Congratulations to Matthew

Congratulations to Audrey's Matthew...

who graduated from Brigham Young University...

with his brother, Jordan...

and over 7000 others.

He received his bachelor's degree in English.

Plans for the future? A couple of years of work experience, then an MBA.

Best Wishes to you, graduate! Know that we love you and are so proud of you!

Easter Sunday

Oftentimes I look back in my blog to see where we were and who we were with on a specific special day. So this is a blog post of a record-keeping nature. We were joined for Easter Dinner by Katie, David and girls, and Audrey and Matthew. 

P.S. Potts made the place cards. They were adorable.

Kylie, Lily, and Paisley in their new Easter dresses.

Look Who Sang in the Missionary Choir for General Conference!

What a tremendous example! May the Lord bless your efforts, Elder Archuleta.

April Conference

Conference Weekend is something to look forward to.

I recall past conferences. 

• as a young child watching our black and white TV in the basement. We only received Sunday morning’s session as I remember.

• Standing in line on a very COLD and snowy April morning to attend in person in the Tabernacle. I was a junior at BYU.

• Playing General Conference Bingo with skittels to keep my young children just a little bit attentive for a minute or two.

• Dressing in our Sunday clothes and driving to the Stake Building in Rochester New York. Conference was not available in our homes when we lived there. 

• Joining with other LDS members of the Utah Symphony while in Germany in the hotel’s business room to listen to the 2:00 session at 10:00 at night over the internet.

• In the car driving to my Aunt Jean’s graveside service across town and raising my arm to the square to sustain our dear prophet. Looking across the way and seeing others do the same.

• Sharing ear buds with Randy in an internet cafe in Italy.

• But most often sitting comfortably at home, surrounded by those I love, -- the smell of Conference Cake (that’s what we call Coffee Cake) baking in the oven. Some of us with laptops, some with notepads, some with needlework, (yes...and some asleep.) 

Each time General Conference comes around, there is an air of anticipation;  what might be said this time that will inspire us, make a difference, and hopefully change our lives for the better?

This year was yet another conference experience. Randy was asked to photograph for the church, so he left home by 7:00 am and spent both days capturing the spirit of the event. He loved the experience and hopes he will be asked again.

I wasn't alone. Audrey and Matthew joined me for Sunday's morning session; Michael, Desiree, and babes joined us all for "Conference Cake" and stayed for the afternoon session. Thanks kids!

Two "Note"able Gigs

David Archuleta

When I am called to play a recording session, seldom do I know beforehand what the project will be. I just show up to the appointed place about 20 minutes before the appointed time.

This session was a fun surprise -- David Archuleta, runner-up in the seventh season of American Idol, was making a new album. He will not be around when it is released sometime this summer; he accepted a mission call for the LDS church and left the day after our session. He will be serving in Chile for the next two years.

I grabbed these shots with my iPhone while he wasn't looking. :o)

But I couldn't get a shot of him in action -- while he was singing, I was busy playing; so I stole this one from Kurt Bestor's Facebook page.

What a great example of testimony and devotion! David is bound to be a very successful missionary. His new album is something to look forward to.  Please watch for its release.

Jackie Evancho

I was called to play a concert at the Maverick Center for the very young, Jackie Evancho, runner up in the fifth season of America's Got Talent. Just shy of twelve years old, she has a very mature and power-house voice!

She's an adorable little thing. Her audience was enthralled!

I can't help but wonder what her future has in store for her.

Charity

I was asked to give a talk on "Charity" in Sacrament Meeting on Sunday, March 25.  I sequestered myself in my hotel room while on the symphony tour and actually finished my talk a whole week ahead of schedule! While gathering information, I came across this very touching story presented by President Thomas S. Monson in General Conference October 2010.

A woman by the name of Mary Bartels had a home directly across the street from the entrance to a hospital clinic. Her family lived on the main floor and rented the upstairs rooms to outpatients at the clinic.


One evening a truly awful-looking old man came to the door asking if there was room for him to stay the night. He was stooped and shriveled, and his face was lopsided from swelling—red and raw. He said he’d been hunting for a room since noon but with no success. “I guess it’s my face,” he said. “I know it looks terrible, but my doctor says it could possibly improve after more treatments.” He indicated he’d be happy to sleep in the rocking chair on the porch. As she talked with him, Mary realized this little old man had an oversized heart crowded into that tiny body. Although her rooms were filled, she told him to wait in the chair and she’d find him a place to sleep.


At bedtime Mary’s husband set up a camp cot for the man. When she checked in the morning, the bed linens were neatly folded and he was out on the porch. He refused breakfast, but just before he left for his bus, he asked if he could return the next time he had a treatment. “I won’t put you out a bit,” he promised. “I can sleep fine in a chair.” Mary assured him he was welcome to come again.


In the several years he went for treatments and stayed in Mary’s home, the old man, who was a fisherman by trade, always had gifts of seafood or vegetables from his garden. Other times he sent packages in the mail.  When Mary received these thoughtful gifts, she often thought of a comment her next-door neighbor made after the disfigured, stooped old man had left Mary’s home that first morning. “Did you keep that awful-looking man last night? I turned him away. You can lose customers by putting up such people.”


Mary knew that maybe they had lost customers once or twice, but she thought, “Oh, if only they could have known him, perhaps their illnesses would have been easier to bear.”


After the man passed away, Mary was visiting with a friend who had a greenhouse. As she looked at her friend’s flowers, she noticed a beautiful golden chrysanthemum but was puzzled that it was growing in a dented, old, rusty bucket. Her friend explained, “I ran short of pots, and knowing how beautiful this one would be, I thought it wouldn’t mind starting in this old pail. It’s just for a little while, until I can put it out in the garden.”


Mary smiled as she imagined just such a scene in heaven. “Here’s an especially beautiful one,” God might have said when He came to the soul of the little old man. “He won’t mind starting in this small, mis-shapen body.” But that was long ago, and in God’s garden how tall this lovely soul must stand! 

photo source

“Charity is having patience with someone who has let us down. It is resisting the impulse to become offended easily. It is accepting weaknesses and shortcomings. It is accepting people as they truly are. It is looking beyond physical appearances to attributes that will not dim through time. It is resisting the impulse to categorize others.”

“There is a serious need for the charity that gives attention to those who are unnoticed, hope to those who are discouraged, aid to those who are afflicted. True charity is love in action. The need for charity is everywhere.”

--President Thomas S. Monson

Separate Ways...for a Couple of Days

I was called to play with the Utah Symphony -- a three-day chamber education tour to three small schools on the western side of Southern Utah.

Potts participated in a photo excursion to the eastern side of Southern Utah.

Same week. Same days.

Here is the view from outside MY hotel window -- 

Here is the view from outside HIS hotel window --

Here is where I went --

Richfield

Kanab

Beaver

Here's where Potts went --

 Monument Valley

 

Beautiful photographs, Potts!

It was nice to meet up again at home on Sunday evening to share our experiences.

Hey! I almost forgot... I DID get to see where Butch Cassidy grew up! 

(Photograph taken with my iPhone through the bus window.)

Separate ways for a couple of days.... Each of us doing what we love; sharing the gifts we've been given.

A GammPottsie Day!

Truth be told, it was really a Pottsie Day.

I was called to play with the Utah Symphony for their Lollipops Concert, a performance especially designed for very young audiences. I knew how much the girls would enjoy "Carnival of the Animals" with all the dancers, so I arranged for tickets and invited Lily, Kylie, Evylee (and Potts) to come along.

The girls dressed up in their finest!

Before the performance, the girls had fun trying out all kinds of instruments at the "petting zoo."

They enjoyed the morning performance, and while I played the second, Potts gave them a tour of Temple Square. 

I walked over to meet them,

and we enjoyed a tasty lunch together at a nearby Wendy's.

What a GREAT time we had. 

LOVE you girls

and you too, Potts!