36. Al and Rachel van der Beek ON: Al van der Beek, Producer for world famous 'The Piano Guys', and Rachel van der Beek, the one who makes it possible, share their Miraculous Faith Journey. Powerful!

Published: March 19, 2021, noon

Don't miss this uplifting and inspiring story! Al and Rachel van der Beek take us the journey of their lives that will have you laughing...seriously who wears sunglasses to a club? Crying, feeling like so much of their Faith journey is relatable, and Uplifted, their love for God and witness of God's love and awareness of us is beautiful and so full of gratitude.      Have you ever met a famous person and thought to yourself "It must have been so easy for them, why not me". If you are like me, then you have. Al and Rachel's story begins like so many of our stories... Normal. Both Al and Rachel grew up with two parents in the home surrounded by siblings, simply doing their best to do good things and serve their neighbors. Al served a Mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Korea as a young man, and absolutely loved serving! Upon his return home he was married followed by a divorce 2 years later, while at the same time Rachel who was also married was going through a divorce of her own. That said, everything didn't come easy for the van der Beek's nor was it handed to them undeservedly.      Al and Rachel met at a club in Salt Lake City and you don't want to miss the opportunity to hear them share the story. Let's just say Al had sun glasses on in a club, Rachel had wind blowing through her hair, and as soon as their eyes met from across the dance floor, they felt instantly like they had to know each other. They were both so impressed by each others sick moves on the dance floor that no words were needed, besides you can't hear much in a club because they are so loud. They exchanged numbers, started talking over email, began dating, and a few months later they were married.      They had love, started a family, worked hard to provide for their family, but something was missing. Al talks about his passion for music throughout his entire life and that he felt that he was supposed to create music, but just didn't know how so he tried to "force it", which always backfired. Rachel, worked hard and had a successful career as they started to have children and grow their family. Things weren't bad for the van der Beek's but they couldn't shake the feelings in their heart that there was more for them as a family, they just had no idea what that meant.      When their 6 year old son started asking began asking questions about God and what happens to us when we die, Rachel and Al knew they need to teach their kids about God's plan of salvation for us and go back to the LDS Church. It didn't last long and they had an experience with someone that in a way made returning again even harder so they chose to disconnect from the LDS church again. They believed, but just didn't feel they would be loved and excepted because they weren't living the standards of the religion.      Years later, on a Sunday morning Al woke up and out of nowhere heard "Go to Church" in his heart, and it wouldn't stop... So he and Rachel grabbed the kids, went to church, and from that moment on have been "All in". This is were the miracles begin. Al and Rachel had many blessings before but once they decided to connect with and chose God in their lives mountains began to move for them, and the Lord literally put them where He needed them to be, surrounded by the people He wanted them to meet, at precisely the right time He needed them to meet them.      When Al met Steven Sharp Nelson, he was the Elder's Quorum President in his ward fulfilling his calling to serve by helping the Nelson's, who he'd never met, move into the neighborhood. Personality wise they couldn't have been more different but discovering they both loved music and playing music they started to get together a couple of times a week to play. Slowly over a few weeks playing together and connecting with John Schmidt to help John finish a song he was working on, doors started opening and they could feel God's hand in their lives guiding them. It's very touching to listen to Al