In honor of those sacrifices, every year the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square holds a Pioneer Day Concert, often renamed as simply an evening celebrating music. This year’s guest artist was Alex Boyé, and included music from Moana and Pete’s Dragon, Broadway musicals, and Disney’s The Lion King. The concert also featured African-American spirituals, music from the great Nat King Cole, and an organ performance backed by the Orchestra that received one of the two standing ovations of the evening.

In other words, this is anything but a Mormon music concert. It’s a concert that all can enjoy!

You can enjoy the concert in its entirety via a link at LDS.org, or in the embedded video below.

The post Pioneer Day Concert 2017 — Mormon Tabernacle Choir appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

This is Gladys. She is a Mormon Woman, lives in Canada, and today is her 87th birthday! (This picture was taken nearly 5 years ago with one of her great-grandsons.)

Gladys was born the youngest of 11 children –today, she is the only living sibling in her immediate family. Her parents came from Utah and settled in Canada before she was born. She has been a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints her entire life, and she loves the gospel.

Gladys worked as a phone operator for 10 years, in a bank for 1 1/2 years in Salt Lake City (Utah), taught in schools as an aid in Idaho and Canada, and managed an LDS (Mormon) bookstore for 12 1/2 years. She retired at the age of 70! But her longest career so far has been that of a mother. She has 6 children, 21 grandchildren, 30 great-grandchildren (with 2 more on the way), and 1 great-great-grandchild.

For 43 years and 8 months, Gladys was married to the love of her life. He died nearly 11 years ago, but she says she still feels close to him in the Temple. One time, a grandchild asked her why she didn’t visit her husband’s grave at the cemetery. Gladys responded: “I know he is not there in the cemetery. His spirit is elsewhere; that’s just his body. When I want to feel close to my husband, I go to the Temple. That is where I can feel him and feel his love for me. Going there reminds me that I will see him again, soon.”

Gladys has many hobbies and talents. Some of them include: playing the organ and piano, singing, dancing, making angel food cakes and chocolates from scratch, and traveling. Dancing was always a part of her life. For decades, she would attend dances nearly 3 times a week. She even met her husband at a dance. “That was a different time,” she says of the dances. “We danced real dances back then; it was exercise!” Another hobby Gladys enjoys is visiting as many Temples as she can. To date, she has been to 19 different Mormon Temples. She loves to travel and has been to Lima, Peru; Jerusalem; Hawaii; and all over the United States and parts of Canada.

When Gladys was in her late 20’s, she had the opportunity to serve a mission for the Mormon Church. She was called to labor for 20 months in the Eastern United States Mission from 1948 to 1950. Of this experience, Gladys says, “Serving a mission strengthened my testimony greatly. We would track every day and usually I was the only one who could play the piano in the branches and wards (congregations). I served a month in Philadelphia (Pennsylvania), and then did the Hill Cumorah Pageant (A Witness for Christ) in Palmyra, New York, and practiced every day. Being around the Sacred Grove and places where the Church was restored really strengthened my testimony. Afterwards, I went to Norwich, New York for a year to serve…”

Recently, Gladys was a Visiting Teaching supervisor in her ward [congregation], and she served as a Temple Patron for 2 years (Temple Patrons are asked to attend the Temple twice a week during their call). When asked what she loves the most about being a Mormon Woman, she said: “Families can be together forever because we have Temples. I know I’ll see my family again. Also, we are taught from a young age the law of health (Word of Wisdom) which has given me health for life. I truly believe I am healthy because of it!

I’m 87 years old and doing great. I’m still active. I still love to be in my kitchen dipping 50 pounds of chocolates a year. I also make 150-200 cakes a year. Also, because we were taught to stay physically active, I was able to dance for many years. I know the gospel is a gift, and I’m grateful to have it in my life.”

——-
For more Portraits of Mormon Women, please click here.

The post Portraits of Mormon Women: Gladys appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

What songs do you find that you could listen to over and over? How does music make you feel?
___
Find more Review, Reflect, and Return posts here.

The post Review, Reflect, and Return: Music appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

The post <i>Video</i>: O Be Joyful in the Lord appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

Last night I was reminded in a literal way what I find beautiful about gathering together with my sisters in Zion. Although I have an aversion to crowds, when my ward announced we had some tickets for the Young Women General Meeting I snagged some for my daughter and made arrangements to go up with some other mothers and sisters in our ward.

Enjoy this beautiful essay by Dalene about her experience attending the General Young Women’s Meeting in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City last Saturday night. This essay captures much about the power of gathering, about the beauty of sisterhood, and about our gratitude for a living prophet, and a little about what General Conference means to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The post <i>First Person</i>: “A gathering of saints” appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

One of my goals as a Piano Performance major was to play with the orchestra on the School of Music’s annual Concerto Night. I had dreamed of it since my first year at school, when I attended the concert and exulted in the gorgeous music, the phenomenal talents, and yes, even the applause and adulation given to the student performers. As the years at school went by, and I didn’t win the opportunity in the audition process, I would reassure myself, “Next year is the year. Just keep working.”
Finally came my last opportunity to audition. I had beseeched Heavenly Father to allow me to perform to the best of my ability. The music was deep inside my bones. My fingers were sure. I communicated deep, eternal emotions. When I was done, I knew I had done my best, and it was a powerful best. I walked away from the piano at peace with my offering.

Later that day, I crept through a side door into the top of the recital hall to listen to my dear friend audition with her own concerto. She played beautifully, and in the middle of the performance, the Spirit whispered to me that she, not I, would be performing on the concert. I slipped from the recital hall, hugged and congratulated my friend on her wonderful audition, and went home to wait for the results, hoping against hope that I had misheard the Spirit.

I hadn’t.

My heart — though broken a little — rallied, and my last year of graduate work was successful and happy. Then came the chance to travel to another state to audition with the same concerto for a concert with a community orchestra. I went, again begging Heavenly Father to help me do my best, and again, felt blessed in my performance.

And I placed second.

My six years of college piano study ended, and in two months my husband and I were expecting our first child. Performing as I knew it had ended, and my new life had begun.

Except…

Two years later I found myself in the wings of a concert hall, heart pounding, listening to the welcoming applause, ready to walk on stage to perform a concerto with an orchestra. It wasn’t until a few years later that I realized that performing that night was an answer to all of my earlier prayers, deferred until the Lord’s time.

When I consider the pathways of my life, the many twists and turns, the wide avenues or dead ends, I am drawn to more than a few instances of these types of answers, these gifts, deferred. Largely, I see a bigger plan at work, a loving Heavenly Father wanting to give me the desires of my heart, but knowing when it is best for me to receive them.

Over and over, I am taught that my time is not the Lord’s time. While I recognize that sometimes the answer to a heartfelt prayer is not a “Not yet,” but a “No,” I have discovered that watching Heavenly Father’s plan unfold in my life is filled with many of these gifts.

It takes patience and faith to wait on the Lord, especially when I’m not sure if the Lord’s answer to a heart’s desire is “no,” “yes,” or “yes, but later.” I’m also aware of the dangers of knocking too often at His door with a request that is not according to his will (Martin Harris, anyone?). It’s a fine line to walk, but allowing “Thy will be done” to be part of all my prayers gives me the safety net I need to continue to trust the Lord’s hand in my life.

Recently, I decided, as I have many times in the past twelve years since becoming a mother, that it was time to go back to the piano in earnest. Before, I would begin the process and realize that my time was best spent in other pursuits. This time, something was different. When I prayed about my decision, the spirit poured into me. The door was opened, and I heard, “Rush through. It’s time.”

The post <i>First Person</i>: Times and Seasons appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

Perhaps you have heard of MormonSoprano. If you haven’t, now’s as good of a time as ever to explore her blog. Her site is filled with uplifting content. And this video that she created is no exception.

But the post itself about her debut into video-making was just such a fun read, we wanted to share that, too. In her own words….

(And, you know, if you have ever considered making a movie for YouTube, it really is a good read…you might learn from her experience how to save a few steps! {grin})

(As a side note, if you were wondering, first person essays don’t always have to be formal essays, and they don’t always have to be submitted here in their entirety (although original content that hasn’t been posted on your blog will allow us all to work together to share more uplifting content around the web). Links to blog posts work, too, if your site is consistent with our mission here.)

The post <i>First Person</i>: MormonSoprano shares her video creation experience appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

The author E.B. White (1899-1985) once said:

To perceive Christmas through its wrapping becomes more difficult with every year.

Is it difficult to see Christ in Christmas when focused on the wrapping? Perhaps. But, perhaps contrary to popular belief, I don’t believe these thoughts have to push out the “true meaning” of Christmas. Instead, they can evoke a feeling of love, service, excitement, childhood faith, and a longing for peace.

It is true that there are times, amidst all the wrapping of gifts, the baking of goodies, and the stringing of lights when our anger, frustration, and exhaustion can catch up with us. We wonder if any of the traditions are even worth it! How could these details possibly remind us of the Infant Jesus? How does it remind us of His life and mission?

But it only takes a moment to see the hidden treasures inside of the stress and chaos.

For example: We stress over service, but laugh with joy at a gift given. We worry over a performance, but rejoice with an evening of spectacular music. We sacrifice time to decorate and bake, but we are surrounded by family and friends, enjoying the symbols of love and peace (and eating good food!).

For many, truly celebrating the birth of Christ means moments of quiet reflection. It means focus upon what the birth of a Savior did for us. This is good! But with that focus, I believe we can see significance in family traditions, inspirational Christmas concerts, fun parties, gifts, decorations, and food. With all of it can come a unity and a desire to be better than we are —and isn’t this what the Christmas season is all about?

I can understand people simply fleeing the mountainous effort Christmas has become… but there are always a few saving graces and finally they make up for all the bother and distress.
– May Sarton (1912-1995)

-by Cheryl

The post Unwrapping Christmas Chaos appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

The dean of the college, Stephen Jones, collaborated with Emmy-award winning composer and producer Sam Cardon and vocalists Jenny Jordan Frogley and David Osmond to write and produce the song. The video on this site features images by University Communications photographer Mark Philbrick.

(You can see more about how the song and video came to be here.)

See what others have said about this video and about this season (and share your own thoughts) at the “Joy to Everyone This Christmas” blog.

Do you know of other uplifting content available on the internet? Have you created something you would like to share? Email us at ‘mormonwoman’ at ‘gmail’ dot ‘com’

The post “Joy to Everyone this Christmas” — a music video gift appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

While we especially encourage the participation of women and the exploration of topics relevant to women, we welcome our male contributors and readers as well. Much of our content is very general in nature.

If you would like to contribute to the site, there are essentially two ways to do it.

• Simply share your thoughts at the bottom of this post, using the comment feature provided. (Comments are moderated, so your comment will not show up immediately. Some comments may be included as a post on the site.)
• Send an email to ‘mormonwoman’ AT ‘gmail’ DOT ‘com’

What can you share? We welcome thoughts on any gospel topic (a list of possible topics can be found here). Share your conversion story. Consider sharing a quote or scripture that has inspired you (be sure to tell us why or how it has impacted you). (See what others have shared in Words that Inspire Us.) For other possible things to share, consider some of Elder Ballard’s ideas. (You can find links to talks he has given about sharing the gospel on the internet here and here.)

We also welcome creative expressions of faith. You don’t need to be a professional — we just welcome your desire to share your faith in whatever way works for you. Enjoy others’ creative expressions of faith (shared here and elsewhere) below.

First Person Essays
Music
Poetry
Video, Multimedia, and Visual Arts

If you have questions you would like to ask, please feel free to send us an email at ‘mormonwoman’ AT ‘gmail’ DOT ‘com’

We invite you to browse our library for other uplifting content and links (library includes a topical index to content).

You can also read more about our basic beliefs by browsing our basic doctrines posts.

The post Sharing Our Voices appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.