#it's 1:21 am and i have a piano lesson tomorrow and i have practiced all summer 🥳

[i-am-totally-not-a-lizard]

I just don't really vibe with going to bed at a reasonable hour. She's just not my type. In fact I find her mildly repulsive.

[study-with-aura]

Wednesday, April 17, 2024

I was surprised to see someone wanted to see more of my handwriting but delighted too, so feel free to check out that earlier post. It is merely close ups of these notes and some from past but recent notes. It was another long day again, but I was happy to have a review day for geometry. I looked over all the combinatorics and probability stuff again mostly since that seems to be my current struggle. As of tomorrow, I am going into straight cumulative study from what it looks like. To think that I will be finished in just a little over 20 week days is crazy! However, I am also ready for my summer break because I am so excited for my summer trip and camp and the summer variations intensive. There is so much to look forward to!

Tasks Completed:

Geometry - Review day!

Lit and Comp II - Reviewed Unit 24 vocabulary + read Act 3 Scenes 4-5 of Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare + read modern translation of same scenes + typed up a page about Beatrice for a 10 minute writing challenge + completed first draft of my literary analysis for Emma (due Friday) + began editing first draft

Spanish 2 - Reviewed vocabulary + watched lecture video on the future tense + practice activity

Bible I - Read 1 Samuel 20

World History - Reviewed World War II Terms + answered five question sets dealing with World War II

Biology with Lab - Read through virus vocabulary + copied microorganism vocabulary terms that I have to know for a coming up quiz

Foundations - Read the definition of tolerance + completed next quiz on Read Theory + took notes on how an outline of a persuasive speech should be written + read Winston Churchill's "We shall fight them on the beaches" speech

Piano - Practiced for two hours in one hour split sessions

Khan Academy - Completed World History Unit 6: Lesson 10 (parts 6-9)

CLEP - None today

Streaming - Watched Turning Point: The Bomb and the Cold War episode 1

Duolingo - Studied for 15 minutes (Spanish, French, Chinese) + completed daily quests

Reading - Read pages 260-293 of Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross

Chores - None today

Activities of the Day:

Personal Bible Study (John 14)

Ballet

Variations

Journal/Mindfulness

What I’m Grateful for Today:

I am grateful that we still had good weather today because tomorrow, we are not supposed to.

Quote of the Day:

Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.

-Winston Churchill, (but apparently falsely attributed to him)

🎧Drei Romanzen (Three Romances) Op. 21 - Clara Wieck-Schumann

[nerdygaymormon]

The Expanded Role of Youth in the Church

I was asked to speak to all the holders of the Aaronic & Melchizedek priesthood in my stake about all the changes the church has made in recent years to the youth programs. I’m putting a copy of the talk here for myself. 

Plus I felt inspired to say something about being gay. It wasn’t in my original plans but the spirit said “what’s the point of having you in church if you don’t address this? No one in that room can speak to it like you can”

———————————————————————

An Analogy

Tonight’s organist is Brother Bradshaw. Brother Bradshaw, how would you respond if you received this message:

Hi. I am David and I need to learn how to play the organ before Saturday. My parents have been paying for me to get organ lessons every week for the last 6 years but I never actually attended any of the lessons and I spent the money on other stuff. Now they want me to play a Toccata by Bach at their wedding anniversary on Saturday.

If you can teach me, be here tomorrow at 11:00 am with a keyboard. I am a fast learner so I am pretty sure I will pick it up quickly.

That’s a ridiculous letter, right? 6 years of lessons and practicing can’t be replicated in a single day. Such a shortcut is not available for someone to gain the knowledge and develop the skills to play the piano beautifully. This is also true of things like learning to speak a language, become an agile athlete, a competent & expressive dancer, or a proficient lawyer.  

Putting in consistent effort over time is what brings skills and knowledge. The church experience of our youth has been changing so as to use these teenage years as a time of growth and training in the gospel and in leadership.

If you’re a dad, you should know that the church experience for your sons & daughters is different than it was for you and me. They are being asked to be an active participant in their faith and their religious experience, not just observers. When they turn 18 and are adults, they’ll be prepared to make positive contributions.

Christ already has shown us He has confidence in teens to do great things. As a church we’re showing confidence in our teenagers.

Jesus works with teens

Joseph Smith

How old was Joseph Smith when he had a vision in which God & Jesus visited him? 14.

How old was Joseph when an angel named Moroni appeared and told him about the Book of Mormon and where to find it? 17.

How old was Joseph when he was allowed to begin translating the Book of Mormon and essentially begin his life’s ministry? 21.

How old were Jesus’ twelve apostles?

When Jesus began His ministry at age 30, He chose 12 disciples. We know a little about them. We know 4 of them were fishermen, 1 was a tax collector. 2 were brothers. While we don’t know exactly how old they were, we have some clues as to their ages. Have you ever thought about how old the original apostles were when Jesus called them?

The temple tax

In Exodus 30:14-15, we learn that Jewish law was that every man over the age of 20 is to pay a half-shekel when they visit the temple. In Matthew 17:24-27, when Jesus and His disciples were headed to the temple, Jesus instructed Peter to catch a fish in order to pay this tax. Peter finds a shekel in the mouth of the fish he catches; enough to pay the temple tax for two men. That’s all that this group would owe. It’s an indication that 11 of the disciples were under the age of 20.

They were unmarried

We know that Peter had a wife because Jesus healed his mother-in-law (Matthew 8:14-15). In those times, a Jewish man receives a wife after the age of 18. Again, no other disciples’ wives are mentioned. So Peter was likely the eldest of the 12 apostles and owed the temple tax.

The use of the term “little ones”

Several times in the New Testament (Matthew 11:25, Luke 10:21, and John 13:33) Jesus calls his disciples little children; this term of endearment makes more sense if they were half his age.

The zeal and folly of youth

If it’s true that they were mostly teenagers, some of their comments and actions make more sense and fit well with the zeal, energy and goofiness of adolescence.

Expanded role of youth in the church

The sun seems so huge and bright to us and it’s obvious to place it as the most greatest object in the heavens. However, we now have the technology to compare it to other stars and find that it’s not particularly large or hot or bright compared to others. Our sun doesn’t need to be like other stars, it’s good as it is in its circumstances, especially to us on earth.  

Like the stars, we’re not all the same and trying to force us all to be the same will not bring us real happiness or fulfill our purposes.

Over the past 7 years the church has been inspired to dramatically change the church experience for the youth. I love that it now allows for a customization of lessons, experiences and goals to help us become the best “stars” that we can be.

Come, Follow Me

When I was growing up, there was a manual and the leaders just followed it, did whatever the next lesson was and covered all the points made in the manual’s lesson.

A big change occurred in 2013 when the youth implemented the Come, Follow Me style of lessons. By way of comparison, the adults only got it this year.

Come, Follow Me meant no more manual, it’s all online. The youth presidencies are asked to choose which lessons would most benefit their class or quorum. And the lessons have multiple components for the person teaching to choose what parts to include.

Come, Follow Me encouraged the youth to start teaching. A 12-year-old could be invited to prepare and share part of the lesson, a 17-year-old might be responsible for the entire lesson.

Part of Come, Follow Me is that we study at home. This year we’ve been doing New Testament, next year will be Book of Mormon. We study at home and we share things we learned on Sunday, or at seminary.

Family History

The next big change for youth was Family History.

When I was growing up, genealogy was something old people did. They came to the family history library and scrolled through microfiche, recorded info onto paper forms that they turned in to the temple.

Things moved online and it was clear youth would be more comfortable in this environment. Youth were encouraged to do “indexing,” which is looking at old records and typing the information so these records can be searched electronically.

They also were asked to work on their own family history and find ancestors who need temple work done.

Temple

When I was a youth, we usually took 1 or 2 trips to the temple with our ward to do baptism work. The bishop went on those trips and brought a list of names of youth who were allowed to participate, basically a one-time group recommend. It was essentially the ONLY time teenagers could go to the temple.  

Today, teenagers can have their own temple recommend! Their recommend is good for a year and they can choose to go multiple times to the temple. This month in General Conference, President Nelson announced some changes in the temple recommend questions. Youth now get asked the same questions as the adults.

To get a temple recommend, we meet with a member of the bishopric and he asks us these questions. A change from when I was a youth is that we don’t have to go in alone to see the bishop, or any other leader. This past Thursday I accompanied a friend when they met with their stake president. I wish more people felt comfortable doing this, asking someone to come along.

If you’re in an interview and anything said is making you feel uncomfortable, it is perfectly fine to ask if he should be asking about that or to ask if you could invite another adult to join you. Having someone else there is for your benefit, and it also protects the bishop. It’s a good practice.  

When I was a teen and went on ward trips to do baptisms, the temple provided the names of people for us to do their work. Today, youth are encouraged to do temple work for their own ancestors and can bring the names they find while doing family history work.

When I was a teenager, the only thing I could do at the temple was be baptized and be confirmed. Today someone who is a priest can baptize others. Any person with a recommend, including youth, can serve as witnesses.

Ministering

A few years ago we replaced Home Teaching and Visiting Teaching with Ministerng. The young men & young women are invited to participate. They have a role to play. Their presence makes a difference.  

Age

It’s been many decades since the Church last jiggered with the ages for when people could be put in the different offices of the priesthood. This year a change took place, we might even have an 11-year-old here tonight with us. A year ago everyone would’ve been 12 or older.

Missionaries

It used to be that to serve a mission, young men had to be age 19 and young women age 21. A few years ago that changed. Young men have the option of starting a mission at age 18 and the young women at age 19. Let me emphasize, this is an option, some people do better with a year or two of life experience out of high school. But this younger age is a testament to the preparation that today’s youth are receiving.

Some important changes in the mission experience has occurred. Sister missionaries get to be leaders, that wasn’t the case when I served.

When I was a missionary, I was allowed to make 2 phone calls home per year. Now missionaries can skype home each week. That’s a huge blessing for them and for their families. I’m actually jealous of that. And why do they get to call home? Because they have a positive impact on their families.

Not everyone is able to serve a traditional proselyting mission, and that’s okay. There’s plenty of opportunities to serve and now Service Missions are available. These can be customized to fit the capabilities of the missionary. It’s wonderful that more faithful members are able to serve and receive the blessings of dedicating their time to the Lord.

Duty to God and Personal Progress

At the end of the year Duty to God and Personal Progress are being retired. The new program is youth will choose their own goals to work towards in 4 areas:  Spiritual, Social, Physical and Intellectual. This allows for customization for where each youth is at and what their interests are.

Also, Boy Scouts isn’t the official mid-week activity for young men. Now we have flexibility to plan activities that can meet the needs & interests of the young men.

Presidencies

I have a story, when I was a teenager, we got a new quorum president. The leaders explained that he held the priesthood keys for the quorum and the adults were there to help him. This new president said, “So I’m in charge? Okay, then we’re done with Scouting. Who votes of favor of ditching Scouts?” All the young men voted to end it. The leaders stepped in and said, this isn’t how it works. They would continue planning our Scouting activities and teaching the lessons on Sunday.

On paper the quorum president was in charge, but in reality it was the Young Men Presidency. The adults decided everything of any importance.

Guess what? President Nelson in General Conference announced no more ward young men presidencies, they will all be released by the end of the year. So who is responsible for the young men? The young men & the bishopric.

What does this mean?

In presidency meeting the bishopric trains and mentors the quorum presidency. The young men will learn about their responsibilities and be coached in how to be better at them.

They’ll review the purpose of a quorum, such as teaching, doing service, building unity and spreading the gospel. And they’ll plan activities related to these things.

The presidency will discuss each member of the quorum. They can discuss what is going on in the lives of the quorum members, what their interests are, things they struggle with.

With this in mind, the presidency chooses the lessons that the quorum or class will study on Sundays, and plans mid-week activities. The adults will help the young men think through the details of planning activities, what needs to be done, making assignments, and so on.

The ward young women presidency isn’t being eliminated, but they will follow the same model as the young men with the bishopric

Conclusion

At baptism we covenanted to take Christ's name upon us. Part of that is building community with other believers, and also doing things that Christ would do. That includes looking out for others, seeking to lift the burdens of others.

There are many circumstances we can be aware of and adjust our lessons & activities to accommodate them. I’ll give you two examples.

If we have someone who’s on the autism spectrum in our quorum and they’re sensitive to loud noise, we need to be mindful of that as we plan our activities, we don’t want to exclude them or cause them stress. 

Most of you know I’m gay, if you know a member of the class is gay, give them a heads up about a lesson or activity that revolves around dating & celestial marriage, trust me that this is likely a sensitive subject for them. It gives them the choice to participate or avoid what could be a hard time.

We need to make sure our youth know they are loved, they are heard and seen, they are understood. The focus of our youth program is meeting the needs of the youth so they can grow in the gospel in a way that works for them.

A lot is being asked of our teens

Over the past decade, more is asked of teenagers in the church and they are showing they are capable. Jesus showed faith in youth, we are following His example in giving youth more opportunities to lead, teach and develop their abilities.

Testimony

I’ve been fortunate to have involvement with the youth of our stake over the past 7 years. 3 years were as a member of the stake young men presidency and 4 just because they keep inviting me to participate in youth conferences, mini-MTC’s, dances, and so on.

I have found this generation to be remarkable in several ways.

They are far more tolerant. They accept others and allow people to express differences in how their appearance and dress. They are much better at inclusion than my generation.

They are service oriented. They like doing service and seek out opportunities. They would much rather go and do good in the world than sit in a class hearing about doing good in the world. They are more conscious that there are people with needs who they can assist.

They can tell when someone is fake, they highly value trust and authenticity.  

They have the potential for greatness. There is plenty of work to do in the Lord’s kingdom and they’re capable of joining in the work. Serving them and serving with them has strengthened my testimony.

[pianocamper]

Practice. Inspiration. And Pickleball.

Friday, September 21, 2018

The hurricane finally caught up with us in Vermont. A steady rain started late Tuesday night and continued most of the day Wednesday. It was perfect weather for practicing piano, however. I played the piano in room 25 all day. Sipping coffee, I sat by an open window, and listened to the rain, and played my pieces over and over. Tragically, floods have raged on in the Carolinas in the days since Florence made landfall. Many people, as well as farm animals, have died. Rivers are still rising. They say the worst is yet to come. Coal ash ponds are being breached, carrying arsenic, lead and mercury into homes. Hog lagoons (that’s a new one for me), storage pits filled with pig feces, are overflowing and contaminating the water supply with E. coli. I’m fortunate to be here, enjoying an all day gentle rain.

With the rain came a very noticeable and welcomed drop in the temperature. Today is officially the first day of Autumn, and it really feels like it. The leaves have just a hint of yellow and orange. Branches on the trees have been in constant motion all day, as if Mother Nature is trying to shake the fall colors loose. I pulled out my hooded sweatshirt from the suitcase this morning. Sweatshirt weather. My favorite.

We’ve had a series of great lectures this week. Polly gave a interactive lecture on musical phrasing. Phrasing is what turns piano notes into music. Joan took us through the evolution of the nocturne, night music. We journeyed from the Bel Canto tradition (beautiful singing) of 16th century Italy, to Opera, to John Field, through Chopin, to modern day. George Lopez, perhaps my favorite speaker at Sonata, talked about how the piano as an instrument has evolved over time from a percussion instrument to one that sings. He talked about how it literally sits, like an obstacle, between us and the music. I loved the story he told us about a dream he had as a child. In the dream, he was looking down from above as he received a lesson from the great pianist, Arthur Rubinstein. George said he woke from the dream as it quickly evaporated, the way dreams do, leaving him wondering what the dream was all about. As fleeting as the dream was, it has stuck with him, and somehow inspired him over the years. He then talked about Archimedes, the father of mathematics and his eureka moment. He then described a sublime moment he experienced years ago, where he played a concert in a crumbling old church in Italy. The house was packed, there was a hand-lit candle chandelier overhead. His performance was exquisite. Sublime. A sublime moment, according to George, is a “eureka moment for the soul.” His whole lecture was so inspiring to me. It made me realize that this week at camp is sublime. And, like his childhood dream of Rubinstein, the week is evaporating almost as it happens. I am left wondering how I will continue to be inspired throughout the coming year.

Like a Schubert march, the week has stepped right along. On Wednesday, Polly took a bunch of us out to her pickle ball court in town for a quick tutorial and a match. It was really fun and unexpected. Pickleball is kind of a cross between tennis and ping-pong. It is the opposite of piano, and was a welcomed break from the routine. I’m already hooked.

Today is Friday. The duet concert is tonight. I’m performing A French Waltz with Carol Ricker. Hoping to add levity to the evening, Dolores, Leslie and I are also performing what we call, “Torn: A Medley Of Songs About A Complicated Relationship.” I am leading off by playing and singing a portion of Torn Between Two Lovers, the Billboard #1 hit from 1976. I’m pretty sure no one has ever played that one on the Sonata stage. Dolores and Leslie will then join me and sing a back and forth of The Nearness Of You. In response to their question, “Why are you doing this to us?”, I close the performance with You Go To My Head. It should be fun. Tomorrow is our final concert. A few of us are playing Pickleball in the morning, then it’s back to the house for a final practice session. The limo will take me back to the airport in Albany at 4:20am on Sunday morning for might flight home.

As the week comes to a close, I am feeling very satisfied. A great deal of effort went into preparation for this week. I am already looking forward to preparing for next year. More Grieg and Brahms. A little Scriabin, perhaps? And, just like a my kids when they go to sleep-away camp, I’m feeling really homesick. I will take home lots of memories of a great week away. I hope to see all my Sonata friends again. As always, I have been inspired. Seeing Bill and the kids at the airport with signs and balloons on Sunday afternoon will be sublime.

[study-with-aura]

Thursday, February 15, 2024

Again, it is almost the end of the week, and what a week it has been!

Tomorrow evening, my parents have a thing with our church, so I will be riding with my friend to dance, and then her Mom will drop us off at my house since she will be staying the night. Our other friend will also be staying, but her Mom will drop her off at my house around the time we should be getting back. We will have the entire house to ourselves until a little after 9:30, which is truly only 30 minutes, enough time for H and I to shower after ballet and for all of us to get ready for bed. I think I will be sad when cookie season is over and we no longer have our early morning Saturday cookie booth. Maybe we can still plan sleepovers either way.

Tasks Completed:

Geometry - Learned about cross sections and solids of revolutions + practice

Lit and Comp II - Studied Unit 18 vocabulary + read chapter 21 of Emma by Jane Austen + worked on my newspaper writing assignment

Spanish 2 - Wrote about a time I was sick using vocabulary words + read sentences out loud to my dad for speaking practice

Bible I - Read Joshua 8

World History - Read timeline for 1-4 out of 37 days prior to the start of WWI + copied WWI key terms + read through the introduction on WWI unit

Biology with Lab - Watched lecture video on population ecology + read about population ecology + worked on polishing my endangered species project + practiced presenting project (due tomorrow)

Foundations - Read more on persuasiveness + read an article excerpt displaying media bias + learned about loaded question and burden of proof fallacies

Piano - Practiced for two hours in one hour split sessions

Khan Academy - Completed High School Geometry Unit 9: Lesson 1 parts 3-6 + completed High School Biology Unit 9: Lesson 2 + completed World History Unit 6: Lesson 1 parts 1-5

CLEP - Completed Module 10.0 introduction video

Duolingo - Completed at least one lesson each in Spanish, French, and Chinese

Reading - Read pages 291-322 of Warrior Girl Unearthed by Angeline Boulley

Chores - Put away the dishes + took the trash out

Activities of the Day:

Ballet

Pointe

Journal/Mindfulness

-

What I’m Grateful for Today:

I am grateful for multiple resources to study from and learn.

Quote of the Day:

Courage. Kindness. Friendship. Character. These are the qualities that define us as human beings, and propel us, on occasion, to greatness.

-Wonder, R.J. Palacio

🎧Sonata in E Major, K 380 - Domenico Scarlatti