Rachmaninov - Fabio Luisi - Piano Concerto No.2 Mvt.1

This Is The Christ

This morning I woke up and listened to a bunch of Easter music in preparation for Sacrament meeting . . . until I looked at the clock and realized that I was almost late!  I was supposed to play the piano at our meeting so I needed to be early to play the prelude, and Hanna and I were doing a musical number as well which we needed to practice.
We did end up running in with a couple minutes to play prelude, and I tried to feel the spirit of this special Easter season.  The meeting was incredible and the speakers inspired.  I sang, "Jesus Lives" by Tammy Simmister Robins.  The Spirit was powerful and it lifted my voice in a magnificent way.  However, I felt truly comforted when another man stood up to sing "This Is The Christ."  He was a brain tumor survivor who had lost most of the movement in the right half of his body.  Even the corner of his mouth drooped a bit, but his physical limitations could inhibit neither his voice nor his spirit.  It was a powerful meeting, and I would just like to share a portion of that feeling that filled me.  I know that Christ suffered for our sins and pains in Gethsemane and then died on the cross.  I know that He lived again when he was raised on the third day. I also know that He loves all of the people in all parts of the world, and so He went to visit them, just like He did for the Nephites in ancient America.  I know that He still lives today and that He loves us.  May we ever rely on His atoning sacrifice for strength in all areas of our lives, and have faith that we too will live again.  

♬♪ This Is the Christ - Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra ♫♭

Dear To The Heart of the Shepherd

I might be on a MoTab kick, because general conference was so inspiring for me.  I looked up this recording because I remember when they sang it during my mission.  At the time, I was working as a full time shepherd, so I suppose that was one of the reasons why this song stood out to me (unfortunately for most of my life I had ignored it).  However, the real reason why it has become a favorite hymn of mine, is because I have experienced times where I feel that I am the lost sheep and I require assistance to deliver me from the cold, weary wilderness in which I so often find myself.  This past week was one of those hard times for me.  I felt overwhelmed, and then we sang this hymn in one of my classes; I felt the comfort of the Lord, and I knew that He would come to rescue me.  In gratitude, I post this song, hoping to inspire someone to go out as a shepherd and save a friend in need.

Dear to the Heart ot the Sheperd

Oh Ye People of Israel

How Oft Will I Gather You

This is a video I made for a project in my Old Testament class.  It is special to me because of the powerful message it presents.  Heavenly Father has always gathered His beloved children, since the days of Adam and Eve, until now.  No matter what the children of Israel did, or the Nephites, or the pioneers, He always reached out in love and took care of them.  This video is a representation of the span of the earth, and God's infinite love.

4 O ye people of these great cities which have fallen, who are descendants of Jacob, yea, who are of the house of Israel, how oft have I gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and have nourished you.

5 And again, how oft would I have gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, yea, O ye people of the house of Israel, who have fallen; yea, O ye people of the house of Israel, ye that dwell at Jerusalem, as ye that have fallen; yea, how oft would I have gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens, and ye would not.

 6 O ye house of Israel whom I have spared, how oft will I gather you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, if ye will repent and return unto me with full purpose of heart.

                                                                                                            (3 Nephi 10: 4-6)

How oft has my Heavenly Father gathered me as I've struggled against His will?  How Oft He gathers me, even when I don't listen?  And how oft will He gather me?  I know, that just as He gathers me in my life now, and as He has always gathered me in the past,  He will always gather me as long as I come unto Him with a pure heart and repent of my sins.  He will do this for you too.