Claude had priesthood leadership training Saturday afternoon at 4pm. I went in with him. We had a very early dinner together. Then I dropped him off at the Church.
I then drove over and visited Mimi for a bit. She loves having my purse to play with. I always feel funny saying that in that way but she does enjoy holding and moving the purse around or just holding it close on her lap. I actually pulled out an old purse and wrote her name all over it. Papa was going to give it to the nursing home so Mimi could have a purse to use to keep her hands busy when we aren't there.
After visiting Mimi I headed to the Dollar Store to get the paper supplies for Katelyn's graduation Open House. Then to Walmart for some binders. I also scored a pair of capri pants to wear around the house. I have an old pair that is really showing it's age and found a pair just like them with which I can replace the old pair.
Chores done I headed back to the Church for the evening session for the adults at 6pm. When I got there Claude explained, to my horror, they were going to call speakers from the congregation. I suggested we go for an ice cream run. We were not called to speak. We had a wonderful meeting. Followed by a run to the Dairy Queen. That's the thing about ice cream, you talk about it...ya gotta do it.
Sunday morning had us leaving early. Our ward choir was singing and they were going to run through things at 9am before the meeting was to start at 10am. I don't get to practice or sing with our choir often because of my travel on Sunday's with my calling as stake Relief Society president. I was assured by my hubby and the choir director that I could do these numbers and had sung them in the past so I should participate. Now, in the first place is have a problem with coming and singing with those who have taken the time to be at all the practices and have sung these numbers before. These good people have done what needed to be done to be prepared. It just seems wrong to me to sing when I haven't 'paid my dues' so to speak. Plus people seem to think I can just read the music and sing it and hear it without a lot of practice. Really???? I was always the pianist and not the vocalist. I have an okay voice but I don't hear the notes like some people do. I read from a page and my fingers go there. Many people have developed an ability over the years to see the note on the page and know what it should sound like (pitch and all) in their heads. Me...not so much. I love to sing, don't get me wrong. I always dreamed of being able to sing solos and such. But my lot was playing the piano or organ for others to sing and that is what I have done all my life.
I told Claude and our choir director I would try these songs. I got to the choir seats and the first piece he pulls out is a number that is really fast, lots of words said very, very quickly and lots of notes going up and down and all over the place. That was it. I could not and would not flub up the entire spirit of the meeting by trying to do that number. I gathered my purse and scriptures and headed back to the congregation seats to sit with my father. Not gonna do that number.
James, the choir director went through the song with the choir and then assured me they were not going to sing that one. They would do the other two I was told originally they would do. I assured him I would sit in the congregation with my father. Thus began the struggle. James stopped practicing with the choir and came to where I was sitting with everyone watching and tried to get me to come back up to the choir seats. Oh my goodness. I thanked him politely and said 'no'. He finally went back up and finished his rehearsals. Then he challenged Claude in front of everybody to have his wife listen to him. Claude assured him I only did that when I wanted to. But then Claude came back to the bench and proceeded to beg and plead and promise me things like lunch, vacuuming services, clothes, etc., etc., etc. I assured Claude I was going to sit right there by my father through this session of stake conference. As it neared time for him to go back to the choir seats, he quietly reached down and got my purses and scriptures and headed to the choir seats. Can you believe that??? I couldn't. I succumbed and took my place in the choir seats. The choir did sing two numbers that I struggled through.
After the choirs second number everyone left their seats and headed to places their family had saved for them in the congregation. Well, Claude and I had no saved seats. So we stayed in the choir seats. I'm a decided alto (often I sing tenor) and so my seat was behind the piano. Claude left his in the bass section and came and sat with me.
This session also had people called from the congregation to come forward and bear their testimony. We were not called. There were some very sweet thoughts and feelings shared during these testimonies. The people called were from the youth age to the senior age.
The Elder Pieper stood to take the last hour. He spoke for about 45 minutes. He is an interesting person to listen to. He just got back from living in the Ukraine where he served as a mission president I believe. His paying job before that had his family living in one of the 'stans' as Claude called them when he was in the Peace Corps. Claude visited Kyrgystan. There are several other countries in that area that all end in 'stan'. Elder Pieper and his family lived in one of them and I can't remember now which one, Usbekistan or Kasakstan (spelling is probably really butchers on all the 'stans'). His family and one other were the only LDS (Mormon) families in the entire country. Elder Pieper also grew up on a farm in Utah in a family of 11 kids. So his stories and experience are varied and very interesting.
Anyway, he spoke for about 45 minutes, then he said he felt impressed we needed a break of some kind. He felt the kids might be getting restless. So he had all the young men and boys up to high school senior age come to the choir seats. Uh oh...Claude and I are sitting in the choir seats. Claude looked at me and he nodded at the piano bench. We both moved quietly over to the piano bench. Then all the choir seats filled to overflowing with young men and boys. Then Elder Pieper had them sing hymn number 270 "I'll Go Where You Want Me To Go". There were two fathers from our ward in the choir seats with their boys. One of the sons was just too young to know how to read even and his dad was holding him and helping him. The other young man has autism and the dad held the book and his son grinned and tried to sing along. Claude observed a older brother pointing to the words so his younger brother would know which words to sing. One young man standing by us couldn't find the page. I found it for him and he sang right out. He accidentally closed the book and tried to find the page again. He thought he had the right page, but he didn't, however he was singing the right words. Our bishop's son was grinning so big at me he couldn't hardly sing. Then he would blush bright red. It was an extremely moving bit of time.
There are three verses to this hymn. The first verse ends with "I'll go where you want me to go." The second verse ends with "I'll say what you want me to say." The third and final verse ends with "I'll be what you want me to be." Here are the words to the chorus of this beautiful hymn:
I'll go where you want me to go, dear Lord,
Over mountain or plain or sea;
I'll say what you want me to say, dear Lord;
I'll be what you want me to be.
I needed Kleenex. Tears flowed freely as these young men sang out so beautifully on a totally unprepared hymn. It was a moment dictated by a prompting of the Spirit to Elder Pieper. It was a moment full of the Spirit because of these young men's voices and their very presence.
It was a great meeting and a great stake conference.
We came home and I started to work some more on a slideshow of Katelyn's life for her open house. Saturday and Sunday were good days.
Yesterday I started the laundry, cleaned a bathroom, helped Papa get his prescriptions straightened out and picked out songs for Wednesday at the nursing home, and worked on the slide show.
Bonnie gets here Thursday, the Marx family gets here Friday, and Jake gets here Friday. I've got tons to accomplish before anyone arrives. So I'm off to keep things a movin'.
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