Priesthood power and paradigm shifts

Shortly after my decision to stay in Oklahoma, I had several times when I doubted the fact that I was really supposed to be there.  I felt like I had tried everything to find answers, but nothing worked.  As I was studying for a Sunday school lesson about the priesthood, I realized that I had never asked a priesthood leader for help.  That Sunday, I talked with my branch president about it.  He didn't provide any earth-shaking, all-revealing advice, but I wasn't expecting that.  He shared some of his own experiences and gave me some suggestions.  It helped me to know that I wasn't the only one who didn't know what my path would be in the future.  Neither of us felt like I should put my previous plans on hold for too long, and delaying my education for more than a semester didn't seem like a good idea.  I decided after our conversation that I would stay in Oklahoma until the sales quit coming; and if nothing happened by then to make it look like I should stay, then I would leave.

About a week later, I had an experience that opened my eyes to some of my purpose.  A friend of mine shared a funny video of a smooth door-to-door salesman on Facebook.

I enjoyed Kenny Brooks' witty remarks, embedded pop culture references, and lightning-fast comebacks to the prospect's objections, but the video made me think a lot about my own experience as a door-to-door salesman.  I later wrote:  "It made me wonder why I can't sell like that.  And I know I shouldn't act exactly like him, because few sales techniques work equally well for everyone.

"But I realized that part of the reason I don't excel in sales is because I don't love what I'm doing.  This has always been a means to an end for me.  I've thought many times how ready I am to throw this away when I don't need it anymore, even though I'm grateful for how this job has changed me.  But then I thought about my mission.  I'm eternally grateful for how that changed me; but at the same time, I loved being a missionary while I was doing it.  The Lord told me that sales can be that way too, and it should be.  And He told me that I shouldn't think of this as something short-lived, like a flame that burns brightly for a moment and then goes out.  The Lord is using this as an experience to shape me into who He wants me to be.

"In many ways, this builds on what I learned as a missionary, and it includes new elements and ideas that I've never thought of before.  Basically, learning selling principles is helping me to become a strong, confident man of God in ways that few other things can.  And if there comes a time that I throw that away because I think I don't need it, then the Lord can't use that to shape who I am anymore."

Up to that point in the summer, I believed that sales brought me to Oklahoma, but there was an entirely different purpose waiting there for me.  In other words, sales was only the means to an end.  But that night I realized that sales was a big part of the reason the Lord wanted me there, so that He could change and refine me into who He wants me to be.