Cerritos Families – Page 2 – Family Life In Cerritos, California

August 8, 2022September 15, 2022

Book of Mormon Music for Choir

From Murray, Utah, August 8, 2022

Introduction

This does not directly relate to the music Crawford Gates wrote for the Hill Cumorah Pageant in the 1950’s, regarding the Book of Mormon, although it probably does relate to a choir piece I wrote in mid-2022 which has most of its text from that LDS book of scripture.

Do you believe it possible for a person who has passed away to contact us or at least to influence those of us who are still living in mortality? I have not the slightest doubt that some of them do help us in a number of subtle ways, at least on occasion.

Until very recently, I had encountered the name Crawford Gates only on occasion, mostly in the LDS hymn book that was published in 1985 (hymns 113 and 215), but I knew nothing about that composer or that he had passed away on June 9, 2018. Only in August of 2022 did I begin to realize that the most productive music-writing period of my life was, at least in large part, in June and July of 2018, and that it seems to have been soon after his passing.

Early in August, 2022, I came to believe that Crawford Gates had been whispering to me through the veil, so to speak, and had probably done the same for other sacred-music writers and Church lyricists, perhaps even around the world, soon after his death.

Crawford Gates in the Salt Lake City area of Utah

Book of Mormon Music for Choir

In June of 2022, I sat down to write a simple piece for the piano: a theme for a series of variations a bit like the Goldberg Variations by Johann Sebastian Bach, but on a much smaller scale. I had barely begun, however, when I felt impressed to make it a choir composition and soon arranged words taken from II Nephi 31:20 in the Book of Mormon. What I then thought was the “final” version was finished early in August: “Come to Christ” (soprano-alto-tenor-bass), version 120. In mid-September I completed version 134.

Around early August, I listened to a Youtube video of the Tabernacle Choir (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints): a performance of “For I am Called by thy Name”, which was written by Crawford Gates. I’ve always loved that short choral composition, yet now it seemed to keep coming back into my mind: that lovely melody and that noble spiritual message.

That’s when I did a bit of online research into who that LDS composer was, and I came to feel that he had his hand in getting me to get busy with writing choral music with text adapted from the Book of Mormon.

I don’t mean that this deceased musician was dictating notes to me from beyond the grave, nothing like that. But I believe that he gave me a subtle nudge to start writing that short choir piece: “Come to Christ”.

Why would Crawford Gates bother to give me a gentle nudge from the other side of the veil? During his long life, he wrote about 900 compositions, some of them lengthy: symphony and oratorio, for example. In contrast, I had written very little, up until the beginning of 2018. I needed the nudge.

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New LDS Church choir music

“Come to Christ” – a short choral piece based upon the Book of Mormon scriptures in First Nephi and Third Nephi and upon the words of Isaiah concerning how our past wanderings resemble sheep going astray

Music from the Book of Mormon text

Vocals, instrumentals, and sheet music are available for the sound tracks from the Book of Mormon CD.

Music of Crawford Gates

In 1953, Harold Hansen, the director of the pageant, asked Gates to write an original score for the Hill Cumorah Pageant.

Book of Mormon choir piece

“This is the Christ” performed by the Tabernacle Choir of Salt Lake City (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints); music by Michael Moody

Music with text from scripture

“For I am Called by Thy Name” by Crawford Gates

July 7, 2022November 1, 2022

Press Releases on Pterodactyl Sightings

Two ropens seen by a U.S. Marine at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba

By Jonathan Whitcomb

Not all newspaper articles about one or more sightings of modern pterosaurs come from press releases, but some of them do. Consider the following three news releases:

Flying dinosaurs – Who believes they’re alive?

An author in Utah publishes a book: strange flying creatures.

Belief in “prehistoric” flying creatures in Papua New Guinea relates to culture more than to religion, according to nonfiction author Jonathan Whitcomb, of Murray, Utah.

Salt Lake City-Ogden, UT (1888PressRelease) November 20, 2014 – Do you believe in the possibility that long-tailed featherless flying creatures, much larger than any fruit bat, live in the jungles of Papua New Guinea? Your belief depends a great deal on where you lived your childhood: in a village like Gomlongon on Umboi Island or in a western country like the United States.

Human Memory and Pterosaur Sightings

The passage of time from an encounter with a “pterodactyl” to the reporting of the sighting has limited relevance.

“Encountering a live ‘pterodactyl’ is unforgettable,”according to the cryptozoology author Jonathan Whitcomb, of Long Beach, California. [In recent years he has lived in central Utah.]

Pterosaurs Alive in Australia

A new nonfiction book discloses why many biologists in Western countries have failed to consider accumulating eyewitness reports of modern living pterosaurs, including those observed in Australia.

LONG BEACH, Calif/KSN/Oct 4, 2012 — According to the American nonfiction cryptozoology author Jonathan Whitcomb, modern pterosaurs live not only in the remote jungles of Papua New Guinea, but in various parts of Australia.

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Pterodactyl Press Releases

1) Strange Flying Creatures Reported in Utah
2) Murray, Utah, Resident Seeks Eyewitnesses
3) Live Pterosaur in Georgia? (USA)

Pterosaur eyewitnesses can be reliable and critics, unreliable

A typical remark from a critic, who replies to an account of an apparent extant pterosaur, is like this: “Eyewitnesses are notoriously unreliable.” . . . one thing that is even less reliable than direct eyewitness testimony . . . The critic is observing something in his or her imagination.

Living pterodactyls in press releases

Where do these flying creatures appear [in North Carolina]? They have been reported in Raleigh, Durham, Asheville, Wilmington, and in other areas of N.C. . . .

Evidence of Modern Pterosaurs or Ropens

When an animal dies, it begins to decay, usually soon looking little like its appearance during life. The vast majority of large wild animals in wilderness areas die and decay away before any person discovers the carcass. Ropens, and other modern pterosaurs, live in fewer numbers than many other creatures, leaving far fewer carcasses than common birds and mammals and reptiles.

Videos about modern pterosaurs

Why do people around the world report seeing a long-tailed pterodactyl? It’s because ropens are nocturnal and rare but spread across the planet, and on occasion some fly in daylight.

Nonfiction dinosaur book for a young reader

What the eyewitnesses have seen, in many areas of the world, are not literally flying dinosaurs. The correct name for this kind of flying creature is ‘pterosaur.’ How is that possible? All of them are said to have become extinct many millions of years ago. It takes a whole book to answer a question like, “Why do some people believe that some of them are still alive?” This is one of those books.

Pterodactyl eyewitnesses from five continents

During my expedition on Umboi Island in 2004, I saw that native eyewitnesses sometimes might find it awkward to talk about the ropen, but they apparently had no fear that their neighbors would think them crazy for talking about seeing a ropen. On the other hand, I have noticed, over the years, that persons in Western countries commonly fear that friends and family might think them crazy for saying they had seen a living pterodactyl.

February 25, 2020July 7, 2022

Videos on Modern Dragons or Pterosaurs

By the nonfiction cryptozoology author Jonathan Whitcomb

Let’s look at some of the videos available on the Youtube channel Protect Animal Life:

Counter Culture of the Ropen

This music video introduces the idea that some persons in Western nations are starting to embrace a culture of belief in modern living pterosaurs. No previous video on Protect Animal Life is like this one:

sky scrapers with gigantic billboards with images of ropens
art gallery with people looking at similar images: modern pterosaurs
an animated robot with a sketch of a ropen on it, etc.

young woman painting black ropen on a canvas

Test Yourself on Modern Pterosaurs – quiz #1

How much do you know about eyewitness sighting reports of apparent living pterosaurs (“dinosaur birds” or “pterodactyls”)? Test yourself with these nine questions about these amazing featherless flying creatures.

Pterosaur Sightings in South Carolina

For many years ordinary persons in South Carolina have reported extraordinary featherless flying creatures, some of them huge: apparent living pterosaurs. Some American eyewitnesses call this kind of animal “pterodactyl” or “flying dinosaur”.

A Confession About a Pterodactyl

Jonathan Whitcomb confesses that in about 1969 he disbelieved an eyewitness of an apparent “pterodactyl” that a high school student reported had flown up into the mountains north of Altadena and Pasadena, California. Decades later, Whitcomb was researching similar sightings and called the lady. Now he believed her.

Ropen of Papua New Guinea

See for yourself the fear on the face of the native young man Mesa Augustin. Hear what his friend, Gideon Koro, says about the huge ropen that flew over Lake Pung and terrified the boys who had hiked up there just to have fun. The boys ran home in great fear.

Living Pterosaurs – in newspapers

The world’s most prolific writer on sightings of non-extinct “pterodactyls”—Jonathan Whitcomb—gives you an introduction to newspaper articles about these shocking flying creatures.

Impeach Ropen? Kicked off Wikipedia

This first episode of DRAGONET shows the ropen being kicked off of the English version of Wikipedia in 2014 (‘impeached’ is not the best word for being eliminated from Wikipedia). Do you remember the TV series “Dragnet?” This is different . . . OK, maybe the beginning appears almost the same.

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Videos on Modern Pterosaurs

As of February 23, 2020, the Youtube channel Protect Animal Life had 44 videos, all but one of them mostly about eyewitness reports of apparent non-extinct pterosaurs . . .

Pterodactyl Caught on Camera

Three videos on this Youtube playlist, each one about the same pterosaur sighting on New Britain Island in Papua New Guinea in 2015

Featherless flying creature

The press release “Unmasking a Flying Predator in Texas,” suggests the mysterious flying lights sometimes seen around Marfa, Texas, may be related to the nocturnal ropen of Papua New Guinea.

Modern dragons or pterodactyls

Are some pterodactyls still living? That idea is controversial, to be sure, for where is the photo to prove such a bold idea?

But wait a moment. What does photography have to do with it? Where is photographic evidence that every kind of pterodactyl became extinct millions of years ago?

The cryptid called “ropen”

This video is mostly about the ropen of Papua New Guinea, although it has other names: seklo-bali, kor, indava, and wawanar.

The Youtube video “Dragons and Pterosaurs”

Long ago, people called these large frightening creatures “dragons.” In more recent generations, people are more likely to call them “pterodactyls” or “flying dinosaurs.”