EOI - Chicago Style

At last, a day of rest! We actually didn't have to be anywhere until 12:00 noon. However, when we arived at the church, they had already started 30 min. earlier. So we gathered all 60+ of us in the RS Room and started song rehearsal for the Evening of Inspiration later on. At 12:40, we had to leave because it was needed for class. Subsequently, we moved to the chapel and rehearsed there until it was time for the next sacrament meeting to start. We stayed on for the Buffalo Grove 3rd Branch (YSA). We more than doubled their attendance and we were asked to sing the intermediate hymn. The kids sang "I Believe in Christ" I think they just about blew them away. After the meeting, we stayed behind and had a 2 hour testimony meeting. We could have gone longer, but we had to stick with the schedule at least once today. Many good testimonies were shared and the spirit was wonderful. We had heard earlier that you can't fix stupid, but we learned today that LIGHT can fix stupid.
We ended at 5:00 and had a tasty lunch that the LIGHT Mommas had prepared (BBQ pork sandwiches, salad and nachos). Dean, our driver, rushed the kids back to the hotel and they changed into their fireside clothes and then rushed back. There were many from the stake that had come; some from far away. They put on a beautiful performance and we heard great talks from Larissa, Parker and Erica. The spirit was very strong there and it affected many of the kids while they were singing. It was very touching to see the spirit working on the congregation. Before we left, we were culturally enlightened with a presentation of the "Skirt Dance" by some of the beautiful LIGHT ladies (see video below). Afterwards, we drove by the Chicago temple and oohed and aahed. It looks almost like a stake center. It was locked up for security reasons and so we didn't get to walk around. Later on, there was a special screening in the Allred's home theater of LIGHT's show from yesterday's competition and a bonus feature of yesterday's rehearsal in the pool. I didn't know that our hotel room could accomodate 40+ people. It's a good thing they all love each other!