Over a Thousand People Came Together To Break a Record-The Largest Nativity

David Archuleta in Bordeaux, France - Christmas Conference

Excerpt from  Soeur Bolaños :

We are so blessed! :)

The France Lyon Mission is truly so blessed everyday!  This week has been a miraculous one, a memorable one!  

On Friday, we got up at 5 am to travel to Bordeaux for our Christmas conference!  The moment  every single one of us was anxiously waiting for!  The ride there was long but so worth it!  When we got there, were were assigned to sit in the chapel and spiritually prepare by reading our scriptures, pondering upon the meaning of Christmas, and so on.  Then, President came in with his wife Sister Rooney, and so did David Archuleta, his beautiful pianist, his manager, and the assistant director to the tabernacle choir!  They all had made the effort to come all the way from Utah to visit us and share something very special with us!  The feeling of joy I had is inexplicable!  Later president allowed each and everyone of us to individually to go up to them and shake their hand and tell them where we were from!  It was truly a blessing.  Then David shared some beautiful hymns such as "Oh Holy Night" and "Glorious," and even sang "Le Divine enfant" in french for us, which he hadn't practiced at all, but wanted to give it a try just for the France Lyon Mission.  How blessed!  I mention "Oh Holy Night" and "Glorious" because both are songs that really touch me.  First, "Glorious," is from the movie "Meet the Mormons" which is a movie I haven't seen yet, but I hear is so great and is helping missionary work in the church go forward!  You should all go see it! :)  Before he sang, he explained to us how on his mission he got a call from his mission president weeks before going home.  His mission president explained to him how the Church wanted him to record this song for this special movie "Meet the Mormons."  He was so confused and did not know what decision to make since he wanted to be 100 percent obedient as a missionary.  His mission president told him it would be a great opportunity for the church and that he needed to decide yes or no right at that moment.  Yikes!  Can you imagine being in David's position?  Well, he was obedient, and he went and recorded this beautiful song :)  

"Oh Holy Night" really touched me because it brings back great memories of when I had the chance to sing it with Orosco, our Toms River branch opera singer, for the Stake Christmas Devotional one year.  Not only is it delightful to sing, but also as we listen to the words and ponder upon them.  My favorite part is when it says "Fall on your knees, oh hear the angels' voices".  Yes, we should all fall on our knees, humble ourselves before the Lord by telling him our weaknesses, our difficulties, our joys, because we trust Him, we love Him, and we truly seek for His help.  Because it is through Him that we can overcome it all; through Him and His Son Jesus Christ. 

Excerpt from Soeur Larsen:  First things first. David Archuleta Christmas Conference. MIND BLOWING. It was FULL of the spirit and the love of Christ. Not only did David Archuleta sing, which was inspiring, but he shared his testimony of the Saviour, which was truly powerful. It was incredible to hear someone who is so well known in the world simply bear his testimony and share stories from his mission. He told us that he was asked to record 'Glorious' while he was still on his mission so when you hear it, you're hearing it straight from 'a missionary with his nametag on.' So cool! President and Sister Roney also inspired us with their words (as per usual) and helped me to understand the magic of music and Christmas and how it all ties into the love of the Saviour. The stake president of Lyon spoke and said something I'll never forget, 'Give something away and see how long it takes the Lord to give it back to you tenfold.'

Not only did he sing flawlessly but he is a great example to us as missionaries and he definitely taught us what the most important things are. Namely serving our Heavenly Father. He even sang us a song completely in French that he had just learned like the day before. And I have never heard a better rendition of "We Three Kings."

David in Bordeaux, France

An excerpt from Elder Peterson:

"Friday was the big day!!!!

We all went to one of the chapel’s in Bordeaux.  It was with half of the mission. Everyone got aprons with the mission logo and we all signed one anothers. Then we put everything away and started reading our scriptures while we waited……… then came walking in with President………….. David Archuleta! It was so cool! The other guests were awesome too! There was women who is named Kendra, who is a pianist that works with David and the Vice President of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir was also there which was really cool and then David’s Manager. We all go to go shake their hands and talk to them for a couple of seconds and then take a picture of them afterward. (Sadly we didn’t have enough time to take pictures with them).

Then he started by singing Oh Come All Ye Faithful and it was amazing! He is so good at singing, It was incredible… I have never heard a better singer, live,  in my life.  Then he sang a song called Glorious from the new movie Meet the Mormonsand it was amazing! It also used to be my favorite EFY song.

After he sang a bit we heard from Sister Roney. She gave a beautiful talk about Christmas and how we can invite the world to learn about Christmas and what saying Merry Christmas really means;

Then David sang more! He sang We Three Kings and it was the most beautiful rendition I have ever heard. Then we were able to hear from President Roney and he gave one of the most inspiring talks I have ever heard. It was about the 2 most important things in life which he learned from his Mother on her deathbed, The Savior and Love. It was a beautiful talk and I am so thankful for our mission president who is truly a great man of God.  

Finally to close, David Archuleta bore his Testimony,  it was amazing and powerful.  He is just a normal guy and he made the decision to serve a mission. His mission was not easy,  however, he learned so much. His big message was about weakness and how the closer we are to Christ the more we see our weaknesses and become humbled so that we may cause those weaknesses to become strengths. He ended in the most amazing way!  Because he did 2 conferences in France (one in Lyon and one in Bordeaux) he wanted to learn a French Christmas song and he sane “Il est Né” and it was so amazing!  In the past 3 weeks it has become one of my favorites and it was really cool to have him sing it for us.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ha0xVgv9ovw

(via: muret)

GOODNESS

I was thinking today how wherever David goes, people tend to

swarm around him. David has that "specialness" about him.

He's a person who is just kind and good and endearing and, as
handsome and charming as his looks may be, (a lot of people
are handsome, but there's not that need to have to be near them,
so to speak)....I really feel it's what's underneath: his spirit,
his nature that people just want to be around him...it's like his goodness
is a magnet that people want to feel and want to be in close range of.
I felt that the very first time I met him and each time after that...it's like
you just want to be close enough, you are drawn to him...because his spirit
emanates all that is good, kind, trusting, faithful and loving, and people
are in need of that today. He has a genuine and caring soul that people want to
to be near, to feel and remember.

He brings love, peace, joy and happiness wherever he goes.