Pioneer Day concert - yippee!

Okay, it's time for me to write a few words again -- this online journaling thing is kind of fun! :-) Though it takes some diligence and attention, I must say.

Thanks to my wonderful sissie, Nancy I had the opportunity to attend the annual Pioneer Celebration concert in Salt Lake City on Saturday evening. It was presented by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and the Orchestra at Temple Square and the guest performers were the Osmond Family (all of them!). http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/news-releases-stories/mormon-tabernacle-choir-and-osmonds-celebrate-utah-s-pioneer-day. What a wonderful experience it was. Tickets were given away (not sold) and many people won their tickets through an online drawing. Our dear friend Sabrina and her mom got tickets for the Friday night performance that way, and (bless them!) they had invited Ruth and I to go with them. But because the home fireworks were pretty bad in our area on Thursday (and Brizzy reacted so badly to them) I chose to stay home so I could take the dogs away during the "danger hours" (9:00-11:00 p.m.). I REALLY wanted to go but the Osmonds have special meaning for Ruth and I knew she needed to be the one to go. I never dreamed I'd still get the chance (bless you Sissie!). Here's a review of the Friday night performance: http://www.sltrib.com/ci_10006248?IADID=Search-www.sltrib.com-www.sltrib.com&IADID=Search-www.sltrib.com-www.sltrib.com.

By Saturday evening I think everyone had run through their fireworks quota (and it rained anyway - yay!) so I felt I could go. And it turns out Nancy had a ticket for Ruth so she got to go again too. :-) Ruth grew up in Cajun country in Louisiana, and she was one of the many MANY people introduced to the Church in her teen years by the Osmonds (oh that good-looking Donny -- he caught the eye of a lot of teens). You can see why they hold a special place in her heart. Someday if I can, I'll try to talk her into telling you her story.

What a wonderful experience the concert was! It was held at the Conference Center (and on that Saturday evening ALL 25,000 SEATS were filled - whew!). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conference_Center. We were on the far left side of the balcony and though some might think those were lousy seats, once the concert began it didn't matter at all thanks to the spirit of the music (and performers), the excellent accoustics and sound system, and the large screens on both sides of the podium (and above the heads of the choir). We arrived just a little before 6:30 p.m. and parked at the Triad Center which was about 4 city blocks away. Talk about a fast, hot walk with a HUGE crowd of people! Hah. Because of incoming storms it was NOT our usual bone-dry desert air ... oh no, we were dealing with at LEAST 25% humidity which for most of us desert-dwellers is a huge (and difficult) adjustment (you southerners would just laugh at 25% being "high humidity"). I was drip-ping wet by the time we walked our four blocks. Whew. Still, I'd do it again in a heartbeat. We had to meet up with Nancy to get the tickets from her, and at first we thought we weren't going to find her! The heat had zapped her cell phone. But we did connect and they let us in. Nancy and Randy's tickets were for a different section so we didn't get to sit with them (I would've loved to) but at least I got the chance to hug her before we parted ways. :-)

As I said, the concert was WONDERFUL. I am ever amazed by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and the beauty of their sound, and I really enjoyed the music they had chosen to sing. They were alternately serious and playful, and I thought it was cool that they backed up the Osmonds for most of their songs. They even participated in Donny and Marie's joking around by singing "She's a little bit couunntrryyy" ... "He's a little bit rock and rooolllllll." I was also very taken with the Osmond family. I've never been one of the many, many devoted fans but I've always enjoyed their music and I especially gained an appreciation of Donny's current music since that first album of current Broadway songs. Their talent is dead-on and the vocal BLENDING ... wow. I'll swear that kind of blend only comes among family members, you know? You see it with other performing family groups too.

I was deeply touched by a few things: first, I was struck by the thought that here was an incredibly talented family, big-time stars, performers all over the world for 50 years ... and they believe the same things I do. We feel the same, they and I! It was a tender thought. I felt a kinship with them ... and not just with the Osmond family but with all the people in the Choir and Orchestra too. I felt a feeling of FAMILY. We are all part of a family who believes in God, in our Savior Jesus Christ, and we are striving to be like Them. Secondly, the Osmonds were deeply emotional during some of their songs (especially when they sang, "Through the Years"). This concert was the culmination of their 50th Anniversary World Tour, and I'm sure they had many feelings about it ending, about how they loved each other, maybe even some thoughts that this might be the last time they ever performed all together. And they had to've been missing their parents who recently died. Their emotion touched me and I'm sure it touched most everyone else in the Conference Center too because everyone gave them a HUGE standing ovation. I wish you could have felt the electricity in the room -- the love between performers and audience just didn't come across on the re-broadcast. And people cheered for them for SEVERAL minutes -- way past the point when people usually stop clapping. I kept thinking, "It is such a privilege to be a part of this!" And since I'm a big softy, I cried a bit too (of course!).

Lastly, I had the most amazing experience at the very end, when the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sang the final song, "Come Come Ye Saints." A traditional, well-beloved Mormon pioneer hymn and I have heard it and sang it a million times, but for some reason this time ... this rendition ... I don't know. There was a spirit to the song that just ... flowed outwards and I was caught up in it. I really, really felt the words of the hymn perhaps for the first time in my life. "Though hard to you, this journey may appear" ... "Happy Day, All is Well" ... "And should we die, before our journey's through ... we then are free from toil and sorrow too" ... "All is well, All is well." Suddenly, as the refrain "All is Well, All is Well" echoed through the verses, I got the strongest, strangest feeling that all WAS well and all IS good. It's so hard to explain. I even found my heart saying, "if I should have to give up my life right now I finally, finally could (though I don't EVER want to) because I have now begun to learn what REALLY matters. And I don't have to worry anymore -- Heavenly Father and the Savior really are in charge -- of everything." Wow. All IS well!

And you want to hear something shivery? When I talked to Mom the other day she said she had the same exact feeling through that hymn as she watched the re-broadcast on T.V. Wow. Maybe we were both given that gift because both of us have worried much about the future, about the horrible stuff happening in our world, about the welfare of our family and friends. Maybe both of us needed to know that truly, all is well indeed. I'm not sure of the "why's," but I'm sure of the experience and I feel much gratitude for it. What a great evening!