February 18, 2013 Music for Stake conference

FAmily. and FRiends.

Had a little better week than last week, I guess you could say. We had some little water balloon fights on monday at the stake center, and that was fun. This week should be cool, because stake conference is saturday and sunday!! The missionaries are preparing a musical number, I know that my redeemer lives, and I can honestly tell y´all that it is the most power hymn I have ever heard sung, every time we sing it in the rehearsals. The practices Tuesday Thursday and Saturday mornings have been absolutely a blessing to me, and I love them. I get to play piano, I get to arrange all the hymns in my own way, and we get to just be there in the stake center chapel as missionaries for like six extra hours in the week. I have learned to love the chapel, and feel the spirit of peace that resides therein.

Anyway, the rehearsals are awesome and I had an idea to have missionaries one by one go down and sit in the bleachers during certain hymns to give feedback afterwards and describe their feelings, and it has been wonderful. Many, including me, are left in tears after varias hymns.

Also, the second counselor in the stake presidency, whom I know pretty well, asked me to play piano for the conference. So I will know be playing all the congregational hymns, the musical number for the elders, the three musical numbers for the stake choir (one of which is come thou font, awesome!!) and prob prelude and postlude. Love it,! tons of piano playing for a missionary with no time for his own personal pursuits heheh.

I hope to hear stats and things from the conference, so I'll try to inform you all about them next week. there are about 180 active members in my ward (out of 500 total members, tragic right?) and there are five wards in Ayacucho, so I think over 1000 should come (if all the active members come and bring investigators. a lot should come, its funny but you say ´conference´´ and a ton of people show up, just to be there when something potentially important happens. This culture loves shows and productions, so the stake makes these super high quality invitations for anything for regular sacrament meeting, to baptism, to stake conference, to stake youth dance (yes they have them here too) and we give them out left and right. Its way cool.)

But yeah the transfer is happening saturday night, they call us with our new areas and we travel sunday. But I don't know if ill go. I kinda feel like yes, but who knows. I will let you all know. 

Thanks for everything. I have been reading 3 Nephi of late, and I love it. I encourage you all to study it this week. It is very very powerful, if you are willing to take a little time to put your mind in it, and try to picture the fear and the worries and thoughts of those Nephites who survived their ´end of the world´

thank you Elder Hartvigsen