D Todd Christofferson

Tonight I felt like God had a personal chat with me. Listening to Elder Christofferson, I heard what my Heavenly Father has been trying to tell me.

I don't exactly remember the date, but it was at the end of October/beginning of November. I was at home alone and was walking from the kitchen to my room. Suddenly I heard a voice that said, "Sell your truck". It was so real, I forgot for a moment that I was home by myself. I loved my Tacoma. It was a type of consolation prize to me for being single and not having a family. In other words, it meant a lot to me and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I put the truck on craigslist and within a week I had a buyer. As soon as the reality of selling it came to pass, I felt like I needed to panic.
I left for my winter break and bought a ford escort wagon for $800, all the extra money I had in my bank account. That car ran when it shouldn't have. I continually had to add transmission fluid and oil. It didn't have an engine heater, so I was never able to plug it in to keep the fluids moving. It had a rigged heater, with a crazy connection to the battery. The dash lights didn't work, but that didn't matter cuz the speedometer didn't work. The radio would intermittently change channels or change volume all on its own. The seat belts didn't work properly, and the interior stunk like yucky dog and cigarettes. It wouldn't pass emissions, but it didn't matter cuz I could register it in Healy, where it's not required.
At the time I was selling the truck, I had about 15K left on it. My credit card debt had swelled to 17K. In total, I had more debt than I had assets and had nothing to show for it. I wasn't just arbitrarily spending money all of the time--(yes sometimes that was the case), but more of the debt came from trying to figure out life and where to live and when to go to school after mom and dad died. I take full responsibility for it, I should have been living differently. Anyway, after I had the burden of the truck taken care of, I started to put that truck payment toward my debt. If I got extra money from the dividend, tax refund, etc, it went toward the debt. Yesterday at 1:18PM Alaska Standard Time, I paid the last penny off on my debt. I am free. I am free because God spoke in 2007 and fortunately that time I was not only listening, but I acted. Thanks be to God for seeing ahead in my future and preparing me for it.

My Boys

Clay went to visit Jennifer and her family. I sure wish I could have been there! Here is one of my favorite pictures Jennifer sent me. Bennie with his Uncle Clay. I am so lucky to have them in my life.

Living in the Middle of Nowhere

When I made the decision last fall to stay in Healy, Alaska (according to the Census Bureau, the measure square mileage of 669.1 miles and population 971, thanks Wikipedia!), I was scared. Well, not at first. I thought it would be exciting to do something different. Before I spent an entire winter in Alaska, I thought it was gonna be so hard, so trying, so desperately arduous that I might not survive. Then in 2006, I took the plunge and stayed. Really out of necessity to my job moving to full-time status rather than seasonal.
It really wasn't different. The only hard part that I had to prevail through was long-stretching periods of darkness. I was still able to go to Wal-Mart, pick through racks at thrift stores, watch movies, and went out to dinner. It snowed and I had to shovel. No biggie. I did that in Kansas growing up.
Anyway, back to fall 2009, I longed for something different. I was tired of picking up all of my stuff and moving into a temporary place. So I asked to stay at employee housing in Healy. When people found out I was staying, I would get all kinds of responses, but essentially they all meant the same thing. It was like they were shouting, "YOU ARE NUTS". The big joke was that I was gonna grow a beard.
Well, I can say that I have successfully made it to March. I haven't gone nuts. I have learned how to ration milk and stock up when I can. I learned to take a cooler with me to town for groceries and to pack a bag with food and extra clothes in case I get stranded. I learned to not forget to plug in my truck and to not take my truck out of 4 wheel drive, as it could freeze in 2 wheel drive! I learned that 40 below for weeks straight is tough, but I am tougher. Just bundle up before you go!
More importantly I have learned that you don't need much of anything to survive and be happy. When you have the scriptures, a place to meet with the Saints and the opportunity to get a blessing now and again, then you have it all. The only thing that is missing is someone to share that with. Maybe someday. Until now, I am working on learning how to be happy with what I have got.

A daughter

Two times in three nights. I have dreamt about having a daughter. So real and vivid, I almost looked for her when I woke up. Then I felt sad when I realized it wasn't true.

Seminary and Institute

So, I know a lot of people don't follow my blog, but if there is anyone reading, I would appreciate some feedback. There is a question that has been brought into my life and I don't have a good answer for it. I just accept it at face value.


Why is there a grade given to high school kids in LDS Seminary?

Any and all insight would be greatly appreciated.

Jim, My Friend

People come and go out of our lives--it is the nature of living. It is more rare for people to go out of our lives prematurely, before we are ready for them to leave. Today was the memorial for my friend Jim Sheehan. He passed away in December while living in Hawaii. I didn't find out until two weeks ago, when I stumbled upon his obituary on the internet. Jim was my driver for 5 years and friend forever. May his family find solace and the peace only Heavenly Father can offer. I will always remember Jim as a quiet, strong individual.