Mission Stories - Music

Music plays a big part in life, even in missionary life. Many of the missionaries I met and served with are musically talented (I had one proper singer as a companion and all the rest of them could sing too, and some even played piano or something; I also met elders who played 1) the piano 2) the organ 3) the guitar 4) the trumpet 5) the violin 6) bagpipes). Pretty much every zone conference had some kind of a musical number, and we of course sang opening and closing hymns at every weekly district meeting. We took part in ward choirs where we could, and once in Stake Conference we even had a missionary choir. So singing is big. I absolutely adored singing with my last district in Sundsvall, we were two elders and two sisters, and we just blended really nicely and it was just a joy to sing together like that. I made the mistake of telling syster Anderson (the mission president's wife) this and she made us sing in all sorts of different events. I didn't mean we were astonishing singers - I just meant that I liked how it felt when we sang together, and that we blended well.

Another important aspect of music is of course listening to music. The White Handbook (aka missionary rules) says some things about what kind of music we are allowed to listen to. It mustn't be distracting, too intense (in tempo, lyrics or anything), too romantic, and it must not drive the Spirit away. So mostly we listen to music made by church people (Mormon Tabernacle Choir is a big favourite) or classical music.

I became a great favourite of many a companion because of my CDs. Before I left on my mission I burnt everything even vaguely classical or missionary-appropriate on CDs and carried this giant stack of CDs all around Sweden. And good thing I did. Hardly any of my companions had any of the same music as I did. I had one MoTab CD, and one strange mix of EFY, and that was it. All the rest was different kinds of classical/art music. One companion had the Messiah which I also had, but the rest was a discovery for them - and for me as well, I must admit. I hadn't exactly listened all the way through everything I had. Especially the things I stole from friends like [windowframe] at random: "What's this, a symphony? *yoink*"

In my first area, where we had a car, we listened to more music because we had a CD-player in the car. And one thing we enjoyed greatly with my first companion was these two CDs that I had labeled as "Missionary music" and "moar missionary music" :P This was essentially all the bits and bobs and odds and ends that were left on my iTunes after all the albums and collections had been burnt. So I just slapped them onto some CDs and off we go. I didn't know what was there, and I didn't even recognise all of it. It had this wonderful crazy mix: anything from "Jerusalem" and "Rule Britannia" (XP) to some strange clarinet solo and my favourite movie themes (The Magnificent Seven theme and the Big Country theme). We spent many a wonderful companionship unity moment listeing to those CDs. Another successful CD was the "Classic FM at the movies" which had all sorts of movie theme music on it. That was awesome to listen to and try to guess which song was which movie. We never did figure them all out...

Another great music-moment I had was with the elders in Skellefteå. Now we didn't talk to them that often because they weren't in our district, and, well, we just didn't have anything to say. But that third transfer in Sundsvall when we couldn't drive, they got our car. And we had forgot a CD in the player. It was the "Carnival of the Animals". And some days after the car-exchange, we get a text message from the elders asking what the CD is. And after he tells me what is written on the CD, I explain briefly the concept of the music, that the songs are different animals. And this caused many a companionship moment for them up in Skellefteå :) Eventually I demanded my CD back, and they reluctantly gave it back. One evening towards the end of the transfer he sent a text saying "I'm really sugen for that animal-CD" (sugen på = desire, want, need...) So I made a copy of the CD for him and eventually gave it to him before he went home. :)

There are some songs that will mean "Sweden" and "my mission" to me for the rest of my life, and I whole-heartedly intend to make an iTunes playlist full of those songs once I get a laptop. Until then, I'll simply list the music here:

-Jerusalem - We sang this in the MTC choir, an hour after I explained to my American companion how Preston makes me think of the song Jerusalem. We had sung something, then the choir leader said "I know you've had a moment to have a look in the folders, is there anything you would like to sing?" and I raised my arm (and basically all the rest of me too, being so excited) and requested Jerusalem. And before we left the MTC I asked for a copy of the sheet music. And now it is the song that I practice to learn to play on the piano in an attempt to learn how to play the piano again.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFrVrBQh_50

-One Voice - This is also something we sang in the MTC choir. It's quite nice for missionaries to sing. :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1oC7gwlE6s

-Power of Heaven - Also from the MTC choir, a temple-themed song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWg51l-p77A

-EFY medley - This is the generic name of an arrangement of a combination of "Sisters in Zion" (a hymn) and "Army of Helaman" (Primary song) done by EFY at some conference. But everyone knows it as "the EFY medley". For missionaries the most exciting part of the song is where you get to sing "we are now the Lord's missionaries" instead of "we will be" :P This is sung much by missionaries everywhere, including the MTC.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVHhcHOj7NI

-Hurrah for Israel - Now I have actually never heard this song, but we talked about it a lot in the MTC :P Now I will go and find it on YouTube and listen to it for the first time and give you the link too, la:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlCdaio0xow
This explains the cultural connection of the phrase "Hurrah for Israel" a little http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aof5E9bqBZY&NR=1

-Three Is a Magic Number - When you call a phone that is with the network 3 you hear waiting music: this song. But I don't think anyone in Sweden actually knows the song from anywhere else. The awesome part is that the waiting music always stops at the same place, so you never really know how the rest of the song goes until you look it up on YouTube or something :P And therefore me and my trainer added "your mom and your dog and your face make three, as a magic number." (I got the your mom -jokes from her, she got the your face -jokes from me, and the dog just came from somewhere :P)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LZ4j4598ws

-Framgång Genom Lydnad - This is the theme song of the Swedish Mission, written by anonymous missionaries äldste Flitig and äldste Lydig (elder Diligent and elder Obedient). It was done while I was in Sweden, so there is no recording of it available anywhere yet.

-Called to Serve - This is the ultimate missionary hymn. Before my mission everyone told me that I'd be fed up with this hymn by the time I came back :P Well, I'm not really, but we sang it in Swedish most of the time, and even then, not that much.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAqKrqzrbzw&NR=1
During the transfer in Sundsvall when we didn't have a car, we had to walk uphill to go home every evening. The street Pilgränd is the straightest way home - but the hill is steep and icy in February. So to keep ourselves distracted from the unsurmountable task of ascending this monstrous pathway, we did everything in our power to fight despair that would easily sink in. And one such way was to make our own lyrics to Called to Serve: "bakåt, ramla bakåt när vi går på Pilgränds stig..." ("Backwards, fall backwards, when we walk the path of Pilgränd").

-Come Thou Fount - This is another much-sung song throughout the church, and it's not even in the hymn book anymore. So there's tons of different versions (with the lyrics placed in different orders even). We sang it in the MTC, and our district also performed a really cool arrangement of it in some conference once.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwFHsX6omvI

-Vi Samlas att Lära - This ended up being my favourite Swedish hymn, just because it's so cheery and melodious, and talks about learning.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BD7VInFPKLw - The English isn't as cheery not talks of learning o.O But at least the singer is a Swedish national treasure <3

-Jussi Björling - Related to the video of the previous, I bought a CD of Jussi Björling's national romantic music, and loved it so friggin' much. To the point that I took to singing Land Du Välsignade and Ack Värmeland Du Sköna for language study. :P
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qc-oba0Hvvs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMCCOt77W1g

-Peter Jöback Christmas Album - Another CD that is Sweden in its entirety. My first companion bought this CD right before my first Christmas in Sweden, then I bought it for my second - and ended up giving it as a present to my greenie, because she loved it too. After my mission I bought my own copy of it, but then gave that to an elder who served here (his father had served in Sweden and he had other ties there, and I knew he would love it).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6MGdPlq31A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86MxMEFNV7A

-Testimony - Me and my companion sang this hymn at a baptism. It was actually a really fantastic, wonderful experience from start to finish. We found the man in Gothenburg but he moved to Malmö and was baptised there - and we got permission to go attend the baptism there. So we got to surprise him by being there! And even more bizarrely, there was a Swedish girl there who had been a missionary in England where I had lived. So I had attended baptismal services in England where she and her companion sang, and now she was in a baptismal service and I was singing with my companion...

-Lord I would Follow Thee and Come Follow Me - In the same companionship we sang a self-arranged medley of these two hymns for a baptism, this time actually in Gothenburg. It was a really fun experience to arrange music for ourselves :)

-On This Day of Joy and Gladness - Another hymn sung at a baptism, this time in Örebro. Love how it's so trilly and frilly :3 I found a love for singing soprano on my mission.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LK5F5ABsyyw

-Baby It's Cold Outside - Oh and how cold it was outside at winters, brr! This came up both winters, more so the second one.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-70qMhLfjLI

-Maxwell's Silver Hammer - This all of a sudden kept playing in my head as I served with syster Maxwell in Örebro. :P
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIMGgBLOwfg (an exceptionally good literally animated video)

-Sick 'n Tired - This is another Örebro song. It was on a CD sent to my companion, a collection of samples of things that Deseret Books were publishing that year. The awesome part of this song is how awful it is x) And the more we listened to it, the more we loved it - and then were disgusted with ourselves for loving this awful song :P
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsHcqZYjzmE

-Deogracious from the Ceremony of Carols - The Ceremony of Carols is something awesome written in Old English, and there is a part where they sing "Deooo-graa-cious!" and there's a guy called Deogracious in Örebro - so once my companion told me about the song, it became the only way to say the word Deogracious between us :P It helped that Deogracious is as awesome as the song :)
<URL:stuff/11%20Britten_%20A%20Ceremony%20Of%20Carols%2c%20O.mp3>

-Saints in Black - The high priests' group in Örebro did a cool, creative bit for the Talent Night activity. :3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivVlSqvMgPg

-This Is the Christ - Also sang this with some district. One of the more beautiful mormon songs out there. <3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1elfVygHdEw

-Then there's also this: Diddly Whack Mack Mormon Daddy...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDmr4mAkOps
:P Technically belongs in the mission playlist since someone played it for me in Sweden - but it's not very missionary appropriate. Though very funny. There's so much mormon culture references... I'll do a thorough explanation some point.