Jafar-ckson

On Saturday night, JB and I joined a number of other family members (including Jana, Kylee, Ben and Adi and their boys, and Biz and Kate) in the audience at Morgan Elementary School in Kaysville to watch 11-year-old Jackson perform in their production of Disney's Aladdin Jr.

Jack landed the role of the villain Jafar, and he once again did a great job and had a wonderful time playing the bad guy. The show was everything you'd expect for an elementary school version, and I may be a bit biased (but 100 percent accurate) when I say that Jackson was the best one up there on the stage.

The (Mostly Former) Improvables at Desert Star 2020

Almost a year to the day after the last one, I had another chance to perform on the stage at the Desert Star! Ian asked Biz, Keenan, Parker, and yours truly to appear in an improv show with him for his work party. We performed a nearly hour-long set, and many chuckles were experienced by all in attendance.

Visiting Grandpa

One year ago today, JB's grandpa passed away from this mortal life.

After our church meetings this morning, we went to visit him at the Centerville cemetery, where we delivered some fresh flowers. It was our first time seeing his (updated) headstone since the funeral last year.

We take comfort in knowing that his spirit is not really there and that he has been reunited with his sweetheart. We also look forward to the day we will see him again, through faithfulness to our covenants. In the meantime, we love and miss him here.

Improvables: Oscar Night

The annual Academy Awards were held last week, for which a lot of very well-dressed celebrities gave each other awards and then gave speeches about them.

Not to be outdone, the Improvables had our own Oscar Night on the stage at the Bountiful Davis Art Center the Friday night before. It was the first time we've held such a theme night (there are many firsts we've yet to try!), and it turned out to be a total blast.

We all dressed up to the nines for the occasion, which became a tribute to many of our favorite movies. It turns out that we clean up rather nicely.

Keenan, Ricky, and I played on the same team. Our games included "Musical Theme Song" (I was assigned a theme song for the Die Hard franchise), "Scenes Not Seen," "Dueling Plays," "Director," and other favorites. At the end of the performance, members of the audience voted on their favorite game, and we were chosen for "Mumbling Movie Murder Mystery":

I was also chosen for an individual award for "Best Moment" for an improvised Calvin Klein perfume ad in "Movie Pitch Meeting":

Ricky was voted favorite performer of the evening, while audience awards were also given out (Best Suggestion and Best Audience Member). Sure, they were recycled sports trophies purchased at the D.I., but it was still flattering to be selected.

We came, we saw, we laughed a lot. We look forward to our next Oscar Night in 2021.

Timing: Four Years Later

About four years ago, when I was still stranded on the Island of Misfit Toys, one of the counselors in the bishopric called me to be the ward Sunday School president. The only thing is ... life got in the way. I was in the middle of some serious health problems, and I was unable to accept the calling.

If any of this sounds familiar, it's because I actually blogged about this experience here on Paco Nation. If you have a few more minutes to kill, you can read all about it here.

The point of this is not to rehash said experience; it's, in fact, to relate the fact that there is ... a little bit more to the story.

Bro. Hill assured me back then that the calling was always right; the timing perhaps wasn't. As of just a few months ago, it turns out that he was 100 percent correct. Whatever the timing may have been on it, the bishop recently called yours truly to be the new ward Sunday School president.

I have held a lot of callings and have served in a lot of Church positions over the years, but I haven't been a president of anything since I was a deacons quorum president over 30 years ago. (Yes, Paco is getting old. Don't look so shocked, in spite of his baby face.)

This is somewhat unfamiliar territory for me, but it's been great. I have wonderful counselors and a secretary to help me. Beyond that, I'm just sort of showing up and figuring out the rest. It's an exciting time to be involved with the Sunday School program and to see how the Come, Follow Me program is blessing families and individuals in our ward. I also get to go to ward council meetings every Sunday morning for a half-hour to try to feel useful.

This experience was a gentle reminder from a loving Heavenly Father that His promises do come to pass and that His chosen servants are truly inspired, both at the worldwide level as well as the local/ward level. I can't wait to see what else the future may hold.