Hello, everyone! The Church News this evening released this article describing how Hurricane Harvey has devastated Texas, including how it has impacted Church members. Among the highlights of the article are that all missionaries are safe and accounted for, some Church buildings have sustained damage, and that some Church units cancelled their block meetings yesterday to allow members to focus on cleaning up and helping their neighbors, both their fellow Saints and friends of other faiths. As I previously reported a day or two ago, the Church has made preparations to send aid to the state of Texas, and it is badly needed.
Connected to that storm, the Deseret News published this article about the Houston Texas temple being threatened by the storm, along with reiterating missionaries safety and the damage done to some meetinghouses. That article mentions that the Houston Texas Temple Presidency is requesting prayers for that temple and those who serve there. The temple closed before the devastation began, and it is unknown at present when it will be able to reopen.
To stay up-to-date with the latest on the storm, how it is affecting local members and missionaries, and how each of us can help the Saints in that area at this time, click here. Updates will be regularly shared at that link until the devastation and the storm both end.
The Church News also released this article about the featured guests scheduled for the next Face-to-Face event for LDS youth. While I am not familiar with any of these artists, I am grateful to hear how they have used their talents to spread their testimonies. The youth of the Church will be greatly blessed by the opportunity to ask these talented individuals the questions they have.
That does it for this Church News update. Comments are welcome and appreciated. For now, thank you for the privilege of your time, and may the Lord bless you all.
Monday, August 28, 2017
Church News Articles Describe Devastation in Texas; Face-to-Face with Young LDS Musical Artists
I have had a lifelong love for Church history, which has extended to ongoing reports of the ministry of our apostles and prophets, General Conference, and all temple developments. This blog enables me to share that love with all who read my thoughts on these developments, which are sometimes reported multiple times per day as needed.
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James, just a comment on the Face-to-Face event: I had not heard of Nik Day, Patch Crowe or Nicole Luz, but I've seen a couple of Youtube videos of Madilyn Paige. As far as Lexi Walker, she has a lot out there on Youtube. First, she was a member of One Voice Children's Choir, and starred in some of their early performances including on America's Got Talent, doing "Let it Go" from Frozen. They also did another video of that song with Alex Boye, with Lexi being Elsa for the song and Alex playing African drums. Since then she has branched out on her own, has obviously had voice lessons by her sound. (I think she has performed with the Piano Guys too.) She performed once for President Obama and also did something for President Trump's inaugural events, I believe. Maybe you're not into watching videos of kids singing the way I am- I sometimes spend way too long on Youtube watching one video after another- but I was a bit surprised when you said you had never heard of her- it seems like she has become very famous in LDS circles. But I suppose there are a lot of other people I know who haven't noticed her either. (I guess this upcoming event will change that to some degree.) These were just my thoughts and I meant no offense in any of this.
ReplyDeleteNone taken, my friend! I have done a lot of YouTube listening, but that has primarily been to help me cope with the anxiety and depression I have been dealing with for the last several months (which at times can be quite bad). As far as my general YouTube use, that has mainly been to listen to music specifically geared to help with my condition (music that has binaural beats or isochronic tones), and I only periodically have watched America's Got Talent. Because the bulk of my day is either spent listening to the above-mentioned music or watching movies or TV (as I use distraction to cope with things). I grew up very sheltered and did not watch much outside of PBS and KSL (for the news). But I have been watching more NBC lately, which has included AGT at times. Since I rely primarily on what I read or watch daily to keep me informed, I haven't really heard much about any of these artists. But if what I read about them is any indication, they are using the celebrity status they have acquired to increase knowledge and understanding of the Church and its members, and I can definitely get on board with that. After all, I started this blog intending to use it to keep my friends and family informed about personal stuff, and I did that for a while. But as my focus shifted to Church-related matters, my viewership increased. So it is obvious that, in my own way, I have contributed to providing a positive voice about Church-related matters. And so I applaud these youth, and I hope their peers will be greatly blessed by listening to their answers and their testimonies. I have been a first-hand witness to how an inspired group of youth can help their peers stay on the "straight and narrow", so the fact that these youth are willing to talk to and take questions from peers of their same age group will be interesting. I will keep my eye out for a report on this event as it concludes and will pass it along. For now, thanks for your comment, and again, I did not take any offense in it at all.
DeleteFollow-up on my comment above. I had not really watched much AGT until last year, and more often than not, when I did so, I wound up more often than not being mad and frustrated about how mean Simon Cowell always was to everyone. I have watched AGT a lot more frequently this year, and was actually thrown off by how nice Simon has been lately. I don't know what changed or why, but I am glad of that. Secondly, your comment about the One Voice Children's Choir triggered something in my memory, and I looked into it. I remembered where I heard of that choir before. Shortly after my parents and siblings and I moved to American Fork, my younger brother was in an elementary school music class and his teacher was so impressed with his voice that she urged him to audition for that Choir. The director, Masa Fukuda, had given the members of that choir songs to practice. when my brother saw what his and the other children's parts would entail, he elected not to participate in it any longer. But when the tape of those songs came out, he was still credited on it as part of that choir. Just thought that was an interesting tidbit.
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