Prior to joining the Church in 1999, I spent quite a bit of time on the about.com LDS site.  There, long before inviting the missionaries into my home for the official discussions, is where I asked a lifetime of questions and finally received the answers that I needed.  I got involved in numerous discussions with members of the Church on all kinds of topics. One topic that came up repeatedly was music. Since I was not a member yet, and had not even attended Sacrament meeting, I was not familiar with the LDS hymns.  Although I spent my childhood attending a variety of Protestant churches I had never really paid much attention to the words of the hymns we sang. So, when someone offered to send me a tape of some of the LDS hymns, I was quite eager for it to arrive. Once it did, I played it over and over – not only for the beautiful melodies but because for the first time I realized that hymns are simply another way of conveying and celebrating the Gospel! This was the beginning of my conversion to the Church, and the start of a strong testimony of the truth of the Gospel.  As of result of this I have decided to write about some of the hymns on that tape, which I still play to this day (yet another example of how life-changing a seemingly small gesture of friendship can be!).

The first hymn I listened to was Beautiful Savior, written by Edward Hart with music composed by Crawford Gates.  The words are based on John 15:12-14 and Doctrine and Covenants 34:1-4. At first it was the music that touched me, but it wasn’t long before I felt soothed by the words.  This hymn reassures me that Heavenly Father’s love is all encompassing and eternal – that no matter how difficult life may become,  His love strengthens us and enables us to endure.  Comparing His love to the light of the sun and reminding us of the tremendous sacrifice of the Savior and the love involved in that sacrifice has brought peace and comfort to me many times, as I’m sure it has to many others.