King of the Band

So this one time at band camp...... I won't hop in quite that quick! Over my years in junior high and high school I played trumpet in band! (for you band geeks out there you know now that I was the coolest person in the room and I knew it!) I loved playing the trumpet and participating in our band! Suzy (the poor band director that had to put up with me for 4 years) had to through a pencil or baton at me to get me to shut up or would call out "hey dingle-fritz" to get my attention, but besides all that she was a great friend and an amazing director! I learned a lot from her and from playing the trumpet!

For those of you not aware the trumpet is the best instrument in the band and those who play it are the funniest and coolest people in the band! (As you can tell we are humble too.) The trumpet will play most of the main lines in a song and even if we aren't the main line we play the part you get stuck in your head! The instrument is classified as a brass (meaning it is shiny and makes a lot of noise!) and is fairly simple in its form! The mouth piece is similar to any other brass instrument, it will convert the buzzing sound from your lips into the crisp soothing sound of the king of the band! Or in other words whatever is played into the mouth piece is what will come out, it is simply a messenger to the trumpets body! The body is composed of brass pipe bent in an ovular form with three valves in the middle! The combination of pressing one or more of these valves and adjusting the speed and amount of air put through the mouth piece will produce the different notes! Each valve has a tuning slide to provide for optimal clarity and pitch! That is a basic over view of the trumpet!

I had a buddy in the trumpet section we got along great! We were always talking in class and we had some of the best input! He was a very good trumpeter while I was simply a mediocre one! There were a few things that separated us, for example he had gone out and found a mouthpiece that fit his facial structure and playing while I had just taken what came with my trumpet and went with it! He would tune his instrument with each tuning slide while I would just tune the master slide! He would oil his valves and grease his slides often, I would occasionally! He practiced and took private lessons..... I did neither! He took time to make band and his instrument a priority I simply did not! (To clarify I did enjoy band and I wanted to do well but I simply didn't put in as much time and effort as he did!) the difference between us showed when we played! He always sounded smooth and crisp his lines were delicate and bold, he was all around a better trumpeter than I was! It wouldn't have mattered how nice an instrumentI had...., he still would have sounded better because he had put inall the effort to strengthen his ambusher and diaphragm and lung capacity! I was good and was able to play the music, I performed with the band and got by, however my friend excelled and has continued to play on his own!

I have found that the trumpet and it's player are much like a church! There is the body of the church it's congregation and the individuals that compose it are much like the body of the trumpet! The combination of their personal activity in the church and involvement is similar to that of the the body of the trumpet! Many individual parts must be in the correct placement for optimal sound and clarity! The mouth piece much like the leader of that church taking what he is given and putting it through the body to create the sound! The interesting thing about a trumpet is that it will not, and cannot produce music on its own it needs a master to play it!

In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints we make the claim to be The Church of Jesus Christ (wonder if you could have got that from the name?) he is our master he is the one that "plays" our church! It just so happens that we call our leader and prophet here on the earth today the mouth piece of our religion! He is a chosen messenger hand picked by God himself! The prophet takes what is given him by revelation and puts it through to the body of the church unchanged and pure! The master trumpeter of our church, Jesus Christ can also give revelation of the truth of what the prophet says to individuals by "placing the tuning slides!" He will press certain valves at certain times! As we study the scriptures Playing the sweetest melodies with His mouthpiece and His church! What melodies and precious notes come from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints?  a sense of purpose and belonging! real and lasting happiness! humanitarian aid and a concern for our fellow man! but most importantly a personal relationship with and a knowledge of Jesus Christ! That relationship Is built as we "oil our valves and grease our slides" or in other words as we study his word and as we pray to him for help! Simply put, with a master trumpeter holding an instrument that is well tuned and perfectly up kept, the mouthpiece hand picked and the tuning slides placed just right, The music crisp and smooth the lines delicate and bold, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints plays first seat in the section of Christian Churches surrounded by seconds and thirds!

WMI? The Church of Jesus Christ of L

atter-day Saints is the chosen

instrument of Jesus Christ!