The Gila Valley Temple, Part 3: The Dress Rehearsal

We were asked to be at the temple for our only dress rehearsal at 9:45 AM. That meant I needed to leave my house by 7:30. My mom came with me, but I dropped her off at the Eastern Arizona College stadium before heading for the temple. She was meeting Cindy Pearce at the Temple Cultural Celebration practice. On the two hour drive to the Gila Valley, I practiced the three songs and tried to do some last minute memorization. I was really struggling with "The Morning Breaks" because I put that song off to the last minute to memorize. My procrastination sometimes gets me into trouble.

All four choirs were at the temple at the same time. While we were waiting, I saw a few people I knew from my years at EA. It was exciting to see people I haven't seen for a long time. However, most people don't remember me because I was a little overshadowed by my more popular roommates. I don't tell you that to feel sorry for me...I actually do the same thing...I don't remember some people who were in the background, just like me. But I tell you that to set up the next scene. My choir-mate, Billie, who also went to EA during the same time I did, ran up to me and asked, "What is the name of that girl?" When I looked up to see who she was talking about, that same girl looked at me, and with a huge smile, ran up to me and gave me a HUGE bear hug! Her name was Stephanie Herring (now Hoopes). She wanted to know all about me since EA (everything within the last 13 years). It was like I was a long lost BEST friend. I was actually really surprised she remembered my name. She is an awesome and very outgoing person. She was probably one of the most popular girls during those years at EA. I always thought she was the coolest person, but I never thought she would remember me. I was definitely proven wrong. I asked about her. She said she married a guy from this area and they now own Casa Manana! Casa freakin' Manana!!!! The best Mexican food around and one of the most popular restaurants in that area! That is so fitting for Stephanie to own that place! It was a lot of fun to reconnect with her again!

Back to the dress rehearsal...

The three inside choirs listened while the larger outside choir from Thatcher/Safford/Pima sang their two songs next to the cornerstone. Then we all entered the temple (putting on booties over our shoes before stepping inside) and were lead to the celestial room. We all took a seat in the folding chairs that had already been set up for the dedication the next day. We were given a little instruction from the general temple committee member and then from Bro. Harris, the brother called to be over all the music for the dedication.

Then the choir for the first dedication session (from Thatcher/Safford/Pima) was asked to line up behind the podium and run through their three songs (two of the three songs were different than ours. The only song all three choirs sang was" The Hosanna Anthem"). When they started singing, I was COMPLETELY taken aback! The acoustics in the celestial room are AMAZING. They sounded like angels were singing with them already. I could have sat and listened for hours. When they practiced the "Hosanna Anthem", and the other choirs sang "The Spirit of God" with them, there was not one dry eye in the room. The spirit was SO STRONG!

Next it was our turn to practice, since we are the choir for the second dedication session. What an AMAZING experience. It felt like my whole soul was lifted up. I had no care in the world! Though, I did mess up a little in "The Morning Breaks" and we all had a little bobble with the "Hosanna Anthem", because at first it was too slow, so in the middle of "The Spirit of God" section, Bro. Harris asked Sis. Clark to speed it up. Then for a few measures, the choir and the congregation were completely off, but once we figured out the speed, we got back together and it sounded great! Working out these issues during practices are what rehearsals are all about, right?

We sat down and the third choir got up and practiced. This choir is from the Silver City, New Mexico and the Duncan, AZ stakes. Once again, it was AMAZING! Though this time I was more prepared for the "Hosanna Anthem", so I didn't cry...as much.

Since the Duncan/Silver City choir were already standing up, they became the guinea pigs for practicing the entry/exit from the celestial room. They left and came back several times in several different arrangements. Finally, we all decided on the best arrangement. Then they sat down, and my choir lined up to practice our entry/exit. As we exited single file, we were escorted to the room we would be sitting in during most of the dedication. It was the small room between the veil room and the celestial room. It had 20 chairs in two rows lined up single file (it kind of reminded me of how airplane seats are configured...if in single rows). One row was right next to the curtain, and the other row was on the other side of the glass wall dividing the room in two. It was also near the glass wall/door leading to the celestial room (of course this side door was blocked with chairs for the dedication). We sat in the order we stood when we sang.

We just had to remember which chair was ours for the next day's events. So with our chairs assigned, we were escorted back into the celestial room for the last choir to run through the enter/exit practice. Once everyone knew what they were supposed to do, we were excused. My choir was asked to be in the chapel next door to the temple at 10:30 the next day for warm ups and further practice.

It was really happening! I got so nervous and excited at the same time! Tomorrow we would sing for a prophet, one of his counselors, and one of my favorite apostles (I know we are not supposed to have favorites, but I absolutely love Elder Holland!!).

It was only noon when we were excused. I went back to my car and grabbed my camera. I took some pictures of the temple, and of the guys putting the cap on the cornerstone in preparation for it being sealed the next day. Here are a few pictures:



At this point, I felt completely fulfilled! If singing in the celestial room today was the only thing we worked hard for all these months and the only thing we got to experience, I was perfectly happy. It was a marvelous experience. I didn't know how anything could get better than that. But I was really excited and nervous for the dedication. I knew I would experience great things. I just didn't know how great.

Next Post: The Temple Cultural Celebration