Concerto Competition

Mary and I went down to BYU last week to hear Jesse play in the Concerto Competition!

 It's fun to go on an Road Trip!

Jesse sent a Snapchat en route:

 When we got there, this copy of the Conference Issue of the Ensign Magazine was sitting on her couch by her scriptures.  I took a picture of it because I love how she marks it up.

 Mary stayed the night with her, while I went and stayed at Gale's condo, which is only a few minutes from there.  In the morning, I went to Young Living and picked up 22 orders at the Will-Call in Lehi.  That was fun!  After that I went up to Sandy to the Training Academy at 3 Key Elements.  It was fun to connect with some of the people that I took Present Yourself! with.  After that I got to go to lunch with my friend Shauna.  We talked for almost 3 hours.  So fun to be with her!

Then it was back down to BYU for the Concerto Competition.  Mary spent the day with Jesse, going to classes with her and hanging out in the Bookstore while Jesse practiced.  The Concerto Competition is optional for Piano Performance majors.  Only four freshman competed, and Jesse was one of them.  Mary and I sat with her for a few minutes in the practice room before she went up to the Madsen Recital Hall for the Competition.  She took a few minutes to just go through it in her head before going up.  I had to have a picture of that intensity and concentration.

 She didn't win the competition, but she had a solid performance, and I was so proud of her!  After going out to dinner with Jesse, Mary, and Jane - Jesse's friend who won the competition, Mary and I left to drive home to Idaho.  The last hour was kind of sketchy, but we made it home safely, thanks to prayers and many nights of good rest before that.

Libby has continued with her passion for Symphony!  We held our second rehearsal on Saturday with Libby's friend Ragen playing on the flute, and me playing the piano.  I had to get some good shots of Libby conducting.  She's doing a great job at it!

December Happenings

 Today we had our dear friends Greg & Rachelle and their children over for dinner.  We celebrated the one week birthday of their new little baby boy - Max! What joy a little one brings.

Peter started fiddle lessons this week from David, a friend of his who is an awesome fiddler.  He's really excited about it!  Last week Peter told me that he wanted to be a professional violinist/fiddler.  Wow, I didn't expect that!  But I know he has been having fun with it - picking up the violin and playing all the time.  When you do that, you start to get good really fast.  When it's fun, and not a chore - what a difference that makes!  Peter had about a month of it being a chore (practicing for school), and since then, it's started to be fun.

Mary had a miracle happen this week.  Because of some service that she has given, she found out about a performance team doing couples dances, and she was invited to participate.  We went last night, and afterwards, she told the instructor that she had a dream to be on the BYU Ballroom Dance Team.  He was very excited and talked to Mary for about 20 minutes about what she needed to do to prepare.  He said if you dance for 10,000 hours, you are a pro.  To put that in perspective, 40 hours a week for a year is 2000 hours!  So you can imagine how many hours of dancing that is.  He challenged her to start out with 10 hours a week.  Thankfully we have this mini-dance studio upstairs that will work perfectly for that.  What a blessing!  He also was very positive about training her and bringing in the right people to teach her dances and getting her ready.  After that conversation, we both got in the car and said, "Wow!!".  She feels like it was not a life-changing conversation, because she was already headed that direction, but it really focused.  And now we feel like she can get the direction and help that she needs.  Yeah!

Joshua is staying in the same area for this transfer with Elder Z.  He was happy about that, because he wanted to complete the training with him.  Their investigator Manuel didn't get baptized this week because he wanted to provide a "refrigerio", or refreshment for everyone at his baptism, and he couldn't afford it yet, so he wanted to wait.  Joshua tried to explain to him that it wasn't necessary, but, Josh said, "He is old.".  :)  This means he likes things done traditionally.  I'm sure his time will come soon enough! Joshua also said something profound in his letter, and that is that "the only way to take advantage of that atonement is through the gospel, the obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel."  And he referenced Doctrine y Covenants 84:19-21, which says,

19 And this greater priesthood administereth the gospel and holdeth the key of the mysteries of the kingdom, even the key of the knowledge of God.

 20 Therefore, in the ordinances thereof, the power of godliness is manifest.

 21 And without the ordinances thereof, and the authority of the priesthood, the power of godliness is not manifest unto men in the flesh;

In our Stake Conference last Spring, the visiting General Authority, Elder W. said that the power of godliness means the power to become like God.

Joseph got to go through a session in the Temple with my brother this week.  That makes me so happy.  The other days of the week he has gone and done baptisms for the dead - only now he is the one doing the baptizing.  He is heading into finals this week, so we will pray that he does well.

Jesse had a miracle happen too!  She was very stressed out because the local community college had not sent in her transcript for the college credit that she had.  She called them and got the run-around for 2-3 days and many, many people.  She was so frustrated!  But in the end, she had done the best she could and the transcript was still going to be postmarked two days late.  She just prayed and left it up to the Lord.  The due date was on Sat, December 1st.  Well, on Monday morning she learned that the priority deadline for BYU applications had been extended to the 3rd, since the 1st was on a Saturday, so that left the transcript enough time to be postmarked that day!  What a relief!  It wouldn't have been the end of the world to not get the application in for the priority deadline, but it was important to her, and her prayer was answered.

Libby - in between reading books

Libby is in to the Warrior series, by author Erin Hunt.  She and her friends at school act out the roles in the book every day at Recess, and they've set up an elaborate game that has been going on for months with intricate rules, roles and competitions.  It's pretty amazing!  She read a whole book in one day this week.  Hmmm... this reminds me of some other little girl at ten years old reading Nancy Drew books in a day.  That was me.

Bruce has had crazy days with work this week.  He is the "problem-solver" at work, and gets a long list of problems to fix every day.  He also has a release coming up, which makes for long days on the computer.  He is amazing at his work.

I have had a great week working with people and learning a lot.  A lot!  I had some great experiences with understanding the power of working with the feet.  I am so grateful to be involved in work that keeps me learning, allows me to meet new people, and gives me the chance to deeply connect.  I shake my head every day in wonder that this is what I am blessed to do.

Our family is so thankful for our Savior, Jesus Christ.  We love our Heavenly Father, and our grateful for his constant care in our life.  We are thankful for the guidance of the Holy Ghost.  What a miracle to have on our side the three most powerful beings in existence.  How can it get any better than that?