6/8

so this one time i'm serving in a the most remote part of the mission in japan, a tiny and beautiful little seaside town called shingu.  there were two companionships of missionaries down there and the branch was the four of us about a half dozen old ladies.

one sunday we were having our branch conference, and so our meeting was not the familiar group of nine or ten that we usually had, but closer to thirty people packed into our little rented room.  the mission president and his wife were there, as were the district president and his family, the zone leaders, and some other visitors.  by this point in my mission (out about a year) i had gotten accustomed to giving talks in japanese--heck, one or two of us were giving a talk in sacrament meeting every week--but this morning i somehow ended up conducting the music.

i don't got rhythm.
and i can normally flap my hand well enough to pass for 4/4 or even 3/4.  but the hymn we were singing that morning was in 6/8 and standing in front of all of those visitors, i panicked.  i remember my mission president (who had some musical training) sitting in the front row, trying to encourage and lead me along by simplifying it to 3/4.  i don't think i did the greatest, but somehow we still managed to grow the church down there.

i probably haven't thought about that moment since it happened eleven years ago, but when no one volunteered to lead the opening hymn today in sunday school, i was reminded of it as i stood up and tried to conduct "love one another" in 6/8 time.
i've grown a lot since my tim in japan, but there are still some things i can't do.