Muuuusic! 9/22/14

Bonjour mes cher frères et sœurs!

So, remember that musical fireside I had in my branch way back when? Président Babin loved it so much that he asked me to help one of the sister missionaries organize a missionary choir of about 50 missionaries to perform at the Paris Stake Conference. The sister missionary, Soeur Cameron, and I put a lot of thought and prayer into the piece that we prepared with hopes that we could touch members at this conference.

We ended-up creating an arrangement mixing Called to Serve and the mission song. I'm not gonna lie, I'm stinkin' proud of it! I can't exactly take much credit, however, because Soeur Cameron is the best piano player/music arranger I've ever met. I couldn't do much more than sit there and be like "that sounds good" and "oh yeah, do that!" Haha. Anyway, the conference was scheduled to take place yesterday.

I learned this week that organizing fifty 20 years-olds is a very tough thing to do. We had a practice on Saturday night that frankly scared Sister Cameron and I. It was rough. The music wasn't coming together, and the energy there was frantic. At the end of the rehearsal, I spoke to Sister Cameron and we decided that a lot of praying was necessary that night. As I got on my knees that evening and began to ask, I had a sweet feeling not to worry about it.

The next morning, the choir met once more an hour before the conference to practice one more time, and, I don't know what the Lord did to everyone that night, because it sounded beautiful. I couldn't be more pleased. Not only did the music work, but each missionary brought a strong spirit of missionary work.

In the middle of the conference, my old missionary quartet from the fireside performed "Brightly Beams our Father's Mercy" and we performed our mission choir song at the very end. I'll tell you, I thought I had attended some spiritually potent meetings before, but I can't say it's ever driven me to tears. The choir sang the arrangement, and everyone was touched. President Babin thanked us tearfully later on.

Brothers and sisters, we have such a great work to do on this earth. To spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ to every brother and sister is the greatest service we can perform; all we have to do is invite others to come unto Christ, and the Savior does the rest.

I wrote a third verse to Called to Serve in our arrangement that goes:

Appelées à servir Paris France                    

On moissonnera pour notre Père                    

On lance nos faucilles dan le champ blanc    

Toutes les mains sont nécessaires           

Which basically means "Called to serve in Paris France, we will do the work of the Father, we will thrust our sickles in this white field, every hand is necessary.

Every hand is necessary. Take time this week to look around you. Who do you know that needs the loving hand of Christ? Who is struggling? Who needs love? It is my prayer that the love you have for Christ is emulated by the phrase "Feed my sheep."

Love you all dearly,

Elder Wheatley