I had my first lesson set for that weekend. We decided to have it at my friend’s parent’s house, this same friend I used to spend hours on the phone with in high school 7 years earlier. Although I had now known him and his family for years, I’m quite sure I had never spoken more than a couple sentences being the very shy girl I can be to his parents, so this was going to be a brand new experience on many levels for me! I was nervous, but also very excited.

Every single lesson I was in a room surrounded by my friends and some of the greatest missionaries ever. For the first time this church was starting to make sense and I was starting to get scared. This for me was a life changing decision and I didn’t even have the guts to tell my parents I was taking the lessons. I remember when I finally told my parents I was taking the lessons it was a battle. My father said if I was learning about this religion I might as well learn about them all, because that was only fair. We obviously didn’t see eye to eye and I kept going to my lessons, all the while still working at CCV and trying really hard to avoid my parents. For awhile we tried to keep my lessons a little under wraps. It was very important to me that whatever decision I made was for myself because I knew it was the right one.

New Job

"I made the economic crisis my boyfriend"- Josh Terry

So as some of you know I started a new job recently.. this past Thursday to be exact. So far, i LOVE LOVE it. It is so perfect and I couldn't be more happy about it.

This past year I have been really stubborn with starting a job. I didn't want to get a job just to say I have a job. I wanted to start a career, in something I love. I suppose you could say I was being selfish about it. With this mentality it meant I had had to live penny to penny, dollar to dollar these past couple months. I didn't have an extra cent to spend on something other then bills and gas, so my shelf in the pantry has been a little bare for quite awhile. But when I got the call last Tuesday and was offered the position I couldn't have been more happier. I'd be lying if I said I didn't shed a little tear. I am so happy that I was stubborn and waited.

I am the Program Director for the Village Health & Spa.. or Sport Club out in Verrado. Its a little bit of a drive, so there is the possibility of a move, but I am not too worried about that right now, one thing at a time. For those that keep asking what it is I stole the summary of the job from the job posting.. so here is a little bit of what I will do.

Program Director

Job Summary:

Assist in the long-term retention of memberships by developing, implementing and managing member service programs and activities for existing member participation and to attract new members.

Summary Of Essential Functions:

· Attract and Retain members by consistently providing excellent customer service
· Oversee the aquatics programming, swim lessons and classes.
· Market and organize socials working directly with the Village staff or outside vendor as necessary.
· Place high emphasis on the importance of the social element which includes Assisting with Community Events by working closely with the Verrado Town Management/Verrado marketing Team/Raven Golf Club through interactive community programs such as Founders Weekend and Hometown Holidays also includes participation in planning and execution of club events as needed.
· Manage club calendars of events such as Verrado.net and dmbclubs.com
· Manage Facility Rentals for birthday parties, weddings, church functions and all other event rentals.
· Approachable management style which includes supervising and managing staff members, planning, assigning and direct work/projects, appraising performance, and annual individual/team goals
· Responsible for hiring, staffing, scheduling and training of department staff
· Prepare and manage departmental budget
· Works with all Department heads with all aspects of the club.
· Participates in the Manager on Duty System
· Participate in manager training programs as deemed necessary by General Manager



BOOM roasted.

2/26

Remember that one time I really wanted to post a blog and I had no idea what to write! Is this because I have nothing interesting to say… or because I have nothing interesting to say? Probably a little of both..
Today marked the one year anniversary of me being baptized a huge legit MORMON. Oh boy. That word sure does scare people off... its amazing what saying you’re a Mormon does instantly to peoples opinion of you. It is amazing what that word used to do to me. I honestly sometimes can’t believe I fell for all this hoop-la, but I did, I totally did. You cannot deny the spirit when you truly ask for the answer, you just can’t, and I didn’t.
Things this last year have been incredible. The places I have been and the people I have meet are some of the most kind, friendly, honest, and honorable people ever. There was never denying Mormons where the best people on the planet, even when I thought the worst of the church, but they were, and they are. It is amazing the sense of security I feel now, and how honest, friendly, kind and honorable I want to be every single day. I have never known something so strongly…
I feel as though my growth as a person has been huge. I have always had trouble with being a bit of an introvert and very shy, and people mistaking me for mean or intimidating. But I can honestly say I have tried changing my attitude this last year, and sometime without even trying. When the spirit takes over you can’t help but have a glow and a kind heart. I have seen it in my friends and those recent converts as well, and more importantly I have seen the change in myself.
I have been able to see my friends be baptized, listen to many inspiration speakers, take the best nap of my life during general conference, live with some sweet roommates, visit Utah (mother ship) for the first time, Visit and see 10 temples, get myself a super cute and super awesome boyfriend, new job and school opportunities, and develop lifelong friendships. I also starting watching the bachelor for the first time ever… not sure if that’s an regret yet, depends on who he picks.
Sometimes I think blogs need to be these profound things with quotable sentences or crazy stories that you just can’t believe are true (Scott, but I know they all are true). But I suppose a blog is just thoughts, written down.. For your friends to read. So that’s that.

opps

So say it has been awhile is a bit of an understatement.... But i have been meaning to get back in the blogging world. Not like i was totally proactive in the first place.. but ya know.

Many things have changed..

1. moved in with some sweet roommates.
2. new jobs
3. new friends
4. new hair
5. ...... and i'm a mormon. (not even kidding)

well... this is my update, for now. I'll probably write something amazing and life changing later. But for now, "that ul do pig, that ul do."

fairy tale...

You know how when you were a little kid and you believed in fairy tales, that fantasy of what your life would be, a white dress, and prince charming who would carry you away to a castle on a hill. You would lay in bed at night and close yours eyes and you had complete and utter faith. Santa Clause, the Tooth Fairy, Prince Charming... they were all so close you could taste them. But eventually you grow up, one day you open your eyes and the fairy tale disappears. Most people turn to the things and people they can trust. But the thing is, it's hard to let go of that fairy tale entirely cause almost everyone has that smallest bit of hope, of faith, that one day they will open their eyes and it will come true.

At the end of the day faith is a funny thing. It turns up when you don't really expect it. Its life.... and one day you realize that the fairy tale may be slightly different then you dreamed. The castle, well it may not be a castle. And its not so important, that happy ever after, just that its happy right now. See, once in awhile, once in a blue moon, people will surprise you, and once in awhile people may even take your breath away.

Try

A couple of hundred years ago, Benjamin Franklin shared with the world the secret of his success. Never leave that till tomorrow, he said, which you can do today. This is the man who discovered electricity. You think more people would listen to what he had to say. I don't know why we put things off, but if i had to guess, I'd have to say it has a lot to do with fear. Fear of failure, fear of rejection, sometimes the fear is just of making a decision, because what if you're wrong? what if you're making a mistake you cant undo? The early bird catches the worm. A stitch in time saves nine. He who hesitates is lost. We can't pretend we hadn't been told, We've all heard the proverbs, heard the philosophers, heard our grandparents warning us about wasted time, heard the dang poets urging us to seize the day! Still sometimes we have to see for yourselves, we have to make our own mistakes. We have to learn our own lessons, we have to sweep today's possibility under tomorrow's rug until we can't anymore. Until we finally understand for ourselves what Benjamin Franklin really meant. That knowing is better than wondering, that waking is better than sleeping, and even the biggest failure, even the worst, beat the hell out of never trying.

Pages of Life...

I'll tell you how the sun rose, a ribbon at a time....

Its a living book, this life; it folds out in a million settings, case with a billion beautiful characters, and it's almost over for you. Its doesn't matter how old you are; it is coming to a close quickly, and soon the credits will roll and all your friends will fold out of your funeral and drive back to their homes in cold and still and silence. And they will make a fire and pour some wine and think about how you once were... and feel a kind of sickness at the idea you never again will be.

So soon you will be in that part of the book where you are holding the bulk of the pages in your left hand, and only a thin wisp of the story in your right. You will know by the page count, not by the narrative, that the Author is wrapping things up. You being to mourn its ending, and want to pace yourself slowly toward its closure, knowing the last lines will speak of something beautiful, of the end of something long and earned, and you hope the thing closes out like last breaths, like whispers about how much and who the characters have come to love, and how authentic the sentiments feel when they have earned a hundred pages of qualification.

And so my prayer is that your story will have involved some leaving and some coming home, some Summer and some winter, some roses blooming out like children in a play. My hope is your story will be about changing, about getting something beautiful born inside you, about learning to love a woman or a man, about learning to love a child, about moving yourself around water, around mountains, around friends, about learning to love others more than we love ourselves, about learning oneness as a way of understand God. We get one story, you and I, and one story along. God has established the elements, the setting and the climax and the resolution. It would be a crime not to venture out, wouldn't it?