Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Wee Post

I was walking to switch my laundry earlier tonight in the dark across my parking lot. I love this 'cold' Fall weather, and I just thought it was beautiful outside. But for some reason the short jaunt made me wish I had someone to take a walk with.

This is all.

Monday, October 25, 2010

The Lord's hand IS in my life--& YOURS!

I really need to go to sleep. But I've just had such an amazing day. The Lord blesses me with so much everyday and today was especially great. I often wonder what I ever did to deserve it. But it just goes to show how much our Heavenly Father loves us all and wants to bless us! I just feel SO blessed and loved and would feel ungrateful if I didn't share.

Thankfully today started well because I remembered before going to sleep that I was teaching a professor's lecture for them at 10 this morning. Had I forgotten, it would have been disastrous! I even got all ready for the day (including makeup--shocking) before class.

It was SUPER windy here today, and I loved it as I walked into school. I got to wear my red pea coat, and I loved my outfit today, so that was a good start. But it wasn't an absolutely freezing wind, it was still only around 50 outside. So I just enjoyed the leaves blowing, and actually felt the wind had a calming effect for me. I was walking across some grass to my building, and the wind was so strong that the grass (which isn't very long) just blew in waves, and it looked like water to me. I thought it was so beautiful! I felt like I was walking on a sea of grass. Really I was. It had to be a good thing that I was finding beauty in such a simple thing--the Lord was making sure I was a little extra sensitive to His Spirit today.

I ended up getting to play the piano for a while at the Institute, and that is always relaxing/soothing/fun. Our last Choir piece got copied today, and I feel much more prepared for our big Fireside on the 14th of November!

There's a girl in my ward who I was assigned as her visiting teacher last year when she was a freshman. Almost no one knew who she was, and I just did 'what I was supposed' to, called/texted her, visited her, brought her cookies, and invited her to everything. She never really started coming, but I was fairly persistent through the summer, and the missionaries and I have worked to get to to come to things (she's come to a few lessons, and church once). Her phone was broken for a while which complicated things, but I did what I could.

This afternoon, I got a text from her asking if we could get together sometime this week! I was thrilled because she hadn't really done that yet. So I responded that we could today, and invited her to come to meet with the missionaries with my already scheduled lesson. She said that that was just what she needed.

It was one of the sweetest, and most sacred experiences that I have had. I was able to help this girl decide to make some needed changes in her life, and she's ready. (I don't think she'd mind me sharing this much.) I'm just so happy, humble, and grateful to be able to have been an instrument in the Lord's hand in her life. I really did hardly anything! And even she said that I was just there. And that's what she needed.

That's all that someone needs sometimes, and how incredible is that?! It was so easy, but it helped her see the need for the Lord's love she had and she had the courage to do something about getting it back in her life.

I was in tears with her earlier, and I'm definitely crying just writing about it and feeling SO overwhelmed with gratitude and love that it's hard to express what I'm feeling. I'm so pleased to have this opportunity to grow and help another of our Father's children to grow. Today was just such a sacred experience for me, and I have already grown today in my testimony, which was already strong, of our Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ. They love ALL of us so much! I got to feel that again today, and it was absolutely beautiful. They are SO in the details of our lives! We ought to recognize it more.

There are so many times that other people have been the hand of the Lord in my life, and I'm genuinely humbled to have the opportunity to be the hand of the Lord in someone else's life!

I wanted to share a little of this experience I had the privilege to have today with those of you who read. It was SO powerful to me, and I hope that it helps you to realize the Lord's love in your life a little more as well!

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Have you ever?

So, have you ever had something coming up that you were nervous about, & then it turned out so awesome after that you couldn't stop smiling & even maybe felt like crying because you were so happy?! Well that's how I feel today.

I don't even know if that description makes sense or not. But, okay, I'll explain. It does have to do with this combined Choir this weekend. Our Stake President asked me to conduct it about 6 weeks ago. I thought he was a little crazy because I'm not a 'real' Choir director. So I've had a while to worry about it. Yesterday we had our only rehearsal. I mighta had a bit of a spaz attack Saturday morning. I was just stressing about it. So I really hated myself and felt bad for my friends in my car with me. It luckily didn't last very long. I didn't get there as early as I planned.

Choir members filtered in for a while and Kati was able to get some presets ready on the organ, she ran them through a bunch of warmups (I definitely don't know my scales well enough, nor any exercises) we tuned Andy's viola, and got started. It was AWEsome! They followed well, and they sounded great.

I just had to tell them to watch a couple things and I had to remember my cut-offs. Really, once we got started practicing I was fine, I didn't even feel all that nervous anymore. And it became fun. So today when we met I knew what was going on, and they sounded even better. Sigh. I am SO blessed!!

We sang 3 songs, and I directed for the 2 congregational hymns, and it was just so much fun and awesome. Both yesterday and today when they were over though I felt such a huge relief. The Spirit was so strong in that meeting, especially for the music. It was so clear how people felt from it. During the last song (Let Us All Press On) Elder Hillier (the presiding G. A. from the 70 who chose all the songs & wanted tons of music as a stipulation) turned around to look at the choir! That's a huge compliment.

I don't know if I've stopped smiling. It turned out so well and I'm just so happy--I am so blessed. All those prayers asking for help sure were answered. President Packard shook my hand after and told me, "See, you did it. And you did great." And I was able to genuinely thank him for giving me the opportunity. A few other people stopped me to thank me, and I really just felt so good, and so loved. It truly was a wonderful experience for me, and I'm impressed, pleased, and relieved that I did it!

One woman was super cute, she grabbed me on my way out and gave me a huge hug (thankfully I don't have a bubble, lol) and thanked me profusely for a while, she even went so far to say we sounded exactly like the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Hah, that's just too cute because we did sound awesome, but definitely not that good. But I'm sure to some people there may not seem to be as much of a difference between choirs as there really is. Haha. She was fun, Sister Lane.

I would write more, but I've been going for a while, who even knows how many people are still reading? And I've gotta go. The Conference was fun.


Ashley stayed with me since after Choir Thursday night, and we got up early Saturday to 3-barrel my hair for the Conference that day! I may have been (just) a tad vain about my hair yesterday...hah. But seriously, look at how awesome it looks!

Here it is from the back! ;) Oh, and Megan braided Ashley's Friday night, so hers was fun too.

Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures during the dance, but my hair stayed in pretty well, and the dance was a ton of fun! :) (I know that for many of you that's hard to imagine--me having fun at a dance.)


My friend Chanae graduated from Cosmotology School, and there was a surprise party for her Friday night, look at my friend the balloon that stuck to my hair from the static! It was funny.
Clearly I had a phenomenal weekend! What did you do?

Friday, October 08, 2010

58?!?

So this is the big weekend, I was asked to conduct a Multi-Stake YSA Choir for this YSA Conference that we're having in Fort Collins. Scary. I'm not entirely sure they realize I'm not a trained choir director. Hah.

I was only allowed to pick 19 singers (ideally even parts) from my own 35ish person choir here in Greeley! That was too bad. But there's supposed to be 39 other singers from the other stakes. Unfortunately (though maybe fortunately really, the other stakes were unable to get the numbers, and of course I found out late and couldn't fill in completely.

So 58 is misleading, but it's supposed to be a 58 voice Choir! I was given 3 hymns (that I wouldn't have necessarily picked myself) and I've gotta be ready to go. Gah!

Wish me luck. I just practiced a little with a couple people. I hope I don't have a heart attack!