Learning to play the piano

I teach piano to Sonia. Sonia is about 21 years old, a college student and lives in India. She is the only member of the church in her family. Sonia is all about learning. She takes Spanish class, because she is interested in the language, even though she will rarely run into any one in India that will ever speak Spanish with her. She loves to practice what she knows with me. Sonia came to me a few months back asking me to teach her how to play the piano. I asked her why she wanted to learn. She said that she wants to learn because there is no one in her church that can play the hymns and she would love to be able to do that. I then listed my requirements to her. 1. You must have access to a piano on daily basis. She said, "I'll go to the church every day and practice." 2. You must commit to once a week lessons and actually come to them on a regular basis. "I want to come twice a week." She said, and she does just that. So, we have had about two months worth of lessons. It's not easy for her, it doesn't come so naturally, but she is still very persistent. I went to her branch on Sunday to find her sitting at the piano and playing prelude music before the meeting started. She was playing only the melody line of "Abide With Me". She played it over several times. As I sat and listened, I thought, she couldn't do that a month ago. As I sat and listened I felt the spirit come over me and I got goose bumps. The melody was so simple and soothing. I thought, wow, I wonder if she knows that she just invited the spirit into sacrament meeting with her lovely music. Sometimes the simple melody line is sufficient to sooth and to heal. I am so proud of Sonia for her persistence and desire. I can see her playing the simplified hymns with in a years time if she keeps it up. What a blessing she will be to her branch to be able to provide accompaniment for the congregation to sing to, and beautiful pre-lude and post-lude music to help invite the spirit. I am so proud of her, and so happy to be a part of that experience.