Friday, September 30, 2011

Where's Don?

Meldee and Don at Temple Square, Salt Lake City, Utah
Recently, on Facebook, a post went around asking people to post any General Conference traditions they had.

The first one I could think of was the delight of watching the morning sessions in my jammies in the comfort of my own home!

The second one requires a little bit of explaining.

One of my best friends, and a former roommate, is married and lives in Utah.  A few years ago Meldee's husband Don auditioned for, and was accepted into, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.  (Really cool, huh?)  The audition process is a lengthy and difficult one, so I was so excited for them both.  It's such an honor, and a tremendous responsibility.  You see, what many people don't know is that singing in the choir is also a church missionary calling.  The 360 or so members of the choir, plus their conductors, accompanists and staff all travel the world performing as representatives of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Just a side note about Don: you'll never find a nicer guy.  He's the kind of guy who will just do anything for you.  When I visit Meldee, I'll often discover he's washed my car while we've been inside the house gabbing for hours.  He's kind and generous to a fault, and so is his wife - who is beautiful inside and out.

So now that I've filled you in on that, I have to admit my second tradition for General Conference watching, since Don has been singing with the choir, is to play "Where's Don?"

This is not as hard as it first may seem.  Luckily Don is usually on the front row of the men on the far right.  That gives him some nice face time on camera during the televised performances.  I look for him and count how many times he gets a close-up!

Don
Here's a picture of my friend Don, so you can play the game too! 

Meldee and Don, I love you guys!  Thanks for making the Tabernacle Choir performances something even more special for me.

3 comments:

Don said...

THANKS Marianne ! This is a lovely post...I'm all choked up reading it...(sniff)...you're one in a million friend.

**SPOILERS BELOW**....





To help you with your quest,this conference I'm on second row up from the bottom and the second person in from the far right side...next to my favorite Japanese speaking choir member... we speak it quite often

Auntie Em said...

Domo Arigato, Don!

Marybeth said...

Hey, I know someone in the choir; Nathan Wright. Maybe Don can tell us where he is sitting in the choir too. Oh, I love staying in my jammies too for the morning session. I love it when it's a cool morning then I'm not focusing on being hot. Love your posts!