Christmas Concert at Provo MTC Showcases Church Music as Part of Worship

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By Mary Richards, Church News

Hundreds of missionaries in training and their leaders were treated to a concert of Christmas songs at the Provo Missionary Training Center on Monday, December 9.

With sparkling Christmas trees on the stage, a combination of training missionaries and professional singers drew from hymns and the Strive to Be and Songs of Devotion albums from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Elder Kadmiel Lopez, from Spokane, Washington, who is assigned to the Brazil São Paulo East Mission, had never performed for such a big group before.

“I’m super happy for this opportunity to share my talents with these other missionaries to hopefully inspire them and increase their desire to serve the Lord,” he said. “One of the greatest ways to share the gospel is through music.”

During the event, the missionaries were shown how to find the albums in the Sacred Music app or Gospel Library app by navigating to the Youth and Contemporary section, Music for Everyday Listening and “Hymns—For Home and Church.”

The missionaries were encouraged to not only continue to listen to such music themselves but also to ensure that those whom they serve are aware of it and how to find it.

The Church has found that Latter-day Saints around the world are connecting with the music, and many who are not members of the Church are listening to it as well.

In the last year, there were over 10.7 million unique listeners on Strive to Be’s Spotify channel since the release of the 2023 album — 6.3 million of those coming in 2024. Countries with the most listeners are the U.S., Brazil, Philippines, India and Germany — some with more listeners than there are Church members in that country.

‘Joyful and Triumphant’

To begin the concert, a group of sister missionaries sang “Oh, Come, All Ye Faithful.”

The hymn begins, “Oh come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant.” Ben Truman, one half of the duo the Truman Brothers, said he couldn’t think of better words to describe the missionaries, the concert and the Christmas season than “joyful and triumphant.”

“When the call came to come and behold him, to come and adore him, to come and serve him, you answered, joyfully and triumphantly. Because that’s what the faithful do when God is calling, we answer,” he said.

Then he sang “Israel, Israel, God Is Calling” with his brother Chad Truman. The arrangement can be found on “Songs of Devotion, Vol. 2” in the Sacred Music app or Gospel Library.

Ysabelle Cuevas sang “Disciple of Christ” and was joined on the stage by a group of missionaries and by Halo Crowther and Pearce Morris, her fellow Strive to Be artists, to sing “FSY Medley.” Both songs can be found in the Strive to Be or youth music collections.

Morris then spoke about how when the shepherds met the baby Jesus and witnessed the miracle, they didn’t keep the secret to themselves, they shared it abroad to all the world.

“That’s the joy of Christmas, is sharing His gospel. Teaching the world about the plan of salvation — that’s true joy, that’s the purpose of missionary work,” Morris said before singing “A Savior is Born” from the Church’s music library.

Other songs in the concert included “Star Bright,” “Christ the Lord” and “Healer,” all in the Church’s music library, and the hymns “Joy to the World,” “How Great the Wisdom and the Love” and “Silent Night.”

Peace and Joy Through Music

Crowther sings the youth theme song for 2025, “Look Unto Christ.” She said singing about the Savior and His birth brings peace.

“During this time of the year, that’s what you need, you need peace, and what better way to do it than through music,” she said. “That’s how I feel the Spirit the most.”

Crowther added that the Spirit was strong at the event — especially during the FSY medley. “Seeing everyone stand up and testify of Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father — that’s powerful.”

Cuevas said she was amazed to see all the missionaries and how happy they were.

“I felt immense joy being here. Hundreds of missionaries are here sacrificing their time because there is a Savior. They are spreading that joy and that light into the world, and I am grateful to be in their presence,” Cuevas said.

Almost exactly one year ago to the date of the concert, Morris was leading a choir at Christmas time during his full-time mission in Seattle, Washington. And now he is one of the singers on the Church’s 2025 Youth Album.

“It’s humbling because there are a lot of people that could have done it who are better than me,” he said. “But we are all inadequate — Jesus Christ magnifies our efforts to be more than what we can do by ourselves.”

Elder Nash Lawrence from Fresno, California, assigned to the Brazil Salvador Mission, played a percussion instrument in a small group on the stage, even though he had no prior experience.

“It is crazy what you can do with the Lord’s help,” he said.

The whole evening reminded him of a talk by Elder Patrick Kearon of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in October 2024 general conference titled “Welcome to the Church of Joy.”

“Elder Kearon talked about worshipping the Lord through hymns,” he said. “Ever since that, singing hymns for me has been such an important part of worship.”

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