Friday, November 13, 2009

The Priesthood

Today I am very grateful for the Priesthood. I had an appointment today to have a small, routine procedure where an ears, nose, and throat doctor looked down my throat to see what this strange "bump" feeling I've been having is. When I first made the appointment I had the feeling I should ask for a blessing, but kind of dismissed it. I am no stranger to hospitals and a small procedure like this was not stressful for me.

Last night the feeling of asking for a blessing came back only a bit stronger this time. I decided that it wouldn't hurt to ask for one. I called my Bishop, but he had been out of town all week and his flight didn't get home until late that night. He suggested I call his counselors. I started looking at my schedule and realized I had a busy night planned and I wouldn't be home until fairly late myself and I didn't want to have to make them come by so late. I took all of this as a sign that I probably would be just fine without a blessing...but the feeling within me persisted. I kept calling around and ended up finding a friend that could meet Bishop at my house early this morning.

They came, gave me a blessing, and left...nothing felt any different. I kept myself busy throughout the morning and then headed to the hospital for my appointment. During my appointment they found a small growth on my vocal cords and decided to remove it. The small, routine procedure turned out to be a bit more. They sprayed a bunch of lidocaine into my nose and throat. They used a variety of scopes to go in and remove the growth. Once they had it out the doctor looked at it and said that he didn't think it looked like something to worry about but he sent it for a biopsy just to be sure. Since the growth was on my vocal cords he told me not to talk for a few days in order for them to heal from the procedure.

As I left the hospital I thought about how grateful I was that I had heeded the promptings of the spirit and asked for a blessing. I know that it was through this blessing I was given the strength to handle the way my appointment turned out. I felt comforted in knowing that my Heavenly Father was with me.

THE CHURCH IS TRUE AND PRIESTHOOD BLESSINGS WORK!!

Monday, November 9, 2009

Close Call

Sunday morning was a busy morning. I stayed up a bit too late Saturday night and paid for it when I slept in a bit Sunday. i got up and was hurriedly getting ready for church. I was doing ok until my phone started going off. I received three texts and a phone call all about the same time. One was setting up a time for my quarterly interview with the bishopric, another was asking me to do the music moment in Relief Society, and I don't even recall what the others were about. Responding to these messages as well as trying to thing of a song for music moment, set me back a bit in the getting ready department. I quickly finished and headed out the door.

When I got home from church I wasn't feeling all that great. I had a headache, my throat was bugging me, and I just felt weak. I ate dinner, played a game on my computer, read my scriptures, and went to bed around 7pm. Around 2:30am I woke up (which is pretty rare for me when I'm on my meds) and just had a general feeling that something was wrong. I couldn't tell what it was. I tried to go back to sleep thinking I'd just had a bad dream, but sleep wouldn't come. I sat up and thought I would just get a drink, use the restroom, and go back to sleep. When I walked in the bathroom I noticed it was warmer than any other room in the house. It struck me as odd since the heater at my house usually doesn't do that. I glanced down and realized that my straightener was still on!! This means it had been on since I got ready for church that morning. Luckily I place my straightener on a hard surface that doesn't burn, but as I reached to turn it off I realized it was close to falling off said surface right into the garbage can which surely would have caught on fire!

I am so grateful for the prompting of the spirit that literally woke me up from a deep sleep just in time to prevent a disaster.

THE CHURCH IS TRUE AND GOD IS ALWAYS WATCHING OUT FOR US!!

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Tithing Works!

My finances have been really tight this month. I had been really stressing over how I was going to stretch the little money I had to pay everything I owed. At the beginning of the months I had it all budgeted out except for two things; tithing and my power bill. I only had the money to pay one of them. I chose to pay my tithing. As the month went on I tried to find extra money somewhere to pay my power bill with, but nothing was coming. Finally the day came that my power bill actually came. I cringed when I saw it in the mail and hesitated to open it. However, when I did I stood frozen in complete shock. It seems that last month I over payed the exact amount that my bill was for this month; leaving me with a balance of zero. The exact amount...I mean to the penny! I don't know how that happened. My funds for September had been tight too and I'd been careful to budget it out perfectly. I don't understand at all how I missed the fact that I had over payed. This shock was such a huge relief to me. I know that the only reason this all worked out was because I had made the choice to pay my tithing.

The Church Is True and Paying Tithing Brings Blessings!