#305 "The Light Divine

I remember learning this in Primary as a young girl, but I don't think I've played it much or sung it much since then.  I like the tune a lot--especially the harmonies.  The text has a great message, too.  I would like to sing this more often, but most people don't seem to be familiar with it.

#304 "Teach Me to Walk in the Light"

This is another wonderful primary song that I learned in my youth and have loved for years.  I remember being about 11 years old and learning to play it by ear.  (I didn't play it in the correct key, but it still worked!)  I remember being very proud of myself for figuring it out.  It was probably one of the first songs I taught myself.  (The other being "Joy to the World".)  This will always be a favorite song of mine!

#303 "Keep the Commandments"

I remember teaching this in Primary for the Children's Sacrament Meeting Presentation years ago.  I really like the song--both its tune and its message.  The children like it, too.  The Children's Songbook lists a second verse that isn't in the hymnbook.

#302 "I Know My Father Lives"

This is another primary song that the children love to sing.  I love its simplicity--both in words and music.  It really sounds best when sung in unison without any fancy accompaniment.  Just focus on the message of the text.

#301 "I Am a Child of God"

This is an LDS classic hymn and my favorite children's song.  I've probably played this song more than any other in the hymnbook.  I remember learning this song when I was a little kid growing up in the Monterey Park Ward.  Back then, the words of the chorus read, "Teach me all that I must know / to live with him some day."  After a suggestion from Spencer W. Kimball, the line was changed to read "Teach me all that I must do / to live with him some day." 

In the Children's Songbook, there is an additional verse:

 I am a child of God

His promises are sure

Celestial glory shall be mine

If I can but endure.

I remember teaching this verse for a Primary Children's Sacrament Meeting presentation.  This song continues to be a favorite with the children.  I was glad to see it was placed on the first page of the Children's Songbook!

#300 "Families Can Be Together Forever"

I remember when this song was first written for a Children's Sacrament Meeting presentation. At that time I was the Primary Music Director in our ward and I immediately loved the message and tune of this hymn.  It became a favorite with the primary children, too.  We've sung this in primary and sacrament meeting many, many times.  It is definite favorite of mine!

#299 "Children of Our Heavenly Father"

I first heard this hymn at a funeral held in a Lutheran church for my friend's father.  He was Swedish and this hymn tune is a Swedish melody.  The second verse is the one that makes it appropriate for a funeral:
Neither life nor death can ever from the Lord his children sever; Unto thme his grace he showeth, and their sorrows all he knoweth.
I don't remember singing this for choir, but there are notes in my personal hymnal that has it organized like this:
Verse 1: SATB
Verse 2: Women in unison
Verse 3: Unison with Free accompaniment.  I don't know if this hymn has a free accompaniment from T. T. Noble, or if I wrote that because this well-known hymn tune would somewhere have a free accompaniment available.

#298 "Home Can Be a Heaven on Earth"

This is another new hymn in the 1985 hymnal.  It has a nice message and an upbeat tune.  We've used it several times in sacrament meeting.  The accidentals made it a little tricky to play, but with practice I should do fine in the future.

#297 "From Homes of Saints Glad Songs Arise"

This is a new hymn to the 1985 hymnal.  I like the words and the upbeat tune.  We sing this hymn on occasion in sacrament meeting, but usually only if the theme of the meeting is about families or music. 

#296 "Our Father, by Whose Name"

This hymn is new to the 1985 hymnal.  The Oak Hills Ward Choir sang it as follows:

Verse 1:  Men unison
Verse 2:  SATB
Verse 3:  Women unison for measures 1-14.  Men join in unison on the last note of measure 14.

I also have a note that Darwin Wolford has a nice arrangement of this hymn which was published by Sonos in 1996.

It  was easy to play and sing.

#295 "O Love That Glorifies the Son"

This song isn't very familiar, but I have a note in my personal hymnal that the Oak Hills Ward Choir sang it on August 10, 1997.  Here's how we did it:

Verses 1-2  Women in unison measures 1-5.  Add alto on the last note of measure 5.  Add tenor and bass on the last note of measure 9.
Verses 3-4  SATB

Other than that, I don't remember singing it before or since.

#294 "Love at Home"

This is another classic LDS hymn that I've sung since my youth.  I remember my mom would start singing it to us when we (her children) got into arguments with each other.  One of my favorite arrangements of this hymn came at the end of a drama production we did while I was in high school.  The play was "House Talk" and at the end we sang "Love at Home".  Another of my favorite arrangements of this hymn is one done by the Osmond Brothers. 

I've used this hymn as a choir number and a congregational hymn and will continue to schedule it in the future.

#293 "Each Life That Touches Ours for Good"

When this hymn appeared in the 1985 hymnal, it quickly became one of my favorites.  My mom has already told me that she wants this hymn sung at her funeral.  I hope that is many, many years from now!

We have used this hymn as a choir number and a congregational hymn.  It isn't the easiest hymn to play because of the stretches of the fingers, but I will continue to work on improving the way I play it.

#292 "O My Father"

This is a classic LDS hymn with its doctrinal teaching about having a Heavenly Mother.  "In the heav'ns are parents single?  No, the thought makes reason stare!  Truth is reason; truth eternal tells me I've a mother there."

I've sung and played this hymn many times.  I currently use it as part of my weekly prelude and I've played it at many funerals.  It will always be a favorite hymn of mine.

#291 "Turn Your Hearts"

This hymn was new to the 1985 hymnal and it is one we learned and used several times over the years.  Its message about temple work for the living and the dead is relevant.  This hymn was a little tricky to play, but I like it!

#290 "Rejoice, Ye Saints of Latter Days"

This hymn seemed new to me, but I read in Karen Lynn Davidson's book, Our Latter-Day Hymns, that the words were revised from a hymn written for the 1945 Idaho Falls Temple Dedication.  The musical setting is new for the 1985 hymnal.  I think this hymn would work well for a sacrament meeting about temples.

#289 "Holy Temples on Mount Zion"

I recognized this hymn as soon as I began to play it today, but it is another one of those rarely used hymns.  I think I remember singing it at a fireside about temple work, but that's about it.  I don't have any special notes or markings in my personal hymnbook, so there isn't much else to say!

#288 "How Beautiful Thy Temples, Lord"

I wasn't very familiar with this hymn, but I was able to play it.  The timing was a little tricky.  This hymn isn't sung much, but would be a good hymn for a sacrament meeting with the theme of "Temple Work".

#287 "Rise, Ye Saints, and Temples Enter"

This hymn is new to the 1985 hymnal and I don't recall ever singing it.  However, in my personal hymnal I have written that the choir sang it on 7-13-97, so I must have sung it back then.  I have phrasing markings in my hymnal, as well.  The message is nice and the tune is by Robert P. Manookin, who is a well-known LDS composer.

#286 "Oh, What Songs of the Heart"

I wasn't familiar with this hymn until our ward choir director asked the choir to learn it back in January 1998.  I have notes in my personal hymnal that the choir sang it on January 11, 1998.  The choir director wanted us to learn it so that we could help the congregation learn it and sing it at a later date.  I don't really remember singing it with the choir, but I remember singing it as a member of the congregation in March of 1998.  Why would I remember that kind of detail?  My first husband, Mike Ramsey, died on February 23, 1998.  When the congregation sang this hymn in March, the words really touched my heart.  Verse two has the following words:  "Tho our rapture and bliss there's no song can express, We will shout, we will sing o'er and o'er, As we greet with a kiss, And with joy we caress all our loved ones that passes on before."  These words really touched me when we sang them that day.  I remember having tears fall down my cheeks and that I had a difficult time singing the song.

#285 "God Moves in a Mysterious Way"

This is a very old hymn text.  I think I remember hearing it as a youth.  I've used it one or two times in a sacrament meeting since I've been the Ward Music Chairman.  The timing always confuses me, however.  I like the message of the words, and the tune is fine--I'm just not sure how to handle the 3/2 timing.

#284 "If You Could Hie to Kolob"

I  love this hymn!  The words and music work together perfectly.  In the 1950 hymnal it was included in the Choir section and was set to a different tune that just wasn't sung very often.  This new tune is very ethereal and fits the words in a way that really brings the spirit of the message.  I've used this as a choir number several times, at a funeral, and as a congregational hymn.  This is one I will continue to use!

#283 "The Glorious Gospel Light Has Shone"

The words to this hymn are distinctly LDS in nature, but the tune is an alternate to the Christmas hymn "While Shepherds Watched Their Flock By Night".  This hymn would be good to use in a meeting that has the theme of Temple Ordinances for the Dead.

#282 "We Meet Again in Sabbath School"

This is another Sunday School song that isn't used much now that we don't have a separate service for the Sunday School.  As I looked over the words, it seems that it would still be appropriate for use in a sacrament meeting.

#281 "Help Me Teach with Inspiration"

This hymn was new to me, but the message about teaching the gospel is very appropriate for me as someone who teaches second grade children as a career.  In a church setting, we need to teach with inspiration and with the spirit of the Lord.  This hymn is short, but the original hymn contained two more verses, according to Our Latter-day Hymns: The Stories and the Messages by Karen Lynn Davidson. 

#280 "Welcome, Welcome, Sabbath Morning"

This song was one of my favorites to sing during Sunday School as a youth growing up in the old Monterey Park Ward.  I liked the cheery message and tune.  Even though I didn't understand music theory as a youth, I knew that something changed during the song that piqued my interest.  As an adult, I understand the change of key from "C" to "G" and back to "C" makes the song interesting. 

#279 "Thy Holy Word"

This simple hymn has a powerful message about the scriptures.  The eighth notes at the beginning of each measure is unusual enough that it kind of catches the singer off guard--but I like it!

#278 "Thanks for the Sabbath School"

Even though this song sounds very old-fashioned, I still really like it!  I remember singing it many times in the old Monterey Park Ward Sunday School.  Now that there isn't a separate service for Sunday School, this song has lost its popularity.  I haven't scheduled it in a very long time.

#277 "As I Search the Holy Scriptures"

When this hymn was added to the 1985 edition of the LDS hymnbook, it became a favorite.  I remember that it wasn't long after its inclusion that it was part of the Children's Sacrament Meeting Presentation.  I was the Primary Music Director the year it was included in the annual program.  This short hymn packs a powerful message about doing more than just reading the scriptures--we need to search them.  This is a hymn that I have used many times for primary and sacrament meeting.  It is a timeless message and a perfect match with the tune.  I will continue to use this hymn over and over.

#276 "Come Away to the Sunday School"

I remember singing this song many times in the Sunday School Meeting when I was growing up in the Monterey Park Ward.  Now that we don't have a separate service for Sunday School, this song is rarely sung.  I love the rhythms and tune of this hymn.  I especially like the chorus where the men echo the women in "Then away, haste away!" and "Then away, do not delay!"  It was fun to sing this song in my youth.

#275 "Men Are That They Might Have Joy"

This hymn was new to me.  It was included in the choir section of the 1950 hymnal, and I don't think I'd ever heard it before playing it today.  The tune is nice and the words speak of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon.  It would be the perfect song to sing when studying 2 Nephi 2:25.