Sunday, January 20, 2008

Practical Joke #3

I have some friends who have asked me to watch their house while they were on vacation. One such time, the husband called to ask how things were going (they were worried their dog would give me problems). As we chatted, he said that he hoped I hadn't arranged his videos into some kind of chaos.

After I hung up, I decided that he had given me a great idea to show my appreciation to them. They have many CD's and I thought to help them find some variety in their life. This was before the days of MP3 players, so they actually listened to the CD's. I began to swap out their CD's and the covers. And not a straight swap. I would place an Aerosmith CD in the cover for Transiberian Orchestra. That CD would then be placed into the Grateful Dead CD cover. I thoroughly mixed them all up.

Of course they didn't discover the excitement until they went to listen to some Pink Floyd. After putting in the CD and listening to Christmas Jazz for all of 10 seconds, they quickly realized what had happened. I received a phone call with lots of yelling and threats. I loved it!

This happened almost 10 years ago. Just a few months ago, K. told me that she had grabbed her Van Halen CD, one she hadn't listened to in a long time, to load it into her Ipod. To her surprise, she was listening to some classical music that she thought she had given away. Oops. Gotta love those gifts that keep on giving.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Rebirth

Last month I had 2 birthdays to celebrate. Not only my mortal birthday on the 28th (gifts and cash are still welcome), but also my spiritual birth. Twenty years ago on December 27th, I was baptized. I had wanted to get baptized on my birthday, but that year the 28th fell on a Monday--which is sacred second to Sundays. So, I had to get baptized on a Sunday after church.

I had taken the missionary discussions while at BYU. I was a golden for those sisters. I referred myself and when they first came to my door, I asked them what I needed to do to get baptized. The discussions felt like a formality. I had a testimony, lived the Word of Wisdom (except for tea and coffee--didn't know they were a no-no), was a moral, chaste girl and just waiting for the water to make it official. The missionaries wanted me to get baptized while at BYU, but I wanted to wait for the Christmas break to get baptized at home so my mom could be there.

I asked our home teacher (obviously the home teacher at my home, not BYU) to baptize me. He had a cold at the time as did I. I remember that I got in the cold water (do they do that on purpose???) and when Charles dunked me the first time, I came out of the water and snorted--loudly. Not a lady-like snort, but more like a got-a-bunch-of-phlegm type of snort. So embarrassing. Of course, the hem of my baptismal gown was out of the water, so Charles had to shove me under again. This time I was completely immersed and no embarrassing noises.

Sadly, I don't remember anything of the confirmation other than the command to receive the Holy Ghost. I do remember my feelings. It felt so right as if there were someone there with their hands on my head (other than the obvious ones) giving me encouragement. I felt an actual warmth much like you feel on a sunny day. Honestly, at the time I didn't think it more than just feelings of happiness. It wasn't until years later after I had experience with the Holy Ghost that I recognized what that was.

People have asked me what it was like to live "without" the Holy Ghost. And I've replied that I don't know. I've had a testimony for so long that I have felt His influence in my life. I can say that the physical commitment of baptism has allowed me to focus and re-commit to living the Gospel during those times when I felt spiritually weak. I truly don't know where my life would be now had I not been baptized. I think I would still believe in God and still live a righteous life. But, I believe that I have a happier life, that I have a deeper understanding, that I have better tools to deal with trials and disappointments, that I have a more solid foundation to build upon. I don't think that I have more than others, in or out of my faith, but that I have a fuller life because of my decision to be baptized.

Saturday, January 12, 2008

Don't mess with me

A few years ago I was living with a roommate in her house. The house we lived in had an attached garage with a door that led from the house to the garage and another door from the garage to the back yard.

One morning while she was in Utah, I was awoken around 4 am by a noise in the house. I could tell that someone was in the house and doing a search. I was furious! No fear, just pure rage was flowing through me. Not because our things might be taken, but because I was woken up and knew I would have to deal with this burglar and the police and wouldn't be able to get back to sleep before I had to go to work.

Angrily I snarled, "Who's there?!" The very timid, humble voice of my roommate's boyfriend said, "It's me, J. I'm looking for T's flight info." Once I realized I knew who it was, I simply calmed down and went right back to sleep.

Friday, January 11, 2008

Ugh!

It's been so long since I've had anything interesting to say. I've been busy with the holidays, simply too lazy to write and a little on the blah side. Holidays are always a little difficult and this year was especially hard without my momma. But, the holidays are officially over...I returned the last of the presents today, I think. I'm sure I'll find something at home later than I need to return.

So, on to my normal jabbering. I'll have a post tomorrow about something funny, informative, or just plain interesting.