Hope in Christ

 So today in church we read and discussed M. Russell Ballard's talk from April 2021 General Conference "Hope in Christ." There was so much I wanted to share in class, but didn't know how to articulate my words and I also didn't know if...I didn't want to make others uncomfortable by bringing up my same-gender attraction. In his talk he mentions the Mayo Clinic (which I'm guessing is not a clinic for those in condiment rehabilitation) and how they did a report that says "Having a sense of belonging is so important...we cannot separate the importance of a sense of belonging from our physical and mental health" I don't feel like I belong. I've felt this way for a very long time. When I was in the church and active I didn't feel like I belonged, when I was out of the church and living a gay lifestyle, I didn't feel like I belonged. I don't feel like I fit anywhere except work. I LOVE working, because I know a thing or two about grilling and I know a thing or two about food. (I am food's biggest fan.) So I love going to work because I know I am making some sort of contribution and maybe even making a difference for people. Aside from work though, I feel lost and alone and like I don't belong. 

I think a reason for this is because of something that M. Russell Ballard says, "Each of us is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents. This is our identity! This is who we really are!" I believe this to be true. But there is a heavy amount of cognitive dissonance in the fact that I am gay. This is my identity. This is who I really am. I believe this to be true as well. So what I am dealing with every day of my life, is trying to put these two together. It is impossible. I feel that I can not be a gay son of God. I can not have a boyfriend and a relationship with a man and share my testimony about how I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God. I can not keep covenants in the temple and be my true son of God self, and act on feelings of attraction to another man. It simply can not be done. So...I don't fit.

 I do not fit among the gays who constantly tell me that the church is toxic and evil. They are so angry at God and at the church and at bishops and members and there is so much hatred.  I do not fit with them, because I do not feel that way. I have almost never hated the church. I do not feel that the church is evil, because I do not feel that God is evil and I know that God brought back all of His teachings and principles and used the church as a means to do that. God's teachings are pure, they are correct, and they are true. It is when we hand those principles off to men to decide what is meant by these principles and teachings that things become confusing, muddy, and at some times, inaccurate. But I digress and this is not a cross-examination for gay men to plead with them to change their minds about the church. Their hatred and distrust for the church and, in turn, for God can not be changed through any amount of debate. I must add here that not all gay men are this way, just as not all members of the church are ignorant or uncomfortable in regards to homosexuality and same-gender attraction. It has just been my experience that most of those whom I have met that have left the church, whether they are gay or not, are angry, bitter, resentful, and hateful towards the church and even towards God and I wish that would change, but I do not know their history of trauma or their struggle and so I can not judge the resulting wrath or contempt they may feel. 

I do not fit among the faithful Christians in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I may meet a guy who I find attractive and we may go on a date and after the date, we may kiss (I doubt this will happen, because I also have found that most gay men, including myself, have lost what it means to be in a real relationship and only know hook-up culture and all of the toxic parts that go along with it. The church is toxic? Let's examine Grindr for a half a minute. Again, I digress.) If he and I kiss or go any further than that, I now can no longer give blessings. I can not speak in church about the things that I have studied that week in the scriptures. I can not have a calling in the church. I am no longer able to take the sacrament. Essentially I have kissed my way out of most of the church, literally. That leaves me feeling ashamed of trying to find some sort of male connection that might make me happy, because now I feel guilty that I can't stand in the circle at my nephew's confirmation. So not only do I not fit in at church, but I also feel like I don't fit in with my family or that I don't belong there. Luckily for me, my family has made me feel like I belong. There was a time when my family didn't understand what being gay meant. They didn't understand and so there was a time when I didn't feel like I belonged in my family. I still feel like I don't belong sometimes when I am with extended family and I don't really know why. 

And so, I don't fit. I don't belong. I'm lonely in this aspect. M. Russell Ballard continues, "I speak of hope in Christ...hope is essential to overcoming adversity, fostering spiritual resilience and strength, and coming to know that we are loved by our Eternal Father and that we are His children, who belong to his family." This is hard for me to believe and I have a hard time trusting that my Father in Heaven still loves me when I do things I'm not supposed to, but mostly I want to focus more on what Pres. Ballard says next, "When we have hope in Christ, we come to know that as we need to make and keep sacred covenants, our fondest desires and dreams can be fulfilled." ...I have concerns. I have questions. I have LOTS of thoughts on this. When I was young I think my desire was to become a pie maker. When I was a teenager I wanted to become an actor. When I came home from my mission, I just wanted to be normal; to have a wife and a son. When I realized the desire to have a wife and a son may never happen for me, my greatest desire was to die. When I decided to come back to church after about 9 years of being out of the church, it was so that I could have a son. My desires have changed. My desire now? I have a lot of them (some of which have come true! I have desired so strongly to have a place of my own and to have a job that I love doing) One of my desires is to find someone who loves me and I love them. Someone who will take me out on a date and make me feel like I am the most exciting person in their lives and who I feel that same way about. I don't desire sex. I desire companionship. I desire a best friend (who is cute and wealthy, but that's maybe asking a bit much) who can't wait to text me in the morning and see what I'm doing. Someone who can lay next to me in bed and we don't have to say a word, we don't even need to touch! Just someone there, who makes me feel safe and loved and acknowledged in a way that I haven't felt in a very long time. Oh, and also, I desire that person to be male. I have no desire to be with a woman. When I dream, my fondest dream is not a woman, but a caring, moral, spiritual, funny MAN.  Here's the problem with my dreams and desires in the context of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I need to change my desires and stop dreaming.  Because I can't be going to the temple and keeping covenants in order to find a guy of my dreams. Which leads to the question "so, then are my REAL desires a woman and I just am not going to the temple enough or reading scriptures enough or praying enough to make my real desires manifest?" No wonder I'm seeing a therapist. I can't think too hard on anything or I will become ashamed, depressed, resentful, and ultimately give up. I've been there before, I can not go there again. 

President Dallin H. Oaks explained that some of the circumstances "of mortality will be set right in the Millennium, which is the time for fulfilling all that is incomplete in the great plan of happiness for all of our Father's worthy children." This tells me that my circumstances in this life are not right, because I am not desiring a wife, but that I need not worry, because those "will be set right in the Millennium" A lot of gay kids and teenagers may think, "well, I can't wait that long for me to be normal and for my circumstances to be made right" and they kill themselves in hopes of fast tracking it to this Millennium when they will be made right. I feel like I can't kill myself, for a couple of reasons, so in my case I just have to wait. M. Russell Ballard goes on to say, "Waiting upon the Lord does not imply biding one's time. You should never feel like you are in a waiting room." ....ooookay, so what happens when that is EXACTLY how I feel. I should make a side note here that is related to this. Some of you reading this may think that having a boyfriend or being in a gay relationship is all I think about or is all I want. This is not true. I also want to be healthy. I would like to wake up in the morning and not feel tired still. (how can you sleep and then wake up to feel like you need to sleep again?!) I still have desires to be an actor (specifically a voice actor.. so if any of you know anyone....just saying.) I have other things I think about that a relationship, but this blog post and this lesson today wasn't about fulfilling my dream of becoming a voice actor or how I can find the motivation to work out when I'm still getting over Co-vid symptoms that I had two years ago. Perhaps I should write a blog about finding motivation and being healthy, but that is not this blog. I am also not saying I am not blessed or that I have not received many other desires. As I have already mentioned, I have a beautiful townhome that is all my own (I mean, I'm renting, but you get what I mean) and I have a job that is so great. I have a wonderful family who loves me, I have friends that care about me, and I have food in my home and clothes to wear. I have a lot of good things in my life. I feel that this should be shared with those gay kids and teenagers who feel like they have nothing to live for. There are still so many things to live for. You matter and you make a difference in other's lives. There is a difference between the thought, "I need to kill myself, to get this amazing Millennium I hear about in conference and then all will be right and I will be HAPPY." and the thought, "I can be happy in some things now, I just need to wait around until the Millennium and then I will be made RIGHT" I mean, both are pretty depressing ways to look at things, but I tend to think in the latter. I have lots of things that are blessings in my life and I have a few times when I am actually happy, it's just in regards to this ONE desire of having a companion, a best friend, a love of my life, that I feel I don't have and that I have to wait until the Millennium to receive. It's hard to wait that long. How are those who are widowed or who are single do it? How do you keep going day after day until this Millennium (which may never even come in my lifetime. It may be 100 or 500 years from now) comes and things will be made right? I guess one way is to serve others. You lose yourself when you give it to others in service. You stop thinking about your own hardships or challenges, your own losses, when you serve others. But it's hard to give service to others when it's 9 pm and you just got home from a long work day and you are sad that there is no one waiting there for you to say, "hey how was your day? Sit with me on the couch and we'll watch a show together."  

This is a really long post. I just have so many thoughts on today's lesson at church. I try not to think too much into anything, because then I get depressed or have an anxiety attack, but I have a meeting with my bishop in a few hours and I'm pretty sure I'll be excommunicated again and then I will REALLY feel like I don't belong anywhere. I guess that is why I posted this and why this lesson hit me so hard today is because...bottom line, to make a long post shorter (or longer however you look at it)..

I love this church. I love my Savior Jesus Christ. I love singing the Hymns, I believe in the principle of paying tithes and that it blesses the lives of others and your own life. I know that both the bible and the book of Mormon are the word of God and that a person can get nearer to God by reading them each day. I know that Jesus suffered for me and I definitely know that repentance is a real principle of the gospel that I have exercised countless numbers of times. But I'm also gay. I want a relationship with a male that will involve, at some point, a physical relationship. So, where do I fit in? Where do I belong? 

I know there are others out there who feel like I feel. What have you done? How do you find a place for yourself? 

2020 My Year in Review.

 So I typed up a review of my year 2020 in January...then things got cray-cray...so here's that post: 

Hey Everyone. So...2020 huh? Haha. You may or may not have noticed that I just haven't posted much on either Instagram or on here. 2020 kind of sucked. There were some really hard times this year. There were also some amazing and wonderful things that happened this year too.

I got to share some of my story at a North Star Conference in March about coming out, living an openly gay lifestyle, changing gears and repenting and coming back to church. I got to get my book out (Converted to the Lord...it's on Amazon...go buy it...haha, okay enough plugging my book) and I even got to sign a few copies! I hope it has been a source of help, information, and maybe even joy for those of you who have read it.

My Grandmother died in March. I know I wasn't the best grandson. I didn't take her to lunch as often as I should, I didn't call her as much as I should have, and I didn't go visit her as much as I should have either. I had an anxiety attack after she passed over the fact that I feel like I'm not making her proud. These last few years, after I got rebaptized into the Church of Jesus Christ, she would almost always take me aside at family functions, hold my hands in hers and whisper "you know I prayed for you every day that you would come back to church." So many others prayed for me and fasted for me and put my name into the temple and I am so touched by that, but at the same time, I just put so much pressure on myself to stay true to the gospel, because everyone was, in a sense, “rooting for me” and I don’t want all of those prayers and that fasting and support to have been in vain. So, I got in my head about everything and that is always dangerous, because 90 percent of the time it leads to anxiety attacks, which it did in this case. So I took a pill that helps me calm down and the next day I prayed and talked to my parents and I felt better.

April was when Corona really got big. At work, I would come in every day and it was something new. Starting today we are wearing masks. Starting today we are no longer letting people get their own drinks. Starting today we officially closed lobby and it’s only call-in orders or online orders. Now the grillers have to wear masks. Now they don’t. It was just so crazy and overwhelming at times. People became either very understanding and gave us tips for keeping up the good work or, and more often, people became more irritable and frustrated. One customer cursed me out and threatened to come back and slit my throat because we couldn’t find her order (we did find it later. Someone in her family had given us a different name to put it under.) So…that was uncalled for I felt like. We also only had about 10 people at our store at that time, which meant we worked with the same 6 or so people on a shift. So, we grew to be more of a family, but that also meant we would be irritated with each other more often. It was so hard, but we made it through and that is one of the things I am so grateful for is that we never had to close during COVID and we actually were MORE busy than we were before COVID.

June and July were hard months for me. I hate summer anyways, it’s my least favorite season, but we weren’t able to go to California, which I enjoy doing. It was also so hot at work and wearing a mask, I felt like I was going to pass out! It is usually so hot out that I never leave my house in the summer if I don’t have to, so not much changed there, it’s just that other people who aren’t introverts (like my sister) were losing their minds, because they couldn’t go anywhere or do anything.

From May to August I felt really depressed. I felt like I had no purpose in my life. I basically felt like all I was doing was going into work, coming home and eating, going to bed, and then doing the same thing the next day. I saw NO future for me. I basically felt like “I have no children. I am not married or dating anyone. I’m not getting romantic love, and no one is interested in me. I’m fat, I’m balding, I’m old and I’m going to be living in my sister’s basement for the rest of my pitiful existence. I felt like everyone around me was moving up in life or #livingtheirbestlife and I was just stuck. I honestly felt like “I’m just making it through. I’m surviving another day until I die. And then, when I die, I’ll be sooo happy! I don’t want to kill myself, because then I don’t go to the highest heaven and I can’t be with God (I was taught that when I was younger and I’m not sure if that is a correct principle or not, but I still didn’t want to kill myself and find out that it was a true principle and now I can’t see God ever again.) But I also REALLY didn’t want to live anymore. I had nothing to live for really. People who knew that I was thinking this way (like my mother) said, “well, what about me!? Live for me! I would be so sad if you left me!” but my mind was such that I thought. “well, it’s selfish of my mom to guilt me into staying here just to make her happy. What about my happiness? I want to die so then I can be happy. Don’t I deserve happiness too?” It was a very dark and unhappy time.

August…I think it was August…Something amazing happened. I was told about a job opening within the Mo’ Bettah’s company that I work for. It was an opening for a company grill trainer. I LOVE grilling at work and my boss, Tylar, had the amazing insight to tell Tami, the person over the training team, about me and then told me that I should apply and interview for it. So I did and… I got the position!! I got a promotion and perks and an opportunity to do something I loved and teach others how to do something I loved. I really don’t think that my bosses knew (because I didn’t really know at the time) how much this position literally saved my life. Because of this new position, I have been told by those I train how much they appreciate my help. I’ve been told by store managers how valuable my instruction and training has been. I’ve been given a purpose. I look forward to going to work (most days…some days I’m still a bit tired and whine haha.) I’ve been able to open new store locations and see teamwork and excitement on a new level. And I’m making more money so I thought about maybe even being able to move out and get my own place. (I’m not so sure on that anymore, but that’s later) Something else about having this new position…I haven’t had a panic attack (that I can remember, knock on wood) in quite a while.

September, I went down to St. George to open that location and it was so fun and such an amazing experience! It was hard though (3 12 hour days in a row and SEVERE dehydration) but it was so great overall!....Then I came home. I went to go work in one of the stores on a Wednesday and at about 1:00 I started feeling kind of sore and a bit tired. So I went home early and got home and took a nap. I woke up feeling terrible. Fever and shaking uncontrollably, couldn’t breathe, coughing, headache, and cramping so bad in my lower back I truly felt like I wanted to die to make the pain go away. So I took some medicine that didn’t help much and Friday, I went to get tested for COVID. The test came back positive. I went home and slept. The next 6 or so days I laid on the floor, with a pillow between my legs to try and stop the lower back pain and alternated Tylenol and Ibuprofen to keep from shivering uncontrollably. I didn’t eat anything and then at night, I would lay down and try to sleep…waking up every few hours to cough until my throat hurt and then try and get more sleep. My dad went to the hospital because his symptoms were so bad. My mom lost it. She was weak already from COVID, and so mentally she became weak as well and was so scared that my dad was going to die that she slept…maybe 12 or so hours in about 4 days. I wanted to go to the hospital, but I felt like I couldn’t leave my mom so I stayed home. My dad got out of the hospital and came home finally. Later that night I began coughing so violently that I started throwing up, so I went to the hospital. I was in there for four days and it was awful, but it was also good because they were giving me medicine and oxygen to help me breathe. I also couldn’t taste anything so that sucked.

I finally got out of the hospital but was still exhausted and not breathing great. By Halloween I felt better (not 100% but better) I STILL have a hard time breathing every so often and I still feel really exhausted sometimes, but I am doing much better so that is good. As soon as the doctor called and said that I was okay to go out in public again, I called and scheduled an appointment to get my wisdom teeth out because they had been hurting in St. George, but I never got to get them taken out because of CORONA. So, I went in and got all four of my wisdom teeth out. I laid on the couch for about 2 days and slept and “ate” mashed potatoes and applesauce. So, between not eating anything during COVID and eating essentially a liquid diet due to wisdom teeth removal, I lost a good amount of weight. I have since gained it all back because the second I could start eating again…boy you bet I went and started eating like I had never seen food before.

November we had Thanksgiving at our house, but were not able to do black Friday shopping like we always do every year. That was a bummer and my mom and I were pretty sad about it, but luckily Walmart still had a lot of black Friday deals so my mom and I felt better about that. Haha.

Finally December came around about 47 years later. (Christmas time started at about 10’o clock on Oct. 31^st.) I had a good birthday and a good Christmas. I didn’t thank anyone for the nice birthday messages I got on my birthday and I didn’t mass text a bunch of people Merry Christmas like I usually do. This year I have just…not been very social. Blame it on COVID, but I just have not been as friendly, sociable, or as thoughtful as I usually have been. I think it’s also a little bit of residual depression that has been lingering around. December is a hard month for me, even though it might not seem like it. THIS year’s December was harder than most. I’m alone. Yes, I have friends, a good family who cares about me, relatives who are so fun to be with, and co-workers who are so kind. But what I don’t have is someone who lights up when they see me, and I for them. I don’t have someone to hold my hand or play with my hair or scratch the back of my neck or my back. I don’t have anyone to cuddle or kiss (my new year’s kiss was non existent at midnight so I just kissed my giant stuffed sloth on the head which is terribly depressing and also a bit weird.) and my mom and dad told me not to say never, but I really feel like I will never kiss anyone ever again. I used to want kids, but now I’m just old and tired and if I were to actually meet anyone who could be a prospective baby maker, it would take dating and meeting the parents and our first fight and getting engaged and getting married and then a honeymoon and THEN maybe one child. By that time I’ll be 40 and if I want to have any more than one child forget about it cuz I don’t want to be 65 at my daughter’s first grade recital or 74 at my youngest son’s wedding. So I sit and I think about this stuff and then get depressed and the fact that I turned 36 this year which is basically 63 in gay years and knowing that in four years I’m going to be 40 is really, really depressing. I’m old. And I know everyone tries to make me feel better by saying, “oh honey, that’s not old. I’m 62, now THAT’s old” doesn’t help because 40 is still old. And a 40 year old single man is sad (they even make movies about how sad that is) Something that does make me happy is my job. Knowing that, even though I don’t have kids and I don’t have anything to leave to this world…I can leave my knowledge of the grill to those I train. Maybe they will remember me and my techniques I’ve shown them and those can get passed down to others. Also, I may not have children, but I have nieces and nephews and they are pretty great. I just get sad this time of year thinking how I don’t have a wife to make family holiday traditions with. I sit alone at the table with my parents, my sisters and their husbands, and I’m the single guy. I’m sad I don’t have a wife who loves playing games and my sister and her laugh over something funny that they saw on Instagram. I’m sad that I don’t have a husband who takes me to meet his extended family and warns me about his “Aunt Lisa who will get too drunk and start in on politics and will yell at my great uncle Gus about his liberal agenda.” And I’ll laugh and he’ll laugh and…yeah that’s not happening. So I do get sad about that. I got sad a few days ago when I was figuring out my bills and looking at townhomes and realizing that one month rent on a falling apart townhome in the middle of Muderville is still 1,200 dollars a month and I can’t afford that because everything is too freaking expensive. I get sad thinking about how I haven’t read my scriptures in over a month. The last time I prayed was…Christmas eve I think it was and the last time I felt the spirit…actually that was 2 weeks ago in sacrament meeting when two violinists played a Christmas hymn and it was so beautiful that I felt it spiritually and it was something I hadn’t felt in months.

So…to summarize this short post haha. This year has been rough. Even though it has been rough, there have still been miracles and blessings and wonderful happy times too. But I don’t think that is exclusive to the year 2020. I think that’s how life is. It’s rough, but it does have it’s miracles, it’s blessings, and it’s wonderful happy times. So for this next year, may we be able to get through the rough times. May you have a friend you can call when you are sad. May you have a knowledge that you are beautiful, even when you don’t feel beautiful. May you laugh and may you sigh with content at least once a month is my hope and wish for you all in the new year.

My hopes for myself in the new year? Gosh…I hate doing that, because it just seems like those hopes are as unrealistic as saying “I hope I meet Tom Holland this year and I hope that he asks me to be his boyfriend.” But here are my hopes and we’ll see how unrealistic they are:

I hope I can stop calling myself ugly…I hope that I can someday be beautiful so that when I tell myself I’m not ugly, I’ll actually believe it.

I hope I get a place of my own. To have something that I worked hard for, that I can decorate myself, that I can have ownership over…would make me so happy and proud.

I hope I can feel the spirit again someday. I hope I can create in my home and in myself, a place of peace and reverence. I hope that I can find more religion, not just in scripture and in prayer…but in nature, in music, in people and in all the world around me.

I hope I can get to a place where I stop comparing myself to everyone around me. Stop comparing my life with that of someone who has a wife and children, thinking that having those two things negates any good thing I have in my life. Stop comparing my intelligence to those who have a college degree, who are engineers or architects or lawyers, who have a bachelor’s, a master’s or a whatever else, because that leads to thoughts like, “see, they are making money and have a nice house and nice things because they are smart. If I wasn’t stupid, then I could be making good money and be having nice things.”. Stop comparing my body with those I see in movies, musicians, or on social media. (I saw a post from this guy today who posted a shirtless selfie and talked about how proud he was that he was able to get this far in his weight loss/ muscle mass journey and I immediately thought “see and he will probably get a girlfriend or a boyfriend, because he’s hot. You will not because…well…look at you…”

I hope I have more happy days. I hope I have more smiles and laughs this year. But I also hope I can have peace; quiet moments of calm and relaxation.

Aaaaand I want a cat. One that will lick my hair and sleep on my lap. 😊

So!? What happened!!?

So...whatever happened to that Brent guy? Did he get his "car" back? did he die? Is he still in Narnia? Well, here's the thing. I'm still here. Life has been completely crazy and I have started writing my new blog post many a time, but have never been able to commit myself to that much time. I mean, that x-box isn't going to play itself...anyways, here is part of my story that I wrote about 6 months ago..yeah..it's been that long, and then I will continue after it to update some more...



well, I needed to write this down so i could remember it, but i'm much faster at typing than at writing. Last Thursday (April 6, 2017) night I closed at work, so I went to bed at around 3 a.m. The next morning at about 8:30 I got a phone call from a number I didn't recognize and because of that and the fact that I was dead tired, I didn't answer. Then I got another call immediately after from President Checketts (my stake president) so I decided THAT call I DID need to answer. He told me that Elder Craig Cook of the seventy wanted to meet with me and what time and day would work! So I ran into my parent's room and asked my mom what my schedule was like. She said Wednesday and The Stake President said he would call Elder Cook's assistant and see. He said, "okay, will 3:00 Wednesday work?" I worked until 2 that day so it would be pushing it, but this is not the kind of appointment you want to reschedule! So I said yes, humg up, and thought I would just figure something out. Then I remembered that my manager had adjusted my schedule so I checked Wednesday and it actually had been changed to 1:45 (tender mercy, my mom said) So I made sure to tell my boss, Eric, that I would need to be off at 1:30 for the single most important meeting of my life. I had to explain why and gave him my car analogy (it's on my blog.) So I left work, got home, showered, and headed with my parents down to Salt Lake. We picked up my Stake President down there because we needed him to get through church security. A legit security guard asked us for our names and we told him who we were there to meet with. He let us in and gave us a parking pass. We walked in and as we were walking in, the Stake President was telling me and showing me all of the apostle's cars. (a lot of them prefer highlanders...anyways) so then we walked in and Elder Bednar followed in behind us!!! He's shorter in person. He said hello to us and my mom said hello back. Then we talked to the receptionist who also got our names and told us that we were good to go. We walked down a hallway and took a left and nearly bumped into Elder Quentin Cook of the 12 apostles! That's when my Stake President said, 'I think we're in the wrong hall.' so we went back to the original hallway and took an elevator up and met Elder Cook's (seventy, not 12 apostle Cook) assistant. She then introduced us to Elder Cook. He was very soft spoken and super kind. My parents, my Stake President and I went into his office where he talked to us for a minute. He said that it was a highly unusual case for parents to come along, but that they got special approval from the first presidency for them to be there. (looking back...I think it was so my parents could have a spiritual experience and because of all the pain I had caused them and all of the pain that they had seen me go through, they needed that experience about as much as I did.) Then Elder Cook took me into another room that looked like a board room for meetings. Along the one wall were paintings. One of the Savior and the woman taken in adultery. One of a leper being healed by the Savior, another one with the woman with the issue of blood who touched Christ's robe. It meant something to me because I was one of those people. I was glad that these men of God met around this table, with these images to help remind them of the broken sinners or those who were not whole who were made whole by Christ and were given a second chance at life. So Elder Cook asked how I was feeling and I told him I was diagnosed with severe anxiety disorder and that if my words were choppy and all over the place it's because I was nervous. He said, 'this isn't supposed to be a scary thing, though it is a very important thing.' I also shared with him how I hoped that he could see my honesty. That is something I really am glad I have and that I try to be honest and genuine with everything i say. I didn't want him to think I was just saying a bunch of nice words or nice things that were all fluff and no substance. He asked me what I had learned from this long and challenging experience. That is always a hard question to answer because how can I explain all the tears and the fear and the change and the growth and the experiences i've been through the past 6 or 7 years in a few moments or words? i shared that basically everything was more. What I meant by that is that everything that I have gone through has strengthened my testimony. I have more compassion for others who struggle. I have more love for my Savior, Jesus Christ. I have more insight into what repentance truly is and what the process may take. Just more. Everything in my life was more because of the things I went through. He then asked some other questions and my Stake President came in to confirm some of the things that I has been saying. Then Elder Cook asked me, "do you feel you have been forgiven?" This was a really hard question. He said I could take some time to think about it while he and my stake president discussed some other things. So I went out to the lobby of his office and prayed. "God, Thou knowest me... God, You know that I am extremely hard on myself and I, of course, don't feel like I'm ready or that I am a good person who is clean and forgiven. I will probably tell them I need more time, but God....You know me better than I know me. Am I okay?" I didn't receive an answer...I thought about when I was deciding whether or not to serve a mission and I asked God if I should and received no answer. I remembered that in that situation, I had to decide, "okay, I'm going on a mission." and then I prayed to receive confirmation that my choice was good. Only then did I get a confirmation that was I was about to do was right. So I closed my eyes and said, "God, I think I have worked a lot to get here and I pray that I am forgiven and that I can look at myself as clean...that I can go before Elder Cook and tell him that I am ready to move forward. Is that okay?"
(that's as far as I got in my writing)


I then had the thought, "Brent, you could tell them you need more time, and then wait in fear for another unknown amount of time, suffering anxiety and unsurity. Or you could try and live the gospel as best you can and see if that works for you. I think it will." So I went back into the meeting room and Elder Cook asked, "so what are your thoughts?" and I told him what had just occurred in the lobby. I then told him, "I'm clean. I'm ready." He looked and me and said, 'I feel the same way. So does your stake president. With your confirmation, I think we are ready to bring you back into the church and fully restore all of your previous blessings." I finally got my "car" back! I began to cry and asked if I could give him a hug! He said yes and I cried and hugged him and then my stake president. We all went back into his office where my parents were, impatiently, waiting for the news. I told them and they both began to cry so I started crying again. I hugged them and then I sat down to receive all of my blessings back. I am choosing not to disclose information on how that process happens because it is quite sacred to me. I can say that there is just a strong, strong feeling of love. So for those of you who are inactive or are no longer with the church but feel a longing to come back, please come. You may think it is too scary or that people will be mad with you...and maybe some people will. Maybe some people will not be willing to forgive your actions while you were inactive from the church or when you were living against the church. But I can promise you with a 100 percent guarantee that God will never be angry with you. He loves you and will accept you with love and joy if you are willing to come to Him in sincerity.
One thing that was said to me by Elder Cook as I left was "every day is a new day." I love that. I have still tried to keep that in my mind, especially when I make mistakes, I still make them. I am human. Just by getting all of the blessings back that I had previously not had, does not mean that I am perfect. A lot has happened in the six months since. I will probably share some of them with you later, but I just want to say that the road I took to get to where I was on April 6, 2017 was not an easy one. It was not quick and it was not always pleasant, but it was WORTH IT. Please come back to church. Please repent and live each day new. You are clean every morning when you wake up and every night when you go to sleep if you will ask for forgiveness with real sincerity and keep trying to do good things. I love this church so much and am so grateful that this chapter of my life has come to a close. That does not mean that I am not going to continue to be converted to the Lord. I have to be converted again every day. You can too. I can try and help in any way I can, because I love you and want to see you happy as well, because we should all be happy!!

Press Forward, Endure to the end...

" And now, my beloved brethren, after ye have gotten into this strait and narrow path, I would ask if all is done? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; for ye have not come thus far save it were by the word of Christ with unshaken faith in him, relying wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save.

Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life." (2 Nephi Chapter 31, verses 19 and 20) Well, everyone, it has been one year. I haven't posted anything in one year. I said on Facebook that I would explain why and this is something I've prayed about and feel that it can be shared, so long as it's not talked about in detail or at too much length. I had asked not to have any data on my phone or any internet on my computer, because of the awful and damaging effects of pornography. It became an addiction and, as with addictions, it had some very devastating effects on me. So, to keep myself strong and clean, I asked for no data and no internet. I hated that choice. But I am so grateful for that choice. It helped me to see that I can live a clean life and that one's addiction does not have to rule one's life and that I don't have to fear that I will never be clean from addiction, because I have had prolonged time of cleanliness and morality. (for more information, the LDS church has a lot of information on how to get help and where to go and I also love the website www.fightthenewdrug.org)

I decided, again with prayer, that I was ready for data and internet again and started slowly with very limited data on my phone. This post is not about pornography or about internet usage or about my phone,however. This post is about enduring to the end, and what happens AFTER I'm baptized.  

I like to use an analogy of a car. Let's say that a dad gets his son a new car (or a used car...whatever...a car) and he just GIVES him this car. That's pretty nice of that dad to do. Let's say the son gets in an accident because he was texting while driving. So, as punishment, his dad takes his phone and his car away until further notice. Clearly, this dad hates his son and doesn't want him to be happy right? Despite what the son or the son's friends tell him, this boy's father does not hate his son. He loves his son. He doesn't want his son to get hurt again and wants to be able to trust him with both his phone and his car. Clearly, the son is a terrible menace to society, an awful, lawless person who should never be allowed to drive ever again, right? Wrong again. Why do you think it's called a car accident. It was an accident! The son wasn't TRYING to destroy his own car and put others and himself in harm, he just made a mistake. He can still drive a car and use his phone, it's just got to be at a time when he can be trusted with them both. that doesn't mean he's NEVER going to get into another accident or that he's not going to possibly go too fast in a snow storm and veer off the road, only to be more cautious and get back on the road again.  

God gave me His gospel, His church, a knowledge of His Son, and all of the wonderful benefits that come with it (tithing, prayer, the temple, church callings, etc.) I got into an accident. So, my Father, as punishment, took away those gospel blessings from my life. Because He hates me and is a vengeful, angry God, right? No. God loves me. He just wants me to not hurt myself again. Until I can appreciate my 'phone' (the church) and my 'car' (all of the associated blessings) again, I can't use it for awhile. Does that mean I am an awful person and should never be trusted with God's blessings and His church ever again? No. Will I still 'drive too fast in a snow storm' (curse, hear a dirty joke, be short with someone, not read my scriptures one day) Yes. I will just have to be more cautious and get back on the road again. Last year, my Father decided to 'give me back my phone' first. I was rebaptized into the church of Jesus Christ of latter-day saints. I was then able to receive some of my original blessings back. I could represent the congregation by praying to God in behalf of all of us, I could have the Holy Ghost with me always to help guide me in my life all the time instead of feeling that feeling every once and awhile. Many other things that I can't share because they are personal to me happened. But I still didn't have my 'car.' A few days ago I received a call asking me if I could come in and meet with someone high up in my church to discuss receiving all of my former blessings. This means, that I could go back into the temple, give blessings to others in the name of God, and do some pretty important stuff. I could get my 'car' back. :) Much like the responsibility that comes to someone who gets their first car, this is a pretty big deal and there is much sobriety and much maturity that will come with these blessings being restored. I'm nervous. To say I have anxiety over this is an understatement. Some of you may know that I suffer from severe anxiety that has only recently become an ugly part of my life. Accompanying it are attacks. I didn't think those were real or that only crazy people had them. My sister said, "that's because nobody films themselves having an anxiety attack!" I have been blessed with a lot of feelings, but sometimes my feelings are too much for me to handle and they all come flooding in at one time. Anger, fear, resentment, hate, frustration, even love and concern and some happiness all come at me in one giant wave. I start breathing in and out rapidly, shaking occurs, I will punch walls, beds, pillows, the floor, or even myself in the head. If not contained, I will pass out from lack of oxygen. It's not real fun. I don't do it to get attention. I don't use it as an excuse to get out of hard things. I wish I didn't have it. To live in a constant fragile state of fear is not something I enjoy. I try and 'just be happy and calm down' like many suggest, but it's not that simple. I am still meeting with a therapist to go over these attacks and to stabilize my mood and medication helps with that as well. I worry about so many things, but this week what I'm worried about is that I'm not ready. I'm not ready to 'get my car back'. I'm not good enough or I haven't paid enough of a price. I still make too many mistakes. My heart is in it, but my body says, 'forget that, I'm gonna do what I want to do!!!' and then remorse and negative consequences inevitably follow. So Wednesday...I will just have to keep a prayer in my heart (and if y'all would like to do the same that would be spectacular) that my Father knows when I'm ready to get my 'car' back. He knows what I can handle even when I fear I can't handle it. Now that I have internet I will try and let you know more about how things are going, and of course, reach out on Facebook or texting and share your thoughts or concerns or anything with me. Some of you have and I enjoy being able to discuss shared feelings of inadequacies or struggles or feelings of God's love in your life or in mine.  I am just so grateful that I have a God in Heaven who knows me better than I know me. It brings peace to know that at least SOMEONE out there knows what the heaven is going on with me and my life and where I'm headed. So...that's it for today. We'll see what happens Wednesday! 

I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints...

"Behold, thus saith the Lord God: When the day cometh that they shall believe in me, that I am Christ, then have I covenanted with their fathers that they shall be restored in the flesh, upon the earth, unto the lands of their inheritance. And it shall come to pass that they shall be gathered in from their long dispersion..."
So...I realize I left a lot of you out there hanging. "Did he get baptized? it's been like four weeks, what the heck happened!?"
Well, I went in and met with the Stake President. (the ecclesiastical leader overseeing my progression)  We sat down and he opened a folder and began to ask me questions.
"Do you believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His son, Jesus Christ?" My heart leapt and I started to feel a small sliver of hope, but stopped just in case what I thought was happening might not ACTUALLY be what was happening. I answered with a heartfelt and a sincere, "yes!" He moved to the next question; and the next question; and the next. Each question brought on a different part of my journey. Did I believe we have a prophet on the Earth today? What did this mean to me? I thought about Moses, Adam, and Noah. All of the greats! Then I smiled at the thought that I believe, and know with a surety, that we have a Moses, an Adam, a Noah still on the Earth today. God used prophets anciently to declare His word and if God is the same yesterday, today, and forever then why wouldn't  He still speak to us through a prophet? We have that prophet, Thomas S. Monson, and I sustain him and follow his word, knowing it is the word of God. What do I know of the Word of Wisdom? Was I willing to follow this? I thought back to when I decided to stop drinking coffee and tea, even though I didn't understand why, and the resulting health benefits I received from following what God asked. I think about how I stopped watching movies or listening to songs that filled my body with unhealthy garbage; things that were not good for me. "Yes! I'm willing to live this way." I was asked about what I had learned from the first principles of the gospel, faith in Jesus Christ and repentance. I'm STILL learning what that means to me. Faith in Jesus Christ has to be there, otherwise I will have no belief that I could repent. I would not be able to feel forgiven or cleansed if I didn't first have faith that Christ was an actual man, but more than that, that Christ wasn't JUST a man, but a God also; A God who suffered for my sins and died for me. Did that happen? Is it merely a nice story to make us feel better? No, I do not think this is mere fairy tale. Yes, this actually happened. I know that it did. I don't fully understand it, but I know in my heart that Christ is real and so is the grace He offers me. I feel it. I can not write it in words or speak it to you. You have to feel it. That's the only way. I feel it. I know it because of those feelings. He then asked, "do you feel you have been forgiven?" ...Something I had been struggling with for years. Am I forgiven? I have done so very many dark and unclean things in the last 8 years...I have done terrible, saddening, sickening, horrifying things. But were these things UN-forgivable? Or could I really, truly, believe that Christ's atonement was strong enough to seriously cleanse me of these atrocities I had committed? I had been telling myself for months and years that I could not be forgiven. I had not suffered enough. The things I had done were too evil and surely God required more suffering on my part. But...in this moment...when asked, "do you feel you have been forgiven?" A voice from somewhere inside of me said, "yes." The words left my mouth and I began to cry. Joy overcame me. The stake president then read a letter from the Prophet and the apostles of the church... Indeed, I had been forgiven. I was accepted for baptism into the Church of Jesus Christ. I sobbed for a few moments, overcome with the emotions of  a spared soul, a man who had been snatched from a death sentence and had been pardoned. How? How do I deserve this? How am I offered such a blessing? How is this done? To this very day, I don't understand. I don't understand that kind of forgiveness and love. But I felt the voice whisper, "Brent, believe. Believe. You are clean. This is truth."  On March 6, 2016 I entered the waters of baptism. I actually don't remember a whole lot of that day because it was quite a lot to take in! One thing I do remember was looking into the font of water in which I would soon enter...and sobbing; the tears of a broken man who would soon be clean again and accepted into Christ's church... the church I had, for so many years, tried desperately to become a part of again. I think about this today. I was broken. I had to piece myself together. With God's help, piece by piece, I was put back together. I can see each of these pieces like a shattered vase. Each beautiful piece being placed back together. In one piece I can see my family (moving back in with my parents, gospel talks with my uncle, finding out about cousins who had fasted for me, my grandmothers telling me of their silent prayers for me, my sisters' words of affirmations along the way) In another piece I see my friends (Patrick and Kiera being there for me at institute when I first started coming back to church, Erin and Haley who took the time to befriend a sinner and love someone who I  thought was unloveable, Angel and Octavious and Taylor who befriended me at Volleyball when I was terrified to meet new people at church,  Sarah and Crystal and Brett and Herb and Tori and Jessica and Bryan and Kara and David and Zach ((and if I'm missing someone I'm so sorry)) who came and visited me at work and shocked me because I didn't understand why anyone would come see me at work. They talked with me at church, they have stayed with me, they supported me, they spoke of uplifting things and helped answer my questions. They provided me with a safe place to go and feel peace.) Another piece I see is prayer (nights that I did not sleep because I was up pleading and crying and begging my Father for help and forgiveness. Days where I needed prayer at every moment to get me through the day) In another piece is deleting my old Facebook and starting anew. Another piece: changing my phone number to move away from those who reminded me of my past life....a life I no longer wanted to remember. Yet another piece, meeting with a therapist to help me put my new life in order and sort out the mistakes of the past. Truly, many more pieces could be added and most of them are very private, very scary, very glorious, very spiritual, very heartbreaking, but very helping pieces of this glorious vessel that makes up me. I still have to wait for the glue to dry and I continually need to be placed back in the refiner's fire, but I am becoming a beautiful work of art thanks to my God and my Savior. This blog is not done, because every day I am converted to the Lord. I will continue to share struggles and successes on this road that still is leading me back to my Father in Heaven and to my Brother, Jesus Christ. But I did want to say how truly grateful I am for the miracle of the atonement of Jesus Christ. I kneel in amazement. I think about how Moses parted the red sea and I think, 'wow that's an amazing miracle...but guess what God did for ME! Now THAT'S a miracle!' It really is. There are those who might say, 'that's great that he could change his life around, but God and Jesus had nothing to do with it. It's just the story of a determined individual who made changes in his life and came out the other end a better man' and to them I would say, simply, 'you are wrong.' God and Jesus Christ had EVERYTHING to do with this change in my life. I could not be this person I am; I could not have made the necessary changes I needed to make; indeed I CAN NOT be anything without my God and my Lord. "Jesus saith unto him, 'I am the way, the truth and the life.' I love them. I need them. I praise them.


"...Seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; and have put on the new man, which is renewed in the knowledge after the image of him that created him...put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering...and above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful."

I am so thankful for my God. I am thankful for Jesus. I am thankful even, for this long journey back; the good times, but also the hard times on this road. It has all made me who I am today and I look forward to the journey ahead!

Come What May, and Love it...

I got a text yesterday from the man who sets up appointments with my stake president. For those of you who don't know what that means...The stake president is the one who will receive a letter letting me know if God has found me worthy of baptism. So when I received a text yesterday asking if I could meet with the stake president...I had a momentary freak out. My letter has arrived. Now I just have to wait for a time when I can meet with my stake president to see what the letter says. God is teaching me (but more-so teaching my mother) patience because it would be nice to know right this second what God has planned for me. Typing that (it would be nice to know right this second what God has planned for me) gets me thinking...wouldn't that be nice if such was the always the way. If, all of the time, we knew what God had planned for us right this second. Thomas S. Monson said, "Our problem is that we often expect instantaneous solutions to such challenges, forgetting that frequently the heavenly virtue of patience is required." I feel good in my heart. I feel...patient. I'm okay to wait for a few more minutes, or hours, or days, to see what God would have me do. I've been waiting years to see what God would have me do, so I can keep waiting. I'm becoming rather good at it! I'm so very glad that God will never rush us into anything. He lets us be patient so that we can have a more fulfilling experience. Had I been rushed into baptism, rushed through repentance, rushed into marriage, rushed into having children I would not have had any experience that was worthwhile. Because of my having to wait to get baptized, I have grown in every aspect of my testimony. because my repentance took time, (and still continues to be a daily aspect of my life) it means more to me once I'm completely forgiven. because I've had to wait to get married, I have found my relationships with others are deeper and more meaningful and I've been able to really focus on what I want in a future spouse and focus on what I need to do to become that future spouse myself. Because I've been having to wait for children of my own, I feel strongly that these children will be loved dearly and appreciated every minute of the day because of how long it took for me to receive them! And I've also learned parenting skills from my sisters that can help me be more ahead as a parent than having just rushed into having children. So, I'm grateful that God is teaching me patience because anything that is worth having takes time. So, what are my thoughts? Am I nervous? Am I going to be disappointed if I have to continue to wait?

I am actually not nervous at all. I fasted and prayed for peace and to feel okay with whatever God's answer to me is. And I feel that peace. And I know where that peace comes from, "Now the Lord of peace himself give you peace always by all means." (2 Thessalonians 3:16) I don't worry about my future. As long as I am striving to do what God asks me to do, He's got me in His hands and He will do as He sees fit to do with me, but I know whatever He sees fit to do with me, it will be great! It will make me happy and make those around me happy!

Either God will say, "okay, you're ready!" and I will get baptized, marry the most wonderful girl in the world, have children and live happily ever after (that is attainable, Happy Ever After is actually possible with God) Or God will say, "you still need to wait. Give it another year." and I will wait another year, get baptized, marry the most wonderful girl in the world, have children, and live happily ever after. The outcome, with God, is always going to be the same, I WILL be baptized into Christ's church. I WILL be married to a pure, righteous, beautiful daughter of God. I WILL have children. I WILL live happily ever after. God has promised these blessings to me and I WILL receive them, I may just have to be patient, but I WILL get there.


"Ye cannot behold with your natural eyes, for the present time, the design of your God concerning those things which shall come hereafter, and the glory which shall follow after much tribulation.

For after much tribulation come the blessings. Wherefore the day cometh that ye shall be crowned with much glory; the hour is not yet, but is nigh at hand."

Count Your Many Blessings... (alternative title: I'm working on that...)

I had originally started a different post today, but was interrupted by two of the cutest girls in my life. I was a little agitated, because I wanted to get this post written and then take a nap, but I also had had a really bad night last night and a tough morning and God said, 'you need to serve others and put them before yourself.' So I got off the computer and did puzzles with my one niece while the other one poked my ears and 'honked' my nose and said, 'ewww, so many boogers' and then laughed at her own hilarious joke. As I got on to finish this post, 7 hours later, I decided on a completely different topic. I was going to share my fears and my hardships of last night and of this morning, but all I'm going to say on that is that last night I had a lot of fear that filtered into this morning and I had to have a really honest, open conversation with God and had to ask Him for help. "I can't do this" was a main theme of my fears. I'm right, though. I can't do this. At least not on my own. Thankfully, I don't have to do this on my own. I have God and He has given me Christ. He's also given me a multitude of other blessings. (my nieces being two of those blessings) Spencer W. Kimball said, "Journals are a way of counting our blessings and of leaving an inventory of these blessings for our posterity.”  Since this blog is one of my journals, (in fact, it's one of the only ones I'm semi-good at keeping) It's hard to begin a list of blessings. I could name the obvious ones: a nice home to be in, food on the table, and clothes on my back, a car to drive, a job, money, food....I'm REAL thankful for food. But my list of blessings extends far beyond that. I don't JUST have a job. I have a job that I love going to. How many people can say that they love going into work. Even on those days when I don't really feel like going into work, I get inside and the smiles and the, "hey Brent"s that I get put me into a better mood and I wonder why I ever felt like not going into work.

I have been given an amazing family who loves me and who loves each other. I've heard of daughters who 'divorce' their parents, fathers who disown sons, brothers who fight over a grudge that neither of them can remember, and I think of how blessed I am to have a family who enjoys being around one another. Not just my direct family, but my extended family. I know people who haven't ever MET some of their cousins. I know all of mine and most of their children...I'm still working on that part. My uncle is my hero. My Grandma is my delight. My cousins each hold pieces of my heart. The support that my family gives to me is mind-blowing. It's humbling to know that not only do they take an interest in me, but they pray for me, fast for me, and fight for me. They love me and I only pray that I can love them as much.

I have been blessed with the most amazing group of friends. I really, and quite legitimately, don't understand them. I don't understand why they come visit me at work...some of them don't even like burgers! (I work at a burger place, for those who are confused) I don't understand why they pay close attention to little things I say and then remember to ask me about them later or they will remark about how they liked what I had said about something that I didn't even think anyone was listening to. (sometimes, I just like to hear myself talk, so it freaks me out when other people like to hear me talk as well) I have a group of 'bros' who don't care about my past or about my same-gender attraction; to them I'm just 'one of the bros' and I don't understand that! I sometimes feel like I'm SUPER awkward around them and I sometimes worry I'm going to say something 'gay' or slip up and show my true excitement for a movie musical that will make them all think, 'oooookay, so who's gonna tell him not to be seen around us anymore?' But then I spend a few minutes around them and I feel so loved and accepted that those fears go away (most times...still working on that) I have one friend that is so dear to me that it makes my heart ache with joy that she is in my life. Her laugh is pretty much my number one favorite sound in the world. She cares so deeply for everyone in her life and is such a good friend to everyone that it makes me feel like the worst friend ever! I look to her as my example of how to be a good friend. I look to all of this group as my example of how to be a true friend.

I have been blessed with one truly, very special friend. I'm preeeeetttty sure most people know who I'm talking about. She doesn't care about who I was; only who I am now and more importantly who I'm becoming. I miss her when she is not around. She brings peace to my soul and clarity to my confusion. I only have to be around her for about 6 seconds for all of my fears to completely go away. She's beautiful and I'm not just talking about looks (she got a haircut that is super foxy) but her entire being is beautiful. Her soul and spirit is so attractive. She continues to restore my faith in people and is making it seem okay for me to maybe trust in someone. When so many others have left, she remains (and I really don't know why.) I'm just waiting for the day when I say something stupid or when I do something that is going to be too much for her to handle and she will walk away and leave me. So far, that hasn't happened yet and I keep praying it won't because I need her too much. I love her and have been blessed to have her in my life.

Some other things I've been blessed with. I've been blessed with tests in my life. Tests that have made me, and even those around me, better people. I'm blessed to have a love for everyone. I really love everyone. Having said this...I recently have started feeling anger towards some people. It's new and I don't like it. I've never felt this way and I'm working on finding that innate love that I used to have for everyone. That has always been a talent God has blessed me with and it is something I fear I'm losing. I've been jaded by past experiences that have left me wondering if it's even worth it to love people if they just let you down or leave your life. I'm learning that some people were only meant to be in your life for a certain amount of time to teach you something or for you to teach them something and once that lesson has been learned, they move on, but leave those imprints and those lessons in your life and you or they are a better person because of it. (You can start singing 'For Good' now...I'll wait...)  I'm learning that I need to forgive those people for not loving me in the way that I wanted to be loved. I know that sounds weird, conceded, awful, or unfair and maybe it's confusing and doesn't even make sense to you. But I need to realize that everyone has weaknesses and that everyone needs forgiveness. I need it, so I must be willing to show it to others. I've spent too much time being angry with those who don't show as much love as I wanted them to or who aren't there as much as I'd like them to be or who don't text me back right away! I'm realizing, by now having friends who are absolutely crazy about me, that I'M that bad friend to them! I don't text them back right away! I don't show them nearly as much love as they show me. I'm getting off topic, but I just wanted to express this for those of you who read, "I'm blessed to have a love for everyone" and say to me, via the computer screen, 'yea, love for everyone except me!!!' I hope no one is yelling that at the computer, but if you are...I'm so sorry I am not a better friend and that I don't love you in the way that you would like me to....I'm working on that, too.

I'm blessed to have same-gender attraction. I know...this one's a hard one to say. But the blessings that have come out of this adversity are so many. My heart hurts so much for those brothers and sisters who have this in their life. But here are maybe some blessings that you can recognize because of your same-gender attraction as well. Because of my same-gender attraction, I have a more understanding heart. I'd like to think I'm less judgmental (although I think that comes from having such a terrible past and becoming such a better person through Jesus Christ, that I see a smoker, or a cutter, a junkie, or a 'homo' and I just see the future father, teacher, artist, or the comedian, or I simply see the beautiful girl, or the caring friend) My family's life has been blessed because we've grown even closer. My relationship with my parents is so much stronger. Bishops and Stake Presidents have a whole new understanding of what it means to be gay and have a testimony of Jesus Christ, because of this.

I am blessed to have suffered loss. Loss of my friend when I was 8, loss of my grandfather when I was 16, loss of friends, and recently lost loves. I'm blessed because I didn't die. I'm blessed because my world still went on when I thought it couldn't possibly do so. I'm blessed with knowledge and strength and experience that I wouldn't trade for anything.

I'm blessed to have rain! I LOVE the rain. I love the sunshine that makes bright red tomatoes. I'm blessed to have sight so that I can see the bright red tomatoes. I love looking out the window and watching the peaceful snow fall to the ground. I love standing outside while the snow is falling and hearing absolute silence. The world gets somehow quieter when the snow is falling. I love standing out in a rain storm and hearing it beat upon the ground and feeling it beat upon my face is one of my favorite feelings. I love being able to hear the rain. I'm blessed with hearing! I'm blessed with legs to stand on and a body that works. I'm blessed to have a body. It's amazing. I don't have a six-pack or slim waist (I'm working on that, too...lots of things to work on) but when I get sick, I can go to sleep and my amazing body can heal itself....seriously...it heals itself! I can't even begin to go into how amazing the female body is and how it reshapes itself during and after pregnancy is...creepy, but also fascinating!
I have so very many more blessing in my life. I'm blessed to have a Father in Heaven that I can talk to whenever I want and I know He will listen to me and love me. I'm blessed with Jesus Christ in my life. He comforts me, he walks with me, and I swear I can feel his arms holding me sometimes when I'm so very low.
Can you all just take some time and look at the blessings in your life? You don't even have to believe in God, even though He believes in you. You just have to look around and think, "wow, I'm so thankful that I have a working, healthy body. I'm so thankful that I have a car to drive me wherever I want. I'm glad I have food to eat tonight." Henry B. Eyring has suggested even starting a gratitude journal. He says,
"As you start to write, you could ask yourself, “How did God bless me and those I love today?” If you do that often enough and with faith, you will find yourself remembering blessings. And sometimes you will have gifts brought to your mind that you failed to notice during the day but that you will then know were a touch of God’s hand in your life.

I pray that we may make a continuing effort in faith to recognize, remember, and give thanks for what our Heavenly Father and our Savior have done and are doing to open the way home to Them."

I pray for the same thing for each of you, my friends. I love you and am blessed to have you in my life!