Life as we know it, is getting better

Well it has been a while since I have put anything down to blog about. To continue from the last blog, i will make it brief. I went to see the judge on Tuesday after my "Vacation' and was able to make a deal to get the first ticket taken care of. And by Friday of that same week, that was taken care of. now I made a promise to appear and pay at least $150 towards the next ticket and also show proof of insurance. i said no problem. So that comes up in August. Then i get in the mail a letter from the state that I now needed to get an SR22 insurance, and my license is suspended until i pay the $30 reinstatement charge and show proof of the insurance. So until Thursday of this next week, I have not been driving. My wife feels that it is weird that she has to take me everywhere, but we do what has to be done so that we do not get another ticket on top of all this we all ready have.
Good news, is I may be working full time at the bakery. We still have no idea what is going to happen to Tracy who is 70+ years old and still working in the bakery. He has been having issues with his health, so his doctor may force him to retire. So I will have full time status soon and that makes me very happy. The job isn't hard, but it does get tiresome some days, when we have co-workers who don't have much brain power. 'When the Lord told them he was handing out brains, I think they thought, "Oh boy! We get Trains!' Anyway, that is going great. Last night we had a Dutch Oven cook off at a members house for a ward party. There was so much food and it was all so good. We also had to fill out a card stating something about us that no one else would know. That was a lot of fun. When i went to pick up my wife that night at midnight after her shift was done, i was really sleepy and cranked up the radio. Then something wonderful happened. As I was sitting there, music from the hymns filled my mind and I began to sing them. The tears rolled down my cheeks as the spirit filled my heart. I finally realised what my favorite hymn is. A poor wayfaring man of grief. I love the last verse, when he talks about the Savior showing him the tokens in his hands, the work he had done for the Savior, it made me realise who I really was. I was a Son of God. I am a brother to the greatest man who ever lived. I am an heir to all that the Father has. I remember the days I was a missionary, and brought souls to Christ. It was my time now, to bring myself to Christ and fully convert myself. I am not perfect still, I am so far from it. But i am going to do all I can to do what He would do, say what He would do, and be as He is. It was then I realised that I do have a testimony of Christ, His redeeming love for me. And now that I am so close to becoming a full fledged member and PH holder again, I am going to do all I can to make sure I do it right. Elder Mc Conkie said it best, it would have been better to never have sinned, then to sin, and repent. But what is it that the Savior said, "If you truly confess and repent, i will remember your sins no more." That is a great reward. That is so much better to have to hear in my ears if I were to die before I were to receive all my blessings again. To be fully forgiven and the Lord to remember them no more. Well I have said enough. I need to go and take care of some more "Honey Do list" items.

The longest 12 hours I will never get back

I titled this blog this way, due to an incident which happened in the space of 12 hours. Last November I got a ticket for driving without insurance. I was just a few days away from payday and would have the insurance then. But was given the ticket anyway and told to show up in court and all would be well. That was my thoughts. I had time on my hand and I could get it paid. The weeks rolled by, the months creeped along and soon the date to have it all paid came and went.(Does this remind you of another story?) Since the unpaid ticket was sent back to the judge, he ordered a warrant for my arrest. We lost that insurance due to non-payment and the car was sent to Chris' ex who promised to keep on paying it off. That's another story. So last night as Chris and I were driving home from dropping off the deposit from her work, we were just about to get on one street that would take us straight home, when the lights of a police car turned on behind us. I pulled over, got out the info he would request and he came up, got the info, went back to his car and put it in. Several minutes later, he got out, had another cop car behind him for backup and asked me to come with him. I told him i knew what was going to happen and did not put up a fight or struggle. I was handcuffed and placed in his car and soon afterward we headed on down to the jail. Never before had I ever been inside a jail. Never before had I been booked on anything. After nearly an hour of info they needed from me, I tried to call Chris from their phones and could not get through. It was late, i was tired, and I needed some sleep. So i was given the jail uniform to wear and the bag of items I would need for my stay. I was lead to the block where I would spend the night and in the morning be arraigned in front of the judge. I did not sleep that much that night, due to not having my CPAP machine to help me breathe. So what sleep I got, was it. They woke us up at 4am, and we had the time to shower, shave, clean up for the judge. At 6:30am, a group of us went to the holding cells that lead to the room where we would talk to the judge via video conference in his office.
I am starting a new paragraph here because I think this is the most important thing i would like to share. That whole night, I was scared. I prayed like i had never prayed before. And in the silence, the sweet peace of the love of God filled me enough to help me get some sleep. That morning i continued to pray. I prayed all until i met the judge and pleaded my case. The judge ordered me to promise to come to his court on Tuesday and pay for the rest of the older ticket and make arrangements to pay this new ticket. If you have never read the parable of the Man with a debt, you would understand the relief I felt, when he said to me that i would be let go today to get that done. I do not know the words to express my love, my devotion, my thanks to my Saviour, who paid the price for me so that I can and have a way to repent. My faith has increased and my love has too. I have more to say, but i need to go rest now. I will continue this tomorrow.