Game Day 9/4/10

Today is a game day in Provo! I woke up at 8:30 to the sound of text messages. There was a girl who said a week ago that she wanted my contract well, she's been dragging her feet and she said she'd give herself until 9 this morning to make a decision. I get the texts at 8:45 annnnd it was a no. I was thinking arrrrgh! what does she have to lose? Nothing! Park Plaza is where her brother lives even annnnd it would save my life. By life I mean it would save me $1000. Sadly, she chose to stay where she is at. boooo I say to that.

I got dressed for a run to hit campus and look at the wilk board. I wanted to see if girls had picked up my posts...and they had! I figured they would just take my number and leave it there but they didn't. I ran back to campus plaza to make more cards. On my way back I decided to stop by Park Plaza to see if I could talk to my roomies there. I had this crazy thought that maybe, just maybe, since they were already living in a two person room they might be willing to pay the two person price and have management take the bunk out...just in case I couldn't sell my contract. It was just a thought. Keep in mind that I'm trying every angle I can think of to sell this thing. I'm about two days away from printing up a bunch of flyers and putting them in all the women's restrooms on campus. How's that for desperation? There are MANY bathrooms on that campus. Well, the roomies weren't there so I left a note. I decided that my situation totally sucketh. What could be worse than paying $1000 for something you're not even using???

So, I start freaking out. I text the girl that was interested in said girl's contract to try and convince her to buy mine. She didn't want it. I say...why not? yargh. Well, I went back to my apartment eventually to make those other posts for the wilk board. I changed into my swimsuit and decided that after running a few errands I would hit 7 Peaks for some fun. I'm trying to squeeze every penny out of that thing. It's more than paid for itself by now but I'm sure the gross earnings of that water park are large large large. So, I hit the bank and the grocery store. I said a prayer in my car aloud asking God to help me figure out what to do with all my stresses. Right now, mainly the sale of my contract. I continue to run my errands and not more than 10 minutes after that prayer, I get a call about my apartment. God really does hear our prayers. Not that I'm saying he always makes it all right or answers right away but, he is mindful of us. I could attribute this to "chance" or "luck" or "coincidence" but, I prefer to believe that God's hand is always in my life and why?? because he loves me. Because I am his daughter. He and my Heavenly Mother created me. If you're not familiar with this terminology, I'm a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints- which means I'm Mormon...so these terms might sound a bit silly but, it makes sense to me and I like it. Give it a try. Try on that thought. You have heavenly parents who gave you life on Earth along with all the joys and trials because they love you. Let that thought marinate in your mind. You might like it too. :)

9/2/10

Today I counted my blessings. I felt so incredibly blessed to be a student at BYU. I felt blessed by the beautiful weather to enjoy. The conditions for life on Earth today seemed absolutely perfect. I had a very full and productive day yesterday. My life just felt in order today. I have a plan of attack for success this semester and I'm feeling ready to make it happen.

As I walked up to campus I listened to "Eye of the Tiger" on my mom's old ipod. I walked to the beat of the music. I was empowered.

5/26/10

Tonight we saw the Holst singers perform in the Temple Church.  Come Jesus Come was such a powerful work.  I got the sense that these singers really understand what they are singing about.  They can feel just as well as the audience the pleading in the opening lines of the piece "come, come, come Jesus, come".  We talked about this piece in class and there was some discussion of how the music aids the text in the pleading prayer to the converging of the different parts on the second page.  I think that maybe the converging voices represents the praying/ pleading individual growing nearer to the Savior or perhaps drawing nearer to his rest.  Such would be the case if the individual was dying.  I also noticed that as we get further into the piece we loose the energy and dynamic contrast from the beginning.  The blend also seems a bit more lazy.  I'm thinking that this may be an intentional reflection of the text speaking of weariness and a longing for death but, then we move into a rejoicing/ dance like section which is full of live and energy.

The concert was interspersed with cello solos which was an absolute delight.  I want to study what it is about stringed instruments that really just seem to penetrate right to the heart.  Interestingly enough, the cordae tendonae pull down on the valves that bring blood from the atriums to the ventricles.  These valves play a major part in creating the pressure necessary for the heart to pump.  Well I digress.  I just wonder if these strings vibrate at a frequency similar to the frequency of low stringed instruments.  It might sound "way out there" but something really happens to me when I hear beautiful cello and violin music.  I nearly cried as the cellist played his first piece, Bach's "Cello Suite no. 1".  This is a well loved piece featured in diamond commercials and car commercials.  It is a lovely piece that, aside from it's pop culture use, can stand it's own among great suites for solo instrumentalists.  I was overcome with emotion hearing this piece in this setting.  It took my breath away. Sadly to say, after the initial effects wore off, I wished the cellist played into his instrument more.  It just felt sort of lack luster by the end.

The Holst Singers came back on with a few German motets that I felt lacked performance qualities like musical nuance but it did have beautiful clarity of tone.

"Sing Ye to the Lord" I felt had great performance quality on the part of the conductor and the choir.  There were some fun stylistic things going on such as trills.  I was impressed by the agility of the choir in the melisma lines; the kind of agility we heard in the London Bach Choir.  By the time we reached the climax of the melismatic-ness in the first section of the piece, things were a mess.

Overall, I was impressed to see this group move from rehearsal mode to concert mode shortly after.  The gave an emotionally charged concert.  

5/23/10

Today I attended the Sung Eucarist at St. Paul's Cathedral.  I had a unique experience doing so.  I travelled there alone which left me time to contemplate my surroundings and the nature of the Sabbath day.  This sounds a little silly but, I've had little alone time since arriving in London and it was nice to have some time to reflect on my blessings and to prepare my spirit for the day.  I had the pleasure of attending the premiere of Francis Grier's service "Missa Spiritus Sancti".  Now, I say it was a pleasure because it was really neat and contemporary and interesting however, by the time the sound reached back to where I was sitting, it sounded like it had gone through a food processor.  It seemed like a very moving work with drama.  There were drums and other percussion instruments played.  I thought, what is the purpose of this work?  Is it to delight the senses? Was it written specifically for large cathedrals like St. Paul's in mind?  I felt that this music might have been more appropriate for a concert setting but I enjoyed hearing something different.

5/24/10

Our day began a little later in the morning with a BBC singers rehearsal.  We met at the appointed place.  I read the Standard (free news paper) on the tube.  I really have come to enjoy that paper.  There is lots of interesting information about politics, local art/ music scene info, and pop culture alerts.  When we arrived at the studio, I was feeling pretty excited to see what they are made of.  The building looked pretty bland from the outside.  Come to find out that this was only the BBC music building and the amount of music coming out of that building and reaching all over Great Britain is really impressive!!!  I wonder if BBC was in it's hayday in the 60's and 70's more than it is now.  You look at all the pop culture stuff they've produced and it is well loved.  My question is, are people listening to the BBC Singers today?  I would like to see the statistics of that!

The rehearsal was a long one indeed.  

5/27/10

I sit here at a train station near Manchester.  My heart has been racing all morning.  Maybe because I’m nervous to be traveling alone and getting lost.  Maybe because I’m nervous I’ll mess up.  I let on to be very confident and independent, which I am, but this is the first long journey I’ve planned out all on my own.  I have orchestrated parts of my travels in the past but this time, it’s all me.  I arrived at the rail station about 15 minutes after my train took off.  A few things held me up in the tube station. There were some delays on the trains, I helped a girl with her suitcase, and I saw a child crying in the corner alone because she didn’t know where her daddy was.  I stopped to comfort her and see if there was anything I could do.  It’s pretty feasible that a parent could loose their child in one of those tube stations that connects to a rail station.  There are so many people commuting and traveling, especially since it’s a bank holiday here in England.  I worried for her and touched her arm asking if she was ok.  She said through her tears something about her daddy.  Only moments later, I heard a voice say “she’s ok” as her father came up with her mother and baby in a stroller.  She was just a little confused.  Poor little thing.  So, I explained my hold ups to the woman at the counter and everything seemed to work out just fine!  I didn’t have to pay any penalty fees or anything.  Blessed day!  I think I’m still just all shook up from the craziness.  It’s comforting to know that I can ask almost any stranger here for directions or help and they are all so kind and willing to explain things.  I have a pretty good sensor for who I can talk to.  Don’t worry mom and dad, I’ve only asked young female strangers for directions and nothing else.  I really feel pretty safe traveling around in England.  People get all worked up about muggings and violence but, I’ve found the English to be quite pleasant.  Perhaps thats because I’ve been spending most of my time in the nice parts of London.  South Ken isn’t exactly the roughest neighborhood.  We have one neighborhood bum.  He sleeps in the same place every night on some cardboard.  I’d like to have a chat with him sometime.  I think he’s got it made.  He has a warm bed every night...at least in the summer months...he doesn’t pay taxes and he always has food to eat, at least from what I’ve seen.  I don’t envy that he doesn’t have running water.  I suppose he could bathe at the lake in Hyde Park.  

I finally arrived at exactly half past 2 as expected.  I hopped off the train a little nervous and not knowing what to expect.  I would be seeing a close friend that I hadn’t contacted in 2 years.  Luke is the first close friend to come home that I’ve been able to see.  I found my way to the train exit and explained why I had the wrong ticket and such.  He let me through the gates no problem.  I look up and there I see Luke!  I felt SO excited! More excited than I was when I landed in England even!  I love the people in my life very much.  I practically skipped/ jumped over to hug him.  I was relieved to see him all smiles.  I know that the first few days home from the mission can be a really depressing time but Luke seemed genuinely excited to have me there.  I gave him a big squeeze which, he confirmed later did make him feel a tad uncomfortable.  I think it’s partially a British thing and partly a RM thing.  Maybe both.  Anyway, it felt great to finally be there.  I must have chatted to him at about a mile a minute telling him about my trip there, my travels in London, things about BYU, and trying to catch him up on our friends and pop culture.  I think the “catching up with pop culture” thing is pretty futile.  I just told him what I found to be the best new movies and songs. Anyway, we walked around Southport.  It felt like we were both visitors.  Luke said to me, “this is such and such street...I think”.  We walked down the promanade and the pier which jutted out into what looked like a sandy version of the salt flats in Utah; sand and puddles of muddy water.  Fun!  Lets go hang out at the beach...I mean...uhhh. 

We made our way back through town and to his home.  It was fun to walk by the bustling down town area.  There was plenty of live music because of this Southport Jazz festival!  FUN!  We made our way back for some dinner and to get settled in for the night.  Mr. and Mrs. Chalmers are just lovely people and so inviting.  We chatted about BYU and our families and our faith and of course we played a round of taboo.  I love that game.

5/25/10

Have you ever read “The Canterbury Tales”? Well, today I have a tale about not going to Canterbury.  We all set off to meet at the tube station and then walk to where our coach would pick us up.  We walked here, there, and everywhere.  From, I think it was somewhere near Temple station, up to Big Ben, across that bridge, and back down to the London Eye.  Funny thing was, we could have just crossed a different bridge right across the Thames from the eye.  This sort of thing seems to happen regularly.  We pick a less convenient station or we wind up back tracking.  It doesn’t ever really frustrate me... it just makes me laugh.

We all boarded our bus and I was feeling pretty ready to set off on this adventure!  Canterbury is a hot spot for Crusade history which was a very interesting time.  We waited...then waited some more...then finally we realized the coach started smelling like exhaust.  We were told to get off the bus which was fine to me.  We were right in front of the London Eye at this point and there was a grassy field right next to the river that was just calling my name.  We got out and took some pictures.  Scott asked our friend Heidi what she thought of first thing this morning.  She said something like “my breakfast was delicious”.  I said, “I woke up this morning and the first thing I said to myself was ‘I am so glad I’m not wearing a burka’”.  Scott laughed and I felt pretty witty.  It’s true though!  The weather was so lovely that I simply had to do some cartwheels in the grass!  We waited a few minutes while all our supervisors tried to get everything under order.  It was decided that because we couldn’t go see Canterbury, we would just have another free day to play around London. It was also decided that they would give us 40 pounds to go see a show which thrilled me to pieces! I could really get used to this whole not working playing all the time thing...but then I realize that I would soon run out of funds.  Nathan got everyone tickets to ride the Eye which was pretty cool.  Surely not 17 pounds cool but cool nonetheless.  It was mostly just fun to be in the little bubble and watch how everything worked...it’s pretty genius.  We even watched a 4 minute, 4D movie before hand that was so cool we had to see it twice...more bang for our buck that way!!

Our friend Robert Crapo joined us on our adventures today.  As we walked in the direction of the tube station I saw a group of young people packing up some instruments.  I saw what looked like a jazz combo and asked them “are you guys still playing?” They said they were about to take a little break but...they decided to play another song.  The three of us stood there and listened for a few bars and then Scott asked me to dance.  He must have read my mind!  This band was just jammin and I was really feeling the need to dance!  So, we did!  Scott swung me around and we did some cool moves...so cool that we gathered more of a crowd than the actual band.  They kept playing for a while and Robert said that people were stopping and giving the band money.  Even the band members thanked us for dancing haha! I have been wanting to panhandle for two weeks now!  Scott and I could totally just swing dance for money...we just need the right outfits.  I tell you, there was quite a crowd.  Should have gotten pictures of that!

We made our way to Picadilli Circus to find out about some shows.  We walked for about a half an hour to the Royal Theatre (I think that was what it was called...around here everything has something to do with royalty).  We got student seats in about the 10th row center for 25 pounds!!! Fan-jolly-tastic!  Robert, Scott, and I then made our way through Covant Garden which is a deceptive name for this indoor/ outdoor shopping mall.  Thats all it is really...unless I missed something!  ha.  We walked around there and I found this vintage toy shop.  I was hoping to get some miniture doll furniture for the dollhouse that my grandparents made for me.  I’ve been working on that VERY slowly.  I think it will be a lifelong project.  We didn’t buy anything and decided to try out the London Museum.  That was fantastic!  I learned about what it was like to live in London in the thousands of years before Christ.  Can you imagine?  How did these people communicate with each other? What language did they speak?  Luckily we had Robert there who is a linguistics major.  He said that the English language developed around 15,000 years ago!  Shnikies!

6/6/10

-slept until 10:00...missed church :(

-wanted to go to St. Pauls

-had a leasurly morning instead and a big brunch

-went to Winsor (I forgot that I've seen Winsor castle before haha until I was there and recognized the outside)

-saw really cool things like the miniture doll house (nothing close to what I'm aiming for)

-knight of the garder and hallway

-more of those fire place face protectors

-ate at this irish pub

-late for evensong so we walked around a bit and thought about doing the "long walk"

-found this church I went to with Liberty in 2007!  Fun to be there again.

-drowned our sorrows in icecream for missing the evensong

-met up with our friends and came home

6/5/10

Tonight we heard the Croydon Philharmonic Choir sing Haydn's "Creation".  It started off as a typical concert but slowly developed some character as the soloists began to sing.  I was impressed with the technique of the soprano although I felt that her communication suffered as a result.  There was a particular segment that really interested me...the bit about Adam and Eve.  The conductor decided to be true to oratorio style and have sort of a "scene" develop between the soprano and baritone soloist.  I found that it was more distracting than serving the music.  It seemed to come from nowhere.  This was a choral society that impressed me more than the other choral society we listened to.  I was engaged in this concert and impressed that although the woman's section was more than twice the size of the men's section there was a pretty decent balance.  

-huge breakfast

-abbey road

-camden road market

-attempted swimming in the serpentine

-Cadogan Hall to hear Croydon Philharmonic Choir sing Haydn's Creation

-clubbin that night babay

-rush to get plane tix

6/4/10 Friday

Today we commemorated Poppy Day.  We talked about WWI and WWII from the English perspective and then studied "In Flander's Field", V. Williams "Dona Nobis Pacem", and Britten's "Requiem Mass".  Our discussion of the wars really informed our study of this music.  "Requiem Mass" in particular required some heavy coaching to walk us through the thickness of the piece.  There is just so much to take in.  I know I felt as if we had just scratched the surface of this piece.  I thought of something else also.  I've noticed that at many of the larger concert halls the conductors and sometimes composers give free lectures about the music.  I don't know if this is nearly as common in the US.  I gather that the English are anxious to enrich their understanding of the art they are consuming and I find that inspirational.  Every day people, not choral scholars, but just people who love music can come and buy a ticket to a concert and then have a brief study of that music.  Neat.

-poppy day

-we were supposed to go see the war museum, we did write out thoughts about war as an assignment

-lecture first about the war and second about music that had to do with war

-went to the flats for a really yummy lunch (that chicken dish Taylor taught me how to make)

-took some left overs and snacks out with us

-walked to the theatre for tix

-stopped in Trafalgar square to "swim" in the fountains

-tried to go to so ho square and sit in the park to just relax and kick it for a few hours

-found another square instead...a private park actually

-gate was open but locked afterwords behind us so we had to hop the fence

-we got twenty pound tix

-show totally sucked.  I couldn't have liked it less.

-walked around Picadilli stoped at KFC for icecream and ate our left overs

-searched for a place to party but gave up and decided to go the next day

6/3/10 Thursday

Thursday 6/3/10

Today was our trip to Canterbury.  We all met in Greenwich  early in the morning.  This is the furthest they’ve asked us to travel on our own in order to meet up with the group.  Scott comes down in the morning all proud because he’d found a more effective method of getting to Greenwich than suggested by Nathan, our choral assistant.  (again with all the interesting directions).  Pretty soon, we had an entire group following Scott.  He always knows where he is going and I think people have come to expect that.  We got separated at one of the train stations and everyone started freaking out because they lost Scott (at least that was the story that was relayed to me later).  We arrived on our bus  for a very uncomfortable ride.  It was so stinkin hott on that thing.  I did not know what the deal was.  It was sooo bad that I thought about asking for a partial refund.  There is no way that the air blowing on us was AC air.  It was like luke warm!  

We finally arrived and Scott had already made a list of the places we could visit.  He catogorized them by price: free, cheap-er, and cheap.  We both really wanted to see the Normal castle and that was really the only thing we had time for anyway.  So we set out and stumbled upon it.  This thing was built during the 11th century!!!  Of course, it is only in ruins now having served it’s purpose as a royal residence, a storage facility, and the home of a gas tank.  I thought it looked pretty cool still.  Scott and I walked up this spiral staircase that had one of those darn gates that prevent you from reaching the top.  I decided it might be fun to climb over it and continue walking up the stairs. I grabbed the gate and anchored my feet on the rocks of the wall a little bit.  Scott wasn’t shouting his praises at my choice of activity so, I got a little nervous that I couldn’t do it and such and started to climb back down. There were some rot iron spokes clawing over the top but, I fit right through.  Scott documented this event of course.  The view from the top of the stairs was quite lovely. 

Scott and I wanted to check out the Canterbury museum.  We found it and it turns out that there are remnants of an ancient Roman home below the ground floor of the museum.  Totally amazing!  Too bad we didn’t have enough time to actually go into the museum. As we were walking back into the main part of town I saw this cool alley way.  I like narrow and interesting looking alley ways...during the day of course!  I decided we needed to walk through a particular one and behold, there was a lovely bridge and a grassy park area!  Scott and I felt as if we stumbled upon hidden treasure. 

We met up with the group to tour Canterbury Cathedral and St. Augustine’s Abbey.  Our tour guide at the cathedral was incredible and was able to captivate our attention for about an hour and a half.  With a combination of fun facts, historical facts, myths and folklore, and comedy, I actually felt that my money was well spent in deciding to take a guided tour even though we technically didn’t make the decision because it was part of our program.  but, anyway, there were some memorable things about that tour the biggest thing is that this church was the spiritual home for the legendary Thomas Beckett (and the destination for the pilgrims in the famous story “Canterbury Tales”).  We began our tour talking about the facade of the building and how it’s grown from it’s original romanesque structure to the gothic structure.  There is a plaque on the floor in remembrance of the “Fire Watchers” who stood on top of the roof of the church and threw bombs off and preserve this “mother of all Anglican cathedrals”.  The next memorable bit was this inner walkway outside the chapel.  We learned that through time the church began to function as a boys school.  There were midieval handprints and games carved into the stone by these children.  We were also brought to the place where Beckett was supposedly slain and told the rather groosome story.  When we went into the crypt, I was disappointed that I was unable to capture the beauty of this space.  It felt like the most reverent part of the cathedral all dimly lit and silent.  Not that those elements are necessary for reverence, obviously, but this was a much more still place than the chapel section.  There is a chapel that was a gift for French refugees to come worship in.  They continue to do so till this day and they only rarely open the doors to outsiders.  We walked up the stairs and looked at the shrine for the final burial place for Beckett (because he had three different burial places in that one cathedral).  There were stories of miracles occurring when the sick and afflicted made the journey to his burial place.  They would touch or kiss his shrine and be miraculously healed.  They would pray and kneel around the shrine so often that there are indentations in the marble.  Pretty incredible.  

-lady follows us around

-we go to the St. Augustine's Abbey

-enjoy the ruins 

-met up for boat rides

-went to evensong and barely made it in time

6/2/10

Logan and I decided, while chatting on facebook last night, that we (including Scott) should wake early, get out by 9, get tickets to see the play “All My Sons” and watch the London Tower Bridge raise for a boat to go through.  It lifts about 1000 times a year and they always schedule these lifts.  Well, we didn’t get out by 9...it was more like 10 so, we missed the bridge lift.  Jessica decided to join us and she and Logan ran off to the British Library while Scott and I ran to the London Tower Bridge to use our little passes we got from climbing the monument.  I laugh, still, at this monument.  It was like...how can we get tourists to pay us more money?  OH...I know, build this “monument” and make them pay to climb 311 stairs.  Anyway, we got to the bridge and had about an hour before “All My Sons”.  They had this really cool little movie explaining how and why the bridge was designed and built.  It was honestly much more exciting than I anticipated.  I was really hoping that these footpaths would be open to the air. How exhilarating would that have been 46 meters above the Thames?  Well, it wasn’t open to the air.  There was, however, plenty of information to read about the bridge and it’s relationship to London.  They also had some Victorian games set up which were not unlike other games I have played.  My favorite was this sort of horse shoes game where you have rope circles and pegs to throw them over.  There were five pegs set up in the shape of a box and I got the peg with 25 points (the most you can get) two tosses in a row. :) Beginners luck probably.  I just remember the few times I played horse shoes as a girlscout in the park in Disco by my grandparents house.  I was never very good at that.  They also had a long display of some of the world’s greatest bridges.  I would like to see the world’s oldest wooden bridge in Sweden some day.  I was happy to discover that the Golden Gate is indeed displayed there.  Did you know that the Golden Gate is the most popular bridge to jump off of to commit suicide.  Sad!  Maybe the Brits have it right in enclosing the foot path. 

I think the most interesting part of the bridge was to learn about Victorian engineering.  It was rather clever.  We could see this displayed in particular in the engine room.  I won’t bore you with that stuff.  If you’re really curious after seeing the pictures...look it up online to read about it :)

Finally we made our way to the theatre for “All My Sons”.  Scott and I made it back just in time.  Probably 42.3 seconds before the lights dimmed for the show to begin.  I splurged and bought a 2nd row seat for 31 pounds.  yikes.  I justified this decision because this play is the only thing in London that has 5 star reviews right now.  After seeing the show, I can confirm that this rating is well deserved.  We sat down to an open curtain and one of the most incredible sets I’ve ever seen.  There was this sort of New Orleans style farm house and a front yard, lawn furniture and all.  They had actual grass on the stage people!!!  It was an incredible story written by Arthur Miller about an American family during WWII.  The father sold bad parts to the airforce and all the planes went down killing 21 pilots.  This is a story of lies and deception and the dynamics of a family that shape how we view the world.  There were some incredible scenes between the father, Joe, his wife and his son Chris.  I felt as if I was looking in on private conversations that were actually happening.  There commitment was so intense that it sucked me right in.  I was so captivated I had little thought to critique or analyze.  I simply listened and experienced this moving story.  There were only a few stage choices that threw me out of the story for a brief moment. There was a conversation going on between the mother and her dead son’s sweetheart.  Chris and Joe sat by listening to the girl talk intently while I felt it would have been more effective for them to converse separately and chime in after their ears purked up for some reason or another.  Does that make sense?  Another scene came in the second act.  The mother made grape juice for a family gathering and the neighbors kept coming in and out.  Members of the family would pour a glass for these visitors and they would never take the glass or if they did, the wouldn’t drink from it.  I was like...what’s the point of the grape juice if you don’t really use the prop...it’s distracting more than a tool.  These critiques are little to be concearned about however.   The show was incredible.  I haven’t given a standing ovation for any show since I got here but this was truly incredible.  I stood and held back my tears.  I was absolutely astounded. 

Our next adventure was to look for a place to dine.  Jessica and Logan wanted Thai food.  Scott and I suggested sushi and everyone seemed game for that.  We were looking for a sushi place when Logan came up with the brilliant idea to ask the people in this Chinese resturant.  I thought, yea thats a good idea.  Let’s ask other resturants where we can find their competitors.  haha good idea.  We stumbled upon a Thai resturant that looked pretty posh and decided we could splurge on some quality food.  It was a treat indeed.  I ordered a red curry chicken dish and brown rice.  We had lively conversation, which we always do with Jessica and Logan.  We talked about social standards and our present social dynamic in the program.  Jessica and I really get along.  We are independent women with strong minds thus, we don’t get all touchy about things.  It’s refreshing to be able to be honest with her and have it so well received.  Scott decided that we all needed to try this sweet mango rice dish.  It was absolutely heaven sent!!! It reminded me of this wet/ spongy yellow cake my Aunt LuAnn makes.  Rice with mango slices smothered in coconut milk was DIVINE.  

We then headed out to become cultured even further by seeing the opera “Tosca” presented by the England National Opera.  I was less than pleased when we got to our seats.  Since Scott and I are in charge of bathroom clean up, getting tickets after class and before concerts is a low priortiy.  Thus, we wind up getting whatever ones are left.  I used to think that they built theatres so well that there weren’t “bad” seats.  That was before I sat in the far right of the upper balcony in the London Colluseum.  The front of the balcony blocked my view of half the stage.  The other half of the stage was blocked by the large head of the man in front of me. BoOoo0o0oo.  I managed to just enjoy the first act anyway.  I laughed at the jokes and enjoyed the music.  This piece feels very grandiose yet, I feel like all opera is that way. Big and dramatic....that’s kind of the point.  I asked the attendants how long before the show began they would continue to seat the audience.  This attendant knowingly said, “right up until the show starts, the house is full”.  I thought...a) how do you know it’s actually full? did you have a little meeting with all your little usher friends and found out that the house was packed and to not let people switch seats.  probably.  I’m thinking, sometimes people don’t even show up to the opera they got tickets for!  I asked if I could stand on the sides of the balcony where at least I could get a full view...again, the answer was no probably because of all the lighting equipment nearby.  I so coveted the members of our group who had seats in the front row of the balcony.  During the first interval, I asked some of my front row friends if there were any open seats during the first act and as it turned out...there were! Scott and I nabbed those right up.  There was zilch leg room but the view was sooooo much better.  This is what happens when Michelle gets aggressive.  :)

I was quite impressed with the ease with which the baritone sang.  Opera singing and acting requires serious stamina.  These guys go on without mics and sing for every last seat in that colluseum.  It’s incredible.  Sitting in the balcony allowed me to just listen and try to picture the story using the expressiveness of the singers as my guide.  I was impressed that both Tosca and her lover, Mario, could project and portray such powerful and deep emotions using only their voices.  I’ve heard recordings of operas but never attended one live (Phantom of the Opera certainly does not count!) so this was quite the experience for me. 

6/1/10

Today we had a lecture from Paul Spicer, the conductor of the Finzi Singers.  We listened to him all day. Quite literally.  Here's my notes from the day:

-Helen Wadell had an influence on Howells

-psalms of the wondering scholars begin with a quote from Wadell

-spirituality, a sense of other, inspiration taken from earlier music, popular focus of work in the early 20th century dispite the fact they are athiest

-sacred and secular rub shoulders through text

-dulomere??? cold and stillness of winter, the birth of jesus to intensify the image, in a poem

-Howells setting of this poem, sense of remoteness painted in sound

-listening to this piece

-Orthodox worship “ppl look at worship as consciousness of heaven come down to earth...howells and English visionary composers are trying to create this

-music paints a sense of wonder by basses starting low and other voices build until the soprano descant creating an etherial

-synesthesia: mixing of senses

-this music is the equivalent of stained glass windows for a more sophisticated audience

-when Vaughn williams came in Glauster cathedral with his fantasia, fused the old and new

-for some composers, Gregorian chant created the distance, Williams used the English Hymnal to create eclesiastical distance and a psalm with his own music

-the mass in G minor, it was to bring a whole new world of tet and musical feelings, like the Oxford movement, catholic revival...stress higher standard of church worship

-Finze was a free thinker, not a church goer which is interesting bc the church music he wrote

-”religion should be like a weather clock” something about fixing north south east and west...blowing in the wind instead

-what speaks to him about the music is the raw emotional power, spirituality and sensuality, allows the humanist to contact this music

-sostinato***

“misa sabrenenses” Howells

-20 minutes, set in paragraphs, 7 bohr (sabranences is the nuber seven in latin)

-raw power hung on the coat hanger or ------

-creed, drama of the resurection leading oto the words “and his kingdom will have no end”, most power of English music!!!

-the heart of the matter is visionary

Lewis forman said: “the agnostics at prayer” and pieces he listed as the pieces that created this

-how shall I sing thy magesty...a singers tune

-Christ triumphant...another singers tune, great range

-RS Thomas 1913-200 Welch Poet

-a writer he’s set as a composer more than anyone

-”but” is the word that turns it all around, there are these “but” moments in the text and a but moment in the songs

-”alive” to celebrate the dioscese in Birmingham

-he conducts the Birmingham conservatory choir

Dyson and Howells

-was called the town of 100 trades

-harmed the envoronment there...it became very industrial

-alliteration lyrics for Dyson’s memorial for his father, fitness of a marriage of words and music

-listening exercise....alliteration one, drudgy and fitting for the text and the setting in which he grew up

Dyson’s Cello Sonata is soooo beautiful!!!

Howells was the first to recieve radium treatment?  !

G-D a perfect 5th, canterbury pilgrims, signed this way often....how would I sign?

He scripted the last 2-ish hours of his lecture and moved so rapidly through it that I could barely type what all he was saying.  My favorite thing about this experience was to learn from Mr. Spicer who is an expert in the composers Howells and Dison.  He has written books about them and knows so much about their lives and the history of the world surrounding the writing of specific pieces that really informs the way we listen and absorb the music.

-tuesday = class all day

-Paul Spicer lectured us....all day!

-saw the play London Assurance with Logan

-before the show started we had some time to kill...we sat and listened to these Andrew Sister wanna be's

-we asked what it took to perform there :)  they said talent...I said "you're looking at it"

-called the BYU health center to get a job and promised to send in a resume

-tried to go to that open mic musical theatre bar

-guy followed us...i think...awkward

-place was booked so we boogied home

5/31/10

-left from the Liverpool station sooo early in the morning.  Like 6:30!

-interesting characters on the bus

-lonely ride...blogged a bit but slept most of the time

-Arrived at the Victoria bus station and who was waiting there for me??? Scott.  with a gift in hand.  He loves me.

-we decided we needed to have some fun.

-the monument, harmons, jeans for Scott

-found a blues bar and went back

-Johnny and our new friend utalized that open mic night and did a swell job!

-bought cokes and got the best seats in the house

-went back to sleep because we had an early morning the next morning

5/30/10

-sunday, church which turned out to be stake conference

-sunday dinner was salmon

-played uno

-watched Mobsters and Mormons

5/29/10

-LIVERPOOL

-breakfast of a muffin and some milk and we hit the station

-when we arrive in Liverpool we hit the TATE first.  Who knew they had a TATE Liverpool?  

-Picasso gallery was amazing

-lots of surrealist art which really excites me!  I love love love surrealism

5/28/10

-saw Luke's guitar teacher playing

-got huge cups of hot coco

-walked around a bit, hit up top man, Luke's favorite shop

-Luke goes home teaching so, I hang out with Luke's mama and sister, we girls talk shop

5/22/10

-watched sun rise

-real bum walks by and scowers the trash

-pubs going till like 4 am

-walked around looking for breakfast and a place to use the loo

-finally found the place Scott and I had dinner was open

-walked to find breakfast some more

-went to bus stop

-danny got news paper

-rode home

-felt disgusting

-Johnny had a "wait, where am I?" moment

5/21/10

brighton beach babay

-free day

-no class

-beach for 5 hours ish

-arrived and searched for Jessica's swimsuit for an hour

-burried each other in the sand

-ladies argue on the beach

-we get our photograph taken

-we run into town and walk around the lanes

-try to get everyone to look at the Pavillion

-look at the museum in the church that was started as an art gallery by some famous producer (the producer of Coldplay and something else)

-Scott and I went to dinner while everyone caught a movie

-brighton pier and the rides

-lay on the beach

-watch the sin and babalyon take place

-chat with the bobby (cop in England)

-Scott gets pooped on while waiting outside the Odeon theatre

-walk down to the beach, meet random drunk girls

-walk back into town and around to a pub, Logan, Scott, and I go into...lots of young people...younger than us....I didn't get ID'ed yea!

-walk back to the beach, find cardboard on the street

-bring it to our homeless hotel less hostel less friends

-Johnny and Robert were gone...with the random drunk girls...back to their hotel...dodgey!

-sleeping in cardboard boxes and people doing the nasty on the beach

-scott is still awake so I suggest that we go to find a hostel or cheap hotel

-logan, scott, and I search around and don't find anything

-we give up and wind up going to one of the big boats in front of the maritime museum

-watch the sun rise and chat in delirum

5/20/10

Tonight we listened to the Trinity choir rehearse and perform for evensong.  This was probably my favorite evensong.  Conducted by the same director as the Holst singers, I've seen him work twice now and I like his rehearsal style.  I feel as though he works very efficiently and has a good feel for how the ensemble wants to work.  He moved quickly with this group and commanded attention.  His conducting gestures were also nice and clear.  He conducts with his face and upper body and the choir responds to whatever intricacies he is asking for; though it's not always easy to see these from the audience I can surely hear nuance coming through.  With the Trinity College choir he chose what seemed to be more contemporary pieces.  It was so fun to hear a new sound from an evensong and their psalms were the most uniform and prayerful of any we have seen.  I felt, after simply looking at these students, that the environment at Cambridge is a little bit more relaxed.  Perhaps this is because we were in Oxford for evensong on the Sabbath but there were no boys in Trinity College.  Just a group of talented college aged students.  I liked that they moved from the choir stalls to stand around the piano and rehearse not spending too much time on any one section of the music.  Simply put, this was exquisite.  

-cambridge
-punting
-shopping in gentlemans shop for a bit
-roamed the market
-outdoor mall thing and jazz player
*scott got a bag
-sat on shore and watched punters go by
-ran to the evensong
-beautiful evensong at Trinity College with the polyphony conductor again
-came back and got tix for Venice and made plans for Brighton

5/19/10 Wednesday

Tonight we sat in on the rehearsal for the Holst singers at Temple Church.   I loved the architecture.  This simple gothic design is just so beautiful and gothic stained glass is my favorite.  The colors are so rich and vibrant.  I was soooo ready for beautiful music.  We talked in class about how the Holst singers are probably the group that we, as BYU students, could relate to the most.  They are not considered a professional choir and most of them work in careers other than singing or so I was told by members of the choir.  As I was sitting there listening I had a thought about acoustics and physics really playing a role for a choir.  Something as simple as elevating the men on chairs behind the women drastically changed the sound for the rehearsal.  

In regards to the singers, I felt that their sight reading was pretty decent but I'm wondering how they pull of coming together for so few rehearsals and sight read their music and manage to polish it in time for a concert?  I could see how connected these singers are to their conductor though.  This is something I haven't noticed as much with other groups.  There intonation was pretty great and I was particularly impressed with the sopranos hitting large interval jumps with such accuracy.  It sounded to me like they were singing right in the center of the pitch and I was highly impressed.  In "Praise Ye the Lord" I lost their consonants a little bit but, I think they made up for it in "Come Jesus Come".  What a moving piece.

-class was long today

-lunch of pasta at my flat

-little Venice

*chatting with this random couple

*walking, getting on bus, going back

*looking for cool stuff, the zoo the market...nothing
-we tried to find the puppet museum but it turns out to be like 12 pounds for adult tix
-took a nap in the park
-boarded the tube and went to Temple church
*we were there like 5 min late and everyone was already gone from the appointed meeting spot
-arrived in the church where the Da Vinci code was filmed, georgeous stained glass windows
*director directed polyphony also
*chatted with members of the choir
*got a ride to the grocery store from a member of the choir
*talked with the casheer from France

5/18/10

Today's BBC sinters rehearsal took place at a very small refurbished church.  When we stepped inside, they had rows of seats with programs and photocopied text and music for us to follow along.  They kicked off their rehearsal with "Sure on This Shining Night" by Samuel Barber.  I absolutely love this text and the Barber setting was pleasant to listen to.  I liked the way they performed this piece.  I've heard it done with quite a lot of pop sound but, I guess I should expect that the BBC Singers would be quality. I felt that the entrance gestures were less patterned and therefore more difficult to read than the BYU style.  I noticed that throughout the rehearsal it seemed as though certain singers, particularly women, were competing for their color to be heard.  There wasn't a very obvious lack of blend just a very subtle attempt to take over the sound.  Does that make sense?

The second piece they rehearsed was "The Monk and His Cat" by Barber again.  It was obviously a very playful song about the love between this scholar and his cat.  You could even "hear the cat" in the piano part.  For this piece, it seemed like the overall sound of the choir darkened considerably.  I'm thinking this was intentional because of a comment made by their director.  He made a comment that the BBC Singers is one of the few professional choral groups in England that actually has female altos which makes the treble sound a bit darker.  I had another complaint about the sound of the choir in this piece...the words were not intelligible.  Though this group may be less disciplined with tone and blend, they are incredibly sensitive to dynamics and also wonderful sight readers.

The 3rd piece they rehearsed was "Under the Willow Tree" a setting that I'm very familiar with for we sang it in honor choir in high school.  The first run through was a little rough rhythmically but I just have to keep reminding myself that they are most likely sight reading all of this music.  There was an alto soloist that I really didn't enjoy.  Her tone was so swallowed and she had all sorts of visible tension.  I could see it in her hands and neck and worst of all, her tongue!  This left me wondering, "what...why?"  There is a section of the music where it just really builds and there is this HUGE chord to the text "where shall we sleep my love" and it modulates.  The higher voices were just stabbing the music there.  It was so difficult to hear them rehearse over and over this bit without correcting that particular issue.  

Later on in the rehearsal they got to pieces where I could really hear a wonderful blend, beautiful dynamic contrast, and perfectly crisp consonants.  

Then they did "Twelfth Night" and I liked how sensitive they were to the composers intent based on what is included in the score.  The consonants were a little rocky at the ends of polyphonic phrases and there were a few problems with the pitch in the soprano line.  Other than that, I rather liked this piece and their rehearsal approach with it.

For the last half of rehearsal they worked on Schuman music set to Walt Whitman text.  The director took a moment to talk to us about this selection.  I was getting the feeling that he was basically saying we're only doing this set because we have to.  BBC makes us do this kind of thing.  I was surprised as they sang a section "To You" and the soloist was surprisingly unconfident.  These pieces seem to be a bit robotic.  I think perhaps the singers are struggling to enjoy them because their director doesn't enjoy them.  I think they have more potential however I do think they are rather strange.  Is it ok that I was offended at what he was saying about Whitman's poetry?

-today we didn't have class because we attended a BBC singers rehearsal.

*we were there from 11:30 until 3:30 with only a small lunch break

*I took SO many notes on their performance

*notes on rehearsal technique

-lunch of food from Damascus

-dinner of pasta...as usual

-performance at Wesminster Abbey

*handel's music and Handel's burial sight

-sing along piano bar immediately after

-musical theatre stuff 

*orange drink and mockery

*bathroom

*random friends

*called a virgin if it's your first time singing there

-it used to be a public bathroom

-Scott left early to skype his mommy

-meeting up with Kim and Paige

-going home barefoot and seeing a man peeing right there on the street....eeeew!

-home late and met up with Scott, made tea and ate bread, talked about Venice

5/17/10 Holistic Education

Today in class we reviewed all the concerts we have been to recently including the Tallis Scholars, The Sixteen, and Oxford.  It seemed to me during the discussion of the Tallis Scholars vs. The Sixteen that everyone felt they had to choose sides or pick a favorite and that favorite was The Sixteen.  I think this was probably due to the fact that we watched The Sixteen rehearse and Harry Christophers took the time to give us a little lecture about the origin of the group and the music selection for this evening's performance.  It's easy to see how everyone felt more connected to the group.  I simply enjoyed each for different reasons.

Also in class we looked at Bach's "B Minor Mass", Handel's "Dixit Dominus", and Vivaldi's "Gloria" in preparation for the concerts we will be seeing in the near future.  I really enjoyed discussing "Dixit Dominus" for it's a piece that I'm less familiar with and it's pretty brilliantly written.  The text "as it was in the beginning" appears again at the end of the song within the same music which is a witty thing to do.  We also talked about it's "ebullient" qualities (this is a new word for me) and I really like how I feel when I listen to this piece.  It's very regal sounding and quite a bit dancy.

Scott and I had a very educational afternoon at the British Library.  As it turns out, there was a huge display of all musical items in the collection.  I saw Beethoven's tuning fork which, supposedly, at one point belonged to V. Williams.  There was one of Purcell's original manuscripts, Handel's "Messiah", Haydn's "London Symphony", and Vaughan Williams "Scott of the Antartic" all in their own hand.  Incredible!  What a holistic education!

Tonight we attended the "London Bach Choir Rehearsal" in the only Byzantine church left standing in England.  They sang the "B Minor Mass" and Brahm's "Requiem" which was a surprise and a treat.  I was most impressed with the fact that this choir of 200 could sing all these melismas with such accuracy.  They happened to be auditioning assistant conductors that night which was also a unique thing to see.  I preferred the first conductor.  His rehearsal technique was more effective though it's difficult to say why because I couldn't hear what he was saying.  He was probably more more specific about what he wanted and he didn't spend too much time dwelling on specific problems.  He just seemed to expect that he would say it, they would rehearse it, and then everyone could move on and not make the same mistake twice.  Of course this is the ideal but, he seemed to hold the choir to this standard.

-running with Scott

-class with many concert reviews of the Tallis Scholars, The 16, Oxford

-looking at B Minor Mass, Dixit Domino, and Vivaldi's Gloria

-lunch of spaghetti

-fun at the British Library

*literature, poetry, theatre (Macbeth connection) , printing (Crandall Museum connection), religion, media, science (da vinci was an incredible mind, Physics Connection), politics (magna carta and king George...Robin Hood connection again)

*toe bothering me

-Pret for dinner (yummy tomato soup) and looked for shoes

-London Bach choir rehearsal at Wesminster Cathedral (only Byzantine building left standing in London)

*helped Chris and Anna finish off some fries and a Coke..yea baby

-Bach's B Minor Mass and Brahm's Requiem

*auditioning assistant conductors

-choice between piano bar and the dutch pancake house...Scott chose the dutch pancake house with Emily and Steve yummmy

-almost loosing my life to the motorcyclist

-random and fun night at the pancake house

5/16/10 Sunday

Today we attended the Oxford ward on our way out to the colleges.  We sang three numbers in church, all hymns.  The setting was ideal for truly bearing my testimony of the savior through song.  I felt pretty passionately about the text of "I Stand All Amazed" it nearly brought tears to my eyes to bear testimony in the intimate setting of the chapel with this ward all eyes and ears for us.  It felt so right to perform that way. 

Our next stop was to practice with our respective colleges.  I sang with Lincoln College.  What an exciting challenge.  I felt the greatest challenge was following this choir master.  I just struggled to get used to the down beats being where the upbeats are in his conducting pattern.  It wouldn't be a big deal to do this and just keep tempo but, we were practicing the psalm and these are always performed with more free rhythm. Ahhhh....struggle.  In the end we managed to pull ourselves together on that one and the director was patient and very understanding with us.  Eventually the members of the choir started to show up and that made things way easier.  The piece we were all obviously strongest on was "Hail Gladdening Light".  We also did Purcell in G for the canticles and sight read a few hymns.  The first hymn was a since to sight read because we had just sung it in sacrament meeting "I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say".  muahahaha.  Our Purcell in G could have used another rehearsal for polishing but, the English don't seem too worried about perfection for their evensong and they are all pretty amazing sight readers.  

After the rehearsal we had tea with the Oxford students and chatted about school, music, and everyone was pretty interested in hearing about our study abroad.  I found out that this particular choir is auditioned but it's composed of students from some of the different colleges at Oxford and many of them aren't even studying music, like many of the students in our study abroad.  We also chatted about the differences between their hymns and ours, the differences in musical terminology, and the differences between our unis (what people call University in England).  I had a particularly fun conversation with a girl who was asking how many counts a dotted minim (dotted half note) would get in 6/8 time and I had fun explaining that it's the same count wise, just a different name...6 beats of course.  A little bit of basic theory mmm fun.

My experience at Oxford was absolutely wonderful.  I could see that the tradition of choral music is incredibly alive there and we were fortunate to sing with an interesting and talented group of individuals.  More than anything, I could tell that these individuals were all friends.  They enjoy singing together and they get a kick out of sight reading each Sunday together.  

-most amazing day at Oxford

-first we attended the local LDS services

*chatted with the locals

*had a munch and mingle

*sang in the meeting

*they do their meetings backwards

-headed out first, after some confusion, to rehearse with Lincoln College

*just us at first

*others joined, one girl asked me if we sing a cappella in America...ummm yes.

*tea with the students

*evensong

*drinks and mingling with people in the congregation and the clergy

*dinner-so fancy, felt like Harry Potter, great conversation about music and culture and social things, Tim gave me his meal and got his late, students stand as the fellows walk in, invite for more drinks but we had to go to catch our coach

-met up with everyone and boasted about how awesome our experience was, it seemed like nobody felt their experience was that great

-slept on the bus ride back

-scott carried me home because he's awesome like that

5/15/10 Saturday at Oxford

Today I had the privilege of attending the New College evensong rehearsal.  I heard from the small group that attended their rehearsal yesterday that these children are incredible musicians.  Sister Hall asked who would like to attend the rehearsal and I shot up my hand.  She took the first six she saw and what a treat it was to watch these little boys working on such thick repertoire!  They practiced music for their evensong and some for their other concert engagements.  This rehearsal was conducted like a well oiled machine.  The boys quickly moved between pieces (silently), they helped each other, and they answered questions about theory.  I just went over the modes with Matt yesterday and I was blown away that these children were already well trained enough to know what mode they were singing in.  There was also a portion of rehearsal where the conductor pointed to each child in turn to check how well they knew the piece and how well they were singing it.  If one boy messed up the director would stop and ask "what happened there?" and the boy would answer with something like "I keep singing the fifth sharp" or something like that.  The director would say "what are you going to do?" and the boy would say "fix it".  What dedication from such a young musicians.  I learned a few things from this rehearsal but mostly that children are so capable!  If you set the standard high and encourage them in the proper ways, they will rise to the occasion.

We attended evensong there with them.  They sang an introit, Stanford's "ascendit", responses Howells "St. Paul's Service", and Finzi's "God is Gone Up".  It's been so fun to listen to the songs that we studied in culture class before coming to England being performed live and by some pretty incredible and well respected choirs.

-roam with Logan

-headshots

-covered market for Scott's man bag (he didn't purchase) and umbrella that he loved but didn't get, he says in his blog it's because he didn't want to spend the money and cart it home...the real reason is that it was blue and had accents that he felt were to feminine.  

-tour with Ruth, seeing where famous people went to school

-oxford time, thus us being on time to Christ's Church meant we were 5 minutes early

-sandwiches at Mortens, ate there 2x. :) sooo fresh and yummy, lovely courtyard

-Asmolean Museum

-New College evensong, scott experienced the choir the day before

-6 people at the rehearsal, very intimate setting, got to do all that with Scott

-not open to the public, just students

-sleeping on the bus back

5/14/10

Today was our first of three days at Oxford.  I've been looking forward to this experience as a highlight for the entire program.  We split into groups and headed off to different choir schools to observe these young singers and some students even got to tutor these children in music.  We followed Sister Hall to the Dragon School, a private school for boys and girls.  I really enjoyed observing these two choir classes.  These children are ages 8 to 12 and quite a well behaved but energetic group.  Their teacher was great at captivating their attention.  I felt like I was watching Marry Poppins directing music she was just such a ball of energy.  They did some simple warm ups.  It was intriguing that these kids pronounced the African text in the warm up as if it was french.  I was blown away that they all study English, French, Latin, and Greek.  Amazing.  It was fun to see music be taught in this way.  Such a contrast from what we have been hearing from the children at the Choir Schools associated with the cathedrals and abbeys.

That evening I attended evensong at Christ Church with the same group of students.  I was really impressed by the acoustics in their church and the warm tone created by the boys in the choir.  

-first day at Oxford

-split into groups

-dragon school

-Jess, Nick, me trying to get ahead and do our own thing

-market time: bought bread, jessica goes crazy over scarves

-gathering for evensong at Christ's Church College

-purchase stockings

-take off on busses

Parallels

There are many similarities between the exodus of Latter Day Saints across the plains to the west and the exodus of the children of Israel from Egypt.  First, the leaders of each exibition were similar in faith and experience.  Moses learned his leadership skills through the time he spent in the military.  Similarly, Brigham Young learned under the stewardship of the prophet Joseph Smith and worked along side him during the difficult move from Missouri to Nauvoo.  There is no question that each of these leaders experienced trials and the Lord knew these trials would come.  We read in Exodus and in D&C 136 as the Lord promises that if his appointed leaders and his chosen people would endure these trials, they would be blessed for each of these groups were God's "chosen people".  Both leaders had the Lord's blessing and guidance upon beginning these journeys and believed from the beginning that it was the will of the Lord that they do so.

In D&C 136 we also read that the saints were promised they need not fear their enemies; that the Lord would "do (his) pleasure with them".  This was also the case with the Israelites who crossed through the parted Red Sea that came crashing down over the Egyptians, their enemies, who were chasing after them. Each of these groups witnessed miracles along the way.  The Lord promises, "marvel not at these things, for ye are not yet pure; ye can not yet bear my glory; but ye shall behold it if ye ae faithful in keeping all my words".  He would show them his glory after the trial of their faith which, since they were tried from the beginning, I think he showed them bits of His glory along the way, helping them keep hope and faith.  The Mississippi River even froze over for them to cross.  This parallel to the children of Israel is a pretty clear one to me!

At the end of their journeys, it is true to say that both groups suffered immeasurably.  Yet, for those who made it to the promised land, they could see the hand of the Lord in it.  The Lord does keep his promises.  In Exodus 13, Moses tells his people "remember this day, in which ye came out from Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by the strength of the hand of the Lord brought you out from this place".  The saints knew this was also true for them and they established a headquarters in Salt Lake.  

It's incredible to study and compare these two groups of the Lord's faithful.  Both suffered immeasurably but in the end were blessed immeasurably.  We read account after account of these miracles in the lives of the saints who crossed west.  The Lord keeps his promises.

The Crandall Printing Museum

Did you know that the WORLDS most complete Guggenheim printing "shop" is in Provo Utah?  Seems random doesn't it.  Well, that is what I thought before I visited this little gem of a museum last week.  Mr. Crandall started printing when he was 14 and learned that trade from his father.  It was this apprenticeship that fostered within him a love for printing.  After trying his hand at the business and other business ventures such as building a theme park (half the size of Disneyland) the mayor of Provo asked him to come and start a similar theme park project in Provo which never came to fruition and he started his printing museum instead.

     This museum takes you through the history of printing from Guggenheim's printing of the Bible to the printing of the Book of Mormon.  Through the tour it becomes evident in the discussion of history that printing played an important role in religious and secular history.  Words printed on the page were expressions of spirituality, a means of exchanging ideas, spreading messages, and leading us in our first steps toward globalization.

   I enjoyed this experience most of all as it related to the restoration of the Christ's church on the Earth.  We looked at how the development of printing lead so beautifully and in perfect time for the printing of the Book of Mormon which would allow missionaries and church leaders a tangible set of doctrine to differentiate them from other faiths but also to build on the truths in the Bible.  The most incredible part of the museum experience is the way Mr. Crandall explained how nearly impossible it would have been for so many books to be printed in such a short amount of time but, they had a goal of 5,000 copies to make in a very short amount of time and the men in that print shop made it happen miraculously and, for those of faith, we believe it happened by the hand of the Lord.  It's incredible to think about and watch how long it would have taken to go through each of the steps necessary to create a book, even with all the technological advancements since Guggenheim's first printing of the Bible.  It was truly a miracle.  Another facet of my testimony of the Book of Mormon being a true and wonderful book, there was so much effort put into providing these precious words for the world to read and it is truly a blessing.

Teachings Becoming Scripture

Modern and continuing revelation is a subject of controversy when it comes to Latter Day Saints in the Christian community.  It's easy to question how the teachings of modern church leaders can be accepted as not only doctrine but as being from the Lord himself and worthy of being cannonized.  As a member of the LDS church, I feel that this modern day revelation is necessary and truly from God.  I've never had a prophet lead me in a direction that didn't feel right.  I've only seen good things from following the revelation and guidance given through religious leaders today.  

During Joseph Smith's time, there was no radio, no Ensign (a church magazine that is published and distributed world wide), no internet for reading talks or hearing podcasts, no television for recording and re-broadcasting church meetings where revelations were given.  We rely heavily on what was recorded by individuals attending Joseph Smith's sermons and meetings where he taught and revealed to the saints what the Lord would have them do.  At the time the Doctrine & Covenants was compiled, some of Joseph Smith's sermons were added into this set of scripture.  I can see that these teachings often explained things he had counseled with the Lord about and received answers to his own questions.  He was also teaching about things that may not be explained in other places in scripture or expounds on doctrine found in the Book of Mormon and the Bible.  It's a blessing to have these teachings preserved in the Doctrine and Covenants.

The Joseph Smith Papers

It's been an interesting experience to look at the Joseph Smith papers, to read the text, to ponder all that they imply historically and doctrinally.  This book is one of many in a planned series.  A compilation of Joseph Smith's notes and the notes of others as they documented the revelation that Joseph was receiving.  Many of the documents recorded in the Joseph Smith Papers are not found anywhere else.  Certain revelations from these papers were used in the Doctrine and Covenants but not all.  Thus, through the Joseph Smith Papers, we get a more complete look at all the doctrine and organizing that was taking place in the early days of the church.

I've particularly enjoyed noticing the consistent manner of speech used in the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Joseph Smith Papers.  Part of that I'm sure is due to conformities from writer to writer and the way of speaking in those days.  I like to see that the consistency in language makes the works more tied together.  Not that the Joseph Smith Papers should be cannonized but, they are certainly a valuable supplement to scripture.

In the particular sections I've read through, there is one about creating a court of justice for religious matters.  In reading about the organizing of such a court, I naturally compare this court to state and federal courts of justice.  It seems fitting that a court for spiritual matters would have more clearly defined "rights and wrongs" but so much more forgiving and justice.  Then  I compare the organizing of such a court to that of courts in heaven.  God is merciful and he gives us a lifetime of opportunity to come unto him and receive all that he has.  When judgment day arrives, the only thing that will matter is if we tried, followed Christ, and endured.  

The BYU Museum of Art

The Brigham Young University Museum of Art, affectionately called the MOA, is a unique university museum.  It is one of the largest and most attended museums in the Mountain West, probably due to the fact that admission is free!  The focus of the museum's collections are religious and American art but it also exhibits several different touring collections throughout the year.   You might be inclined to wonder how "exciting" our art programs are at BYU thinking that perhaps our faith "limits" the boundaries we can break or lines we can cross as artists.  You may be surprised to find out that our student art shows are contemporary and thought provoking and yes, they certainly can be "edgy".  I think these ideas flow right over to the MOA also.  The art that tours through our campus museum is thought provoking, political, controversial, innovative, respected, and expressive.  Naturally, the museum does keep a ready supply of beautiful and inspiring works of religious art which became the main points of discussion for our D&C class last week. I really enjoyed taking the opportunity to see an exhibit of entirely religious art.  Loaded with allusions, symbolism, and innovation; these pieces inspired me to learn more about my religious history so that I can better understand these images.  My classmates inspired me to see each piece from a different perspective.  As we stood as a class in front of each piece and picked it apart searching for meaning part of me wondered if we were trying too hard.  What if the images were meant to be more simple.  We think, no that's impossible for doctrine is complex but, this is not always the case.  Sometimes doctrine can be so beautiful and simple like Christ's teaching to love one another.  I tried to see the paintings, drawings, and sculptures as a whole, simple and sacred and then dive in to analyze further. 

 I was most awe struck when looking at a painting of Christ carrying the cross.  Almost immediately the image struck me funny.  It was photo-realistic and dramatic. It felt very posed and studio-esque.  As if a model were playing the part of the Savior.  He was standing upright under the weight of the cross and his flesh was brilliant and perfect.  Wearing only cloth draped and the crown of thorns, there were no signs of the crucifixion anywhere on his body.  No wounds in his hands or side.  The cross was made of a well varnished wood but battered around the edges.  I hope you can see this image.  I thought, why would he be so perfect and be standing so upright under the weight of this cross?  Why was his cross varnished?  Then I thought perhaps he was carrying my cross, a far lighter burden than his own.  It took my breath away.

Joseph Smith in Liberty Jail

During the almost five months that Joseph Smith was in Liberty jail, he spent much time reflecting on the experiences in his life that brought him to that point.  He also had time to write to members of the church about these thoughts.  He seemed to develop a more intense spiritual insight on suffering and affliction.  You may be wondering, what got him into prison in the first place?  I'll lay the facts out on the table.   The members of the church were gaining political and economic power in Missouri.  Local mobs resented their growing power and began "punishing" Joseph Smith and other church leaders.  Among these punishments were tarring and feathering, burning of mormon shops, and making threats to kill members of the church.  Governor Boggs sent out an extermination order allowing the citizens of Missouri to force Mormons out of the state.  Mormons were stripped of all weaponry and possessions to pay back the state.  Joseph agreed to meet with the militia to try and avoid bloodshed but, General Lucas ordered his execution.  General Doniphan refused, calling it murder,  and the leaders of the church were taken into custody instead.  There they were tried and convicted of treason.

You may decide for yourself but for me, my faith in Joseph Smith as a prophet set aside, I feel that there was nothing just about what happened in Missouri.  The saints suffered.  We can read journal after journal where members of the church described the scenes they witnessed and affliction they experienced by the hand of the angry mobs. I'd like to read a journal of any member of the community that suffered by the hands of one of the saints and I'm thinking it would be difficult to find one.  

While in Liberty Jail, Joseph Smith was comforted by the Lord, as recorded in D&C 121: 7-9.  "My son, peace be unto they soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; and the, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes.  Thy friends do stand by thee and shall hail thee again with warm hearts and friendly hands."  While in prison he wrote, "it will be a trial of our faith equal to that of Abraham, and that the ancients will not have whereof to boast over us in the day of judgment, as being called to pass through heavier afflictions; that we may hold an even weight in the balance with them....for my part, I think I never could have felt as I now do, if I had not suffered the wrongs that I have suffered.  All things shall work together for good to them that love God". It is clear that Joseph felt the comforting words of the Lord and internalized that which the Lord revealed unto him by the spirit.  He came away strengthened.  Many of the sermons he gave after his experience in Liberty Jail were recorded and it is evident that his desire to serve God was even greater after he was persecuted for doing so.  The Lord promised him blessings if he endured and he had confidence that it would be so.  If his path were easy, he would not have come away with enough conviction and testimony to go forward with the Lord's work.  Suffering affliction tests as true disciple and we know that these trials are the refiners fire.  Joseph Smith could see this and he lived to inspire the saints to work through all the trials he knew were ahead.   

Doctrine and Covenants section 137

I believe that the Doctrine and Covenants is a valuable resource to anyone seeking to better understand the beliefs of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  The D&C is, like the Bible, a collection of revelations and spiritual/historical experiences given from God to man.  This collection expounds on teachings from both the Book of Mormon and the Bible and is a valuable resource for any religious scholar.

Section 137 explains the LDS perspective of heaven.  You may have heard that Mormon's believe there are "levels" in heaven or that Mormons believe you only get to heaven if you are Mormon but these are common misconceptions.  And, in case you missed that last part, the idea that Mormon's believe we are the only one's who make it to heaven is FALSE!  Let me tell you what is true:

In first Corinthians 15:39-41 we read of three glories; one celestial, one telestial, and one terrestrial which are the "levels" of heaven, if you will.  We believe that all good people will "make it" into heaven.  In section 137 of D&C we learn that the Lord "will judge all men according to their works, according to the desire of their hearts".   In other words, if we have the desire to do good, to love unconditionally, to help those in need, to give of our excess, to volunteer our time, or anything else wholesome and worth while, and then turn those desires into actions, the Lord will bless us with eternal life in heaven.  

To receive the highest degree of glory, that being the Celestial kingdom, we must be true disciples of Jesus Christ.  We must try to emulate his attributes and follow his teachings.  The fullness of his truth is taught in his church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and in order to be his true disciple, we must be baptized, as he was.  Once we have entered the covenant of baptism, we must enter into other covenants including those made in the temple.  Now, Joseph Smith had a vision of life in the Celestial kingdom where he saw his little brother, Alvin, who died before being able to enter into these covenants.  Joseph was a little confused because as he understood it, Alvin should not have been worthy to enter into the Celestial kingdom.  The Lord taught Joseph an important doctrine in verse 7,

 "All who have died without a knowledge of this gospel, who would have received it if they had been permitted to tarry, shall be heirs of the celestial kingdom of God.  Also all that shall die henceforth without a knowledge of it, who would have received it with all their hearts, shall be heirs of that kingdom".  

This is a beautiful piece of doctrine.  God wants to give us the choice.  We always have the choice between His way or the way of the adversary.  But sometimes, there are people who live their entire lives without fully understanding His way or without caring yet are still good people.  He won't punish good people for not joining the LDS faith.  He loves His children and gives us abundant opportunities to inherit all that he has.  We will always have the choice.

I am Mormon.  Or, to be proper, I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  My parents both joined the church in their teen years which means many members of my family are not LDS.  I do not despair wondering if I will get to be in heaven with them.  I know that they are deserving of eternal life in heaven and if they desire to receive all the blessings of the Celestial kingdom, they will have the opportunity to do so.  I also think of my friend Lacy who died just after she was baptized.  She was eight years old; so young and innocent.  She has been promised, in section 137 that she will be an heir to the celestial kingdom.  

There is something called cognitive dissonance where a person's faith doesn't resonate with their reasoning.  I imagine that Joseph felt a bit of cognitive dissonance when seeing this vision of his brother.  In the end, the Lord's way makes sense.  He answers all the questions we are inclined to ask when we talk about heaven.  All the questions, the "what if's", are clarified in D&C 137.  The only question to ask now is why? The answer: because He loves us.