Bring Forth My Zion

Oh my goodness, what a great day today has been! Such a tender mercy for me! I went to my classes today and got quite a bit done! At 2:00, my friend Mike had put together a Forum Hour Naptime! It was from 2:00-3:00pm (which is Forum hour here). Not many people actually ended up taking naps, but six people pulled up benches, laid on the floor with blankets and pillows (Mike even had an eye mask thing), and they took a nap for an hour! It was kind of funny to watch them do that! The next hour I got to babysit Tony; it was a blast! We played on the stairs most of the time, but we also played on the elevator, listened to Kameron sing his version of "Book of Mormon Stories" (for our Ed. Psych class), and just played around in the Fishbowl.

However, the greatest thing today had to be studying the Oratorio with Cassandra. We met up at about 6:00pm and started sharing thoughts about the oratorio (it's called "Bring Forth My Zion"). We were supposed to get through Mvts. 1B, 2, 3B, 4, and 7. We only got through 3B! But it was such a good discussion, it wasn't even just about the oratorio; we also talked about life in general and how we are doing. Our stresses, concerns, successes, and so on. It was a powerful discussion. One of the funniest things happened as we were studying. Cassandra was telling me about some things she was struggling with; well, her scriptures were open and the pages slowly started to fall. She made a comment on it and as soon as they fell, she put her hand in to see what scriptures were on those pages. She started moving her finger around the page and told me to say "when". We landed on the scripture Exodus 26:15 that saying:

"And thou shalt make boards for the tabernacle of Shittim wood standing up."
I then looked at her and said, "Cassandra, we're going to build temples . . . our homes!" She made the most amazed face I had ever seen and then exclaimed, "Out of Shittim wood!" Ha, it was such a riot! But, I am ever so happy for her friendship! I love her to pieces and am so grateful for the wonderful example she is to me!

Tonight I also got my Endorsement (which basically is an interview with the Bishop saying that I will continue to live the Honor Code both here at BYU-Idaho and wherever I go). As we waited for the Bishop, I had a wonderful conversation with one of the girls in my ward about the ward choir (of which I am the conductor) and she even said she would start coming! After I had my interview, we (Cami and I) talked to the executive secretary (Cameron) for a few minutes! It was one of the funniest conversations I've ever had in my life! I'm all done with homework tonight, and I'm trying to decide what to do with myself . . . maybe practice! That's right, 9:38pm and I'm thinking about going and practicing!