3 posts tagged “mormon”

So it's been a while since I was last here...again!! I've missed this site through moving in, getting organised, playing Mario Kart and generally not doing a whole lot =D

Where to begin? Well, let's start at the start! Me and Chantelle have finally moved into a place of our own, in a little square on Ella Street, off Newland Avenue in the heart of Studentworld in the city centre. The front "garden" needs some work, and there's a need for decoration and tidying, but over the last couple of months we've got stuff sorted and made it our own place - we still have boxes, and even boxes of boxes, but it's our place and we love it...

On 19th April me and Chantelle got engaged, and we are looking at getting married around September of this year. Chantelle's parents have a timeshare apartment in Maderia, and have paid for us to have a week's holiday there so it'd be a perfect time to have our honeymoon!

We were in Hornsea and we were talking about getting married, and how we both really want to do it, and by the end of the day we'd made the decision to get engaged and start planning a wedding...of course, it wasn't official until we'd updated our status on Facebook!! ;)

So far it's been pretty complicated trying to plan it all. At first, we were thinking about hiring a place and then that started to get expensive and messy trying to organise a million different things, and so the talk turned to making it simple, making it our day and using the rest of our time, efforts and money to spend on ourselves and the festivities. When Chantelle's folks offered to put £5,000 towards the wedding, we thought that it was quite a lot of money to spend on a wedding - turns out these days it's just a small chunk of change that would get swallowed up in the process, so keeping it simple also keeps it quite economical...!!

Talk also recently turned to church, and how we both missed being there, the people and the atmosphere of being at church. Over the last couple of weeks or so, it also dawned on me that whilst I started seeing reasons for leaving church, and reasons why it might not be true and so on, what I was actually looking for was an excuse to leave, so I could "take a break" from the burdens, and pressures, and responsibilities of being an active member, an example and "pillar" of the stake so to speak. Truth is, when I first joined the church, I went in all guns blazing, with the mindset of "I've been given a second chance at life and stuff, I'd better be worth it", and ended up putting too much pressure on myself, getting into it all too quickly, and turning myself into someone I didn't really want to be.

Now I've been away, I've had time to reflect on what I'd been away from, and also to reflect on who I've been, who I am, and what I'm doing with my life. I've found now that I can very likely still make it through life going to church and being a part of the experience and the atmosphere, and unerstanding and acknowledging what the church stands for, whilst still being me.

This is what I want to achieve - to be a good person, to try and live a good life, and enjoy and take in the teachings of the church, whilst still being true to myself. We're both looking for a fresh start with a fresh perspective, and I know that I will be taking it easier and steadier this time around so that I can keep myself balanced. I might not agree with absolutely everything, and I'm certainly not perfect, but the church is a good place to be for "life guidance", and I'm willing to try again and do what I can!

We went to Institute on Wednesday night as we'd been invited to a meal prepared by the teacher. It was good to see her and other people again, and we are now considering having the wedding at the chapel in Anlaby. The chapel itself is a really nice room - it has a nice modern feel to it and doesn't look too "churchy", and it also has a bit of an elegant "function room" look to it without looking too much like your average function room....if that makes sense!!

The most important concern we have is getting Chantelle's dress, and now we're on the hunt for good music that isn't Pachelbel's flippin' Canon...it's a lovely piece really, but everyone seems to have it for their wedding, and we want to be different. Ideally we'd like to have someone sing and/or play the music, and we have considered Kissing You by Des'ree, but we're still working on it!

And that brings us to now. Chantelle's working tomorrow, but I've been invited to Hull 1 in Anlaby as they are having a "linger longer" lunch after church, which means I get to meet people and eat food =D officially, we're living in the Hull 1 area so eventually we'll be asked to go to their services rather than Hull 2 if we want to settle in :(

Today was a day spent cleaning and tidying the house whilst Chantelle was at work. We got a four month old Staffie puppy this week but quickly rehomed her again after it turns out Chantelle is allergic to her...we ended up driving to Matlock in Derbyshire, where the new owner's son was to receive the dog for his birthday :) so today was a day to try and clean up dog hair and the like and generally make the place a bit prettier...we have cord carpets so a lot of dust and cat hair gets worn in very quickly, but after a good vacuuming the floors so look a bit better, and it made Chantelle smile when she came in so I must've done good!!

In other news, I've decided not to go to University this year. I've decided that I want to keep working, and I also wondered if it was really worth if for three years if nothing big came out of it...if I decide to go for it I can always apply next year, but if I had decided to go for it this year but then found that I didn't want to do it after all, it would be a bit of a waste really.

I am however still looking for other jobs and careers, as I still don't know what I want to do!! I still consider the Police every now and then, but other than that, I'm still stumped!!! Any ideas or offers greatly appreciated.....

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 :)