Christmas Activities and Son's Visit

On Christmas Eve we went with several friends to the Cathedral of the Madeleine to hear a special Christmas Carol Service that was presented by the choir there. The program was completely a cappella with scripture readings done after each of the musical numbers. The Cathedral was full with standing room only and the program was very well done. The congregation was invited to join in on some of the songs. After the program we went to Cafe Rio for dinner and then back to the apartment building to play games. It was while we were playing games that the young elders came to sing Christmas Carols for us.

Fuller's Christmas Tree 2013

Elders serenaded us while we were playing games at the Garretts

On Christmas day we joined our good friends from Arizona, Boyd & Dot Williams, for a very nice Christmas dinner prepared by Dot. We enjoyed ham and scalloped potatoes along with red and green Christmas jello, fruit salad, cranberry salad, carrots, and rolls.

We had Christmas Dinner with the Williams at their apt.

Dot set a beautiful Christmas table

I normally post on Sunday but we had our son visiting from Arizona and I just didn't take the time to work on the blog; it was much more fun to visit with him.We enjoyed a short walk around Temple Square and I was able to take pictures of some statues inside the Joseph Smith Memorial Building which I hadn't been able to do.

Byde, Pam, and Scott in the Assembly Hall

Conference Center for the Tab Choir Broadcast

In the Lobby after the Tab Choir Broadcast

We were able to attend the Tabernacle Choir Broadcast on Sunday morning and then at 1:00 pm Scott attended our Branch with us. We had a beautiful organ solo played by Phil Dunn who is also a member of the Tab Choir and is a professional Family History Consultant on the British Floor in the library where we work.

On Monday morning before we took Scott to the airport we attended the weekly devotional conducted by the Mission Presidency which we go to every Monday morning. We were excited to have him attend with us. The high temperature during Scott's visit was about 35° with a low of 15°.  Needless to say, coming from Mesa, Arizona where the highs during the same period of time were in the 70's, he felt the cold.

We went for a walk on the East side of Temple Square and I took a picture of some of the nativities which represent different countries that are on display there in front of the Church Office Building.

 

 These statues are inside the Joseph Smith Memorial Building near Legacy Theatre.

First Vision

Depiction of Joseph Smith reading James 1:5

Joseph and Hyrum Smith

49 Years

Tuesday was the anniversary of our wedding which occurred on December 17, 1964 (49 years). While we were working in the Library that morning we had a lovely bouquet of flowers delivered to us from our oldest daughter, Jennifer. We celebrated that evening with a nice dinner at Market Street Grill. We have had a great life together and look forward to the coming years.

Flowers for our 49th Wedding Anniversary

We have seen lots of snow this week. In fact, it snowed all day Tuesday and was bad enough that the Library closed at 1:00. We walked very carefully to and from work watching every step as we went so as to avoid falling. On Thursday afternoon one of the sisters from the British zone fell just outside the front of the library and sustained a head fracture. She expects to be in the hospital for several more days and has a severe headache.

On Monday morning Byde went to Temple Square to take a picture of a special tree that someone told us about. Apparently this Cedar of Lebanon tree is only "lit" every other year to help to preserve it. I looked up the story online and here's what I found:

"The Cedar of Lebanon was brought to Temple Square around 1949. At that time it was 7 inches high. It was packed in a suitcase of a Mrs. Petty who lived in Sugar House. Planted in a corner of Temple Square, it was later threatened ruination by an accident. The top was completely sheared off. So gardeners forced a branch up to become the new leader. Today you can see the trunk has a slight wiggle. However that was not the end of the challenges this cedar would face."

"Brother Emil B. Fetzer, then Church architect, was given the responsibility of designing the new South Visitor's Center. Part of his design contemplated a plaza just outside that Visitor's Center. Accordingly, the Cedar of Lebanon was first marked for removal, then plans were changed. As construction began, however, due to some oversight, the Cedar of Lebanon was still slated for removal. By the time Brother Lassig noticed, construction crews were within two hours of taking out the tree. Brother Lassig hurried to Brother Fetzer's office with documentation showing the oversight. Brother Fetzer immediately halted the construction crews and the Cedar of Lebanon was saved."

Cedar of Lebanon facing East

Cedar of Lebanon Aerial View

A few more lights on Temple Square that we hadn't taken last week.

Nativity shooting North

Nativity on pond west of the Temple

Shepherd scene West of the JSMB

Snowman in front of apartment building - (note the name badge)

Sunday morning we walked to the Tabernacle Broadcast in light snow and it was COLD (again).  In the "Spoken Word" today, Lloyd Newell talked about the song "The First Noel."

"Noel is originally a French word related to the Latin natalis, which means 'birthday.' Today, of course, noel connotes not just any birthday but a birthday that would change the world and everything in it; a birthday that, for much of the world, reset the calendar, marks time, and is celebrated still today."

"Over time, the word noel has come to refer both to Christmas and, more specifically, to Christmas music. 'The First Noel,' then is a song about the first Christmas carol - the one sung by a choir of angels to humble shepherds gathered in a lonely field outside of Bethlehem. We can only imagine what their glorious music sounded like, but in a sense, our carols today are each an echo of that first noel. Whether it's our own rousing declaration of 'glory to God in the highest' or a gentle affirmation of peach on earth and 'good will toward men,' we humbly join the angels in singing praises to the newborn King.

How grateful we are at this special time of year to sing praises to His name and reflect on the blessing of His birth..

2013 Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert

Many of you know that when President Monson enters the Conference Center for conference or any other event the audience almost immediately comes to a complete silence and stands in respect for the Prophet. It is always awe-inspiring to be there to feel and witness this occurrence.  We were in the Conference Center on Friday night and again Sunday for the 2013 Christmas performance and were once again able to witness this event.

These 2 people (pictured below) were the guest artists for the 2013 Mormon tabernacle Choir Christmas concert and I will tell you that it was FANTASTIC!! We were so grateful to have tickets and sat on the 6th row on the main floor.  We could actually see the faces of the performers. But WAIT, there's more; we were fortunate enough to get tickets to the Sunday morning broadcast and see the show again after the Sunday  Broadcast.  For the Sunday performance we were sitting in the balcony and even though we couldn't see the performers faces so closely we could see the whole stage and get the pleasure of seeing the "whole" picture better.  Both seats were fantastic for different reasons and we loved the show.  Ms Voight's voice was so unbelievable! Even if you don't like opera you would have loved the songs she did! Wish you could all have been there to enjoy the performance.

Mr. Rhys-Davies did a beautiful reading of  Luke 2: 1, 3-14 as well as a sketch of a behind the scenes of what inspired Charles Dickens to write "A Christmas Carol" which was first published in 1843. Interestingly enough, the book has never been out of print since its first publication. The book is said to have been credited with restoring the Christmas Season as one of  of merriment and festivity in Britain and America after a period of sobriety and sombreness.

The show is co-produced with PBS and will air in the 2014 Christmas season on PBS - watch for it! The 2012 performance which was done with with Alfie Boe and Tom Brokay is playing now on your local PBS channel. You should be able to Google it and find when it is playing in your area.

World-renowned soprano Deborah Voigt and acclaimed British actor John Rhys-Davies will join the Mormon Tabernacle Choir for its annual Christmas concert.

I should probably have started with the beginning of the week instead of the end but we didn't do much this week aside from our assignment at the Library each day.  We always enjoy being there and doing what we can to help the patrons. The association with the other missionaries is always a bonus; we work with some unbelievable people.

On Tuesday we went to the Salt Lake Temple with the missionaries from our zone and afterwards had
dinner in the social room in our apartment building.  We watched a video of the story of Good King Wenceslas as told by Jane Seymour which was done in a Tab Choir Christmas concert several years ago. What can I say - is there a concert the choir does that isn't spectacular - not that I've seen so far!!

Snowy and COLD

Elder Enrique R. Falabella

On Tuesday morning we walked to work in a snowstorm. I never realized that when it's snowing and blowing an umbrella doesn't do a whole lot of good; the snow just comes in underneath. It was about 15° and we went dressed in the warmest clothing we could find.  The worst part wasn't the cold but the slippery snow! We were grateful to get to the library without falling down. Needless to say, we stayed pretty close to home so as to avoid the slippery roads. It did clear up for several days and then Saturday afternoon/evening the snow came again.  We woke up this morning to an additional 3 inches of new snow which is probably not a lot for Utahns but for we Arizona folks it is LOTS!!

Tuesday was also the mission Christmas devotional and luncheon so we walked from the library to the conference center in snow and slush. Elder Enrique R. Falabella was the devotional speaker. You may remember the funny story he told at conference several years ago when he told about he and his wife traveling from Guatemala to attend the Arizona Temple.

 He said that afterwards as they were shaking hands with people they were putting $20 bills in his hand and he hurried over to his wife to tell her to shake hands with everyone.There were about 900 people in attendance at the devotional and Elder Falabella did his best to make it around to shake hands with as many as he could, although I don't think anyone was depositing $20 bills. We had the privilege of shaking hands and meeting him.

There is a beautiful, old, red brick, 3-story house next door that has a Christmas tree on each of the floors so that it looks like the tree goes all the way from top to bottom. We couldn't resist getting a picture of it. We've been told that they hold an open house at the home during the month of December and we're hoping to get to tour it. We walk by it every day as we go to work and have enjoyed watching it as they painted the trim and cleaned up the bushes and landscaping around it.

House next door night and day

Pictures taken on Tuesday

New snow taken Sunday morning

We were off work on Friday because we work one Saturday a month and yesterday was our turn.  There aren't as many patrons who come to the library during the Holiday season so it makes the day a little longer. We had plenty of time to work on indexing and some of our own family history.

On Saturday we attended a performance at the Conference Center Theatre entitled "Savior of the World: His Birth and Resurrection" which was a beautiful musical drama written and composed under the direction of the First Presidency.

We have tickets to attend the First Presidency Devotional which will be tonight in the Conference Center; we are looking forward to attending in person.  It will be broadcast and available to everyone via BYU TV and KSL.

The Tabernacle on Temple Square has a rounded roof and we have learned that when it snows you need to be careful walking along the building as the snow will all of a sudden landslide off the roof and if you're close you will be wearing a blanket of snow.

King's Singers

Music and the Spoken Word was joined this morning by the King's Singers. The King's Singers are a British a cappella vocal ensemble founded in 1968. They are named after King's College in Cambridge, England, where the group was formed by six choral scholars.

The message was about peace. "Jesus taught that real peace comes through paying less attention to ourselves and our own needs and seeking instead to serve those around us. 'Love one another; as I hae loved you,' He taught. Perhaps it is this spirit of giving that makes Christmas such a meaningful time of year. Generosity fills the hearts of so many, and it seems that the more we give, the more we receive - though not so much of material things but of true peace."

"This is the peace that those herald angels promised on that first Christmas night - the peace that comes from helping another and bringing happiness into someone's life. This is the peace that Jesus promised when He said, 'Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you.' This is the divine give of Him whose birth so long ago heralded the peace that surpasses all understanding."

We wish each of you this Christmas Season the peace that only comes from the Prince of Peace.