According to typical Utah standards, I was quite old when Kelly and I were married. It was a long road to travel to get there, but well worth the wait. Kelly wasn't the only blessing I received in my life from traveling this long road though. The whole experience taught me lessons on trusting in the Lord with all my heart, even when I had to leave it in the middle of the freeway to get trampled upon.
I had a best friend, Emilee Heiner, in high school who I always thought I would marry. Even up to the night before I left on my mission, I got special permission to call her for a little comforting. I was quite unsure of myself being a missionary (which is a story in and of itself). We wrote my whole mission and I just figured when I got home I would marry her. But, that wasn't how it worked out. I got home and we went out a few times and were still good friends, but I realized I wasn't in Emilee's plans when she started relying on me to help her with her own relationship issues she was having with a guy she wanted to marry.
Through the next couple of years I dated a few girls, some more seriously than others. I moved away from home with some friends and met a whole new group of friends and be a part of a few different college wards of the Church. I dated quite a few other girls that I met in these wards and I had the opportunity to serve in quite a few leadership positions in these wards. Through these callings I was able to meet quite a few people and expand my circle of friends even further. While this became a great opportunity to meet other girls to date I was getting to the age where most of the girls on campus that were just out of high school thought I was the "creepy old guy". I realized this and took on, quite happily, the position of big brother. I had my few friends that were my age that all stuck together and filled these rolls.
It was during this time in my life I began to realize all of the various situations that our Father in Heaven puts us in to teach us. Some situations were my own personal situations, others were those that I was entrusted with when someone needed help so they came to their "older brother" for advice and companionship. While I only developed a few life-long friends during this time, I know that I was placed at that time in my life in quite a few situations that taught me about the gospel of Jesus Christ. I remember quite a few late night calls of people asking for help or for priesthood blessings. It was through these experiences that my testimony of the power of the priesthood expanded. I was blessed with numerous opportunities to teach the gospel on multiple different levels, from missionary work to reactivation to the doctrines of the gospel. It was through these experiences that I strengthened my own testimony of Jesus Christ, His mission and the reality that the gospel plays in our daily lives. I learned principles of fellowshipping and caring for others. I learned how to really love and care about someone and worry about their well-being. I learned the power of Satan and the reality that he plays in my life and the life of others. I also learned that while Satan is real and can really scare people and lead them into dark paths, he really has no power over us and as the scriptures say, we can crush his head.
Aside from the hard doctrines of the gospel, I was blessed with the opportunity to teach quite a few people about principles of living on your own from budgeting to cooking. It was through these opportunities that I learned how to do those things that my Mother and Father had taught me myself. We lived in a house of seven guys. This fluctuated through the years that I lived in that house, but for the most part that's how it was. For some reason, I became the one that people looked to for guidance on what household decisions should be made. We structured a rent plan, a bill plan, house rules, etc. When people weren't doing their part, it became my task to bring them in have the talk about getting their rent, or their portion of the bills, or even kicking them out of the house when necessary. I don't know if I wanted this role or not, but it came and through this opportunity I solidified those principles that Mom and Dad had taught me from when I was young.
Along this path I dated quite a few girls. Some for short stints, others quite seriously. I remember being set on marrying a few of them, even going through great lengths to get them to know my family. Even considering how we would make things work with our individual situations becoming a life together after we were married. I will never forget the confusion that came when I was prompted to not marry a few of these girls that I was set on marrying. Everything seemed fine, but whenever I took the matter to the Lord, I knew it wasn't right. I also will never forget the heart ache that came with ending those relationships. I remember the pain that came with knowing the heart ache I was causing to someone that I loved. Through these experiences I learned that our Heavenly Father watches out for us. He tests our hearts and conditions us for situations He knows we will be in. I also know that He directs the plan that he has created with this earth life. He let's us make choices, but he will also help us make the right choices if we listen and obey Him.
After years of living in Ogden and expanding my group of friends in Ogden. One day while having a conversation with one of my friends, I knew it was time to move on. I didn't really know what that meant, but I knew it wasn't just a matter of me being frustrated. My friend proposed that we move together to a different town for a different social scene. I told him that was a great idea and that I'd be in. While it seemed like a good plan at the time and I was all in, when it came down to it I was quite nervous. While I new this guy I'd be moving with was a great person, I didn't really know him. We had mutual friends and hung out on occasion, but that was the extent of our relationship. When he called a few weeks later with a place to move that he had already committed to, I somehow took the plunge with him. It was a difficult choice for me, but an exciting choice at the same time.
After we moved in it took a few weeks to get to our new ward at the University of Utah. I was on vacation, the wards were in transition and the people we moved in with weren't the most active people and didn't really know where we were supposed to be. After we got in the right ward we both jumped in with both feet. We were both quite social people so it wasn't too difficult. We met some knew people and decided to go to family night with them to meet some more people. Family night was at the church history building in downtown Salt Lake. As we wandered around I met quite a few people and hung around with them, but generally bounced from group to group meeting new people. One of the groups of people I met had three red-headed sisters. They were all pretty confident in themselves and seemed like fun people to be with - my type of people.
As we got to the end of the tour of the history building we decided to go to get some dinner/dessert. My friend and I ended up riding with the three red-headed sisters to the place and chatting with them. Seems like I answered the phone for one of them who got a call from some guy she didn't want to hang out with anymore. The restaurant we went to was right across the street from one of my favorite restaurants so we got into a food conversation. Turns out that the red-headed sisters and I saw eye-to-eye when it came to food. Through the night we found out quite a few other similarities and made quite a few additional plans to hang out more. After that night, there are quite a few additional stories to tell, but the main story is that Kelly and I haven't gone more than a day or two without speaking to each other.
Looking back the road doesn't seem as long as it did on the way there. That's how it usually is though isn't it. And now with hind-sight, I can see where all of those experiences were necessary to make my road and Kelly's road meet and fit together so smoothly.
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