By Nathan Moulton
Grown men and women wiped tears from their eyes as they sang a medley of children?s primary songs in the Madsen Recital Hall Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2006, as part of an Education Week lecture. They were practicing the concepts being discussed by Latter-day Saint songwriter Janice Kapp Perry and her husband Douglas.
?The power of hymns and primary songs is amazing,? Douglas said. ?It can reach into the depths of the soul.?
He related several experiences from the couple?s mission to Chile, where they regularly used the power of hymns to help investigators and less active church members gain testimonies of the gospel.
Janice, who wrote several of the songs in the church?s ?Children?s Songbook,? used the lives of the Savior and Joseph Smith to show the importance of hymns. Both used hymns to comfort them in the last hours of their lives.
Years ago, when she was involved in a car accident that shattered her driver?s side window, Janice said the first thing that popped into her head was the jingle for a local company: ?When you hear the crash, think of Jones Paint and Glass.?
It was an experience that helped her see the power of music to teach and help people remember things.
?I began to realize how important it is to set the gospel to music,? she said.
Several years later they were involved in a more serious accident, she said. As she lay in pain undergoing medical tests, the words of a primary song she wrote, ?A Child?s Prayer,? ran through her head and gave her comfort.
Music is also an excellent way to teach children, Janice said. Children learn the alphabet through music, for example.
?Music is like a tattoo on the subconscious of our children,? she said, quoting the church music chairman.
When Janice sang with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir several years ago, they went on a tour through Europe. The audiences enjoyed the classical music and fun songs the choir performed, she said. But what really moved them was the simple Primary song, ?I Am a Child of God.?