This is a great time to live. When times are unsettled, when the dangers persist, the Lord pours out his blessings upon His Church and kingdom. Look forward, young people, with an attitude of faith and hope. Look forward to being married and then, in due time, to giving in marriage. (Boyd K Packer, BYU Speeches, 1980)

Role models needed

Charity

We're discussing a case study in my Rel 200 class. This morning, as I was reading through the posts, this quote seemed to jump out at me.


“Perhaps the greatest charity comes when we are kind to each other, when we don’t judge or categorize someone else, when we simply give each other the benefit of the doubt or remain quiet. Charity is accepting someone’s differences, weaknesses, and shortcomings; having patience with someone who has let us down; or resisting the impulse to become offended when someone doesn’t handle something the way we might have hoped. Charity is refusing to take advantage of another’s weakness and being willing to forgive someone who has hurt us. Charity is expecting the best of each other”
― Marvin J. Ashton

What more needs to be said?

Strengthen the Family

Fascinating!

Epiphany!

I had a bit of an epiphany last night.

My past two on-line classes were both block classes. One was the GS111, which I loved. I appreciated the "re-orientation" to the whole student experience. The videos on study tips were helpful, I appreciated gaining more insight into the Learning Model. I'd heard about the changes from my daughters-- one graduated as the changes were taking place, the other has only experienced the current Learning Model. Most of all, I loved listening to, and reading the devotional addresses. Each one seemed "the best one yet", until the talk by President Clark about "The Spirit of Ricks" just absolutely spoke to my soul. He spoke of the exact reasons why I've sent all of children to Ricks/BYU, at least for a semester or two. The Block schedule didn't seem to affect me in GS111, but I developed a habit of accessing my assignments first thing Saturday morning, to get a jump on the activities that would be due on Tues and Sat.

Then, for the 2nd winter block, I took FDREL212--a New Testament class that focused on Acts through Revelations. This was a true block class. We doubled up on assignments, completeing 2 units per week. I once again accessed my assignments first thing Saturday morning, dove into the reading assignment and had three assignments,usually including a power poing, plus a discussion board done by Tues, then 3 more assignments, more discussion board, a journal entry and the self-assessment done by Saturday, or more likely Friday afternoon so I could have my Saturday free.And my I say--I came to such an appreciation of Paul. I thought that he was just a rather cranky guy who thought that women shouldn't cut their hair and should keep quiet in church. Not so much. I love Jude also. I'm sure that I read those same passages in Seminary, but I missed most of the beauty of the teachings of those apostles in those busy days after Christ ascended back into heaven.

Anyhow--last night I realized that I'm not block classes this semester. I knew that, but it didn't click as far as feeling so frantic about my assignments. On Monday, I was working through the Intro stuff in my Family Foundations class. I arrived at the syllabus/ice breaker quiz, which asked for information regarding the instructor's office hours and such. The instructor hadn't posted any info yet. So, I had to back out of the quiz and contact him and ask for a reset. (It turns out there was an automatic ability to retake this quiz so that stress was a non-issue.) The instructor responded and explained that I could retake, and that he'd had a busy day and that he'd be posting his hours and by the way, CLASS DOESN'T START UNTIL TUESDAY! (Those caps are for my emphasis, he didn't use them) Oh--do you mean to tell me that I didn't have to have those two talks (amazing talks by Sister Beck and Elder Hafen) read by Monday morning? I didn't have to have everythings done by Monday afternoon? The assignment list seemed a bit sparse, now that you mention it. Of course that's because it's the Introductory week, I'm sure things will pick up.

Anyway, I'm taking two classes concurrently this semester instead of one each block. I'm sure I'll have to develop the system for managing two at a time. But...I don't have to work through the assignment list at such a rapid pace!

Vive El Zorro!

We (Frank, Sarah, Caleb, and I) went to see Zorro, the Musical! at Hale Centre Theatre last night.

Wow!

 

We didn’t purchase season tickets to Hale this season. Zorro was the only show that I was particularly interested in. I’m not a fan of Oliver!, and I can take or leave the stage version of The Sound of Music (although it turns out that I know several people involved in that production, so I might choose to go see it after all).

What a show! I’d gotten rave reviews from Bekah, Hannah, and Dinah, who’d all seen it shortly after it opened. We know one of the young men that is playing Zorro. But I still wasn’t totally prepared for how good it really is. I don’t know why not— Scarlet Pimpernel, Beauty and the Beast, Tale of Two Cities, 1776, Aida—just to name a few of the amazing productions at Hale Theatre.

But this show has a great back story. Hale Centre Theater, in West Valley City, Utah presented the U.S. premier of Zorro, the Musical. It originally opened in London’s West End and has played in major houses in Paris, Moscow, Amsterdam, Tokyo, Seoul and Shanghai. Hale Theatre flew some of the production crew to Amsterdam to see the production there, as part of the preparation for producing it here. The coolest part of the story is how contact was made with John Gertz, who happens to be the producer of the two Zorro movies staring Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones, and  to owns the rights to anything ‘Zorro’ worldwide. Mr. Gertz brought the European producer, Willem Metz, to see Hale’s production of  A Tale of Two Cities”. Mr. Metz was impressed, and he admitted that he “is not easily impressed” . The next day, after a tour of the theatre, and a discussion of Hale’s capabilities when it come to sword choreography, illusion work, Flamenco guitar and Flamenco dancing, Mr Gertz said, “How would you like to do the U.S. Premiere of ‘Zorro’? It will be something you can tell your grandchildren about!” Following HCT’s eight-week run of “Zorro,” the original London production of the musical will play at the Alliance Theater in Atlanta and at the Ahmanson in Los Angeles and will then embark on a 90-week tour beginning in 2013, including a three-month stay on Broadway.

We had a fun moment when Zorro first appeared on stage. The role is double cast. We specifically wanted to see the Thursday night cast because we know Derek Smith. He graduated from WJHS between Jacob and Abby. We’ve enjoyed him in productions over the years—starting with Joseph at WJHS. Now he’s all grown up and saving California. His vocals were great and his timing and humor were delicious.

My favorite production number, by far, was Bamboleo—

(I learned after the show that it’s originally recorded by the (Gipsy Kings): wild and colorful, and Gypsy!  The solo numbers were great also. Sarah happened to know one of the Flamenco dancers, from her ward at BYU. We agreed that his next gig should be Dancing with the Stars, as a pro, teaching has-been actors and athletes how to dance.

There are only two days left in the Hale Production—today and tomorrow. If you can beg, borrow or steal a ticket, GO. If not, well, better luck next time!