This morning we experienced an event we have not had since we arrived here in the DR. For our sacrament service in the Los Arroyos Branch we sang hymns accompanied by a piano! Elder Stott is the new Elder in our Branch and he plays the piano very well.
The Branch President pulled the electronic keyboard out of the closet in the clerk’s office dusted it off and plugged it in. Elder Stott sat down and played all of our hymns without a minute of practice. He accompanied our chorister perfectly and the congregation sang beautifully. It was wonderful to hear a piano in our sacrament service.
Most hymns in the Wards and Branches in the DR are accompanied by a CD player playing an instrumental version of our hymns on CD. Here in the Los Arroyos Branch the 2nd Counselor in the Branch Presidency, Hno. Vicioso, plugs his personal IPod player into the chapel’s PA system and plays the instrumental hymns to accompany the singing.
I am amazed at how lucky we are in the US to have such talented and dedicated members to play beautiful hymns for us in our services. I didn’t become completely aware of this until I arrived here in the DR. For 5 of the 7 months I served as Branch Pres. in Neyba and Duvergé all of our church hymns were sung acapella. Our hymns were usually off key, flat and sometimes didn’t sound at all like the real hymn we were singing. The best efforts of those of us who knew what the tune sounded like couldn’t change years of singing the wrong notes by members that didn’t know any better.
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