Follow The Prophet – The Words & Deeds of God's Living Prophet, President Thomas S. Monson

Place: Salt Lake City, UT (Conference Center)
Purpose: Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert

My wife and I had the fantastic opportunity last night to attend the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square annual Christmas Concert, The Wonderful Gift of Christmas.  The featured guests this year were Grammy Award winner Natalie Cole and Pulitzer Prize winning author David McCullough.

Because of traffic we were running late finding parking before the concert, so I dropped off my wife to save us a seat.  I rushed to park and then raced to the Conference Center to find my wife.  After waiting through the lines in the cold outside, and then finding the auditorium door indicated on my ticket, I found the audience in a quiet hush.  There were already many thousands of people who had found their seats, but they were all standing too.  I realized that the prophet must have just entered the room.

I found where my wife was sitting in the balcony, and quickly joined her.  Indeed, she told me that the prophet, President Monson, had just entered the auditorium a couple minutes previously, and pointed to where he was greeting people in the first rows down below.  It is tradition when the prophet enters the room, a wave of silence envelopes the Saints and they all stand to honor the living prophet of God.  Tens of thousands of people quickly fall into a hush and direct their attention to the man who God has called to lead His kingdom on the earth today.  It is a sublime experience to be in the same room with the prophet.

We enjoyed the concert, and we suspect President Monson did too.  Others in attendance last night were President Uchtdorf, and other General Authorities of the Church.  They also mentioned that former Attorney General of the United States John Ashcroft was in attendance.

How blessed we are to live in the midst of a living prophet of God!

See more about this Christmas concert at the links below:

Deseret News – “Mormon Tabernacle Choir, guests unwrap musical magic”
LDS Newsroom – “Natalie Cole, David McCullough and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Bring in the Christmas Spirit”

Update (12/14/09): President Monson also attended the Saturday evening, and Sunday morning performances of the choir, orchestra, and the honored guests. One blogger tells that President Monson took the stage after the Saturday evening performance to thank the guests:

After the concert, President Monson went on the stage and presented them with gifts and they each gave a little speech about how much fun they have had in Salt Lake for 4 days making the production and hanging out with President Monson…LUCKY!! They said how they were so impressed with the mo-tab and all of “President Monson’s people”…meaning the mormons (she was hilarious).

Another blogger notes the exchanges after the Sunday morning “mini concert”:

The presentation after the concert with President Monson, Natalie Cole and David McCollough. President Monson talked and thanked both of them… saying “the five most important words… we are proud of you … and the two most important words… thank you.” Natalie Cole then talked and said how impressed she was by the Mormons and the amazing experience she had. She thanked President Monson for the family history information he gave her and said how grateful she was we share a common faith in Jesus. David McCollough then talked about his wife and told a little history story about John Adams and his desire for greatness and talked about the Tabernacle Choir as an American icon and all that they contribute to the history and meaning of our country. President Monson seemed to be welling up with emotion while the two of them talked. President Monson and Natalie Cole hugged and then the choir sang “God Be With You Til We Meet Again.” Natalie Cole fought back tears the whole song and it was very touching.

See the posts below for photos from these bloggers of President Monson thanking the guests:

David and Ali: Salt Lake City
A Day in the Life: Top 10 Things I Loved about the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert
Matt’s Basic Life & Occasional Adventure: Conference Center Conference

Last Wednesday evening, a youth group from a ward had the opportunity to go downtown to the Church Administration Building in Salt Lake City and receive a tour of some of the rooms where the First Presidency holds their meetings with the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and Presidency of the Seventy.  The invitation came from their bishop, Bishop Mortensen, who is an assistant secretary to the First Presidency.

The group was able to see several boardroom-style meeting rooms, ask questions, and take pictures.  They saw the door to President Monson’s office, but weren’t able to go inside.  The picture shown here is apparently the room where they meet most often for committee meetings, etc.

The blogger includes a fun anecdote of an exchange once between their bishop and President Monson:

…if you look in the photo, in the left corner is the door that leads to the Prophet’s office. Our Bishop has the responsibility to open it for the Prophet. The wood in the room was imported from Russia, and the door is at least 3 inches thick, so it is heavy and President Monson always jokes with our Bishop because it’s hard. One day they were joking and the Bishop mentioned he was doing push-ups to get ready to open it and Pres. Monson said: “Oh really? Well lets see!” So Bishop Mortensen dropped down and gave the Prophet 10 push-ups and got up and Pres. Monson said: “I meant show me by opening the door!”

You can read more about the tour, and see a couple more pictures, at the link below:

TBUTT13 – “From the office of the First Presidency…”

Place: Salt Lake City, UT (Conference Center)
Purpose: 2009 First Presidency Christmas Devotional

This evening was the annual First Presidency Christmas Devotional, in which the three members of the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints spoke to us about the meaning of Christmas.  Beautiful music was also provided by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and the Orchestra at Temple Square. Continue reading

Every year the First Presidency, including President Monson and his counselors, releases a Christmas message.  The Church News reports this year’s message:

Christmas is a glorious time, simple in origin and deep in meaning. It is rich in memories, charitable in spirit, and beautiful in tradition and custom. It has an attraction to which our hearts are readily drawn.

At this season of the year, we remember that our Heavenly Father gave us His Son, Jesus Christ. We also remember that His precious Son gave us His life, the Atonement, and victory over the grave.

Therefore, let us give to our Lord and Savior the gift of gratitude by living His teachings and following in His footsteps. During His mortal ministry, He “went about doing good” (Acts 10:38). As we do likewise, the Christmas spirit will fill our hearts.

Remember that the annual First Presidency Christmas Devotional will be broadcast tomorrow evening.

See more information about this message at the following link:

Church News – “First Presidency Christmas Message”

President Thomas S. Monson and his counselors, President Eyring and President Uchtdorf, of the First Presidency of the Church, will give their annual Christmas Devotional this coming Sunday, December 6, 2009 at 6:00pm MST, from the Conference Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.  This is a wonderful opportunity to hear from our prophet and inspired leaders about the true meaning of Christmas during this holiday season.  The Mormon Tabernacle Choir and the Orchestra at Temple Square will also provide beautiful music.

Tickets are required to gain entrance to the Conference Center for this event.  See the Church’s event details page for more details.

A live video broadcast of the event will be available online at the Church’s Broadcast website, on BYU Television, as well as an audio broadcast on radio.lds.org at 6:00pm MST.  A rebroadcast will be available at 8:00pm MST on KBYU-TV.

Read more about this upcoming event at the links below:

Deseret News – “First Presidency Christmas Devotional will be Sunday, Dec. 6″
Church’s Event Details Page – First Presidency Christmas Devotional