Tag: Mormons

Lee’s Ferry

 

Lee’s Ferry

It’s not much more than a small dot on a map; but, despite that Lee’s Ferry has had an outsized import over the years. And, where and what is Lee’s Ferry you may ask? The where is on the Colorado River about 9 miles south of the Utah- Arizona border and, as later would be determined, also as good a boundary as any between the river’s upper and lower basins.  The what is the only location along the river between the small hamlet of Hite, Utah (now submerged under Lake Powell) and Black Canyon (the site of Hoover Dam), a distance of over 450 miles at which it is possible to access and cross the Colorado River with relative ease. Otherwise, the rest of the river between these two points had steep canyon walls making access to and crossing of the river difficult if not impossible, while the Lee’s Ferry area had gentle slopes that could easily be traversed.

Member Post

 

19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;21 In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the […]

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Member Post

 

For those of you wondering how my preparation is going for my second attempt to try out for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir this fall (see previous report here), the poem below sums it up. Also, here’s a quick summary of my training so far this year: singing lessons three times a month, theory study once […]

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So You Want to Join the Mormon Tabernacle Choir?

 

By MoTabChoir01 (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

What a coincidence! Joining the Mormon Tabernacle Choir has been a long-time dream of mine, too, but until recently I’ve been too busy with work and family to even think about it. This fall, I finally went through the full application process, and—having kept it a secret from just about everyone but my family in the meantime—I can now act as your guide on the ins and outs of auditioning for what Ronald Reagan dubbed “America’s Choir.”

As a volunteer group, the Choir constantly rotates through members who either retire (reach age 60 or the 20-year service limit) or leave for personal reasons such as changes in family, work, or living situation, so annual tryouts are held to select new members based on needs for each vocal part. They don’t tell you how many of each part they need, but generally speaking, the competition is a little more intense for women than men.

Hello, Goodbye

 

Today, my oldest son came home after serving a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Oklahoma City area. To say I can’t adequately express my happiness at his return would be an understatement.

While mission service isn’t required of Mormons and I have many active member friends who never served, it is a prevalent part of our culture. In the case of my family, mission service is in our blood — my dad served in Argentina as a young man, my parents served together in New Jersey after retirement, and my three brothers and two sisters served in Mississippi, Australia, Mexico, New York, and Chile. My husband served in Brazil and I served in Washington DC, giving tours in Spanish at the temple visitors’ center as part of my assignment. (You could still see remnants of “Surrender Dorothy!” painted on the bridge over the Beltway back then.)

Still, nothing prepared me entirely for sending off my own child for two years with no contact except a weekly email and two phone calls a year, or the sadness of feeling him gradually seep out of my life after 18 years of motherly micromanagement.

Member Post

 

  At San Diego Comic-Con (an event that used to be a convention for comic book fans that has mutated into Hollywood’s most bombastic marketing tool) last night, FX revealed the title for its seventh installment of its American Horror Story anthology series – American Horror Story: Cult. For months, the interwebs have been rife […]

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Poem: On the Death of a Child

 

My youngest son Jacob graduated from the 6th grade yesterday. He is 12 years old and, though that is still very young, I’m coming to the dreadful realization that it won’t be much longer till my house is empty of children. I will be scooted to the periphery of their lives—important and loved, yes, but no longer the central figure. No longer the one who manages, cooks, prods, chauffeurs, teaches, cheerleads, listens, and disciplines. The impending doom is leaving me a little unsettled.

Jacob’s teacher, Mrs. D., is dealing with a more terrible separation. In April, her oldest son took his own life. The spare details that initially reached us were heart-breaking: a recorded phone message from the school district informed parents that the elementary school and nearby junior high were on lock-out because of a body discovered in the common field between the two schools. The death occurred hours before school started and the young man was found by the junior high principal. No other faculty or students had seen anything. It wasn’t until later in the day that we learned who he was.

Member Post

 

This is an excerpt from a post I wrote this morning for Covenant, the weblog of The Living Church, for which I am an associate editor. I offer some thoughts prompted by the Episcopal Church’s 78th General Convention, which will meet in Salt Lake City on June 25-July 3. Here’s a sentence I spent most of my […]

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