September 4, 2002

I've been thinking about calling Depresso Guy something different. The name Wicked Starfish came to me as a replacement. Wicked Starfish came about because when the darkness comes he latches only the base of my neck. I pictured a giant starfish suctioned onto me centered at the base of my neck with one arm suctioned to the back of my skull, one arm suctioned on each shoulder, and the last two stretching down my back. The Wicked Starfish tries to spew forth darkness into my brain and body while sucking the energy out of me. It's a very wicked starfish. Maybe I should just go with The Darkness. Although I do like the imagery of the Wicked Starfish. But I also like the more humanistic sounding Depresso Guy. I suppose I could use all three interchangeably; after all, darkness takes many forms. The Wicked Starfish lost today. 

September 3, 2002

Sometimes I get this sinking feeling of dread. He creeps up behind me and rest himself upon my shoulders. He has a name: Depresso Guy. I feel him sneaking up. He lets himself down upon me ever so slightly that I can never tell the exact moment when he lights upon me. But I know he is here. He is not a part of me. I did not create him. He comes from a very dark place and tries to cloud my mind from the light. When he comes it feels like my spirit is wearing a heavy winter coat that provides no warmth. He always comes back, though I've sent him away many times. He always comes back, though he always loses. And he always will. Depresso Guy is delusional and pathetic. He thinks if he keeps trying someday he will succeed. He doesn't understand that he will never succeed because he is darkness and only will starve my soul. My hungry soul seeks the light where Depresso Guy cannot be. So he always loses, and always will. 

September 1, 2002

Sundays are so nice. It is an absolute joy to spend the day with Faye and Doug. Church was good. Bishop Levin extended a call to me today. I will be serving as the Sunday School President. I'm really happy to have a calling. It's nice to be able to serve, and I'll do my best. I'm looking forward to it. When I attended 2nd Ward in Tucson I taught gospel doctrine for about 2 years. I really liked it. I hope to have teachers that will teach most Sundays but I hope to teach one a month or so, but not much more than that. I'll get sustained next week then get to work. 

August 27, 2002

We ran late last night because for family home evening we took some cake over to the Barton's and visited with them for a while. Wayne has been sick and we thought some cake might cheer him up a little bit. Yesterday we found out that the apartment managing thing isn't going to work out, so that's was a little bit of bad news. Oh well. 

Oh, I forgot to mention that there is another LDS guy who is just starting law school too. He's in the University Ward also. His name is Patrick Jenkins and he's a great guy. We're in different sections at school so we don't see each other too much but it's nice to know he is there. We're going out to lunch on Friday. That'll be fun. 

August 25, 2002

Today was nice and relaxing. just a peaceful day at home. After church that is. Malea and I gave talks in church today. They both went good.

August 21, 2002

It's been difficult for us to get to bed on time and as a result I didn't make it to school at 7:00am like I wanted to. Tonight we are on schedule. Hopefully, we'll make it. It just seems like there is always something that keeps us up. I did get up at 5:00 and prayed and read my scriptures but, when reading, I couldn't even focus on the page. It was like my eyes were open but my eyeballs were still asleep. I felt like a zombie so I laid back down and got some more sleep. 

August 18, 2002

Last night I forgot to elaborate on the blessings that keep pouring in from attending the temple. Basically, if we didn't go to the temple, we never would have found out that it was illegal for our landlord to charge a triple deposit and we likely never would have gotten the process started to become apartment managers. 

Today was nice. Church and relaxation. Bishop Levin asked us to speak next week so I started preparing my talk also. He let Faye and I chose our own topics and we decided that I will speak on faith and hope, and Faye will take charity and love.

August 17, 2002

The blessings of attending the temple keep pouring in. Let me try and explain. Last night when we stopped to pick up James from the Pearson's, we sat down and talked for a little bit. We got to talking about our apartment situation and I mentioned how our landlord decided to charge us an extra month of a security deposit even after we has signed a lease and already paid a 3 month deposit. Our landlord was real concerned about this and scheduled a meeting with us today to tell us we needed to give him an extra month of deposit on top of the 3 we already paid. Bishop Pearson, himself a property owner, last night told us that it was illegal for our landlord to charge us more than a 2 month deposit and said we should ask for the 3rd month deposit back. 

Armed with this knowledge, we were ready for the meeting today with our landlord. When the meeting began, our landlord asked us a bunch of questions about how much money we had in the back, where our money was coming from, and so on. When he got done he told us that he decided to not charge us for a 4th month of deposit. "Well," I said, "we did our homework and discovered that the LA County Rent Commission doesn't allow landlords to charge more than a double security deposit." To which he responds, "Oh I know that, but I don't do that." Can you believe that? I told him we wanted the 3rd month deposit back since he collected it illegally. He refused. We settled on using the 3rd month deposit for our 7th months rent and he let us have a month-to-month lease instead of a year lease. We like having an easy out if we want to move and we'll be here at least 7 months with the school year. 

Even better, Diana Pearson called us today and said she may have an apartment manager job opening up soon that maybe it would work out for us to become apartment managers. 

The lesson of the day was pride. Our landlord gave us an easy out on our lease which would put him out all the rest of the money we would pay him over the course of us living here just because he wanted to operate above the law. Before we left the office, he said to us, "Don't disappoint me" which I translated into "don't leave and take your money with you." Those words are now burned into my brain. "Don't disappoint me." The ironic thing is that he is the one who was so quick to give us the way out that will disappoint him. O landlord, the pride of thine heart hath deceived thee. And I thank you. 

August 16, 2002

Faye and I have been hoping and praying for some friends. I especially, have been praying that Faye would be able to find a friend quickly. This evening Scott and Diana Pearson babysat Doug while we went to the temple. While waiting to be led into the endowment room, a guy sat next to me and we began to talk. He is just a little older than me and he and his wife moved to LA two and a half months ago after he graduated from BYU. I, of course, told him we were new in the area and told him a little about myself. I said to him that our wives need to meet. They live just a few miles away from us. As we were walking to the endowment room, he and his wife a little bit ahead of Faye and I, I told Faye about them. Faye asked, "Is their last name Schultz?" It turns out that Faye talked to her on the phone two months ago when we were looking for leads on places to live. Faye hit it off really well with her over the phone and told me that she thought we would be good friends with them. Well, in the move and everything, we lost their number, they lost ours, and even though we live in the same ward (Lakeside Ward), since we are going to the University Ward who knows if we ever would have met up with them. It was a miracle. They have been looking for friends too. 

As I sat down in the endowment room my heart swelled with thanksgiving to Heavenly Father for answering our prayers. It is humbling to know that Heavenly Father led us together to meet in the temple. Truly the Lord hears and answers our prayers. Truly the Lord blesses us when we attend the temple. 

August 13, 2002

Last night I gave Sean a call to say hello and let him know how everything was going; and, surprise, surprise, he and Jessica were in San Diego! They are down there on vacation. So today we drove down to see them. We got there in the afternoon and hung out in their hotel room until the got back from the zoo. It was great to see them and what luck that we got a hold of them when we did. Today is the only day we would have been able to see them and it worked out great. Brent and Colleen Donovan were on  vacation with them. Brent also served in the South Dakota Rapid City Mission with Sean and I. 

The greatest thing about the future is who I will spend it with. Faye is the inspiration of my life, she gives me the reason to dream big and work hard. I love her so much. Only God in Heaven, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost have had a greater impact on my life. I'm sure that will always be the case. Life with Faye is life to its fullest, and the future with her is the brightest future.