Ode to Joy

For the last three years Sophie and I have been members of our local ukulele orchestra. I know I've posted about it often. On Wednesday morning we learned that one of our longtime members, one of the anchors for the group, passed away. Some of us gathered at the library this morning to share sweet memories of him. We each had personal interactions with him that showed his kind and giving character. It was good to sit with friends and comfort each other. And that's what this group is, a lovely bunch of friends who play happy music for our community. I'm sad that our friend is gone, but I'm glad he was my friend and for this musical group that brings so much joy.

Troubadour

Sophie was invited to participate in an open mic tonight. I was her ride and stayed to watch. She brought her ukulele and ended up singing four songs. She sounded amazing!

Mr. Robot

We went to a trunk or treat party tonight and Topher won second place in the costume contest! He was surprised and delighted! The announcer had each kid say who they were dressed as. Topher used a robot voice when he spoke into the mic and said, "I am a ro-bot." I think that probably helped.

Feeling Green

I've been busy painting. Now that we have three kids at home, our kid to room ratio has changed. Everyone gets their own room! I even told them I would paint their room a color of their choosing, within reason. I did veto Topher's original pick. Sorry to my friend Elise who loves orange, it felt too bold for walls. He went with this spring green instead. Now that it's done, he calls it his earth room. He seems pretty pleased with the result.

I Will Walk With Jesus

Yesterday was our congregation's annual primary program! The kids spent all year learning songs to share with the ward, plus each child wrote their own speaking part based on a prompt I gave them. They all did a great job! A lot of work goes into making this Sunday happen and I'm so glad the kids were happy with it.

Here are the songs the kids sang for the program:

I Will Walk with Jesus
Kindness Begins with Me/I Will Follow God’s Plan
Holy Places
He Cares for Me
Close as a Quiet Prayer
I Have Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ
Gethsemane
Because
This Little Light of Mine
Choose to Serve the Lord

Topher was the first speaker. I'll share the prompt he was given and what he wrote (and then delivered from the pulpit) in response.

Prompt: This year in primary we sang the song I Will Follow God’s Plan. Who is your favorite old testament hero who followed God’s plan? Why? In under one minute, tell us about a time you followed God’s plan.

Topher: My favorite Old Testament hero is David. He killed Goliath when no one else even dared to do it. He was just a young shepherd boy and he had a lot of faith in the Lord. He followed God’s plan by trusting the Lord and having faith. One time I followed God’s plan was when I got baptized and confirmed. I’ll never forget that time, even when I’m an old man. And I also read the scriptures and I pray and I always follow God’s plan. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Peter: Week 13 in Pictures

Costumes and Candy

We attended our first Halloween event of the year last night. We went to the annual Boo Bash at Bryan's work. Then, instead of grabbing Wendy's to eat on the 45 minute drive home, we stopped and had fancy Italian food from a restaurant that had an impressive gluten free menu. It was a late night, but a really fun one.

I think the costumes turned out quite well this year. Phoebe curated hers and helped with Sophie's. I made Topher's out of unused pizza boxes, duct tape, a dryer vent, and glow sticks. Oh, and an Amazon box for his hat and tissue boxes for his feet. Those came off quickly, I'll need to tinker with my design.

In-House Costume Department: Halloween Mode

Group Chat

It's really special having two missionaries out at once. It was extra cool on Monday to get to talk to them at the same time.

Sawubona

Topher gave his first real (as in, not during testimony meeting or the primary program) talk in sacrament meeting yesterday. He took notes during General Conference, which provided the outline for his remarks. On Saturday afternoon I typed while he dictated, then I asked follow-up questions and typed his responses. This talk is 95% him and 5% me.

And, even though he was very nervous, he did a great job delivering it.

Sawubona is a phrase from southern Africa that means “I see you.” I know this phrase from a talk in General Conference. The person who said it is the new General Primary President named Rosemary K. Chibota. She said, “This greeting is much more than a simple “hello.” It is an acknowledgement of another person’s worth and humanity. It communicates “I recognize you, I respect you. You matter.”” Close quote. Jesus was really good at this. He saw the woman at the well and He told her that He was the Messiah. He saw the blind man and healed him. Jesus told the story of the good Samaritan who saw a child of God instead of an enemy. Someone who saw me as a child of God was Brother W. because he let me give this talk and I’ve always wanted to give a talk in sacrament meeting. He saw I really wanted to do this even though I’m little. My testimony is that you can see others for who they really are, children of God. You can practice by saying “I recognize you, I respect you, and you matter“ just like Jesus did. We are all children of God. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.