Yesterday was a GREAT day for Step 9 progress. I called and talked to Jenny B. – one of the people I was probably most nervous to talk with. Our conversation was pretty good – we chatted for a bit about work and then I apologized. She was very appreciative and said she had had no hard feelings at all. When I got off the phone I felt a relief that things went well.

I’m grateful that I broke this fear and look forward to speaking with others too.

Today I’m going to study this talk by President Hinckley:

Rise to the Stature of the Divine within You

In this talk, President Hinckley is talking with the women of the Church. I think it’s interesting that he says this:

Please know that we do love you and that we are concerned with your happiness as daughters of God and as our sisters in the Church.

This reminds me of a mission experience I had with Hermana Zahn. She was a sister in my zone who had had a lot of tough times (maybe a bit “over dramatic” if there is such a thing). In an interview once, I simply told her that I loved her and appreciated all the work she was doing. To me, it was no big deal, but she later wrote me a letter stating how much that simple statement helped her. I guess I learned from that that it’s never wrong to tell someone how much you love and appreciate them.

…if you are to build another great generation, you must work with vision and faith. You must dream and plan, serve and sacrifice, pray and labor.

For you who are young and for you who are older, may I rather quickly suggest three endeavors in which all of you can engage. In making these suggestions I do not ask that you reach beyond your capacity. Please don’t nag yourself with thoughts of failure. Do not set goals far beyond your capacity to achieve. Simply do what you can do, in the best way you know, and the Lord will accept of your effort.

First, educate your hands and your minds…Train yourselves to make a contribution to the society in which you will live. There is an essence of the divine in the improvement of the mind. “The glory of God is intelligence, or, in other words, light and truth.” (D&C 93:36.) “Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection.” (D&C 130:18.)…Ten or fifteen minutes a day with the scriptures, and particularly with the Book of Mormon, can give you marvelous understanding of the great eternal truths which have been preserved by the power of the Almighty for the blessing of His children. As you read of the life and teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ, you will draw closer to Him who is the author of our salvation.

My second suggestion: keep marriage and motherhood in their true perspective…wish with all of my heart that every marriage might be a happy marriage. I wish that every marriage might be an eternal partnership. I believe that wish can be realized if there is a willingness to make the effort to bring it to pass.

Third, may I suggest that you walk with prayer and faith, with charity and love.

I did all the above study this morning.

I went to the meeting this evening. It was a really spiritually powerful one. We talked about Step 9, and I started by sharing my experiences with my two amends this week.

One of the things I did, based on Jason and my talk about helping one another and the others in the group more to make progress, is I wrote down all the names of the guys that were there on my phone, almost like a roll. I’d like to get some, if not all, of their emails. This idea came as Mauricio mentioned that he’s working on Step 4 and doesn’t really know how to go about it. John (dark brown hair) also mentioned this a little. I’d be happy to share with them the layout I used for Step 4, which, to me, made it a lot easier to chip away at and get finished.

Granted, there is no “right way” to do Step 4, but something like that is at least a start.

Hopefully I’ll be able to get some emails and phone numbers in the next few weeks.

Things have been a bit tough with Becky today. She’s really stressed and I got a bit defensive when she came home and the first thing she said was, “Wow, this place is a mess…”

We talked about it tonight. It just seems like a lot of what she’s been saying lately is that I’m not doing enough, or that this needs to be done, or I need to get on the stick or something.

Things have been going amazingly well with opportunities this week: Monday I met with Steps Studio, Lauralyn K. and then Mat and the boys. Tuesday I got a few proposals ready, did an assessment for Andy H. and met with Bret and Devin about the poster options. Wednesday I met with Randy P. today I met with Cedar Fort Publishing (a referral from Kat Eden). I also met with Aspen A. to talk about the progress there. I sent a proposal to Dean from NY about re-designing his site too. I feel really, really blessed and know that the Lord is really opening up blessings IF and AS I do His will. If I don’t, “I have no promise.”

I’m grateful for the progress I feel and need to keep reminding myself to not even get close to harms way.

Hasta manana!

Nate