Tracy Y. Browning · Second Counselor in the Primary General Presidency
1One of the blessings of my service in Primary is that my heart has learned to love in languages that my tongue does not speak. I have found joy in connecting with fellow Saints through the shared language of sacred music. And especially through the simple songs of Primary, the Holy Spirit has transcended language barriers and filled my heart with His whispering. In children’s voices, the love of God and His Son, Jesus Christ, has been proclaimed in clear, piercing truth.
2Although I did not grow up in Primary, the Spirit has quickly taught me the sacredness of its songs, and they have become part of my personal worship. Primary songs have carried a holy influence in my life and have lifted my soul, taught me eternal truths, and drawn me nearer to the Savior and to His gospel.
3President Dallin H. Oaks once taught that “the singing of hymns is one of the best ways to learn the doctrine of the restored gospel.” Those words are true for all of us but are especially so for children. Primary music is one of God’s most tender tools for planting the seeds of testimony in the hearts of the Savior’s youngest disciples. Parents, leaders, and teachers give nourishment to that seed as they testify to and invite the testimonies of children of all they are coming to know of Heavenly Father; His Son, Jesus Christ; and the Holy Ghost.
4In these last several years of my service, I have spent time singing and learning from Primary music while contemplating a few questions:
5How can Primary songs learned in childhood become the spiritual language children use to testify for the rest of their lives?
6How does singing gospel truths help children remember the Lord as part of their covenant and prepare them for His ordinances?
7And how can Primary songs help write God’s law upon the hearts of these youngest disciples?
8When Primary began in 1878, its first president, Aurelia Spencer Rogers, observed that “singing was necessary.” Music has always been at the heart of teaching children the gospel. Primary songs can become a child’s first spiritual language because their simple, memorable melodies give voice to gospel truths. These songs hold the power to stay with children for a lifetime, becoming part of their discipleship and a natural and normal way for them to testify of the Savior.
9Primary songs can also be powerful doctrinal teaching tools. Some songs tell the stories of the Savior’s life and ministry. Others teach of His attributes, such as His faith, His hope, and His charity. And the most sacred songs testify of His infinite Atonement and the love that flows from that act of salvation.
10A prophet of the Lord, President Russell M. Nelson, taught: “[Music] can exert a continuing influence for good well beyond times when children are small. … [It] has [the] power to provide spiritual nourishment. It has healing power. It has [the] power to facilitate worship; it allows us to contemplate the [Savior’s] Atonement and the Restoration of the gospel with its saving principles and exalting ordinances. Music provides power for us to express prayerful thoughts and bear testimony of sacred truths.”
11As parents, leaders, and teachers, our effort includes helping children access these promised blessings by teaching with intention the gospel truths found in the music. President Nelson also taught that “children can learn the doctrine when they’re learning to sing just as much as they can learn the doctrine in a class.” These songs can provide a reservoir of faith-filled sermons that point children to the Savior and help them develop devotion to His gospel.
12The scriptures teach that the songs of the righteous that come from the heart are a delight to the Savior. I can only wonder at the delight that the voices of the Savior’s youngest disciples bring. I know their prayerful songs reach heaven as expressions of faith that invite the Holy Spirit to confirm eternal truths and softly and tenderly invite others to accept the call of our Savior to follow Him and come home. As Elder Henry B. Eyring has reminded us, it is in those moments of feeling the Spirit that we have evidence of the Savior’s Atonement working in our lives.
13Primary music can be a miracle carried along the lifelong arc of discipleship that our children will travel. A song learned at age six has the power to stay with us—and can return decades later in moments of decision, temptation, grief, or joy. Perhaps in our later years, the lyrics of “I Will Follow God’s Plan” may serve as a spiritual anchor that echoes the witness of the Apostle Paul of the surety of God’s promises to us. Or they may remind us that because God keeps His promises, His covenants offer strong consolation and a place of refuge and invite us to put our hope and assurance steadfastly on Jesus Christ and in His atoning power.
14Adult members across the globe, in times of difficulty, often remember and turn to the Primary songs they learned as children. For many, these songs supported the early architecture of their faith in Jesus Christ and were often the first place where conversion to His gospel began. Parents, leaders, and teachers nurtured that faith through the years by teaching, singing, and testifying to children with care.
15One sister shared with me that she cherished Primary music, and after 20 years she credits it with accelerating her continued conversion to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Another member testified that Primary planted a mustard seed of faith when he was young and was the reason he was able to come back to the Lord’s Church in his 30s. The Savior promised, “The Comforter … shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance.” Primary music can be one way that promise is fulfilled.
16Another beloved Primary song captures the power of simple faith and enduring testimony:
17As I walk with Jesus to my home above,
18He will bless me with His Spirit and fill me with His love,
19Change my heart forever and help me clearly see.
20I will walk with Jesus, and He will walk with me.
21As children sing, they are expressing the desire of a disciple and learning the pattern of covenant living. The Spirit can use music to engrave eternal truths on their tender hearts. And in time, children can choose to tune and turn their hearts and their lives toward Jesus Christ by making and keeping sacred covenants with Him.
22Sacred music can help write the doctrine of Christ into the soul and prepare us to receive His ordinances. It links the Savior’s doctrine to our memory and that memory to our discipleship in Him.
23As Primary leaders, we have the opportunity and the sacred responsibility to ensure that music in Primary is taught with joy, with doctrinal understanding, and with the Spirit. This includes inviting children to notice what they feel as they sing and helping them recognize that those feelings come from the Holy Ghost. These efforts help prepare our children for sacred ordinances, such as baptism and confirmation, as well as inspiring their covenant memory as they regularly renew their promises to God.
24At the Last Supper, after the Savior instituted the sacrament, Matthew records that “when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives.” Each week, baptized and confirmed members of the Lord’s restored Church, including baptized children as young as eight years old, prepare to take the Lord’s sacrament. Through singing sacred music, congregations of God’s children are given an opportunity to prepare their hearts for that sacred ordinance to take upon themselves His name, to always remember Him, and to keep His commandments.
25Dear friends, I testify that Primary songs teach eternal truths and doctrine that lead us to Jesus Christ and His gospel. I invite you to consider what foundational truths have been written into your hearts through the simple teachings of these songs and to testify of those truths to the Savior’s youngest disciples as you teach them the good news of the gospel through song.
26I know that God our Father, in His infinite love, sent His Beloved Son to earth to teach us, to show us the way, and to redeem us through His Atonement.
27I know that the Savior’s life and ministry are real and personal. The scriptures are full of stories of His healing, His kindness, and His miracles.
28I know that Heavenly Father hears and answers the sincere prayers of His children, no matter their age, circumstance, or language. He listens to the quiet pleadings of our hearts.
29I testify that in Gethsemane, Jesus Christ bore the weight of our sins, sorrows, and pains. He suffered willingly because of His love for us and made it possible for us to be forgiven and to return home.
30I know that we are literal children of God, created in His image, endowed with divine potential, and invited to return to live with Him if we choose to follow Jesus Christ.
31I know that Jesus Christ is our perfect example, and as we follow Him by serving, forgiving, and loving others, we become more like Him day by day.
32And I know that the Lord’s holy temples are His house here on earth. In them, we make sacred covenants, receive eternal blessings, and learn more of Him and feel more of His presence. The temple is a place of learning, peace, and preparation for our lives.
33I testify that the efforts we make to teach and sing these Primary songs to our children are not simply a nice part of our religious tradition. They are sermons for disciples of Jesus Christ, testimonies to the truthfulness of the restored gospel, and prayers set to music. Sacred music can shine the Light of Christ on the hearer and can pour it into the heart of the singer. Dear friends, Jesus still wants us for a sunbeam. I so testify in the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen.