Cultural Celebration Video Clips

I found these videos online and thought I should post them.   At least we can see a little of the Celebration now.

This clip is from the Church News Department And the next 3 are from youtube.  Unfortunatley there are no clips of the Kansas City Kitty or Maple Leaf Rag performances.  :(

Girls' Camp Countdown

There is less than a week until the Platte City Stake Young Women's Camp!  We have 5 YW and 2 leaders from the Branch attending the entire week.  We are expecting a few more visitors during the week, as well.  We are all going to have an AMAZING time! 

The theme this year is "Hang On", based on D&C 121: 7-9

 7 My son [or daughter], peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;

 8 And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes.

 9 Thy friends do stand by thee, and they shall hail thee again with warm hearts and friendly hands.

Each Branch/Ward was asked to make a flag.  We decided to go with a cute owl theme.  Our flag has lots of colorful, unique owls on a lovely tree.  The flag will read, "Albany Branch YW" and "Hang Onto WHOOO You Are.".  Cuteness!  Aren't we creative?!

Because we are so awesome, we have also made shirts that are ADORABLE!  The following is my shirt.  But note that each is a different color scheme, decorated by each unique individual.  Appliques, embroidery floss, buttons... Our ladies are artists!

Okay... so I should have ironed the shirt.  But you get the general idea, right?!



There are a few days left to do our packing and the last bit of planning.  This is gonna be a BLAST!

Courageous

Sarah and Kaleigh at the Kansas City Temple

We are so excited that Kaleigh is officially HOME!  She recently had surgery at Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City.  She was very brave about the whole thing, despite the pain. 

Some of the girls were able to visit her in the hospital last Sunday.  It was so wonderful to see her smile!  Visiting with her and seeing her be so positive was such a blessing. We are so grateful to have such a good example of courage and faith.  Kaleigh, you are very loved by us all!

"Of One Heart in the Heartland"

May 5th, 2012 was a wonderful day.  The Youth of the Kansas City Temple District performed in the Youth Cultural Celebration for their prophet.  We had 6 YW from our Branch involved.  Here's a pic of one of their performance pieces.  It was fantastic!

President Thomas S. Monson presided and made the opening remarks.  He repeated a statement he made in 2008. "I am an advocate for such events.  They enable our youth to participate in something they truly find unforgettable.  The friendships they form and the memories they make will be theirs forever." He continued by reminding the youth that they should record in their journals the feelings they had.  He promised them that this would be an experience that would always be with them and that they will gladly tell their children and grandchildren about it one day.

The performance was wonderful.  The youth did their parts with zeal and near perfection.  It was so touching to be able to see the Prophet's responses and emotions.  He was excited, enthusiastic, and playful.  And he showed a great love for the youth. 

We all had perfect seats.  We could see our Branch Youth clearly as they danced AND see the Prophet very well.  I, Sister Haddock, watched his reactions to one song in particular: "We Believe", written by Jenny Phillips.  He was overcome with emotion as the youth sang about their commitment to being virtuous despite the evil of this day.  So was I!

Here is a youtube video of the song with words.  Beautiful!

As a special treat, Kenneth Cope sang "Broken" for the portion about the Joplin Recovery.  Here's a youtube of that song.

As amazing as the entire performance was, I was even more amazed after speaking to my husband.  Basically all that day had been completely chaotic.  First off, the venue was planned for 1500 kids.  By the performance date 3600 kids wished to perform!  Over 500 had decided to join in on the fun within the last week.  And the kids never actually were able to do a complete run-through of the performance, due to many factors.  Their dress rehearsal was their performance!  But you could not tell.  They did so well!

Way to go: Kayleigh, Sarah L, Blayre, Zane, Sarah P, and Sariah!

Here's a LDS Church News Article about the performance, etc.
http://www.ldschurchnews.com/articles/62319/Kansas-City-Missouri-Temple-The-reason-for-this-great-celebration.html