Our Savior's Love

I served more than 9 months of my mission in the same area, which was a little branch in South Central Houston. I think the mission president figured that if he found elders that could survive in the area, he would leave things alone. I was companions with one elder for over 6 months there. We met in a rented baptist church in possibly one of the most dangerous areas in this country. So many things were different, but during sacrament meeting the Holy Spirit felt the same. One Sunday, a Sister Franklin got up during sacrament meeting for her musical contribution to the meeting. She had an old cello. The case looked well worn. She opened the case, stood up the cello, and began to play "Our Savior's Love" (page 113). I had a lot on my mind at the time, but the beautiful music of the cello immediately caused me to forget about anything except the Savior, Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit touched me personally and with great strength, because I thought of the words of the song as she played. This song immediately became my favorite hymn and I have remembered this little cello performance clearly for all these years. This experience added to my testimony of the Savior in a tremendous way. Sister Franklin has no idea how this hymn touched me and that I will probably remember this forever. This experience also shows the importance of attending church. Many experiences that have built my testimony have come in little ways like this. What if I had missed this? "Our Savior's Love" and those feelings of the Spirit would simply be missing from my testimony.