WOW! I didn't realize that it's been so long since I posted. Thought I had so much to say when I created this blog, but then couldn't think of a thing to say! How funny. But in thinking about this past week and a couple of things I've done this summer, I guess I do have a little bit to say.

I attended the Hill Cumorah Pageant in Palmyra, NY, 2 days last week. On Friday, opening night, my son and I went as I had volunteered the both of us for Security duty. It was a beautiful day when we got there, sunny and hot and humid. But after a couple hours, the clouds blew in, the thunder rolled, the lightning lit up the sky, and the torrential downpours began. Rehearsal was stopped twice while we were there and then restarted both times as the rains subsided to mere drizzle. When our shift ended, we decided to leave as we were both pretty soaked by this time....and because we were going back the next day. Why? you ask. Well, I'll tell you. I had heard a rumor that Donny Osmond was going to be there and I just couldn't resist the chance to see him. Did you know that he and his wife and sons were actually cast members a few years ago? He played Samuel the Lamanite, whose costume at that time was nothing but a loincloth. (Donny thought this was funny as he'd played Joseph in the musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat for 6 years....and for a lot of that show wore nothing but a loincloth). But I digress. So the next day, my son and I and my BF Mary, went back to Palmyra. We went to the Hill and laid down our blanket to save seats. We then heard some girls screaming...and heard them saying that someone had just spotted Donny at the local supermarket. No, I didn't go searching for him. We went into town to the bookstore and the fudge shoppe (:licks lips:) and then after a couple of phone calls to a friend in Rochester who didn't have a ride, decided to go get her and bring her back to Palmyra. She's a crazy Osmond fan and I couldn't not tell her that D was suposed to be there. So we came back into Palmyra and went straight to the restaurant for dinner. We'd been there for about a half hour when in walks Donny and his wife and son. Now, not wanting to stare at them and make them feel uncomfortable while they were trying to have dinner, I only glanced over to them....and only saw Debbie (his wife) and the top of Donny's head...not his face, just his hair. So, altho I might say I saw Donny, I didn't really see him. Which I'm still kind of ticked about. Oh well, my BF saw him and she had never seen him in person before. But I did take the opportunity to send him a note (on a napkin no less!) in part thanking him and his brothers for being the examples that led me to the gospel. I don't know if the waitress gave it to him. I should have waited around to tackle him after dinner...lol. But I didn't, which I'm still kicking myself for. Never did see him again before or during or after the Pageant. Well, that's my Donny story for the day.

So, was Pageant rained out on Friday? No sirreee! The show went on. I talked to someone saturday and they said it rained a little during the beginning of the show, but then the rains subsided and it was all good. I only say this because the show has only been rained out maybe 4 times in it's many years (I'm not sure how long the show has been going on...I have been going since 1975). I have been there when there was rain all around the Hill Cumorah, but not on the Pageant; when there was a slight rain during the show, but not enough to cancel it; and when it has rained right up til show time, stopped as the show opened with prayer, and started again right at the end. You can't say that God isn't watching over us. It's a beautiful production set outsided on the Hill Cumorah, with stages, and waterfalls, and volcanoes (pyrotechnics), earthquakes, music, and just a wonderful spirit. (www.hillcumorah.com)

My son and I had been to Palmyra about a month before when we volunteered in the Bishop's storehouse and then decided to spend the day sightseeing. We toured the Grandin Bldg where the Book of Mormon was first published. I learned things I'd never known before and most of all, I felt the Spirit. Then we walked about 3 blocks and visited Alvin Smith's grave (Joseph's brother), which I didn't even know was right there. It's so amazing that I've been a member of this church for 35 years and didn't know these things.

A couple of weeks later, my son and I and Mary went to Kirtland, OH, where the Saints gathered for a time. We went first to the Temple, which is owned by the Community of Christ (formerly the Reorganized Church). We watched a short movie about the early Saints and the Temple being built, and then went on a tour of the inside of the Temple. The guide kept saying how special it was (yes, I agree that it is as it was the first Latter-day Temple to be built), but there was one significant thing missing: The Spirit! I kept wanting to feel it, to feel how special this place really was, but I just didn't, couldn't. It is not used for the purpose for which it was built, a sacred place where sacred ordinances take place. It's just an everyday building, and used as such. I feel sad that this building is so ordinary when it could be so very Special.

We then went to Historic Kirtland, (within walking distance of the Temple), where so many wonderful things happened. This little restored village is owned by the LDS church and there's one very significant thing there: The Spirit! It was present almost as soon as we were on the property and it got stronger as we toured: The Newell K. Whitney store especially, and most especially the "upper room" that was known as the School of the Prophets, where Joseph received Section 89 of the Doctrine and Covenants. The Spirit is so overwhelming in this little tiny room (I think it's about 10x13). I was listening to the guide when I just started bawling. I couldn't stop and I was embarrassed at first, but I happened to notice that Mary was wiping her eyes also. But why should I be embarrassed at the witness of The Spirit? I'm so grateful that I have this gift, the gift of the Spirit that witnesses truth to me. I know the embarrassment comes from our culture ingrating(sp?)in us the falsehood that it's a sign of weakness to cry in public. I was so uplifted because of being in a place where the Saints gathered, where Joseph received so much revelation, where the first Latter-day Temple was built, and where the Spirit can be felt so strong.

My point in writing all this? Just to share with anyone who is willing to listen I guess, and to share what is next:

At the Hill Cumorah Pageant there are certain people who stand outside the fence and with bullhorns proclaim in rude, obnoxious and sometimes foul language that "Mormons" are wicked, that we are going to hell, that we have been brainwashed, and a few other things that I won't write here. They are not just "Anti-Mormon's", they are people who are PAID to stand there and shout these obscenities (one of them in a previous year even said that "God didn't screw Mary" - refering to the virgin conception) at us, all the while proclaiming themselves to be Christians. I don't understand how people can be so hateful and hurtful while they are claiming to be Christians. I know our Saviour would not in any way say these hurtful things to anyone. He would lovingly, gently tell people the truth of the gospel. If I was a non-Christian listening to these tirades, why would I in the slightest want to know more about Christianity and Jesus if I heard nothing but hate?

But on a great note, at the opening of the fence where these people were on the outside, a bunch of the cast members - all young men and young women (teenagers) stood and sang hymns and gospel songs with loud voices and smiling faces, proclaiming their love of our Saviour and their testimonies in a kind, loving manner. They are truly the "Stripling Warriors" of our time and I am so proud of them. They are what Christianity is all about. They didn't shout back anything, they just stood and sang. They are my heroes!