Born of Water and of the Spirit

Baptism of Brian McCann
February 10th, 2008
9:00 AM

This morning Brian was baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The baptism and confirmation was performed by Todd DelGiudice.

It was such a good baptism this morning. The kids were both excited. The ward was also excited. Brian chose good hymns to open and close the meeting. We started with Lead Kindly Light, and then Elder Giles said the prayer. A member of the Elders quorum presidency gave the talk on baptism. After Brian was baptized, Todd(the sax/clarinet instructor at ewu) played Come Follow Me on the clarinet. it was beautiful. Then I gave a talk on the Holy Ghost. I was so excited to be a part of it. Then the Bishop spoke, and then we sang the closing song, "How Great Thou Art", after which Brian gave a couple of words. He said that for the longest time he was taught and believed that this church isn't true, but after watching his friends closely waiting for them to "slip up" and asking questions of what he thought we had believed, The Lord guided him to where he needed to go. he said, "I can say now that I believe this church to be true, I know this church is true". Then he thanked all of us for being who we are and told us to keep doing what we do. It was a great way to end a baptism.
Then in sacrament meeting, at 11:00, Todd confirmed Brian and he received the gift of the holy ghost. Todd gave a beautiful blessing of peace and courage to do the right things and to be strong with his family.
It was very good. I'm very grateful for the gospel which I know to be true. I'm so glad that I have friends that can strengthen me and help me learn the priorities of life. I'm grateful for Brian and the good example that he is to me.

My Beloved Prophet

Let us rejoice that the church is true! Let us cherish his memory and honor the words he spoke. Our beloved Prophet has passed, but he lives on!

We learned about prophets today and I was just talking to Brian about how much I love Pres. Hinckley. I love how he rejoiced in life and how frail he was but he was so strong. I had a hard time of explaining to him how I felt, but all I could get out was "When I look at him, I feel peace. I know that the Lord speaks to him and he is so close to God". I know that President Hinckley loved us, I could hear it in his voice everytime he spoke to us. He really felt the feelings that Christ feels towards us. He was so humble and filled with love. I love him so much and I know that he was a Prophet of God. God bless his family and our church as our hearts turn to thee in this sweet sadness. He is with his wife and our Father now, and I am sure he is happy.

SALT LAKE CITY 27 January 2008 President Gordon B. Hinckley, who led The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints through twelve years of global expansion, has died at the age of 97.President Hinckley was the 15th president in the 177-year history of the Church and had served as its president since 12 March 1995.The Church president died at his apartment in downtown Salt Lake City at 7:00 p.m. Sunday night from cause’s incident to age. Member of his family were at his bedside. A successor is not expected to be formally chosen by the Church’s Quorum of the Twelve Apostles until after President Hinckley’s funeral within the next few days.http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/

Gingerbread Houses in Jan

We made gingerbread houses! well...ok...graham cracker houses... :-)




That one's mine, my picture didn't turn out so I won't post it...

Just a thought

The "right" one is when you see all those weaknesses and shortcomings but your still excited to see them at the end of the day.

Jobs

I'm stuck in a dilemma. I've been thinking about it for since thanksgiving break when my associate for the EWU Jazz Festival suggested that we would be great planning numerous festivals together. I had the same thought and knew that I could learn a lot from him.
So here's the dilemma, for the past year I have been involved with the Spokane All-Cities Jazz Ensembles, and it is growing. It has doubled this year. It's a non-profit organization that has students involved all over the Spokane area forming Jazz Ensembles. Rob Tapper, my trombone instructor at Eastern, is the director of these groups. That is how I became the Administrative Assistant. Like I said, it is growing. This year it doubled from one high school group and one middle school group to two of each! It's a great opportunity for these students- and for me. The other day Rob shared a vision with me of where he see's it going. I am honored that I get to be a part of this process.
I also was just recently offered a position, one of which I can't say right now, at a place that is also on it's way to being the best thing in music business in Spokane. The problem is, I need to jump on right now, which actually... is great! because I need money. This position will hopefully fill in the gaps that SAJE income doesn't cover. Ok, this is sounding great, but for the past few months I have been thinking of going on a mission, but my reply to that thought is, "we'll see what happens this year" since I turn 21 in the end of august. When I have had that thought of waiting and seeing was a direct correlation to an inward thought 'am I going to get married this year?'. The problem with accepting these positions, or not accepting them is I have to decided about a mission now, or make a more further decision. A company is not going to want to me to join and leave right as the growth is taking way after a 9 months of training and learning all about the business. AND what about the last year of work I have done for SAJE? I can't leave them hanging with someone new, I was the first one to hold this position so I know what's going on.
Rich keeps on telling me that I don't have to go on a mission to be a missionary, which is true, but I feel that I won't focus on it unless it is my focus 24/7, which I feel is kind of selfish on my part. I guess we'll just have to see where this year takes me.
On another hand, I'm really excited because I've been struggling lately with some personal issues and last night Amanda and I hung out since she had work off and I decided to not go to the concert. We talked a bit about this issue and I asked her if she would do scripture study and prayer with me before we go to bed each night. This means I will have to stay up and wait for her to get off work every night, but I think it will help me, and help us become closer together.
I'm excited for Christmas time! I'm excited to be with my family again. I just need to figure out this new position and how much work I'll have to do in spokane so i know when I can come home.
Well, that's all for me. Love ya'll!

Halloween Pictures

I need to make this quick because I need a good night's sleep tonight, but mom wanted halloween pictures so here they are.

I was a “Mardi Gra Queen” and Rich was Roul from The Phantom of the Opera. Mike was the Phantom and his girlfriend was Christine. It was a fun Tuba solo night…. I won the costume contest! It was lots of fun getting dressed up. Afterwards, Rich, Bea, Amanda, and I went out to Sharie’s all dressed up. That was lots of fun too!

Mom and i made the corset and blouse and Sara let me borrow her blue skirt. The mask is from when Dad went to New Orleans for his work conference. Not bad for being put together in a little over a day, if I do say so myself.

In Remembrance of Charlie Wicklander

November 6, 2007

Today I dress in honor of a very special man, someone who affected many students and adults who in return affected and will affect, even though he’s gone, families and generations to come. This person gave so much service for the Pasco High Marching Band. Since I was a freshman, I remember Charlie Wicklander coming to every rehearsal, every performance, and every competition. He took care of the podiums, yard makers, water/hot chocolate, and later the large pit that we obtained. He showed up early to rehearsal and stayed late-sometimes even later than Mr. Newbury because he was waiting for individual students to get picked up by their parents. Later, I remember him coming on Jazz and Wind Ensemble trips, hanging out with us on the bus, and in the concerts. Mrs. Watson and Charile made the basketball band trips memorable with jokes like “Chips’ cane!” Charlie took care of us. Just as Mr. Newbury was our father, Charlie Wicklander was the fun loving uncle of our band.

The work that he did was great for the Music Program, but he did something that was much less obvious but even greater. He was kind and thoughtful. He saw potential in everyone and treated them that way. I don’t think I ever saw him when he was thinking of himself. On band trips he would bring footballs and hacki- sacks for us to play with on down time, he even joined some times J. I remember on a basketball band trip we ran into him at the mall and he showed us a new “toy” that he bought for us. He was so excited to show us what he had found and to let us play with it.

Because of him and other’s like him, the Pasco School District saw more in the music program and fought to bring a great teacher to the department. They grew to think more than, “oh there’s someone there teaching and taking charge, we don’t have to worry about them” but realized that there were students there worth working for.

He told me once that the reason why he enjoys working for the band was because he saw students that were going to do something great. Being drum major my last two years of high school, I was blessed with the opportunity to work closely with Charlie. It was great to be working side by side with him, talking about how far the band had come and where it had the potential to go. I knew that not only did he see the band as one, but as individuals also and the potential we each had. A couple months after I left high school, I came back and visited. On my way out, I ran into Charlie and he told me something I will never forget. He said, “You’re going to be great. I can see you being a mayor in the community you live in, or maybe on city council.” After telling him no I couldn’t see it he reassured me and said, “No I’m serious, you can, you’re going to make a difference”. This is how he affected us. He saw something great and in inspired us to do better.

I kept what he said in the back of my mind and now, I’m a communications major and I can see myself making a difference. He impacted my life more than I think he knew. I want others to know how amazing he was, how much he blessed the lives around him, so today I fast for his family and dress for the success that Charlie saw in me, a small token of remembrance that I can give back to him.

-Kimberly Nicole