2 posts tagged “jesus christ”

Merry Christmas everyone! Hope you're having a wonderful Christmas time and that you've not overdone it on the chocolate/turkey/nuts/crisps/[insert more food here]!!!!

My goodness, it's been a while since I updated this thing!

Last time I wrote, I was preparing to serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. What's changed? Well, quite a lot actually! I am no longer an active member of the church, and consequently have no plans to serve a mission anytime soon. In researching and discussing church history and revealed doctrines, Scripture and so on, I have decided that the Church is not the right place for me.

I still have a firm conviction of the reality of God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, but I am no longer committed to the "true" church - indeed I am once again in search of truth, but no longer have a belief in their being one true church that would act in God's name. I believe that God has a place in everyone and everything, and that one's "worthiness" is not defined by how many times you attend a church, or even how often you pray or read Scripture. I believe that God looks for the best in all of us, in how we act and speak, how we give our time and our abilities, and what we make of the life we're given. I still believe that Jesus Christ made the ultimate sacrifice, and indeed gave all of His time and His effort to grant us the chance of happiness in this life and the life to come, and also the freedom to think and act for ourselves. I believe in Him and His words, His life, His teachings and His love for me and all of God's children, and I am determined to try and live my life in a way which is reflective of His....or as close as possible! :)

On the careers front, still I remain stuck! Whilst I like the people I work with Comet and can say that 9 times out of 10 I enjoy the work I do, I am again looking for other opportunities to gain more experience and make use of what I can do. A couple of weeks ago, I was invited to attend an interview at Beverley Grammar School for the post of Assistant to the Data Manager. After interviewing there, and being tested on what might be a typical task, I decided to turn down the job and give it to one of the other candidates (all lovely people who seemed more enthusiastic and capable of working in a secretary/officey/admin role in a school!) But! I got a phone call a few days later asking if I would call them in the New Year as they would like to consider offering me a place in their IT team. Perhaps months of fixing people's PCs and massive spreadsheets at Comet is finally paying off!!

I'm determined to keep this more up to date in the New Year.....one of the guys at Comet has done a 366 day journal thingy on Facebook, with a summary and a photo of each day this year.....I'd love to have the determination to do something like that, even if it's just to see if I can do it....as Chantelle can tell you, it's a struggle for me just to keep a paper journal updated every month!!! =D

I'm going to revamp this blog and have a better crack at keeping it up to date in the New Year, but for now I've got Family Guy and Heroes box sets to plough through, and a mountain of chocolate to try and overcome, so I'll write again in a few days' (and 2 stones) time!! =D

Happy New Year!! Hope 2009 is a good year for everyone :)

Hello! Welcome to my blog...erm, never really done one of these before, except for those Bulletin thingies on MySpace. But, I thought I'd start a missionary blog and talk about what's happened so far and what's coming up :)

So, from the top, I'm a convert to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, taught and baptised about two and a half years ago by some cool missionaries from Utah (where else?!) and since then I've wanted to serve a mission myself, to work for two years in another world, teaching God's children about the Gospel and offering my time and energy in serving the people I work with.

After interviews with my Bishop across roughly two to three months, I'm aiming for August to be gone and in the Missionary Training Centre. Not long to go I know, but the bulk of the work is getting cleared by medical professionals to work in practically any area of the world for two years. "Missionary red tape" you might call it, but it's worth it to know that I am in a good enough condition to travel across the globe! I've had some dental work done, and I need to go back soon to get signed off and make sure my teeth are still good, but I now need to sort out a full physical, to make sure that everything else works! I have a couple of weeks off work now, so there's never been a better time to get it sorted :)

Hope this becomes as much fun and as interesting to read as it will be to write it, I hope to continue this now from the start to the finish of my mission. I welcome all comments and feedback (any other missionaries out there that have done this??) but please, not too many anti-Church or hate posts - I've heard and read enough of that stuff to last me a lifetime, but I do welcome healthy debate and insights from Christians and non-Christians alike...

Shaun :)