tape decks and tear-jerkers

So... I made the drive to Salt Lake tonight to go home for Thanksgiving.
By myself.
I started my journey with a trip to the Hope Chest thrift store to drop off my garbage bag full of self-deemed immodest clothing. They were extremely grateful. I felt like a reincarnation of Saint Nicholas after the reaction I was given upon handing over the bag.
Ho, ho, ho.
Guess that's why they call 'em Glad Bags.
(Except for when you're in college, you use generic Glad Bags. Because they don't cost as much money. So really it was a Great Value bag. But that's beside the point.)
Nah, but really. It almost felt like I had dropped off a bag of big red bricks to the store instead of clothing.
And, as Grant promised me the night before as I was putting every last item of clothing into said garbage bag (and making whining noises and frowning the whole time):
"Once they're gone you won't even miss them."
And he was right: When I was driving home, I attempted to pass a portion of the four hour drive by making a mental list of every item of clothing I donated. It was extremely hard. I could not remember, for the life of me, which dresses and tops I had given. And once I remembered a specific item, I thought to myself "oh. I forgot about that one."
Once I had run out of brain power to think of real things (things that require a brain to think about), I decided it would probably be a good idea to focus more on the road than on my own thoughts and mental images.
I grabbed my iPod and plugged it into my tape deck converter.
A universally known fact: the tape deck in the Old Red Jeep (the Old Red Jeep, also known as "Charlie") is a picky eater.
If you don't push the tape converter into the deck with the perfect combination of controlled speed, force and love, dear old Charlie will spit out the tape converter and almost instantaneously suck it back in.
And spit it out again.
And suck it back in.
After being with Charlie for a couple of years now and developing a hatred for the radio stations in Logan, I mastered the art of Tape-Converter-Loading. I became a professional. I had it down to a science, to a point where loading the tape converter became nothing more than a painless three-second process.
Except for today.
Because my brain was already struggling, I managed to forget the science behind pushing the converter into the deck, and an irreversible chain reaction began.
Charlie spit out the converter.
And proceeded to suck it back in.
Then he spit out.
And sucked it back in again.
(Lather, rinse, repeat.)
After struggling with Charlie's finicky eating habits for a few minutes, he finally decided to cooperate and take the cassette.
First up on Alexa's iPod: the "is poppin" playlist, consisting of recent popular hip hop, rap and other such popular "top-ten-on-iTunes"-esque sort of songs.
That was a no-go. I felt my already inoperable brain turning to mush and oozing out of my ears.
Next up: a mix of happy songs that my dearest friend Evie compiled and shared with me.
Consensus: Good. Only problem was, I didn't know any of the songs in the playlist well enough to sing along with them. I entertained myself with that compilation of randomousities for nearly a half hour before I had the sudden urge (or rather, inspiration) to listen to the new playlist of churchy especially-for-youth songs that I had recently added to my collection.
That kept my attention for a good three hours.
One song in particular caught my attention and held it. Not only did it catch my attention, but it grabbed my heart with an iron fist and squeezed it until my eyes leaked.

"I Will Be Ready" by Todd Michael Schwartzman

(listen along by clicking this link)

There is a battle raging all across the Earth
Fought by fearless souls who know what truth is worth.
The Lord is gathering an army in his name
To be the witnesses who bear the gospel flame.

I will be ready, I will be ready
To listen when he whispers to my soul.
I will live purely so I will be worthy
Prepared for when he calls for me to go.
Faithful and steady, I will be ready.

This is the time for worthy soldiers to arise.
They stand unyielding with conviction in their eyes.
The Lord is harvesting the noble and the strong
To be the laborers to move this work along.

And I will be ready.
(Onward Christian soldiers)
I will be ready
(Marching as to war)
To listen when he whispers to my soul.
(With the cross of Jesus going on before.)
I will live purely
(Christ, our royal master)
So I will be worthy.
(Leads against the foe.)
Prepared for when he calls for me to go.
(Forward into battle, see his banners go.)
Faithful and steady,
I will be ready.

(Like a mighty army moves the Church of God,
Brothers, we are treading where the Saints have trod.
We are not divided, all one body, we
One in hope and doctrine
One in charity.)

And I will be ready.
(Onward Christian soldiers)
I will be ready
(Marching as to war.)
To listen when he whispers to my soul.
(With the cross of Jesus going on before.)
I will live purely
(Christ, our royal master)
So I will be worthy.
(Leads against the foe.)
Prepared for when he calls for me to go.
(Forward into battle, see his banners go.)
I will be ready.

I promise when he
Offers to send me
Faithful and steady,
I will be ready.

OKAY, OKAY. I get the hint. I'll go.
After listening to this song (twice) and shedding a couple of tears, I sent a text to my bishop.

Me: "This is Alexa. Will you pretty please let me know when you talk to President Gubler? The anticipation is killing me."
Bishop: "I will absolutely let you know! Keep the faith!"

I then texted my best friend of six (or so) years and said
"Remember that huge testimony I used to have, but I seemed to misplace?"
Brittany: "Oh yes. I think you put it somewhere special for safe keeping, but forgot how to open it. :)"
Me: "Aha! So you do remember! Well I found it the other day. In an old chest in the attic under a heavy quilt. I showed it to the bishop and he's helping me polish it up. Before you know it it'll be good as new and ready to show to the world."

Oh, by the way, I'm texting again... but only a little bit. And Facebook is allowed once a week on Wednesdays. Just so you know.
Oh, and do ya'll like the new background? I'm sorry if you feel gay reading a blog that has hearts permanently attached to its sides. ... You can all get over it. Because I like it.
Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving to all, and to all a two-degrees-fahrenheit night.