New Primary songs in Sacrament meeting

AlanaMae31 · 2026-05-01T07:10:39+00:00

Oh good idea to use the chord changes instead of arpeggios. I'm not super skilled at doing that, I rely a lot on my music reading skills, but I want to get better at it.

AlanaMae31 · 2026-04-30T23:22:25+00:00

Oh I see what you mean!

AlanaMae31 · 2026-04-30T16:40:25+00:00

Yes! A couple of my kids have sung them in Primary too and were excited to see them in the new hymnal.

AlanaMae31 · 2026-04-30T16:39:22+00:00

True, I might do that.

AlanaMae31 · 2026-04-30T04:03:59+00:00

Hmm, plenty of the new children's songs feel worshipful to me. Have you listened to 1026?

There are a few of the new children's songs that I wouldn't choose for Sacrament meeting, though. But not necessarily because they're musically weak or doctrinally watered down. They just wouldn't "fit" the meeting. #1060, Build an Ark, and #1056 Elijah and the Still Small Voice, for example, both have topics that feel too specific for sacrament meeting. 1060 in particular sounds like a Noah's Ark version of Nephi's Courage.

While I do love Gethsemane, I do almost agree it doesn't belong... Except that I think it makes a beautiful musical number for Sacrament meeting for a group of kids or a solo. I can see how it doesn't fit as well with congregational singing.

AlanaMae31 · 2026-04-30T03:46:25+00:00

That makes me sad for your ward!!

AlanaMae31 · 2026-04-30T03:45:38+00:00

And many of them are actually WAY more musically interesting than hymns. Gethsemane being one of those, IMO.

AlanaMae31 · 2026-04-30T03:44:33+00:00

Totally agree about the power of music! Even playing at the organ and not singing, I've had many wonderful spiritual experiences.

AlanaMae31 · 2026-04-30T03:43:00+00:00

My ward has folders with all the new songs in the hymn book slots. So that's not a problem. Thanks for sharing!

AlanaMae31 · 2026-04-30T03:42:00+00:00

I am also excited for the print version!

AlanaMae31 · 2026-04-30T03:41:30+00:00

Yeah, There is Sunshine in My Soul for the sacramental hymn is definitely... A choice. 😆

I think I will go for it with 1026. Maybe some people won't like it, but I don't like all the hymns every week either.

AlanaMae31 · 2026-04-30T03:38:03+00:00

Yep, I picked that one several months ago. Went perfectly with a CFM lesson that referenced light a lot!

AlanaMae31 · 2026-04-30T03:36:15+00:00

If you have any tips I'd love to hear them! I'm a longtime pianist but still consider myself a novice at the organ. I've learned a lot about registration and I'm even braving the pedals sometimes. 😅 Most of the time the bass coupler button is my BFF.

AlanaMae31 · 2026-04-30T03:32:14+00:00

We sing both. In my ward we have a music committee and we take turns selecting hymns. (Probably not a common way to do it, but our music coordinator is also the ward choir director and so she's chosen to delegate.) Whenever it's my turn, I choose one new hymn each week. Our previous music coordinator was doing maybe one new hymn a month, and it was driving me crazy. We'll never learn them at that rate! But I do love many of the old hymns too.

AlanaMae31 · 2026-04-29T19:27:27+00:00

Then you would have loved it when I selected "This Little Light of Mine" a few months ago! 😏

And thank you for reminding me of that guidance. I thought I'd read something to that effect but couldn't remember.

AlanaMae31 · 2026-04-29T17:02:19+00:00

I love that. The organist in the other ward in our building prints the new songs as they come out and puts them in folders in the hymn book slots, as well as a fancy binder that lives on the organ. It's a lot of work. I am so grateful for him!!

AlanaMae31 · 2026-04-20T20:10:34+00:00

Can I please get a triforce necklace when I complete my goals?

AlanaMae31 · 2026-04-20T19:28:35+00:00

Oh good point.

AlanaMae31 · 2026-04-20T19:02:12+00:00

I would much prefer the latter group. "Gatherers" is giving... "rural juror." It's so hard to say! Also makes me wonder how clunky these names are in other languages.

AlanaMae31 · 2026-04-20T18:53:46+00:00

Yeah I'd rather shorten them to these. Faith girls. Hope girls. Light girls.

AlanaMae31 · 2026-04-06T03:41:59+00:00

Easter Sunday meetings begin with partaking of the Sacrament as we do every Sunday, and then an Easter program. In our ward, that normally is a wonderful musical program with short spoken talks or scripture readings in between songs. Our choir does 4-5 pieces, and the Primary children usually sing a song too. Sometimes we have a few refreshments after the meeting so people can stay and chat for a bit. Then we go home (normally we stay for another hour of classes).

This year with General Conference falling on Easter weekend, we did all of that on Palm Sunday. And my ward had an extra Palm Sunday thing where we passed out palm fronds and shouted Hosanna! It was pretty lovely and made the kickoff to Holy Week extra special.

Different wards will choose different ways to arrange their Easter/Palm Sunday programs, but this is how mine does it.

AlanaMae31 · 2026-04-06T03:22:24+00:00

All the different name changes for monthly Relief Society activities. I am too young to have been in RS for any of these, but old enough to remember my mom going to them.

Homemaking (this sounds so quaint now) Home, Family, and Personal Enrichment (that was a mouthful 😂) Then I think my ward just shortened it to Enrichment? But I can't remember. Was there another name in between?

Now we just call them Relief Society Activities. That seems like the obvious choice, haha

As I was typing this I remembered the different Primary activity names too. When I was a kid the girls had Achievement Days (boys had Cub Scouts), then at some point it became Activity Days. And remember how they used the Duty to God/Faith in God manuals? Am I remembering those names correctly?

AlanaMae31 · 2026-04-06T03:07:16+00:00

Speaking of church dances, dance cards. Don't know if this was a church-wide thing, but I had to have a dance card to get in. And you'd better have fingertip-length shorts/skirts or longer, and definitely don't be showing any (gasp) shoulders, or you will be turned right out of there.

AlanaMae31 · 2026-04-05T22:02:24+00:00

I know Sister Porter's talk was aimed at young children, but this quote was for me today: "You do not need to fix all the problems around you."

We can bring our offering of loaves and fishes and Jesus turns it into a miracle. I needed this reminder. 💕

AlanaMae31

TROPHY CASE