a C for Oaks

Well, it's that time.  BYU-Hawaii was visited earlier this week by the Executive committee for all CES.  This includes the presidents of all 4 church affiliated schools (BYU H, I, P and LDSBC), Elder Oaks, Elder Nelson, Elder Johnson of the Seventy, and The Relief Society General President.  While they're here, they might as well speak to us, right?

Right.

Elder Nelson spoke to the Married Student Stake and Elder Oaks spoke to the combined Singles Stakes.

Our stakes are undergoing major adjustment because we are switching from separate Student/YSA stakes to integrated stakes.  Luckily, my ward is completely unaffected. Yay!

President Hannemann loves the stake choir.  He throws firesides just for us, he feeds us, he emails us, he pesters the bishops to pester us into going...but best of all, he has us sing for the General Authorities when they come.

This is, by far, the most amount of people we've had sing in our stake choir.  The director is my friend Harmony and we accept everyone- even if they are tone deaf.
We seem to always sing the sames songs, but I guess it works because for events like this, it's easy to pull together something that everyone knows.
Harmony and I are in Concert Choir together.  It's great.  Well, we sang Let Zion in Her Beauty Rise.  A nice arrangement; we raise the key for each verse and by the end we're singing in unison and it's a bit high for some people, but it's really cool with a big AMEN at the end.  This time, Harmony told me she'd cue a High C and, Aria would you do that for me?  The first time I sang it in practice my neighbor Toby, who was literally standing next to me, had the most surprised expression.  It was hilarious.  I was singing alto and then all of the sudden, out of the blue for many of the people there, I got this note in the stratosphere.  Nobody else in the choir that day could would sing it with me.  It's a running joke in my ward that everyone knows when I'm in sacrament meeting.  :)  The same applies here I suppose.  Everyone knew it was me.  It's a bit nerve-wracking and awkward, but really fun.

So that's my story about how I sang a High C for Elder Oaks.  Yup.  That doesn't happen very often.  The fireside was incredible.  I shook hands with BYU-I's President Clark.  Elder Johnson almost made me cry and Elder Oaks is one of the funniest men I've ever heard.

not my picture.  that'd be cool though

oh----AND my sisters are here with me.  but more on that later.