Hymn Day!

Anyone who was in the ward when my dad was bishop will probably remember "hymn day". Once a year, a day was set aside where the whole of sacrament meeting was dedicated to singing hymns. It was testimony-meeting style. You could get up, say what your favorite hymn was and why, and then the whole congregation sang it. I distinctly remember these sacrament meetings as being some of my favorite. If I remember right, it was pretty much the whole ward's favorite meeting. I mean, why wouldn't it be? What is better than worshiping God through song for the hour?

I have missed this tradition, and wished many times that our new ward would pick it up. But to no avail. Luckily, today at my student ward, (we were combined with another) we had hymn day! We sang all Christmas hymns and it was great! I loved getting to sing the songs that we all know so well but maybe don't think about a lot. I enjoyed the people's thoughts that stood up and told us why a particular Christmas song was their favorite. It gave some new insight into them.

When we sang "Angels We Have Heard On High", I remembered a time that Amanda, Dad and I were in the ward Christmas program. This was our final song, and one that the congregation joined in on. It was an amazing experience. The spirit was so powerful and overwhelming that I almost couldn't sing. It felt like the angels were singing with us, praising His birth. As I thought of that today while singing, the overwhelming spirit came back and I remembered that feeling I got so many years ago. I am thankful for little tender mercies like this, when I can feel the Spirit of God and know for a FACT that he loves me!

I love hymn day!