"Mom! You're gonna be so proud of me!"

Near the end of our video chat this morning, Seth exclaimed, "Mom! I almost forgot. You're gonna be so proud of me! Are you ready for this? Can you even handle it?"

"Well first off, I'm already so proud of you. Not sure I could be any prouder. But okay, tell me."

"I'm playing the piano every week in Sacrament Meeting!"

"Okay, you win, Seth. I'm even prouder than I was five minutes ago."

Back story: Seth was 11 years old before he started piano lessons. His older brothers, Isaiah and Eli, started much earlier, at ages 8 and 6, respectively. The truth is when we lived in Montana, I sort of dropped the ball finding Seth a teacher. I was so busy with everything that I just didn't do it, even though he kept asking for lessons.

When we moved to Utah in 2011, one of my first tasks was to find Seth a piano teacher. He started lessons right away, and we were blindsided by how quickly he progressed. Turns out he had more natural talent for piano than either of his next two older brothers. I regretted not finding him a teacher in Montana.

Fast forward three years. At age 14, Seth had a solid foundation, and I so wished he would continue lessons through high school like Eli did, but alas, he chose to stop, just as Isaiah did at around the same age. I'm not one to force my kids to do extracurricular activities. They get to decide. Seth didn't play piano at all through high school, but before he quit, we had a little conversation that went like this:

Seth: I'm tired of piano.
Me: I'd like you to at least finish out this school year.
Seth: Why?
Me: Because one day, you might go on a mission to someplace far away, where no one in your branch plays the piano. The members there will be so grateful that you can play and can share your talent to bless them in that way.

And here we are. Right there. Did I call it, or what?

Apparently, Seth's branch had a guy who played, but then he had back surgery, so they were just singing with no accompaniment. Seth approached the Branch President: "Uh, I could play, if you need me to. I can do my best." The Branch President was thrilled.

"Mom! You're gonna be so proud of me!"

Oh my little baby, you have no idea.