A short time ago Allison memorized The Living Christ for one of her projects. It was simply amazing. I kind of put aside working on Personal Progress as I tried and tried to memorize some of the verses in my experiences and I never seemed to be able to do this successfully. I watched how hard Allison worked and then I stewed and fretted over this idea for quite some time and decided I should be able to memorize a few simple verses. I returned to my Personal Progress book and set to work.
I began with Divine Nature number six which is the one I had to memorize a verse. I decided I didn't have to memorize the hardest verse listed, but I didn't want to memorize the easiest one either. I wrote my scripture down on a 3x5 card and carried it around with me in my pocket to practice while waiting in the car or where ever. I worked on the quality of joy for two weeks and I incorporated having a positive attitude with that rather than being a Negative Nelly. At the same time I worked on Divine Nature number three which also takes two weeks. I wrote little notes, sent texts and e-mails and even wrote a letter or two. I did really well except for one time which is really bad. I had taken Conner to our building for scouts and just waited for him while he had scouts for that hour. Kaitlin had mutual at the stake center and I was basically just waiting for her to call and tell me she was ready to go. She called and Conner and I drove off knowing it would be about ten minutes or less to get there. It was kind of a cold night (I know, nothing like Utah or Idaho) and I was tired of waiting and ready to be home. We drove up to the stake center and I texted Kaitlin. She didn't answer or come out. I drove around the church as there wasn't much parking. I texted her again and still nothing. I sent Conner inside and he came out without her. I texted her again. At this point we had been there for more than twenty minutes, thirty minutes after Kaitlin had originally called and I was getting pretty annoyed. I found a parking spot far away from the entrance and marched in there to find Kaitlin inside visiting. I didn't say anything then, but Kaitlin knew I wasn't too happy. We went out to the car and I told her we had been waiting and waiting and that I expected her to be ready to go when she called me rather than to make me wait for so long. She didn't say anything but a few minutes later she asked about girls and leaders in the 6th ward as the girl she had been talking to lives in the 6th ward boundary. I guess after Kaitlin had called she met this new girl who was feeling sad and left out and Kaitlin had befriended her. She hadn't wanted to leave while the girl was talking to her so she stayed to visit even though Conner and I were outside. I felt bad for growling at Kaitlin and apologized. She was really quiet. I still felt bad. I remembered a story I had read in the Ensign many years ago (I looked for it but couldn't find it.) about a husband who was serving in a leadership calling and had to stay late helping people. His wife was impatient and when he got home she complained and murmured. He said something like this: "Tonight had been one of the greatest nights of service. I had great joy in doing the work of the Lord. When I come home and am complained to, my joy was taken away." I felt like I had done this to Kaitlin - I had taken away her joy from service. I really apologized profusely and did much better on my Divine Nature experience.
I have some other things I am working on that I will hopefully report back on Sunday.
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