Tornado Warnings, Peace, and Opening day...

I had my first tornado warning this week! At least the first one that I remember anyway... they probably had some in Omaha when I was a baby, haha. But it was really exciting! We had to cancel practice and go to the basement where we eat lunch. As we drove, we could hear the siren. It was so cool though! It ended up being a super sweet experience because a small family that was here before we opened came with us. Somehow they were aloud to watch our practices and so their little daughter, Elsa, got to see me as Anna Amanda! She was 9 years old and so sweet. She was very scared during the tornado warning so we sang "A Child's Prayer" to her while we waited in the safety of the basement. There wasn't a tornado, don't worry. It was a little stressful though because we really needed to practice and I felt like I needed every second of rehearsal! But it was a great time to bond together as a group and sing children's songs. Whenever I sing "A child's prayer" I think of Alvin. We sang that as his funeral and I sang it to myself to help me when I heard the news about the car accident. I think about him a lot here because of Joseph's brother, Alvin. One day this week my cast had a little extra time and we were able to got to the burial grounds here. I'm not sure if I had any ancestors there, but it was a very sacred and peaceful experience. Amidst all of the stress that went into opening 2 days later. We were all in our Nauvoo dresses and we walked around in silence. It was amazing to see what it could have looked like back then with our old fashioned outfits on. We then gathered at a statue and sang a couple of our most special songs. I don't know if there were any of the spirits there at that time but I could feel the power of their sacrifice. I was brought to tears and then started to think of Alvin as well. I'm not sure if he was there at that moment either but I know that him and Grandpa have to be helping me so much here! It's so nice to know that I have such talented angels that can give me strength. I was so grateful to go there and have a moment of peace that I could reflect on later when I was stressed again.

We opened on Friday!! I did Anna Amanda twice and it was so fun! Ok actually it was pretty stressful the first time because even though the shows were open, they weren't supposed to be advertised until the next day. It was just our soft opening. but because of this there were like no kids in the audience! Like there were more grown men than anyone else for sure! and I have to go into the audience and grab a kid to sing to at the end! There was one little girl and she definitely didn't want to go up, haha. but I got another girl that was quite a bit older but still passable, I guess haha. So it worked out! And I was very blessed to remember the words especially on one of the songs that I was struggling with. It'll be bettter now though because a lot more people have come since then so the next time I perform should be a lot better as far as little kids go:) They are so cute though!! I met a little boy named Kyle yesterday after our dance show and he was adorable! The chunkiest 4 year old I've possibly ever seen and he was so excited!! He gave me a huge hug and told me that he loved the show and said "I just sort of love you!!!" I think at this point I definitely connect with the little kids more than anyone else, but it should get better I'm sure! Missionary experiences are different here, but I'm sure they will happen! Ok sorry this is getting long. Basically we have been so blessed to be able to put these performances together. We kind of were just thrown on stage and expected to perform which has been hard especially when we don't even really know how to go from one song to the next... but it all worked out and the Lord has blessed us sooo much! I also want to express how wonderful priesthood blessings are. Sometimes a few elders will come over with one of the leaders and give blessing to all the girls that need it. It is difficult because I have a hard time asking when I don't feel like I need one as much as others, but it is so special to have the Lord speak to you through a worthy priesthood holder. One of the elders mentioned how it made him think of Joseph and the others going around and blessing the sick and healing them. There were a lot of girls that got blessings last night, haha. Just remember that when you don't feel good enough, Heavenly Father loves you and satan is the one giving you bad thoughts about yourself. It's really easy to do that right now since we are not perfect at our performances yet, but Heavenly Father doesn't need us to become perfect all at once. It is a progression. And so is memorizing songs. I am so grateful for the amazing people I am serving with. I love you all!! I hope you have a great week! And thank you so so so much for everyone sending me letters! It helps me so much!

Love,
Sister Higginson
 


 
 


 

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