Sunday, December 29, 2019

O Come O Come Emmanuel!

One more "Piano Guys" moment:  It is a Christmas concert.  You are sitting in a basketball arena with 15,000+ people most whom you don't know.  You are there to enjoy music from some very talented men on a piano and cello.  You expect to be amazed and to laugh.  And with a few words, things change--

Steve Sharp Nelson (the cello player) starts by reciting the words of a familiar Christmas song:

O come, o come Emmanuel
To free your captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear

Then in words I wish that I had written down he first apologized that he didn't want to offend anyone but this was a Christmas concert and then he spoke about captive Israel--how they have yearned for Emmanuel to come and save them.  How often they have been captured and overran by their enemies including the Babylons, Egyptians, the Romans, and more....how they prayed to be set free.  Even now they are praying for that.  How lucky we are to know that we are free--from the binds of death and from the stain of sin, He has made a way for us to be freed and He will come again--and captive Israel will be freed.

Rejoice, rejoice o Israel
To you shall come Emmanuel
There in the middle of a Christmas concert, in the darkness of an arena of people, tears flowed down my face as the Spirit bore witness once again the truth of all that he has said. It was as powerful as any testimony meeting or private moment in the temple.  Christ came as a babe that first Christmas morning, He lived and served to show us an example of now to live, and then He willingly and completely paid the price for all sin that we might be freed through repentance, then He hung on that cross and gave His life up completely to submit to His Father and to complete that part of His work.  On that third day, He truly did rise from the grave.  He leads the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints today...and some day, we will all stand either on this earth or in the heavens above and we will rejoice--for HE WILL COME AGAIN!  All of that filled my mind as they played this beautiful song.

Rejoice, rejoice o Israel
To you shall come Emmanuel
Here is a link to their youtube video of this song.  Maybe listening to it might remind you of your own testimony of Jesus Christ and you will also be reminded that "To you shall come Emmanuel."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iO7ySn-Swwc

And this is the best Christmas gift I can give to any of you who will read this now or in the future--my testimony of Jesus Christ.

Christmas Weekend in the BIG City!

Well, not that big of city--Salt Lake has a population of around 220,000 people and is the center of the Salt Lake Valley population of over 1,222,000 people--so doesn't really match the Dallas/Ft. Worth area or Hong Kong for us in size--but downtown Salt Lake is pretty at Christmas time, especially around Temple Square.  We enjoyed our overnight Christmas get-away a couple of years ago with Gary's mom that we decided to do it again this year.

We headed down on Friday night in time to check into our hotel and make the walk across Temple Square to the Joseph Smith Memorial Building before it got too crazy on a Friday night.  Once again our goal was to participate in the "Light Of the World" charitable giving vending machines.

View from the same hotel as last time we did this:
The Salt Lake Temple will be closed on December 29 along with much of Temple Square for the next 4-5 years old to make improvements to the grounds and to restore the Temple and to also make it more earthquake-proof.  Because of the impending closing, I went with some friends (Gary stayed home with Jena who was sick that weekend.) to a session in November.  I rarely attend sessions there because of the distance and length of time involved but it was a sweet experience to be there.  My parents, Gary's parents, and my grandparents were took out their endowments here and were married here and in a sweet way, I felt a sweet connection with the past while there.

Standing outside of the temple again in December brought back those memories again.



 Again as I entered into the lobby where the vending machines were located, I felt that strong feeling of charity and love which I have felt each time.  Again, as I have mentioned in the past, there is nothing more unique or special about using the vending machines for donating than anyone can do by giving money from their own homes or by reaching out to the many thousands of worthwhile charities around the world.  Giving of what we have is an important part of helping those around us and money and time are both valuable things to share.  But there is a feeling of being part of something special and sweet and to hear individuals and families talk while in line and as they chose items is a privilege.
This year (I am sure in an effort to speed things up) we were handed a list of items which were available in the vending machines to be donated.  It was a Giving Machine Menu.  It listed some agencies and then items with a variety of price points that you could select from.  Again, as we waited in line, I loved to hear the people talk about the items and why they were choosing certain things.  One family with several children were letting each child pick something.  One child picked eye exams and glasses for children as her donation.  Her mother said, "That is a good idea.  You know how much getting glasses has helped you this year and now other children will have that same chance."  This was a little girl of probably 7 to 8 years old.  Getting glasses might not have been her first choice when it happened, but she figured out it helped her and she saw it as a way she wanted to help others.

On our way down from Syracuse, Gary was teasing me about buying a sheep again this year.  I reminded him that it was a goat that we had donated a few years ago and that they didn't offer sheep.
BUT there on the menu was a sheep for the CHurch World Service organization.  I knew we needed to donate a sheep, so that was our choice.  Gary's mom wanted to donate for polio vaccines for children.  Jena picked art supplies for a local charity in Salt Lake.

Like any vending machine, you push the right number and something falls down to the bottom of the machine.  The difference is that you don't pull anything out.  100% of the money is given to the identified/selected charities.
Closeup of the tree in the lobby of the building--


While waiting in line and while donating, sweet Christmas songs were being sung by a choir on the upper balcony. The sights and sounds of Christmas surround us on every side.

We walked back out to the Temple Square about 10 minutes before 5 and the Christmas lights were not yet on. Gary's mom was the one that suggested that we wait for the lights to come on. 

Inner temple lights were on---


Selvie while we waited---
The natural lights of the sky were changing as the sun began to sink in the west.  It is a bit hard to see but on the other side of the pond is a family getting professional pictures taken.  Don't know the story but we wondered if they had just been sealed as a family or perhaps one of the children had been added to their family.  It was fun to watch the dad and three boys in suits and the mom and daughter in white dresses as they posed by the temple and then by the pond.
First lights were on the temple itself and come on every evening year around at dusk.  They looked green and then a few minutes later, the more familiar white.

And shortly after five o'clock, they turned on----


 


 
 




 Our hotel in the back ground--to the west of Temple Square.
A look back at the temple--
Gates and walls will be changed along with many other significant changes to the grounds surrounding the temple.  Very glad to have this last time to visit it and look forward to visiting it again when the changes are completed.  They have announced that there will be Christmas lights around the area depending on where work is being done over the next five years, but not the whole area.
The Assembly Hall---
A quick change of clothes and dinner at a local restaurant and then off to the MAIN EVENT--a "Piano Guys" concert. 
Here we are taking the normal pre-concert selvies--You might be able to tell if you are versed in Utah Jazz that we are attending the concert at the Vivint Smart Home Arena where the Jazz play basketball when they are at home. Except for the sections behind the stage, the place was packed to see "two dudes play classic music with a piano and a cello."  (their description of themselves.)

The concert was AMAZING!!!  We laughed, we cheered, we were amazed, and at least, I cried.  Again the talents that people have (and have worked so hard to develop) are incredible.  Check out their youtube videos.

One that they played at the concert is this one:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOO5qRjVFLw
They played the video on a huge screen while playing the music on stage.  At one point near the end the stage went dark for a minute and then when the lights came up there were a group of performers playing the bagpipes live.  So powerful  (and after seeing this scenery, Scotland has leapfrogged up on my list of places to visit.  Watch the video and you will see what I mean.)

One fun moment was during the intermission, I was checking facebook and noticed that a friend of mine had posted a picture of her and her husband at this very concert.  I quickly texted her and we figured out we were a section apart and they were about 10 rows down from us.  I was able to run down and have a quick hug and conversation with my friend, Eileen Bradford (she is a friend we have know since Hong Kong days.)  How fun is that!

 We were able to walk home from the concert to our hotel which was very nice......
Morning views out our hotel window as the sun was coming up over the mountains to the east--


And we headed back to regular Saturday stuff--bowling for Gary and Jena, then ushering for Jena and I with Meggan and then getting ready for Sunday.  A perfect get-away!!!


Hall Extended Family Christmas Party

Look at all of those shoes and coats of people that we love gathering together to celebrate Christmas together as part of the Hall Extended Family Christmas Party.  Thanks again to Nathan and Cynthia for opening their home for our annual gathering.

After a yummy dinner with subway sandwiches and a host of amazing salads and desserts, we had a short program with stories, singing songs, a game, and the Christmas story.

 Alex and Carter in their Christmas outfits--
The kids tried to tear Christmas trees or stars out of construction paper...behind their backs with their parents' help. Here is some of them showing their creations.
New pjs from Great-grandma Hall--  Liam is sporting his pair.  The kids often are switching into their pjs as fast as they get them open.  It is fun to see them so excited about them.
 Fun times, sweet memories, good conversations---Merry Christmas season.

Sunday, December 22, 2019

Christmas Program--Friend to Friend Style

It was beautiful, Jena loved it--all four days of performing; and I cried.  I am sure that I have written the same things each time Friend to Friend has a performance.  Wish all of you who love Jena could have seen it!  You would have cried as well.  Because they sold out so quickly they added a fourth performance which is amazing.  Makes a lot of driving back and forth, but for Jena who loves it so much, it is worth it.


The final two numbers were done as angels--

Shelley Davies leading the final number in sign language.
After Friday performance:
View from the balcony on Saturday morning---

The last song was from "Prince of Egypt"-- I printed the whole lyrics below, but think about the words "We were moving mountains Long before we knew we could...."  How sweet when you think about the many challenges that many of these individuals have faced with or without disabilities. Or as Shelley likes to call it-- people with remark-abilities.  And the chorus in sign language---that would bring tears to most of us, at least in our hearts!

Christmas can now come......

Many nights we've prayed. They have been praying for a long time
With no proof anyone could hear. They did not know if anyone could hear them
In our hearts a hopeful song
We barely understood,
Now we are not afraid
Although we know there's much to fear
We were moving mountains
Long before we knew we could...
*Chorus*
There can be miracles
When you believe
Though hope is frail
It's hard to kill
Who knows what miracles
You can achieve
When you believe
Somehow you will
You will when you believe
In this time of fear
When prayer so often proved in vain
Hope seemed like the summer birds
Too swiftly flown away
Yet now I'm standing here
With heart so full I can't explain
Seeking faith and speaking words
I never thought I'd say
*Chorus*
There can be miracles
When you believe
Though hope is frail
Its hard to kill
Who knows what miracles
You can achieve
When you believe
Somehow you will
You will when you believe