Figaro

David A. Bednar's Conference Talk April 2005

This conference talk is one that has stuck in my memory ever since hearing it. I am often reminded of the tender mercies of the Lord in my own life, and am grateful for Elder Bednar's words that come back to mind. This week I had such an experience. I have a fairly straight forward morning routine to get ready for work. My cell phone is my alarm clock, so it sits on my nightstand for the duration of the morning, and when I walk by I pick it up to take to work. It is always set on vibrate, but the actual alarm does still ring. Friday morning I got up and got in the shower. When I got out of the shower, I put my cell phone in the pocket of my jeans, which I never do. But then a couple of minutes later, I felt it vibrating. It was my bosses' boss calling about some charts she had to present that morning. If I hadn't put my cell phone in my pocket, I would have missed her call, and might not have had the opportunity to help out an upper level manager. This week there were layoffs at work, more than usual, and it affected people in my immediate department. I am blessed to still have a job, and fortunate to have these little reminders that it is not all because of my own effort.

I went to see the Barber of Seville, because in Orchestra I played one of the songs from that Opera and loved it. Below is a clip of Woody the Woodpecker performing the song. This is how most of us come to know classical music, through cartoons. But I would recommend the real thing to you if you ever have the chance.

When I was in eighth grade, I had a math teacher who loved the Redskins. If the Redskins won their game, we would not have math homework that Monday or Tuesday night. I was an avid football fan that year, in that I watched probably 5 minutes of the game, and asked my Dad who won. The Redskins were having a fantastic season, which meant very little math homework for me. They were finally one of the teams to be in the Superbowl. So I arranged to have a friend come over to watch the Superbowl after church and spend the night. We were hoping for a week off homework! My mom made chips and dips of many kinds, and we sat around and watched the commercials and played board games. I don't actually remember watching the football part of the game. This used to be an annual event, one Sunday a year to just eat a dinner of chips and dips :) But things change.... dad's become bishops.... and examples have to be set. And let's face it. Here in the South we are basketball fans, and not die-hard football fans. So if Carolina goes to the Big Dance, maybe my younger sister will get out of some math homework :)