Day #4 of The British Pageant finally completed!
Today's schedule:
8am to 1am - rehearsals with our pageant director, assistant directors and Bro Rob (Director of Music and Cultural Arts for the LDS church)
1pm to 2pm - lunch
2pm to 5pm - more rehearsals in the Pageant Theatre
5pm to 6.30pm - dinner and Family Home Evening
6.30pm to 10pm - sounds recording for the official Pageant Soundtrack
It has been a fast paced and busy, busy day and I all physically exhausted. But I can testify to one true thing: my cup is full.
My cup has well and truly been filled up today despite the long hours of work. I am just so grateful to Heavenly Father for the blessings He has been pouring out upon each of us and for the spirit He has blessed us with. Without it, none of us would have a purpose or a will to go on. You can feel it in the air here in the Preston temple grounds. You can well and truly feel it. We are growing so close as a cast and crew and it feels like ome big massive family. I especially want to express my love for the other four youth narrators who continue to strengthen my testimony and who set an amazing example for me as to how to live and work as Saints. Our bond is so strong together as the five youth narrators but it is not exclusive! Everyone is becoming totally unified by the love of God in this search for truth we are portraying and experiencing.
I particularly enjoyed today's rehearsal, as the five youth narrators, with Brother Ray Robinson, a lovely American who's official calling is Director of Development. He has been heavily involved in LDS theatre and arts for fourteen years and what a true blessing he is to each of us. He carries with him an influence of love and of experience in the most humble way. He helped us grow closer together and to realise our true purpose in this Pageant. He highlighted something so important:
We are telling our story on that stage.
As saints in the British Isles we are portraying the history of the building up of the church in Britain, from the arrival of the first two apostles and all the way to Nauvoo. And this is our story. He told us that we should feel truly blessed, as the five youth narrators, to be involved in the first ever event within the church that uses youth to tell the story in such a strong and involved way. We were told we were needed for the show! This does not make our role in the Pageant anymore important or commendable than another person's role. It just means that we carry an important responsibility to get up on stage and reveal ourselves; bear our own testimony; and to share OUR story as saints in the Isles.
We can't go on stage and try to be George Q Cannon, or Wilford Woodruff - it's impossible. But we must go on stage and be ourselves and allow our testimony and our love and hunger, for what we know to be true, to flow through us in the most beautiful and expressive way and that is for all the cast - even those with no lines - they are as equally as important as someone with over 50 lines.
We are telling a magnificent story on stage. We are telling our story.
We therefore learned and realised that we should not try to act out the lines in the script - but rather react in the most organic and spiritual way, to the lines.
And our story continues today. We all, as saints in the British Isles, add to this story through our desire to live more like Christ. Our story is still being written by us. The British Pageant is going to change lives as it is so historical and so full of the love of God and the extension of that; which is the love the cast have for one another and for the audience. We can't wait to have an audience; we want to love them.
Five simple words to end this blog:
Come to The British Pageant.
You just won't understand until you come.
I have attached a picture of me and my new "best friend". Caitlin is 11 years of age and is portraying Emily Partington in the show and I have got to say that she does a marvellous job and has strengthened my testimony. The lovely spirit that she carries with her is exemplary and has reminded me to become more like a child: submissive, meek and kind. I am also so glad to have discovered the little sister I never had!!!
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Keep up with my daily blogs here for the next three weeks (pictures and videos included).
