Summer Music: The Promise of Living

For many people their favorite holiday is Christmas. That’s fine — weirdos (just kidding!). In our house we’re summer people, especially Independence Day people. Starting about Memorial Day I begin to blitz the house with red, white, and blue decorations, my children wait for me to bring out the fire crackers, we read the Declaration of Independence the night before Independence Day, and we watch 1776 on the day itself. We carry our celebrations into late July and truly enjoy Pioneer Day and celebrating our ancestors and our country.  I love this time of year.
Continue reading

Merry Musical Christmas 2017

Merry Christmas from all of us at The Millennial Star!

“Lift up your head and be of good cheer; for behold, the time is at hand, and on this night shall the sign be given, and on the morrow come I into the world, to show unto the world that I will fulfil all that which I have caused to be spoken by the mouth of my holy prophets.

And it came to pass that there was no darkness in all that night, but it was as light as though it was mid-day. And it came to pass that the sun did rise in the morning again, according to its proper order; and they knew that it was the day that the Lord should be born, because of the sign which had been given.

And it had come to pass, yea, all things, every whit, according to the words of the prophets.

And it came to pass also that a new star did appear, according to the word.” 3 Nephi 1: 13, 19-21

More Christmas Music:
Four Favorite Christmas Videos
David Archuleta and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir – A Wondrous Christmas
A Christmas To Remember – Laura Osnes, Martin Jarvis, Met Soloists and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir
John Rhys-Davies and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir – A Dickens Christmas
Jane Seymour and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir – The Spirit of Giving

West African Mormon Missionaries Sing Called To Serve

[Cross-Posted from Sixteen Small Stones]

A few years ago my brother, Ben, visited Ghana to do some research into how music, drums, and rhythm are used in traditional practices and shamanism. While he was there he shot a lot of video and during part of the visit he got to go teach with some of the missionaries there.

Even though it’s been a while, he recently rediscovered this video he shot of a couple of Mormon missionaries from West Africa singing the LDS missionary anthem, “Called to Serve” and he just put it up on YouTube.

With all of the potential pop-cultural misperceptions of Mormon missionaries resulting from the “Book of Mormon” Musical, I thought it would be useful to share a taste of real LDS missionaries in Africa.  Enjoy and share!