"For ye are bought with a price"

It would seem as though I am going to be continuing the weekly email update.

It has been a wild week! After a whirlwind of visits from family and friends, I felt that I had been sufficiently blessed in that everyone has shown me nothing but love and support. It is a good feeling.

 I found myself experiencing a new kind of jet lag I am not familiar with. On this end, I experience less midday crashes, but instead it is an ongoing battle around 8pm to stay awake and around 4am to stay asleep. My first night of sleep felt like 2 months and I found it had only been 2 hours. Slowly, but surely, I am adjusting. Just in time to head back out. 

Early last week I began the work of planning the next 6 months. I needed something solid to keep me very productive, and be able to fulfill my spiritual, educational, and financial needs. As I sought the guidance of the Spirit in these decisions, I found myself very much needing a miracle. I had too little time to get things together, and time was moving by without waiting for me to find solutions. I was to be on a mission this time of year, not looking for school and work! The stress was sure to be unbearable if I didn't find answers quickly. Part of me (a small, insignificant part that was very quickly given the invitation to get lost) thought that I might have stayed on my mission to avoid all these decisions and stresses, on me and my family.

But I knew in Whom I had trusted, so I moved forward.

Within a day I received a message from my Dad that read:

Dallan Schmidt wants to know if you need work, give him a call.

Shortly thereafter I met with him, and had a job working full time, with a schedule to match my expectations for classes in the evenings, and with one of the coolest people I know. 

Classes for most schools are starting real soon, and I had no idea how to even register. A few days before my parents received the phone call that I was coming home, they had found a program that has classes online through BYU-I and for a modest price. That miracle aside, I still had to make a decision and fast of what I was to do and how to go about doing it. At church on Sunday, I was in the hall visiting with my Bishop, when a Senior couple serving as missionaries came over to us. They live in Queen Creek, and my Bishop greeted them very friendly, and then asked them why they were there. They said that that morning they felt they should come to our Ward and come see Bishop Everton (who they knew one way or another) and it just so turns out that they are representatives for that same program and are in charge of this area. They gave me the things necessary to quickly accomplish getting classes started, and we had a good conversation; I am not alone in this.

I looked to see if there were any institute classes that could fit in my schedule, and found that there were, and one of them is taught by the same guy who taught mine a year ago, and he was the best. 

My email was flooded with emails from missionaries and friends and family, all of whom built me up and showed me an outpouring of love. My phone goes off often with numbers I don't recognize with people asking me how I am doing and letting me know they love me and are proud of me (after identifying themselves.) My grandparents were in town, and my reunion with them and my extended family here brought me such joy and warmth.

I am finding myself happier and more confident and at peace every day. I attribute these and all the blessings that I am drowning in as a direct result of my partaking in the Atonement and its healing power, and the love and faith of those around me. I am beyond grateful for these incredible people I am blessed to know, and for the grace that is being offered to me, seemingly immediately. I am beginning to see that while there is time involved in the healing process, The Lord will bless us the moment we turn our trust over to Him. In small ways, in sometimes more visible ways, but regardless of how, He will bless us and give us affirmation that He is proud of us and with us the whole way.

For ye are bought with a price (1 Corinthians 6:20)

I have been thinking of that line a lot this week. I think of the sacrifices that have been made on my behalf to get me to where I am, the prices they've paid to get me here physically and otherwise. I carry on my person the 50 euro that President Rowe gave me when I left for emergencies on my journey, partly because I promised him right away that I would return it to him when I came back, (with black licorice) and also to remind me of those sacrifices made by my friends on my behalf. And with each miracle I see wrought by God's grace and their sacrifices, I hold that 50 euro and remember that I have been bought with a price. Purely symbolic, but it helps me to remember and "stand fast in tht liberty wherewith God hath made (me) free"(Alma 61:21). 

"For ye are bought with a price."

What is that price, and what, then, does that make us worth?

For it is expedient that there should be a great and last sacrifice; yea, not a sacrifice of man, neither of beast, neither of any manner of fowl; for it shall not be a human sacrifice; but it must be an infinite and eternal sacrifice. (Alma 34:10)

I am learning what that means a little more each day.

Love,

Jake