A Touching Production

Each year our ward performs the Nativity four times--twice on Saturday and twice on Sunday (for more info. about the pageant, read last year's post). The only affect the fair ended up having on the pageant was making it start a little late. Oh, and increasing the number of people in the audience. The first performance on Saturday had the most people in attendance by far. Too bad the first show is always the most rocky!

Because Saturday's shows were so crowded, I couldn't easily sneak in and out of the audience as I needed to run backstage and help with costumes. Therefore I didn't catch much of the show--or many pictures that night. However, I did have the chance to document the number of people there!


The most I have actually seen of the pageant (including the four performances last year) were during this year's Sunday performances. I think between the two of them I've almost seen the entire show.

The Sunday performances were preceded by the Filipinos in our ward singing a couple Christmas songs.
I was only teary eyed twice as I watched the pageant. This was one of the times. About half our ward is Filipino, most of which are women (as you can see above) who have made huge sacrifices for their families. These women have left their family (including their own children in most cases) to come to Taiwan to work as live-in helpers. Helpers are nannies, maids, and cooks rolled into one. Apparently they can make more money here to send home to provide for their families than they could in the Philippines. In most cases the only time they get off from work is Sunday and some employers tend to be very demanding (get me on the subject and I can get very heated, very quick). I love to see the Filipinos' smiling faces every Sunday. They are all such neat women full of faith and hope. As they sang their songs, you could feel how happy it made them to be part of the celebration for Christ. They may not have been perfectly on tune or in harmony, but their testimonies radiated brightly. It was beautiful! As a side note, our ward seems to have a couple Filipino baptisms each month. These sisters are so humble and so ready to receive the gospel. Take a minute to read about the history of the Church in the Philippines here and here and notice how quickly the membership there has grown!


As for the Nativity, it was beautiful! Such a wonderful tribute to the birth of our Savior. I love being part of this production. It is so meaningful and touching to present the Christmas story in a place where only the commercial side of the season barely surfaces, let alone the true reason for our celebrations.

I'm assuming we all know the story, so I will just post some pictures and videos to give you a glimpse of our ward's rendition.