Busy Bee!

Wow! The last month and a half has been extremly busy for me. I started school back in August and my day usually consists of going to the math lab at 830 to get ahead in math, then math class at 930, where i then return to do the homework assigned, i then go to my other classes with an hour break inbetween for lunch until 330. At 330, I go to work until 11, where I continue to be blessed working with the girls and helping them change their lives and become better people. It's really heart breaking to here some of the stories of what these girls have been through, but it is a very rewarding program. We recently had two girls graduate and it was hard to see them leave. They have made so much progress and I hope they can continue on the path they have set for themselves. Aside from the busy schedule, I continue to be the husband of a very very busy Relief Society President. The rare moments we do get to spend together, she is always busy visiting sisters, being on the phone talking to sisters, or doing something else.

Now, I'm not complaining, or saying that we never get very much time together, but the times are not as much as they used to be. This weekend has been fall break, and it has been a great vacation for me to let my brain get a rest. Kat and I took the break and took off to the Vernal Temple on our quest to visit every Utah temple. It was quite the drive and it was a wonderful temple! The Manti Temple has been closed for cleaning and as I was in the temple, I got the most peaceful feeling and realized that even though we didn't have a temple open that was 5 minutes away from us, it was worth the drive to the temple.

Speaking of worth the drive, We also got to have the oportunity to go to General Conferance. It was amazing! We had close seats and learned a lot! I am so thankful to have a living prophet who guides and directs us! Our breaks went out on the way there and when we went to fix it in Salt Lake, they wanted to charge us 400 bucks! Well, Kat and I decided to just drive it to Gunnison and take it to Reids where we knew they would not try and cheat us out. It ended up costing us a little over 100 bucks this time which was much better. But even though the trip ended up being a bit more pricey than what I wanted, it was well worth being able to be in the same room as the prophet and apostles and recieve instruction from them.

Letter to Ephraim City

Dear Ephraim City,

I was talking to my bishop the other day and he thought I should write this letter to you and thank you for letting me go. I truly would have never received so many blessings if it hadn't had been so. Since you have let me go, I enrolled into Snow College and decided to go into Engineering. I love my classes! They keep me so entertained and although I am very busy right now, I can see now that this is where I should have been in the first place.

I have been able to get a job, and although the pay is less than half of what you paid me, I am much happier. This new job allows me to go to church every Sunday and participate in ward activities. This job has allowed me to do service to the community and affect the lives of teenage girls who are trying to figure out where to go in life. Most of all, this job does not get me up in the middle of the night after I have been off shift and it doesn't stress my wife out, making her much happier.

Even though my pay is not good here, We have been able to live better than what we did when I was working for you. We are saving money now rather than living paycheck by paycheck. I was able to receive a very generous grant from the government for my studies, and we have been able to pocket all of it because the Army pays for my tuition. My new job also allows me to study 4 out of the 8 hours that I'm working on most days, and they changed their shifts around just so I could keep working there and go to school at the same time.

I must also thank you for bringing me down to Ephraim. Although I am not particularly fond of Ephraim, I love being back in a small town atmosphere. I have been able to do missionary work here, which is my love of life, besides my wife of course. My wife has been called as Relief Society President here in the college married ward. She loves this calling and is very busy and probably wouldn't have been able to have this experience had we not moved down here. The school here is just right and the teachers here are awesome!

Anyways, I will end my letter now. Just know that we are doing very good now and Thanks once again.
Best regards,
Andy Bartholomew

Summer!

So I guess I should blog and catch up on life. I have been slacking off on my blogging and need to get better at it. Well, school starts tomorrow for me as I go a week early to take a math refresher course. I haven't had math since I took college algebra in High School almost 6 years ago. Hopefully I can remember everything and start right into pre-calculus without any problems. I will go to school till 330 and then work from 330 to 11. It's going to be a busy school year but I'm excited to start school again and learn some cool stuff.

I also went to the eye doctor the other day and he thinks my twitch is a reaction to the bad allergy's i got when I went out to Boston to get married. He gave me some medicine and told me it would take 3 to 4 weeks for it all to stop and get kicked out of my body. Hopefully this is the case and I believe it is, because my twitch hasn't been as bad lately, except tonight.

We had a family reunion the last weekend of July and it was a blast. I got to do plenty of fly fishing and hiking and spend great quality time with my family. We went down to Zion's national park and had a lot of fun there too. While at the reunion, we learned that my grandpa had finally died. It is a good thing because he was suffering from cancer and is now back with his wife, who died in march. It's great to know about the plan of salvation and the concept of an eternal family. Grandpa really looked at peace at his funeral and left a great legacy behind.

Annual Training for the Army was in June. Although it got very boring sometimes, it was a great experience for me. I got to train on driving paladins and also refreshed myself on loading and firing it. It was a lot of good quality time for the six of us who ate drank and slept on the paladin for two weeks. I learned a great deal and even got to see wild horses up close.

While I went to AT, I surprised Kat with a ticket to Boston so she could go visit her parents. For the most part, she had a great time and loved it.

In may, all's I did was work. Work has been very good to me. It has it's challenges at times with girls but for the most part it is very rewarding. I have had some girls leave and graduate the program and now I wish they were back. I always wonder what they take out of YWEC. My work actually changed their schedule just for me so I could go to school. We used to go 6-2, 2-10 and now we will go 7-3 3-11 so i can come to work and still get plenty of hours.

Kat has been extremely busy lately with her new calling as Relief Society President. She is really enjoying the calling, though sometimes when she starts stressing out I have to remind her that she can't run faster than she has the strength. With her new calling and her new job as a preschool teacher at Snow College, She is also going to be kept quite busy these next months to come. All in all though, it should be a lot of fun and a great adventure.

P.S. oh yeah, I don't know if you've checked my health tracker up above, but I am loosing a lot of weight. since March, I started working out and watching my weight a little bit and lost about 15 pounds. Two weeks ago, Gary sent me a diet paper that is similar to the paleo diet. It has done wonders for me! I'm already down another 15 and keep dropping daily. I don't go hungry at all and I work out a little bit. It was really hard because I broke my diet the first weekend at my grandpa's funeral and then again at a friend's house on Sunday when they invited us to dinner. Getting back on and staying on my diet Mon Tues and Wednesday were very difficult. I started really craving sweets, breads, and dairy products and I plateaued on my weight loss . I succeeded the temptations however and stayed strong to my diet. It has paid off as I began to consistently loose weight again. The consistent weight loss is what is keeping me on my diet as I don't dare break it again. This week I get to start eating fruits which should be good to change my diet up a bit.

When ye are in the service of your fellow beings....

Kat and I started new jobs this week! We got a call on Monday as I was registering for classes at Snow, from the LDS Employment. They told us someone just came in looking for workers to start immediately. We got the number from them and called the lady who had just came in. When we called the lady, Merleen, She told us to go to the Young Women's Empowerment Center (YWEC), and ask for Heather. When we arrived there (it is only about two blogs from our apartment) Heather was really excited and after we filled out the application, basically gave us a job on the spot without an interview or anything.

YWEC is a treatment center for teen girls that have had some trouble in the past. They vary in their backgrounds but they are here from all over the state and some from other states. They range in age from 13-17 and I am the first male "staff" they have had. Our job is to watch the girls, mentor them, and make sure they don't get in fights or run away, etc. We also cook dinner for them, or help them cook, and teach them things.

Heather told us that we would start out at minimum wage, but that things were changing and hopefully soon, we would be able to get raises. With Kat and I both working there, we will make the same amount of money as I did working for Ephraim so the stress of not having enough money for rent and things is gone.

I wasn't sure how I would like the job however, but since Tuesday, when I started, I have not had ANY doubts about this job. I LOVE this job! I have fallen in love with the girls here and I feel as they are my little girls, or my little sisters. The way they look up to me is amazing. I fear I am the only male role model these girls have ever had in their life, it's so sad. I feel like I am on my mission again, I really do. Working with these girls has renewed the same kind of joy and happiness i had while on the mission, well, that and I have also started reading the scriptures again every day for personal study (something I had been slacking on). I feel so comfortable working with these girls and have already done a lot for them, not trying to brag. I have counciled with one girl struggling with very low self esteem. She had mentioned earlier that she was LDS, so when she had a meltdown, I sat down with her and talked with her about what being a Child of God meant. Since then she has been a different person. Another girl had an allergic reaction to something but it got really bad. I wasn't sure if I'm allowed to do it and I'm still not positive I am, but I asked the other staff that was with me if I could give her a blessing, to which she replied "please do!". I asked the girl if she would like one to which she said yes. She is not LDS so I explained to her how the blessing worked. Two of the girls there, both were LDS, asked if they could sit in. I told them they could (the rest had gone to bed). I gave the blessing and ten minutes later, she had calmed down, the hives were subsiding, and she fell fast asleep on the couch where we could watch her. I do not say these experiences to brag, but to testify of the power of God and the many ways he works.

There have been other opportunities for me to teach and uplift the girls, but I will not tell them all. They are in there for a reason and sometimes they act out and are disrespectful, but I still can't help myself wanting the best in them. I can see them working on their goals to get better each new day, and the hours fly by when I am there. I also learn a lot from them. I see so much potential in each and every girl there. I wish sometimes that I could guide them in the ways I know to be true, but seeing how I can't (separation of church and state) I try my best to lead and guide them without bringing in the Gospel.
My patriarchal blessing tells me how I am to be a guide and councilor, and comforter to those who come to me. It also speaks a lot about missionary work. As I was sitting in church today, I could not help but feel like Kat and I were sent here in Ephraim, not to be a cop, but to have the opportunity to help these girls. I feel like this is the very reason I lost my job, not because of the excuses they gave me, but because the Lord had other plans for me. I am happier now than I have been in a long time. I have that feeling of peace come over me as I serve these girls and help them get past their past, and teach them how to become better people, and to know how to live good lives. I really feel like I am on my mission, because when I'm not working, I am thinking about them and thinking of how I can help them. I never thought I'd say this, but I am glad that I lost my job. I realize now how stressed i was as a cop, and how much time it took out of my life. I have new guidance now on what I want with my life and now I see how much happier Kat and I both are now that we are constantly serving others, and by doing that, serving our God. We truly have been blessed to be able to have this opportunity and I look forward to continuing on with this service. I hope whoever reads this will be inspired to serve others and really see how much happier you become.

blogging

Well, it's been a while since I last blogged, but I don't really know what to blog about. As most of you know, I recently lost my job. I won't go into details, but it has been a tough time, especially for my wife. We've fasted and prayed about it, and all's I can say is I feel a peace that it was meant to be. I have felt a need to change my career. Why? I have no idea, I loved being a cop! It is a very fun job. But the more I think about it, the more I feel it is right to change. That brought up another worry...What the heck do I want to be??? Well, after counseling with my wonderful wife, who is always full of wisdom (Although, I don't give her enough credit for it), I have decided to go into engineering and computer aided drafting. It feels right and we have both felt impressions that I should return to school and finish out my degree.
I have never felt better with my decisions than these ones. My whole life, my goal was to serve a mission, it was the best two years of my life! But, I never gave thought as to what I would do after. I feel really good about the decisions we've made and the only one left to make is if we should stay in Ephraim and go to Snow, or to go back and finish up school in a bigger city where there are more job opportunities. I guess the real kicker will be if we can sell the contract on our apartment that lasts until December or not.
I am always very grateful to have a knowledge that I am a child of God. That knowledge makes me know that He loves me and will always take care of me. I learned a great lesson on the mission that God will always provide for you, if you show faith. After all, Christ himself told us, " Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto YOUR children, How much MORE will your shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?" Matthew 7:9-11. God will protect us, and get us through this trial at this time in our life. I am glad to have married a woman of faith who is not afraid to pay a full tithe even when we just lost our main source of income. I guess I had more to blog about than I thought. :)

The Morning Breaks, The Shadow's Flee...

I got up for work this morning and got out to work just in time to see the sun come up. It was a very beautiful spring morning and I couldn't help but think of the hymn, "The Morning Breaks" as I saw the sunlight take over the world.

I love Spring! Spring is by far my favorite time of the year. The cold winter ends, and everything comes to life! I love the green, and the warm, but not hot weather.

I also love this time of year because we reflect on many special occasions. We celebrate the final week of Christ's ministry here on earth, the many miracles he did and the lesson's he taught us. More importantly, we celebrate what he did for us in the Garden of Gethsemene and upon the cross on Calvery. I truely stand all amazed at everything he did for us. For humbling himself before God and submitting to His will and drinking the bitter cup. We are forever in his debt. I am very greatful that I know and understand the reason he did these things and the reason we celebrate Easter. I am greatful for the knowledge and understanding of the Plan of Salvation and to know that Christ really did break the bands of death. I am happy to know that this life is not the end and that far greater things come after this life. I am also very greatful that I know I will keep this body after death.

We also can reflect on Christ's birth this time of year, although we mostly do this in December. Everyone knows December 25th was not Christ's birthday at all, but that the 25th was adopted from pagan worshipers. Thanks to Joseph Smith, we know that Christ was born on April 6th. When one thinks about it, it's kind of neat that here in the America's, on April 6th, a day and a night and a day passed as if it were one day. 30 some years later, there were 30 days of darkness here followed by one of the most sacred moments in history, the Savior's visit to the Americas.

Also, it was springtime when Joseph Smith went into a grove of trees as a little boy to pray, and there recieved his first vision where he talked with God and Jesus Christ. It was springtime when he found out that none of the churches were true and that he would be the one to restore the true church. It was also April 6th, that the church was again restored and organized, never to be taken off of the face of Earth again.

Again, I am so greatful and truely blessed to have a knowlege and more importantly, an understanding of all these things that happened in springtime. Springtime, like Christ, represents new life, a new begining. It is a chance for the world to shed off it's cold, bitter, wintery self, and become new again, full of life, warmth and happines! I like to compare it with us and Christ. If we take upon his name, and follow his commandments, we shed our old misserable selfs, and become new people, fresh, clean, full of life, and happy. This is represented through baptism, as we go into the water our old selfs, and come out a new person.

twitching in the face

About two months ago, I developed a really annoying twitch in my face. I had it in 7th or 8th grade for a while but it went away. My face twitches, kind of like my eyes squint and lately it has increased to muscle spasms in my chin/jaw. It's off and on how much I do it, but it gets really annoying especially out in public. Mary Ann thinks it may be Bell's Palsy, but I'm not sure. The doctor we went to said I might have to put Botox in my nerves to calm me down. We will see... So today sitting in church I decided another reason. Kat is just so beautiful, My eyes have to squint just to look at her :).