Not sure if you have heard of this website - but I was told about it
today in Relief Society. If you like to keep a journal this is the place
to go. It's free. www.ldsjournal.com.
I can send you an email invite if you want to send me your email
address if you aren't using the site already. Here is my first entry. I
thought I would share it with you.
January 24, 2010
A series
of events have led up to this day. It seems that the Spirit has been
working very hard to get me back into the fold. After all of the events I
ended up going to two sacrament meetings and then Sunday School and
Relief Society after being gone for 13 years.
First, my niece,
Amber has invited my family to come down to San Antonio to attend
Belle's blessing in February. I really want to go but I haven't been to
church in years and didn't have a dress that fits. I also wanted to meet
Belle and see little Jared again. He's such a cutie. My brother and his
wife will be there so I really want to go, so I gave her a maybe...it
also depends on gas money.
Second, a few weeks ago I got my
Church Ordinance Record in the mail. I have never received one of these,
so for it to show up out of nowhere was kinda strange. It also still
had me married to Tim. YUCK! I made myself a mental note to contact the
clerk and get that straightened up.
Third, my mom's cousin, Lynn
called me out of the blue. I've known that he lives in the same general
area as me since I moved to Texas but we have never connected or even
spoke to each other. He called and said that he felt compelled to call
and see how things were going and invite me out to church. We use the
same church building but aren't in the same ward. He wanted to tell me
what time church was and if I could make it he would really love to see
me again.
Fourth, this past Saturday we had a Serviceman come
over and check out our refrigerator. It died during the week and we
thought we were going to have to shell out some bucks for a new one. The
man that showed up said that it was a factory recall and it would cost
zero dollars - we didn't even owe anything for the service call. Sweet!
While
John and I were waiting for him to finish there was a knock on the
door. We usually don't get many visitors except for Dustin and Wyatt's
friends, but that has tapered off. John opens the door and there's a man
that said, "Is LeAnn Jackson here? I'm from the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-Day Saints." Needless to say I was shocked that there was
someone at the door that knew my name. I've never had anyone come look
for me. I've seen missionaries and stuff, but no visitors. The man at the
door was the 1st Counselor - Brother "O" (for privacy purposes). He and
some others were out and about looking for members in the area that
weren't active. Now if you know me at all, you know that I am seriously loyal to
the Marine Corps. I even happened to have one of my Marines shirts on.
Bro. "O" asked, "Who's the Marine?" I told him I was and that my oldest
son had just graduated from Boot Camp and was attending MCT in San
Diego. He responded, "I'm a former Marine too. I was going to ask about
the bumper stickers on the car."
What are the chances that a
Marine came knocking on my door to get me to go back to church. He knew
that I wouldn't be able to let my fellow Marine down.
After all
of that I got the hint. I knew I needed to go back to church today. I
attended Sacrament Meeting at Lynn's ward first just to get my feet wet
and then I ran into Bro. "O" and he asked if I was staying so that I
could meet some people from my ward. I decided to stay, saying to myself
I could always leave after that Sacrament Meeting. However I ended up
going to Sunday School and Relief Society.
Sunday School was
okay. I remembered some of the stories that the teacher was speaking
about. I found it hard to concentrate because there was another member
that was always interrupting and my patience isn't very good so I found
myself saying things in my head that weren't appropriate. Maybe this is
another test.
Relief Society was okay. I never felt a part of
Relief Society. Even when I was active. Bro. "O" introduced me to his
wife so I attended with her and his mother which was nice. The sister
that gave the talk was amazing. She could quote scriptures left and
right. It was pretty cool. She's probably the one to go to if I have any
questions.
Taking this step today presents a challenge to me for
the future. There are things that I have to look at in my life if I
want to continue this path. I know that I can stop doing most of the
things that I'm not suppose to do - but there is one thing that would
present a major change. We would have to get married or break up. Not
sure what He has in store for me.
