I know thoughts have power. The most significant proof I have of this is my conversion story. This story has so many details, so many examples of thought in action, but I am going to choose the most critical instance.
It was the beginning 2001, and like most people do I set about making goals for the year. What was different about these resolutions was the way I went about making them. Each night I would thank God in
advance for the blessings I had in mind. My list was this: a new job that would give me financial breathing room, a car that was dependable, to meet and get to know my extended relatives, to get braces and to find peace and happiness. The key was to have total faith that these things would come about in the right way and time. It wasn't a matter of
if, only
when. I never expected my prayers to be answered so quickly.
Just before Valentine's Day I met a nice returned missionary. Two weeks later I became very sick. I called my Mom and told her how terrible I was feeling (she's a nurse) and she told me I needed to see a doctor. Not having insurance was an issue, so she called her uncle for a favor. (I need to share a little background here. Her uncle Charles is a doctor. He is the brother of her father, with whom there are some MAJOR ill feelings. It had been years since she had spoken to Charles, but a mother will go to
extraordinary lengths for her sick child.) I went to his office where I was greeted by him, his wife, and children all of whom work there. It turned out that I actually had scarlet fever. (I know what you're thinking...who gets scarlet fever this day and age?) Upon chatting with my newly found family the subject of my employment came up. My cousin offered me a job right then and there. I was to get well and come back in to start work at a huge pay raise! New job...check! Getting to know my relatives...check! An unexpected bonus...I was falling in love.
A month later my car,
Tootie, finally died. My family (the ones I was working for) offered to pay the down payment on a new car, and I would repay them with a deduction from my wages. It was only the beginning of April and I had 4 of my 5 goals reached. I thought I couldn't be happier.
Surprisingly, I was wrong.
The GREATEST blessing of that year, and of my entire life, took place in August...when I became a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I had not asked for this specifically, but in a way I had asked for it. After all, one of my goals was to find peace and happiness.
The only thing that didn't happen that year was getting braces. Don't
fret, today I wear
Invisalign. The blessings of 2001 can be traced back to the power of thought, and of course, the "Man Upstairs."
We hurriedly packed all of our stuff BACK into the car and set off for Price before a snow storm moved in. I had a huge melt down when part of Grace's Christmas present, a mirror, broke in the car. Thank heavens there is a Wal-Mart in every town... even Price. We spent the middle part of the day just hanging out and enjoying the company of our family. In keeping with tradition, we ate sandwiches and snacks just before beginning the evening program and the crepe paper ball. Grace opened and modeled her fancy jammies. Once the kiddies were in bed, the grown-ups put out the last of their presents and set the scene for Santa to stop by. 
