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Music and the Spoken Word

Last night I went with my mom and Ari to see the lights at Temple Square and see a Ririe Woodbury performance in Salt Lake. The lights were beautiful and the soft, slowly falling snow was gorgeous. The performance was good, but I decided I much prefer ballet. I'm really glad we went though. Thanks mom!


Today I went to the Music and the Spoken Word special Christmas performance. My dad, Free and Ari and I went. We didn't have tickets, so we went to the Tabernacle in the stand-by waiting area. Luckily, we got in! We were excited to see grandma and grandpa in action fulfilling their calling. Their mission is at Temple Square as ushers and they love it! They do a great job! The performance was absolutely amazing! They had Alfie Boe and Tom Brokaw were guest artists. Alfie Boe played Jean Valjean in London's 25th Anniversary production of Les Miserables and he sang Bring Him Home today. It was so amazing! My dad cried, a lot. Another guest arrived after Tom Brokaw told a really neat story about a pilot after WW2 that met some kids who were trapped in Berlin after it was separated, trapping many people in the border. He met them behind barbed-wire fence and was amazed at their gratitude and thankfulness. He wished he had something more to give, but he handed two of them each one piece of gum he had in his pocket. Without speaking, the children ripped the gum wrappers and passed them around so they could all smell the minty flavor. The pilot convinced some of his buddies to give their chocolate and gum to the children. They dropped it from their plane, tied to some handkerchiefs. The kids recognized his plane by him moving the wings and was later nicknamed Uncle Wiggly Wings, The Candy Bomber and the Chocolate Flier. His name was Gail Halvorsen and he was onstage personally at the performance! It was so neat! He was wearing the same uniform he had back when he started dropping the candy, and he had a bundle of energy as he hopped down the stairs without the rail. And he is 92!! Wow! His efforts he said really gave him, the children, and many others the real Christmas spirit. He even carried the German team's national placard in the winter 2002 Olympics! He also received theGrand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany and has an elementary school in Germany named after him. He also served two LDS missions with his wife, Alta. During the song after his story was told, hundreds of parachutes descended on the audience. We were in the balcony, so we didn't get any but they were so pretty and fun to watch! I want to be just like Gail when I grow up! :)
There was dancing, gorgeous costumes, amazing sets, wonderful lighting and of course perfect, Christmas music. The spirit was so strong and the whole performance was just incredible! This has been the best Christmas-spirit event I've been to yet! :)





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