Musical Beginnings

Yesterday was such a wonderful Sabbath day! I had volunteered to play the flute with the ward choir during Sacrament Meeting. Yesterday was our performance. It was very uplifting. I could feel the Spirit strongly as we performed. We performed an arrangement of I Need Thee Every Hour. The number of the choir was fairly small, but I know the Lord blessed our performance; I heard more voices than what our number consisted of.

(This is a picture of my flute recital in 2003.)

I love the music of the Church! It uplifts, strengthens, consoles, glorifies... everything you can imagine that is good and righteous in the world! That may be why I feel so excited for my new calling! I have been called as the Ward Music Chairman. It's an entirely new experience for me since I've only been involved in the performing aspect of music- organist, pianist, chorister. I am very excited to serve the Lord through music. A goal of mine is to bring the Spirit to meetings through the hymns.

If thou art merry, praise the Lord with singing, with music, with dancing, and with a prayer of praise and thanksgiving.
D & C 136:28

Home Sweet Home

I'm home!!

I've been staying at a house while the owners were on vacation last week. I had forgotten how much I enjoy my own bed! Ever since Russia, I have appreciated my room and home a lot more! There is nothing like having family dinner with my parents. Being alone is only fun for a little while- ten days doesn't count as a little while!

I also rediscovered that I can tolerate dogs, but I'd rather take care of a cat. Cats don't bark at every little sound outside. Oh well. I'm home with the Great Orange Beast, who slept the entire night on my bed my first night home! He usually leaves as soon as my light is turned off. :)

Have a great day!

A New Quilting B

At the beginning of this month, I headed down the California to visit with my dad's family- grandparents, aunts, and uncle- for about a week. That was a lot of fun! I call our family gatherings "Quilting B's" because that's what they are. (Yes, I do know that the actual term is quilting bee. Just humor me.) All four of my aunts had some kind of quilting project going on that week. Naturally, I needed to be included. So, I finished my first big quilt!!

Quilting, I've learned, is a family tradition! My grandma quilts, her mom quilted, my aunts quilt, and now I quilt! To the best of my knowledge, I am the fourth generation quilter in my family! Quilting is such a neat project that links the past with the future. Not only are quilts useful to stay warm, but they make awesome forts as shown above. This fort has a total of six quilts used to complete it! The purple one was given to me by my grandma; the quilt with the animals was also made by my grandma for my niece. The other quilts' makers are not known to me off the top of my head. A quilt expresses so much. It's made with love, tailored with a specific person in mind a lot of times.

I definitely gained several things from my dad's side of the family- quilting and reading are only two. My aunt introduced me to a book series last Christmas that I have thoroughly enjoyed. I am reading the fourth book right now. It's a series about quilts, no less! The fourth book really paints a good picture of the treasures a quilt really is. The main character finds a quilt in her attic that is supposedly made by her great-grandmother. (I don't know if it actually is or not yet.) She is searching her family history to learn about the quilt. I find it fascinating!

Like the main character, I have been given a quilt that belonged to my great-grandmother. The quilt was made in 1940 as a birthday present for her. One neat thing about this quilt is all the names that have been embroidered on the blocks. To think that I have an actual piece of history right there! It's priceless to me to have that quilt. I certainly have a sparked interest in my family's history.

Now, if I could only find my next quilting project...

Holiness To The Lord

I had the most wonderful experience yesterday! I had the opportunity to drive down to the Portland Temple with a dear friend. I love visiting the Temple. The Portland Temple has become my favorite place in the Northwest!

There is nothing like the Temple. I always feel like I am home as soon as I drive into the parking lot. I love the peace that penetrates the heart until it fills the entire soul. The Temple is a place where I can contemplate the gospel and feel the love of my Heavenly Father. The Temple is so neat. You can hear the freeway noise, but it doesn't even disturb the peace. In fact, I think the freeway noise helps me realize the peace of the Temple. I love thinking in analogies, and the Temple is the place to look for symbols and analogies of how things testify of Christ.

I had the opportunity to go inside to perform baptisms for the dead yesterday. While my friend and I were sitting inside, I could feel the Spirit so strongly that I almost cried. I wanted to cry, but tears never came. I always feel happy going to the Temple. I always think clearer on the Temple grounds. I can't wait to get married in the Temple! I feel very grateful to have a Temple so close that I can drive there in about half an hour. Many, many people in the world have to travel days just to visit the nearest Temple. To me, that testifies how important the Temple is.

Have a great day!

Just Because It's June!

I don't know if there is really anything special about June like Richard Rogers has described in his song from Carousel, but it certainly seems like June is going to be a good month. Of course, this is only the second day into the month and really too soon to tell! One can dream and hope though!

I was able to attend a fireside last night with the Kennewick, WA Mission President and his wife. It was an awesome fireside. They, naturally, spoke about missionary work. Their words weren't just about the full-time missionaries, but they spoke about how members can do simple things, like living their lives, to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. I came away with a renewed desire to work at being a member missionary.

June has also brought many, many thoughts about future life plans- schooling and such. The "and such" seems to occupy my mind more than the schooling aspect of my life plans. I am finding life to be exciting and wonderful as I am in the stage between growing up and being a grown up. I can see many paths ahead of me with endless possibilities.

May you find life just as exciting as I do today!