The Youth arrived at the Auditorium by 6:30am. They were there to practice the entire day before the evening performance. The were unable to have a dress rehearsal as planned. The jumbo tron wasn't working. This was bad! The jumbo tron was to come on in between segments. Youth had been recorded sharing their testimonies, each was meaningful to each group that would perform. Movies were made to show Joplin, Missouri, and the building of our beautiful Temple. The Youth were told of the situation and everyone was worried.
I took this from a written piece in Meridian Magazine
"Of course, the technicians scrambled to try to fix it, but nothing was working. Adding insult to injury, the clock was ticking. “We lost half the day of solid practice to this problem,” Susan said. That was the only day they had.
“As we moved from plan A to B to Z, we knew that it wasn’t working,” said Susan. Yet Todd Hendrickson had begun each meeting with a devotional and he told them from the beginning, that the works of God will not be frustrated. He reminded us that if there are frustrations, we need to stop, step back, and let God take control. We referred back to that dozens of times as we encountered things.
“As we were looking at the schedule, we knew that it was going to be beyond us, but we knew that we had one of the greatest strengths on the floor below—3000 youth. We needed to go down and tell the youth what was happening and draw upon their faith and power.”
That three thousand youth knelt and prayed together. They prayed that the foundation that had been so carefully put in place would be able to be carried out. They prayed for the Lord to make up for what they couldn’t do with the shortage of time. They prayed for the technicians who had so far been failing to find the problem with the JumboTron. They prayed that the workers’ minds could be expanded to see what the problem was, that their skills would be enhanced. They prayed mightily with power and faith. The committee in charge remembered that they had always had a spirit of calm and assurance about this production.
It was a prayer the youth will never forget, not because the floor was hard, but because the Spirit melted their bones.
It wasn’t long before a technician came and found Todd to tell him that the JumboTron was fixed. Noting that it had looked impossible, he said that they had stumbled on the solution by “dumb luck.” Three thousand youth knew better."
You can read article here
Us, along with probably most of those in attendance, had no idea of the troubles that day. The show went off without a hitch! It was outstanding!!!
I didn't bring my camera, so I got pictures from others. The Prophet walking in~ Youth were on the floor, in the asiles, and all around the platform area. Amazing!Us, along with probably most of those in attendance, had no idea of the troubles that day. The show went off without a hitch! It was outstanding!!!
Photo from housewifeclass.com
President Monson walked in and the place went crazy!! We then all sang "We Thank Thee Oh God For A Prophet" He spoke a few words to us about how much he loves celebrations, and how wonderful it was to have theTemple in this area, the Heartland of America. He praised the youth for participating and said they would remember this experience the rest of their lives!
Here he is on the Jumbo Tron. We sat directly across the arena from where he was sitting. It was awesome to see him! Such a wonderful spirit was in the Auditorium that night
Photo by Ann Rogers
The celebration began! It was amazing! I was blown away by each Stake's performance! Our Stake did a line dance to George Strait's "Sing A Song About the Heartland" They all did great!
There was not a dry eye in the house when the Joplin stake performed. Kenneth Cope was there singing the song "Broken" It was beautiful. The Joplin stake was performing during this. A beautiful video played on the jumbo tron during this part. Youth talked about leaving High School Graduation, the sky was very dark. They were getting in their cars when the sirens went off. Then the tornado hit! I think everyone in the arena was crying at this point. Oh my goodness, very emotional!
This is during the tornado
Photo by housewifeclass.com
The aftermath, debris scattered across the performance floor
photo by housewifeclass.com
photo by housewife class.com
Everyone rose to their feet at the end of the Joplin performance. The jumbotron camera scanned the faces of the Joplin youth. They were even crying. It was one of the most powerful,and spiritual moments of my life! To think of all those Joplin youth had gone through, just wow!
My other favorite moment was when the youth were singing one of my favorite Primary songs, "We'll Bring The World His Truth". The arena floor doors opened and missionaries starting coming down the middle of the youth on the floor. The missionaries of the Kansas City Independence Mission walking in during that song, oh my goodness, needed tissues so bad. Everyone around me was searching for tissues! It was another beautiful moment!
photo by housewifeclass.com
photo by Ann Rogers
All 3000+ youth sang a cute version of Popcorn Popping! So cute! Loved it!
photo by housewifeclass.com
Here are a few more pictures my friend Ann took, and a few from housewifeclass.com of the performances. Each was outstanding.
They ended the night singing the song "One Heart in the Heartland" I believe the song was written for this event. The Youth all sang, and also did the sign language for the song. It was wonderful! Another moment of tears! GOODNESS! Word to the wise....if you ever attend a cultural celebration, bring tissues! :) The youth took their Tshirt off and waved them in the air, saying goodbye, and goodnight to President Monson! He gave them two thumbs up! Waved, and haha, even wiggled his ears for everyone. So cute. My friend, Amy, sat 5 rows below the prophet. She got a great picture of him.
photo by Amy Weeks
Saluting to the youth, "A Job Well Done!"
Here are links from our church to watch little tidbits of the performance.
Cultural Celebration You Tube
Church News Article
Truly a most amazing night. We are all still talking about it around here! Feel blessed for McKenzie to have been part of such a wonderful event. Feel blessed we were able to attend & work at Temple Open House, attend this most wonderful Celebration, and then the Dedication of the Temple. The dedication was on May 6th, and the Temple is now open. This has been an amazing few years with the building of the Temple, attending & serving in the Temple, the amazing Cultural Celebration and then the dedication. This is truly a special Temple, built in an area with such amazing church History! We are going to LOVE having it only 30 minutes away!
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