Alan's LDS Baby Blessing: A Prophecy Fulfilled

My son Alan is now 17 years old (almost 18 years old). Alan was the first son of Todd Alan Morgan and Melodie June Lewis. He was born on August 29, 1994. After his birth he got sick. He had a fever and had to go back to the hospital. I remember giving him a blessing with my father-in-law and soon after that the fever subsided and we were able to take our small baby boy home.

The LDS Baby Blessing

A few weeks later, I had the privilege of giving him an LDS baby blessing at Sacrament Meeting. As customary in the LDS Church, men who hold the priesthood gather around the infant and one person, usually the Father, gives a blessing (a prayer) directed toward the new infant. The prayer is considered both words of counsel and word of prophecy for the infant's life.

LDS Baby Blessing: Prophecy and Counsel

I do not remember everything that was said in that LDS baby blessing. Melodie's mother, Bonnie, wrote the entire blessing down using shorthand and later gave us a copy (I'm not sure where that copy is). I distinctly remember prophesying that Alan would possess "musical gifts" and that he would have "extraordinary musical talents" and that he should use those talents for good.

I always believed in this blessing especially in Alan's musical gifts. When Alan was young he took piano and he became pretty good for a kid. Somewhere around age 9 or 10 he quit piano. We thought, well, maybe he will become a singer or pick up another instrument—he never did for years. As he progressed into teenage years he didn't participate in ANY musical endeavors.

Doubts and Unfulfilled Promises

Many times we asked him to join a school choir—he said that he was not interested. He said that he couldn't sing and that he didn't have that talent. We asked him to be in church ward choir, and he refused based on the same reasons. Needless to say we have been very disappointed that he had not been in one musical class or lesson as a youth…and he seemed to have no desire whatsoever to learn any musical instrument. I wondered to myself, why did the LDS baby blessing which I gave to my own son promise him musical gifts when it appeared that Alan had neither talent or desire to do anything musically.

A Small Miracle Blossoms into Something Amazing

Then one day a small miracle happened. Alan, at age 17, became interested in learning how to play "video game music" on the piano. One day he printed out a piano piece from the internet—music to one of his favorite video games; "The Legend of Zelda." He made his way to the piano–an old friend that he had not known for 8 or 9 years. He practiced, and he practiced, and then practiced some more.

At first, it was slow going, but after a month or so he could play the song all the way through. Then he would memorize the entire song. He did the same thing with song #2, then song #3—each difficult pieces that involved a lot of movement in the left hand and tricky timing. As he learned these difficult songs, his ability to play became much improved. He started to learn the pieces faster, he showed more mobility in his hands, and he could sight read the music significantly better.

It is not uncommon for Alan to practice two or three hours a day playing the piano. He has started learning to play hymns, and recently spent hours learning hymns. Alan has practiced the piano so much at times that it drove us all insane! Alan has found a musical love in the spring before his 18th birthday…and it continued all summer long! We found out recently that Alan was secretly getting piano lessons from a fellow high school friend in exchange for him offering "programming lessons" to his friend (Alan likes to program in Java and pretty much a computer whiz).

The Future of Alan…Julliard?

Where will he take this talent from here, only he knows, but both Melodie and I believe that this sudden "awakening" to his musical genius is a fulfillment of the prophecy given by his Father at his baby blessing, that he would have "musical gifts" and that he should use them for good. It will be exciting to see the progress Alan makes with this talent and as he continues to do more with it. We're not expecting "Julliard" but then again with Alan, once he gets going with something he is so determined to become an expert at it, that we can never rule ANY possibility!