October

I am recognizing the last day of September by expressing my gratitude for October! I have several good friends born on this month, it's fun to dress in costumes for Halloween, and the fall season is generally in full swing. Apart from the Christmas season, this is my favorite time of the year. This is the month where many young people are knee-deep in school, but the consecutive holidays of Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc. are approaching. I like October, and I am grateful for it.

Leadership Training

My responsibility in my local church congregation has to do with coordinating music in church meetings. This evening the local church leaders held a training meeting for those with any leadership position, including leadership in music. the meeting was very helpful because in it I gained a greater understanding and sense of vision for how I can better serve other people with the responsibilities I have. In the church it is all about being of service to others and by extension of service to God (See Mosiah 2:17, found on page 148 in The Book of Mormon). I am grateful for the training and what I learned from it.

Improv Comedy

I have tried improv comedy before, and I know for a fact that as of now it is difficult for me to perform without a script or rehearsal. That is how I know that improv is a true skill. I very much enjoyed an improv comedy show tonight, and seriously laughed a lot. I am grateful for the entertaining comedy skills of those who were in the show tonight. I am grateful for the laughs.

A Comment on Chivalry

This is a rather small thing, but I truly am grateful for it. I am part of a percussion ensemble and often we need to sit or kneel on a tile floor, but we use foam mats for comfort. Today I joined two other people in a separate room for practice and we didn't have enough mats to have two per person. So, it just happened that one person got to sit on two foam mats while the rest of us had one each. We practiced for a while until it was time to pack it all up. As we got up to put things away, the lady who got the two mats said to the two of us: "Thank you for letting me have two, you guys are such gentlemen."

I really appreciate comments and compliments like that, even the small ones. Such comments are the only reasons I need to be convinced that the attitude of respect and courtesy known today as chivalry is still very much appreciated.

Le Petit Nicolas

Only very recently have I discovered this cute little French cartoon from several decades ago. I heard about it in my French class and tonight I watched a movie adaptation of it. the movie was in French (with English subtitles) and it was so funny! I appreciated the humor, and really enjoyed it. I might want to look up the actual cartoons now.

Hand-Me-Down Mallets

I am currently taking private percussion lessons because I've always wanted to learn a bit of percussion. Randomly and thankfully, we happened to have a couple sets of mallet sticks that I could use to practice with. Otherwise I would have to buy new ones myself. I am grateful to have them, and grateful for my mother who first had the idea to pack them with the rest of my college boxes a couple months ago.

Teachers Who Care

These past two days, I thought about how fortunate I am to have good teachers who care about the success and progress of their students. No teacher is absolutely perfect, but I've noticed that most if not all the teachers I've had (at least the ones I remember) have been inspirational and encouraging. I could tell they cared about what they taught and who they taught. this semester I happen to have more such teachers in school. My mind goes especially to my encouraging percussion teacher and my understanding French teacher. Both subjects force me to go just barely beyond my current capabilities, and I enjoy every day of it.