Young Women's Mary Did You Know

Mary Did You Know

Young Women Draper 11th ward

Anna Zollinger lesson

 

Kenzie Turns 23

 

Sacrament Talk on Music

The Importance and Power of Good Music & Gospel Worship

HUMBLE. PRAYERFUL GRATEFUL.

Intro:

Good Morning. For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Kenzie Hall. I am Aaron and Dawn’s daughter.  I have two little brothers Mackay and Hayden. Some of you may already know that music has been a huge part of my life.  I am much more comfortable singing for you than I am speaking to you, but I have been asked to speak on the Importance and Power of Music. For those who may not know me very well, I thought I would quickly introduce myself. 

I grew up in a dance studio with my mom. All the girls in my family, aunts, cousins, grandmas, they all danced.  I was surrounded with music daily, and I like to think thats where I really learned to love music. 

I have a grandpa and two uncles who played guitar and I decided there needed to be a little girl power in that. So at 10 years old, I broke my mother’s heart, quit dance and started guitar lessons. I played and sang constantly- but also secretly. It wasn’t until I was a sophomore in High School that I started performing and recording music professionally. 

Since then, I have had the privilege to be apart of many different musical projects. I have shared the stage with many well known artists, I have written and recorded songs for my own albums, EFY albums, movies, and television. Yes, I have even been on reality TV. 

Music has been a blessing in my life but is has also been my job. So I guess I can say, I understand music, which is probably why I was given this topic to speak about today.

I know that not all of us enjoy singing.  Maybe we haven’t spent much time thinking about the power of music.  Today, I want to share some personal experiences of how GOOD music has strengthen my testimony and how it truly can change the way we worship each week.

MUSIC

When we come to church each Sunday, we come to renew our baptism covenants, to listen and learn about our Savior, Jesus Christ.  We come to be spiritually fed.  And we come to worship together. 

In the preface to our hymnbook, the First Presidency has provided this statement:

“Inspirational music is an essential part of our church meetings. The hymns invite the Spirit of the Lord, create a feeling of reverence, unify us as members, and provide a way for us to offer praises to the Lord.

Did you know that only THREE months after the Church was organized, the Lord, through the Prophet Joseph Smith, instructed Joseph's wife, Emma, to make a selection of sacred hymns for the Church. 

In this one-hour meeting alone, we will sing at least three, maybe four songs.  Hymns provide a pattern of worship that is pleasing to God. So how many of us really rise to the occasion to worship through song? 

Our dear prophet, President Russell M Nelson loves music. He’s sung in many choirs, he plays the piano and the organ, and has perfect pitch. Yeah, he loves music.  In May of 2008 he was speaking at BYU and said; 

“Worthy music has the power to make us humble, prayerful, and grateful.”

I hope to touch on these three things today.  Humility, Prayer, and Gratitude through music. 

II. HUMBLE

When we are baptized we learn the importance of the covenants we are making.  We also learn that each week, we get to partake of the sacrament to renew those covenants.  We reverently bow our heads and right before the sacrament is blessed, humbly... we sing.  

I KNOW we take the sacrament seriously.  We know it’s importance.  But we sing to invite the spirit and prepare us for the sacrament.  I love the hymn on page 172 that says: 

In Humility, our Savior, Grant thy Spirit here, we pray. 

The purpose of music in our Church services is not about the performance.  It isn’t about how great our voice sounds or how well we harmonize.  It isn’t ABOUT US at all.  It is about inviting the Spirit.  Music has the power to humbly connect us to Christ.  

III. PRAYERFUL

President J. Reuben Clark Jr. said, 

“we get nearer to the Lord through music than perhaps any other thing, except prayer.”

In Doctrine and Covenants 25:12, it states, 

“For my soul delighteth in the song of the heart; yea, the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me.”

I learned the truth of this scripture at a very young age.  My mom used to send me out the door with the reassurance that if ever I was sad or scared to say a little prayer in my mind or to hum my favorite primary song. I would reassure her I would and out the door I went.  

Until I found my 7 year old self with my cousins watching a really scary movie.  I remember acting brave but being so scared. Then I recalled my mom’s words.  I quietly started to hummed “I am a Child of God”.  Soon my cousins joined in. Without having to get on my knees, fold my arms and bow my head, my prayer was heard and then it was answered....  And we got brave enough to turn the movie off. 

Humming our favorite primary songs or singing hymns of worship is an outlet for the comfort of the spirit.  

I love the song Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing. I love the melody and the lyrics always intrigued me. I am a history buff and wanted to know more about this hymn.  

It was written by a 22 year old, coincidentally the same age as me, named Robert Robinson.  He lost his parents when he was young and was now running with the wrong crowd, doing things he wasn’t proud of.  One day, while he and his friends were harassing a gypsy to tell them their futures. She turned to Robert and said that he would live a long life and his children would grow up looking up to him. 

This would be a great fortune to receive but in that moment, it caused him to stop and think about his actions and the life he was living. Immediately he made a choice to change and to follow Christ.  

This song is basically his prayer of thanks to his Heavenly Father for being forgiving and loving. 

Oh, to grace how great a debtor, Daily I'm constrained to be

Let that goodness like a fetter, Bind my wandering heart to Thee

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love

Here's my heart, oh, take and seal it, Seal it for Thy courts above

Each of us can relate to having times in our lives when we need our Heavenly Father’s love and forgiveness. As we sing the message of these lyrics it also becomes our prayer to “bind our wandering hearts to thee”.  Music has the power connect us to Christ and to make us prayerful.  

IV. GRATEFUL

In Doctrine & Covenants 136:28, Joseph Smith taught that we should: 

“praise the Lord with singing, with music, … and with a prayer of praise and thanksgiving”. 

Gratitude comes not only when we sing the songs but when we sing the WORDS, when we sing the message with the spirit of enthusiasm. Contrast that with scenes we may see at church when we sing only passively and without a spirit of joy. 

I have had the opportunity to sing How Great Thou Art many,  many times. In fact, I think I recently sang it here in our war. It isn’t the easiest song to sing. But, it is one of my favorites. 

The first time I ever performed it was for my seminary graduation. I was so nervous to do it perfectly in front of all my peers. But afterward, someone approached my mom and said she noticed that I wiggled and held on to the podium... she said “it was like I was ready to burst.” So the next time I sang that hymn, I paid more attention to “my wiggling”.  I found she was right.  It doesn’t matter where I am - in my car, in a rehearsal, during a church meeting, at this podium, or alone in my room, it is hard to hold back and not feel like I’m going to burst while singing How Great Thou Art.   

Old Testament scripture in Psalm 98:4 encourages us to 

“make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise”  

In the Hebrew language, the meaning of this verse is to literally burst forth into song and to shout for joy.  Who can’t help but be moved by the lyrics:

When Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation, 

And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart.

 

The next line is one that I struggle to sing without tears and I  immediately soften, 

Then I shall bow, in humble adoration, 

And then proclaim: "My God, how great Thou art!

How can we not sing that last line without a “joyful noise”.  Jesus suffered so much because of His love for you and me. I know it and I feel it when I sing. My heart is filled with joy.  

President Nelson said:

“Some of the greatest sermons are preached by the singing of hymns. Hymns move us to repentance and good works, build testimony and faith, comfort the weary, console the mourning, and inspire us to endure to the end.”

I know without a doubt that as we lift up our voices & sing, we will be filled with joy and gratitude.  Music has the power connect us to Christ and to make us grateful.

CONCLUSION:

I hope we will renew our commitment to sing.  Worthy Music enhances worship.  Music has boundless powers for moving families toward greater spirituality and devotion to the gospel. Whether we are musically inclined or not, I pray that we will open our hymnbooks  and then open our mouths and JOYOUSLY SING - not just in our church meetings but in our homes, our cars, with our friends and families, that we may become more humble, prayerful, and grateful.

In the name of Jesus Christ, amen

Youth Conference Testimony

Testimony for Youth Conference

June 15, 2019

SING: Come Thou Fount

Thank You

Before I begin, I want to say thank you for Ryan for inviting me to sing and share a brief testimony with you today.  

I also want to thank Mike Anderson for so willingly sharing his talent and accompanying me on the piano.    

Come Thou Fount

The song I just sang is Come Thou Fount. It one of my favorites.  I remember instantly falling in love with the melody and I was drawn to the lyrics but I didn’t really understand them. So I did a little bit of research. I am a history buff but for all of you who aren’t- I’ll make a long story short. 

It was written by a 22 year old, coincidentally the same age as me, named Robert Robinson.  He had had a rough beginning, losing his parents when he was young.  He was now running with the wrong crowd, doing things he wasn’t proud of, and making poor choices.  One day, while he and his friends were harassing a drunk gypsy, she has a moment of clarity and he was told by this fortune. She said that he would live a long life his children would grow up looking up to him. 

This would be a great fortune to receive but in moment, it caused him to stop and think about his actions and the life he was living a life he wasn’t proud of and definitely did not want his future kids to grow up looking up to. In that moment, he made a CHOICE.  He chose to change and to follow Christ.  

This song is basically a thank you letter to his Heavenly Father for being FORGIVING, LOYAL, GREAT, and LOVING. 

Choices

Each day, we get to make choices.  Some as simple as what to wear or what to eat. Choices that don’t hold a lot of weight.  But we are also asked to make important choices that require courage and sometimes change as it was with the author of the song.   

I had the opportunity to be on national tv.  I was a contestant on Season 13 of American Idol.  In the beginning, it wasn’t really my choice,  my mom tricked me one morning and drove me to the auditions when I had repeatedly told her I had NO PLANS of trying out.  But after making it through the several producer rounds, then executive producers, and then judges rounds, and the dreaded Hollywood Week, I found myself at the end in the Top 15 girls at Live shows.  

Being on American Idol was an experience I will never forget, one I don’t regret, and most importantly, its one that brought me closer to my Heavenly Father.

But before I go on, I want to emphasize that my experience on American Idol, believe it or not, isn’t much different than what you experience every day in school, at your jobs, on your sports and dance teams, even with your friends and family. Having courage to follow the Savior whether in public or in private, that challenge is the same.  

So I hope that as I share my experience, you will know that blessings come if you have the courage to stay true to yourself and your beliefs, regardless of who or how many are watching.

American Idol 

While competing on American Idol, I knew being the only member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, on the show that season, that my faith would be a topic of conversation.  I knew I would have lots of opportunities to share my beliefs.  And I spent a lot of time pondering how I was going to handle these moments.  

I sat my mom down one day before heading back to LA.  She, like I am sure many of your moms, always encouraged me to bear my testimony.    I didn’t want to let her down, and I really didn’t want to let my Heavenly Father down, but I wanted her to know that I had decided, when my faith was brought up, I was going to do my best to detour the interview back to my music.  My music and my faith are both parts of who I am but in this situation, I wanted the focus to be on my MUSIC.   She understood and supported my decision.

  I imagine HF hearing this conversation and laughing. Because it is funny how once I had decided to focus solely on my music, the opportunities to share my beliefs came pouring in. Like once In a wardrobe meeting, when they wanted me to wear something a little too revealing for my standards.  Or in rehearsals, when everyone was sipping coffee to try to stay awake and endure the long nights. Or when I wore a CTR ring people asking what those three letters meant. 

But I am shy when it comes to socializing.  I am not a big conversationalist - whether it be about the gospel or just day to day stuff.  I don’t carry my faith like a neon sign. It’s a quiet commitment that I have made.  

I decided long before American Idol, that I would never let outside influences change me or determine my choices. No matter what the world demanded or wanted from me, I had made my decision and I never felt I needed to explain myself or make excuses. Believe it or not, it wasn’t hard to stay true to myself and my beliefs because i had already made the choice.

Conclusion

I learned a lot about myself and my testimony. I learned He avenly Father never gets tired of our prayers. I really did imagine Him up there saying, “you again?”  Prayer became my secret weapon during those scary and stressful moments.  It calmed my back stage jitters, and brought comfort when I stood outside CBS studios when my time on the show abruptly ended. 

I want you to know that you too have that secret weapon. “He really is there. He will always be there.” I hope you will all TODAY will choose - make the choice right now, that you will stay true to YOU.  Stay true to who YOU ARE and what you KNOW is true.

I have one more song for you today but before I sing I want to leave you my testimony that as we choose to follow our Savior and strive to have a personal relationship with our Heavenly Father, Blessings Come!  

I say this in the name of Jesus Christ amen.

Hallmark Buys a Song

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Kenzie's song for Hallmark