Why Be Anything Else?

Tonight I had a conversation with my roommate and during this conversation he alluded to an opinion that music majors had it easy while engineering majors were most assuredly the hardest major. Now, while his comments may be in jest, they reminded me of conversations I've had with others who seem to think the same thing. And while these conversations played over and over in my head, I got more upset. So I'm here to set the record straight!

Thinking about all the majors that laid before my feet as I was trying to decide exactly what I wanted to do, I cannot help but think, "I could have been an engineering major (really, I could have)... but why do that when I can do something challenging like music?" That's right here's the little secret, a music major is hard! It's not the fluffy major that many just assume that it is. Now, some of the people I've talked about this with feel like they have a good idea of what music majors are all about because they were in the orchestra, band, or choir. Excuse me, let me just tell you that being in an ensemble does not prepare you for the riggers of a music major. (I'm going to be comparing my major to engineering only because that is what it was compared to recently and it seems to be the socially accepted "hard" major of USU)
I am willing to say that a good 50% (at least) of music majors enter into it sorely unprepared. They are a great many that I have seen come and go in the department in my almost year and a half. Okay, so I get it, engineering majors have a lot of math. It's not like we are sitting in the music building holding hands in a circle singing kumbaya all day. We are immediately dropped into an ocean of music theory and my least favorite: Aural Skills.
So there's this thing about math that in my opinion makes it kinda easy. First, there are so many different ways to find the answer to one problem. And then you learn the rules and there you go. You got it. There's math for you. Okay so here's music, while there may be slight fluctuations in actual voicing there is very little leeway in chords and progressions. And then as your analyzing something things might not make sense, but you must realize that we learn the rules and then we learn how to break the rules... wait... yeah.
Another thing to be wary of is that as you write your progressions there might be a chord that technically works, but will be marked wrong because it "sounds a bit off." How do you like that as a measurement of grading? I've never been marked down on a math problem that was done correctly, but just didn't look right.
Now how many credits are engineer major classes worth? 3-5 credits. Oh no, right? This means it's hard... but wait, think about it this way. Music major classes: 1 credit (maybe 3 if you're lucky). Classes each has to take (assuming 18 credits)... Engineering: 4-6 classes. Music Major:10-14 classes. Yeah... our days are automatically long just due to class time. (And even in the early morning we're expected to be warmed up and at the top of our game. That's why I generally get up earlier than my roommates). (And let's not forget what that means come Finals Week.) After a long day, we have the homework for those 10-14 classes. Oh and logically we must think, the 1 credit classes must be way easier... haha, not so. My hardest class has always been this 1 credit class called aural skills (you may have heard me mention it before). Ever heard the rule that however many credits it's worth is how much time spent out of class each day you should spend on it? Well, that 1 credit class usually takes 2-3 hours out of my day... oh and it has 2 finals.
Oh and if we aren't busy enough, attendance to masterclasses, on-campus performances, student recitals, guest artist recitals, and ensemble performances are required.
Okay so aside from all this is the core of any music major's curriculum. Practicing.
Holy. Freaking. Cow. You spent three hours on a math assignment? (A complaint I've heard from multiple people) I spend at minimum 5 hours a day locked away in some practice room practicing voice, piano, aural skills, guitar, or my instrument of the month. Oh, yeah that's right. Music Education majors must learn to play every instrument or at least a good number of representatives from each discipline (woodwind, brass, string, etc). I'd compare that to something in the engineering department, but to my knowledge they don't have any requirement even close.
Back to practicing, you have to be okay with being alone most of the time. We rarely can get a group together to practice. It just wouldn't make sense. We do completely different things than everyone else in our department. And you can only reserve a practice room for 1 hour/day so how do I get the other 4 in? I enter a practice room and hope that the person who has it reserved doesn't come. If they do, however, all I have to say is that I'm lucky I live in Utah and have resources like an institute with pianos in the majority of the rooms (even though most are occupied) and churches with an average of six pianos placed somewhere within (and being in Logan we have churches literally right next to each other). However even with this, you are not guaranteed anything. I've never seen an engineering major battling his fellow classmates for who gets to use the textbook next.
I could seriously go forever talking about how much more challenging music majors are than people give us credit for, but I don't want you to get the wrong idea. I LOVE my chosen major. It's definitely what I'm supposed to be doing. However, if I didn't have my passion for music, I would have changed majors long ago. It is my love and life. It is what I was "put on earth to do with such passion and such intensity that is [has] became spiritual in calling" (Van Gogh).
So let me just reiterate: Why be any other major when I can challenge myself and be a music major? But seriously, next time you see a music major, give them a hug, they need and deserve it.

TiMER

So I was browsing Netflix the other day and scrolled over a movie titled "TiMER." It gave me a brief summary as to what it's about. I didn't watch it, but the summary presented an idea that I thought was interesting. The movie revolves around this technology that you implant into your wrist (shown above). It's simply called a "timer." And what, do you ask, is it timing? It's a countdown to the midnight before you meet your soulmate. It can only begin the countdown once both people have been implanted and once they are in close enough proximity, both implants will beep.

Now here's the question, would you get implanted? Now, I realize that most of you are married at this point and don't really have need for this, but let's pretend we're single once again and are faced with the option of getting implanted or not. Do you leave love up to the fates? Or do you let this new matchmaking service do the job for you?

Remember: It will remain blank as long as your soulmate is not implanted. It may tell you that you won't meet your match until your sixty. What if you fall in love before you meet your destined soulmate? However, also remember that it does work, it doesn't make mistakes. You will be happy with this person... eventually if not at first (it may be an "enemies become lovers" type of deal).

Glimpse of the Future

Okay, so I know you haven't heard from me in a while and I'm sorry about that... but I don't really have much to blog about. Perhaps I'll get around to cataloging the mundane things I do. However, the purpose is not to focus on that, but rather, the future. That's right. My future.

Well, not exactly. There's this new show you might have heard of called "Glee." That's right. I'm a total Gleek... That's right Gleek. That's how much I love this show. Anyway, so here's a clip from the season finale that I've watched about a bigillion times. I thought you guys might appreciate it as well. It showcases some songs that I had already decided my choir would sing. It's nice to see my ideas come into fruition without any work on my part. :D

I can't wait until I get to create this myself! Just wait a few years! Now it's 6 1/2 minutes, but seriously, you can spend that time to see this, because it's that awesome. So be sure to go to the right side of the page and mute the music. Now, I present to you...*small drumroll* the clip: (There will most likely be a 30 second commercial, just warning ya):

P.S. If it says something about it not being available and you might need to clear your browser cache or something like that... Just refresh. It's just a little temperamental.

Happy Birthday Dad!

As we all know, it is Dad's birthday and I had no money but I still wanted to do something. So what I did was make a birthday dinner for Dad! And since I haven't posted in several months, I decided I'd make a post of it! Well, it was slightly harder than I thought it was going to be, but that's okay. It was still a good day, just really tiring. Many of you actually already know about this since I called you for advice, tips, instructions, etc. Thank you so much for all your help!

Well, here's just a little bit of what my day was like. So I got up at 6:15 and made the dough for my baked brie. I put it in the fridge to set or rise or whatever it's supposed to do while it sits for 8 hours. Then I got out chicken so that it can thaw by the time I need to use it.

Then I made a sweet vinaigrette with honey for the salad... And the honey was kind of crystalized or something so I had to...

Well, I don't like vinaigrettes and this one didn't look all that great... well here, how about you take a look...

Vinaigrettes aren't supposed to look like that, are they? Well, actually some do... but well, they aren't exactly appetizing as it is... Well, then it was shopping for fresh ingredients!

There's the cheese's, rice, walnuts, parsley, carrots, and peas I got. (round 1 of shopping) So I made the butter horn dough and trimmed the peas. (I took out my good knives for the day. I considered this to be a good time to use them)

Then an applesauce cake with dad with walnuts and cream cheese frosting. Using Dad's favorite cookbook that has used and abused by this family longer than I've been. (I also realized I had to go back to the store and get cream cheese frosting and white grape juice... so this time I just went to Walmart.)

And the finished product...

You know what these are!

That's right! Butterhorns! (They rose to a massive size and covered that entire tray when I put them in the oven, by the way. I didn't get a picture of a baked roll, but I'm sure you've seen them enough to know what they look like :D)

Dad calls and says he's bringing our cousin Doug home for dinner... SERIOUSLY?! Of all days! Ok, what do I have? What have I made? Do I have enough? What are my limiting ingredients (or reactants as I'd call them in chemistry) and what do I need to do to get more? So with that in mind I grabbed a chicken from the freezer and make an 11th hour dash to the store a third time and get more broth for the rice pilaf.

So mom popped the breast into the microwave and I started on the glaze for the chicken. It was a honey-orange chicken so I used they honey I melted earlier and half a can of juice concentrate. Doesn't look great and actually it got a whole lot darker after I put the worcestershire sauce in.

And here they are ready to bake. I was only using the glaze from the recipe. I was trying to find a way to cook it my own way since I didn't want to do chicken chunks in a broiler (not nearly as classy). Oh and notice the breast at the back. It's a little stubbier than the rest? It's already partially cooked from being quickly "thawed" in the microwave. That's what you get when you rush things!

It was about time to set the table oh... Doug and can't come anymore... you know... after all that.

Then I made a simple rice pilaf. It had sautéed onions in it and some extra seasoning and was made with chicken broth. That's what made it a pilaf. But the goal was to not draw attention away from the main entree.

Then I clipped lettuce out of the garden. (I actually did this earlier in the morning as you can tell from the light, but I don't remember the order well anymore so...) I thought I was going to have to clip more when Doug was coming but I found out in time that I didn't have to go clipping for more lettuce.

Then I made the veggies. Carrots, snow peas, red pepper, and red onion. Top with some melted butter and salt. (colorful and actually pretty easy to make, just make sure you cook the carrots for 5-6 minutes before you add the rest since they take longer to cook)

It was time to eat! Yay!

This is the baked brie that many have wondered about. I first had it on Thanksgiving in California with the Phelps. When I said how much I liked it Bro. Phelps said, "It is good, but how can you go wrong with bread and cheese?"

Inside view of the baked brie.

Here's the salad that I made! It's just glazed walnuts with feta cheese and a strawberry on a bed of lettuce.

Here's the main course! The sauce on the chicken is that liquidy glaze that I decided to thicken with some cornstarch (I made it a little too thick, but it was okay).

And for desert...

It wasn't a perfect night as dad helped with the dishes... okay... he did the dishes and I helped. But I was exhausted and welcomed all the help I could get.

Happy Birthday Dad!

My Talk

So I gave a talk in church, which was weird since it's not necessarily my homecoming... But hey! So, I'm gonna post my talk here so you can read it if you really want. It takes about 15 minutes to read... at least out loud... :D

And so we go:

Yem Long! Jao! Sabaai-dii! Mao zhong! Namasté! Sat siri akaal! Hola! Talofa! Malo e lelei! Buh-la! Nee-how! Yawk-way! Sa-wat dee! Chum ree-uhp soo-uh! Zdravst-vwee-tye! (Sign it!) Hello!

I just wanted to start off with the greetings I used on my mission. I never really got down the right tones… but most people would understand me… or just appreciate the fact that I tried. The hardest part was remembering which one went with which culture.

As you might have noticed I’m back a little early from my mission. As announced, I am back on a medical release due to an ongoing headache. I got a headache while sitting in church the first week in California and it hasn’t stopped. I went to multiple doctors in the field but as my headache progressed, my Mission President and I came to a mutual conclusion that coming home would be better for my headache and we wouldn’t have to cut through as much red tape to get treatment. Since I’ve been back I’ve been to multiple specialists and we’re working on it.

Well, today, I have been asked to speak about the first part of my mission.

I absolutely love California! Everyone asks me what I liked about California and probably the first thing that comes to mind is the diversity! We had people from everywhere! I met people from Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Burma, China, Nigeria, Mexico, Russia, Tonga, Samoa, and many, many others… as you can probably tell from those greetings.

And not only were the people diverse, the missionaries were diverse as well! We had missionaries from all over the place! Some were from Tonga, Samoa, Fiji, Kiwanis, Japan, South Korea, Mainland China(!), Australia, France, and even Canada! It was awesome to be able to interact with all these people from different places and learn a little bit about their cultures.

Now, I wanted to talk a little bit about Preach My Gospel. Preach My Gospel is an amazing resource for not only missionaries, but for members as well! It is filled with inspired content.

Elder Richard G. Scott said of Preach my Gospel: “Intensive effort on the part of the First Presidency, the Quorum of the Twelve, other General Authorities, and most capable teams of devoted, experienced staff members produced Preach My Gospel and its planning tools. Those who participated in its development are witnesses of the inspired direction of the Lord through the Holy Ghost in the conception, framing, and finalization of the materials in Preach My Gospel.”

Obviously there was some major thought put into this resource. And if we take advantage of it, we will be blessed.

I use Preach My Gospel everyday while studying. Throughout the book, it has little boxes that interject between small sections or at the end of chapters. These boxes have little commentaries about what you just read, have a few scriptures that go along with the material you’re studying, or little activities that help relate the principles to you. At first, I skipped these boxes and continued reading, thinking these boxes would only slow me down or get me wandering off on something I had no intention of studying that day. As I entered the mission field, my MTC teachers emphasized the importance of these boxes. So I began reading and following the little boxes council. It has helped me gain a better understanding of the principles of the gospel and feel like I was studying not what was planned necessarily, but what I was supposed to be studying in order to help me in my life and calling.

Now, probably my favorite chapter of Preach My Gospel is chapter six. Chapter six highlights Christlike Attributes and how we can develop them. I’d like to go through these and how my mission has helped me come closer to developing these.

First one I’d like to talk about is hope. Hope is an abiding trust that the Lord will fulfill His promises to you. It is through hope that we can have confidence, optimism, enthusiasm, and perseverance. Elder Neal A. Maxwell said lf hope: “Being blessed with hope, let us, as disciples, reach out to all who, for whatever reason, have ‘moved away from the hope of the gospel’ (Col. 1:23). Let us reach to lift hands which hang hopelessly down.” Hope is definitely required for a mission, but I think it’s equally important to have hope in everyday life. James E. Faust taught that, “Hope is the anchor of our souls.” On my mission we learned to hope for everything. We knew, as it says in Luke 1:37, “For with God, nothing shall be impossible.”

Next is knowledge. In Doctrine and Covenants 88 the Lord commanded, “Seek learning, even by study and also by faith.” And he also warned that, “It is impossible for a man to be saved in ignorance.” I took that to heart and studied! I started my studying habit before my mission and it made it easier to study once I was out in the field. I kind of already talked about studying, however, I truly believe daily study is very important. There were many times that I would be asked questions about the very topic I had studied that day or experiences that had been challenging but my daily study gave me a bank of knowledge that I was able to draw upon to get me through certain things.

Next I want to cover is patience. I’ve always been taught that “patience is a virtue.” But I’ve really been tested on this principle with my headache, so it’s good that they put this principle in here so I could continue to work on it. President Thomas S. Monson said, “Life is full of difficulties, some minor and others of a more serious nature. There seems to be an unending supply of challenges for one and all. Our problem is that we often expect instantaneous solutions to such challenges, forgetting that frequently the heavenly virtue of patience is required.” And while it’s important to have patience for others, you need to have patience with yourself. My companion kept drilling into my head that missionaries don’t come out to the field perfect with everything we need to convert people. So don’t expect that out of yourself. You have to have patience, do your best, and rely on the spirit for the rest.

I guess that leads me into faith. Faith is definitely important as a missionary, particularly faith in Jesus Christ. Having faith means we believe that he is the Son of God and we accept him as our Savior and Redeemer and that through him our sins may be forgiven. That we trust him and are confident he loves us. Faith leads us to action, including repentance, obedience, and dedicated service.

While in California I lived with two other missionaries. They were called to speak Lao but once they arrived in Sacramento, they learned that they would be speaking Mienh instead. They are the only Mienh speaking missionaries in the world. They have no pamphlets and no pass-along cards in Mienh. Even the Book of Mormon has not been translated into Mienh yet. Which means the Mienh members of the Florin ward have joined solely on faith. Faith in the missionaries that have taught them and faith that what the spirit has witnessed to them is true. That would be very difficult! I can’t imagine doing what they are doing. One of the members bore their testimony, while an Elder translated, of the truthfulness of the gospel including the Book of Mormon. She admitted she had never read it, for obvious reasons, but she talked about how if Joseph Smith was a true prophet, as she believes then surely the Book of Mormon is true. How amazing is their faith!

On another occasion a Lao woman from Utah was tracting with the Mienh Elders. They came to one house that had a fence around their property. The Elders began to hop the fence. This startled the Lao woman and she asked, “What are you doing?!” They explained how they didn’t like skipping any houses and she was very thoughtful for a moment. Finally she said, “Let’s pray.” Right there she folded her arms and bowed her head. After a moment she looked up and said… “Let’s go.” The faith of that woman was amazing!

Faith is a principle of power. God works by power, but His power is usually exercised in response to faith. Our faith grows as we become better acquainted with Him and His teachings. As we explore the scriptures and search them, we learn of His ways, His love for all people, and His commandments.

Now for diligence. Diligence is steady, consistent, earnest, and energetic effort in doing the Lord’s work.

In Sacramento we had received a media referral for this woman. We called her and set up an appointment to teach her. She didn’t show. We called again. She apologized and so we tried again. She didn’t show a second time. Well we tried a third time and she didn’t show. Finally on the fourth time we were able to meet her and teach her. We continued to teach her and she seems really promising. I’m really glad we were diligent and stuck with it.

In Preach My Gospel it advises: “Do many good things of your own free will. Don’t wait for your leaders to tell you what to do. Continue until you have done all you can, even when you are tired.”

Obedience. I probably should have covered this one sooner. Many times it’s been said that, “obedience is the first law of heaven.” Elder L. Tom Perry said, “The discipline contained in daily obedience and clean living and wholesome lives builds an armor around you of protection and safety from the temptations that beset you and you proceed through mortality.” President Ezra Taft Benson said, “When obedience ceases to be an irritant and becomes our quest, in that moment God will endow us with power.” Obedience is an act of faith. There are times you don’t fully understand why you’re being asked to do something, but obedience will help build faith.

One of my favorite stories from the Book of Mormon is the stripling warriors. They are prime examples of obedience. In Alma 57:21 it states: “Yea, and they did obey and observe to perform every word of command with exactness; yea, and even according to their faith it was done unto them; and I did remember the words which they said unto me that their mothers had taught them.”

Humility is next. Humility can be tough. Many people have said, “If you think you have it, you don’t!” It’s been defined as the “willingness to submit to the will of the Lord and to give the Lord the honor for what is accomplished.” We need to turn to the Lord in everything. He is the reason we can do anything and we should acknowledge him in what we do and be grateful for it. With humility we have trust in his chosen servants and we’ll follow their counsel.

One of my absolute favorite scriptures concerns humility. In Ether chapter 12 verse 27 it starts off saying: “And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weaknesses. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble…”

As I’ve been on my mission I’ve noticed more of my weaknesses, which can definitely be a sad and humbling experience. But as it says in that verse, it’s the reason we have those weaknesses, to make us humble. But all is not lost! We are not doomed to forever have our weaknesses! The scripture continues saying: “And my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me (which we talked about earlier) then will I make weak things become strong unto them.”

If we humble ourselves and turn to the Lord, not only will we be free of that weakness, it will be a strength! What an amazing promise!

And last is Charity and Love. All growing up, I heard that charity is “the pure love of Christ.” But what does that mean, exactly? Well, I turned to my handy “True to the Faith” reference book. In it, it described charity as “the pure love of Christ.” But then it went on to quote Moroni 7:45.

“And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.”

Charity entails a lot of things but to put it simply it is love. A man once asked Jesus, “Which is the great commandment in the law?” Jesus replied, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”

If we seek to do just that, what a world of difference it could make. When we are filled with charity we obey God’s commandments and do all we can to serve others. Charity is vitally important to us in Alma 7:24 it reads: “And see that ye have faith, hope, and charity, and then ye will always abound in good works.”

If we do these things we will always abound in good works! Which means we will obey all other commandments! In Ether 12:28 it reads: “Behold, I will show unto the Gentiles their weakness, and I will show unto them that faith, hope and charity bringeth unto me—the fountain of all righteousness.”

So if we have faith, hope, and charity everything else kind of falls into place. If we have charity towards everyone we could only do good things. I noticed on my mission I was blessed to have in increased love towards others. Even people I had just barely met. It was easy to see that they were my brothers and sisters who were put down here to be tested. I hope to be able maintain that while I’m here at home. I encourage all to do as the prophet Moroni advised and “pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that [we] may be filled with his love.”

While we have many examples of charitable people around us, the best example of charity is Christ.

In his mortal ministry, he always “went about doing good,” teaching the gospel and showing tender compassion for the poor, afflicted, and distressed. The ultimate example of his charity is the Atonement.

Christ paid and suffered for everyone’s sins in the Garden of Gethsemane. He did it for all of us. It’s up to us to choose and accept it by repenting.

Then, after suffering for our sins, he continued to show his charity. In John 15:13 it states: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”

He died for us. The Atonement was the greatest act of longsuffering, kindness, and selflessness that we will ever know.

I know this church is the same church that Christ established 2000 years ago and that Joseph Smith has restored it to the Earth. I know the Book of Mormon is true. I know that we have a living prophet on the Earth today. I know that Christ suffered and died for our sins. And I am grateful for this knowledge. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.