How Great Shall Be My Joy!

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I've known her since high school. She was the accompanist for our acapella choir. She was really good.
In 2010, she uploaded her first music video to the new channel, Youtube. She hoped it would get 100 views. In three weeks, it got over 100,000 views.
Now, 14 years later, her Christian songs have been viewed over 50 million times!
Enjoy this podcast episode where I interview my friend of over 50 years to find out how she does what she does. Learn why she positions herself as a "Christian songwriter." Subscribe to her Youtube channel, @ShawnaEdwardsMusic. Enjoy her wonderful videos, including such hits as A Miracle and Risen.
Catch the vision of what a person can do by using their talents to make the world a better place like Shawna has done. 
Listen as she tells some stories about what her music has done to help various people, including keeping one person alive.
It is an inspiring story of how Christian music can bring people closer to Christ, which is what member missionary work is all about.
Thank you, Shawna! Keep up the great work!

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Today I had the privilege of interviewing performing celebrity Merrill Osmond. The location was the Washington DC Temple Visitors Center, where he and his wife, Mary, are serving a full-time mission.
What a joy to hear about his lifetime of service as a member missionary! Did you know some people are called by the First Presidency to be "lifetime missionaries"? It happened to Merrill and his family of siblings when he was only 15. Listen to him tell about that experience in this episode!
Did you know that he considers his mother to be the best member missionary in the family? Hear how she presented the Queen of England with a copy of the Book of Mormon on the first time she met Her Magesty!
Did you know that trials and tough tests in life happen even to celebrities? Listen to how Merrill handled the death of his 33 year-old son with grace and faith.
Did you know that Merrill lists 18 scriptures from the Bible on his website to document the Restoration of the Church in our day? 
Finally, do you know anyone who has been granted Knights Templar of Portugal status, something that has to be approved by the Pope? Merrill has.
Enjoy this wonderful interview with my friend Merrill Osmond and learn how you can also use the principles he uses to be a successful life-long member missionary!
Thank you, Merrill! 
And thanks for allowing me to do a duet with an Osmond! We end this podcast by singing the closing number Donny and Marie performed at the end of each show on ABC. The lyrics and the song, of course, were written by Merrill and Alan!

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I first met Lewis Bramley a year ago when he moved into the Washington DC 3rd Ward. I was struck by his beautiful Scottish accent.
I was fortunate as the ward mission leader that they called Louis and his wife, Gillian, to be ward missionaries. At one of their first correlation meetings, I invited them to tell us their story. Lewis’ conversion story really touched my heart. Consequently, I’m sharing it here with the whole world!
From his childhood in Scotland, to his miraculous conversion there, to his full-time mission in Greece, to going to school in Utah and meeting his wife in class, then moving to Washington DC—this is an amazing story of a young man who found the truth and held onto it with everything he had.
I hope you enjoy it as much as I have! It will strengthen your testimony.

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The Washington DC Temple Open House is currently going on. Yesterday, I had the opportunity to visit and share with five people the opportunity to visit our temple open house. 

It’s rare that that many missionary opportunities naturally surface in one day, so I made it the topic of this podcast. Whether at work, at the actual open house, or in an elevator, natural opportunities to help point others to the temple are all around us. Being involved in these opportunities brings a lot of joy. 

And joy is what member missionary work is all about. Enjoy this podcast! 

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Hola (Oh-law)  is the Spanish word for hello. It’s how all new relationships tend to start out: somebody says hello. 
It’s also a perfect acronym to guide people involved in member missionary work. The H stands for How, (we then insert the preposition “to”), the O stands for Observe, the L for Listen, and the A for Act. How to Observe, Listen, and Act as a Member Missionary. 
This episode gives examples of how these steps have worked over and over for me in my day-to-day activities. Whether I step into a McDonald’s, a gas station, a grocery store, or I’m driving down the freeway, the same steps surface and allow me to be an instrument in the Lords hands to help move forward His latter-day work.
I am particularly excited for my next episode, which will be this same episode, simply translated into Spanish. It will be the first episode of some 36 episodes that has actually been recorded in Spanish. 
Remember this acronym Olah and use it to guide you in assisting the Lord by Observing, Listening, and Acting on the situations he will drop in your pathway. You will be successful if you follow this acronym!

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She’s named after her grandmother, and that’s a good thing.  Her grandmother served on the general board of the Young Women’s Mutual Improvement Association for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for 25 years. Then she was called to be the president of the same organization and served there for another 25 years. 
Her mother was the personal secretary to Dr. James E. Talmadge for many years. She helped Elder Talmage proofread the Book of Mormon and get it ready for its 1921 publication edition. She even found an error in the spelling of one of the names in the book and brought it to the attention of the general authorities. It was corrected with great praise and admiration. 
It’s a wonderful thing to come from a strong heritage. I did that on both sides of my family, but since today is Mother’s Day I will focus on my mother’s story, particularly her abilities as a missionary.
I have bragged about her before on social media and in other ways. One of her great traits is that of being a missionary to those she’s around. Missionaries aren’t always preaching; they’re probably serving, studying, praying, and doing other types of work as much as they are teaching or preaching. My mother is no exception.
Enjoy this podcast which highlights seven traits of successful missionaries, be they full-time missionaries or member missionaries: their service, their focus on families, their happiness, their knowledge of the scriptures, their love of the temple, their knowledge of their role and how to fulfill it, and their obedience.

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Michael Seay is a realtor in the Washington DC area. He’s been a friend of mine for about 30 years. He is one of the most loving people I’ve ever met. He’s the first guy I’ve seen in my life who told fellow employees that he loves them right there in the work environment. That stunned me!
He is also one of the best member missionaries that I’ve ever met. I was delighted to interview him and learn a little bit about his conversion and how he has shared the gospel with other people throughout his life. 
These real life stories are a treasure because of the principles they teach. He believes, as I do, that God drops people in YOUR pathway that YOU  can naturally help to learn more about the Restoration of the gospel. 
If you want to increase your capacity to love others, be like Michael Seay. If you want to be a successful member missionary, be like Michael Seay. Most importantly, if you want to be happy, be like Michael Seay.
Thank you Michael for your wonderful example! We love you!!

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Music has a way of healing people. James Leith  Macbeth Bain knew that. 
Born in Scotland in 1840, he was known to his friends as simply Brother James. He was a musician, poet, a mystic, and had a great interest in healing. In 1906 he published a book called “The Brotherhood of Healing.” 
His song Brother James Air was first published in 1915 as part of a New Year’s greeting. He founded the Brotherhood of Healers, where he and his fellow healers would often sing to their patients during healing sessions. He spent the latter years of his life working with the underprivileged in Liverpool, England. 
So, do YOU have a need for healing (and do you believe in miracles?)  Do you believe it’s possible to heal, especially during a pandemic? 
For example, do you believe you can listen to a song one night, then sit down and play it the next night without any sheet music? 🎹
Well, it’s possible, even in a pandemic. And the process has a healing element to it. 
I listened to the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square‘s beautiful rendition of “Brother James’s Air” last night. Recognizing that my son is named James, and the beautiful way the Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square performed it, it just stuck in my mind.
Given that I had no sheet music—and I probably couldn’t play it if I did—the process I used to help organize the song was simple:
1. I used dots to outline the melody first.
2. I drew vertical lines do identify the various segments.
3. I labeled each segment.
4. I grouped the segments together into 5 repeatable sections.
5. I then laid out the sections in order at the bottom of the page. (That was a quick reminder to me of what was coming next while I played.)
It took me probably 60 attempts to record the song until I finally got it right. Sometimes my mind would wander and I would forget what chord came next, sometimes I would accidentally hit a wrong note, and sometimes I would inadvertently skip a whole section. In each case, I had to start over. 60 times. But I’m glad I did...
In total, I probably spent four hours on this project. I would guess 3 1/2 of those hours were the repeated attempts to try and play it right.
Do you believe in miracles? In my case, they tend to happen with a little bit of inspiration and an awful lot of perspiration. But they happen. Thank God! 🙏
I hope you enjoy this arrangement.🎶

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Have you ever felt like there was more out there in life for you? Maybe something was missing but you’re not sure what?
Brian felt the same way. Surrounded by loving family at a young age, he was exposed to four different churches, Brian eventually found The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and has never looked back. This is his story, told by himself. 
He has a special affinity to the Prophet Joseph Smith in that Brian, too, was 14 when he was going through part of his spiritual search. His story is a testimony to the fact that God is real and that He does not give up on people. It is also a testimony of the power of truth and the impact it can have on your life. 
Brian is very grateful to a childhood friend who stuck with him through the years and invited him—at a critical part in his life—to come to church.
Thank you Brian for sharing your wonderful conversion story!