Songwriting is the act of baring one's soul to another in the form of words and music.
Hello! Love One Another is one of the suggested songs to go along with the Come Follow Me Book of Mormon lesson this week. Love One Another is a popular LDS hymn with a beautiful melody and just one single verse. This arrangement is a vocal solo with an instrumental piano part and reprise of the second half of the verse at the end. The sheet music for this arrangement is available for free here.
Hello! Keep the Commandments is one of the suggested songs to go along with the Come Follow Me Book of Mormon lesson this week. This is a short and simple piano solo arrangement. This lesson studies Mosiah chapters 11-17. In this section, King Noah rules in wickedness, Abinadi prophesies that the people will be taken into bondage & King Noah will die because of their wickedness. Abinadi is imprisoned. He speaks to the false priests and King Noah, teaching them the Ten Commandments and that Salvation does not come through the law of Moses alone, but through Jesus Christ. Alma, one of the wicked priests, believes his words. Abinadi suffers death by fire and Alma writes his words, separating himself from King Noah and the priests.
This lesson studies Mosiah chapters 7-10. This hymn goes well with the text of this lesson. In this section, the people were in bondage and seeking deliverance. They came to a determination that God would deliver them and he does….
I was immediately drawn to ‘Testimony.’ The words ‘I know my Father lives’ came to my mind, and the music came almost simultaneously. The remainder of the piece came very quickly, but I thought it was too simple, so I began working on it. It became more and more complicated and less and less spontaneous. After two weeks of struggling with it, I began to erase all the excess notes, and soon it emerged in its original form.
This arrangement is a vocal solo of verses 1, 5, 6 and 7. I didn’t want the song to be too long, so I tried to include the final verses that are essential for the storyline, but are often not sung in Church because of how long the song is. This hymn has beautiful descriptive language that draws you in. A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief was a favorite hymn of the Prophet Joseph Smith. The apostle John Taylor first learned the hymn while on his mission to England. On the afternoon that Joseph and Hyrum were killed by a mob in prison in Carthage, the Smiths requested Taylor sing this hymn twice. How touching and special this hymn is.
Hello! “A Child’s Prayer” is one of the suggested songs to go along with the Come Follow Me Book of Mormon lesson this week. This is a piano solo or piano accompaniment arrangement that can be used in a
Hello! “Israel, Israel, God Is Calling” is one of the suggested hymns this week to go along with the Come Follow Me Book of Mormon lesson. This arrangement is a modern, dynamic and unique version of the song and the sheet music for it can be found on my website: http://marileekaymusic.com/sheet-music/ It’s a fun one to sing and play!
“I wrote the poem [originally titled ‘The Shared Loaf’] after a long and serious illness. I was convalescing (Convalescence is the gradual recovery of health and strength after illness or injury), and in a sudden, glad up-rush of gratitude for my release from pain, recalling the many mercies and blessings that had been mine those long hard days, and through all my past life, remembering the love that had been around and about me ever, I wrote the words of this hymn. Surely I have been given much; surely love has been showered upon me. God grant I may never forget to ‘divide my gifts with every brother that I see who has the need of help from me,’ and I trust I shall not hoard the love that has been so abundantly showered upon me.”
Hello! “Risen” is the song I chose to do this week to go along with the Come Follow Me Easter lesson. This song was written by Shawna Edwards in 2019. Here is what she said about the song: “Every good thing we have is because of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. “Risen” is the result of my special feelings for Jesus and the joy I feel, knowing that He lives!” Melinda Spence is on vocals with me along with Emily Clark on the Violin. Melinda is the one who suggested this song to me as one we could sing in sacrament meeting at Church around Easter time. We decided to record and film it as well. I’m grateful for everything those two added to this arrangement. They did such a beautiful job.
Gardner explained that the idea for the words came to him during a 1984 session of stake conference after a speaker quoted 2 Nephi 31:20. “I instantly recognized it as one of my favorite scriptures from my teenage years as a seminary student and also as a missionary. Something just kind of went through my mind like, ‘Wow, that’s the Book of Mormon verse that you’ve been looking for.'”