Working for the church
Posted on Wednesday, November 19th, 2008 at 5:57 pmFor those of you that don’t already know, I have been working as a Software Engineer (programmer) for the LDS Church for roughly the last year or so. When I accepted the offer to work for the church, I had no idea how much I would love my job. Since I was young, computers have been a huge hobby of mine, and since my teenage years, programming has been my passion. (Warning: the rest of this paragraph is probably boring to the average reader of this blog…feel free to skip to the next paragraph). When I started high school, they offered one programming class (Turbo Pascal for those interested). For whatever reason, only Juniors and Seniors were allowed to register for the class (don’t ask me why), but they let me in anyway. It was basically a learn-on-your-own type of class. Most people in the class weren’t impressed with programming after spending several hours and/or days learning how to write the common “Hello World” application. All that time for such little outcome seemed to be their feelings. I couldn’t get enough of it though. I suppose I saw the potential of being able to create something meaningful soon, and the ability to build a program fascinated me Anyway, enough of that mumbo jumbo.
Long story short, I knew early on that I would love a career in programming. Working for the LDS Church, however, never crossed my mind to my recollection. Although I could enjoy a career programming somewhere else, there are several hidden benefits that come from working for the Church. I put together my top five favorite things about working for the church (aside from my actual job):
#5 – Praying and encouraged to seek revelation – This is one of the very few jobs in the world where every meeting begins with a prayer. Employees are strongly encouraged to also seek personal revelation to help them as they work. I can’t tell you how many times I have felt an increase in my abilities. The Lord blesses and assists in this work, and it’s great to be a part of it!
#4 – Spiritual Meetings - On occasion, I am able to attend meetings at work, where the focus is not on work, but on spiritual things. It’s great to have an increase in my spirituality during the workday, and it indirectly helps on the projects I work on. I have also had the opportunity of attending meetings where apostles and other general authorities have spoken, which is nice.
#3 – Competitive pay – The church generally has had a stigma for not paying employees very well. I have not found this to be the case. From what I have seen, the church’s pay is comparable to what other companies would pay. Not too high, not too little, just right.
#2 – Coworkers who share the same values – It’s always nice to work with those who share the same values as you. In my opinion, it creates an environment that is great to work in. Except, of course, when the Holy War (UofU/BYU football game) comes around and I’m in the minority.
#1 – Worthwhile projects with personal meaning – The #1 thing I love about working for the church is the projects I’ve been able to work on. Programming by itself it very enjoyable to me. Programming something with as much potential impact as the projects I’ve been able to work on is amazing! To be able to work on things that move the work of the Lord forward is my favorite thing about working for the church (aside from programming itself). These projects also have had a very personal meaning to me, as I not only help to create the software, but am also able to take part in the valuable benefits they provide as an direct or indirect user of the software.
So that’s the good news. The bad news is that my department will be moving to a new office building in Riverton around May or June. That would be a really crappy commute. We have thought about the possibility of moving somewhere out there, but with the housing market the way it is, that would be somewhat difficult. There is a possibility that they might run a shuttle from the SLC Frontrunner stop to the Riverton building. They also might allow me to work 4 days a week, 10 hours a day. The nice thing about taking public transportation is that I can do whatever I want during the commute. If I want to start work while I’m commuting, I can, or if I feel like sleeping or reading a book, I can.
Life’s great when you love you’re job! And crappy when you’re job moves! Curious to know what others would do in my situation. Try to move out there anyway? Deal with the longer commute time (and possibly work during the commute)? Or something else?
Steve, you left out one important detail. You got your passion for programming from you older brother by stealing his code while he was on his mission…. Remember? hehe
If they were to relocate me… uh… I would probably move. I can’t stand commuting, so even though I give you a hard time about it, it is probably in your best interest. You spend more time going to work then you do visiting your fam.
I would be willing to keep your Wii. Just to keep it a little more centralized to the family. You know, for family get-togethers.
I am glad you have such a good environment to work in. The last few months in my work place have been hard because my beliefs and values are different than others. Especially with the recent prop 8 stuff. I have actually seen discrimination and rudeness from my co-workers, something that I never thought would come from “friends”. Anyway, my brother actually does that same commute, only the other way. They really feel that where they live is where they are supposed to be, but his job is very good (he works in areospace too and they usually pay above average). He takes the carpool van, and he doesn’t mind it to much. He mostly sleeps in the morning and reads at night. On the other hand, now is a great time to buy a house in that area. Many of the homes down there have lost half their value, and then you would be on bedrock and your house won’t sink in case of an earthquake. And since God is in charge, if you are supposed to sell your house and move, your house will sell.
You are one talented guy Steve!! I realized while I was reading your blog that you work with a friend of ours, Todd Steadman. He actually was our Bishop up until a couple of years ago and his wife and I are best friends! They have put their house up for sale in an effort to move closer to his work, and I am SO sad! But hey, who wants a two hour commute? So anyway, I don’t know if you know him or not, but if you do, tell him that you are married to my niece!
You amaze me Steve! What an awesome job you have. I can understand why you love it so much. The commuting thing is hard. We did it for a couple years from Eagle Mountain to West Valley. It was about an hour commute. But it was because of the cost of gas and time with family that we decided to leave so we could be closer and not spend all that time commuting. It’s a very hard decision, especially when you bring the house situation into and all. We did what we had to, to make things work for us (what we discussed when we were over last week) and haven’t regretted it a bit. I’m sure you guys will figure it out. Good luck with making that decision though. It really is a hard one.
The selfish side of me says “NSL is the perfect commute…” but I know that’s not a whole lot better than where you’re at (but still better…)
Tough choice! And I don’t really have an opinion on it too much. Andy used to have to commute from here to Sandy a few times a week, and he hated it. Now he works 5 minutes from home and he loves it. But we didn’t have to sell a house to get that.
Thanks for this post though. I thought it was really neat. You know in General Conference last month Elder Uchtdorf gave a talk on overcoming discouragement in the RS meeting. He said one of the most profound things I’ve ever heard, “The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul.”
I’ve thought about that a lot recently, and your post reminded me of it. It’s really true, creating gives us fulfillment. I’m glad you’ve found a position that allows you to create in a medium that you’re passionate about.
Best wishes with everything!
It is wonderful that you have a job that you love. You are so blessed with finding it. It is a hard situation to be in with the commuting but for me I would move only because I would miss my husband so much. I love spending time with him and I know that it is very hard to have to wait so long to know when we will be together again. I also agree with what was said earlier that if the Lord wants you to move that you just do it. Ask the Lord and I know that he will answer your payers and tell you the right thing to do. I know that it will turn out well for you so don’t worry to much.