Music

Introduction

As a teenager growing up on a farm in Oregon, I felt a deep reverence for the temple. As I watched my mother painstakingly preparing her white temple clothing for a trip to the Idaho Falls temple I sensed the significance of this experience for her. I asked questions as she ironed and her answers made an indelible impression on my young heart. I began to love the temple as she did and made promises to myself that I would someday go there too.

 I rarely saw a temple but occasionally traveled to Idaho with my youth group to perform baptisms for the dead. Each time we rounded the curve into Idaho Falls and caught our first view of the temple, these words passed silently through my mind: “I love to see the temple!” Twenty-five years later a stake Primary president in the Provo area instituted a weekly five-minute temple presentation in all the Primaries in our stake and asked me to write a song that could be played or sung to introduce that temple moment each week. Drawing on my earliest temple feelings-things I had felt when I was in Primary and then in Young Women-I composed the song “I Love to See the Temple.”

 [Click to listen to “I Love to See the Temple]

I Love to See the Temple (1980)

(Words & Music – Janice Kapp Perry)
(Vocals – Holly Markgraf)

 I love to see the temple
I’m going there someday
To feel the Holy Spirit
To listen and to pray
For the temple is a house of God
A place of love and beauty
I’ll prepare myself while I am young
This is my sacred duty

I love to see the temple
I’ll go inside someday
I’ll cov’nant with my Father
I’ll promise to obey
For the temple is a holy place
Where we are sealed together
As a child of God I’ve learned this truth
A family is forever

A Memorable Temple Moment

Early one Sunday morning in 1996 I found myself all alone on the grounds of the Portland Oregon Temple. Doug and I were on a speaking trip there and were housed in a motel very near the temple grounds. I awakened early and quietly slipped on my walking shoes and clothing and went walking through the lush green woods leading to the temple. The beauty on the temple grounds was surreal as the early morning sun shone on thousands of dew-covered tulips. The depth of my feelings caught me unaware as I circled the temple and saw scene after scene of nature’s beauties that were beyond my ability to describe!

I found a quiet place where I could sit and ponder the magnificence of the temple and all that transpires there. Words came into my mind as strongly as I have ever felt them: “Lord, as I look upon thy holy house, I know I stand on hallowed ground. . .” I had no pencil or paper and I prayed I would remember the words that were coming to me so quickly. When I knew my memory could hold no more words, I reluctantly left and returned to the motel where I could write them down and expand upon them. The music seemed to come with the words and I sang the song a cappella as part of a sacrament meeting talk I gave later that morning.

 [Click to play, “Thy Holy House”]

Thy Holy House (1996)

(Words & Music – Janice Kapp Perry)

 Lord, as I look upon thy holy house
I know I stand on holy ground
My soul is lifted up to higher thoughts
With nature’s beauty all around
And as I contemplate thy wondrous plan
Unfolded here within these walls
I speak a prayer of thanks within my heart
And tears of gratitude now fall

Lord, as I look upon thy holy house
With heaven’s blessings held in store
I joy in ev’ry sacred ordinance
Performed for those who’ve gone before
And as I ponder sacred covenants
Made here within this house of peace
I long, with worthy saints, to enter in
This place where earth and heaven meet

Lord, as I look upon thy holy house
Whose spires ascend to heav’n above
I sense the vastness of eternity
I feel the greatness of thy love
And when I think of earthly families
Sealed here for all eternity
I feel assurance then of lasting joy
And endless happiness with thee

Today in 2012 I can see the Provo Temple from the office window in our home. It takes me six minutes to walk from my front door to the temple door or less than a minute to drive there. I have no excuse for not going there often. A few years ago when our stake president asked us all to double our temple attendance I realized I was in a stage of life where that was easily possible.

Then when I decided on my own to double it again, I found that entirely possible too. As I made the commitment to go regularly and often, I felt a certain peace flow into my life that I came to cherish. While our proximity to the temple makes this possible for us, there are some who make unbelievable sacrifices to attend the temple. I honor them for their steadfastness and determination to attend the temple in spite of the great sacrifice that is required.

Saints Flock to the Kyiv Temple

Our dear friends Dick and Lynn Callister are serving a mission in the Kyiv Ukraine Temple (see photo at beginning of article). For over a decade Dick devoted himself to learning the Russian language so he would be prepared to give the service that they have now been called to. His wife Lynn, who recently retired from the BYU School of Nursing faculty is by his side, loving and helping the saints in that part of the world as they come to the temple. Their weekly letters inspire us and create in us a great admiration for those who make sacrifices in attending the temple that we have never experienced. Their letter this week said:

“Dear Ones: This has been a remarkable week that can scarcely be described in words, but I will try to convey the feelings of our hearts. We had 59 saints here from the Moscow Mission, mostly from Belarus and 35 saints from Armenia. Normally the saints from Armenia fly to Kyiv because of the distance and difficulty traveling. The temple fund will pay the travel expenses for those coming to receive their endowments, but this time because there were many elderly sisters who needed assistance they decided to charter a bus so the cost would be lower for those saints accompanying those sisters with special needs. 

Coming by bus also meant they could bring a group of six young men and women with them to do baptisms. It was an arduous journey, taking 56 hours (they left at 6 am on Sunday morning and arrived at 2 pm on Tuesday afternoon). They described traveling through the Georgian mountains on narrow roads with hairpin curves and treacherous drop-offs. The bus broke down three times, which meant a delay, and they had to pass through seven international check points which also took considerable time to have all their passports stamped.

Twelve received their endowments and they brought hundreds of family names to complete the temple work for. This courageous band of saints reported it was a “good trip” and that they sang hymns on the way. They were so happy to be at the temple, smiling and eager to participate fully. The last night they were here we had sealings very late beyond normal closing time so they could complete as many of these saving ordinances as possible.”

Doug and I heard similar stories as we served our mission in Santiago Chile-saints traveling as much as 80 hours by bus from the southern tip of Chile to the Santiago Temple to spend one or two days performing temple ordinances from morning to night, and then starting on the long bus trip home. I vowed I would never again take for granted the fact that we live so close to a temple.

A Song for the St. Louis Temple Workers

My friend John Victor Pearson and I co-wrote over eighty songs together before his passing in 2010. Lyrics that he wrote for the song “How Many Hearts Have Been Turned” are among my favorites of all he has written, and beautifully describe the sacred experiences the Callisters are having in the Kyiv UkraineTemple. In 1998, Doug and I were invited to speak to an assembly of workers from the St. Louis Temple and this song was written especially for that occasion and dedicated to the saints who served in that temple. I further dedicate this song to all those serving in our temples today.

[Click here to listen to “How Many Hearts Have Been Turned”]

 How Many Hearts Have Been Turned?

(Lyrics – John V. Pearson; Music – Janice Kapp Perry)
(Vocals – Johanne Frechette Perry & Bryce Neubert)

We serve in the house of the Lord
Our Savior’s pure love fills this place
Where one by one men are redeemed
That all may be saved by His grace
How wondrous the host gathered here
Where angels walk daily with men         

With one heart and purpose we work
Returning God’s children to Him

(Chorus)

     How many hearts have been turned
     How many souls have been saved
     How great the blessings and joy we have shared
     With those we are serving today

A grandmother waits at the veil
Her granddaughter carries her name
She enters when love brings her in
They weep, for their joy is the same
Whole families come to the font
Where others are washed for their sins
They’re free now-their chains disappear
They’re servants of Christ once again

(Repeat chorus)

A man and a woman join hands
And kneel at the altar of God
By priesthood and covenant made
Their two lives continue as one
A little girl dressed all in white
Is brought where her parents await
They place her small hand on their own
They’re sealed and the circle’s complete

(Repeat chorus)

With those we are serving today

Temples are Filling the Earth

While driving home to Provo from BYU-Idaho Education Week in Rexburg, Idaho last week I decided to count temples along the way. We could see most of them and knew we were very close to others which were just out of our sight. I was astounded to count twelve temples between Rexburg, Idaho and Provo, Utah: Rexburg, Idaho Falls, Logan, Brigham City, Ogden, Bountiful, Salt Lake City, Jordan River, Oquirrh, Draper, Mt. Timpanogos, and Provo. And soon we can add Payson and the Provo City Center Temple. Work officially began in earnest on the Provo City Center Temple this past week. My son John snapped this interesting photo which shows the towers have been removed (probably for restoration) and work is obviously moving ahead!

In 1999, we combined all of our temple songs-those written by me, my son Steve, and daughter Lynne-on a recording titled “As Temples Fill the Earth.” Some have said that listening to this CD is good preparation for temple worship. The beautiful water color painting on the cover was done by Laurie Erickson Tenney whose story inspires me. As a young adult, engaged to be married soon, Laurie set out to paint all of the existing temples, a task that was do-able at that time before the great upsurge in temple building. A horrific car accident left Laurie a quadriplegic, unable to hold a paint brush, and uncertain about her future. Her devoted fianc saw her through a lengthy rehab and eventually they were married as planned. Her husband encouraged her to start painting again and found a way to attach the paint brush to her hand and arm which had slight movement in it. This cover painting of the Mt. Timpanogos Utah Temple was the first temple Laurie painted after her accident. She said that she discovered that the ability to paint was in her brain, not her hand. We are honored to have it on the cover of our temple CD.

You can purchase AS TEMPLES FILL THE EARTH here on Janice’s website (CD, songbook, and instrumental CD available), or you can download the album or individual songs here on iTunes. 

Janice Kapp Perry: Composer, author, lecturer