Before I jump into the holidays, there was one more big event in November that I think deserves its own post.
On Saturday November 10th, I got a phone call from Heidi Johnson, our ward choir director. She left me a voicemail that said something like "Hey Melanie I heard that you are a singer and I was wondering if you could help me with a Relief Society thing I'm in charge of. Give me a call back and let me know." So I was thinking it was like a group number that we would do in Relief Society. No sweat. So I called her back and said, sure, I'd be happy to. She came over to drop off the music and hands me this entire book called the Ten Virgins, which turns out to be a full-fledged program with characters and lines and solo songs. And then proceeds to show me my lines and my song, which is a solo, and tells me the performance is at the end of next week! Oh, and you should try and come up with a costume that would have been worn at the time of Christ, and props and everything. Whoa. I was still willing to help, but felt a little intimidated at the prospect of performing in a theater production like this in front of the whole stake.
Needless to say, I studied studied studied those lines and my music like crazy over the weekend. The first night, I went into our bedroom to study the script in relative quiet. I played the part of Dina, one of the wise virgins. My character was known for her constant service to others. My song was called "Until", and it's a beautiful song. As I read through the script, I found myself identifying with certain characters. Tears came to my eyes when their trials were described in exactly the words I have used to describe my struggles. I studied for quite some time. When I came out, this is what I found:
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| And Evie was asleep on the floor next to the entertainment center, but she wouldn't fit in the picture. |
The first practice I attended was on Tuesday, three days after I got my script. It was nice to hear the other parts of the program and how the other songs sounded. I had never heard the music or any part of the program, and I really enjoyed it. I love the message of the parable of the Ten Virgins, and this program portrays it in a way that really made me re-evaluate my priorities and my commitment to the Lord. It was also great to meet all the other ladies in the program, of which I had only met one or two previously. We had two practices before our performance, the first one on Tuesday and then one on Thursday which was a dress rehearsal. Of course the other ladies had known about this program for a while, so they had already had some practices, but for me, there was just the two. The performance was on Saturday November 16th. Here is my costume, which I dug out of our Nativity costume box:
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| Full-length. The sash is holding my oil vessel. My lamp and my basket of fruit were props provided by Heidi, so they aren't in the picture. |
And then it was performance time! Kay Wilson was our pianist, she is also the pianist for our ward choir and she is amazing. Heidi Johnson was our director, and she did a fabulous job coordinating everything. i also want to thank her for taking a chance on me, someone she had never really even heard sing before. Thanks to Jeralyn from the stake Relief Society, too, she was the one who helped out with all the staging and provided nursery for our kids if we needed it. And thank you to my wonderful husband for holding down the fort and doing bedtime by himself on the nights that I had rehearsal. I was SO nervous the night of the performance, I was actually feeling a little sick because I was so nervous. I was praying like crazy!! But thankfully the Lord was with us and we were all able to perform well. It was a beautiful program, and I hope that those who watched it enjoyed it as much as I did! I was moved to tears by some of those amazing women. I thank the Lord for moving our family here to Bridger Valley when He did so that I had the opportunity to be a part of something so special. I really think that He wanted me to have this experience, because our house sale in Green River ended up falling through, and if the timing hadn't worked out just the way it did, we probably would still be living in Green River and not here. But I believe that the Lord wanted our family here for a reason, and perhaps this program was one of them. I felt edified and humbled at the message of Christ's parable.
Here is a link to cast picture taken by one of the other members of the cast:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=517968331547043&set=a.473109262699617.113844.100000016413843&type=1&theater
It was such a wonderful experience, and I was so lucky to be amongst such talented ladies!
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