Rachel spoke in church at her 9 AM meeting, and I spoke two hours later at my 9 AM meeting. Her talk was supposed to be five minutes, but she said it in four. My talk was supposed to be 10-14 minutes, but I only spoke for four or five, because we had an unusual sacrament meeting.
The new hymns the church is releasing--I have been pretty jaded about them, because while people who are into music will learn them just because they are into music, how will the rest of the people learn them? Well, in our ward, they will learn them because Ardyth Cannon, when it is her turn to be the chorister, will teach them, that is how. So today, we were singing "Gethsemane," which the children might know because they might have learned it in Primary. I am not sure if this ward's children learned it ever, but when I was the chorister in my old ward's primary, the children learned it. The way it has been published by the church, though, involves a lot of "secret codes" as Sister Cannon called them--just musical markings that are unfamiliar to the non-musically-trained. Codas, signs, repeats--not what we typically see in a hymn. But "Gethsemane" is a song, not a hymn. Sister Cannon even had a big poster (that I could not see because I was on the stand, behind her--but I am blind, so odds are I couldn't have seen it even if I was in front of it!) and she would sing part, then stop and explain, and then sing another part. After going through it that way, she asked the bishop if it was okay to sing it through one more time before the opening prayer, and he said yes. So it was 9:20 by the time the prayer was over.
Which meant I was looking at my talk to decide what more to cut besides the 4:30 that I already had marked to cut if necessary! Because I could see that after the sacrament, the other talk, and the musical number that was indicated on the program, there would be very little time left for me. I had anticipated that I was really not going to talk for as long as they asked me to prepare for, and had planned for that. But I really got to make it short and sweet.
Several people asked if they could read the entire talk. So this is what I sent to them:
Preamble: I had asked specifically that my talk be preceded by a song of some kind because I wanted to express gratitude for that—turned out to be a musical number—and I also planned to be able to shorten my talk if necessary. I was told to plan to speak for 10-14 minutes, so the talk was exactly 12 minutes long, with 4.5 minutes of planned parts to cut if necessary, which I had already marked in the talk. You will see those markings. I ended up shortening it even more than I planned for, but I was last, so I was able to make those decisions before I stood to speak. I have used green type for what I actually said, and the parts that are in black type, I left out. (I left out more than I said!)
Good morning! I am happy to have the opportunity to speak today, and I am especially happy that my talk follows a beautiful song. Thank you for that, Lewis family! I am also happy to be in a ward that values music. I love that a member of the bishopric will often say at the beginning of the meeting “we invite you all to sing!”—as the bishop did today—reminding us that it doesn’t matter HOW we sing, but it does matter THAT we sing. [Note: I also said something about that I was happy we spent time singing the opening song, learning it, because that was indeed delightful to me. But I don’t remember exactly what I said.]
And singing is what I will talk about today. However, first I will briefly introduce myself. I am Myrna Layton. My husband Bruce and I moved into this ward in August 2020, during the pandemic, which was kind of an awkward time to move. We are pretty quiet people anyway, but we got off to a very quiet start indeed in this ward. We have six children, and at present, only two are in this country—one in Atlanta, Georgia, and one in Layton, Utah. Two of our children live in Canada, and two are in Vienna, Austria, although our youngest is only there for an extended visit with her brother, who is pursuing his PhD there.
Music is my profession, but not in a performance way. My training is as a music librarian, though in my work at the BYU Library, I am responsible for all of the performing arts—music, dance, and theatre. I love music in general, but
singing is a particular interest of mine. I believe that singing is a particular interest of the Lord, too, for he said in D&C 25:12 “The song of the righteous is a prayer unto me, and it shall be answered with a blessing upon their heads.”
There are some built-in blessings to singing: singing builds unity; it positively impacts mental health, and also physical health. Singing improves your heart rate, your breathing, even your immune system. These are automatic blessings available to all who sing—we receive these blessings just by singing!
It can also be a powerful learning tool. Singing activates both the left and right brain at the same time, and the activation of both hemispheres can maximize learning and improve memory. This will happen with any song that children sing on repeat—they are going to learn the song and they are going to remember it. Here is a story to illustrate:
When my granddaughter Zoë was four years old, close to Christmas time, she was being mean to her little brother, so her mom said, “You’ve got to start being nicer to your brother. Santa’s not going to be very happy when he sees how unkind you’re being…“
Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Zoë interrupted. “You mean he can see us when we’re awake, too?! Then I’d better start being good! The song says, “He sees you when you’re sleeping” and “he knows when you’re awake.” What a tricky song! Why didn’t they just also say that he sees when you’re awake so we can know that?! I’m so behind on being good!!”
I tell this story not because it is funny, although it is, but to illustrate the point that children learn what they sing.
In 2023, the Primary General Presidency of the Church wrote this, “Wherever we travel throughout the world, we love to ask what Church members remember most from their days in Primary. The most common answer is the inspired Primary music and how it continues to bless the lives of Saints everywhere, sometimes in their most difficult moments.”
Singing is a powerful way for children—actually a powerful way
for anyone—to learn of Jesus Christ and His gospel. When we sing the songs of the gospel, we internalize messages of testimony: “I know that my Redeemer lives” – messages of identity: “I am a child of God” – messages of hope: “Fear not, I am with thee, oh be not dismayed” – messages of gratitude: “Because I have been given much, I too must give” – messages of peace: “There is peace in Christ.” [Note: I wanted to sing those lines, but did not have the courage to do it—sing solo like that! I love to sing, but my voice is not as dependable as it once was!]
I am so grateful for the songs of the gospel! I am so grateful that I was blessed to grow up singing them, because their messages are a part of my testimony. I feel sad that singing has been phased out of some of our church meetings. Some people say we don’t have time to sing, but seriously, do you realize how much time it takes to sing a hymn? —one verse of a standard-length hymn takes 20 seconds to sing. 20 seconds. We have time to sing. I am so grateful that, in this ward, the women sing every time we meet in Relief Society! I, for one, need it! Singing is, for me, the most important way in which I can worship my Heavenly Father. When he said that the song of the righteous is a prayer unto him, that will be answered with blessings—well, I need that! I need all the blessings I can get!
(SECTION TO SKIP IF NEEDED A 2:00)
We live in what is increasingly becoming a spectator culture. We do a whole lot of watching other people do things instead of doing them ourselves; listening to other people sing instead of singing ourselves. We erroneously think that singing is something for good singers to do, and the rest of us should just listen.
But this is not true. We all have good voices—after all, He who created all things and declared that they were good created your voice. It might not be trained, but it is a good voice because it is your God-given voice.
In D&C 60 verse 2, The Lord says “But with some I am not well pleased, for they will not open their mouths, but they hide the talent which I have given unto them, because of the fear of man.” Just as our bishopric constantly encourages us to do, let’s open our mouths and sing the songs of the gospel, freely sharing our talent for singing—something we all have, because we have all been given a wonderful instrument called a voice—so let’s not be afraid to use it.
(SECTION TO SKIP IF NEEDED B 2:30)
I want to return again to the scripture I used earlier, in D&C 25, only I am going to back up a bit, and start at the beginning of verse 12. The Lord is speaking, and says “For my soul delighteth in the song of the heart; and then the part I already quoted, about the song of the righteous being like a prayer.
So let’s consider this phrase, and the word “soul.” When the Lord is speaking about his soul what does that mean? In the topics library on lds.org, we learn that “soul” is used four ways: First, “Soul is used to describe a person in premortal life—before birth. Second, During earth life, the soul is joined with a physical body. Third, at death, the soul leaves the body and goes to the spirit world to await resurrection. Fourth, in the Resurrection, the body and soul are inseparably connected, which is called “the redemption of the soul.” This is what his soul means for the Lord: his spirit and body inseparably connected, or as BYU professor Bruce W. Jorgensen put it, “the unity of intelligence, spirit, and physical body.”
In the context of singing, Brother Jorgensen explains, quote: “What happens to us when we really sing? Well, in a matter-of-fact way, all those aspects of our souls are participating as we sing. Quite literally, flesh and bone are involved: there are bones in our head that are resonating, and if we're really singing loudly we can feel it all the way down to our knees; flesh is involved- our diaphragm, vocal cords, mouth, lips; and it takes a certain intelligent discipline of flesh and bone to sing. The breath of life is the breath of song. The voice, by which each human being is known to other human beings, is involved. There is a kind of wholeness about the act of singing that makes song an appropriate symbol for the kind of wholeness each individual child of God is to experience in His Kingdom. Song delights the Lord's soul, and it is a fitting metaphor of the joy our souls may share in His presence.”
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One of the great joys I feel when singing in church is that our singing together truly makes us a congregation. We aren’t an audience—we don’t come to church to watch and be entertained. The prefix con- means “with”—greg, the Latin for “flock” or “gather”. We con-greg-ate, congregate, or gather with each other, to share a sacred experience together. This was recently so beautifully, sacredly, made clear to me when many of us gathered here together on a Tuesday evening a month ago to begin our fast for our sweet sister Brooke Freeze and her family. Our hearts were already knit together in solemnity; we began the meeting by singing “In fasting we approach thee,” which became sort of an invocation; then our Bishop offered a wonderful, heart-felt prayer of both supplication and submission to the will of the Lord: and then we all sat there. Nobody felt like just leaving. One of the sisters—I don’t know who, but I am grateful to her for speaking up—said “Can’t we at least sing another hymn?” giving voice to a thought I was having, too. And so we did. The bishop went to the piano, and led us in singing “Nearer, my God, to Thee,” and that hymn acted as a benediction, through which we as a congregation felt nearer to God, and also like the meeting was then complete. We were there to pray to begin our fast, but we needed, in that situation, to sing together. We needed the unity that song provides, we needed to fill our souls with song, on that sacred occasion. I will close by quoting Psalm 100 – yes, the whole thing. Because a psalm IS a song. And this one isn’t long.
It is A Psalm of Praise.
1 Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands.
2 Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing.
3 Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
5 For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.
May we all carry this sort of song in our hearts is my prayer, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.Totally unrelated, but I wanted to write about something that Rachel's talk preparation experience reminded me of--she was typing her entire talk on her phone. And I am with Nancy on this--give me a computer please! I do not love typing on my phone.
But--there are many college students in this supposedly wealthy country who do all their college assignments on their phones! I don't think we see them often at BYU--our students tend to be privileged (some act also very entitled, sad to say) and have laptops. Also we have really good computer labs so there are options for students. But some of my library colleagues work at small colleges where they have not very good computer labs, and lots of students don't own laptops and they literally do everything on their phones. Often, they live in such cramped conditions that they have nowhere to do their homework except maybe sitting in their car (if they are fortunate enough to have one) or going and sitting in a coffee shop or something. They often can't afford to travel to the college computer lab outside of the time they have traveled there to attend classes. Just saying. We are soooo fortunate, and many others are not. We have a great imbalance of haves and have nots in this country, which is getting worse all the time. Thanks, billionaires. Thanks, government who coddles billionaires.
