Come Thou Fount

Of every blessing. Tune my heart to sing thy grace. Streams of mercy never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise.

I'm going to cut this one a tad short, because it's one thirty in the morning, and I have work at ten.

As I read back in my blogs, talking about getting my call in march and april..it brings back the small bits of frustration and hopelessness I've had the past few months not knowing what was going to happen, and when. A lot of time seemingly wasted. As I get closer to my heavenly father because of this empty and down time, I realize that every second counts. Every day that I am still here waiting, may change someone's life. It my change the course of someone's decisions. Or it may just teach me complete patience, and humility. I think the main lesson that was taught, my best friend Matt had to help me realize. Whatever It Takes. We must always do whatever it takes to do the Lord's work. If not, we are coming up short.

My papers have finally been submitted! As of Sunday, July 20th 2009. What a blessing!
Now comes the waiting. The longest two-three weeks of my life, I've been told. The nerves keep rising, and the relief of having them in is fleeing quickly. Replacing with anxiousness and a little bit of nervousness.
This is so awesome. Finally it is happening.

The church is true! And if you don't already know, please ask me about it. I would love to share it with you. Because it would be a waste if I sat here with my knowledge just to keep it to myself.

I love you all for reading.

AHHH!!!!! =))

A bit of bad news and World of good.

What started out to be, what I thought was, pink eye, turned into a corneal abrasion, and then into a very deep cut in my cornea and a small infection.

What an eventful few days it has been. What was a horrible situation turned into a wonderful experience I will never forget.

Although I am not out of the woods yet, I am absolutely sure of a perfect healing. The scare of losing my sight in one of my eyes left me no other choice but to completely turn to the Lord. As I came home for the eye doctor on Monday morning, I was absolutely terrified. The only thing to hold on to was the promise from the night before in a blessing "Your eye will heal. It may take some time, but it will heal."
Though I knew, somewhere within myself, these words were true, I couldn't keep the doubt out of the way. I didn't know what was going to happen. My only choice for comfort was to get on my knees, and pray my heart out.
Before I did that, I was listening to some EFY music, and getting the spirit to reside in me amongst the fear. A song came on that struck me harder than the rest. In Humility Our Savior. I felt the spirit overwhelm me.
I spent a lot of time on my knees after that. That night, I had a complete change of heart. My eye was going to heal, and I knew it. With every fiber in me.
We proceeded to hold a fast within my family, and close families that night, and into the next afternoon. As I spent more time on my knees in prayer, I could feel the love of my Savior, and the love and faith of everyone fasting for me. I don't think I've ever felt more love.
This afternoon, as I sat in the doctors office, the last of my doubt fled. The doctor couldn't have ever expected that kind of improvement. As he told us that, I almost teared up, but soon gained my composure again so I didn't look silly. He told us he wanted to see me once again tomorrow, and that if it kept improving like this, I would recover very quickly. He still thinks that there will be scar tissue, which will impair my vision. But he doesn't know how much.
I believe there will be no scar tissue. I handed this completely over to the Lord, and he has the power to heal the sick, give sight to the blind, and even bring life to the dead. If I put my trust in anyone, it should be him.

I cannot thank enough those that fasted and prayed for my well being. I have an incredible testimony of fast and prayer because of all this. But most of all, I have a new testimony for trust in the Lord, and the work he would have us all do. As long as we stay faithful, and trusting, he will do anything for us. If we ask, it will be given to us. I have a brand new testimony of this.

Again, thank you all so much for your love. I will always be here for you, as you have for me.
I love you all.

The church is true, and if you don't know that yet, find out! It is a wonderful journey.

Nineteeth Birthday Extravoganza!

It was three weeks ago, but I thought I might share the wonderful celebration.

My dad wasn't going to be home the night of my birthday, so Monday night I came home and they ordered my favorite pizza and had a cake. So we spent some time as a family, and my mom took quite a few pictures. Here are a few.



Pretty cool cake


Pretty cool...ON MY FACE!


EATING BABIE...Cakes. Eating some fresh cakes.


Singing to myself.


Making a wish....


And then, after all the singing and making a wish, a stupid monkey blows out my candles. Can you believe that?!


On Tuesday, I had the day off, and met with a ton of friends at applebees where we smashed 25 people on five tables. It was awesome. Alot of friends showed up, and it was a great blessing. I forgot a camera, but thanks to Micah and Jessica, I took a few photos.


From where I was sitting.




And the other end.


Awesome turn out. We went to my house afterwards and played alot of rock band.

Well that's about it.
The church is true! Keep that faith growin.

Love you all.

It's been a while.

What a wonderful Sunday it has been. The weather is incredible! It's finally NOT snowing! I mean...I love the snow, don't get me wrong. It makes for some of the best backflips, ariel 360's, hot chocolate, and broken bones. But as much as I love that all winter long, I'm ready for the sun, long-boarding, bon-fires, and last, but NOT least, camping, swimming and hiking. Which, for the best kind of trips, all three come hand-in-hand.

I quit my job. Obviously hired somewhere else, but no longer anywhere to do with cell phones. It's tough getting away from a job where I know the ins and outs of every little thing, but it's a relief more than anything else. I work at Guitar Center now, working with all sorts of musicians. I love it.

My missionary status has been pretty much a lull. Nothing new, besides the fact my bishop told me a month and three weeks ago he needed two months of me being at church every week. And that can be tough when there are farewells almost every week. But in one week, we will have the go to submit my papers. Hopefully. If nothing else goes wrong.

I'll try and post more often. Thanks to all of those who read.

I shiver at the thought..

I shiver at the thought of a physical Examination because it usually includes 3 things:
Peeing on demand, because I forget to "prepare".
The uncomfortable part, need I say more? (Why is it always so cold in that office?!)
and Needles.

I had my physical today for my papers, and I didn't enjoy any of it. Especially the needles. Blood draw, and a Tuberculosis test. AND I have to go back tomorrow to give my urine sample in the cup they sent home, and to get my results for the TB test. Very fun stuff.

On another note, my dental work is pretty much done. Another appointment or two, and it's over with! For two years, at least.

Just thought I might update you folks who glance at this blog every once in a while. I'm very excited for the next couple weeks. It should be pretty action-packed. I hope to have my call within a month. But we'll see.
Just thinking about it gets my heart racing.

Well please stick around and enjoy some of my favorite Sunday music, and some blogs of my family and friends.

--Jordan.

Our work is not finished, therefore they will burn us not.

As I woke up this morning, Justin told me the cable and internet was out, and starting going on about how Comcast keeps screwing things up, and how stupid it was. So I looked at him and said "Maybe it's a blessing that the cable is out on Sunday" And he looked at me like I was crazy. "It's a blessing that the cable and internet is out? Whatever." But as I got home from church, I had nothing to do so I was looking through Justin's movies, and came upon a John Bytheway video on the Heroes of the Book of Mormon. I was spiritually enlightened more than I could have been watching mindless TV or on the computer.

Alma's quote about his work not being finished was mentioned in Brother Bytheway's talk, and it has great meaning. Everything has a purpose. Much like the cable being out today, if we look at it as a blessing, we can see that it is. We can see the Lord blessing us with circumstances that can help us grow.

The quote also brings the thought, If I'm not dead, my work is not done. Which helps me realize that as long as I live, I must strive to do the will of the Lord.

We have been born of Nephi of Old, to goodly parents who love the Lord.
We have been taught and we understand that we must do as the Lord commands.
We are as the army of Heleman. We have been taught in our youth.
And we will be the Lord's missionaries to bring the world his truth.

My First Suit.

I picked up my very first suit ever yesterday from Mr. Mac. I went home and tried it on for Lauryn and Justin, and even put on the Elder Marcum tag that Chris had handed down to me when he got home. Lauryn almost cried I think. It was a cool feeling to be wearing what I will be tracting in, and in just a few months. I'm all that more excited! And it's tough to just sit here and wait. But I will have to deal with that.


I thought I would share with all of you some thoughts I gathered in church today.
In priesthood, we talked about apostasy among members of the church, and how not to apostasize. One quote that Brother Wright, a neighbor and faithful member, had stated was "Idle hands; devils workshop. Idle mind; devils playground." If you take a few moments and ponder what that statement really means, it is very ture. If we are not moving forward, we are sliding back. We have to keep ourselves constantly busy in the things of the Lord in order to keep a firm grip on the Iron Rod.
I have found this to be true constantly in my own life. If I decide to put my scriptures down for a few days, and just live my life like a "normal" person, I often get lost, and caught up in the things of the world. And it is no slow process. If we stay idle in our hearts and minds, that is satans biggest tool.
I love this gospel, and I have constantly found myself proving it in daily circumstances. I invite all of you to look at each and every miracle in your daily lives. And then remember who those miracles come from.

I love you all.