the purpose of the pageant

Each night the pageant starts at 9:15 p.m., just at dusk, but the crowds start arriving much earlier than that. Many people show up early in the morning to save seats. Starting at 7 p.m. we are all dressed in costume and out in "the bowl" (the field in front of the hill) mingling with the crowd. The purpose of this is not only to welcome them and let them take pictures with us, but to share the gospel with them. We have this great opportunity to talk to them about The Book of Mormon and explain what the pageant is about. We explain to them what our role is in the play and then share with them a scripture that pertains to our part. It is an amazing 2 hours that we get to spend with people who literally have come from all over the world to experience the pageant. I love this time of the day. The feeling in the bowl is amazing. Last night, as John talked with one woman, he said to her, "I hope you feel something wonderful tonight as you are here at the pageant." She replied, "I already do." For the 2 1/2 weeks we are here, we get to be missionaries. Before we came to pageant, we were assigned to study several chapters of "Preach My Gospel" then once we were here we had classes taught by the sister missionaries that prepared us further to be missionaries. So this is THE purpose of the pageant; to bring others unto Christ. What a blessing to be able to share this message with so many people. I love it.