When I contacted The Nashville Tribute Band about giving away a copy of their CD “Joseph: A Tribute to the Prophet” for Emma Smith’s birthday celebration they asked if I’d be interested in reviewing their newest CD “The Work: A Nashville Tribute to the Missionaries” and give away some copies on my blog.
I was more than happy to oblige.
They haven’t officially released the album yet but they sent me my CDs a few weeks ago and I have to admit that it has been really fun listening to music that I know not very many people have heard yet. It makes me feel like a special backstage VIP or something. Even so, novelty aside, I have really loved the music! This album has a much more “country” feel to it than the Joseph album did, but that is completely fine with me because I am a fan of country music. In fact, I really love it that several of the songs sound reminiscent of popular country songs but without the “I love my beer and my truck” lyrics. It was really fun to have good catchy music with uplifting and inspiring lyrics, for once!
There are lots of songs I really liked but my favorite one is called “Bless My Son”, which is about a mother praying for the Lord to watch over her son while he is away on his mission. It might just be pregnancy hormones but every time I listen to this song I end up sobbing. I know I am several decades away from sending my little boy out on a mission but the chorus of the song resonates so powerfully with me, it says,
Give him the strength to find the faith of Ammon
Give him the power of Paul in his tongue
Give him the spirit to soften hearts of stone
and bring him home
and until he’s done,
Bless my son.
I feel like that is the prayer of my heart everyday for my children– for the Lord to bless and strengthen them– and this song just tugs at those heartstrings. I’m sure that if I really had a son out on a mission I’d probably be a wreck at the end of the song– just a warning to all you missionary moms 🙂
I also really loved “I Was Born” which you can hear in the video below.
This album would really be the PERFECT gift to send to a missionary in the field or to one who is just preparing to go.
The release concert for the album is August 4th (tomorrow!) at the Sandy Amphitheater in Utah and then the band will be touring in Idaho, Oregon, and Utah the rest of the summer and into the fall. If you are interested in hearing them live then check out their tour schedule. I’ve heard that they are fantastic in concert!
You can also win one of the TWO copies they sent me by doing one or all of the following:
1. Leave me a comment sharing your favorite missionary story
2. “Like” Nashville Tribute Band on Facebook (Go here and the link is on the right hand side)
3. Share this post on Facebook, Twitter, or on your blog
Best wishes! The Giveaway ends August 11th, 2011 at midnight.
Not being a missionary myself, I don't really have any stories to share. All I do know is that my brothers were always particularly protected on their missions. i remember my brother in South America having some close calls, but always being protected and guided. My husband and all his misisonary companion walked away unscratched from a terrible car accident on their mission, and I know the Lord's hand was in that.
My favorite missionary experience so far has been just seeing some of my closest friends come back to church after years of inactivity. It has truly been an amazing journey to be a part of and witness! I love the Nashville Band Joseph CD and this cd sounds amazing so far. Love the sneak peek song you gave us to listen to! Awesome!
I liked them on FB now too! =)
I haven't served a mission, but my husband has and I LOVE hearing him tell stories that he has! He served in Belgium and had really awesome experiences while teaching! One was when they saw this lady talking on the phone (they never approach people on the phone) but they had the prompting that they needed to. So they did and she said she was on the phone with her daughter who was in fact taking the discussions and so they talked to the daughter on the phone and met up with her later!
He said that this sister is one of the strongest members he has ever met and the Lord really does work in mysterious ways!!
I "liked" the band on Facebook
Shared this post on my blog 🙂
themarkkamfamily.blogspot.com
(Please forgive the long post!)
I served as a (sister) missionary in the Brazil Santa Maria Mission, which is way down in Southwestern Brazil. I had a really neat experience in my very first area with my very first companion. I was a greenie and still struggling with Portuguese, especially when more than one person was talking. It really took all my concentration to focus in on one speaker and understand what they were saying. My companion and I had just come from eating lunch at a member’s home (in Brazil the largest meal of the day is lunch, we hardly ever ate dinner), and as we were leaving the members gave me a banana to take for later, so I stuck it in my bag and we were on our way. The hour after lunch was difficult because most of the people take a nap but we as missionaries were still working. We hardly ever saw anyone on the streets, and if we tried knocking on doors we were almost always rejected just because everyone was sleeping.
It just so happened that during this time we saw a woman on the street carrying a small child with a couple other kids in tow. My comp stopped her and began talking to her about the church. I was listening intently trying to follow the conversation. I could hear the little one in her arms saying something, but like I said I was focused on the mother. She was polite, but not interested and we began to part ways. As we did, I noticed the little girl for the first time really, she was saying banana over and over again. I reached into my bag, pulled out the banana (which had been partly sticking out) and gave it to the little girl. The mother was so impressed that she talked to us a few more minutes and set up an appointment to meet at their home.
I could tell you so much more about this family, about the father who was against hearing the discussions who came home one day and watched the DVD of Christ we had left with the family, about the children who began attending primary and were eventually baptized, about the mother who was so receptive almost from the beginning and was so eager to change and bless the lives of her family. But what I love most, is that the door was opened by the simple gesture of giving a banana to a hungry child, how the child was so determined to not let us walk away, and how the Lord really does work in mysterious and marvelous ways.
I have a great love for Missionaries (especially Sister Missionaries) and The Work. I first heard about the Nashville Tribute Band while in Brazil, a fellow missionary gave me a copy of their Joseph CD and we listened to that CD every single morning for months! Thanks for the chance to win a copy of the DVD!
I served in the Germany Frankfurt mission. One of my favorite mission stories happened while we had an opportunity, as a district, to present a musical fireside. The district leader and I were brainstorming when we came up with the idea to do something like "The Forgotten Carols" but for the Easter story because it was that time of year. Each missionary took a person, other than Christ, and spent weeks reading and pondering that person's part in the story. We interspersed the 'talks' with musical numbers, ending with the EFY version of "I Know That My Redeemer Lives". During the first verse, each character stood up one at a time and spoke the phrase and stayed standing until the chorus when they all joined together singing. It was so powerful to hear all those witnesses of the Savior. Nobody had a dry eye by the end. It made such an impression that many of the people who came during the first presentation, showed up the 2nd night when we did it again at a tiny branch several miles away, filling that little chapel to the brim. It was definitely a life-altering spiritual experience for all of us who participated.
And I liked them on Facebook and shared the giveaway too! 🙂
Love this song and would love to have the CD. I also never went on a mission, but i did go out and help the missionaries often. I loved the family that we taught. He was a motorcycle rider, tatooed and totally not what I would have considered "convert material". He took the lessons and accepted the challenge to get baptized. I saw him change completely. He had a handicapped child who he never spent any time with. He openly admitted to not loving him. After his baptism I saw him become a father and a true husband. I saw him change. I will never forget how a countenance can change when the spirit is present. I will never forget that a bad father can completely change his life and become an amazing father. I was around this family for over four years. They had two more children and I have rarely seen a more loving and considerate man.
I liked them on facebook!
Also, my favorite missionary story was sharing the gospel with a boy I dated in college. He didn't join the church, but it was my first experience sharing the gospel and I learned a lot about the church and my testimony by doing it.
I really like these cd's (plus my wife wants me to enter). I liked them on Facebook
My favorite missionary experience was on my mission when we felt impressed to teach an investigator about he 10 commandments. We did, and she told us she was planning on getting an abortion (we hadn't known she was pregnant), but during our lesson, she heard the commandment "Thou shalt not kill" and felt the Spirit. She knew that it would be wrong to do. The Spirit really directs us in how to speak to God's children.
I like them on FB
My favorite missionary story? I didn't serve a full time mission myself but watching my children learn and understand the gospel is wonderful! I have four boys… so one day our family will have lots of good missionary stories!
I liked them on facebook!
Also, my favorite missionary story… Many of my best friends are out on their missions now and it is so great to hear of the little miracles that the Lord helps them with. Like preparing people to hear the gospel, it's just proof to me that Heavenly Father knows us!
I shared it on my facebook wall. 🙂
my little brother is in the MTC right now, and so is my brother in law. and another bil is serving in mexico! i don't have a favorite story but i love that my husband and his 3 brothers have served/are serving missions AND my little brother!
liked on FB!
Awesome, I'd love to have this cd!
I can't really think of any one favorite missionary moment. When I was in YW we had a "missionary moment" every week where if you shared a missionary experience you could get a pack of m&ms and I seemed to get one most weeks because opportunities just kept presenting themselves at school allll the time. (I lived in liberal CA.) I loved that I could share little bits of my beliefs and standards and reasons behind those standards on a regular basis. Having been in Utah for the past….8 years now (wow!) I haven't had too many of those for a long time. 🙁 I miss that! And now I feel so out of practice…
There was one person I kinda helped bring to the church…We sat next to each other everyday in my crafts/3d design class in high school and there was another Christian girl that sat near us. The 3 of us had lots of Christian discussions and the first girl said she would take the discussions! YEAH! So I tried to set it up with our local missionaries but it didn't end up working out schedule-wise before she moved. 🙁 I ended up seeing her at a multi-stake youth conference a little while later and she had been baptized! So I wasn't in on the action when things really happened for her, but it was neat that I was able to be a part of the kindling effect.
Oh oh can I share another one? lol. I went to EFY at Southern Virginia University one year (I considered going to college there) and there was a boy in our group that wasn't LDS. His LDS grandparents who were serving their missions at a temple in the east had sent him to EFY that summer. He and I had lots of great discussions that week and during one of the morning scripture studies he shared with me a scripture (Matthew 28:19-20) he had just come across that inspired him to know that he needed to get baptized and serve a mission! So cool. 🙂
I liked them on FB. 🙂
My favorite story is about my own father joining the church when he was 20yrs old, 6 months after my mom and him were married. He said that the missionaries drove my mom and him to Boise from Mt. Home with no family in attendance. Even after he was baptized he still did not attend church on regular bases. Years later they moved to Casper, WY were my father became good friends with ward members who played basketball. I’m indeed grateful for those missionary who were all over the world to help my father understand the true principle of gospel.
liked them on FB.
I liked the NTB on facebook also. I had the opportunity to see them Friday August 5th in Twin Falls Idaho. I, too, am very touched by the strength of the messages they have. We have a son that served the wonderful, humble people in Peru and another that is currently in Houston Texas. What an amazing experience to see the growth and change that takes place in them and in the friends that they share the Gospel message with. I would love to win a CD to send to my son. I know it would strike a cord with him also. We continue to do our part here at home and try to be good friends and good neighbors to everyone we meet. Life is Good…
Liked them on FB
My personal favorite missionary story–I never served a mission but when Jehovah Witness missionaries come to the door we like to have a gospel discussion and share our favorite scriptures. Instead of a debate over doctrine we share our common beliefs and respect for each other.
Never served an official church mission, but I feel like I am on a mission right now, in the trenches! 🙂
Two years ago we had a Japanese exchange student living with us for a year. Over the course of that year we had the opportunity to share in the discussions with her in Japanese. Although I could not understand most of what was said, I could understand that universal language of the Holy Ghost. What a blessing to have that witness that Heavenly Father gives to all his children equally. It was one of my most favorite experiences with the discussions ever.