“Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacle vanish,” the sixth president of the United States, John Quincy Adams, once said. Patience is one of the puzzle pieces to life, but you might know that God doesn’t just gift you with patience when you are born. Most people learn that the hard way. In the dictionary patience means quiet, steady perseverance, even-tempered care, and diligence. Does this describe your daily life? I know that I need to work on these qualities myself. When I think of patience to get to my Heavenly Father, I think of my orchestra class.

Comparing God the orchestra doesn’t seem to fit very well, but when you learn an instrument it opens a whole new world. In my 7th grade orchestra class I play the viola, which is an instrument that looks like a violin, only big and has a deeper and mellower sound.

Once we chose our instruments in the beginning of the year, my orchestra teacher said this important thing to us, “The people who chose viola have large personalities and there aren’t many people like them. They take risk and are shy, but can be loud. These people though are afraid of risk and take things slow, smooth, and relaxed. They tend to be the smarts of the group, but are shoved into the background. The violin players are make many more mistakes, but can fix them easily. They aren’t afraid of a challenge. They might be lost alone but work best in unison. They can be annoying, but if you treat them right can be one of the most beautiful creations. Now, the cello and double bass are a mixture of the two, but mysterious and hard to figure out.”

Who would think you could compare yourself to an instrument? Could we take figures from the scriptures and compare ourselves to them? Just by the things we chose can just tell a short moral about who we are. That’s when the choices come to play. I chose to learn an instrument for the fun of it, but didn’t know I could learn more than learning an instrument. During the course of the year, I learned patience from this box of strings. I had to study hard and try my best, Sit still and just listen, put my fingers in the right place and who would’ve known I learned how the play ‘The Star Spangled Banner’. Playing this simple instrument has given me bliss and people all over the world can do it too. Since this thing has given me all these things can’t the gospel do it too? If I can learn an instrument can’t I learn the gospel too?

I remember when I first started playing viola; I would take my instrument home every day, and go to my room and practice (or at least experiment) with my instrument. I later share what I learned with my family. I would look at my notes and learning how to read them until I could glance at my music and know it. Learning to read music is like learning a new language; difficult, but once learned can be an easy and enlightening experience. Isn’t reading the Book of Mormon like reading a new language too? It was for me. I still struggle with the use of grammar even though I’m a book worm, but just like reading music it gets easier the more I do it. Just like my instrument, I can take my Book of Mormon into my room and read it like I read music. I can also go and share what I learned with my family and the world.

I enjoy playing my instrument and instead of going home to watch TV, I go in my room and practice even if orchestra was my last class of the day. If I could only take my love for this instrument and replace it with love for the Book of Mormon I would, but I don’t have too. As long as I attend church just as I attend orchestra class I can learn, prosper, and excel in the knowledge of the church, but just like orchestra it takes time and patience. In both these things you can never stop learning about them. Just like there is new music being written and people learning how to play this instrument all over the world, there is new teachings and members joining The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The second counselor of the first presidency Dieter F. Uchtdorf once said, “The lessons we learn from patience will cultivate our character, lift our lives, and heighten our happiness.”