From the Mission Field

Called to Sing

A Missionary Choir Experience

By Olivia Kitterman

Church Magazines

Our experience singing in the missionary choir wasn’t about the performance. It was about who we were singing for.

“Wait, stop,” Brother Ryan Eggett said. Gradually the singing dropped off as 364 eyes turned to look at him—some of the sopranos with disgruntled expressions after having only sung one note.

“Let me tell you a story.”

A few of the choir members smiled at each other.

We were several weeks into rehearsal for the general conference missionary choir and were used to our conductor’s pattern. We sang for a little bit, then stopped for a story. Somehow, he would always tie the story back to the song, and we would start singing again.

This time, Brother Eggett told us about the first meeting between Joseph Smith and Brigham Young. “It was like two spiritual giants coming together for the first time. That’s what the beginning notes of ‘Faith in Every Footstep’¹ are about.”

Huh?

That’s how he did it. The stories he connected to the music led us to reimagine those stories and sing the songs with feeling. We kept learning stories to fit the songs we sang so that when the Saturday afternoon session arrived, we weren’t hearing the pound of the organ. We were hearing the footsteps of our ancestors. We were seeing two prophets meet in heaven. We were feeling again the moment when each of us opened our mission call and saw the words, “called to serve.”

From this experience, I discovered the true power and meaning behind why we sing hymns. I became inspired to put more purpose in my daily interaction with spiritual music by connecting stories to music and by using music as a way to bear my testimony.

Connecting Stories to Music

I found that as we connected stories to the hymns we sang, I thought more deeply about my testimony as the stories made the lyrics real to me.

We learned about pioneer women who pulled handcarts, then practiced singing “Hope of Israel”² with as much power as if we were pulling our modern-day handcarts to Zion.

We discussed how our will and God’s will often begin in disharmony, like the opening to our arrangement of “I’ll Go Where You Want Me to Go.”³ As the ending resolved that tension, we felt as though we had realigned with God in humility.

We paused at the music break near the end of “Faith in Every Footstep” and imagined the sound of our pioneer ancestors trekking across the plains. Our powerful re-entry to the song became the sound of our generation stepping up to join them in gathering Israel.

In the future, these hymns will help me remember those powerful stories and their lessons. Not only that, but I will also remember the feelings the stories inspired in the music. Since hymns often bring the Spirit, we can remember what we felt, even in hard times, when we listen to those sacred words again.

Bearing Testimony through Music

As a choir, we wore our missionary badges proudly to show the world we were preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ through music. In the months before conference, we talked often about our message. We wanted those who listened to hear God’s voice calling them to serve in whatever way He has planned for them. Yet our badges weren’t doing the preaching—our voices were. I learned that whenever anyone sings of God and His Son, they preach the gospel and invite the Spirit to testify.

I learned that our heartfelt preparation wasn’t about the performance. It was about who we were singing for.

“We are a choir of missionaries,” Brother Eggett said. “We aren’t here to perform—we’re here to preach Christ’s gospel.” So that’s what we did.

We can use the hymns we sing each week as an act of bearing testimony. When we sing hymns with more purpose and meaning, we testify that the words we sing are true and help others feel the truth of it.

We have the ability to make music a part of our worship that uplifts and strengthens our foundation of faith in Jesus Christ. As we actively seek stories of faith that match the words we sing and as we think of singing as a form of bearing testimony, music will become more meaningful to us and help every member be a missionary.