Music!

Kathy-

The people in Sierra Leone LOVE music! If you ask any of them what they like to do, the answer is usually “listen to music, sing, and dance”. From the time the sun rises until long after it sets, there is music.

Even my washing machine sings. At the end of a cycle, it plays a full tune that last 28 seconds (yes – I’ve timed it). I think it’s telling me how happy it is to have completed a full load of laundry.

Sunday is the biggest day for music. In a nearby Christian church we hear a keyboard and drums accompanying singers who use handheld loudspeakers. I’ve heard rousing renditions of “Onward Christian Soldiers” and “How Great Thou Art” along with other songs I don’t recognize. I bet no one falls asleep in their church.

If there is no keyboard player available to play a prelude for Sacrament meetings, the congregation sings hymns until it’s time to start. No one sings quietly - every song is sung at full voice and with great enthusiasm!

I usually attend Sunday School or Relief Society after Sacrament meeting each week but last Sunday I decided to go to Primary. There were 37 children of all ages crowded into a small classroom with three adults: the Primary President, her counselor, and me. The counselor had to leave soon after we started as her baby was fussy. I was astounded how the Primary President kept the attention of the children for so long. Then HER baby started to fuss. The first woman came back in with her sleeping baby strapped to her back. (I need to post a picture of this someday because it is the cutest thing to see little toes poking out on either side of the mother.) Anyway, she took the Primary President’s baby in her arms and left again.

The room was hot and the children were restless. After 45 minutes of instruction, the teacher was exhausted. She asked me if I had anything to add to the lesson. I offered to teach the children some Primary songs. It was hard for them to remember the words, so I created actions to go along with them. I don’t know who had more fun – them or me. At the end of the hour, the children burst into applause and two of them threw their arms around my waist. I knew it wasn’t me they were happy about – it was the music. It made me feel good because I know they will remember the words of songs much longer than anything I could have said. Hopefully those words will come to their minds when they need it most.

I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints!

I know who I am, I know God’s plan,

I’ll follow Him in faith.

I believe in the Savior, Jesus Christ, I’ll honor His name.

I’ll do what is right, I’ll follow His light.

His truth I will proclaim.