We're helping!
Yesterday turned out to be a rather interesting day at church. I was playing the prelude music for Primary Singing Time when one of the counselors in the Primary presidency asked me where my sister was. I told her Athena was in Relief Society, and, after confirming that Athena wasn't teaching (I don't think anybody in the Primary, including myself, knows who the current Relief Society teachers are (Athena says she doesn't think they have any official ones)), the counselor asked if I thought she would be willing to lead Singing Time. The Primary Song Leader was out sick.
So at the very last minute, Athena came and led Singing Time with the children, thus inadvertently deciding that the Primary will be singing "Picture a Christmas" for the Christmas program, because that's the song that's the easiest to teach when you only have a minute to prepare. Given two minutes, she might have gone with "Stars Were Gleaming." (Athena: I might have needed at least five minutes for that.) At any rate, some of the kids remembered Athena from her old days as Primary Song Leader, and they seemed happy to see her, which was nice. And we had some good discussion about why we celebrate Christmas in December.
After Primary, we tried and failed to ambush a member of the bishopric so we could interrogate them about the aforementioned Christmas program. We've been told that they want the choir to sing three songs, but that's all we know. We'd like more details, like do they want a song where the congregation joins in, what's the narration going to be like (so we can choose songs that fit in), and are you sure you want three? We also needed to discuss a potential conflict, because the Christmas program is on Christmas Eve, and we're sort of expected to attend a Christmas celebration out of town with our family the night before that.
Anyway, we didn't get to talk to anyone in the bishopric before it was time for choir practice, and then after choir practice, the elderly gentleman who drives us home from church was in a meeting, so we had to wait. That was good, because we got to talk to the counselors in the bishopric. We still haven't worked everything out, but we know enough to proceed anyway.
Then our ride still wasn't ready, so we waited some more! And while we were waiting, a woman from the Tongan ward that meets in our building passed by and said hello. We said hello back, and she left. A few minutes later, she was back, and she asked, "Does one of you happen to play the piano?" Apparently their Primary pianist was out sick, too. So now both Athena and I got to be last-minute substitutes in Primary! The song leader for this ward made all the kids say, "Thank you, Sister Nibley!" and it was the cutest thing.
So yesterday we got to feel helpful and important. And today...was a normal day. And we found so many field guide pages in Hogwarts Legacy. And a Ravenclaw student with a voice we liked very much talking about how his whole family attends Hogwarts.
Today I'm thankful for having the chance to help out, having the ability to help out when needed (at least in certain areas, anyway), the idea of having three whole choir numbers in one sacrament meeting, managing to finish all of our work, and finding out that there is a US air date for the Miraculous World Paris special.
So at the very last minute, Athena came and led Singing Time with the children, thus inadvertently deciding that the Primary will be singing "Picture a Christmas" for the Christmas program, because that's the song that's the easiest to teach when you only have a minute to prepare. Given two minutes, she might have gone with "Stars Were Gleaming." (Athena: I might have needed at least five minutes for that.) At any rate, some of the kids remembered Athena from her old days as Primary Song Leader, and they seemed happy to see her, which was nice. And we had some good discussion about why we celebrate Christmas in December.
After Primary, we tried and failed to ambush a member of the bishopric so we could interrogate them about the aforementioned Christmas program. We've been told that they want the choir to sing three songs, but that's all we know. We'd like more details, like do they want a song where the congregation joins in, what's the narration going to be like (so we can choose songs that fit in), and are you sure you want three? We also needed to discuss a potential conflict, because the Christmas program is on Christmas Eve, and we're sort of expected to attend a Christmas celebration out of town with our family the night before that.
Anyway, we didn't get to talk to anyone in the bishopric before it was time for choir practice, and then after choir practice, the elderly gentleman who drives us home from church was in a meeting, so we had to wait. That was good, because we got to talk to the counselors in the bishopric. We still haven't worked everything out, but we know enough to proceed anyway.
Then our ride still wasn't ready, so we waited some more! And while we were waiting, a woman from the Tongan ward that meets in our building passed by and said hello. We said hello back, and she left. A few minutes later, she was back, and she asked, "Does one of you happen to play the piano?" Apparently their Primary pianist was out sick, too. So now both Athena and I got to be last-minute substitutes in Primary! The song leader for this ward made all the kids say, "Thank you, Sister Nibley!" and it was the cutest thing.
So yesterday we got to feel helpful and important. And today...was a normal day. And we found so many field guide pages in Hogwarts Legacy. And a Ravenclaw student with a voice we liked very much talking about how his whole family attends Hogwarts.
Today I'm thankful for having the chance to help out, having the ability to help out when needed (at least in certain areas, anyway), the idea of having three whole choir numbers in one sacrament meeting, managing to finish all of our work, and finding out that there is a US air date for the Miraculous World Paris special.