We got up early and went to church today. We chose a location sort of arbitrarily based on the parking lot size we saw from the Google satellite pictures of some different possibilities... when you travel in a motorhome, parking is often an important factor to consider. It was a fairly small group there but they were really friendly. Our last name sounded very much like the last name of someone else there, so when people greeted us and asked our name, they assumed we were related to each other and visiting for the other family's son's baptism, which was scheduled for after the church meetings. We ended up going to that afterwards anyway, which is always nice to see.
As a guy got up to lead a song during the sacrament meeting, a nice lady behind us who had been chatting with us earlier asked Roseann if she knew Michael McLean. She said, "No, but I've met John Canaan". The lady said, "Oh, well Michael McLean writes wonderful music..." and she was gesturing towards the guy who was speaking to the congregation. Roseann clarified that she knew who Michael McLean is, but didn't know him personally, and then asked, "Does that guy work with him or something?" The lady laughed and said, "No, that's him." Roseann was a little embarrassed. See, in our church, Michael McLean is about as well-known around the world as Wayne Gretzky is known to hockey fans. He's a hugely beloved songwriter and recording artist in the inspirational music genre, and has also written musicals and a very popular traveling Christmas show called The Forgotten Carols, which Roseann is a big fan of. I'm not as familiar with his music as Roseann is, but I wasn't raised in the church like she was. Regardless, I've heard several of his songs in various settings and church videos over the years, and he writes very beautiful and memorable songs and is incredibly talented. He ended up greeting me after our gospel doctrine class, and I really enjoyed talking with him. Once he found out what I did, it became a problem, though, because I kept wanting to ask him about his music and career, and he kept wanting to ask about what I do. One thing I hadn't expected was how funny he is... The music he is primarily known for, at least from my perception, is more of the sentimental, heart-tugging inspirational ballad type. But he was like the class clown there, throwing in several witty quips throughout the meetings. And of course when you're a guy like that they're gonna use your piano/singing chops every chance they can, which meant that we got to hear him lead everyone in a great version of "I Am a Child of God", and also noodling beautifully on "Amazing Grace" and singing one of his originals, "You Know I Believe in You" during the baptism program. Anyway, that was totally unexpected but he was incredibly friendly and I hope we have a chance to cross paths again someday. He was eager to meet Roseann and the girls later at the baptism, which was good because Roseann had really wanted to meet him, too... even if she didn't recognize him by sight earlier.
We called and wished my mother a happy birthday, and Evee sang the song for her nice and loud. She was impressed by how on pitch it was... Ev is really coming along! We took care of a few other things out that way and then drove for a couple hours to an RV park close to Thermal, where I have some school assemblies tomorrow morning. We had some dinner, put the girls to bed, watched the ending of a movie (The Last Samurai) we had started months ago, and now we're going to bed.
Sorry, no pictures today... Even if I knew Michael McLean was going to be there and had brought my camera in, I think it would have felt a little awkward to try to get a photo with him at church.
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