"Of One Heart in the Heartland"

Yesterday was a wonderful day.  The Youth of the Kansas City Temple District performed in the Youth Cultural Celebration for their prophet.  It was fantastic!

President Thomas S. Monson presided and made the opening remarks.  He repeated a statement he made in 2008. "I am an advocate for such events.  They enable our youth to participate in something they truly find unforgettable.  The friendships they form and the memories they make will be theirs forever." He continued by reminding the youth that they should record in their journals the feelings they had.  He promised them that this would be an experience that would always be with them and that they will gladly tell their children and grandchildren about it one day.

The performance was wonderful.  The youth did their parts with zeal and near perfection.  It was so touching to be able to see the Prophet's responses and emotions.  He was excited, enthusiastic, and playful.  And he showed a great love for the youth. 

We had perfect seats.  we could see our Branch youth clearly as they danced AND see the Prophet very well.  I watched his reactions to one song in particular: "We Believe", written by Jenny Phillips.  He was overcome with emotion as the youth sang about their commitment to being virtuous despite the evil of this day.  So was I!

Here is a youtube video of the song with words.  Beautiful!

As a special treat, Kenneth Cope sang "Broken" for the portion about the Joplin Recovery.  Here's a youtube of that song.

As amazing as the entire performance was, I was even more amazed after speaking to my husband.  Basically all that day had been completely chaotic.  First off, the venue was planned for 1500 kids.  By the performance date 3600 kids wished to perform!  Over 500 had decided to join in on the fun within the last week.  And the kids never actually were able to do a complete run-through of the performance, due to many factors.  Their dress rehearsal was their performance!  But you could not tell.  They did so well!