Transcending music, choir touched her heart and changed her life
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Tabernacle Choir member Karen Ann Jepson and Florida resident Gail Wright met in person for the first time in the lobby of a hotel in Tampa, Fla., June 23. When they did meet, it was an emotional moment
Mrs. Wright, who drove from St. Petersburg, Fla., for the meeting, explained how she and Sister Jepson are close friends although they had never met: "My mother died in 1995. I was 54 years old and had ill luck and health problems. I was close to thinking about ending my life when I turned on the television and saw the Mormon Tabernacle Choir on its weekly broadcast. I loved them all but this beautiful lady (pointing to Sister Jepson) stood out. A feeling came over me. I just wanted to know all about her. It sounds silly but I felt she was my guardian angel, and that she would get me through this depression.
"I wrote to Lloyd Newell (who narrates the choir's weekly network broadcast, Music and the Spoken Word) and asked if he would help put me in touch with her. He wrote back and said that he'd help me find my angel.
"There were several people he thought fit the description that I gave him, but none was the lady I had seen. Finally, I took a photograph of the image on television and sent it to him, and said, 'This is her.'
"We've written for two years now. Her letters helped me through my depression. This is a success story. Depression can be a killer. This beautiful lady helped me through it. I'm a survivor. I was alone and going through bad times. I feel that God sent her to me. I've heard about people praying and they got their wish. God gave me my wish in life."
After she began writing to Sister Jepson, Mrs. Wright was reunited with a long-time friend, Carroll Wright, and they have since married.
Brother Newell, who is known for his the messages that always seem to hit their mark, said that he has a message for members of the Tabernacle Choir: "You never know who you're singing to. You're not just entertaining, not just performing concerts. What you do isn't about performances and talents only. What you do transcends the music."
That message, he said, applies to all members of the Church. "We never know what kind of impression we will make, how we might change someone's life," he said.
