Tag: music

Busy Weekend

August 28, 2017 / Marsha Ward / 0 Comments

I’ve been tied up with choir practice for a special church event that takes place twice a year. This weekend, we finished practices and sang.

LDS congregations are geographically based. They are called “wards” or “branches,” depending on the number of members therein. I live within a branch. Several congregations are grouped into an entity called a “stake.” A stake is similar in concept to a Catholic diocese. My stake is the Payson Arizona Stake.

Twice a year, members forego holding the usual weekly worship services and instead, attend “stake conference,” where we have a Saturday evening and a Sunday morning meeting. We listen to talks from our local leaders as well as from visitors from the mission and temple that pertain to us. We are in the Scottsdale Arizona Mission, and the Mesa Arizona Temple district. From time to time, we have visiting authorities from church headquarters in Utah.

A temporary stake choir made up of volunteers sings at each of the general meetings. That’s what I participated in. Our director is an excellent musician, as is our accompanist. It was a real joy for me to sing with all those who joined the choir.

I traveled the 20 miles to Payson on both days. Then today I attended a luncheon in town to thank the volunteers who worked so hard to to bring off the Payson Book Festival. We had a great time.

Left to right: Connie Cockrell, Payson Book Festival Director, and Marie Fasano, Volunteer Coordinator.

Some of the Payson Book Festival volunteers.

More volunteers.

I don’t mind the travel time for such good causes.

Save

Share This:

I’m more than a writer…

August 20, 2017 / Marsha Ward

Every Sunday I attend three hours of church services. Uh, yeah. Three hours. I belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I’m a Mormon, and being observant makes me happy.

The first hour is our worship service, called “Sacrament meeting.” I always have a seat. In fact, it’s kinda reserved for me, as it’s the organ bench and I’m the organist. Music has always played a big role on my life and I enjoy sharing what I love with our congregation and visitors.

During the next two hours, gospel instruction is the order of the hour, with first, Sunday School, and the last hour, men’s and women’s classes, called “Priesthood meeting” and “Relief Society,” respectively. The youth have their own Sunday School class, then go to their Aaronic Priesthood and Young Women classes for third hour.

But what of the children?

Our children, ages 3-11 attend “Primary” the last two hours. Also under the auspices of the Primary is the Nursery class for youngsters from 18 months through 3 years. Classes change each January, so nursery attendees who turned three during the past year graduate to the Sunbeam class. The other age-grouped classes are the CTRs (choose the right) and the Valiant class.

For the past three or four years, I’ve been the pianist for Primary.

A couple of years ago, I also took on the role of secretary. Oh, I’m also the assistant choir director.

As you probably have guessed, our congregation is quite small (and musicians are in short supply). However, it gives me great joy to serve others. By doing the things I have been “called” to do, I am following the example of my Savior, Jesus Christ, in serving others.

And now, go forth and have an excellent day!

Save

Share This:

10 Fun Facts About Me

March 9, 2015 / Marsha Ward / 0 Comments

Did you know?

I once went on a monkey-watching hike up a river in Venezuela. When I say “up a river,” I mean mostly “in the river.” We never saw any monkeys.

The first piece of writing that I remember completing was a one-page play about the expulsion of the Acadians from Canada. I was in third or fourth grade at the time.

When I was a teenager, I was in a movie-making club. I did publicity, made two booklets as the programs for two films, and wrote the script of a movie. One of our participants was Steven Spielberg.

I auditioned for and won a spot in Arizona’s All-State Choir when I was a freshman in high school, which was unheard of in that time.

I had an imaginary friend when I was little. He was—you guessed it!—a cowboy.

I was a soloist with the Tempe Symphony Orchestra in a performance of John Rutter’s Requiem. I sang the soprano solo in the 7th Movement: Lux aeterna. Here’s a link to a more recent rendition of the piece.

My first experience of flying was in a small plane. I loved the feeling of freedom. Now I won’t fly because of bad experiences with the TSA.

In college, I majored in vocal performance, a.k.a. opera.

When I was young, I built a fort with sawhorses and burlap bags. Don’t tell my mother, but it had a fireplace, and I actually lit a fire in it one time. It didn’t draw very well.