He is Risen!

 "He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. 
Come, see the place where the Lord lay."

Matthew 28:6 

Those beautiful words, "He is Risen!" are the words that angels spoke to the women who came to the empty tomb on the third day.  Yesterday, I had the privilege of directing a Stake Choir in singing the hymn, "He is Risen" at a special Stake meeting which was attended by Elder Quentin L. Cook, (a member of the 12 apostles, and a special witness of the Living Savior, Jesus Christ.)  In our prayer meeting prior to the meeting, I discussed with the choir what a special opportunity we had to proclaim the same words as did the angels on that first Easter Morning.  We would be able to bear a collective testimony that He Lives, that He is Risen!  As we sang, there was a very powerful spirit that accompanied and confirmed the testimonies of that body of saints.  I will always treasure that experience.

Though I haven't felt the nail prints in His hands and feet, I know as surely as any of those who did, that He Lives!  I have felt the Holy Ghost bear witness to me as I've pondered the accounts in the scriptures, that He suffered in Gethsemane and on Calvary for me, that He voluntarily laid down His life, and that He indeed rose on that beautiful Sabbath Morning.  He Lives!  He is Risen!  It's real!  It is the glorious good news of the gospel, and "adds meaning to our doctrine, motivation to our behavior, and hope for our future." (Dallin H. Oaks, "Resurrection," April 2000 General Conference Address, italics added).

"Oh sweet the joy this sentence gives, 'I know that my Redeemer Lives!'"

Happy Easter!

From Cumorah's Hill

I'm finally starting to catch up --This is about a month overdue.

I was priveledged to be a part of our Stake's Youth Conference this year, in preparing the youth choir and conducting the choir and orchestra in their performance of From Cumorah's Hill.  From Cumorah's Hill is a Musical Fireside Presentation by Steven Kapp Perry, about the truths of the Book of Mormon and how they apply to our lives.  It is presented by a choir and speakers, and if you ask for the orchestral score, (like we did) you can have a live orchestra as well.  

(Only a handful of stakes ever use a live orchestra, so the score isn't  professionally pulished, and has lots of mistakes in it that need correcting.  So just a little tip,  in case you are thinking about using a live orchestra, be prepared to spend some time fixing a bunch of stuff in the music!)

For the first 6 weeks, the choir and orchestra reahearsed separately, and in the 7th week, we put it all together, with the speaking parts, and costumes and lighting, concluding with performances on Saturday and Sunday nights.  After all that time learning notes and repeating things over and over, it was so gratifying when it came together.

Here are the prophets in their costumes.  Lookin' good, boys!

The choir was comprised of 177 youth, and their leaders brought the numbers up to about 230 voices.  Many of those youth were not musical, didn't like to sing, or thought they couldn't sing, but they came and sang anyway, (some under severe duress from their parents) and I think in the end most of them had a really great experience.  There was a particular young man who I knew didn't want to do it.  I was really surprised when he randomly showed up to try out for a solo.  And who do you think got the "I Never Stand Alone" solo?  You guessed it.  Another young man who came kicking and screaming, got a speaking part and on the way home from Sunday's performance was asking his mom why the Stake didn't do stuff like this more often?

I had the best seat in the house of course, and got to stand in front of this awesome group and feel of their testimonies and their goodness.

 I feel so blessed to have had that opportunity. 

The handsome lighting guy.  Hands off, ladies, he's mine.

Okay, this is me telling the cast about my wand.  I mean, my baton.  It was a gift from Rob Sorensen from the Cherry Hills ward who handmade it.  The handle is made of leftover cherry wood trimming from the  Albuquerque Temple, and the stick part is holly wood.  (And I threatened to stupify any of the youth who were talking during someone else's speaking part.)

Arthur took this shot of the choir the night of the last performance.  It's hard to see, but they looked amazing.  They are up on the stage and spilled over onto risers on the floor as well.  What a sight!

Since our ward has church in this building from 2-5, and call for the cast was 5:30, we all had a picnic dinner together in the YW room in between church and the performance.   It was kind of cool to see lots of families who would be staying for the performance, just make the best of it and eating together in various spots around the building.  It was some pretty good ward bonding, I thought.  :) Emma, Dallin & Daphne got to stay after church on Sunday and eat with me quickly before finding seats in the cultural hall.  Thanks to the Carters for taking our other little guys home from church and tending them until we got home.

Dallin & Daphne with the Gold Plates after Sunday's performance.

Arthur and I after the first peformance--the youth committe gave me these flowers at the cast party afterward.  :)  

I felt truly uplifted and edified through this experience, and felt the Lord teaching me and sustaining me through some very long days.  I love the goodness and energy of the youth, and am so grateful I got to work with them in this.  I am so proud of them for what they accomplished!

My hope and prayer is that those youth will remember the spirit they felt as they sang this beautiful music together.  I hope they will remember the feeling of love and unity and comraderie that followed the rehearsals and especially the performances.  And I hope that they will remember the spirit's witness of truth as they sang the words, "Great things and small things, I can do all things, all that Lord may require,"  "The power of God is plain to see, there are wonders on every hand"  and "I Never Stand Alone when I Stand with God!"  I hope they find themselves humming the tunes and have those songs going through their minds as they walk to their classes at school to uplift them when they feel discouraged.  (The cool thing about music is that it acts as a memory aid.  People remember words set to music much easier than just spoken words.)  

I hope they learned a little bit more about what the spirit feels like and learned to better recognize it's still small voice.  (I know I learned a lot about that through those couple of months!) And I hope their testimonies of the Book of Mormon and of the reality of the prophet Joseph Smith were strengthened.  I hope they came away with a renewed desire to be better disciples of Christ, and better friends to each other as together, they seek after every good thing.  

"So Great a Cause"

"Shall we not go on in so great a cause?"  

"Yes!  Go forward, not backward . . . on to victory!"

The theme for the Albuquerque Stake 2008 Handcart Trek was "So Great a Cause" from D&C  128:22.  Arthur and I had the privilege of being a Ma & Pa on this 2 1/2 day journey through the desert.  It was so much work getting ready for it, and physically exhausting once we actually got there, but totally worth every minute.  We are changed for this experience.  

We loved our trek family, the Gariety's (aka Gariety gangstas, but just amongst ourselves . . . until Brandon announced it from the pulpit at Testimony  meeting. . . thanks Brandon.  ;)  We had six boys and four girls, and some of the best youth in our stake, I think.

Some of my favorite experiences . . . getting that blasted wagon wheel fixed, FINALLY pulling into camp the first night,  singing with our family--our harmony was sweet, mourning Pa's death, (and glad it was temporary, and we got you back for the remainder of trek), giving birth out in the desert (ha-ha boys, FOOLED YOU!),  looking at the stars, Jana's awesome buffalo stew with honey & apples in it--a culinary masterpiece!, Quinn's classic response to "Temptation Junction:"  "RUN!!!!" Desert sunrises and sunsets, heaven-sent cloud cover, and a tail-wind for the end of a brutally hot day, rattlesnakes with half-eaten rabbits in their mouths (scary beyond all reason--but not really, because although he was really big, he was preoccupied, and couldn't hurt us), missing our son Quinn  when death took him, but comforted that he had an angel escort, ice water and watermelon in the valley!, sharing testimonies.

"If you will be faithful, you have nothing to fear from the journey.  The Lord will take care of his saints."  William Clayton, who penned the words to "Come, Come Ye Saints."

The Lord did take care of us.  

This is one of seven rattlesnakes that were found and shot while on our trek.  Miraculously, nobody was bitten.  (Arthur was the one to discover this beauty.  We all got to have a look since it was eating and couldn't do anything to us.)

Some of our great Gariety Family, waiting for our squeaky wheel to be repaired.

There is nothing like a New Mexico sunrise or sunset.

We are so thankful for this sacred experience.  It has truly sharpened our perspective on the sacrifices the pioneers made for their faith, and made us contemplate the question, what are we willing to give for this faith of our fathers?  The courage, faith and commitment of our pioneer ancestors (whether blood-related or not) is absolutely inspiring.  Arthur and I have come away with a deep desire to be totally committed to this beautiful gospel of Christ.  

It is true!  It is everything!  

It is worth giving everything we have, (fears, doubts, bad habits . . .) to be able to return to the Father someday worthy to hear the words, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant."

I bear my witness in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

(Dallin's counting down the years until he can go. --Two treks from now . . . 8 years.)

Testimony

*This post is primarily geared toward my friends who are not members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons).

I don't know how many of you actually take the time to look at our blog, but I thought I'd take this opportunity to share a little bit about my faith.

So, this past weekend, we watched a General Conference of our church. Twice a year members of the church all over the world congregate in homes and church buildings in almost every nation on the earth to watch the General Conference of the church via satellite, internet, and cable TV. I love general conference because for two days we listen to addresses from the prophet and apostles and other general church leaders.

I once told a friend of mine that we have a prophet of God on the earth today and she kind-of did a double take.

"Prophet?" she asked skeptically.

"Yes, a prophet," I said, "Like Noah, and Moses were prophets. There's one on the earth today."

She was amazed. (And maybe she didn't believe me.) But her reaction made me think about what a blessing it is to know that there really is a prophet on the earth today. It makes complete sense. Why would God have prophets in ancient days and leave the rest of us to wander in darkness?

When Jesus was on the earth, He organized his church. He called 12 apostles, and gave them priesthood keys and authority. When they were killed, the authority was not passed on and the priesthood keys were lost from the earth for many years. After centuries of darkness, a young boy asked God which of all the churches were true and which he should join. It was through this boy, the young prophet Joseph Smith, that God restored His gospel in its entirety.

The church that Jesus organized while on the earth, has been restored. It is lead by Jesus Christ, through His prophet, and the 12 apostles. The apostles in Jesus' day were witnesses of the divinity of Christ. Today they have that same mission.

I just want to tell my friends that
I know,
because the spirit has witnessed to my heart,
that God has not left us alone. He spoke in days past and He speaks today.

If you'd like to hear the most recent council from a true prophet of God, please take a moment to read his remarks from General Conference, by clicking here, or visiting lds.org, and finding April 2008 General Conference link.

If you pray and ask with real intent, you can receive the same witness of the spirit, that God speaks today through His prophet Thomas S. Monson and through the 12 apostles. And He can speak peace to your heart and give you testimony through the witness of the Holy Ghost.