Image from "The Good Samaritan"
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is embarking on an ambitious, if slightly daunting, film project. The goal? To reinact every story told in the New Testament.
That’s a lot of stories! And, it requires a lot of people. Which means, whether you are a professional actor, or a novice, you have the potential to become a part of movie-making history. Continue reading
“On The 19th Day of Christmas Countdown, MoSop celebrates her 20th Wedding Anniversary!
[I love you today Mr. Mo even more than I did on our wedding day]…
…and she shares some fun facts about the Nativity.”
“The only comet that fit the bill appeared in 5 BC, so it is possible Jesus was born five years before we thought he was, and he can’t have been a winter baby because this comet was only seen in the springtime…”
Shawna Belt Edwards
A new song has been released just in time for Christmas by LDS / Mormon musician Shawna [Belt] Edwards** which is taking the world by storm. It asks the timeless question: “Do YOU have room for the Savior?”
Within 24 hours, Edwards music video on YouTube started “going viral”, and since she has offered the MP3 and the sheet music as a free downloadable file - it is sure to be sweeping YouTube, websites, Facebook and Blogs by storm over the next few days. Of course, I can’t help joining in the excitement, too! The song, and message is beautiful. For her video, Edwards’ original music was arranged by Daniel Blomberg, and performed by LDS singer/songwriter April Meservy.
“There was no room for Him in the inn. Do you have room for Him in your life?”
December 14, 2009 Interview Update
MoSop received a personal email from Shawna Belt Edwards who graciously agreed to share additional personal information, and some background on the song:
Edwards Family
SBE: I originally wrote this song as a Christmas gift for my family, and I sang it to them on Christmas Eve. It was inspired by President Monson’s 1990 Ensign article entitled The Search for Jesus. For the next 4 or 5 years, my dad would occasionally ask me, “Have you done anything with that song?” But other than a few hundred print copies I placed in a local music store, the answer was, “Not yet.”
My dad died suddenly and unexpectedly about two years ago. He was my first, and biggest fan. In my youth, I sat at the piano and practiced for hours and hours, and my dad would sit in a wing back chair in the corner and listen. Lots of people listened to me perform, but he was the only one who listened to me practice. That meant more to me than anything he could have ever given me.
I have kept thinking that the best way I could honor him would be to do something with the song. So I put it with the video and shared it a month ago at our Stake Music Night. I later posted it on YouTube and sent the link to 5 people. (3 of my kids live out of town, and I figured it would be an easy way for them to see it.) They shared it with a few people, and the rest is history.
I think it’s an incredible example of the power of the Internet for GOOD. 3 1/2 weeks ago, the song was still tucked away in my music file drawer. But now, it will be sung around the world this Christmas in Sacrament Meetings, firesides, Christmas Eve worship services, outdoor pageants, Evangelical gatherings, small town churches, interfaith celebrations, seminary classes, neighborhood parties, and (my favorite) Family Home Evenings.
MoSop thanks Sister Edwards for sharing her story, and music with us!
Click To Listen: Do You Have Room? Shawna Belt Edwards
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**SEARCH WARNING! There is a graphic pornography website headlining on search engines with the same name as this LDS composer. MoSop and Sister Edwards warn readers: Please DO NOT click on those misleading links!
Today is a special day. On July 24, 2009 the Mormon Pioneers entered the Salt Lake Valley after years of persecution and an arduous trek of over 1300 miles - blazing what became known as the Mormon Trail. I have blogged before about Honoring The Mormon Pioneers, and my own pioneer heritage. It is something I treasure. Words cannot express the gratitude I have for their courage and determination to build a life free to worship how they choose, and raise their families in security. This video shares clips of movies reenacting that experience. It is set to one of the most beloved hymns of The Latter-day Saints – a song written during the trek that became an anthem of the pioneer legacy, and a song of faith and hope for all generations. “Come, Come, Ye Saints“.
My family and I will be making our own trek this morning. Since today is a State holiday, all of the Utah LDS Temples are closed. This posed a problem. We have been striving to attend a temple each weekend as a family. Instead of allowing our goal to be thwarted, we decided to take a family road trip to Idaho where we will get to attend TWO temples; The REXBURG IDAHO TEMPLE and the IDAHO FALLS TEMPLE . 
As we embark this morning, I can’t help think of the contrasts between this experience and that of our ancestors! We will be driving in the luxury of our air-conditioned SUV, while listening to music on a radio. We will drive over 200 miles which will take us less than 4 hours. If we get hungry for a snack, or have to go to the bathroom, we will just stop at a gas station or Rest Area for a few minutes. When we arrive at our destination, we will attend not one, but two beautiful Temples of our God, and tonight we will be sleeping in a hotel with a swimming pool, showers with hot running water, and fluffy mattresses. 
How does one express enough gratitude for this? I can’t. I don’t know. It makes me feel so many mixed components of guilt and joy. I suppose the best way is just to go forward in faith and joy. I really can’t help thinking there is no better way for us to honor Pioneer Day. But, before I get into that fluffy hotel bed tonight, you can be sure I will be kneeling beside it with my family, and we will thank our Heavenly Father for the pioneers.
The Mormon Tabernacle Choir has released an official video press kit that includes over 35 informational segments.
The videos range from the history of the choir, to the planning of a tour, and everything in-between. Segments include interviews with choir leadership, and individual members share their personal stories. There is plenty of great information for both those who may be unfamiliar with the choir, or for the choir enthusiast.
Head on over, and check it out!
In conjunction with my last post memorializing the passing of Mormon Scholar Truman Madsen, I want to share a link to the Mormon Times which is offering a fabulous video tribute that should not be missed!
A compelling documentary has been created entitled “Pornography: Confronting the Addiction“.
Director Brandon Kowallis
This 35-minute film began as the Masters thesis project of up-and-coming director Brandon Kowallis, a graduate of both National University, and BYU. Awhile back, I had the opportunity to attend a screening at my local library, and came away inspired. Director Kowallis was on hand to introduce the film, and moderated a question and answer session following the screening along with Continue reading
History gave us “Generation X”, which in turn gave birth to “Generation Y”. Today’s rising youth are sometimes referred to as the “Lost Generation”. It is a retrospective reference to the disillusioned youth of post-WWI, viewed comparable to present-day. Two years ago, a creative and thought-provoking video was submitted to the AARP’s U@50 video contest. It received a standing ovation, and took second prize. I was impressed with the underlying spiritual message.
Mormon Temple worship and the ceremonies which take place inside are often a subject of curiosity and scrutiny. Because the worship which takes place in LDS temples is closed to the public, there is the potential for suspicion, rumor, misunderstanding, or inaccurate information. This is unfortunate. My website is designed to enlighten readers, to answer questions, and to build bridges of understanding.
Latter-day Saints wish the world to understand that our temple worship is not deemed so much as ”secret”, but rather “sacred”. In other words, it is something so special to us we keep it private and personal. In the temple, Continue reading
An upcoming HBO “Big Love” episode is slated to depict a re-creation of a Latter-day Saint (Mormon) temple ceremony. This is extremely distressing to the faithful LDS community, who understandably feel pain that something very sacred to them is to be disrespectfully paraded in public, and misrepresented by “ex-Mormon consultants”.
I enjoyed reading Bryce’s eloquent post over at Temple Study today. Among many great points, he included a timeless quote from the late LDS President Brigham Young (1801-1877):
Every time you kick ‘Mormonism’, you kick it upstairs; you never kick it downstairs. - B. Young
This statement has proved true. Bryce points out the positive perspective one can take whenever there is negative attention or media hoopla. Certainly, it is not the first time Continue reading
For over a year now I have been continually amazed and inspired by the inspirational gems created on YouTube, especially the Guru of Mormon-YouTube-ism SethAdamSmith. Off and on I would say to myself:
“Self, Someday I’ve got to sit down and learn how to make my own movie! I mean, how hard can it really be?”
Well, for some [insane] reason I decided that last night “someday” had arrived.
I embarked on my Movie Producing quest with gleeful abandon. Of course, knowing me, I certainly couldn’t go about it in any sort of logical way. My learning process always involves twists and turns and scaling the Mt. Everests of the Creativity Kingdom.
This time was no different.
For the sake of posterity, or anyone else who thinks they might like to become a Movie Producer Continue reading
