SINGING THE HYMNS AND SONGS OF ZION

To see how hymns can be part of an on-going gospel study program for families, click HERE




LDS Hymnbook
F I R S T PRESIDENCY MESSAGE  (PREFACE)


Latter-day Saints have a long tradition of choir singing. Every ward and
branch in the Church should have a choir that performs regularly. We encourage
choirs to use the hymnbook as their basic resource.
Music in Our Homes
Music has boundless powers for moving families toward greater spirituality
and devotion to the gospel. Latter-day Saints should fill their homes with
the sound of worthy music.
Ours is a hymnbook for the home as well as for the meetinghouse. We
hope the hymnbook will take a prominent place among the scriptures and
other religious books in our homes. The hymns can bring families a spirit of
beauty and peace and can inspire love and unity among family members.
Teach your children to love the hymns. Sing them on the Sabbath, in home
evening, during scripture study, at prayer time. Sing as you work, as you play,
and as you travel together. Sing hymns as lullabies to build faith and testimony
in your young ones.
Music in Our Personal Lives
In addition to blessing us as Church and family members, the hymns can
greatly benefit us as individuals. Hymns can lift our spirits, give us courage,
and move us to righteous action. They can fill our souls with heavenly thoughts
and bring us a spirit of peace.
Hymns can also help us withstand the temptations of the adversary. We
encourage you to memorize your favorite hymns and study the scriptures that
relate to them. Then, if unworthy thoughts enter your mind, sing a hymn to
yourself, crowding out the evil with the good.
Brothers and sisters, let us use the hymns to invite the Spirit of the Lord
into our congregations, our homes, and our personal lives. Let us memorize
and ponder them, recite and sing them, and partake of their spiritual nourishment.
Know that the song of the righteous is a prayer unto our Father in
Heaven, “and it shall be answered with a blessing upon [your] heads.”
The First Presidency






Kathleen Lubeck, “The New Hymnbook: The Saints Are Singing!,” Ensign, Sep 1985, 7http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=3ea08949f2f6b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD



Boy Sings Primary Songs until Rescued in Haiti

by Jennifer Samuels

Five-year-old Gancci Saintelus jumped up and down with excitement when his mother, Soline, three-year-old sister, Angie, and one-year-old brother, Gansly, walked into his hospital room at the Holtz Children’s Hospital in Miami, Florida, on Thursday, January 21st.  During the reunion, Soline cried and held her son, while Angie asked where her brother’s arm was. The family was separated seven days ago when Gancci and his dad, Olgan, left their devastated country of Haiti behind to save Gancci’s life.The Saintelus family reunion was heartwarming and their story is quite miraculous.

When the earthquake struck Haiti on Tuesday, January 12, Olgan was working at the Holiday Inn and Soline was at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Centrale chapel meeting with the bishop about a new church calling.  Both parents were unharmed and went to check on their three children at home who where staying with a caretaker.  They found their three-story apartment complex had collapsed.

“We thought our children had died,” remembered Olgan.  “I kept praying to Heavenly Father to help us find our children.”

It took ten hours to dig their children out of the rubble.  Their oldest son, Gancci, was singing primary songs that could be heard by rescue workers trying to dig him out.  The Saintelus children and caretaker were the only survivors found in the collapsed building.

Gancci had the most serious injuries and needed medical attention right away.  Olgan left his wife and two children at the church building and went searching for help for his son.

“I went to the hospital but they told me to wait outside,” Olgan recalled. “Many people were waiting to be helped.”

Olgan decided to take his son to his workplace at the Holiday Inn.  He pleaded with people he met in the hallways of the hotel to help him.

“I kept praying for someone to help my son,” Olgan said.

After another twelve hours passed by, he met Mark Eisaman, a former EMT from South Florida who had come on his own to Haiti to help.  Eisaman enlisted the help from a British search and rescue team and got Olgan and Gancci on a flight to Miami.

In Miami, Gancci’s right arm had to be amputated, but his life was saved.  Eisaman stayed by Olgan’s side and once Gancci started to recover, Eisaman made it his mission to go back and get the rest of the Saintelus family out of Haiti.  He said he didn’t want the family to be separated after this disaster.

“I went in there [Haiti] and got the family out,” said Eisaman, who didn’t want to disclose details about the trip.

The Saintelus family reunion was joyful despite all they had been through.  They are worried about their extended family and friends in Haiti but believe their faith will help them endure.  Church members of their new ward and stake in Miami have come by to welcome them and have brought in clothes, food, toys, diapers and other needed supplies to the family who are staying temporarily in a facility close to the hospital. 

“I’m so grateful to my church,” said Olgan with tears in his eyes. 

Olgan and Soline have been LDS members for over 10 years now.  They both have served missions in Haiti and are temple workers.  Although they can’t predict what the future will bring, they are happy that their family is together alive and safe.