We've Got Spirit, Yes We Do

Time to rattle off a couple of lightning-quick blog posts filled with April miscellany. I say "lightning-quick" because that's how fast this month is going by, and so much is going on, and this final week is about to kick my butt. Hopefully I'll be able to blog about some of this last (awesome) week in April sometime later...probably in May when I've finally gotten my energy back.

Anyway, a couple of weeks ago, Lorelai's school held a "Spirit Week," with each day having a different theme. Lorelai wanted to dress up for every single day, but it just wasn't possible since I don't have that many costumes. However, the costumes she did manage to scrounge together were pretty awesome, and she really hammed it up in both!

On Superhero Day, I was very grateful that Lorelai is a tomboy and has lots of boy friends, especially friends who have been Batman in previous Halloweens and were willing to lend out their costumes:

The day after that was Nerd Day. As luck would have it, we have a tattered old pair of Groucho glasses. From there, it was easy to add a "nerdy" shirt (one of Daddy's old shirts, natch) and a big book of Science, and behold!

Unfortunately we did run out of steam a bit after that...We don't have any "Renaissance princess" costumes that fit our tall skinny gal. However, there was a Genre Day at the end of the week...kids were invited to dress up as their favorite book/TV/movie character. Lorelai had an old green vest & styrofoam "lightsaber" from a Star Wars-themed party she'd attended several months back. So, she donned the vest and went to school as a Jedi...problem solved!

From now until the end of the school year, just about every Wednesday is a "theme day" of some kind, so we'll see how many good pictures/costumes we can get out of them. I am personally looking forward to "Crazy Hair Day" on May 15th. I have already bought a bunch of new hairbands just for the occasion!

The weekend after Lorelai's "spirit week," I was fortunate to feel a different kind of "spirit." I spent several hours at our new stake center on Saturday, April 13th, as a small cog in a very big machine--metaphorically. I was helping out a bit at a huge eight-stake LDS regional conference especially for the Priests and Laurels (the 16/17-year-old men and women).  The day-long event was being hosted by the Sahuarita Stake. Susan (our bishop's wife) was the head of the day-long event, and so lots of helpers from our ward (and from many other wards in the Sahuarita Stake) were involved.

My job was relatively easy...I was the pianist for a "mini-choir" workshop that was to last only one hour (Jan, our ward's Young Women president, was the choir director). Essentially, the kids would show up, "learn" a song in an hour, then sing it at the devotional to be held that night after all the other workshops. My preparation had been pretty easy; I received a fancy hymn arrangement for "Jesus, The Very Thought Of Thee," and practiced it for several weeks. What I wasn't prepared for was the mass of excited youth that filled the Primary room when I arrived. The mini-choir was an unexpectedly popular class; more than 120 kids wanted to sing together. It was touching, and their voices were beautiful.

It was a chaotic but exciting choir. I won't lie; it's hard to learn a song in thirty minutes (which was all we had time for, after warm-ups, etc.). Later that night at the devotional, they didn't sing all their parts perfectly. Heck, I certainly didn't play the song perfectly, either. But their enthusiasm and natural ability (and the powerful spirit of joy and faith present) more than carried the performance. They were all such polite, helpful, enthusiastic, wonderful kids. It brightened my day just to be near them and see them interact with each other.

Not artwork from the actual conference, but the theme is the same. Plus, pretty picture.

After performing the song, I decided to stay for the remainder of the devotional. It consisted of two local speakers who work extensively with youth; their talks focused on the theme "Stand In Holy Places," and their energy and testimony was wonderful to hear. After the devotional was a dinner (lasagna, breadsticks, and salad, with brownies & ice cream for dessert--yum!), and I decided to stay and help the servers distribute the dinner & dessert. There were 500 kids, so a lot of hands were needed! My contribution felt small, but I was honored to be in the presence of so many wonderful youth (plus I got to sneak a little bit of food--yum!). After the dinner was a dance, but at that point, I decided to get back to my wonderful family, and took my leave happy and fulfilled. I was so impressed by the many workers who stayed late into the night to help clean the building and help out in countless ways! What a great service they performed.

Overall, it was a wonderful night. I don't know how often these conferences are held (I heard every two years or so), but I hope I will always be informed of them, so I can take my daughters when they are old enough. The workshops were terrific (they dealt with a variety of topics very pertinent to older teenagers, from living on your own, to choosing a career, to preparing for college and/or a mission, to managing your budget). The spirit was very strong. It fills me with so much hope for the future of the church, to see so many great young kids who want to live righteously and contribute meaningfully to the world around them. This conference was a great spiritual boost to the end of my week.