Music for the Heart

From an interview with Elder Yoon Hwan Choi of the Seventy; by Tina Dean

The song of the righteous is a prayer unto me (D&C 25:12).

When my family lived in Seoul, South Korea, we were within walking distance of the school my youngest son attended. My wife could have driven him to school every day, but she enjoyed the time walking to school with him. Twenty minutes is a long time to talk, so they would often sing hymns and Primary songs too.

“Would you teach me a song you learned from Primary this week?” my wife would ask. Sometimes she knew the songs already, but Sun Yoon would sing loudly and proudly. He liked teaching his mom his favorite Primary songs.

They had a good time together on those walks. One day my son observed, “Mom, I want to live in a world where I can hear hymns and Primary songs everywhere I go.”

Many places in South Korea had large speakers that blasted popular songs that sounded very different from the sweet songs my son and wife sang together. Sun Yoon found that singing good songs tuned his mind to enjoy good music. He had good songs in his heart.

Our leaders and prophets teach us to listen to good music. We had always read scriptures and prayed as a family, but we added singing hymns to our routine when we heard counsel to do so from General Authorities. Since then, we have felt the difference in our home.

Little children can feel the Spirit through good music. Singing hymns as a family helps us stay in tune with our Heavenly Father.

Illustration by Jared Beckstrand