Prayer + Effort brings forth the blessings of heaven

After listening to conference today, I was thinking a lot about prayers and how they are answered. Then I had an experience I would like to share with you. I am moving to Oregon in about a month for a clinical. I've known about this for about a year now and have pondered on ways to find housing. I decided that I should contact the local bishop and get his help. So with the help of my current bishop I obtained Bishop Cordon's information.

I called and left Bishop Cordon a message about two weeks ago. After a couple days I was getting a little worried that I wasn't going to get a call back. While I was at my brothers house for spring break, I received a call. I was excited because I had friends who were hooked up with amazing places to stay and they didn't have to put any effort into it at all. This was not the case for me. The bishop gave me the number for their housing specialist and also the relief society president, along with their emails. He then left it up to me. Well to his credit he talked to the relief society president on Sunday and she ended up calling me first.

She was a really nice girl and had talked to the sisters in the ward about my situation. She gave me two options of people to try. One was for a younger girl in the ward, about 20 years old. She lived in a house with another girl and they had places available for the summer. The other number was for a older couple in the ward who occasionally rented rooms  out to people. I will be honest and admit that I put off calling either of them. I wasn't sure who to call first or what situation would suit my needs better. I had been praying about this and didn't know what to do. So a couple days ago I decided to call Emily. She didn't answer, so I left a message and was sure I would receive a call back soon. Days passed and I hadn't heard anything. I was a little disappointed and figured I should call the other number.

But today Emily called me back. She wanted to know when I wanted to come look at the apartment. I explained that I lived in Idaho and couldn't come look at it. I asked her a few questions about the place and became discouraged. Rent would be $350 a month. Not too bad for the area, but I will be paying $250 to keep my apartment in Pocatello and I don't really have the funds to pay $600 a month for housing. She gave me the number of her landlord, but I decided I would call the Wilsons.

I called the first number I'd been given and it went straight to a doctors office (obviously the wrong number). I tried the other number I had for them, only to find that it had been disconnected. I was starting to get nervous at this point. So I texted the relief society president to see if I had written the numbers down wrong. While I was waiting for her reply, I decided to google the number and see if it came up. Lo and behold I discovered that I just can't read my own hand writing. I had substituted a 3 for an 8.

I called the correct number and talked to Sister Wilson. She seemed very nice, but said they had no rooms available at the time. They might have someone moving out in April, but it wasn't for sure. She didn't sound convinced that she wanted me there, which was fine, but I was running out of options. She then suggested I call Brother Hill from the ward. They sometimes had international students stay with them and might have an opening. She said she would keep me informed if they had anything open up.

Before I called Brother Hill, I decided I would call the housing specialist and see if they had any other ideas. So I called the number and got another wrong number. I emailed her instead, hoping I had written that down correctly. In a last ditch effort, I decided I just needed to call Brother Hill. I wasn't feeling hopeful at this point. I didn't want another rejection, but what other option did I have? I called the number and Brother Hill was not available at the time. His wife asked if I wanted to leave a message. I explained my situation to her and she asked me a couple questions. She said she had just had someone move out and wondered when I needed to know by so she could talk to her husband. I said as soon as possible. If this didn't work out I needed to look for other options. She thought for a second and said I could have it. I was a little shocked. "Are you sure?" I asked. She said she had just had someone move out and was going to turn the room into a studio, but she could just wait a few months. I was so excited I couldn't believe it. She is going to call me back tomorrow to discuss details after she talks to her husband, but I have a place to stay.

I know that the Lord answered my prayer. I know that I needed to put forth the effort because he knows I need to learn and grow and isn't going to hand me things that I can get myself. But I didn't have the Hill's number this morning. The Hill's didn't have a room open yesterday. And the Sister Hill had no idea I was going to call. I know that the lord touched her heart and she listened and was able to be part of this amazing testimony for me. So don't give up on anything. With the lord's help all things are possible and he will allow you to learn if you let him.

March Madness

I've been wanting to write a post for a while, but hadn't really come up with the time  to write or a topic I felt needed to be presented to the world. March has been pretty busy. I started practicum at the beginning of March. I'm working in our clinic on campus. This semester has added a new dimension because I'm paired up with a 1st year student. It is fun to look back and see how far I've come. It is amazing how little I knew about physical therapy last year. I know I have a long ways to go before I will feel like an expert.

As practicum began, I also needed to start working on a mid term project I had due for my Neuro Management class. I gave myself a week to get it done, but wish I had spread it out a little more. I spent all my free time working on it, researching articles, reading articles, deciding I needed to find different articles and finally writing two papers. The day after my project was due I had a written mid term for the same class. I had been working on my project for so long that I hadn't had time to study for it yet. I was sure the outcome going to be grave, but I ended up pulling A- out of my project and my test. 

I feel like I haven't been home hardly at all. To add to my school adventures I've been playing sports right and left. On Tuesdays I go to racquetball club for two hours, run home and eat and then head to the church to play volleyball. Wednesday I have institute choir and usually have to run to a church basketball game immediately following. Sometimes I stay and watch the guys play. Thursdays I have another institute class, "Teachings of the Living" prophets. I really love my teacher and get something out of the lesson. He makes me think about the gospel in ways I have never considered. 

The rest of my free time is usually spent with Nelson. He is just about as busy as I am so it works out pretty well. He is another post for another time. This weekend was the beginning of Spring Break. I found out that my old roommates were throwing a baby shower for one of my other roommates down in SLC. Luck for me I was already headed down there. I woke up early and headed down. It was great to see some of my favorite women. Megan is such a cute pregnant woman! All my friends are having kids and it makes me want one so bad, but instead I will have to be satisfied being an aunt for the moment.  

Yesterday, I was in for a treat I wasn't expecting. My parents were down in SLC for a seminar and they were going to have dinner with my brother and his wife, who had also gone to the seminar. They invited me to come to dinner, which I was very excited about. When I arrived at Texas Roadhouse, I was shocked to see my grandparents and all of my dad's siblings and one of my cousins. Although I wasn't able to talk with them as much as I would have liked it was great to be around everyone. 

For the rest of the week I am just going to bum around playing with my nieces and nephew, catching up with old friends and sleeping in because I can. I will only have a month of school left after we return from Spring Break. This semester has flown by so quickly. I will be heading to Oregon for my next clinical and feel like it will be here sooner than I think. So here's to another great month!