Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Opposition in all things-Chapter 2

"...You've got to be sick, to be grateful for your health."

(if anyone can name the play/musical that song is from, I will write a special blog dedicated to you just to rave about how cool you are.-Any takers?)

So it all started a couple of weeks ago on a Tuesday (Nov 11th) with a sore throat--as usual. Swallowing was painful, and I was constantly thirsty. I knew I was getting sick. Dang it!

I increased my water intake,

I started taking Airborne in the mornings (Pink grapefruit is my favorite) and I tried to go to bed earlier than usual. (keyword... TRIED).

It continued the next day, and the next, adding one symptom on to another, including exhaustion. I was doomed, and I knew it. By Friday morning (the 14th) people thought I was just really emotional because my eyes would not stop watering. I had one nostril congested and the other so busy running, you'd think it was training for the Boston marathon. Here's the worst part-For 2 days, all I had to stop the drippage were paper towels. OUCH! Sores started to form in the area under my nostrils, which made the whole situation even more painful.

I had plans to go to St. George with some people in the new ward and I had been looking forward to the opportunity to get to know some people better. The rides were arranged and everything, but in the hours just before I was to leave Friday evening, things took an intense turn to UNBEARABLE! I was in a meeting at work and honestly felt like a complete zombie. The pressure in my head had convinced me that for sure my sinuses were going to explode at any moment. I get frequent migraines, so it wasn't pain like that, but the intense pressure was remarkably uncomfortable. I left work and knew there was no way I could make the almost 5 hour drive to St. George comfortably, nor would I be able to enjoy myself socially. So, sadly, I decided not to go.

Katie, a girl in my new ward found out I was sick and quickly was texting me to inquire of my symptoms and needs and how she could be of help to me--soup? blankets? medicine?. At first, I declined her offer, but then I went to wipe my nose and I was painfully reminded, "These paper towels are killing me!" I humbled myself and asked if she'd bring me some soft tissues...VOILA!-They were at my door within about 20 minutes. THANK YOU KATIE!!

Oh the relief!

So that was Friday. Things pretty much remained the same, or worse for the next couple of days and I was thoroughly disappointed that instead of doing this with my friends,

I was doing this at home alone


Pretty much all I wanted to do was sleep, eat soup


and watch "The Office." So that was exactly what I did, (along with catching up on about a month's worth of "Heroes" episodes online.

I wasn't getting better. Instead, I was just starting to get annoyed. On Tuesday night (the 18th) I almost passed out during the recreation therapy group I was running at the boys group home. Luckily my office is in that building as well, so I simply walked away from the kids and said "Uhh..give me a minute." I decided to rest for a second. What is it about putting our head on our desk that somehow magically makes us feel better? I think it's something subconsciously brainwashed into us starting in elementary school. It's miraculous!

I went home right away (at about 730pm), walked into my bedroom and fell onto my bed and was OUT! My phone alarm went off about an hour later to remind me about a meeting I had at 915pm. I made a phone call to reschedule. I got up to take out my contacts, brush my teeth, put on the PJs and then I went straight to sleep at about 845pm. Speaking of opposition-THAT is the complete opposite of me!!!

Amazingly enough, I woke up the next morning and felt rested, less frustrated and a little better. Things started to improve in the next couple of days. I could actually breath again.

As for the most current health update. My energy is back, and I feel overall fine. I still have to keep tissues close by and the itching in my eye hasn't gone away. In fact-today I'm wearing my glasses because my right eye was bright red and burning last night and all day today. It will be a great day when I'm 100% again. But like I said before, "...You've got to be sick, to be grateful for your health."

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Opposition in all things-Chapter 1

So it's that time again...you know, where I get to rattle off my thoughts here to the computer and assume that other people are reading them. So other than writing about my brother's wedding and giving a two week play-by-play of my happenings when first arriving in Utah, I've been told by some close friends that I seem to be "holding back," if you will. Well here goes nothing:

I have recently experienced the importance of opposition in my life.
I've decided to share just a few examples lately of how and why. I decided I will write them as a series (to keep you all in "suspense"..or to avoid from having one amazingly long post)

Chapter 1: "Being in the world, but not of the world"
I've heard that phrase all of my life and I've often contemplated its meaning for me personally. I believe it is up to each individual to assess their life circumstances and define its meaning in their own life.

A couple of Fridays ago I went to Temple Square to meet up with my long-time friend, Bill, and see the "Reflections of Christ" exhibit. www.reflectionsofchrist.org
(It was fantastic, by the way!)

As I was walking from my car to go meet Bill, I became curious (as well as concerned) by the bustling commotion I could hear growing as I approached Temple Square. I rounded a corner and suddenly it was as if I had stepped into a bizarre movie scene. I've been to Temple Square probably close to a hundred times in my life and I have always felt a sense of peace and tranquility there. Well not this time... Wow! Little did I know that thousands were swarming downtown to march past the temple and church headquarters, to protest the passing of California's Proposition 8. Now, I'm not going to use this post to express my personal opinion of Proposition 8 because I think still talking about it is starting to become like beating a dead horse, however, I will share my experience that evening of what happened to me on the inside while there was extreme chaos on the outside. It actually ended up being a great experience. I had just had a pretty amazing week, spiritually, for a lot of different reasons and believe it or not, the protesters actually added to it. Temple Square had been closed, obviously, so Bill and I had to bravely enter the "protest zone," to get to the Joseph Smith Memorial Building for the exhibit.
(See the picture?...YES! I walked into THAT, and I did so confidently, smiling, unafraid, and in no way feeling "shame on me" for being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.)

Bill and I smiled kindly at the security officials guarding the reflection pool area, and since it was obvious we were harmless, they let us through. The Joseph Smith Memorial Building is one of the only church-owned buildings with public access to the street (not surrounded by the walls of Temple Square), and believe me, the protesters definitely were taking advantage of it. The common theme was "DISRUPT AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE." Horns honking, megaphones blaring, fists and signs beating against the doors as they'd march by, or the "courageous" few who would open the doors and yell slanderous profanities inside- all popular and typical behaviors of any protest. It was crazy to say the least, however, as I stood there and viewed the beautiful photographs portraying the life of Jesus Christ, I was struck by the symbolism of it all. I was watching the introduction video for the exhibit,and suddenly it hit me.

How often in life is the world screaming at us? Do we allow others to affect our overall satisfaction in life? Do we base our happiness on how others view us, treat us or judge us? It became very apparent to me that it was my choice to either focus my attention on the art exhibit I had come to experience, or to allow my evening to be ruined by the protest. I loved the exhibit and I suddenly realized the true power that comes to each of us in the battle against the adversary as we devote our lives and focus (or in this case "reflect") on the Savior, Jesus Christ.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Look what I found!

Rock band in the wedding attire! (Those are Amy's parents)

Sunday, November 9, 2008

The Last Player Standing...

OK, I will warn you now-this post is unlike any of my others. Prepare yourself for some sarcasm and a slight sense of me being on a soap box. Are you ready?

After my last post about Kevin & Amy's wedding, I think it's a perfect time to finally bring this up. So let's address the elephant in the room...it's true-I will be the last member of my family to get married......uh huh...and...????

I've had more than a person or two in the past couple of months ask me how it feels being the only single person left in my family. Well, I will tell you-

#1-I can admit part of me wants to just stand there in utter amazement when they ask me that. Seriously. In a perfect world, I would just stare at them in blank silence until they hopefully would realize (on their own) the stupidity of that question. But, I'm not that lucky. So instead, I just smile and say-"Oh, we're just saving the best wedding for last."

#2-If you were to ask me growing up if I thought I would be the last Player sibling married, I'm not sure how I would have answered. First of all, it's not like I'm on the older end of the family, so I'm not sure how I was supposed to "beat" some of them to it (because we all know it's a race, right?). But I guess being the only Player girl, there has always been a certain level of bridal pressure, if you will, with the "when you get married...(insert fairy tale wedding idea here)" comments from all sides...I'm still not really sure how or why being the only girl in my family is considered to somehow be a catalyst in the process of mutually falling in love with someone???? Anyone? Anyone?

#3 Apparently someone started a myth a long time ago that any girl who goes to BYU has only one degree in mind...their "M.R.S. degree." What exactly does that even mean? I didn't even know what that was until I was already at BYU, so obviously it had nothing to do with why I had gone there in the first place.- Whatever. I must admit there was nothing during my college years that bugged me more than everyone's utter shock every time I would go home to Kansas and a "girl like me" still wasn't married, engaged or even dating anyone out in Provo. Uh...? Sorry? *shrug* (as Cassie would say). Yes, it's true-I graduated from BYU with my maiden name on my degree/diploma...woohoo! Go me! I see nothing wrong with that.

#4 I have an awesome family. My parents are amazing people and two of my best friends! I can talk to them about ANYTHING! I have 4 fantastic brothers, whom I have always loved and been close to, and now I'm lucky to have 4 great sisters (in-law) who simply just belong among us in the Player family. I can't even tell you how much it means to me to have 4 women who love my brothers. I honestly couldn't ask for more, and on top of that- I love being an Aunt! My 6 nieces are my world!


Mom & Dad (est. 1972)


James & Krista (est. 1994)[she's adorable, huh!?]


Martin & Breckann (est. 1998)


Kevin & Amy (est. 2008)


Tiffanie- Flying solo (for now)


Jonathan & Cassie (est. 2004) [This is SOOO typical of them :) ]

#5 What's the rush? I'm a good girl-it'll happen when it happens. I don't think anything is wrong with me, and I'm feeling pretty ok about how I live my life, therefore I'm pretty sure if I can trust the Lord's timing of things happening in my life-it would be fantastic if others could support Him on that as well. No, I'm NOT bitter, I'm actually just faithful (as in full of faith). I shared this quote before, but I'm going to step off of my soap box now and end this post by sharing it again as a friendly reminder to all of us.

"Having faith in the Lord, also means having faith in His timing."
-Elder Neal A. Maxwell.

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

FINALLY!!!!

My older brother, Kevin, got married on Friday Oct 17th in the Salt Lake Temple to Amy. This was kinda a big deal. No, not kinda. It was pretty much a huge deal! Kevin had been my hero for the..., well for about the past 5 years. As you all should probably know by now, I had moved back to Kansas and lived with him for the past year in Lawrence. I loved my time with him! I love my brother. I miss my brother. He introduced me to so many things- Trainman (If you haven't seen it-ask him), Tron, his love of India, Ice sheets, Bazmati rice, the beauty of the bidet, how to sadly catch (and pretty much torture) the mice in our house, his philosophies on so many random things, not to mention some rather amazing gospel conversations. I loved our Sunday afternoon chats we'd have at the kitchen table, right when we got home from church. Sometimes they would last for hours. I loved waking up and finding the snow on my car was already scraped off by him, or us waiting for each other, so we could watch Heroes, the Office and American Idol together on the DVR. I loved back when we used to talk about "wandering in the wilderness" of life--wondering when we would reach the "Promised Land" as we would discuss our "learning experiences" in relationships (or failed attempts-however you want to look at it). We'd try to give the guy or girl perspective to help the other out. HA! Well it appears that my advice was better, because things worked out for him.Kevin and Amy actually have known each other for years! I won't go into the details of how they FINALLY ended up together, because it's complicated (and ridiculous on his part if you ask me) but she was amazingly patient and it all worked out in the end. I'm so glad I moved to Lawrence last fall and became fast friends with her. I'm even happier that I get to be friends with her forever. (There was a part of me that always knew it would happen). Good for Kevin for finally being willing to go "cliff jumping" and to allow himself to fall in love! Here are some pictures from the festivities:

Some of the Player family gathered outside the Salt Lake temple...

The California nieces

Krista, the 1st Player sister-in-law!

the Player siblings (almost normal)

The classic "pulling a face," that Mom loves so much. (not really)
(Wow! How do I do that?!-scary)

Player sibling table at the luncheon. (I was originally assigned to sit at another table...huh??!?! Yeah, none of us really understood that one either. My brother, Martin, switched the name cards so I could sit with my brothers) Shh! Don't tell. This was probably one of my favorite parts of the wedding day! It's not often all 5 of us Player kids (well I guess with wives there are 9 of us total now) but we don't get to be together very often, so we had a blast that day! We laughed A LOT. It was also an extra special day because for the first time all of us were able to be in the temple together to witness a sibling's sealing. (When James & Martin were married, we were too young, and when Jonathan was married-Kevin was on his mission). In fact, the extra special bonus was that his own sealing was the first time Kevin had EVER been to a sealing at all.

The parents

The open house in Kansas was what you would call "Non-traditional" but TOTALLY Player-style!! We are a family that loves to play games. Every family meal, Mom usually has random games & prizes for us. So Kevin & Amy continued the tradition. They rang a bell every 30 minutes and would draw for prizes or announce winners of the games in which people had participated while waiting in line. It was classic! Oh! and it's true...there was Rock Band!
Kevin & Amy had changed out of their wedding clothes by then, which is too bad because I loved the site of Amy rocking out in her wedding dress. I wish I had a picture. Yeah my family is pretty much awesome!

Welcome to the family, Amy!

(Is it funny to anyone else that there seems to be a rather distinct gap in this family picture in the area up by me...like someone is missing? Hmmm?..someday, I guess)

Monday, November 3, 2008

Utah--so far...

Two weeks...or so.... in Review

I know, I know. I need to catch you all up. A lot of people want to know how life has been for me since moving here to Salt Lake City. It's been insanely busy, to say the least. But busy is good...Here is the quickest run-down I can give you since my arrival:

Wed Oct 15-Flight arrived in SLC at 230pm. My friend I've known since middle school, Bill, was kind enough to pick me up and take me straight from the airport and over to get my fingerprints done for work. I stayed at Justin & Megan's house in Pleasant Grove that night.(Justin is one of my Elder best friends from my mission)

Thur Oct 16- Met up with Kevin, Amy & My Mom for breakfast at Amy's family's house In Alpine. The new job called at 10:15am and said my fingerprints had been cleared in record time and I could start work at 11am. I worked 11-7pm, had dinner back at Amy's and then went back to my new place in Salt Lake to meet up with Dad, Martin, Breckann, Jonathan & Cassie who had just driven in from Kansas. We unloaded my car packed with my belongings. I dropped Jonathan & Cassie off at Cassie's parents' house in American Fork and then stayed with my family at Amy's in Alpine.

Fri Oct 17- Kevin & Amy's wedding, luncheon & reception. See other post with all the details and pictures (I was beyond excited that between the luncheon and reception I went back to the hotel with my brother, James' family and was able to fit in a much needed nap!)

Sat Oct 18-My family left to go back to California and Kansas, I unpacked and then went to Lagoon amusement park for "Fright Nights" that evening with an old neighbor from BYU who's in my new ward and some other random people from the new ward whom I had never met before.

Sun Oct 19-First day in the new ward. It went well enough. The church is true wherever you go. That evening the roommates and I had pumpkin waffles around the corner at Emily's house(a girl in the ward), Then our house was spotlighted at ward prayer and then we went to play Nertz at the house of one of the guys in the ward. It was his birthday-Yes! I did the birthday dance.

Mon Oct 20-Work, then the FHE Cornmaze with the ward and then Ice cream and cheese fries at Leatherby's with the roommates (Shannon & Jenni) and some others who joined us.

Tue Oct 21-Work, then I came home to a group of "institute skippers" playing Nertz at the kitchen table. (shame on them)

Wed Oct 22-Work, Wednesdays are my long days at work. But I end my Wednesdays doing my Community Substance Abuse Rec. Therapy group. We went bowling that night at the U. My job rocks!

Thur Oct 23-Work, then I went on what I like to call my "first date" back in Utah. Brad would be ok with that, I think! (ha ha) Brad is the other Elder best friend from the mission (Justin, Brad & I are a fun trio). Anyway, Brad & I went to IKEA to buy me furniture for my bedroom. My mattress was getting rather lonely being the only thing in my room (besides my piles of belongings). Brad insisted we have IKEA meatballs to start the night off right. I love Brad. I laughed so hard throughout the whole shopping extravaganza with him! After shopping, I had a "get to know you" interview with Bro. Bailey of the Bishopric that night. I think he was surprised at just how "NOT shy" I am for being new in the ward.

Fri Oct 24- Work, then I delivered a vacuum to a total stranger named Matt in Provo (funny story)-He's in my brother, James' ward in Roseville, CA. Then I met up with my long-time friend and co-worker from both MTC Cafeteria & Heritage..Mariel. We attended a high school football game (Orem HS & Mt View HS). We know the coach of Orem's team, as well as the ballboy and we were there to support him. I then quickly popped over to see one of my favorite friends, Laura (Heritage co-worker) and then met up with my friend, Buck, to introduce him to the wonderful world of High School Musical.

Sat Oct 25- I got on a plane in SLC at 8am and flew home to Kansas. Arrived at 1230pm, went to lunch with my sister-in-law, Cassie at Cinzetti's, hung out with Jonathan & Cassie for a bit before we all headed to Lawrence for Kevin & Amy's Wedding Open House. (See wedding post for details) I spent the night at Jonathan & Cassie's house.

Sun Oct 26- After being in Kansas for only 20 hours, I got on a plane in Kansas City at 830am and arrived back in SLC at 1030am. I went to church, ward prayer and then headed over to Mikelle's for another night of Nertz.

Mon Oct 27- Work, then the Stake Halloween Dance for FHE. (Only in Utah could you pack a barn with a bunch of people for a crazy dance on a Monday night). I almost didn't go, but I'm so glad I did! I had a blast! I decided to just go have fun and be myself. My costume was "a girl who just barely got off of work." I met tons of people from my new ward and pretty much never stopped dancing the whole night. (I'm so grateful for EFY this summer that brought the crazy dance side back out of me)

Tue Oct 28- Work, then I met up with the family of my friend, Steve (who's in Kansas), at Skyline H.S to watch his little sister play volleyball. I was impressed. She's pretty dang good! (Steve was pretty much one of my best friends in Lawrence this past year. He's out in Kansas for school, but like I've mentioned in other posts, I've been able to hang out with his family during my different trips out here). It was a fun night! The Tingeys are great!

Wed Oct 29- work-For my Substance abuse group activity we went to the exhibit "Body Worlds." I thought it was AMAZING! After work, I went to the wedding reception for Kory & Shay in Highland. Kory grew up with all of us in Olathe. His Mom was my Young Women's president for years and his sister, Jenn, was one of my best friends (and one of the few girls I enjoyed being friends with) in high school. I caught the bouquet.. ha ha!

Thur Oct 30 Work, then I headed to Provo to have dinner with my friend, Karen. We were roommates the year before & the year after our missions. We hadn't seen each other in over 2 years. It was fun to meet her son as well. Then, I popped over to see two of my EFY friends, Ashton & Jake (my co-counselor from Kansas session) while I was in town. We went to get frozen yogurt-which I decided is an over priced & over-rated Provo fad.

Fri Oct 31- Work-We took the kids on a tour of Franklin Covey Baseball stadium where the Bee's play (Salt Lake's triple A team). It was so cool! The press box, suites, locker room, training room, batting cages, tunnels, etc. Then they let us play kickball down on the field for a couple of hours. The kids were so cute running around in their Halloween costumes. We even had lunch in the dugout. We had an ice cream party (get it?.."I Scream") once we got back. I won the work costume contest. I was Smurfette again (same as 2005-it was the only costume I had handy). My Halloween night was horrible! I won't go into detail. I went to a Halloween party hosted by some of my closest friends from home who also live here in Salt Lake. The guys & I grew up in the same home ward. (Jeremiah & Marcie and Dylan & Jess). Dylan lined me up on a blind date. All I can say is I was waiting for Ashton Kutcher to jump out all night and tell me I was being Punk'd. Besides being with my friends from home, it was horrible...probably the worst date I've ever been on. Enough said.

Sat Nov 1- I actually had a 4 hr training class in the morning, and then I promised myself I would stay home and do nothing the rest of the day. Obviously I had been going non-stop from the moment I arrived in Utah, so I kept my promise. My friend, Melanie (AKA "one of my little sisters") drove up from Provo to see me. She helped me put the dresser I had bought from IKEA together and we chatted all afternoon. I love her!

Sun Nov 2- Church-I decided to join the choir, and then I met back up with Jeremiah & Marcie and Dylan & Jess for dinner together at Jeremiah & Marcie's house. Good times! Then ward prayer, as usual, but this week I bailed quickly because I was tired (and feeling slightly homesick to be honest). I wasn't really up for being social. Well, Nertz was at our place tonight, so the not being social thing didn't go my way for too long. I lost miserably at Nertz and had way too much to eat at dinner-thus I'm ending this post and going to bed much later than I should with an insanely over bloated stomach.

AND NOW WE'RE OFFICIALLY CAUGHT UP!
(If you read this whole post-please leave a comment, I'm curious how many people really made it through all of that)

Why would anyone ever move to Kansas?

My response is usually "You've obviously never been there"

I will preface this post by saying, I am homesick tonight. I've never really experienced homesickness before, so this is a new thing for me. I spent the evening having dinner with some friends I grew up with in Olathe and it made me miss home. So far, without fail- Sundays are the hardest days for me.
Being back in Utah the past 2 weeks I have had more than a couple of old co-workers, acquaintances, etc ask me why I had ever moved to Kansas in the first place, if I was just going to turn around and come back to Utah a year later. "Well nice to see you again too" is how I'd like to respond, but instead I realize I really do have a good answer for them. Some of you don't know the story of how I ever ended up leaving Utah and moving back to Kansas to live with my older brother, Kevin in September of last year. So here's the story:

It started in March 2007. I was living in Provo, UT at the time and loving my job as a Recreation Therapist. I simply had gone home to Kansas to visit for a week, not seeking anything specific besides time with my family. I went to visit Kevin, and spent an evening there in Lawrence with him. He took me to have dinner at the Spain restaurant on Mass St. (It went out of business a couple of months later), then we just talked most of the night and I actually slept on his bedroom floor. (For anyone who saw his room pre-marriage, you know how silly and cramped that must have been sleeping on his floor.) It was there in that tiny corner of space that I knelt down for my normal bedtime prayer and in the midst of simply giving thanks for being able to spend an evening with my insanely busy brother, I was given one of the most unexpected and most undeniable promptings/directions from the Lord. I was basically told "Tiffanie-you're moving back to Kansas. In fact, you're moving here to Lawrence and you're going to live in this house." I admit I kinda laughed at the thought because I had no reason to be in Lawrence. I had no friends there, I wasn't in school at KU and if I was going to live anywhere in Kansas-Olathe was my home. I figured my brain was just really tired, and obviously must have just had too much fun with my brother that night, so I chuckled to myself and went to bed.

I went to breakfast there in Lawrence the next morning with my friend, Heidi. She and I had worked at KU EFY together in 2004. Heidi and I had stayed in touch via internet chatting over the years, so it was good to sit and chat face-to-face before she headed off to her class that morning. I remember two main things about our breakfast together. #1 We talked mostly about American Idol and #2 I was prompted once again that Lawrence was where I was soon headed. This time it was through the thought of "See, you do have friends here, in fact your life will be forever blessed by the people you will meet here." I was scared. I can't even explain what THAT felt like! I basically was just left thinking "WHAT IN THE WORLD?! WHERE DID THIS COME FROM?!" I had the continuous and overwhelming feeling that the Lord wasn't kidding either, so I needed to react with faith to the prompting.

I learned quickly on my mission that when the Lord commands or prompts you to do something-you do it. Well, in this situation, I was definitely caught off guard by the whole thing, but the only question I felt necessary to ask was "When?" It was March-I knew the Lord wanted me in Kansas, but I had a job in Provo that I loved. why would I just walk away from that? HOW could I walk away from that?! WHEN could I walk away from that?! Figuring out the right timing was the hardest part of the whole thing.

I returned to Provo from my Kansas visit and it took me days before I told anyone what I had felt. I was terrified. I finally cracked to Summer, my best friend and roommate at the time, by saying "Summer-I'm moving back to Kansas." Her response was "Good. I think you should." That was not what I expected to hear, but it's what I NEEDED to hear. (Another tender mercy from the Lord).

I wrestled for days, weeks, months to figure out the right timing of leaving my job, telling my co-workers, fulfilling summertime work responsibilities, going on the already planned trip to Spain, France,and Italy in May, as well as hosting my friend, Debbie, who would be visiting from England in July. After taking all kinds of things into consideration, it was finally decided that September 2007 was when I would officially move to Lawrence, Kansas.

Once the timing had been figured out,(and approved through fervent prayer) it just ate at me more and more because I knew I was soon to be in Kansas. In a previous post, I talked about how so many things in my life go back to the mission...This was one of those situations as well. It was as if in March I had received my "mission call" to Kansas, but had to wait to to enter the "MTC" until September. It was a long wait, however, once I got there, the timing of it all was undeniably perfect for so many reasons. The timing of my arrival was essential in the experiences I had, the people I grew close to, my opportunity to serve in certain callings, ward activities, family activities, etc etc- once again, just like the mission (areas, companions, teaching opportunities, etc).

"Having faith in the Lord, also means having faith in His timing."
--Elder Neal A. Maxwell