Living Statues

I love Halloween on campus. There were so many fun costumes all day long. My costume was a living statue. I dressed up in one color and spent several hours of my free time today in a public place performing as a living statue. I want to express my gratitude for all the talented statue performers throughout the world that serve as my inspiration in my own endeavors into this unique performing art. It was so much fun to hold a pose and interact with the public around me. I saw many smiles and heard a good deal of laughter as people saw what I was doing. Happy Halloween, everyone!

Arvo Part

Arvo Part is a modern music composer, and in recent years I have become quite a fan of his music. His style tends to be minimalistic, which I like and appreciate, and generally religious. Much of his music is modern sacred music that uses religious texts. My favorite composition of his so far is "Cantate Domino" because of it's pure simplicity and the lovely blend of voice and organ. I am grateful for the music he has written. I can tell his compositions involve a great deal of thought, effort, contemplation, and inspiration.

Sound Recording Devices

This past year, I have been able to complete a few music projects and original arrangements thanks to recording equipment. Granted, I usually use the built-in recorder in my laptop, but I am grateful for that tool. It has been very helpful for personal and school projects.

Crepes

Crepes are delicious, and so versatile! Tonight I had homemade dessert crepes with friends, which were delicious. I also really appreciate meat and cheese crepes. In short, I feel that crepes and all creperies everywhere should receive a moment of appreciation, which I am providing now. I am grateful for crepes!

Giving a Blessing in a Hospital

Today my parents, my sister, and I went to a small town in central Utah to visit my grandparents there. My grandfather was in the hospital recovering from a respiratory illness, and he was glad to see us. My dad and I were able to give him a priesthood blessing in which we laid our hands gently on my grandfather's head and said a special prayer for his recovery. We gave a similar blessing to my grandmother in her efforts to take care of my grandfather.

It is such a sweet experience to have the opportunity to give spiritual service like that. It reminded me of a number of occasions during my service as a full-time missionary in the southwest states. Dozens of times, people in the local hospitals down there would ask the missionaries to come visit them and give them a blessing by the laying on of hands. Those were special times. People were encouraged and uplifted, and I've seen miracles large and small happen. I still do.

French 101

It's the weekend, and it's a weekend with family, but I still had school work to do. I have several challenging courses this semester, but one of the more challenging ones is my French class because I am trying to learn how to speak and read and use a different language with differences in spelling and grammar and usage. It can be a frustrating process. However, I recognized progress when I read an excerpt from a French autobiography. I read the passage a few times and looked up a few words to truly understand it. Then there was that moment when the words and the meaning clicked in my mind and I felt an appreciation for what the author had written. It was a small breakthrough moment between reading French for homework and understanding the text. I still have much to learn, but some good progress was made. I am grateful for my French 101 class because it is facilitating my understanding and appreciation for francophone cultures, including my Canadian heritage.

A Moving Bass Line

Tonight I had the privilege to see a production of "Mary Poppins" on stage. The entire show was spectacular and marvelous entertainment. I also love the message of the show. My favorite musical moment occurred during the song called "Step In Time". The song began at a slow waltz pace with a single repeating line from the basses and cellos. Everything else in the song built their musical ideas on top of that and that low bass line kept the pace moving along with increasing energy, repeating that rhythm. It's a real challenge to explain a musical moment in words like this, so I will just say that low rhythm and simple repetitive melody moved me and brought a feeling of potential energy that would soon be released in a grand finale. I am grateful for a simple musical moment like a simple but moving bass line.

A Reminder to Remember

Today I felt rather overwhelmed by the the coursework immediately before me and the significant decisions and academic work in the not-too-distant future. There is so much I need to do, so much I want to do, and so much I feel I need to do. I began to pray for help, until it came to my mind to pray for other people. Immediately my own burdens felt lighter because I felt less selfish. I felt more love for those around me.

Then later tonight, I had the opportunity to visit a friend who had similar concerns. As we prayed and talked together, my friend felt that what she needed to do was to remember that God is there and that He will help her in her situation as she does the things He asks her to do. This answer was an answer to her prayers and to mine. In essence, we were reminded to remember God, and to remember all those we are blessed to be of service to, and to remember that the highest priority should be to love and to serve God and His children.

Free Opera Tickets

Sorry I wasn't able to post yesterday. There were issues with the internet. In any case, today I am grateful for some free tickets to an opera on campus. I got them from a friend who was involved with the show. The opera was Strauss' "Die Fledermaus" (The Bat). It's a comedic opera, and I really enjoyed it. The performance was great, and I had a few good laughs, which I appreciated. Opera is certainly a different genre for me, but I appreciate the grandeur and storytelling aspects of the genre.

Six Word Stories

I am grateful for the fun concept of six word stories, inspired by Earnest Hemingway. It is a challenge to say as much as possible with as little as possible. I walked past a booth on campus that invited people to write six-word stories, and today I came up with a couple of Halloween stories:

Living scarecrow liked fire...now ashes.

Deceased cellist named Melody still harmonizes.

It's a fun challenge. I've seen six word stories that are sad, funny, and thought-provoking. It's a bit like poetry. :)

Indexing

Indexing is a family history project in which you are given a scanned image on a computer and you read the document and type the information so the document is easily searchable on family history databases. I was able to make the time to index today, and as always it was fun to do it with friends. It is a great thing to be able to use technology by way of service.

Washers and Dryers

They are truly modern marvels to be grateful for. Those machines do a good job on our clothes, and I mean that in both possible ways: they are good at successfully cleaning and drying our clothes, and the job they do on our clothes is a good and necessary job. I consider them a weekly blessing.

Sharing My Knowledge of Good Eats

I was doing homework outside this morning, and a guy approached me to ask about good places to eat on campus. He was looking for good lunch date places. I am grateful I could help him because I happened to know about every eating place on campus. I made it a point to try them all my freshman year. So, I shared my knowledge with this fellow student, and he thanked me for my help. It was an unexpected opportunity to help someone else, and I am grateful I was where I was and knew what I knew to be an ideal resource to answer his question.

Ode to Joy

There are many great pieces of music that I could express gratitude for, and I will very likely express that gratitude in due time. For today, I am very grateful for Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. The whole symphony is wonderful, but I am especially grateful for the final movement, the "Ode to Joy" finale. I was reminded of why I love this work by this video I was recently introduced to:

http://mostexcitingworld.com/videobest-coin-ever-spent/#Ap8IqLGvZ1Zvao7J.01

Music moves people, and for some reason this is one piece that never fails to gladden and encourage the hearts of the listeners.

Sweater Weather

We are getting into my favorite kind of weather: sweater weather. The air is chilly, but not freezing...as long as you have a sweater or a coat on. It is still quite sunny and occasionally cloudy, but not terribly cold yet. It's a very nice kind of weather, and I am grateful to have that where I am now.

Apartment Inspections

It's that time of the year when every apartment will be inspected for cleanliness. It does seem to be just another task to add onto one's growing list of stuff to do, but I am glad that the place will become cleaner for a little while because of it. I am grateful for the results of a cleaning inspection.

Light Bulbs

A couple of lights in my apartment needed to be replaced, so I took care of that. I looked forward to the additional light we would regain in the room. Of course I expected brighter light when I turned it on again, but it still struck me how very bright it was. It actually felt wonderful to have more light in the room. What amazes me even more is that physical light can have very similar effects on one's attitude and optimism as spiritual light and truth.

Hearing Aids

I was born with a minor hearing loss that was just enough for me to need hearing aids since third grade. Those miniature marvels have been such a blessing to me, making the audible world around me much more clear. Sometimes, it is annoying to have things in my ears, but overall I am very grateful to have them. Having this slight hearing loss has never interfered with my academic, social, or spiritual progress, and I am grateful for that as well. I am also grateful to know that in the next life and when the final judgement comes, I will be able to hear perfectly.

A Bit of Fun with Strangers in a Charter Bus

Today I am grateful for a brief interaction I had this evening. On my way back to my apartment this evening, I came to a busy street and waited for a green light to walk across. As I waited at the corner, a large charter bus drove by and was stopped right in front of where I stood because of very heavy traffic that became jammed for a couple of minutes at a time.

I noticed the bus was full of young people who seemed to be high school age. I also noticed some of the students looking right at me. They even started to knock on their window to try to get my attention. Well, they succeeded, but I pretended to be aloof by looking in every other direction except straight ahead at them.

This lasted for about a minute, and at first I felt I was in an awkward situation. Then, I decided this could be an opportunity to have a small bit of fun with these high school students. I continued to ignore them until their bus started moving. Right then, I turned to them, waved back and gave a large grin. The students noticed immediately and they seemed to be saying, "Oh, now he waves at us just as our bus leaves!" I saw them laughing, and I was laughing too. In retrospect, I suppose it might have been fun to do a few small dance moves for them before they left. But, at least I got to give them a wave and a smile. My light turned green, and I gave a casual salute in their direction as I walked away.

Come what may, and love it. :)

Some Time for Ice-Cream

It has been another long and busy Friday, and I was about ready to call it a night. Then, a cousin in town called me and offered to take me out for ice cream to wish me a happy belated birthday. Our time together was brief, but it meant a lot to me. I am grateful and appreciate the time he took to recognize my birthday and to catch up with me. It was a satisfying ending to another long and busy Friday.

Pleasant Surprises

Thursdays are busy days for me at school, and that's where my birthday falls this year. However, I am grateful that I was able to take the time to go to lunch with a family member and receive a surprise visit from friends this evening. Add to that a couple dozen text and online messages from other friends and family. I was touched by these small acts of kindness and friendship today, and they all came as pleasant surprises. I am grateful for this day. It was a long school day, but those few hours spent with friends and family made it special.

Oranges

I think the only truly terrible thing about oranges is the fact that nothing rhymes with it. Other than that, they are wonderful and tasty. It was very refreshing to sink my teeth into an orange as I took a walk this evening.

Band Music

This morning I listened to one of the top bands at my campus play at a mini concert for students. The music was fun, crisp, and at times profoundly beautiful. I am not as familiar with brass bands as I am with string orchestras, but I really enjoy the sound of a good band ensemble. They can drown out my cheers, impress me with their complex drum licks, and soothe me with a sweet melody accompanied by full, swelling chords. I am grateful for band ensembles.

Trampolines

Today I express my gratitude for large trampolines. It was a lot of fun to visit a gymnastics gym with friends this evening. I am always very cautious when it comes to doing tricks on trampolines, but I really like the way they can increase our physical capacity to jump, to almost fly.

I am also grateful that so far I have found one hundred things to be grateful for so far.

Witch Hat Cookies

This has been a real tradition for me each October: to make a distribute witch hat cookies for friends. I take a frosted chocolate cookie and use frosting or Nutella to paste a Hershey's Kiss on top of it. The end result looks like a witch hat. I always enjoy making them and sharing them, and I am grateful that my parents made them for me and my kindergarten class many years ago. Thus began an annual tradition that I never tire of. I am grateful for which hat cookies!

General Conference

It is a wonderful blessing to semi-annually participate in a General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. On the first weekends of October and April are two days of listening to leaders of the church give inspired and timely messages about Jesus Christ and His teachings and His Church. I have been in the habit of recording personal questions before each conference and listening for answers to my questions during the conference. There is truly something for everyone who wishes to improve themselves, recognize opportunities to serve, and to receive comfort and guidance for your current and specific situation.

What I love most about General Conference is this: Millions of people around the world tune in to General Conference, yet because the leaders who speak are inspired of God the Spirit of God can reveal to your mind and your heart, through these messages, just what you need to hear and feel and recognize in your specific circumstance. Therefore, the best part about General Conference is that it is both a general experience and a personal experience for every honest seeker of truth and happiness. After the first day of conference, I have already been uplifted and edified by the Spirit of the Lord as I heed the messages of an inspired Prophet and Apostles and other church leaders.

Sliced Bread

PB&Js, grilled cheese, ham sandwich, you name it, it's the best thing since the advent of sliced bread less than a century ago. I am grateful for the person who first looked at a loaf of dough and thought, "Hmm, I wonder what we could do with it sliced."

Career Fair

There was a career fair on campus today. Little by little I am becoming more familiar with the job market and what I can do with my time while at school to prepare for life after school. I had a very good experience interacting with the people at the fair. I am also grateful that there are so many options. I feel like there are too many options, so it feels a bit frustrating when I try to determine exactly what I want to be doing, but this is a good problem to have. For that, I am grateful.

Gracefully Led To An Exam

There are several words used to name a blessing from heaven. Some call it grace. Others call it a tender mercy from the Lord. Whatever you may call it, today I am grateful for one of those.

I signed up for a one-on-one oral exam with a teacher this afternoon. I went to the classroom and found nobody there. No one arrived at all for the next twenty minutes. I didn't know what to do to find out the room number for the exam. I couldn't send an e-mail or call my teacher because he was busy with the exam. My exam time quickly approached, and I decided to try his office. 

On my way there, one of my classmates walked past me. I called her name and asked her where the exam was. It was in a study room in the library. I thanked her and arrived just a few minutes early to my exam. I am grateful that I passed the exam, but I am so much more grateful that I was given the means to find out where to go. This is called coincidence, but I am grateful for it. Because I know that every good thing comes from God, I consider this coincidence a tender act of grace for me.

Lost and Found

Twice today, I lost something. The first time, my French book went missing, but my French teacher found it and was able to bring it back to me. The second time, I misplaced my scriptures. Another student found them and contacted me and was able to deliver them to me tonight. I am grateful my prayers were answered, that both of these things were found today.