Our talks went very well

Our big day to speak in church finally came. Our church is at 9:00 am and so our day started at 6:30 am. Luckily, we bathed the girls yesterday in anticipation of today. We got dressed and out the door 30 minutes early. We got in the chapel 2nd and while the lights were still out. Kiera took Kembri to feed her and Alexa decided to go with her. I tried to study my talk while I waited, but that was not realized because Ashlyn was crazy and wanted to run all over. Also, one of the Elders started putting up chairs in the back and so I joined him. I felt that I needed to practice but felt that servicing was more important and felt that the Lord would provide if I helped. Anyway. sacrament started and come to find out we had two youth speakers and a musical number by the primary, Which should mean that I will only have about 10 Minutes, but that ended up not to be the case, Kiera gave her talk that was about 7 minutes and I was left with a full 20 minutes.

It was amazing because Sunday the 9th, I could not sleep and felt that I needed to write down my thoughts on the Birth of the Savior, without any research, just my thoughts. So I headed upstairs and ended up writing my entire talk. All I had to do was insert the scripture references and make minor changes but it was all done. The interesting thing is that when I timed what I had put together it was 16 minutes. I had figured, especially when Kiera only had about 7 minutes, that I would just cut some out. Well, the Lord knew that I would need all of that because I was left to fill 20 minutes.

I was semi-nervous for this talk because the more I practiced at home the more I got concerned. I can't express how amazing it was because from the moment I stood to speak the words just came out. I was able to bear testimony and I felt that the Spirit was there in abundance. I realized even more that I am nothing and it was all the Lord. I need to always remember that when I am on the Lords earned, I can rely on the Lord after all I can do and he will provide in the capacity that fits His will. I need to step aside and let the Lord do His work.

So here are our talks:

Craig- What the Birth of the Savior Means to Me

Kiera- The Birth of the Savior

I am updating my blog

I am inserting blog entries into the dates when they happened, so be sure to scroll down and see what is new. I am sorry I have been so bad at updating my blog.

We could not get home because of the snow

We went out to do some errands and went to eat at Red Robin (that is such a good place). Well we came out of the mall and it was snowing real hard. We stopped to get gas and could not get out of the gas station because the road was too steep, so we went another way and it looked ok at first until we got a few feet from the stop sign and we stopped. I had to get out and push while Kiera drove. I thought we where home free, but no. We started up the street before our street and we could not make it up. We tried another way and no luck the roads were too steep and our tires had no traction. We drove around for about 45 mins trying different routes and finally we stopped in the side of the road and decided to just walk up to our house and come get our van later. While we were getting the kids clothes on the snow plow came by us. We jumped in the car and took off, it went up the steepest hill and we were still unsure that our van would make it but thanks to our prayers we made it up the hill. Next we had to come down another very steep hill. I held the brake the entire way home, some times I had control and some times I did not. Well we made it to our house, finally but could not make it up our driveway. I got out and cleared the snow and attempted it again, but still could not get up so I put rock salt down and then was able to make it up our driveway. We are going to invest in some chains so that this will not happen again. This picture below did not turn out that good, but you can see how heavy the snow was falling. All together we must of gotten about 8-10 inches of snow. I am in the back left and Lacie, Alexa, and Ashlyn are to the right in pink but we are hard to find.

Got asked to speak in church

Two days ago I designed Kiera's blog header shown below:



Yesterday I decided to create one for myself also but wanted to focus more on the Savior and so I designed the one below (and my header).



Anyway, I enjoyed putting this together and it helped me think about the Savior and his life. Well, yesterday in the evening I got a call from the first counselor in the Bishopric and he asked Kiera and us to speak in church the following Sunday. The topic is the birth of the Savior and what it means to us. I thought it was kind of funny how it all worked out.

Suspicious characters at our yard

Last night we came home and there were three boys outside our house playing with our blowup Christmas decorations. They saw us and dropped on their bellies. Then, they realized that they were still in clear view and they all made a mad dash to get out of the yard without being seen, but to their dismay we watched everything. One of the boys tripped on one of the lines that were staked into the ground and fliped over, it was so funny. We stopped and got out to find that it was Lacie's friends, Jackson, Dustin, and Dustins brother. These boys all like Lacie and are always coming over just to say hi and to see her. Jackson, the one that had tripped on the line was kind enough to re-enact his flipping over, we laughed and then sent them on their way.

I was hoping that I had a few more years before I had to deal with boy trouble, but I was wrong. It seems that the boys these days are a lot more daring then when I was a kid.

New talk just posted

I have just posted a talk to my LDS Talks Blog.

Exaltation made possible through the gift of bodies

Also, Kiera posted a while back a talk that she gave in Sacrament meeting, so go and look at hers also.

My Testimony of the Book of Mormon

Cutest APX salesgirls ever

My girls are so funny, they love to take my hat and act like an APX Salesgirls. Lacie has a very funny impression of an APX Salesman. Here they are in the flesh. You can also see some of our backyard in these pictures.

I am now co-managing my team

As of yesterday I am the new co-manager for my team that I was a part of last summer. I am very excited because this will allow me an opportunity to help others succeed as well as earn more money.

Test Blog from phone

I have downloaded a program for my phone/handheld that allows me to post to my blog from my phone. We have been without the internet exapt on my phone for almost 2 months. So needless to say I was pretty excited to find this program, even though we should hare our internet set up on Monday.

- Posted using Pocket Watch Software Mobile GBlogger.

Quick update on our family

The summer has been over for several weeks and I am loving spending all my time with my wonderful family. For those that have not heard yet heard we have had our 4th girl (really 5th including Lexi) just one week ago. Her name is Kembri Ella and she is so small and precious. Ashlyn loves her so much and we fear sometimes too much. She loves to get about 1 millimeter from her face and just stare at her for ever. Today she tried to comb her hair and scratched her pretty bad. But we are glad that she loves her. Lacie and Kembri must know each other very well because she can calm her down immediately and she is perfectly content in her arms. Alexa loves her also but only holds her for a minute or two and then she is off playing.

We are now moving up to Utah. There is a lot to update everyone on, but we have been without a computer for the last month or so. Once we get settled in our new house in a few days I will have more time to write. I am in a hotel lobby waiting for Kiera to put Alexa and Ashlyn to sleep. I will write soon.

Moving to Utah

The summer has been over for several weeks and I am loving spending all my time with my wonderful family. For those that have not heard yet heard we have had our 4th girl (really 5th including Lexi) just one week ago. Her name is Kembri Ella and she is so small and precious. Ashlyn loves her so much and we fear sometimes too much. She loves to get about 1 milimeter from her face and just stare at her for ever. Today she tried to comb her hair and scratched her pretty bad. But we are glad that she loves her. Lacie and Kembri must know each other very well because she can calm her down immediatly and she is perfectly content in her arms. Alexa loves her also but only holds her for a minute or two and then she is off playing.

Having our newest girl Kembri Ella

Here is Kiera going in to have her baby. This is her in front of the hospital sign and you can see her full belly.



This is me walking into the hospital.



This is Kiera right before they took her into the c-section room.



I am all ready to head in and see our baby born (c-section).



Here is Kiera on the table right before Kembri is born. She does not like to be on her back when she is pregnant but she is trying to be a good sport.

One of the first pictures of our newest addition, Kembri Ella Conover.

This is Kembri when they brought her back from the nursery. They kept her in there for a long time.

















Here we are as we leave the hospital to take Kembri home.

Here is Kembri today which is 12/9/07. I took a while to post about her birth.

Work by faith

Yesterday, I called my families home and my dad answered. It was a pleasure to talk to him. I had not talked to him for a long time because I had been working so hard. I was still on the doors knocking and so I could not talk long but it was still nice to talk to him. He then just out of the blue told me to work by faith. He told me of Jacob in Genesis 30 and how he made a deal with Labon (who he was working for at the time and the Lord had blessed him in abundance for Jacobs sake) that Jacob would have all the speckled and brown flocks. He told me how the Lord blessed Jacob from that time forth with the strongest speckled cattle and an abundance of them.

I am so thankful for my dad and his great inspiration. All day my mind envisioned this story and it gave me greater strength to truly work by faith. I have tried all my life to work by faith but never as hard as with this job. It is absolutely amazing how the Lord has blessed me. The day before yesterday I was so tied because of the heat that for the first time this summer I felt like calling for a ride and go somewhere and just sit for an hour or two. But instead I decided to just pray very hard and after 3 doors I got inside and sold my third door. It gave me the much needed time to rest and recuperate. I can remember on several occasions that I felt that I could not go on and I prayed in faith and was blessed in just a few doors. I have gained such a testimony of faith and the power of God in our lives if we will just qualify ourselves for his help.

One of the funniest video I have seen.

Building a personal relationship with our Father and Jesus Christ

Last night I finished reading the book Words of Joseph Smith: The Contemporary Accounts of the Nauvoo Discourses of the Prophet Joseph. I have grown to love the Prophet Joseph Smith so much from this book and learned so much about him and his teachings. This book is journal entries of his discourses from many sources including those called to write Joseph's journal. I have also grained a greater testimony of my Savior Jesus Christ and understand in greater detail what type of a true relationship that we can have if we seek it out. In one of the last discourses Joseph said, "all can cry Abba Father." If you remember in the garden Jesus cried Abba, Abba which means Father, Father. Joseph in this discourse he talked about our ability to become Gods and how many times in scripture the Lord has designated someone as God over others like Moses who was God unto Aaron and Aaron was his spokesman. Joseph was saying that we all can develop ourselves in like manner. We must of course build a similar relationship with our Father in Heaven.

I for one am going to strive starting today to build a much better relationship with my Savior in two ways, first through sincere and mighty prayer and second through obtaining greater knowledge of my Savior. Joseph Smith has said many many times that we are saved through knowledge. I know that if I can know more about my Savior than I will be more able to draw closer to Him in prayer. I challenge everyone that reads this post to make a new determination starting today to improve your relationship with your Savior through study and prayer. I know that all that accept this challenge will have power from on high given to them to gain a special and personal relationship with Jesus Christ and His and our Father so that we too may feel at home saying Abba, Abba.

We are the SUM of our THOUGHTS

About a week and a half ago I was preparing my lesson in the car on the way to work and came across this story:

A patriarchal blessing is of little value to a person unless he lives a life worthy of the blessings of the Lord. George Albert Smith was well aware of this, and he began in his youth to prepare for the responsibility he was later to carry. The following is from that period:

Said President Smith, “As a child thirteen years of age, I went to school at the Brigham Young Academy. It was fortunate that part of my instruction came under Dr. Karl G. Maeser, that outstanding educator who was the first builder of our great Church schools. … I cannot remember much of what was said during the year that I was there, but there is one thing that I will probably never forget. … Dr. Maeser one day stood up and said:

“ ‘Not only will you be held accountable for the things that you do, but you will be held responsible for the very thoughts that you think.’

“Being a boy, not in the habit of controlling my thoughts very much, it was quite a puzzle to me what I was to do, and it worried me. In fact, it stuck to me just like a burr. About a week or ten days after that it suddenly came to me what he meant. I could see the philosophy of it then. All at once there came to me this interpretation of what he had said: Why, of course, you will be held accountable for your thoughts because when your life is complete in mortality, it will be the sum of your thoughts. That one suggestion has been a great blessing to me all my life, and it has enabled me upon many occasions to avoid thinking improperly because I realize that I will be, when my life’s labor is complete, the product of my thoughts” (“Pres. Smith’s Leadership Address,” Deseret News [Church section], 16 Feb. 1946, p. 1).

All day as I was knocking I realized the true impact that our thoughts really have on us and how important it is for us to put them into check. I also realized that this spreads beyond thinking unrighteous thoughts and into every aspect of our lives. I realized that if I had negative and unproductive thoughts pertaining to work than I did not do very good but if I put those thoughts into check and changed them to positivity than my day went much better. I have experimented with this over the last week and it has blessed every part of my life whether at work, as a dad, a husband, or spiritually. The Spirit has taught me over the week that truly our lives success depends on our thoughts. Peter taught:

21 Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not ^aright in the sight of God.

22 Repent therefore of this thy ^awickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the ^bthought of thine ^cheart may be forgiven thee. (Acts 8:21-22)

Mosiah taught his people:

30 But this much I can tell you, that if ye do not ^awatch yourselves, and your ^bthoughts, and your ^cwords, and your deeds, and observe the commandments of God, and ^dcontinue in the faith of what ye have heard concerning the coming of our Lord, even unto the end of your lives, ye must perish. And now, O man, remember, and perish not. (Mosiah 4:30)

Finally the Lord has commanded us in D&C 88:67-69

67 And if your eye be ^asingle to my ^bglory, your whole bodies shall be filled with light, and there shall be no darkness in you; and that body which is filled with light ^ccomprehendeth all things.

68 Therefore, ^asanctify yourselves that your ^bminds become ^csingle to God, and the days will come that you shall ^dsee him; for he will unveil his face unto you, and it shall be in his own time, and in his own way, and according to his own will.

69 Remember the great and last promise which I have made unto you; cast away your ^aidle thoughts and your ^bexcess of ^claughter far from you.

I know that this is an area that I can improve upon and pray that I may have power from on high to sanctify all my thoughts that they may be worthy of salvation.

Qualify for the Lord's Help

Thanks to my job I have been taught so many things. One of the things I learned is how to improve in sales, life or anything we do. There are two ways, and the first is to develop ones skills and work hard. The second is not to eliminate the first but adds to it and that is to qualify for the Lords help. When we qualify ourselves for the Lords help than our best is transformed into something much greater than that of our own capabilities. And when we do not qualify for the help of the Lord we are left to our own strength.

D&C 3:4
4 For although a man may have many ^arevelations, and have ^bpower to do many mighty works, yet if he ^cboasts in his own ^dstrength, and sets at naught the ^ecounsels of God, and follows after the dictates of his own will and ^fcarnal desires, he must fall and incur the ^gvengeance of a ^hjust God upon him.

Helaman 4:13
13 And because of this their great wickedness, and their ^aboastings in their own strength, they were left in their own strength; therefore they did not prosper, but were afflicted and smitten, and driven before the Lamanites, until they had lost possession of almost all their lands.

I also learned that this job and really life is like the great war fought in the book of Alma.

Alma 62:41
41 But behold, because of the exceedingly great length of the war between the Nephites and the Lamanites many had become hardened, because of the exceedingly great length of the war; and many were softened because of their ^aafflictions, insomuch that they did humble themselves before God, even in the depth of humility.

The exact same experiences had such opposite effects on people. I realized that we are in a war everyday and it is a long lasting war and we can choose whether it will harden our hearts and push us away from the Lord or if it will soften our hearts and bring us closer to the Lord our God.

I Hit 100 Sales

Help from on high

I must express my gratitude for my Savior is blessing my life in such abundance. Every day the Lord prepares the way for me to succeed. He will inspire my mind as to which houses to knock at what times, prepares people to listen to me, or gives me the words to say and when to say them. There are example after example and many can say it is just luck or say that I am just a good salesman, but I know that the Lord blesses those who serve him with all their hearts. Just the other day one of sales said, "I never answer the door and I don't even know why I listened to you, because I never listen to any type of telemarketer or salesman." Another one almost broke down and started to cry because she had felt so blessed that I knocked on her door at the time that I did and that the Lord sent me. I told her that I had felt impressed to cross the street and knock on her door out of my normal order and that several times I would have left but that I was told to stay. She gave me a hug as I left. I feel blessed and feel to express my gratitude to a loving Father in Heaven who loves little old me and looks out for me everyday.

The fouth of July was an absoluyte blast. After work (which we got off at about 5:30) we had a company party with a slip and slide. After that

Two days ago I gave a blessing to Konnor and he was very thankful for the blessing. It is just amazing how the Lord cares for each of us so individually and is so mindful of us. I am so grateful for the power of the priesthood in my life, it was changed so many lives and brought many to greater knowledge of our dear Savior.

Had a great day

I was able to get three installs today and that was a great day. The coolest part of it is that I was able to tell Tim (another sales rep) how I was able to get so many. I told him about my had day last week and how Kiera and I had prayed and felt that there was a reason why I was going through such a rough time. That morning I was Kiera and I were taught the formula to success in not just this job but in life. I was supposed to do three things:

1. Have greater faith that the Lord will provide
2. Work hard and give 100% everyday
3. Pray harder for help

Because of that I turned my last week into a good week and now this week is turning out to be a great week. I told Tim that what I had told him was not what he probably wanted to hear. He said that it had hit a soft spot for him and was exactly what he needed to hear.

I am so thankful to the Lord for all he does for me.

Letting off Fireworks for the first time

After work Kiera had a surprise for us and so she had the girls stay up. She had bought some fireworks for us to let off. We went out in the parking lot of our apartment building which is on a large hill. The first one we let off just blew up on the ground. So we tried another one of the same kind. I lite it and ran back as Kiera yelled, a car is coming up the hill. It blew up all over the windshield of the car. Then we realized that its lights were flashing and we realized that it was an undercover cop car. Come to find out that fireworks are illegal in the county that we were in, but that the next county over they are legal. He was nice and we got in the car and drove to the next county. We found a secluded street and let off the two big ones and they were so cool. They were like regular big fireworks. It was a little nerve racking because in Arizona they are illegal and so I still in that mindset. I will enjoy them a lot more next July 4th if we are somewhere that they are legal.

Wonderful 4th of July

I hit my goal for the day for installs which I was very thankful to the Lord for helping me to hit my goal. We got to get off early and we had a barbecue as an office. It was a blast but the food took forever to be ready and so we were starving by the time we ate. They had a slip and slide set up that my girls had a blast on. After the barbecue we went as a family to the Riverfront fireworks. These fireworks are rated as the third best in the country. I have to admit that they were absolutely awesome. The best I have ever seen. I got some pictures and videos I will post once I get them downloaded. The finale literally lite up the sky for about 30 seconds to a full minute.

Talking to a blind man

At one of the doors I knocked there was a blind person that answered the door. I found it interesting and funny that as I talked to him I used my hands and facial expressions just like I normally do. I kept laughing to myself about it as I talked to him. I was amazed at how well he got about. He even had a voice recorded that I left my name and number with him on.

My install today

The install that I had today was an elderly lady whose daughter died from a heart attack about a month ago. She showed me all the gifts that her friends gave her. At the end when I was about to leave she opened up a little to me. We started talking about religion and dealing with death. I told her that I was LDS. She said, I am not sure if you believe in this, and then shared a spiritual experience that she had with her daughter at the moment that she had died. I told her that I did believe in that and told her to record her experience in her journal so that she can always have it with her. I just wanted to testify to her about the Gospel which brings such great joy in time of death. I still may write her a letter and mail it or deliver it to her with my testimony in it.

Missed fireworks with my family

Today was a sad day, because my family went to watch fireworks at Nashville Shores while I was still at work. I was very sad and kept imaging funny things that my girls did last time we watched fireworks together. I guess that is what happens when I work so many hours during the summer, but my girls and I are looking forward to me spending lots of time with them after the summer is over.

Staying in the game mentally

This job has got to me the most mentally demanding job that I have ever had not even mentioning physically demanding. I have realized that I rely the most on the Lord in this job than any other I have had as well. It is good though, because the Lord is teaching me a lot as well. I have to also say that Kiera has helped me so much everyday. She keeps me on track and always has advice that helps me get through the day.

Challenge for the youth

In my class I challenged the youth to read at least one page in the scriptures each day, write in their journals each day and lastly to clean their room or to do one act of service. To those that do this, they will receive treats next Sunday. So I have to make sure that I do these things as well. I have no problems with reading but the writing part is difficult.

Wonderful Day Off

I work 6 days a week and do not get home till usually 11 at night. So it has been tough to find time to update my blog or do anything except try to spend every free minute with my wife and family. Yesterday I took a day off to celebrate Kiera's and my birthday. I only get two flex days a summer so we wanted to make the best of my day off. We woke up and picked up the house before the babysitter came over. We ended up leaving late which made us not make it to the Temple session (which we found out later we were the only married couple and were supposed to be the witness couple). They made room for us in initiatories. This is a small Temple and it is amazing how small it really is. There is only one initiatory room where only 3 people can be doing initiatories at one time. I have to say that I felt the Spirit so strong as I stood waiting to start initiatories. I felt so happy to be there in the Lords house and I was impressed with the whole operation of the Temple and felt a great love and admiration for Temple Presidents. I can't express all the things that I felt but I can say that it was a most glorious time and my love for Temple work was increased. After initiatories Kiera and I met in the Celestial Room. This is always the highlight my Temple experience to see my beautiful bride all dressed in white and to me her countenance glows in Temple and I love to look at her. She told me that apparently I am not the only one. She told me that one of the Temple workers told Kiera that she is so young and beautiful that she just loves to sit there and look at her. She also said that women are the most beautiful when they are pregnant. I would have to agree, I love it when Kiera is pregnant. If I could go to the Temple everyday with my wife I would be the happiest man alive.

Next we went to eat at Red Robin because we had several coupons, a birthday coupon for Kiera and Alexa and a $3 off coupon. Our entire bill was only $6 with tax. We love Red Robin, they have the best hamburgers and we love their bottomless fries.

We then went to Nashville Shores (water park) because we have season passes. They were having Elephant rides and we have never been on an elephant before. We did not have enough cash at the time for us all to ride and so I was just going to go and then the girls were going to come on Saturday since this would be my only opportunity. But Lacie cried and cried. So we decided to wait and see if we can get more cash and ride it together. After we finished swimming Kiera got enough money for us all to ride the elephant. Kiera could not ride because she is pregnant but she was able to sit on it quickly so I could take her picture. Elephants are big and there backs are very bony. Lacie yelled while we were riding it that its wings were hitting her and Alexa said that "his wings are flapping my feet". I told them that those are not wings but ears. It was fun.

Lastly we went to Hard Rock Cafe to eat since Kiera has never been there. I sold a security system to a guy that works there and he said that he would give us a good discount. He said that he is off all Tuesdays and so Kiera and I switched our day to Wednesday so that he would be there. We got there and he was off, we were frustrated. We ended up not eating there because nothing looked good and it was expensive. We had a hard time trying to decide where to eat and we finally decided to eat at D&D restaurant that was at the mall across the hall from the movie theater. My hamburger was good and big but Kiera did not like her Chicken Alfredo that much.

After we were done we went and watched Oceans 13. It was a pretty good movie but Kiera sleep through the entire movie. She is so funny, every time we sit down and watch a movie at home Kiera falls asleep. She is crazy.

At least we had lots of fun on my day off, even though everything went wrong and Kiera was stressed the whole day.

Knowledge is not by chance

I reflected on my earlier experience where the Lord brought to my remembrance the name of Vaughn J Featherstone. Micha had told me about his scripture memorizing program and I had wanted to learn more about it. When I was home I could not remember his name. The Lord brought his name to my remembrance (John J. Featherstone, which when googled it came up as Vaughn).

I was in the shower thinking about this experience when the Spirit began to teach me. I was taught that all knowledge and experiences are given by either of two sources, either the Lord (righteousness) or the devil (evil). This is applied to agency as well, because either we are enticed by evil and choose evil, or by good and choose good. Our obedience to either, gives greater power to whichever side we yield to, therefore allowing increased enticement. Therefore, all knowledge is given to us and it will be to our benefit or condemnation. Others may assist us as well, like Micha, he was guided to impart that information to me, whether he realizes it or not. We are all instruments of the Lord or the devil at all times.

Jesus is the son of God

I was washing the dishes as Lacie was watching The Testaments (a movie about Christs visit to the Old and New world) when suddenly my understanding was opened and I was taught by the Spirit. I was given an absolute knowledge that Christ lived and that all that has been testified by ancient and modern prophets is verily true. It was though physical matter was added to my mind that contained knowledge of Christ and His ministry, I can hardly explain it. I have known by the Spirit that Christ lived and now lives but it seemed that it was by faith and now I just know because of the pure light given to me.

I have been studying the Joseph Smith, Parley P. Pratt and Lorenzo Snow and have been literally amazed at there absolute knowledge of Christ and have been striving to understand even a portion of what they understand. Now the Lord has answered the prayer of my heart.

I also felt impressed to write this in this blog. I have a Private Blog that I do more of my personal journaling and this is something that normally would go there. I was told that someone needed this testimony of the knowledge of Christ.

New Callings

We got a call this morning to meet with the President of our branch, Pres. Leadbetter. Kiera got called to be the Primary Chorister and I got called to teach the youth for Sunday School. We are very excited for our callings.

Infinite Bubbles thanks to Janet

For work I was in the home of a very nice lady. I helped her get a security system and she gave me some bubbles that she had bought for her dogs but they just scared them. The cool thing about these bubbles is the design of the bubble wand. It is designed with 4 loops and just tons of bubbles come out and continue to come out. My girls love these bubbles.

Escape from dog attack

Sorry, for not posting recently, but with my new job and trying to finish school I have been tied up. Next week I will be playing catch up. I wanted to write about a quick experience that happened to me two days ago.

I knock door to door and sell home security systems and we were knocking in this lower income area. It seems that every house has a dog of some sort. I was on this street with several houses that had several Pit Bulls. I knocked this house and the nice lady was not interested but right before I left there was a stray Pit Bull that came from around the corner. I felt impressed to stay in that yard. She had a fence and locked us in. She told me how that dog was evil and not a nice dog. I stayed in her yard for a good 5 to 10 mins waiting till he left the street. He went into this yard and stayed there for a while and so I sneaked out and took off the other way. I did not come back to that street until the next day. I ran into the same neighbor that had allowed me to stay in her yard and she told me that that dog had attacked a guy that same night and on that same street. The guy had to get 61 stitches. I felt that the Lord had protected me. I also decided to start to memorize a scripture a day since I had some time between doors. Anyway, I will be sure to remember the Lord more and he will be sure to remember me.

My girls hullahooping

My girls hullahooping

Today is Sunday and yesterday we packed up the house to move to TN. So now our house is almost entirely empty. They have no toys except for the stuffed animals that Jessica (our friend upstairs) gave the girls and this hullahoop. Debbie taught Lacie how to spin it on her neck. Here is a little video of all my girls hullahoopin.

Moving is never fun

Debbie came down form Idaho (BYU Idaho) and will be staying with Cindy for the summer. She was kind enough to let us steel her for about a week to help us pack. Wow, Kiera and Debbie got so much done while I was at work. We have to be entirely packed and moved out by this coming Monday so we can start our journey to Nashville, TN.

I was excited because my manager at Prosper, Jason Emett, told me about a luggage carrier that attaches to the roof rack of my Dodge Caravan and that his friend bought it at Walmart. Here is a picture of what it looks like.



It is water resistant and I am hoping that we can fit two on top of our van. Well, wish us luck on packing.

LDS Talks: Hope in Christ

I sent out an email letting everyone on the email list know that I had finished a talk titled: Hope in Christ but forgot to post about it here. So please jump over to my LDS Talks Blog by clicking here and if anyone has thoughts about it just make a comment. If you would like to be added to the email list send me an email cconover2@gmail.com.

Change of plans, Going to TN

Well, last night we (my family and a friend's family that wants to sign as well) went to an APX company party and had lots of fun. Lacie rode a mechanical bull and the whole place went up in an up roar. Everyone loved it. Anyway, my old manager that is going to Nashville, TN called me and we met up to talk. He told me that he was talking to his Regional manager and his regional said that they need to make my decision a lot harder than it was already. The quick breakdown is that Kiera and I both felt better about the team going to TN but were torn because Florida seems like an absolutely fun place to be and the apartments need no introduction except, that they offer a maid service once a week to say the least. Photos are in the post below and so our decision was very hard. Anyway, my TN manager offered me $60 out of his own pocket on top of my commission for every sale I make during the summer. My goal is at least 100 and that would be an additional $6000 and he will front me $2500 up front to help with the moving expenses.

I talked to Kiera and she still wanted to go to Florida. I asked her what it would take and she said $100 per sale and so I told Andy but he could not do that. I went to the river behind my work and prayed. Kiera and I prayed together and then I prayed on my own. I felt strongly that we needed to go to TN and that we always knew our answer (We never felt that good about FL, which is why we signed with TN in the first place but the opportunity was hard to pass up since the apartment were so nice). I also felt that I needed to give Kiera a blessing and that there were reasons that she needed to go to TN. So to sum it up we are now going to TN. I have absolutely been floating because I feel so good about our decision.

I know that the Lord was behind this difficult decision of our and helped us to do this yo-yo decision making because if we had not done that, we would not have $60 per sale added commission. If we stay close to the Lord, he will stay close to us.

Going to Florida to sell Security Systems

We have decided to go to Tampa, FL to sell security systems with APX. Here is a video of the Resort like appartments that we are moving into for the summer. The video starts and sends with our appartment community but in the middle are some things that are coming soon. The parts about the rooms are the appartments as well. It is so cool and we are very excited.

Video: http://www.cayclubs.com/site/assets/video/clearwater.html

Man Vs. Machine

I am the trainer for our Salesforce.com software that we use to manage all our of leads. Before I became the trainer this was rolled out very poorly and the entire floor was untrained on this software. So we set up a company party and beat up a truck we bought to take out our frustrations on. It was a lot of fun. Here are some picture of our fun.

Cruising around the lot before getting beat down.


I had the luxury of doing the honors of beating out the front windshield. I used my team leaders bat that he brought and he told me that it is the same bat the he blew out this guys knee with. I told him that I could never bring myself to hit someone with a bat and then he said that if they had just hit you in the back with a chain you could. Anyway, back the the truck beating.


We all got together and flipped it on its side. I cut my finger during this stunt. One of the team leads brought his paint gun and unloaded on the truck and then glass got into the paint and I cut my finger on the glass. Not too bad though.


Everyone that wanted to take a turn on the truck with a sledge hammer could. I took a turn as well.




We then flipped it back onto its wheels went to town again.


One of the businesses called the cops on us and the owner here pretended to turn around and get handcuffed. It was great.


I took this one with my cell phone.


We had a blast. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. In the end Man won over the Machine.