Well here I go again. I warn you that this will be a long one due to the fact that I have not posted in a while. I have thought about doing this every Sunday but I never got into the habit. Now that everyone will be able to see that that is my plan I will be held accountable. Hopefully I will keep to it.

Savior of the World (SotW) just got over on the 30 of December so I think I will relate stories and thoughts I have had during the course of the production. It has been an extremely good thing to have in my life. Now I will have to find something else to do during my nights that will be at least half as beneficial as this has been.

In SotW I was on the tech crew backstage. My responsibilities mostly included making sure the stage and props were set, work some weights and ropes and miscellaneous stuff under the stage, and whatever else the Stage Manager asked us to do. It was interesting to be on the opposite end of a production than what I am used to. As most of you know I like to perform so i have always been on stage. It was good to obtain a new perspective on things. Being able to be on the tech crew ,I think, will make me a better actor/performer in the future. It is true that well rounded education in all things is beneficial. Also, there are definitely a different kind of people in the crew. Not that they are worse just different. I really enjoyed getting to know the guys I was with.

There are some marked differences between a church production and a regular one. I guess that is obvious but I was really enjoying it. Before every performance they would have a devotional. They were really simple most of the time but it was very successful in bringing the spirit to the performance. You could feel every ones testimonies emanating from themselves and through the performance; even I as crew member felt it come trough me.

The unity in the cast was amazing! I know anyone in a play, musical, or some other similar group will say that they feel a bond with the people involved but I have never seen anything like this. There was no competition, no backbiting, putting down, or even just aloofness. There were constantly pats on the back, hugs, smiles and all manner of goodness going on. Everyone was made to feel loved. At the beginning I was worried about being looked down on and everyone just kind of ignoring me but that wasn't the case at all. I had all kind of people reach out to me from age 5 to somewhere around 62. There was one lady in particular that I enjoyed just walking by her. She was the one who played Elizabeth and was a little more than 50 is my guess. She always had a smile ready for you and made you feel as if she really cared about you as I am sure she really did. You could tell that she knew what the production was about and had a close relationship with our Father. As you can see I was really impressed.

I think my favorite Character in SotW is Thomas. You know, Doubting Thomas. He seems to be so real. Just like the rest of us. He was not present the first couple of appearances of the resurrected Christ and for that he had a hard time believing. When Jesus appeared to the Apostles he charged them to be witnesses of him, to go and testify to the world of Him. When Thomas was told this the line he gave was "How can I be a witness of what I have not seen!". Peter response is very poignant: "Plenty of people saw Him in life, watched His miracles and heard His teachings, and yet some of them were among those who condemned Him to the cross. To see Him, Thomas —to see Him as He is, for who He is—we must look with our hearts."

Thomas says that he want to be a witness but just doesn't feel as if he can testify. Unless he "Feels the print of nails" he "can not, will not believe". As I was thinking about this I came to the conclusion that it was not just the fact that he could only believe if he saw but that he harbored some disappointment when he was not able to see the Savior. That may not be what really was going on in his head but I was able to identify with it. When I miss out on something or have a feel slighted I have a negative attitude toward that event. Which goes back to Elder Bednars talk in general Conference about not taking offense. When Peter gently talked some sense to Thomas he realized that he had believed he just needed to discard all of his distractions and listen to the Spirit and his heart. I loved the words to his song after this scene. Here they are: "If I can’t hear His words, Then I will speak them.If I can’t feel His touch, His touch I’ll give.And I’ll rejoice because my Lord called even me, And by His teachings I’ll always live." That is one of the lessons that I was able to glean from this production.

Even though people were good about reaching out and being friends in this play I still didn't feel very comfortable with any one there. There were a couple of times that I really wanted to talk about all of this stuff but I couldn't bring myself to do it. Those were times I wished I had a companion or some of my friends there with me. That is something I really need to work on. Being able to open up and really talk to people.

Now for some light hearted stuff.

There was one scene in SotW that involves an orange tree. As the tech crew we had to set it up and take it down as quickly as we can because it happened in the middle of the performance. This tree was the bane of all of our existences on the crew. The oranges were rigged up so that you could "pick" them off of the tree. The problem with this is that a lot of them would just fall off with out picking them. The tree had three different section that we had to assemble every time and as we would carry them on stage oranges would periodically fall. One of these times we had an orange drop bounce across the stage down a couple of steps and right into the Orchestra pit. It literally took about five seconds and everyone was just watching this orange bounce around. Another time one of the girls had a basket full of oranges and as she was walking on stage she tripped, the basket fell, and the oranges went everywhere. So instead picking oranges off a tree the actors had to pick oranges off of the ground. It was pretty funny.

Through the whole play there are actors that portray angels that are always there watching the events and periodically burst in to song. In one scene there are a bunch of angels that come down on stage and then exit. During this scene they exit in groups and the last group to leave was an older girl leading a younger one by the hand. As they walk off stage the younger girl is supposed to look toward the audience until she is off. Unfortunately the older girl was not aware of this and led the little girl right into a pillar. We all agreed that alone proved that angels have flesh and bones. Even angels can walk right into walls.

It was a really good experience and I hope to be able to do it next year as a performer. I recommend everyone seeing this if they have the opportunity. It really is a faith builder and such a wonderful missionary tool.

I am really sad it is over. It was such a good thing to fill some of my time and to be a part of. Now on to the next thing whatever it may be.

This mostly focused on SotW so in the next couple of days I will update on my actual mission. Until then...