During the interviewing process for the MTC which spanned over 7 weeks, I felt anxious. Although I had been assured I was "miles ahead of the next candidate", something in my heart and mind struggled to see a future there. Some of my worries included a huge drop in pay, teaching there 5 days a week when Dave and I had dreamed of winters working remotely from somewhere warm, would my family support me, and would I feel like I could spread my wings and shine.
So after my 4th interview, when I received an invitation for a 5th interview....this time from HR, I thought to myself, "This is it! They are going to offer me the position and I will need to negotiate my contract."
When I joined Elder Calderwell and the MTC Director, I felt emotional and excited about my next steps. The interview began with, "Jody, your resume is sooooo impressive. Why are you considering this position?" I responded similar to the other 4 interviews I had had, that I really love languages and Jesus, how it is a dream to be able to combine both. We talked about the role of AI, difficulties in a new position, etc. Then I was asked if I had any questions. I asked, "How do you evaluate people in this role? What can I expect?" To my surprise, I felt suddenly reprimanded. "Jody, this isn't a language school. This is a place where we teach missionaries how to teach in others' native tongue, etc." Then the other man said, "You're going to be training a LOT. We have a high turnover of teachers so I guess you will be evaluated on how much you are training." I was stunned, embarrassed. The question I had asked was solid. So why a sudden negative turn? Then one of them said, "Okay, well we will be in touch with you." I desperately said, "Wait! Like what are the next steps? Is there a timeline?" One of them said, "We will be in touch with you soon." And they hung up.
I was stunned. I sat in the little room by myself and felt sick to my stomach. I quickly called Dave and said, "Hon, this job isn't 100% mine anymore and I don't know what I did to change it." Dave was encouraging and told me again, "you will be where you need to be."
So I started to wait for a phone call.
Friday...nothing.
Saturday....nothing.
Sunday....nothing.
Monday....nothing.
Tuesday....nothing.
Wednesday....nothing.
I was a mess at this point, confident they had offered the job to someone else. Additionally, I had been studying the Old Testament about Abraham and Sarah, about Lot and his wife, seeing how much faith they had to practice...or not... to believe that God had blessing for them moving forward.
Thursday morning, I began stirring around 5am. As I was coming to, I suddenly felt a deep, deep feeling of love and peace from my Savior. I couldn't even move because that love and peace encompassed the entirety of me. And as I lay there unable to move, these words came to my mind: "You are in Plan A of your life. Everything that is unfolding is Plan A." I couldn't even move because the peace and joy were so deep and comforting. And the love felt overwhelming. I hadn't felt such clarity, peace, and love like this in literally decades. About 40 minutes later, I finally was able to get out of bed and begin my day with my heart full of gratitude and joy.
I didn't hear anything all morning so I just got to work. I had an important Leadership Team Meeting at 3:00pm that I was going to have to join virtually because I was presenting to the new Lake Mountain School Board at 4:00pm and I had to be dialed in mentally. So at 2:45pm, as I was driving on Pioneer Hwy out west, my car phone rang and it was from SLC. I froze for a minute because I thought, "If you get the job, you won't be able to focus; if you don't get the job, you won't be able to focus." But that feeling of peace quickly wiped those thoughts away and I picked up the phone.
It was Elder Calderwell.
He thanked me for my patience in a long interview process and then told me they had decided to go another way. He asked if I had any questions. I thought for a second and said, "No, I actually don't." Then he went on and on to say how he wished they could hire 2 people and asked again if I had any questions. My heart and mind were still tuned into the experience from the morning---how everything that was unfolding was Plan A----and I realized for a 2nd time that any questions I might have were unimportant. I had received a special experience that assured me there was another plan for me.
I was able to be dialed in 10 minutes later at my Leadership Team meeting and then during the 2 hour school board meeting. In fact, I kept thinking, "Why am I so calm about this? Should I be emotional?" But no---just clarity, peace, and love, all carried over from the morning.
The next week while I was at work, I received a call from Ken Boyd Packer who had been moved to another area during the interview process. Back in January, he had told me, "You are miles ahead of the other candidates. Noone is even close to you in points." And now, here he was, saying to me, "Jody, as you know, I was moved to a different department a few weeks ago. This morning, I received the list of new hires and your name isn't on there. I just had to call and tell you that it doesn't even make sense that you aren't hired. I just had to call you to let you know that."
And while I don't know what my future holds, I DO know---and feel so confident---that I am indeed in PLAN A of my life, that God is guiding me....and that is all that matters.
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