Felix felicis

Have you ever had a day when things not only went well, but you can’t imagine them having gone any better? I’ve had a couple. They are not necessarily my favorite days, like when Lori and I got married or when Lucy was born, but they are days that I couldn’t imagine going better than they did. Sometimes I think about them and just grin.

1. Bump…Set…Spike!! My teammates were at my side giving me hi fives before I even knew what had happened. Couch Ziedler, who was announcing the game, screamed “Blazer Blast” into the microphone and for a moment I didn’t even detest the idea of having a “Trailblazer” for a highschool mascot. My varsity team friends had decided to come watch our JV game for a minute during their warm ups and just happened to be there when it happened. They were shocked. The girl that I was interested in had just stepped into the auditorium and me pounding that ball was the first thing she saw. My father had been able to get out of other responsibilities and came even after I had given him warning “you know, I’m not that good.” And I wasn’t, that’s the thing! But what a fun memory…

2. “The moon’s a fingernail…” I had given Ryan the outline of what I was planning to do to propose to Lori. He was more than willing to help and I trusted him to catch any details that I had neglected. The night went perfectly; Ryan and Co. provided perfect, unseen, service all through our three-course meal. They topped their services off with special touches like a heart traced out in the butter bin, floating roses above our dessert seats, and a forearm sneaking in to dim the lights a few minutes before she said “yes”. It couldn’t have been better. But then it was. As we neared where I would propose, we noticed the shape of the moon…Lori looked up, and smiled, singing the lyrics from “our song.”

3. “Hallo, har du et oeyblikk?” Not many people had responded positively to that question while I was a missionary in Norway. But he stopped. He actually looked interested! I almost didn’t know what to do from there. We got his contact information and chatted for a few minutes until he had to leave. I didn’t know what to expect, I had been hopeful before and then had been disappointed. But there were good signs in that short interaction that were pretty unique, foremost among them: his name was Moses. We contacted him shortly thereafter and taught him all our lessons, throughout which he would make comments like “a few months ago I felt like I should…” or “Wow, so that’s what that means.” It was a missionary’s dream come true. But it gets better. The next year he applied to and attended BYU, and was housed with an amazing family. The year after that he entered the MTC. Two years after that he came back. Seven months after that he got married to the daughter of the Nigerian temple president. And last week I learned that they are expecting a baby!

Slake v. to satisfy, quench, lesson the intensity of








His anger slaked somewhat when he realized he had simply parked his car in the wrong spot, and that no one had stolen it.