I woke up this morning thinking about my friend Steve McIntosh. I thought I would write a little bit about him.
Personal History
I’m going to categorize my life history here.
Patriarchal Blessing
A Patriarchal Blessing is a strange thing. I received mine when I was about 22. I know the patriarch gets to know you a bit before giving you the blessing. Either way, he sure seemed to know a lot about me. At least what I could tell from what I know about my character. I can say he hit the nail on the head more than once.
NYNYS Mission – September 19-30, 1996
Wow, the day was interesting. We worked for a while at lunch then worked and visited a member. They fed us about an hour and a half later we had a dinner appointment and ate a lot again. Then taught someone and our last appointment, at Caesars. They fed us again. I couldn’t take it. Every bite was torture to me. I turned to my comp. We need to go. Now! I had to leave, I was going to blow at any moment. When I stood up I knew it was going to happen. I got my bag, but my comp wouldn’t hurry. I stood by the door to the bathroom. I said, “Boy, the food was good.” They were like, “Right, that is why you’re green.” I was like, “Honestly, I loved the food.” Just then my stomach curled and I stepped into the bathroom. I realized I wasn’t going to make it. They were all looking at me. Then all of a sudden as I was moving into the bathroom… blauuugh… my hand went up toward my mouth, but the food shot out of my mouth spewing all over the sink and mirror. I was so embarrassed. [Thinking to myself] I’m like, yeah, the food is good but I just didn’t have enough room for it.
Brad Wilcox
My two sons are adopted. They are both great boys, but both have their individual challenges. For my oldest son, it was clear pretty early that school was going to be difficult. He was born with an extra measure of energy. So much so he struggled to make it through a single school day. It became clear that the traditional school setting was not for him. When he was in about 3rd grade, he was placed in a special program in School District for all the kids who couldn’t assimilate to traditional learning.
A little reminiscing
I know I have talked about my conversion story a few times on here. I wanted to take a moment to reminisce about a few things I loved at that time. I was continually trying to fill my life with good things. So, I indulged abundantly in these things.
Do you cry during your testimony?
Do you cry during your testimony? I often do. It isn’t that I can’t control my emotions, it is that as I speak these feelings often overwhelms me and the physical makeup of my body leads to me choking up and crying.
NYNYS Mission September 12-18, 1996
A while ago we were fealessing in Rosevelt and in Sunny Side a man approached us on the corner and said, “Hay did I tell you about my experience with Jehova Witnesses?” I’m like, “No.” Well, he proceeded. “One day a lady stopped me you know, with the little magazines, and asked, do you want to be a Jehovah’s Witness?” And he said of himself, “How could I? I didn’t see the accident”.
NYNYS Mission September 2-11, 1996
Maybe I should note what is in this edition. Teaching a drunk, working it out with my comp, Mike Tyson Fight, TuPac’s Death, and an attack of the one eyed monster.
Card of Death
I was listening to a conversation about the fall while driving home from work yesterday. During the conversation they talked about the dialog between Eve and the Serpent. As they talked about phrase “You shall not surely die,” my mind flooded with memories of my past. I can’t 100% say this is the first time, but the inspiration felt new. It seems through a glimpse of enlightenment listening to this dialog, the story of my conversion took on a different layer. I had also received two messages about death. One had come from Satan and the other one was from God. I received both messages around the time of my conversion to Jesus Christ. And for what seemed to be the first time, I noticed the similarity to the story of Eve and the serpent in the garden of Eden.
Forgiveness
I would like to take a moment to talk about forgiveness.
My niece is pregnant!
Pregnancies are life events that fill us with joy. They are like gifts sent down from God. Unfortunately, they are not looked at that way by the world when they are inconvenient or unplanned. I’m going to do my best to tread lightly as I talk about this.