One of the things that really bugged me about the church that I learned in these weeks leading up to something called stake conference was that I didn't get visiting teachers. I thought this was crap. I mean I really wanted to girls to come over and visit me and it would be even better if it could have been Sheena since I was her home teacher. But alas I learned much to my dismay that guys don't get visiting teachers. Go figure.
Well about a two weeks before stake conference President Clark called me into his office again. "JD, would you do something for me?" he asked. "Sure President Clark, what do you need?" "Well we would like you to give a talk at stake conference." At this time in my life I really didn't realize how big a thing stake conference was and if you remember I was the same guy who thought a stake dinner was really a steak dinner and was pretty upset to find only casseroles and jello when I hadn't ate all day in preparation for an awesome dinner. I told President Clark "Sure, no problem." I only thought it would be a lot like sacrament meeting with maybe a few more people. I then pulled out my trusty five star notebook that I still wrote down questions in and asked my newest questions from my reading to President Clark. Only this time he did something a little different than just give me the answer or show me where to find it or discuss it with me. He showed me something that was called the index that sat in the middle of my standard works. He showed me how I could find all the scriptures that related to a topic and learn for myself what the Lord had said. So we opened up to the subject of one of my questions and lo and behold right there on that page was my answer. It was the sixth or seventh verse listed under that topic but it answered my question.
President Clark had given me a whole new world of discovery and innovation that led me learn more than I ever thought possible. I truly started to learn precept upon precept and line upon line.
However as Stake Conference loomed closer I was presented with a feeling of gloom and despair. I didn't know if I really wanted to talk at conference I was scared and wondered if I would mess up and if everyone would make fun of me or even worse if I really messed up and they told me I couldn't come back to church ever.
I called Bishop Donaldson one night and asked him if he could meet with me because I had some things I needed to talk about. We set a meeting for later on that night around nine or ten.
Bishop Donaldson truly is an amazing man. He helped me overcome obsticles and wade through tribulation. I am truly greatful that he was there for me to help me in my times of need and with Stake Confrence just around the corner I needed his help.
I arrived at Bishop Donaldson office at the old institute building about ten minutes early so I sat down outside his office and waited. Finally after what seemed like an eternity Bishop D finished with whoever was in his office and they came out and he invited me in.
"What can I do for you JD?" Bishop D asked. I looked up at him and said, "I'm scared. I really don't know what to do about talking at stake confrence. I want to say the right things Bishop and I don't want to get in trouble by saying the wrong things." "What do you mean by wrong things JD?" "Well . . . I don't want to say something thats wrong and get kicked out of the church or to say something wrong and make someone mad." (you have to remember that the first time I bore my testimony I called Jesus Christ a stud and Joseph Smith a freaking awesome guy) He looked at me as only a Bishop can and with loving eyes that bespoke that everything would be allright he said, "JD, if you will speak from your heart and listen to the Holy Ghost you will have nothing to worry about." "Bishop, I just don't want to sound dumb or stupid either. There are just so many people who know so much more than I do and can do a better job at this then me." He told me there was not a thing for me to worry about and that if I listened to the Holy Ghost and studied my scriptures I would know what to say and how to say it. I was still afraid but I felt that what Bishop had told me to do was right.
I left Bishop D's office and started to walk home thinking about what to say. I was still scared but it was no longer an overwhelming feeling. When I got back to my apartment and sat down in my bedroom and opened up my scriptures and started to study.
As confrence weekend finnaly arrived I felt as if a burden had been lifted from my shoulders and I looked forward to confrence even though I had only been baptized about a month or so now.
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