We Got In!

Ryan here.  I received a phone call today at work from a member of the LDS British Pageant Presidency.  He told me that our family's application to participate in the first ever pageant outside of the US this summer in Preston, England at the temple grounds has been accepted.  We are in!  We made the cut! We will be in Preston for 9 days during the pageant and participate in rehearsals for the first bit, then perform toward the end of the stay.  Throughout we will participate in day activities, scripture study, prayer, and play time.  At night we perform on the stage and enjoy the excitement and anticipation of live theatre!  Even though it was an application process, we have been extended a call as cast members and will be set apart by our Bishop here in Edinburgh. So official!  The pageant will depict the history of the LDS church in the British Isles.  http://britishpageant.org/

Mesa Pageant cast at the end of the show.

Some of you at this point might be thinking - what a lame waste of time, or why would you want to subject yourself to this treatment when you can just go and watch the pageant.  The reason for this desire I have for my family is three fold:  1 - while I was growing up I participated with my parents and siblings (minus my oldest sister Tiff who was on a mission) in the Hill Cumorah Pageant held near Palmyra, New York.  Later, in my late teens, I  participated again with my Uncle Brian's family in the cast of the Hill Cumorah Pageant - both times I played the role of a Laminate (dressed up as a Native American, apropos given my complexion)  Some of my favorite, most memorable and life changing experiences happend during those summers.  http://www.hillcumorah.org/Pageant/  When visiting the pageant as a spectator with my wife many years later, the same feelings came back.  I tried to explain what it meant to me, but she could not grasp it quite.  I hope to be able to share with my children and my wife what I experienced in my teens.  And 2 - Lindsey and I attended the Easter Pageant in Mesa several times while in our youth with our church groups.  It is a simple and beautiful depiction of the life of Jesus Christ.  We both have fond memories of sharing nights with friends and family on those cold chairs in the great grass bowl of the Mesa Temple Grounds.  It is in the Mesa Temple where we were married nearly 15 years ago.  http://www.easterpageant.org/  Finally and 3 - we visited the Manti, Utah pageant this past summer, camping out, eating the dinner the local ward provided and eating snow cones and ice cream.  The pageant was outdated, even doctrinally, but the cast seemed entirely enthused and families participating were all smiles.  http://www.mormonmiracle.org/

A chance to spend a week and a half with my kids undivided attention on subjects that mean so much to Lindsey and I is something we just could not miss.  We are beside ourselves with joy!