Hello, Good Friend,
Since school has gotten out my sister and her friends have moved back from Logan and we've been doing some hanging out. One such friend that has been coming over is Samantha Jackman.
We do lots of talking and sharing stories which is one of my favorite things to do. I remember back in my senior year I used to hang out with Sami and her friends who were sophomores. We had a lot of good times.
I brought this up during one of our conversations tonight and Sami said something that made me really happy and made me feel good about myself. I think I said, "Remember when I used to hang out with your crew?" and she said, "Yeah, we were obsessed with you." :)
I'm not sure if anyone will be interested in this story besides me but I like it and it'll be nice to read later on in life. Booya!
Thanks for reading,
E. Thomas
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
One Sunday Evening
From time to time I will share a memory that I have. Here is one from the end of my mission.
I was in quite a drought of success and nearing the close of my mission. My last area was especially hard in this aspect. In the two other areas of the second half of my mission I had only set two people total for baptism that fell through. In Council Bluffs my companions and I set 7 people for baptism that fell though.
I had come to grips with the fact that I might not baptize someone in the second half of my mission. At times it was really depressing but about 3 months from home I got some advice that really helped me out. Thanks, Mom.
One Sunday evening, my companion, Elder Pinchak, and I received a call from a member of the ward that I'd never even met before and I'd been there three plus months already. He told me his name was Tim Albertson and that he had had some health problems and that was why he hadn't been to church recently. He told me that he had a woman for us to teach. He said that she wanted to get baptized. We got her information and were very excited.
The next day, another missionary and I went over to her house right before curfew to just meet her and see what she was like. Well, upon first impression, Delise Steadman looks like an interesting woman. If I remember right she was wearing jeans and a Miami Dolphins jersey. She has red hair and it is cut into a Mullet. She has a great smile. We got to know her a little bit and shared a short message with her.
As we taught Delise we found out that she had been in remission from cancer for seven years and had recently found out that she had a tumor at the bass of her brain. She was in chemotherapy and we would have to catch her before her chemo or after she had had time to rest. This made things complicated.
I believe that we met Delise six weeks before I was to head home. We set her for baptism for the first week of May after learning about the above complications we decided on May 24th. That was a special day. It would be my last Saturday on my mission and it would also be two years after I had entered the MTC. The great thing was that she chose the day without us suggesting it to her.
As her baptism approached we were getting kind of worried because she hadn't been to church the required two times to be baptized. She had been missing because she had been sick every week. She also didn't really know anyone in the ward. She finally made it to church for the second time the week before her baptism. She left after Sacrament which worried us. We decided that she wasn't ready because we still had to teach her a bunch of the lessons before she could get baptized. A lot of stuff had happened since we met her. She dissappeared for a few days which really worried us but it turned out that she had went to a cancer center in Chicago. A lot of shady stuff had happened with Delise but it all had a legit excuse. Anyway we told the bishop and ward mission leader that the baptism was off.
That night I told my Zone Leader that the baptism was off and gave him all the reasons and he said, "well you can get it done, just teach her everyday and get a member with you everyday and she'll be ready." I was still really doubtful about it and was against her getting baptized that weekend.
The next night we were at the Chinese Buffet (a regular spot for us) and we saw the Bishop there. We confirmed with him that she wasn't getting baptized and he bought our dinner :)
Right after dinner we went over to Delise's and we sat in the car for like fifteen minutes discussing how we were going to tell her. Delise was sincere about her desire to get baptized and it would be really hard to tell her that she would have to wait a few more weeks. I decided to call a good friend in my District to ask him for advice. When I told him the situation and everything he word for word said the same thing that my Zone Leader had said the night before. The spirit just overcame me and I knew that this was the week that she would get baptized and that the Lord would provide a way for it to get done.
We went in and told her what would have to happen for her baptism to happen that week and she committed to it in a flash and we all knew that it would be hard.
Now a larger task lay before us. We had to call the bishop and tell him that the baptism was back on and that she wanted him to baptize her. I explained the situation and that the Spirit had spoken to us and he seemed on board.
The plan seemed to be going well and we were getting the lessons in with members and everything. In the middle of the week we received a call from our mission President letting us know that our bishop had called him and expressed his concerns that Delise wasn't sincere in her desires because she had requested welfare help from the church. The Bishop expressed the desire to have the mission President interview her for baptism.
The interview went great and the President Newman talked to the Bishop and let him know and from that point he was on our side one hundred percent and everything went without a hitch. The Bishop decided that his back couldn't handle the Baptism and so we decided that I would do it. It was such a pleasure. It was a pretty small service but there was enough support to make her feel good about it.
The next day something happened that has changed my life. We didn't talk to Delise for the rest of the day and when we tried calling her in the morning to wake her up she didn't answer. We were really worried that she wouldn't make it to her confirmation which was really important that she get it done that week. She did come. She told us how after her baptism that she got really sick and had to go to the hospital. In the morning she told them that she had to go to church and they told her that she was too sick to go. She said that she was going anyway and they made her sign a paper that said that if something bad happened to her that the hospital was not responsible. She showed so much faith and strength in that moment. I learned so much from her example and was so happy to be able to have my mission ended that way by her.
Thanks for reading,
E. Thomas
I was in quite a drought of success and nearing the close of my mission. My last area was especially hard in this aspect. In the two other areas of the second half of my mission I had only set two people total for baptism that fell through. In Council Bluffs my companions and I set 7 people for baptism that fell though.
I had come to grips with the fact that I might not baptize someone in the second half of my mission. At times it was really depressing but about 3 months from home I got some advice that really helped me out. Thanks, Mom.
One Sunday evening, my companion, Elder Pinchak, and I received a call from a member of the ward that I'd never even met before and I'd been there three plus months already. He told me his name was Tim Albertson and that he had had some health problems and that was why he hadn't been to church recently. He told me that he had a woman for us to teach. He said that she wanted to get baptized. We got her information and were very excited.
The next day, another missionary and I went over to her house right before curfew to just meet her and see what she was like. Well, upon first impression, Delise Steadman looks like an interesting woman. If I remember right she was wearing jeans and a Miami Dolphins jersey. She has red hair and it is cut into a Mullet. She has a great smile. We got to know her a little bit and shared a short message with her.
As we taught Delise we found out that she had been in remission from cancer for seven years and had recently found out that she had a tumor at the bass of her brain. She was in chemotherapy and we would have to catch her before her chemo or after she had had time to rest. This made things complicated.
I believe that we met Delise six weeks before I was to head home. We set her for baptism for the first week of May after learning about the above complications we decided on May 24th. That was a special day. It would be my last Saturday on my mission and it would also be two years after I had entered the MTC. The great thing was that she chose the day without us suggesting it to her.
As her baptism approached we were getting kind of worried because she hadn't been to church the required two times to be baptized. She had been missing because she had been sick every week. She also didn't really know anyone in the ward. She finally made it to church for the second time the week before her baptism. She left after Sacrament which worried us. We decided that she wasn't ready because we still had to teach her a bunch of the lessons before she could get baptized. A lot of stuff had happened since we met her. She dissappeared for a few days which really worried us but it turned out that she had went to a cancer center in Chicago. A lot of shady stuff had happened with Delise but it all had a legit excuse. Anyway we told the bishop and ward mission leader that the baptism was off.
That night I told my Zone Leader that the baptism was off and gave him all the reasons and he said, "well you can get it done, just teach her everyday and get a member with you everyday and she'll be ready." I was still really doubtful about it and was against her getting baptized that weekend.
The next night we were at the Chinese Buffet (a regular spot for us) and we saw the Bishop there. We confirmed with him that she wasn't getting baptized and he bought our dinner :)
Right after dinner we went over to Delise's and we sat in the car for like fifteen minutes discussing how we were going to tell her. Delise was sincere about her desire to get baptized and it would be really hard to tell her that she would have to wait a few more weeks. I decided to call a good friend in my District to ask him for advice. When I told him the situation and everything he word for word said the same thing that my Zone Leader had said the night before. The spirit just overcame me and I knew that this was the week that she would get baptized and that the Lord would provide a way for it to get done.
We went in and told her what would have to happen for her baptism to happen that week and she committed to it in a flash and we all knew that it would be hard.
Now a larger task lay before us. We had to call the bishop and tell him that the baptism was back on and that she wanted him to baptize her. I explained the situation and that the Spirit had spoken to us and he seemed on board.
The plan seemed to be going well and we were getting the lessons in with members and everything. In the middle of the week we received a call from our mission President letting us know that our bishop had called him and expressed his concerns that Delise wasn't sincere in her desires because she had requested welfare help from the church. The Bishop expressed the desire to have the mission President interview her for baptism.
The interview went great and the President Newman talked to the Bishop and let him know and from that point he was on our side one hundred percent and everything went without a hitch. The Bishop decided that his back couldn't handle the Baptism and so we decided that I would do it. It was such a pleasure. It was a pretty small service but there was enough support to make her feel good about it.
The next day something happened that has changed my life. We didn't talk to Delise for the rest of the day and when we tried calling her in the morning to wake her up she didn't answer. We were really worried that she wouldn't make it to her confirmation which was really important that she get it done that week. She did come. She told us how after her baptism that she got really sick and had to go to the hospital. In the morning she told them that she had to go to church and they told her that she was too sick to go. She said that she was going anyway and they made her sign a paper that said that if something bad happened to her that the hospital was not responsible. She showed so much faith and strength in that moment. I learned so much from her example and was so happy to be able to have my mission ended that way by her.
Thanks for reading,
E. Thomas
The Bands
I am in two bands. I think that naming a band is very important because it's something that pulls a lot of people towards a band. I have been in bands with various names. Point Nine, Stalewit, Breaking Even, Notwithstanding Everything, Passing the Film and Pretty Okay.
The last two are the names of my current bands. I am in love with the name Pretty Okay and am really excited about this project with my fantastic friend Jocelyn. She'll be on the keys and I'll be on the strings and we'll both be using our pipes.
Passing the Film is probably going to have a name change soon. Tonight after practice I was talking to Sergio about it and we both agreed that it needed a change and both accounted that we hadn't had any good responses about the name. So tonight I came up with a few and Dane came up with a few. I'll probably have a hard time remembering Dane's but the first one I came up with was The Fifth of May. Red October was also an option I came up with. Dane suggested The Fifth and leave out the "of may."
Tonight on the way home I found out that there is a band called Blue October so Red October is definitely out but I also texted a ton of my friend asking them what they thought of Fifth Of May (with the the taken out) I only received one or two negative responses to it. Also, 4 out of 5 of the band members like it so far and we'll hear from the fifth in the morning (maybe). Haha the fifth.
I feel really good about the name and about the band. We had a really good practice tonight and as soon as we can get everyone there it'll be just that much better. Especially when I can stop playing guitar or bass. I think that it'll enhance the band.
Thanks for reading,
E. Thomas
The last two are the names of my current bands. I am in love with the name Pretty Okay and am really excited about this project with my fantastic friend Jocelyn. She'll be on the keys and I'll be on the strings and we'll both be using our pipes.
Passing the Film is probably going to have a name change soon. Tonight after practice I was talking to Sergio about it and we both agreed that it needed a change and both accounted that we hadn't had any good responses about the name. So tonight I came up with a few and Dane came up with a few. I'll probably have a hard time remembering Dane's but the first one I came up with was The Fifth of May. Red October was also an option I came up with. Dane suggested The Fifth and leave out the "of may."
Tonight on the way home I found out that there is a band called Blue October so Red October is definitely out but I also texted a ton of my friend asking them what they thought of Fifth Of May (with the the taken out) I only received one or two negative responses to it. Also, 4 out of 5 of the band members like it so far and we'll hear from the fifth in the morning (maybe). Haha the fifth.
I feel really good about the name and about the band. We had a really good practice tonight and as soon as we can get everyone there it'll be just that much better. Especially when I can stop playing guitar or bass. I think that it'll enhance the band.
Thanks for reading,
E. Thomas
Sunday, March 1, 2009
The Jewelery Conundrum
I'm just gonna dive in.
Ever since I can remember I have despised jewelery. I remember touching it at a young age and actually feeling sick. Kind of like the feeling most people get when they see something gross. Almost to the point where I wanted to gag... yeah. I'm not sure what's wrong with me but I guess something is.
This has been an issue with girls that I have dated. I remember with one girl (will remain nameless), she wore these dangly earrings that bothered the crap out of me. They had little balls on the end and it reminded me of those things with the three balls that swing back and forth. Her head being the center ball. It was a very difficult time. Bahaha.
Earrings are probably the biggest... problem, I guess you could say. Especially dangly ones they drive me crazy. I know I sound crazy. But get over it. I'm trying to. I also have issues with necklaces. Mostly big gaudy necklaces. I think I might have some sort of disease. Bracelets that aren't to big and flashy are usually ok. I can handle one or two rings but no more than that. Especially not the huge rings.
I hope no one takes offense to this. Just know that I'm crazy and I'm working on these problems. It's a tough process. I think I've only dated one girl that didn't wear any jewelery so I must get past it right? Right.
Thanks for reading,
E. Thomas
Ever since I can remember I have despised jewelery. I remember touching it at a young age and actually feeling sick. Kind of like the feeling most people get when they see something gross. Almost to the point where I wanted to gag... yeah. I'm not sure what's wrong with me but I guess something is.
This has been an issue with girls that I have dated. I remember with one girl (will remain nameless), she wore these dangly earrings that bothered the crap out of me. They had little balls on the end and it reminded me of those things with the three balls that swing back and forth. Her head being the center ball. It was a very difficult time. Bahaha.
Earrings are probably the biggest... problem, I guess you could say. Especially dangly ones they drive me crazy. I know I sound crazy. But get over it. I'm trying to. I also have issues with necklaces. Mostly big gaudy necklaces. I think I might have some sort of disease. Bracelets that aren't to big and flashy are usually ok. I can handle one or two rings but no more than that. Especially not the huge rings.
I hope no one takes offense to this. Just know that I'm crazy and I'm working on these problems. It's a tough process. I think I've only dated one girl that didn't wear any jewelery so I must get past it right? Right.
Thanks for reading,
E. Thomas
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