We have a new contestant for Rachel's most embarrassing moment!

Last year, I got a frantic call from our ward music director asking me if I knew how to play the organ. I had messed around on the organ before, but never have had any formal training. I figured I could play well enough to bail her out one Sunday because there was literally nobody else who could play the organ. I was asked to substitute on the organ occasionally and it became more and more frequent. The one girl who was officially called to be the organist moved and it was down to me. The calling was extended and I became our ward organist. Not a ward organist but the ward organist. Luckily, I haven't been out of town or violently ill and have been able to play every Sunday. I can't remember the last time I sat down in the congregation.

There are some benefits to playing the organ. It's a new talent. It's a new perspective at church being on the stand and being able to see the congregation. I never have to scramble to find a seat because nobody else is going to sit on that organ bench! Last night, I got a phone call from the counselor in the bishopric wondering about the hymns and if I knew what we were going to be singing this Sunday. I said I hadn't heard, but knew that I would be playing. I decided to just pick some hymns so I'd know what we were singing and they'd know what we were singing. I generally try to practice on Saturday before going to play on Sunday thanks to Jen's purchase of a piano (thanks Jen!). I chose hymns I would know because I wasn't really sure I'd have that much time to practice. I did receive a text message last night at 11:45 with the hymns the music coordinator had chosen for today. I figured we were singing the hymns I had chosen, but if we ended up singing what she had chosen, I would wing it.

This morning just did not start out well. I was running late after fighting with my hair which did not want to behave today. When I got to the church, no parking spots were available on the side where my chapel is so I had to park on the other side and I pretty much sprinted down the hall. I walked into the chapel and my friend Emily was playing prelude on the piano. The bishopric looked at me and gestured to the hymns that were on the board and asked if they would be okay. The chorister apparently got the same text message I did and put the hymns up not knowing that different hymns had been chosen. I nodded that it would be fine and that I would wing it through the hymns. I turned on the organ just as Bro. Fletcher stood up to conduct the meeting. The opening hymn went fine. The sacrament hymn was okay. We muddled through. During the speakers, I kept thinking I should grab the hymn book and turn it to the closing hymn so I would be ready when the meeting closed to just sit and play rather than be flipping through the hymnbook to find what we were singing. I ignored the thought and decided that I would just turn the page when I got there.

The meeting ended and I moved to the bench. I was a little flustered at this point. I looked up to see what hymn number has been posted. I saw the number -63 and started turning in my hymnbook to 163. I played the introduction and started into the hymn. It wasn't one that we sing very often, but it was appropriate for closing the meeting so I thought nothing of it . . . until 2 lines down in the song. I could hear the stake president singing loud and clear and my bishopric singing loud and clear and then I hear uncomfortable laughter coming from the congregation. I looked up to where the hymn numbers were posted and I see 263, not 163. The chorister had a panicked look on her face and shrugs her shoulders not knowing what hymn I'm even playing.

I was mortified. I wanted to crawl under the organ and die. I decided at that point that I was going to keep playing the hymn and finish it out. The congregation mostly caught on at that time and luckily, 163 only has 2 verses so my misery was relatively short lived. It was the talk of church. I guess I did my part to wake up the congregation and keep everybody on their toes. My ward needs to work on their "name that hymn" skills and I need to work on reading numbers correctly. On the bright side, I think my stake president may have a future with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.