Central Stake Conference and "Oid el toque del clarin"

This morning we went to the Central Stake Conference with Bill and Sandy.  It was a good conference!  There were a lot of people we know in this stake.  We had a great time mingling and being touched by their spirits.  The following are some pictures I took.

The Choir
They sang Called to Serve for the closing song and it was beautiful!  

Sister Avalos with her family

These people were standing on the stand all in a group like they wanted their pictures taken, so I took their picture.
Sister Palomino - Sister who always comes to the temple - Patriarch Rodriguez - I don't know the other three sisters.  

Carlos Rodriguez who is in the Stake Presidency and the Stake President.  

Carlos

Sister Zamora's grand daughter.  She did not want her picture to be taken.  

Sandy Hartman and Sister Gonzales

Me and Nicole Bendezu

Elder Aranas and Elder Carmen

Sister Rimache from Peru and Sister Hardcastle from Draper

Sister Mulca and Sister Tyacke from Orem

Sister Mulca -?- Sister Gallardo-?-

Sister Farar and Sister Tyecke

Cynthia and Antony

Bill talking to the Sister missionaries investigators and Sandy talking to some sister missionaries.

Bill talking with the investigators of Sister Cortez and Sister Torres.

Sister Cortez and Sister Torres

 Sister ? -Sandy- Sister Ramirez

You can see Wayne behind waiting patiently for us to finish taking pictures so we can go home.

Elders photo bomb
Bill and Wayne getting a taxi over on the right side.

Elder Latimer and Elder Maddocks
The sister missionary photo bombing their picture.

The rest Hymn we sang was Oid el toque del clarin on page 153 in the Himnos book.  It is a song that we don't have in our English Hymn book.  Wayne googled the song because we liked it so much and the information about it was very interesting.  The following is information we copied off of a blog.  The person who posted the information added his own comments at the end.  Very interesting.

Hark! Listen to the Trumpeters": A Forgotten Hymn

There's a hymn in the Spanish LDS hymnal titled "Oid el toque del clarin" (no. 153). The first time I heard it, at a Church meeting in Bolivia, I looked for its equivalent in the English hymnbook but couldn't find it, so for years I've assumed that this upbeat, happy anthem about enlisting in the Lord's army and fighting for Zion as a Spanish original.

Well, recently I was reading volume 2 of History of the Church, and it gives the proceedings of the first-ever meeting of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in our era. In fact, it was the meeting where the Twelve Apostles were chosen and ordained. The date was February 14, 1835. Just before the meeting adjourned, they sang a hymn, "Hark! Listen to the Trumpeters," which seemed appropriate in part because all of the Twelve had been members of Zion's Camp:

Hark! listen to the trumpeters!
They sound for volunteers;
On Zion's bright and flowery mount
Behold the officers.

Their horses white, their armor bright,
With courage bold they stand,
Enlisting soldiers for their king,
To march to Zion's land. . . .

We want to cowards in our bands,
Who will our colours fly:
We call for valiant-hearted men,
Who're not afraid to die.

To see our armies on parade,
How martial they appear!
All armed and dressed in uniform,
They look like men of war.

They follow their great General,
The great Eternal Lamb--
His garments stained in His own blood--
King Jesus is His name.

[page 186]

These are the words to "Oid el toque del clarin"! Even the meter fits. It makes me wonder how it got into the Spanish hymnal but not in the English, since it appears to be of English origin.

I had a rhetoric professor at BYU who said that since the Latter-day Saints are no longer threatened by violent mobs like we used to be in Kirtland, Missouri, and Nauvoo, the war-themed hymns are no longer relevant to us. I think I disagree. When I hear hymns like "Oid el toque" or "We Are All Enlisted" or "Onward Christian Soldiers," I don't feel stirred to take up arms against my neighbor. But I do feel inspired to defend my home against spiritual assailants, and I do gather courage to face personal adversity. There's something rousing and encouraging about those hymns. You don't have to be violent to like them. That's what I've enjoyed about "Oid el toque," and it's nice now to have it my native language.

After the meeting, we enjoyed lunch with Bill and Sandy.  She cooked the chicken breast and brought some corn, cake and ice cream.  I made some mashed potatoes and a fruit salad.  We have a great meal together and we watched the 7th game of the world series in 30 minutes.  The Cubs won!

 We're going to miss Bill and Sandy when they go home in 2 weeks.  It makes me sad every time I think about it.