When the prophet, President Russell M. Nelson steps onto the stage at 6 p.m. on the 18th of November for the San Antonio Area Devotional it will be accompanied by music. That music is in the hands of Sister Kim Long of the Encino Park Ward, Hill Country Stake who is conducting. The choir is made up of 80 voices from the seven San Antonio Stakes.
By: Ken Jarvis, Public Affairs, Hill Country Stake
“I was counseled by Area Seventy, Elder Carlos Villarreal to use the San Antonio Stakes so as to not put an undue travel burden on stakes outside San Antonio,” said Sister Long. She was also given some very specific parameters for selecting the music appropriate for this devotional. The pieces need to be hymns or arrangements of hymns and have organ accompaniment.
By the time the choir sings for us at the Fireside they will have practiced together for four two-hour rehearsals. In addition to that they will be at the Alamo Dome at 8 a.m. Sunday morning to rehearse in the building with the organ and get used to the acoustics.
Sister Long underscored the need for humility in addition to the hard work of practice. “When Elder Villarreal asked me to do this, I didn’t sleep very well that night. I was feeling extremely inadequate because I could think of a dozen people who could take my place, who would be much more experienced and capable. Yet I was the one who was asked to do it.”
Sister Long went on to share that 48 hours before the first rehearsal she got a request direct from the office of the First Presidency via our Area Authority. They wanted a third song. One she had never seen the music for.
“They requested the Mack Wilberg arrangement of It is Well With my Soul. Can you have the Choir sing this piece? I had no idea how difficult it was since I had only heard it at General Conference. That was my only exposure to this piece of music. But when the Prophet asks if you can you do something you say ‘Yes’. So, I said, ‘Yes’.”
Sister Long scrambled for the next 24 hours to find a vendor that had the new arrangement. She found the one and fortunately they were able to overnight 90 pieces of the music. “We got it and gave it to the organist with only 48 hours to look it over before our first rehearsal.”
After that first rehearsal, Sister Long expressed her gratitude for the type of musicians she has in the choir. “I asked for people who loved to sing and would benefit from this particular experience. I was hoping that we would get people who would not normally get that experience ever in their lives.” She said, “I got a wonderful diversity in ability and experience and I do believe that our humility and desire to do our best and to stretch makes all of us rely on the Lord a lot more. Then we become His choir. It’s our voices that are singing for Him and He is helping right along.”
The Choir members seemed to agree. When asked how she was preparing to sing at the Devotional, Sister Laurie Ann Judd Atanasio, an alto in the San Pedro Ward, North Stake, said that she and her family are simply preparing to get the most from the Devotional. “We’re working hard to try to take things from the last several conferences particularly Pres. Nelson’s counsel in the April Conference to write down the impressions we have when we pray.” She added, “We’re already doing the preparation but it’s an added bonus to be in the Choir.”
Brother Dean Palmer, a bass from the Leon Springs Ward, La Cantera Stake, felt the need to spend more time in prayer. “I’m asking for Angels to support my voice. I do my typical scripture study as well as personal and family prayer and I’m not changing that. But in addition I’ll be fasting that day.”
Each of us can make what preparations we can, along with the choir, for the Prophet’s Devotional. Sister Long summed it up well with her testimony. “The thought came into my mind of the account of the Savior feeding the multitude. The few loaves of bread and fishes brought to Him were completely inadequate to feed 5,000 people. Yet that’s what they had. He blessed it. He gave it to the multitude with baskets left over.” She concluded, “Then I knew, you bring what you have, and it will be enough.” We too have to bring 100% of our faith, put forth the effort, and be strengthened by the Spirit. Isn’t that what it’s all about?