Sunday

I just wanted to post a couple of things about today, one is an event that inspired me, and the other pissed me off.

I guess I'll start off with the good. After hometeaching before church today, I went with my companion to his place where we cooked a breakfast. His hometeachers came over to hometeach. One of the individuals happens to be autistic. I've had a few short conversations with him, and his mannerisms are all fairly typical of an autistic individual. While hometeaching, his companion gave the lesson, then he looks at us straight in the eye, and bore one of the most powerful testimonies I've heard in a long while, portraying no traits of somebody with autism. I was in awe of this guy. I had never heard him teach or bear his testimony. I knew that he was able to serve a mission, but I never knew of his capabilities. It's very uplifting to see individuals overcome the trials that they have in this life.

Now the rant. For Sunday, I try to choose one hymn a week that is unfamiliar. I chose hymn 115. It's actually a very easy hymn, but one not often sung. So as I'm conducting, I hear only about two voices from the congregation loud and clear, and a number of others attempting to sing it, but lack the confidence to sing out. I see one individual not singing at all. It happens to be the girl who I posted about my FHE rant about. Now, normally I probably wouldn't mind if a person in the congregation doesn't sing, but this girl can sing, and sing well. But it's the same regular songs everyone knows. She doesn't even take the chance to learn a new hymn. Come on, peoples, I may have a critical ear, but at least take the effort to try to sing a basic hymn, instead of those few that you like. She pisses me off. She could easily use her voice to help others find the correct pitches. I'm an octave lower and away from the congregation. Girls would have a better time matching somebody in their own octave. So anyway, the girl next to her decides to share her hymnbook with the FHE girl, to which she STILL decides not to sing. Oh, she sang the rest of the hymns alright. Stupid people who don't make the effort to actually learn something and decide to live in their ignorance. Alright, that's enough of a rant.

Just to not end on a bad note, a guy in our ward is leaving on his mission. This individual isn't the most socially compotent and tends to be a little off. But this guy has made great strides to come back to church and to serve a mission as an older individual. I am always impressed by the power of his testimony and his love for the people. His ability to go out of his way to share the gospel and share it with anybody no matter how inconvenient the situation may be. I think that may go back to not being the most socially compotent, but he is still an inspiring individual to me. While I may not like the idea of farewells, open houses, or any social aspects relating to missionary work, I will head over there tonight to see him off, because I will sorely miss this individual and the example he has set.