Recently the Latter-day Ambassador Choir performed at the LDS Hebersham meetinghouse in Sydney, Australia. The choir is an all American group comprising of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons).
They are currently on tour, conducting a series of performances across Australia and New Zealand. The theme of the performance centred around faith in Jesus Christ, eternal families and the blessings of family history and temple work for deceased ancestors.
The Latter-day Ambassador Choir was founded in 1993 by composer Tina Purcell Niumatalolo, and is directed by her husband Denny Niumatalolo. Approximately thirty voices from across Utah, California, and Nevada (USA) took part in the performance in early June, one of the Choir’s first performances outside of the United States.
Mrs. Niumatalolo started writing songs of a spiritual nature at a young age. She recalled that the formation of the choir began one day when she and her husband had friends over who could sing and together they decided to try some of her music. She explained, “It actually started from there, with just a few friends.”
Mrs. Niumatalolo commented that one thing she would like everyone to recognise when they do family history research is that “these names are real people . . . not just names on a piece of paper.” Mr. Niumatalolo added that all people “matter in God’s kingdom.”
Among the audience of 500 who attended the Hebersham performance in early June were visitors from all over Sydney. Among the guests in attendance were President Lionel Walters, President of the LDS Sydney Temple, and his wife, Mrs. Marianne Walters, who serves as Temple Matron.
President and Sister Walters reflected, "The musical devotional presented by the Latter-day Ambassadors on the theme of family history and temple work was an inspiring hour. It reminded us that there is something we can all do to unite families for eternity. Whether it is researching our family tree, bringing names to the temple . . . or baby-sitting for young couples so they can attend; every small act contributes to the overall goal of bringing all to Christ through temple ordinances."