The Gila Valley Temple, Part 4: The Temple Cultural Celebration

Before I tell you about the temple cultural celebration, I want to tell you about some other small things that happened during the day on Saturday, 22 May. The culmination of these small things lead to a tender mercy that was really meaningful to me and my mom.

When I picked up my mom in the morning before heading off to Thatcher, she was distressed because her phone had dropped out of her pocket onto the tile and now would not turn on properly. The phone was unusable. I tried to reboot it and do a little troubleshooting, but nothing would make it work again. She needed a new phone, but we didn't have time to get one today. She would have to wait until Monday. But, as I told my mom, if a broken phone is the worst that happens this weekend, we are doing pretty good. :o)

Then, when we arrived in Thatcher, my phone had absolutely no service. When I dropped my mom off at the EA Stadium, we had to go old school and set up a time and place to meet after my dress rehearsal. It's amazing how much we rely on cell phones now-a-days! It's hard to remember the days before this mobile technology.

After my time at the temple, I headed back to the stadium. The youth where having one final dress rehearsal before the big performance that evening. The day was extremely hot and still. There was no breeze to keep them cool. By the time I got there, the practice had been going on for two hours, and they were only about half way through the program. I felt bad for the youth...they were sunburned, sweat drenched, and exhausted. But all of them were so cheerful, ready to do what they practiced, and all were excited to see the prophet. Especially the youth of the Sierra Vista stake. I heard that the SV stake was the model stake for everyone else to follow. The youth knew all the dances, they didn't bother bringing their cell phones or iPods, they were always where they were supposed to be, and they were never disruptive. The cultural event leaders were really appreciative of our stake. What a great compliment!

While I was looking for my mom, I saw tents where the youth of my stake were trying to get some shade while waiting for their turn on the field. I chatted with a few of the leaders for a bit. Then, I happened to mention to my friend (and bishop's wife) about my mom's phone dropping and that I had no cell service, so I had to look for my mom the old fashioned way by asking around. Another friend from SV overheard me and told us that her parents also had Sprint and they had to set their phone to allow roaming. So I reconfigured my phone and found I now had some service. But because my plan charges for roaming, I didn't really want to use my phone for anything other than an emergency.

I really do have a point by telling you about our phone troubles. Bear with me... :o)

I finally met up with my mom and Cindy Pearce and we went for lunch and a little shopping. Then we explored the small town by just driving around. We found the Safford High School and saw that our stake youth were there resting after their practice. All of them camped out in the gym the night before. We went inside and visited them for a while as some boys played basketball (I don't know where they got the energy after the draining practice earlier), some took naps, and others were getting ready for that evening. Then we headed to our hotel room, took a short nap ourselves, and got ready for the evening.

When my mom and I arrived again at the stadium by 6pm, they were not seating the audience yet. We stood in line for about 30 minutes before we were allowed in. Our tickets were for seats in the yellow section, which ended up being on the side lines. They weren't the best seats, but it was still fun to watch the show live.

Here are a couple of pictures I took of the youth on the field waiting for the prophet to arrive, and of the area where the prophet would sit. After I took these two pictures, I was told we were not allow to photograph anything, so I had to put my camera away for the rest of the show.

The area where the prophet would sit is a little hard to see. It is below the main stadium seating and before the temporary field lights. If you enlarge the picture, you can see it better. It has cushy seats and blue gift bags on each seat.

Now on with the show...

More than 1,600 youth participated in the Temple Cultural Celebration. All of the youth were out on the field when the prophet arrived and was escorted to his seat in a golf cart. After he stepped out of the cart, he talked for about 15 minutes before heading to his seat. It was really neat to see how much our prophet loves the youth and how much he wanted to spend time with them. President Monson stopped on his way into the stadium to address the crowd. "I love these big events," he said. "No one in the First Presidency or the Twelve advocate these big events more than Tom Monson." President Eyring publicly agreed with him.

Then the show started with an opening song and an invocation. President Monson talked a little more to the youth, then improvised and sang a little song with President Eyring. It was so much fun to see our prophet and first counselor letting their hair down and having fun. When he proclaimed "On with the show!", the youth ran off the field and set up for the opening act.

The youths retold — through song, dance and spoken word — the rich cultural history of eastern Arizona. In the final moments of the show, they themselves became the foundation stones of the temple, standing close together wearing white. The Angel Moroni statue, common on most LDS temples — including the Gila Valley Temple — completed the scene as it rose above the man-made foundation.

This is the program for the production, titled "The Place Which God For Us Prepared":

• Grand Processional -- All Stakes
• Mormon Battalion -- All Priests and Elite Young Men Dancers
• Honeymoon Trail -- All Priests and Laurels
• Taming the Land -- Duncan and Pima Stakes
• St. Joseph Stake Academy/EAC -- Thatcher Stake
• Hispanic Heritage -- Sierra Vista Stake
• Spencer W. Kimball Tribute -- Elite Young Women Dancers
• Patriotic Tribute -- St. David Stake
• Mining History -- Safford and Silver City Stakes
• Lengthen Our Stride -- All Stakes
• Grand Finale -- All Stakes
  

They also had interviews from youth of the different stakes which were shown between the acts as the next stake was setting up. Some interviews were very funny, others were very cute, and others were very articulate and meaningful. There are some awesome youth with very bright futures ahead of them.

It was a great show and the youth did an outstanding job. Everything came together perfectly.

Here is an article from the church news about the Youth Celebration, including lots of pictures:

http://www.ldschurchnews.com/articles/59380/Youth-celebration-depicts-cultural-history-of-eastern-Arizona.html


Here are two videos from YouTube recorded by EA Courier:







All in all, it was a great evening with the youth. After the show ended, President Monson did not want to leave. He talked to the people around him, he shook hands of the youth and audience members, he wiggled his ears for the children, he took hats off people and put them on his own head, he played and joked and laughed, and he sung a little more. It must have taken about 30 minutes or more for him to leave the stadium. What a great opportunity for the youth to be so close to their prophet. It was a great evening.

My mom and I waited for a long time to leave, to try to allow the traffic to clear up a little. As were were waiting, we talked with quite a few people who participated. It was neat to hear about their unique experiences.

We finally headed to my car, but when we got there, there was still a long line of traffic waiting to leave. We waited in the car for a few minutes, then my phone started ringing. I picked it up and saw an unknown number. I normally don't answer my phone if I am not familiar with the phone number, and I didn't really want to get charged for the call since it was roaming. But something pushed me on to answer it. It was my bishop. He wanted to know if we had left yet. I told him we were still in the parking lot. Then he said the stake president wanted to talk with my mom. I handed the phone to her, then I watched as her face lit up and then she told me President Goates had one ticket for a seat in the celestial room at tomorrow's dedication. I strongly suggested she should take it, and she accepted the ticket. I ran back to the field to get the ticket from President Goates. It was about 10:30 PM at this time.

We were truly blessed this day to experience so many great things. Some things could have been disastrous, but they all worked out the best way possible.

Next Post: The Dedication