Be Still My Soul, Come Come Ye Saints

This week Glen Beck did a fireside for the missionaries called "What Mormons Believe." He was basically asked to give his conversion story - and wow....what a story it is. He was near death after being a heavy alcoholic when he started turning his life around. Years later, he found the church while doing a religion tour with his family.

The fireside was amazing - 1/3 of the audience was missionaries, 1/3 was members, and the other 1/3 was investigators. Glen Beck had the audience wrapped in the spirit. It was neat to hear his story, and hear how much he loves this gospel. My favorite part of the fireside was when Glen Beck was telling us a story about a conversation he had with a "previous presidential candidate" who has said some bad things about the church. He said he pulled him aside and told him he was wrong - and that if he wanted to know what mormons believed, to just ask. He also expressed his disappointment and told this person a little about church history, and how he hoped our nation would be past the persecutions that the pioneers had to face. He tied that all together by reading Come Come Ye Saints.

At the end of the talk the stake president asked that we sing that song. One man that was sitting two rows in front of us (who had previously raised his hand when Glen Beck asked who wasn't a member) must have been in music. He listened to the tune for a while, then started belting it out above the crowd with a powerful broadway voice. During the 4th verse, this HUGE man started bawling. It was such an incredible experience to see the investigators feel the spirit - and to know that the missionaries are just a few seats away ready to get the ball rolling.

After the fireside we walked down to the NY Philharmonic concert in Central Park. There were probably 60,000 people there - we couldn't see anything, but we could hear the beautiful music - and it was great. The last song they played was Sibelius: Finlandia which, much to my surprise, was the tune to Be Still My Soul - one of my favorite hymns. What a fun memory.

After the concert there was a great firework show (with lots of Koreans who must have never seen fireworks freaking out). It was such a great night in New York - and even greater because I was able to spend it with Deven. I am so proud of how hard he is working out here. He is so patient to put up with me after he gets home and I have major cabin fever. He is the greatest husband, I'm so lucky.