My husband was first exposed to Mormons as a young boy. He remembers that every Sunday his father would make it a point to always turn the TV on in time to catch the Music And The Spoken Word. Usually my husband would sit and watch the program with his father as there was little else available on Sundays for a young boy to do.
You should know a couple of things about my husband. You’ve probably already guessed that my husband is a convert to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (or Mormons). He grew up in a small village in American Samoa in a loving God fearing family. He also loves music, a passion he inherited from his father.
American Samoa, and the independent country of Samoa, aren’t exactly awash in modern technology, even today. It was even less so in the days of my husband’s boyhood. Still, his family did own one of the few TV sets in the village and so every Sunday without fail his father would change the channel to Music And The Spoken Word.
Although my father-in-law never joined the Church, his life was touched and made just a little better because of broadcasts of Music And The Spoken Word. I also know without any doubt whatsoever that this inspired broadcast planted seeds of the gospel in my husband’s heart when he was a mere boy. In a wonderful message titled “Planting Seeds of Spirituality,” Elder David B. Haight pointed out that “some seeds lie dormant for years; others spring forth immediately.” (Elder Haight was one of the Twelve Apostles until his death in 2004). The seeds of the gospel did lie dormant for years in my husband but these seeds eventually blossomed to a firm knowledge and testimony and resulted in his conversion years later. In Alma 32:28 we read:
Now, we will compare the word unto a seed. Now, if ye give place, that a seed may be planted in your cheart, behold, if it be a true seed, or a good seed, if ye do not cast it out by your unbelief, that ye will resist the Spirit of the Lord, behold, it will begin to swell within your breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to say within yourselves—It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me.
Music And The Spoken Word featuring the Mormon Tabernacle Choir is a 30 minute weekly inspirational program that touches everyone regardless of race, economic status, or religion. A live broadcast of the program begins at 9:30 a.m. (MST) every Sunday from the Salt Lake Tabernacle. Visitors to Salt Lake City are welcome to attend live broadcasts. Click here for information on how to attend a live broadcast as well as how to view a broadcast from everywhere else in the United States. You can also visit this site for additional information on radio, television, and internet video broadcasts of Music And The Spoken Word.
These broadcasts show that technology can really help to carry messages of hope and love to the four corners of the earth.
Like my husband, the broadcast has introduced many people all over the world to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. From very humble beginnings this broadcast has grown to become perhaps one of the most recognizable “faces” of the Mormon Church.
The first broadcast of Music And The Spoken Word was on a hot summer afternoon in the Tabernacle on Temple Square, July 15, 1929. The announcer climbed a ladder to speak into the one and only microphone, suspended from the ceiling. He stayed perched on the ladder throughout the half-hour program. An audio engineer was alerted by telegraph when to start. Hand signals cued the announcer. He began: “From the crossroads of the West, we welcome you to a program of inspirational music and spoken word.” Those words, from more than seven decades ago, still open the program.
Today Music And The Spoken Word has become the world’s longest-running continuous network broadcast and is carried on more than 2,000 radio and television stations and cable systems. It has been broadcast from locations across the country and around the world.
Attending a live broadcast was one of my husband’s dearest wishes when he became a member of the Church. Luckily, we were able to fulfill that wish on more than one occasion. I know that as we sat and watched the live broadcast, my husband’s thoughts turned to his father. We are both grateful that the marvels of modern technology carried such a program even to a small island in the South Pacific where a young boy sat and watched with his father. I know that even though my father-in-law never joined the Church, his soul was soothed and touched by the spirit of the Music And The Spoken Word. My father-in-law passed on many years ago but his legacy of music and love of God lives on in his son. As parents, we are trying really hard to make sure that seeds of spirituality are planted firmly in the hearts of our sons and Music And The Spoken Word continues to hold an important place in our efforts.
