The Ten Virgins

Even though I've now moved away from the Park Ward in Murray, they asked me to come back and participate in a musical program called The Ten Virgins last Tuesday. I have to admit that I was hesitant. If you know me, you know that I do not like Mormon pop. I dislike most of the music on the EFY soundtracks everyone had growing up, and it irritates me to no end when people get up and sing awful arrangements of hymns or, worst of all, "The Olive Tree." I can't tell you how many times I heard that song in my ward or at stake meetings.

And I will say that I didn't like all of the songs in The Ten Virgins, but there were four that were really stunning -- and the messages were beautiful.


The Ten Virgins is just what it sounds like: Ten women each play a different virgin from the Bible story (five prepared and five unprepared) and a narrator tells their stories before they sing their songs. I was Gabriella, one of the virtuous virgins, and sang the duet called "More" with Adi, one of the virgins who failed to fill her lamp with oil. It really resonated with me, because it's all about becoming more with the Savior's help and becoming worthy to see Him. I felt proud to be a part of the program and could see how the music and the message really touched the members of the Relief Society.

Here are some of the other ones I thought were particularly beautiful. If you're on the lookout for pretty LDS music to play on Sunday (like I often am), you'll be excited to know that you can buy them individually on iTunes; the entire album is also only $10.

- "Nothing Matters More"
- "More"
- "Lantern Light"
- "Only One" (probably my very favorite)

If you're not familiar with the music, I encourage you to listen to it and to think about the story of the ten virgins from the Bible. Since Tuesday, I've really been thinking about what I could do better to prepare for the Second Coming and how I can let the Savior influence my life. I really can be more with His help -- and I'm sure there are little ways that I'm already filling my lamp with oil and ways that I can make it overflow.

Just wanted to share that on this beautiful Sunday. I hope your Sabbath day was wonderful!

Reverence

So, as promised, here is the other half of yesterday's blog about our interesting Sunday.

Before the announcements and even the opening song were sung at sacrament meeting, our stake president went to the pulpit and (gently) chastised the ward for being irreverent in the chapel. He then told about an experience he'd had the following week with Elder Bednar.

After Elder Bednar's fireside with the single young adults in the Murray area, the congregation formed a line in the chapel to shake hands with an apostle. In a few minutes, the chapel was roaring as friends talked to each other in line. Elder Bednar left his place in line, went to the podium and said, "Brothers and sisters. This is the chapel, and you need to be reverent." The crowd was hushed.

A few minutes later, however, the chapel was just as noisy as it was before. Again, Elder Bednar left the line and reminded the congregation that they were in the chapel and needed to be reverent. But this time, he said that if they were not reverent, he and the other general authorities would leave and that "everything that had been done in that meeting would be undone."

I was completely floored and felt so ashamed. While I wasn't chatting with anyone and I wasn't at Elder Bednar's fireside, I could definitely have been more reverent and reflective in the few minutes before sacrament meeting started. Our stake president then had the organist play the opening hymn for a few minutes until we were reverent and ready to begin the meeting.

I have been thinking about that experience a lot since yesterday. How many times do we enter the chapel and begin talking with friends instead of listening quietly to the prelude music and thinking about our Heavenly Father and His Son? How many times do I sit down on a bench and not even think about the holy place I have just entered?

So here's my goal -- be more reverent in EVERY aspect of my life. I would never want an apostle of the Lord to have to reprimand me twice when I was too distracted to listen and to be quiet. I'm going to make my Sundays more special and make time each day to be more reverent and in tune with the Lord. After all, those are the times when we can receive revelation and guidance from Him.