Gospel, hymns bring peace to bereaved choir director
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Hearing President Gordon B. Hinckley speak of eternal marriage was especially tender for Joanne Coleman of the Chilliwack Ward, Abbotsford British Columbia Stake.
Two weeks before directing the multi-stake choir for the Aug. 1 visit of the Church president to the area, Sister Coleman's husband unexpectedly died. They had been in Alberta visiting family when Meade Coleman fell down a flight of stairs and suffered severe head injuries."Without music, I couldn't get through these times," she told the Church News soon after the end of the meeting. She directed a 400-voice choir for the Church president's visit, including a powerful rendition of "I Need Thee Every Hour." Afterward, many approached Sister Coleman, hugged her and expressed love for her. It was difficult for her to speak, let alone sing because she was also suffering from laryngitis. Still, she stood before the choir, mouthing the words with them and encouraging the best they could give for the prophet's visit.
"There's always comfort for me in the hymns. I feel there is so much in the hymns of learning the gospel and receiving feelings of comfort at all times in our lives. And it has been very comforting and very important for me to keep busy. It's been good."
Speaking of President Hinckley's comments about eternal marriage, Sister Coleman added: "I was born and raised in the Church so it has always been a key part of my life that marriage was not just for this life. We were married in the temple and we've been ordinance workers now for the last four years. And all our children were married in the temple, and it's meant the world to me to know this glitch in our existence is not the end."
