Aside from a wonderful broadcast today featuring two of my favorite songs ("How Firm a Foundation", and "Standing on the Promises"), I wanted to jot down a few things that have been going on to prepare for our upcoming tour--which commences on June 27th. On the one hand, I honestly can't believe that time has gone by so quickly and there are only a few weeks left before departure. On the other hand, many preparations for this tour have been underway for quite awhile now and little by little, everything is coming into place.
MUSIC: The tour will feature 22 songs--all memorized, of course. Many of the songs were ones featured on the last tour, so I am familiar with them. They just need a little review. Others have needed lots of work, particularly those that are in the German language. For weeks now, after our broadcasts are over at 10am on Sundays, we've launched into extra rehearsals (10-11:30) to learn these tour songs. While no one likes extra rehearsals, it is a good feeling to feel more prepared. "If ye are prepared, ye shall not fear." (Doctrine & Covenants 38:30) It's also been interesting to relive some of the East Coast Tour memories that these songs bring to my mind and heart.
PACKING: The choir staff prepared about 10 short videos covering packing, in detail. What to make sure you have, what would be nice to consider, places to purchase various items, tips for how to pack clothes, how to handle laundry for a 20 day tour, how to secure credit cards and passport, etc. etc. They've been informative and while it's taken some time and $$ to pick up some essentials I was lacking, I'm grateful that I'm feeling more ready.
SECURITY: It would come as no surprise that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is concerned for our safety. This can be said of any tour we take. The Church's security department has given us some important information to consider while traveling abroad. Some relate to things talked about in this article. It's been interesting to get out of the "oh, this will never happen to me" mentality, and realize that yes, yes it could.
COMMUNICATION/ELECTRONICS: Not all cell phone plans for communicating overseas via Europe are created equal! I've learned that those who have T-Mobile are pretty much set. Those of us with other carriers need to pay various fees to allow for texting and data usage. Getting a battery pack to charge electronic devices when a power outlet isn't handy was a must and getting a plug adapter was needed too.
Anyhow, this is just to paint a picture of some of the things that have been going on during the past couple of months to get us all prepared. Our actual itinerary is under-wraps, though you can find the concerts we'll be performing and associated venues, on the MoTab website, here.
The last preparation I'll mention is the mental prep being done by me, my wife and my kids. There's never been a time in the history of our 19 years of marriage that we've been apart this long. Some may say that 20 days isn't that big of deal. And yes, in the big scheme of things, it probably isn't. But I'll certainly miss them, and I know they will miss me. And mentally preparing for that is no small task. At least for us. But we trust that God will assist us and make everything work for our good.
Until next time, God be with you.
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