Christmas Update
Note: This is an adaptation of a message I sent to many of my friends and family to update them on my status.
Merry Christmas!
Roughly seven months ago, I lost my job as a system administrator for a company in Gilbert. That shook up my life quite a bit. About a month after losing my job, I decided to move back to Utah to look for work. During my first four months in Utah, I didn’t have much success finding a job, but I did get a lot of time to think. That period was one of the best periods of my life, not because it was easy, because it wasn’t, or because I had a lot of free time, which gets boring pretty quickly. No, it was because I came closer to God than I had in any other period since my mission. I don’t say this to boast, but to thank the Lord for the blessings hidden in my trials. He has been very good to me.
During that period, I made a major life decision - I joined the US Navy. The decision to enlist was not an easy one, nor was it one that I took lightly. I spent many weeks researching and many hours on my knees as I contemplated what was to me almost a foreign concept. In the end, I knew and know that it was a good way for me to go and signed up. I enlisted (yes, enlisted - going officer didn’t feel quite right) for six years and will report for basic training in April, 2006. I’ll be working with either electronics or advanced weapons systems for my job - I won’t know which until later in my training.
As the time for boot camp approaches, many aspects of the life I have lived are becoming more dear to me. The lifestyle I will live during my period in the Navy is unlike any I have experienced, and I approach it with a nervous, yet excited anticipation. The time leading up to basic training will be busy, however, as I work to get in shape and pay the bills. I am currently working a contract job for Zions Bank doing data entry and reports that I expect will last until close to my report date.
My family is also experiencing a lot of growth. In January, my sister Anna and her husband John had their first child - Adam John Brooksby. I saw him when I visited for Thanksgiving and he is a healthy, happy kid. Anna and John are planning to move to Rexburg, Idaho in April of 2006 so John can continue his schooling at BYU Idaho. Also, in May of this year, my brother Carl graduated from high school and my father received a masters degree from ASU. A short time later, my brother Jacob returned to Iraq for his second tour in the Army. He is as well as can be expected for his circumstances. We expect and hope he will return safely to the United States in the first part of next year. More recently, Carl began college at MCC this fall where he hopes to study computers and electronics. And, of course, I joined the Navy.
I cannot fully express the thanks I feel for the blessings my family and I have received this year. I am grateful for friends and family and hope they are well this Christmas season. I may not call or write often, but I do think of them. I am where I am because of the love they have shown me. I owe them my eternal gratitude.