“And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.”
--- Friedrich Nietzsche
This blog post is a continuation of "Celebration". Its objective is merely to affirm that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints encourages all things wholesome such as dances and songs of all kinds, not merely hymns of worship.
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KARAOKE & DANCING
On October 24, 2014, we had a Multi-Branch Talent Night activity with any guests who wanted to attend. It included a couple of sketches, followed up by karaoke, and dancing. Overall, it was a sizable attendance. Attendees took turns singing Spanish songs I had never heard before, nor would I ever hear again, and despite the difference in music taste, I thought they sang beautifully. The American music industry today is so flooded with pop and songs that are meant to pump up the crowd, which I can enjoy at times, but it was refreshing to hear a new side of culture like banda. Something more traditional. It was still upbeat and fun. The activity was free of judgment and fostered a spirit of unity. Everyone could be themselves and it didn’t matter if you had talent or not. It just goes to show, you can have fun without alcohol.
On top of singing, the Mexican people are avid dancers. From a young age, they're taught traditional dances. Their culture is so infused with dance, I marveled at their fluidity. I have two left feet. I think of the dances I went to in High School and how everyone there just jumped up and down and had no order or grace. In Mexico, it was the opposite. There were steps and order and none of the guys were shy like most American males I know, including myself. It was basically a sign of masculinity if you knew how to dance. As missionaries, we weren’t allowed to dance out of respect for our sacred calling and professionalism but we certainly wanted to. I suppose we compensated for our lack of dancing by always singing. Missionaries sing a lot.
Elder Martinez got volunteered to sing so he requested Disney’s “Let it Go” from Frozen which had been released shortly before our mission (See "Intercambios"). Rather than try singing well, Elder Martinez purposely sang as off-key, crack-voiced, loud, and theatrically as he could. At times, he would jump and fling his arms around to hype the crowd. The whole place was filled with loud friendly laughter. At the end of his singing, Elder Johnson and Elder Stohel (both of whom are big guys) ran up and carried him off stage on their shoulders victoriously. I was tasked with recording it on Elder Martinez's camera, which I did, but that video was lost along with the USB Elder Martinez stored it on a few months later.
After that, Elder Martinez was very popular among the Church members. They opened up to the missionaries more when they remembered that we're just normal guys, like anybody else, who love making other people happy. You see, it’s not about us. Rarely is it about us. It’s always about others. I am sure Elder Martinez could have sung well if he wanted to but it’s a talent to make others happy, and a valuable one at that. One might worry about losing face by performing poorly but the opposite happened as Elder Martinez made many friends instantly.
That whole winter season, as Christmas approached, we had a couple of activities. Most days we ate tamales among other belly-warming goodies. We had one Church activity on Friday, December 12, 2014, involving food and about three piñatas for the little kids. The following week on December 19, 2014, was when we had our "official" Church Christmas party "La Posada" with more food and more piñatas which was mentioned in the previous blog post. (See "Celebration")
Mexicans are amazing for their piñata crafting skills. Busier streets displayed creations of all characters and designs, you name it, from Dora the Explorer to Spider-Man. They were an art form that people, some people, dedicated to whole lives to, family businesses even. And like I already said in "Food, Glorious Food -- Part 1", there was no small variety of candies to fill it with. Something I found odd was that at this celebration, none of the children whacking the piñata were blindfolded. The piñata was tied to a pole and lifted up and down nonchalantly as the children took easy hits at it. I’m not sure why, but it doesn’t really matter so long as everyone got candy, I suppose. Maybe it was the smart thing to do because everyone knows what to expect when you blindfold a kid and tell them to start swinging around. When we smacked piñatas as a Mission, we all had blindfolds on.
FEELING THE GOSPEL SOUND
"Those who dance often appear strange or awkward to those who cannot hear the music."
This is a wonderful video. There is more to living the gospel than just going through the motions of "the dance". Joy comes when we can hear, even feel the music. At times, it can be easier to learn the routine dance steps than to learn to feel the music of the gospel in our hearts. People cannot be forced or compelled to feel the "music" of the Holy Ghost in their hearts (See "A Still, Small Voice"). "I can teach you to dance but you have to hear the music". In the end, each of us is responsible for putting our ear to the Lord. It's something that may take time, and often takes practice, but the Lord will bless us as we patiently seek to feel Him and invite Him into our lives.
Music and dance have a way of connecting people. If there's one thing we can agree on, I think it's that. We might not all sing or dance beautifully, and we may perform differently but diversity is what makes it so engaging. We can't have harmonies without different parts. Magic is when our hearts sing as one.
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