Recently, at the invitation of the Slovenian Heart Foundation, singer David Archuleta, and pianist Paul Cardall traveled to the country of Slovenia to perform a charity concert at the Slovenian Opera Theatre in Ljubljana, Slovenia on 13 May 2016. Proceeds from the organization’s sold-out 25th-anniversary charity concert celebration went to benefit children and their families in times of illness.
David Archuleta posted on his Facebook page on 12 May, “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is partnering with the Slovenian Heart Organization to raise money for children’s needs with heart conditions here. The LDS Church’s Adriatic North Mission invited me to be a part of it along with pianist Paul Cardall.” Paul Cardall, himself a heart transplant recipient, performed in Ljubljana, Slovenia, in September 2015, as a guest of the Adriatic North Mission in partnership with St. James Catholic Church, to benefit the Slovenian Heart Foundation. Neither Archuleta or Cardall are well-known in the tiny country of Slovenia.
According to a 12 May 2016 Deseret News article by Sister Linda Turley-Hansen, a missionary serving in the Adriatic North Mission, “Mission President David J. Grant, of Cedar City, Utah, strategized with the full-time missionaries on how to best use social media to spread the word about the concert, the artists, and the LDS Church’s humanitarian work across the mission. The mission includes five countries — Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina — several branches and an estimated 20 million people.”
He told the missionaries who do not typically use technology in their proselyting efforts, “It’s a perfect opportunity to use technology to raise awareness of the gospel’s messengers in this area.” He further stated that the social media effort and the sold-out concert are “showing promise of what is possible.” Elder Tanner Pickard of Moscow, Idaho, also commented, “I testify that social media is another important way to get into people’s homes. It was a miracle we could do it with the equipment we had. If it weren’t for divine help, we wouldn’t have made it.”
During the concert, Archuleta and Cardall performed with a Slovenian string orchestra, and also appearing on the program was a local singer, 16-year-old Neja Zrimšek Žiger, who was born without arms. While in Ljubljana, they also toured the Pediatric Children’s Hospital and met with LDS Church missionaries.
On Saturday, 14 May 2016, David Archuleta performed with local artists at the Beograd Children’s Cultural Center in Belgrade, Serbia. Proceeds from the concert will go to the Fund B92 Bitka za Bebe campaign to purchase medical equipment for the benefit of newborn children and mothers in select hospital maternity wards.
On Sunday, 15 May 2016, Archuleta accompanied by Cardall, presented “A Night with David Archuleta,” a musical devotional, in Croatia at the Zagreb Branch chapel. He later tweeted a picture of himself with a group of the missionaries who attended. He posted the following message on his Facebook page about the event,”We’ve had a great Sunday starting with [attending] Church in Belgrade, Serbia and then ending in Zagreb, Croatia with a music devotional at a local church. Great having some folks come from all different parts including Slovenia and Hungary to join us! It’s been a great weekend. Many thanks to the Adriatic North Mission and mission president, President Grant for hosting us!”
About the musical devotional, Paul Cardall posted on his Facebook page, “I’ve had a super spiritual experience with the Slovene missionaries serving in the Adriatic North Mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and David Archuleta this last week. These personal ambassadors of Jesus Christ love the nation of Slovenia, where my wife Tina Cardall’s has extended family and a beautiful heritage. Each one of these missionaries is doing all they can do to teach the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and His plan for binding together forever the eternal family of our Heavenly Father.”
