Hill Cumorah 2010
I want to take some time to share with everyone some of the wonderful experiences I had as a participant in the Hill Cumorah Pageant, which I consider a miracle in my life. From the very first day there, I was taught that practice does not make perfect, it makes permanent.
For those of you who do not know what the Hill Cumorah Pageant is, I'll explain. It is a performance held every summer by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The Pageant portrays the story of the Book of Mormon and the restoration of Jesus Christ's gospel to the Earth. The cast of the show is about 700 people from all over the world, and the pageant is performed on the Hill Cumorah near where Joseph Smith grew up. Thousands of people come to see the pageant every summer.
The Pageant started on Friday, July 2nd. We met as a cast for an opening devotional and then we were sent to casting calls. In just 2 hours, they had given us each a part. Casting went something like this, "All girls who want to try out for a movement part (aka dancing) go to the bowl at 7:00. All girls who do not wish to try out for a movement part go to the bowl at a quarter to 8:00." (The bowl is the grassy field in front of the stage). Well, I certainly cannot dance, so I headed to the non-movement auditions. I was thinking I would be picked as a random Nephite or Lamanite in a crowd (which would have been pretty cool to me), but instead one of the directors, Lisa Elsey, came right up to me and said, "How would you feel about being Mary?" So I had the opportunity to portray Mary for 2.5 weeks. Practices began the next day, and I was a little overwhelmed but loved every minute. I was also able to participate in the New World Multitude Scene where Jesus Christ visits the Americas. This is my favorite part of the whole pageant. Because Mary cannot show up in another country when her son comes to earth, I had a costume change :)
For those of you who do not know what the Hill Cumorah Pageant is, I'll explain. It is a performance held every summer by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The Pageant portrays the story of the Book of Mormon and the restoration of Jesus Christ's gospel to the Earth. The cast of the show is about 700 people from all over the world, and the pageant is performed on the Hill Cumorah near where Joseph Smith grew up. Thousands of people come to see the pageant every summer.
The Pageant started on Friday, July 2nd. We met as a cast for an opening devotional and then we were sent to casting calls. In just 2 hours, they had given us each a part. Casting went something like this, "All girls who want to try out for a movement part (aka dancing) go to the bowl at 7:00. All girls who do not wish to try out for a movement part go to the bowl at a quarter to 8:00." (The bowl is the grassy field in front of the stage). Well, I certainly cannot dance, so I headed to the non-movement auditions. I was thinking I would be picked as a random Nephite or Lamanite in a crowd (which would have been pretty cool to me), but instead one of the directors, Lisa Elsey, came right up to me and said, "How would you feel about being Mary?" So I had the opportunity to portray Mary for 2.5 weeks. Practices began the next day, and I was a little overwhelmed but loved every minute. I was also able to participate in the New World Multitude Scene where Jesus Christ visits the Americas. This is my favorite part of the whole pageant. Because Mary cannot show up in another country when her son comes to earth, I had a costume change :)
Mary & Joseph
Nephites and Lamanites
Brian, Chelsie, Valerie, Me
When I wasn't at rehearsal, I was with my cast team, S6. We were a fun group and I loved playing games with them, visiting the Sacred Grove and other church history sites, doing service, having devotionals, and doing missionary work together. The three days before our first performance we went to missionary classes together where we were taught to be better missionaries. Sharing the Gospel was the main reason I wanted to participate in this Pageant in the first place, and I left with abilities and ideas I have never had before (and am still working on).
Sacred Grove
I loved seeing my family and the youth from my home stake at our 2nd to last performance. It is so much fun to share something you love with people that you love! Then my favorite boy and four great friends drove up to see the Pageant closing night! I love them!
Kyle, Christian, Nate
&
All-Brunette Dream Team
"And when ye shall recieve these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost. And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things." - Moroni 10:4-5
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