LDS Movie Review: ***^The Pump: An Alleghory for Faith with Works: The Consequences of our Choices

Long title for such a short film.  This is movie put out by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1988. This movie takes place near Rice, California, or in other words, the Mohave Desert. This is terrain that can be unforgiving.  It has few words, except the letter reading by an old miner.  It shows a salesman, who takes a shortcut, and gets stranded in the middle of no place.  He walks, and is thirsty, and about ready to give in when he comes to a ghost town; totally abandoned.  He finally sees a water pump, and pumps and pumps and gets nothing.  He then notices an old letter, which leads him to a bottle of water with which to prime the pump.  The letter says the pump will work if primed.  So we have the dilemma.  Trust the old man and pour the water down the pump, or drink the bottle of water that is before
you.
We are asked this question in so many ways everyday.  Whether to live a life in pursuit of worldly and transient pleasures, or to lay up stores of eternal joy.  This movie is a great discussion starter.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cd4S8UoTe0U

Sunday School: People Are More Important Than Things

I wanted to share this story from the Sunday School lesson Sunday.  The section was on using gifts of the spirit to serve others.

“As we were busily preparing for a Christmas dinner, my teenaged sister excitedly reached into the cupboard for the silver-rimmed china. The lovely … set had been Grandmother’s wedding present to Mom and Dad and was used only on special occasions. But as my sister removed some of the precious plates from the cupboard, she bumped her arm and the china slipped from her hands. Her desperate attempts to recover the plates were in vain, and the crash of china shattering on the floor was as heartbreaking as the look of helpless horror on her face.
“Mother’s meal-preparing hands stopped in midair, and the festive chatter of a bustling household ceased as we all stood frozen in awful silence. Without turning around to see the damage, Mother quietly slipped out of the room. Then … the rest of us tried to resume the tempo of our holiday duties.
“Except my sister. She stood motionless, a big tear trickling down her cheek. As another tear fell, she mechanically found the broom and dustpan and began sweeping up the scattered chips. Then on her knees, she slowly picked up the larger pieces and carefully placed them in the dustpan.
“Within a few minutes Mother returned to the kitchen and wrapped her arms around her grieving daughter. My sister began to sob out loud. … Quietly [Mother] soothed, ‘That’s all right, honey; people are more important than things.’
“Mother later told me that she had gone into the other room to pray and was blessed with a peaceful feeling and the inspiration of how to comfort my sister. The gift of spiritual perspective given to my mother that Christmas day became the most priceless gift our family received” (Laura Russell Bunker, “The Art of Perspective,” Ensign, Dec. 1998, 54–55).

Caleb's Last Band Concert: Sierra High School Spring Band Concert 2013

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9Q4Ta2lBlA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RO6iSi5Dz4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14mPzUHCEsM

Friday I came home early on the train to be there on time for Caleb's band concert.  I then walked from the train station to the high school, normally no big deal, but it was hot.  I was dragging when I got there; but had time to recuperate. 
Caleb was presented as a senior.  Instead of escorts he chose guards.

Caleb and his guards

Mr Rick Hammerstrom

Caleb has been doing band four years, two years Jazz band at Sierra High School, two years marching band at Cupertino High School.  He also played trumpet three years at Hyde Middle School.

Mormon Movie Review; KBYU; In Performance: 1856 Long Walk Home (to mmboe)

I watched this on BYUTV. Everyone else in the family was turned off by the operatic tenure of this presentation.  It is a combined telling of the Martin and Willey Handcart Companies.  It uses poetry, song (piano accompaniment) and poetic recitation to tell the story.  It includes some classic stories from the tragedy.  These include the words of Elizabeth Jackson Horrocks with regards to the death of her husband, and spending the night in the freezing cold under the stars with her children on her lap.  Also the words of Frances Webster, "We became acquainted with God in our extremities."

It also gives a fairly good idea of the conditions on the ships in the journey across the ocean.

However it does have some problems with telling two stories at the same time, and as a result it makes some factual errors.  It has the Martin Saints going up Rocky Ridge and crossing the Sweetwater for the sixth time going to Martin's Cove.  It was their first crossing, and they did not pull the handcarts up Rock Ridge.  It also has Ephraim coming into camp before Martin's Cove, while he met the company after the Cove.

The genre was operatic, and not period, which would have been preferable.  The version of Brigham Young calling or the Saints was enjoyable, and the cords haunting.

This work, I could only mildly recommend. 

Mormon Movie Review: ***Blind Love (BYU 1979)

This is another of the old classic short movies put out by BYU.  This movie is about a romance between a blind man and his wife, who feels she is homely.  When he has the opportunity for his sight to be restored via cornea transplant, she is torn.  What is her husband no longer loves her after he sees her.  She forgets something about humanity, and especially people who are blind.  There other senses over compensate, and they have a sense of things.  In this case, the man in question knew where true beauty lied, and it was with his wife.  It is so touching when the bandages are removed, and he sees the beautiful nurse first, but still recognizes his wife.  Beauty is not always in physical appearance, but is often something totally different.