temple culteral celebration

Wow oh wow! Am I ever proud of the youth, troopers all! As you have probably figured out, we have a new Temple here in Gilbert AZ and our 12,000 kids decided a party was in order, a gift of sorts to celebrate the amazingness of it all. So some adults with WAY more energy, pluck, courage, and sheer grit than I, wrote a script, wrote some songs, choreographed some dances, figured out mountains of logistics (how to move so many people on and off stage, feed them, have potty facilities, costumes, lights, sound, and on and on and on it went). A few thousand random adults on the ward and stake level were assigned to teach the kids all of the above and prep them for the actual celebration. So we sang, we danced, we threw candy, we did sign language, we picked up, dropped off, took pictures, gathered medical forms, texted parents, called, emailed, and then sang and danced some more.

On Saturday rain was in the forecast, but we marched on with the plan of picking up, dropping off, making sure the kids had a jacket and the final rehearsal began. There were a few sprinkles during the afternoon but it seemed that Discovery Park was immune from the storm dumping rain on the rest of the valley. At 6 pm Kate, Hillary and I drove our cars over in possession of 3 of the few "tickets" to sit on the hill and watch live while the rest of the valley watched on TV.

Here is the sky at about 6:15.

At 6:30 it started to rain, OK pour, but we had faith, we prayed for the rain to stop and did for about 3 minutes and then it rained and rained and rained all through the entire celebration. What I did not know is that the youth had been praying too, but not for the rain to stop but for the show to go on. They knew we were in a drought and that the rain was needed, but they wanted to give their gift anyway and so they did, with all their hearts. Those kids sang, danced, cheered and testified as the heavens dumped much needed rain. I was one proud little ward music helper!

Hillary our AMAZO secretary (she was the one who had to do all the legal forms, photos, security lanyards and communication), Kate, costumer extraordinaire maker of a million flower clips, sashes and scarfs, and me, music and sign language (I was the one throwing candy and making a complete fool of myself during rehearsals but hey, they knew their songs!).