Scott and Mark gave me fabric on my Independence Day birthday to make a Halloween quilt to drape over our railing. I worked hard and finished it before Halloween. Only a few hours, but still…
First Snow
October 26-first day of snow in Alpine. Brrrr. My flowers are sad.
And it’s not even Halloween yet.
September updates from Elder Brian
Some quotes from Brian’s letters:
September 7, 2010
Friday: Zone Conference!!! Wow, it was really long since we have had one, since we are only doing it every other transfer. It was the Cook’s first one and it was amazing! I played piano for it which was really fun. It had a lot of emphasis on the prophet Joseph Smith which was cool. Saturday: We did a TON of biking. This area is double the size of my last area with half of the people and triple the hills. Whew, it is tough. Monday: Still on exchanges. His area is ON the ocean, which was BEAUTIFUL! Man, it doesn’t get better than that.
September 14, 2010
Thursday: District Meeting in the morning. I talked about the power and role of the Book of Mormon in conversion. I thought that it went really well. President Cook and the Zone Leaders both came to the meeting. We are doing it in puro español so that is pretty fun too. Saturday: So the big news is that Elder’s….. bike broke. And because of that we walked. All day. It took 2 hours to walk to one appointment and then 2 hours to walk back, and so that took up our entire night. A lot of walking. My bike has not had any problems in 4 weeks which is a miracle. We are gonna keep those prayers coming.
September 21, 2010
Saturday: Wedding of….!!!! The service was great and I ended up playing piano for it. This is the third wedding that I have arranged on my mission. I am becoming a wedding planner. Sunday: So we went to church and had 5 investigators!! Then we went over to the California building to get things set up for the baptism. We got the font filled (a little on the chilly side), and got everything ready. The baptism got started late, but it was a great experience. I baptized….. and I also played/sang. The arrangement was one of my mine and it was very spiritual. The whole family showed up to the baptism and it was a powerful experience for everyone. So exciting!!
September 28, 2010
Wednesday: Leadership training in Vista! Great, awesome spiritual experience. I had to get up at 5:30 to get ready and over to Vista in time for the conference. It was ALL of the leadership in the entire mission. We started at 8 and ended at 4:30. I was asked to perform a musical number, so I played piano. President was really grateful, and said some really nice things. Thursday: Day 2 of Leadership training. So there are about 60 missionaries that are at this thing, and it was fun to see and hang out for a little bit with all of my friends. Today it was in Carlsbad. I was asked to write an arrangment of Come Thou Fount, that Elder Kim was going to perform, so I had to wake up even earlier to write it (4:00) and then we performed it at the conference. It was really good! Monday: BLAZING hot today, 108. Whew. And Humid.
Fall Into Reading 2010
It’s time for the Fall into Reading Challenge, although I’m a few days late getting started. October is National Book Month, so I’m starting in celebration of that. The rules: make a list, write a post, and read from September 22 to December 20. Here’s the list from my TBR pile, in no apparent order:
- Shanghai Girls, by Lisa See
- The Serpent’s Children, by Laurence Yep
- Mountain Light, by Laurence Yep
- The Cross-Country Quilters, by Jennifer Chiaverini
- Summer on Blossom Street, by Debbie Macomber
- The Street of a Thousand Blossoms, by Gail Tsukiyama
- Red River, by Lalita Tademy
- Love Comes Softly, by Janette Oke
- The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, byAlan Bradley
- Prayers for Sale, by Sandra Dallas
- Buster Midnight’s Cafe, by Sandra Dallas
- Mississippi Trial, 1955, by Chris Crowe
- The Hourglass Door, by Lisa Mangum
- The Golden Spiral, by Lisa Mangum
Life Changes
Today I was released from the ward calling I have held since 2003. I was released for a few months in late 2006 and then called again in early 2007, so essentially I have been the ward choir director in the Mountainville 3rd Ward for 7 years. For most of that time I had 2, 3, or 4 other callings in addition to choir, but choir has been a constant. It’s a calling that I really love and I am sad to see it go, but with some current health issues that I am experiencing, it was felt by my Bishop that I need a break. I have worked with so many great people during those years and seen so much growth in my fellow musicians that I feel truly blessed. It’s been an emotional day, but I had visits from two families this afternoon with gifts to tell me how much I had influenced them, so I also feel loved.