I'm on my journey home; so bring on the rain!

Saturday was quite a busy day! I had the blessed opportunity to be a part of my first BYU-Idaho Collegiate Singer's Invitational! We invited two high schools from Utah to come up as well as Rigby, ID high school. Prior to my call time (3:00pm) I focused on getting my brass arrangement done for my Scoring and Arranging class. I was planning on arranging "Before the Parade Passes By" from the musical Hello, Dolly! (that changed a little later, but I'll explain that later). At 2:00 I ended up sitting in on one of the workshops that the high school students got to do. Man, they've got talent! They all had such a mature and blended sound (especially for a high school choir). Brother Kempton was the person in charge of the workshop; as they sang, he talked about telling a story as they sang. He then said this, "If you're not having fun, then you're missing part of the point of music. Music is fun!" I think it's completely true, music is so much fun!

At 3:00, all three high school choirs and the BYU-Idaho Collegiate Singers got together to practice the two numbers that we did together ("Zion's Walls" by Aaron Copland and "Amazing Grace" arr. by Mack Wilberg). After that rehearsal we had dinner together; I really stepped out of my comfort zone and tried talking to as many of the high school students (and sometimes their parents) as I could. It was a blast! I got fairly close to a particular group from Mapleton High School. Then came time to perform! I was so excited I could hardly contain myself! We listened to all of the high schools sing and then it was our turn! We sang nine songs on our own ("Guide Us O, Thou Great Jehovah", "La Nuit en Mer", "My Soul's Been Anchored in the Lord", "Vinea Mea Electa", "Chariots", "Crossin' Ovah", "Little Man in a Hurry", "Inward Stillness", and "No Time"). There was one particular song we sang that really stood out to me, it was "No Time".

As we sang, I had a chance to look out at the audience and see the girls from Mapleton High School, that I had become so close to, crying. I assumed it was because they were Seniors and "No Time" is kind of a farewell song. I was able to smile at them and continue to sing. It wasn't until after the concert that I found out the real reason for their tears. At the beginning of the school year, Oct. 2011, three of their friends were taking pictures on train tracks. They heard a train coming and moved to avoid it, however they didn't realize that another train was coming from the opposite direction. All three girls were hit by the train, but only two died (as far as I know). The choir, at the girls' funeral, sang "No Time". I am so grateful I got to connect with them through that song and to provide a little bit of comfort for them. 

Sunday was also fairly busy; I had a ward choir practice, church (I taught Relief Society), I had to finish my brass arrangement, and then a Chamber Choir practice. While I was working on my brass arrangement, I had reached a dead end. I went through my music again to see if there was anything else I could do; there was! I ended up changing it to "Til There Was You" from The Music Man. As I arranged it, I realized that "What a Wonderful World" fit in perfectly with it, so I put it in there! It ended up being one of my better arrangements I believe. Then Monday was insane! I had classes from 7:45am-2:00, but I didn't get a break until about 11:00pm! I was asked if I would sing in Master Class about an hour before class; my voice wasn't doing too well, but I decided to do it anyway. Then, the Chamber Choir sang in the STAR Recital (we sang "Kyrie", from Mass in G Minor by R. Vaughan Williams and "Ubi caritas", by Durufle). I was feeling incredibly overwhelmed and stressed (because of that, I've decided that I need to start meditating more frequently). The only homework I did on Monday was writing my Music Literature III paper; it took me from 6:30pm-10:30pm to write it. Fortunately, I had all of the research done, so I just needed to compile that information with what I learned. But it was still insane! As soon as I submitted my paper, I felt a huge weight lifted off of my shoulders; two of my huge projects were done! Again, I feel so blessed for the Lord's help in keeping me at least semi-sane for all of that.

The past two days, however, I've had close melt-downs. Yesterday the Collegiate Singers sang in Devotional; we sang "Blessed Are They/Bring Forth My Zion" from the oratorio we are doing this semester! I am so grateful for that opportunity I had to share my testimony with students at BYU-Idaho that, "If they endure unto the end, they shall be lifted up at the last day." I needed to hear that; with the Lord, all things are possible! I need to remember to trust in Him and He will guide me, I just need to endure. Today was another "melt-down" day though; it was my busy day in terms of classes, but I also had clean-checks and another performance with the Chamber choir. Right before the Chamber choir sang, I was speaking with my friend Cassandra. We both are going through some tough times and it was nice to feel her love and support! I'm so grateful for the friends I have, both here and in other places in the world. As I walked home, I was setting goals in my mind about how I was going to overcome this overwhelmed feeling. Ultimately I've concluded to two things I'd like to do:

1. Put the Lord first in my life, and

2. Meditate at least twice a day (morning and night)

I'm praying that all goes well with the meditation, I know I can't go wrong with having the Lord first in my life.  "Tomorrow is another day, and I'm thirsty anyway; so bring on the rain!" (It's from some song, but I don't know which one).