Well, I thought to begin I would introduce myself and give a brief background of my life. My name is Carman Ragatz IV. I was born 1/22/1983 in Bermerton Washington. I have three siblings: James, Jeny, and Josh. Yeah...my parents had a thing for names that begin with J. My name was a family name...hence the IV.
Growing up, my dad was in the Navy and my mom stayed at home with us kids. For me, life was difficult and frustrating since we moved so often. It seemed like every 2-3 years I was taken from any friends I had, put into a new school and forced to start over. It was rough and I got teased and bullied a lot. From what my dad told me many years after the fact, that was the reason why he accepted early retirement of 18 years back in 1994.
After my dad retired, we moved to Seattle to live with my mom's brother for a while and eventually moved into our own place in Kirkland Washington. In 1997 we moved down to live with my dad's sister and her family in the Houston area before moving into our own place at the start of 1998. It was there that I finished the last three years of high school and where my family has been ever since.
My parents brought us up as being strong Christians. While my parents never claimed the Lutheran faith specifically, we mostly went to Lutheran churches. Every now and then we would go to the Methodists or such. As far as I knew or was concerned, I was Lutheran. We prayed before meals and before bed, went to church every Sunday, and were always taught to do the right thing and love others.
I am grateful for that upbringing because it helped me to know that God lives. Not once in my life have I ever doubted that God existed. I have always known He was there and that He loved me. However, during high school I started to have a lot of questions about God. Questions I couldn't even articulate. Mostly, my questions began with "Why?" I knew God loved me and sent His son to die for me...but why? Why would he make such a huge sacrifice for a piece of clay? I knew that the morals I cherished in my heart were good and true, but why? Why was I holding on to morals that the rest of the world seemed to not care about?
My best friend in high school, Misti, helped me to find those answers. She was very open about the fact that she was Mormon and would try to tell me about the gospel. My parents however, did not agree with the Mormon church and were very wary. Long story short, she invited me to come visit her in Idaho for the summer after graduation in 2001. After a lot of pondering and prayer, I felt like it was the right thing to do. My parents were heartbroken. They thought I was going to chase a girl to the land of the Mormons and become a Mormon. Well...they were partially right. I wasn't actually going up there for Misti but because I felt that was where God wanted me to be. However, I did become Mormon.
In June of 2001, after having met with Missionaries and learned about the Gospel (which I pretty much knew was true right from the beginning), I was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I then went on a mission in the Colorado Springs area (Go CCSM!) from 2002-2004. After my mission I went back to Houston where I worked for a few years and went to the Young Single Adults ward. It was a great experience! Then, much to my dismay, the time came when I felt like I needed to move on. Things started falling apart and I felt like Heavenly Father was trying to push me on to the next chapter of my life.
After a LOT of prayer, fasting, blessings, pleadings, and all sorts of other spiritual soul searching, I received an answer. I was to move to Provo Utah, home of the largest Mormon University - Brigham Young (BYU). I moved to Provo in July of 2006. Come the fall, when school was starting again, our apartment complex had a wave of move-ins. One of the new move-ins was Sarah Wallis of whom I was made the Home Teacher of.
For those who may not be familiar with what Home Teaching is, it is a program established by the Church to watch over the members of the ward (or congregation). Home teachers go to their home teaching families, provide a spiritual lesson and offer service, being a friend as well as a source for help if ever needed. Needless to say, I was a great home teacher!
The following Spring we started spending more time together, eventually dated, and then I proposed (As if it wasn't obvious...yes, she accepted!). We were married August 28, 2007 in the Mount Timpanogos temple in Utah. Come the Spring of 2008, Sarah was graduating from BYU, we were expecting our first child, and we had no other ties to the area (I was just working, not going to school). So we decided to move near her sister Laura in the Charlotte NC area and have been here ever since.
While being in Charlotte, we have had three children, bought a house, sold it, and bought another. Currently, I am working for McKesson Pharmaceuticals in customer service and have been here for almost 5 years. I also went to school and got a business degree in business management from the University of North Carolina in Charlotte (UNCC). Word to the wise...if you haven't gone to college yet, do it now. Don't wait until you have a family because it is a rough life!
As for Church, I am the Ward Mission Leader. That means I coordinate with the full time missionaries in our area in building the kingdom of God. It is absolutely wonderful and I love it.
As for likes and hobbies, both I and Sarah are in the running scene right now. We ran our first Half Marathon together last December and we are currently on track to run our first Marathon together in Kiawah Island this December. I also enjoy playing Ultimate (Frisbee), and almost any kind of board game that exists. Unlike most people, I actually like reading the rules to games, which makes it fun and easy for those who don't like to read the rules and want to just play...so it's a win/win.
Well, I think that's enough for now, so I will stop here and catch up again later. Until next time!
Growing up, my dad was in the Navy and my mom stayed at home with us kids. For me, life was difficult and frustrating since we moved so often. It seemed like every 2-3 years I was taken from any friends I had, put into a new school and forced to start over. It was rough and I got teased and bullied a lot. From what my dad told me many years after the fact, that was the reason why he accepted early retirement of 18 years back in 1994.
After my dad retired, we moved to Seattle to live with my mom's brother for a while and eventually moved into our own place in Kirkland Washington. In 1997 we moved down to live with my dad's sister and her family in the Houston area before moving into our own place at the start of 1998. It was there that I finished the last three years of high school and where my family has been ever since.
My parents brought us up as being strong Christians. While my parents never claimed the Lutheran faith specifically, we mostly went to Lutheran churches. Every now and then we would go to the Methodists or such. As far as I knew or was concerned, I was Lutheran. We prayed before meals and before bed, went to church every Sunday, and were always taught to do the right thing and love others.
I am grateful for that upbringing because it helped me to know that God lives. Not once in my life have I ever doubted that God existed. I have always known He was there and that He loved me. However, during high school I started to have a lot of questions about God. Questions I couldn't even articulate. Mostly, my questions began with "Why?" I knew God loved me and sent His son to die for me...but why? Why would he make such a huge sacrifice for a piece of clay? I knew that the morals I cherished in my heart were good and true, but why? Why was I holding on to morals that the rest of the world seemed to not care about?
My best friend in high school, Misti, helped me to find those answers. She was very open about the fact that she was Mormon and would try to tell me about the gospel. My parents however, did not agree with the Mormon church and were very wary. Long story short, she invited me to come visit her in Idaho for the summer after graduation in 2001. After a lot of pondering and prayer, I felt like it was the right thing to do. My parents were heartbroken. They thought I was going to chase a girl to the land of the Mormons and become a Mormon. Well...they were partially right. I wasn't actually going up there for Misti but because I felt that was where God wanted me to be. However, I did become Mormon.
In June of 2001, after having met with Missionaries and learned about the Gospel (which I pretty much knew was true right from the beginning), I was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I then went on a mission in the Colorado Springs area (Go CCSM!) from 2002-2004. After my mission I went back to Houston where I worked for a few years and went to the Young Single Adults ward. It was a great experience! Then, much to my dismay, the time came when I felt like I needed to move on. Things started falling apart and I felt like Heavenly Father was trying to push me on to the next chapter of my life.
After a LOT of prayer, fasting, blessings, pleadings, and all sorts of other spiritual soul searching, I received an answer. I was to move to Provo Utah, home of the largest Mormon University - Brigham Young (BYU). I moved to Provo in July of 2006. Come the fall, when school was starting again, our apartment complex had a wave of move-ins. One of the new move-ins was Sarah Wallis of whom I was made the Home Teacher of.
For those who may not be familiar with what Home Teaching is, it is a program established by the Church to watch over the members of the ward (or congregation). Home teachers go to their home teaching families, provide a spiritual lesson and offer service, being a friend as well as a source for help if ever needed. Needless to say, I was a great home teacher!
The following Spring we started spending more time together, eventually dated, and then I proposed (As if it wasn't obvious...yes, she accepted!). We were married August 28, 2007 in the Mount Timpanogos temple in Utah. Come the Spring of 2008, Sarah was graduating from BYU, we were expecting our first child, and we had no other ties to the area (I was just working, not going to school). So we decided to move near her sister Laura in the Charlotte NC area and have been here ever since.
While being in Charlotte, we have had three children, bought a house, sold it, and bought another. Currently, I am working for McKesson Pharmaceuticals in customer service and have been here for almost 5 years. I also went to school and got a business degree in business management from the University of North Carolina in Charlotte (UNCC). Word to the wise...if you haven't gone to college yet, do it now. Don't wait until you have a family because it is a rough life!
As for Church, I am the Ward Mission Leader. That means I coordinate with the full time missionaries in our area in building the kingdom of God. It is absolutely wonderful and I love it.
As for likes and hobbies, both I and Sarah are in the running scene right now. We ran our first Half Marathon together last December and we are currently on track to run our first Marathon together in Kiawah Island this December. I also enjoy playing Ultimate (Frisbee), and almost any kind of board game that exists. Unlike most people, I actually like reading the rules to games, which makes it fun and easy for those who don't like to read the rules and want to just play...so it's a win/win.
Well, I think that's enough for now, so I will stop here and catch up again later. Until next time!