As Zion's Youth In Latter Days

This was the song we sang in seminary this morning. It hit me pretty hard, it is so beautiful.

As Zion’s youth in latter days,
We stand with valiant heart,
With promise shining in our eyes,
Resolved to do our part.
Upon a noble past we build;
The future fills our view.
We face the challenge of our day
And pledge we will be true.

The truths and values we embrace
Are mocked on ev’ry hand.
Yet as we listen and obey
We know we can withstand
The evils that would weaken us,
The sin that would destroy.
With faith, we hold the iron rod
And find in this our joy.

Thru test and trial we’ll have our fears,
But we will not despair.
We’re here to serve a righteous cause;
Truth gives us strength to dare.
We’ll love, and learn, and overcome;
We’ll sing a joyful song,
As Zion’s youth in latter days,
Triumphant, pure, and strong.

( Hymn 256 - A Zion's Youth In Latter Days
Text: Susan Evans McCloud, b. 1945. © 1985 IRI
Music: Irish melody; arr. © 1985 IRI)

"O, remember, my son, and learn wisdom in thy youth; yea, learn in thy youth to keep the commandments of God.

   Yea, and cry unto God for all thy support; yea, let all thy doings be unto the Lord, and whithersoever thou goest let it be in the Lord; yea, let all thy thoughts be directed unto the Lord; yea, let the affections of thy heart be placed upon the Lord forever.

   Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day."

          - Alma 37:35-37

"And they were all young men, and they were exceedingly valiant for courage, and also for strength and activity; but behold, this was not all—they were men who were true at all times in whatsoever thing they were entrusted.

   Yea, they were men of truth and soberness, for they had been taught to keep the commandments of God and to walk uprightly before him."

          - Alma 53:20-21

In Memory

Today was an awful day, for various reasons I don't need to get into, though some of you may know. It was one of those days where you just want to huddle in a corner and cry, or hug someone and never let go.

One days like this, I invariably turn to music. It is inevitable. Music is a huge part of my life, and so here are a few songs I turned to today -

Overall, the days is encapsulated by one of the stunningly beautiful pieces we are currently playing in our school band - An American Elegy by the amazing Frank Ticheli. It was composed in memory of the tragedy at Columbine High School.

(More great Ticheli pieces found here)

Another of my favorite composers is Eric Whitacre. A few of his wonderful pieces -

The gorgeous October-
              woodwind and string arrangements

Sleep

Lux Arumque (Light and Gold)

Choral and woodwind

 

Another beauty - Fantasy on a Japanese Folk Song by Samuel R. Hazo

These are my songs of the day. I hope you find them as beautiful as I do.

Personal Progress and Pie

What a great combination.

Especially when it is Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie (recipe for this astonishing creation found here).
It is amazing. It truly is. Served with ice cream, maybe a little chocolate syrup, caramel or whipped cream...It's like heaven in a bowl. If heaven were made of chocolate, sugar, and cream.

I was served this deliciousity at tonight's Young Women's mutual activity, where we recorded and worked on Personal Progress. (They both start with P, see? Personal Progress. Pie. How ingenious!)

I am, sadly, rather...deprived when it comes to the joy that is the Personal Progress Program. (Whew, another P!) In other words - I am sooo behind.

To encourage me to work on that, I was introduced to this lovely page, a section of the Church website. It helps track your progress on Personal Progress (Go alliteration!) and get things done! I haven't taken a good look at it yet, but I am told it is great.

So, everybody, it's great!

LADIES - Take a look at it.
Guys, I guess you could too...it couldn't hurt. =]

Let's get this one out of the way...

Homework.

We all hate it. It is annoying, stressful, and sometimes (being optimistic here) rather pointless.

Agreed? Good.

We also all procrastinate our homework at one point or another. Sad, but true. Don't believe me? I bet you can think of at least one time you put off homework until the last possible minute. Maybe the class before it was due...

(My friend Mister T does that. I have no idea how he gets away with it! He does quite a bit of his homework IN SCHOOL, yet he has good grades! That boy is a beast...)

Hmm, procrastination...I feel a Scripture Mastery coming on!

Alma 34:32-34 (Yeah. It's the long one.)
"...i beseech of you that ye do not procrastinate the day of your repentance until the end..."

In this case, I think of repentance as homework. =]

The Necessary Intro at the Beginning of Everything

My name is Megy. (Duh. It says so to the left...)
I am starting this blog because...well, because I want to. It isn't about my life (completely), but rather about our lives. The lives of teenagers. LDS teenagers. In High School.

Because Highschool is nasty.

Yeah, being a teenager can be great. We get to have alot of fun - friends, driving, etc. But at the same time, it's hard. Especially in our modern world. There is so much going on around us that is NOT fun. Alot of temptations. It's difficult to stay true to our beliefs and strong in the gospel.

But we can do it. We are not alone. We have each other, and we have our Heavenly Father.

SO - This blog will (eventually) be full of...stuff. Encouragement, inspiration, problems we face, and the simple things too - good music and books, food...life. =]