- RLD on Judging in our Meetings (Or What Did Church Lead You to Think About Yesterday), 9/20: “Turns out Elder Teixeira also talked about his photography at BYU-Idaho’s graduation in April, and the Newsroom article on the Church website includes a sample. Stunning.” Sep 26, 12:36
- on Are Handbells Only for Christmas?: “My first reaction to the post title was “What? Why would anyone think that?” I learned to play handbells at a boychoir summer camp. Then I remembered that the only time I’ve played them as an adult was indeed in a ward Christmas program.” Sep 26, 12:03
- on Are Handbells Only for Christmas?: “The maximum number of bells varies, but you’re spot on about bass ringers handling more. Most of the time, ringers have two notes and their accidentals (so, usually four bells). Bass ringers usually cover three or four notes, plus accidentals. In one understaffed bell ensemble I was in, though, I did an entire octave of bass bells for a couple of seasons (so, twelve). The top positions often will handle their assigned two notes and the same set an octave higher. As far as notation, the music is based on how piano music is scored, though it has a few unique symbols that add to the fun! (https://www.ashleydanyew.com/posts/2017/handbell-notation-guide-infographic). That’s a good comparison!” Sep 25, 23:15
- on Are Handbells Only for Christmas?: “Out of curiosity, what is the maximum number of bells one player would use. Of course, usually two hands for two bells, but for some of the lesser-used bass notes maybe a player could handle more? I will have to look up hand bell notation, because although I think I’ve seen almost every other kind, I don’t remember seeing it before. Hand Bell Choirs remind me a lot of Steel Bands, in the enthusiasm and camaraderie they inspire in their adherents, while still being something of a niche musical category, although I think Steel Band music can sometimes be maybe a little more improvisatory.” Sep 25, 19:51
- on Judging in our Meetings (Or What Did Church Lead You to Think About Yesterday), 9/20: “Anon, I’d love to hear what all that led you to think. Did it lead to any productive thoughts? Or help you notice any beauty? Give you any insight? LHL, really? every instant of the meeting was that way? You didn’t find any way to think about what happened that gave you any inspiration or joy? RLD, I like what your SP said — our mental approaches are often what limits us the most. And I have a warm place in my heart for Elder Teixeira. I first met him when he was a very different Elder Teixeira — he was the AP when I arrived in the Lisbon Portugal mission in 1981. And I’m fascinated to learn about his photography. Thanks so much for mentioning it. And yes, I think your way of looking at the word “Creator” is exactly right. I’ve said things like that occasionally — and now I’m thinking that I need to step up!” Sep 24, 20:15
- on How I taught Proverbs and Ecclesiastes (annotated edition): “Thanks for the comments. Another thing that I noticed when preparing this lesson was that I felt like I was focusing on the needs of some class members but not all of them. The discussion at the end included contributions from the whole range of class members, so maybe focusing on one group was okay, but it was also a bit disconcerting. If was teaching regularly, I’d probably have to think about consciously targeting different class members from week to week.” Sep 23, 20:03
- on How I taught Proverbs and Ecclesiastes (annotated edition): “Really enjoyed this “how to” exercise and the inner dialogue as we all figure out how to teach this way. In Isaiah this past week, I tried to pack too much in and covered about 8 verses from 3 chapters but should have done 6 verses from 2 chapters. I also didn’t nail the questions as I hoped too. I think I miss a longer transition in exercise and more background like I was doing with double the time back in the good old days.” Sep 23, 18:35
- on How I taught Proverbs and Ecclesiastes (annotated edition): “I like it. What I think makes this work is that you had a clear goal and you designed the whole lesson to accomplish that goal. I’m not sure how you’d word it, but something like “Encourage the class members to be less simplistically cynical.” I don’t know if you chose that based on a problem you perceive in your ward or if you were trying to immunize them against a strong trend you (and I) perceive in society, but either is legit. The scriptures give us several variations on “preach nothing but repentance.” That doesn’t mean every lesson needs to be on the topic of repentance, but rather, that every lesson should have the goal of creating some kind of change in the class members. That’s very different from Old Testament 101. You can’t “cover” Proverbs and Ecclesiastes in any meaningful way in 25 minutes if you’re trying to do what a university professor would do–and it’s not like we have university professors teaching most of our classes. (If people want that there are some great books they can read.) But you can read Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, prayerfully identify something from it that will help your ward members change, and teach them a 25-minute lesson that will encourage them to do so. And you did.” Sep 23, 11:15
- on How I taught Proverbs and Ecclesiastes (annotated edition): “People say things like, “Well, every politician is corrupt,” but that’s not a smart observation, and it’s not true. It only serves the interests of the corrupt. Oh, I like this. It would be devastating to QAnon if every adult understood this.” Sep 23, 09:14
