I got a job!

Dear Readers,

Hooray!

Starting next week or the week after that, I'll be working in a factory/warehouse called Severtson Corporation in Mesa, Arizona. I'll be manufacturing movie screens, and packing up boxes and getting things shipped out to the right places and stuff like that... um... I don't know exactly what I'll be doing, but I think I'll like it.

And the way I got the job is faith promoting. Let me tell the spiritual story.

As you may know, the teaching thing hasn't been working out too well for me. Last quarter was pretty good, but this quarter my classes have gone downhill, academically and behaviorally, and I'm often stressed out and angry and frustrated and annoyed with kids these days.

Sometimes I still think that maybe teaching could work out for me, but mostly I think that I should pursue other things. Anyway, I found out about 3 weeks ago that I got laid off, so I would not have a job at the middle school next school year. (Budget cuts, you know. About 6 or 7 other first and second year teachers got laid off, too.) So... I started looking around for other jobs, which is kind of depressing and frustrating, especially for a guy like me who has a ton of liberal arts college credits but not a lot of useful skills, and especially in this economy when it seems like there are a hundred guys going after every job.

I mean, I was thinking about becoming a caregiver or a nurse or a truck driver or a UPS delivery person or a package handler… (I went on a tour of a huge UPS hub in Phoenix. Remind me to tell you about that sometime.) I didn’t know what to do with my life, and I have been kind of jaded and sad and stuff... confused... because for the past 4 or 5 years, and longer, even, I've told people that I want to be a teacher, and I went to all that school to become a teacher... but anyway… I just want what a lot of people want: a steady job, a reliable paycheck, some benefits, a way to provide for my wife and kid, and my future children.

Here's where the spiritual part comes in. My wife visit-taught a lady, we'll call her Bichelle, who works for Paychex, a company that handles payroll for a lot of different companies. (Visit teaching is where Mormons go visit other local Mormons to share a spiritual message and socialize.) One of the companies Bichelle does payroll for is Severston Corporation, which is a company that manufactures and sells and distributes movie screens that are especially good for projecting 3D movies on to.

(The story of how the company started is very wonderful and American, by the way. The company started from a painter who was experimenting in his kitchen with a bunch of different types of paint. Well, he ended up inventing a new kind of paint alloy stuff that makes 3D Movies look extra cool-looking! And he's Mormon and he's got 10 kids, I think.)

During one visiting teaching visit, my wife told Bichelle that I got laid off. Bichelle told her to tell me about Severtson, which was hiring. Bichelle even went so far as to call one of the managers at Severtson and give me a good recommendation. My wife said that her and Bichelle had a close spiritual connection. My wife and her visiting teaching companion actually fasted for Bichelle for a special reason.

So, isn't it amazing that the visiting teaching supervisor just happened to have my wife visit teach Bichelle? And isn't amazing that my wife just happened to mention to Bichelle that I was looking for a job? And isn't it amazing that I got the job?

The faithless will call this story a coincidence, but I call it evidence of God's involvement in my life.

Other small miracles convince me that Heavenly Father was involved in me getting this job.

Small Miracle One: The scheduling of the interview

Right now I work in the mornings and my wife works in the afternoon and evenings. It's nice that we don't have to put our child in day care, but it's hard to arrange a good time for interviews. And since Severston is a good 1/2 hour or 45 minutes away, the interview pretty much needed to be at noon. When I called to schedule a time to fill out an application and have an interview, the manager said, "Can you come in tomorrow at noon?"

And I said "Yeah" and I thought, "Wow, what a coincidence- I didn't even tell them that I needed to have the interview around noon, and out of all the times in the day to have an interview, the manager chose noon!"

Small Miracle Two: Finding the interview location

I remember I didn't know if I had the right address when I went to the interview. I just got the address of Severtson Corporation in an email from Bichelle, and since the company is a factory/warehouse they don't really advertise their address or have a big sign or anything... and I forgot to ask them for precise directions to the place over the phone, and I'm new to the Phoenix metropolitan area...

Well, I googled the address that Bichelle gave me and it led me to a huge complex, where lots of businesses were. I got to the place and drove around, and I didn't see where I was supposed to go. I drove around to the back and saw some guy working in some kind of warehouse place, and I asked him if he had ever heard of Severtson. He said no, but he knew there were some new businesses near the front of the complex, and maybe I should check in there.

I thought, "Great, Bichelle gave me the wrong address, and now I’ll probably have to go across town to their real location, and I'll probably be late.” I had the company's phone number on me, so I wanted to call them to get the right directions, but I don't have a cell phone.

So I decided to walk in to the most convenient little store or whatever in the massive industrial complex and ask them pretty please to use their phone. I parked in front of a random door. I walked up to the door, and there I saw a little piece of paper taped to the door that said, "Severtson Corporation!"

So I was right there! And I found it!

When I walked in to the place and sat down, I felt the Spirit very strongly, like I was in the right place.

I believe that my life is divinely guided. I try to say my prayers and read my scriptures and go to church and go to the temple and be a good follower of Jesus Christ. I’m so thankful that I got this job. I’m not sure if I can really support a family on it and let my wife be a stay-at-home-Mom, but maybe with raises and overtime I can. And for right now, it feels like the right thing to do.

Thanks for reading, remember to say your prayers, and I’ll see you later.

Sincerely,
Telemoonfa