Our bags are packed... Don't know when we'll be back again!

The Pageant is over! What an experience!

We're leaving in the morning for Washington, DC, so this post will be short. I'll get a few more pictures up from the Pageant after we're back, as well as some from DC.

This is one of my new favorite quotes that I think wraps up the emotion and spirit of the Hill Cumorah Pageant:

"These were days never to be forgotten - to sit under the sound of a voice dictated by the inspiration of heaven... What joy! What wonder! What amazement! While the world was racked and distracted - while millions were groping as the blind for the wall... our eyes beheld, our ears heard... and I shall ever look upon this expression of the Savior's goodness with wonder and amazement while I am permitted to tarry..." ~Oliver Cowdery, describing his experiences as a participant in the Restoration

Even More Pics from the Pageant!

My cast team all in costume

Me with my companion, Shauna
Both of us are in our Lehi Mob costumes

Me with my roommate, Holly
I'm in my Samuel Rabble costume. Holly's in her Nephite Banner Carrier outfit and headgear

Note...

Make sure to scroll down past the Pageant picture posts... I've updated a few posts with more pictures from before we got to the Pageant (BP time... :)

More pictures from the Pageant!

Hoorah for a day of rest yesterday!  We had 12 o'clock sacrament meeting at the Hill in the pouring rain (what a cool thing to have sacrament meeting on the Hill Cumorah!  And in the rain, too!  Good thing Holly and I had reserved seating in the front of the middle section with the choir!), then had family time.  To help us pass all that time, there were 2 speakers.  One spoke about Joseph Smith and how some of the best scripture passages he received or translated came when he was going through some of his worst personal trials.  The other speaker is one of the pageant directors who is an amazing singer.  He helped us be better singers ourselves - what a great lesson!  Then we had dinner and a fireside, and made it back to Hobart, had a quick devotional, and we were in bed before midnight!  Hoorah!

Today is another day of rest - and recreation.  We get to sleep in a bit again this morning (and I can't, drat it all).  We have brunch here at Hobart, and then have a myriad of activities to choose from to do with other young single adults - movies in the (semi-air conditioned) campus theater, art projects, volleyball, other sports... yea!  Tonight we'll go to the Hill for dinner and the variety show.  That was one of the best things about Pageant last year - hopefully this year won't disappoint!

Here's some more pictures from Pageant!

Nephite and Lamanite battle banner carriers.  Wouldn't want to see this motley crew coming your way down a dark alley!

James, a Nephite warrior, ready to battle after a stop at the drinking fountain.  They had those around during Nephite times, right?  (James is the only guy in my cast team, and puts up well with 19 girls... poor kid!)

A nice moment from the 'Tableau of Peace."  Too bad Lamanites and Nephites can't always be friends.

Holly's cool spiral braid to put up under her wig.

Me and Holly in our Pageant t-shirts.

Me, Amanda and Echo in front of the stage.  Now those are girls that you could meet in a dark alley and make it out alive afterward!

Echo and Amanda.  Delete, or not to delete - that is the question!  (Aren't digital cameras great?)

Hill Cumorah Pageant!

We're at the pageant now and having a wonderful time! It is so great to be here with 700 of our closest friends doing the Lord's work. The Pageant presidency has put a much greater emphasis on our missionary training which has helped a lot. In only 2 performances (and one was our dress rehearsal with a small crowd), the referrals doubled from last year. So something must be going right!
It is truly amazing that this kind of production can be pulled together in such a short time! It is a good thing that we have help from above - there's no way that any group of people could do it otherwise.
The internet connection at Hobart is strong but so slow... it's taken all morning to upload these few pics! So I'll put up a few more another time when we have a lot of time!

The Hill Cumorah!
Moroni is 10 feet 4 inches high on top of his monument, supposedly for the scripture Moroni 10:4 - check it out!

Looking down into the bowl from the top

Holly and her Nephite banner ready to carry into battle. She gets to die in her scene, and miraculously gets up at the end of the battle to honor the victory.

Holly's costume. Love the Hershey Kiss helmet!

Day 5: Back at the Hill Again!

Yay! Back at the Pageant! We pulled into the parking lot and it was almost like coming home. The work crew was there, working on the stage. The new administration building looks great! There has been an addition to the study shelter to house everyone. It's wonderful to be back!

Here are some pictures from the day!

The stage and work crew

The study shelter with its new addition

Stage 6

More staging

Angel Moroni

Whew!

Day 5: The Hurricane (Deck)!

We walked back to the falls this morning. It started raining as we started walking, so we stopped off to get a jacket. :) We proceeded to walk to Goat Island, and it continued to rain. We were pretty soaked by the time we got to where the tour started. Good thing we were only going to get more wet!
We got into our cute little yellow jackets and put on our brand new sandals and were ready to get to the decks. You are right in the falls when you're down on those decks! It was fantastic!
Here's some pictures!

Holly in the Hurricane Deck!