We serve others.

We love.

There is refinement.

There is reverence.

There is dependability.

There is zest for life.

There is uprightness.

There is care and concern for others.

There is strength.

We make each other feel comfortable.

There is peace.

It is safe.

Last Sunday we sang God Is Love & the 3rd verse really touched me:

All the hopes that sweetly start

From the fountain of the heart,

All the bliss that ever comes 

To our earthly human homes,

All the voices from above

Sweetly whisper: God is love.

Neil J. Anderson has stated “Everything that we do in the Church should point us as individuals and as families to temple ordinances. All of the ordinances of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ invite us to improve our lives and to come to the Savior.”

Richard G. Hinckley spoke of prophetic priorities when he observed: “Everything we do in this Church requires optimism. The building of temples is a sign of great optimism. The creation of new stakes and new missions; the opening of new areas to missionary work; the building of hundreds of meetinghouses every year, year after year; the tremendous humanitarian effort we carry forth; the continued support of this great educational institution—all are signs of great optimism.”

Bruce R. McConkie mixed it up and admonished what we ought to do in the church: “ This is what we ought to do in the Church. We ought to lean how to teach by the power of the Spirit, so that when we get through talking about the gospel subjects we’ll know whether what we’ve said is right, and we’ll be in a position to bear testimony, not alone of the truth and the divinity of the work, but also that the doctrine we proclaim and the everlasting truths which we expound are right, that they are the mind and voice and will of the Lord. Now, the glorious, wondrous thing about this work and about these doctrines is that they are true. There isn’t anything in this world, no truth that we can conceive of, to compare with the truth that the work we’re engaged in is true, that the Lord’s hand is here. It’s a literal fact that we have the gift and power of the Holy Ghost. We have the spirit of revelation, the spirit of testimony, the spirit of prophecy. These things must be, or else we’re not the church and kingdom of God; we’re not the Lord’s people.”

I think this is the most beautiful scripture, for a million reasons, but I’d like to point out just one.  It is that it describes for me how I feel when I’m in love with someone. I hear people talk all the time about the list or picture they have when they describe their ideal. This has always confused me because my mind doesn’t work  that way. Rather, what I see as preeminent in a romantic relationship is someone with whom I don’t feel alone in their presence. It might sound simple, but I think it’s really rare. And since I’ve never been in a situation, romantically, where there aren’t several things to look past in order to move forward, I like how the above states that mercy claimeth her own. Bruce C. Hafen has said that as we serve, love and honor our commitments to one another we come to belong to one another. I believe that as mercy claimeth her own -our sense of belonging is established and therefore life and liberation are found.

• On any given day of practice or a performance, I always feel better when I leave then when I came.
• I’m exposed to great talent; I wonder if there will ever be another ward anywhere in the world with so much genius. I believe this is to the point that after practice I sometimes take notes on the terms used or how the music was discussed.
• Even though we stand in front of the chapel when we perform, I somehow feel more apart of the congregation.
• The last few years some of the more treasured words that showed up on Christmas cards I received came from the choir director/music coordinator, this is despite not only a lack of talent, but I may actually hinder the collective sound of the choir. Yet, they speak as if they miss me when I’m not there.