November 5th –

Some dates are so important it’s hard to forget them. When you say that date people instantly think of someone or something that has happened in their life or history. December 25^th – this is the perfect example for most Christians, what wonderful experiences or memories come into most of our minds. September 11^th – as this date points out our memories or the importance of a certain date aren’t always positive. This date is probably remembered in history over the past fifteen years more than any other, it brings the same feeling that our grandparents had about December 7^th the date Pearl Harbor was bomb by Japan. There are also personal dates that mean something to each of us and perhaps those closest to us: birthdates, anniversaries and days of major events both positive and negative. The more traumatic or wonderful the circumstances the more it stands out from the other dates all of us experience. As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints we believe there are events that are essential to our progression and development and then there’s others situations that are opportunities to serve in areas that benefit our lives forever. I was baptized a member of the LDS Church on November 5^th 1967. I remember it quite well; it was in the basement of the tabernacle in Logan Utah. It took place in the same room that I was set apart as a member of the Mt. Logan Stake Presidency thirty-eight years later by Elder Bateman of the Presidency of the Seventies. I remember two events more than the rest: 1^st I was baptized by my brother Craig and 2^nd one of the other kids being baptized was wearing some white clothes that after they were wet we could see their underwear – it scared me that everyone would see mine as well. We are taught that baptism is a gate that is essential to get on the correct path to exaltation and return to live with God. There are other events and circumstances that are just as important to this process. There are also experiences planned and unplanned that change our perspective and direction in life. One of these opportunities for me was the chance to serve a full time mission, it changed the way I looked at life and gave me opportunities to learn that I never would have had without it. The reason I bring this event up is that I was set apart as a missionary on November 5^th 1978. I was later released on November 5^th 1980. These were dates assigned to me from the missionary department, I had no idea they were the same as my baptism date for many years. If I had realized it I may have tried to talk my wife into getting married on the same date – but then I would have had to wait two months and four days for the greatest event in my life. I don’t remember the exact date I figured it out but it was sometime after November 5^th 1995 the day I was ordained the first bishop of the Eastridge Ward. This experience was as spiritual for me as the time I served as a missionary seventeen years before. It was sometime during that service that I figured out the similarity of the date involved, because when the stake president was talking to me about my possible release, I told him if he’s going to do it, it may be nice to do it on November 5^th 2000. That wasn’t possible and I was released one week later. The date that these things took placer is far less important than the fact that they happened in the first place. The fact that they all happened on the same date is coincidence – a unique one at that. These are all special experiences for me in the opportunities of life. I’ve had many other opportunities to serve and events that have been life changing or essential to my progression that haven’t happened on this date. All of these together have made me who I am and have laid the cornerstone for which I will become in the future and throughout eternity. But it is a coincidence and the reason I’m posting this story on November 5^th 2009.