May Angels Lead You On (Cover of Hear You Me by Jimmy Eats World)

Right before my daughter, Sam, left on her mission - in fact the day before she left - she taught her little sister a song on the guitar. The song was "Hear You Me" by Jimmy Eat World.

After she left, we decided to form a family band, Intuninophkee, and sing songs that we changed up to be missionary songs. This is the first song we did, and we used everybody.

This one is special for us because it's kind of a message for our daughter/sister regarding how we feel about her serving her mission. We are so proud of her and the hard work she is doing serving the Lord. It's also our testimony that His work is important.

She may never be able to see this video while she's on her mission, and let's face it--we're NOT professional musicians. We have no sophisticated video equipment, sound studio, or even instruments. We don't always sound great, and the kids are DONE recording long before we really get it right. There's always someone rushing. It is what it is, but we love doing it.

I truly believe that what Samantha is doing is so important. I believe that she will be attended by angels in all she does. She is an incredible missionary, and we pray for her constantly.

Here is the link: May Angels Lead You On

Vocals: Bruce
Guitars: Lydia, Marilyn
Keyboards: Lizz
Drums: Adrienne
Bells: Yu Chen

I'm Sure (Cover of I'm Yours by Jason Mraz) with Somewhere Over the Rainbow

I changed the words to "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz to make it a missionary song. When I brought it to the girls to see if they would like to record it, they liked it, but they had a different vision. They wanted to pair it with "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." They had done that song at my dad's funeral in February. It's kind of fun how it turned out.

 Here's the link: I'm Sure

Here are the words in case you can't hear them well enough.

I'm Sure

Well you done taught me, and you bet I felt it.
I tried to be chill but it's so right that I melted.
I know your words were true, and now I know what I must do.

Before the font done run out I'll be gettin' very wet,
and nothin's gonna stop me but divine intervention.
I reckon that it's now my turn, to act on what I've learned.

And I won't hesitate no more, no more,
I cannot wait, I'm sure.

You opened up my mind when you taught me.
You opened up your book and set me free.
You testified of truth and I found love, love, love, love.

Listen to the music of the Mormon people dance and sing,
We're just one big family,
and it's our everlasting right to be loved, loved, loved, loved, loved.

And I won't hesitate no more, no more,
I cannot wait. I'm sure.
There's no need to complicate, our time is short,
this is my fate, I'm sure.

I spent way too long lookin' deep into the mirror,
You've been bending over backward so that I could see it clearer,
But my doubts fogged up my brain,
So I fell to my knees and I prayed.

I guess what I've been sayin' is you've given me the reason,
To rid myself of doubts and fears and trust in my believin'
It's what I aim to do: Get baptized by you.

And I won't hesitate no more, no more,
I cannot wait, I'm sure.

You opened up my mind when you taught me.
You opened up your book and set me free.
I opened up my heart and found His love is sure.

So please don't, please don't, please don't,
There's no need to complicate,
Because our time is short,
This, oh this, oh this is my fate. I'm sure.

And I won't hesitate no more, no more,
I cannot wait. I'm sure.

You opened up my mind when you taught me.
You opened up your book and set me free.
You testified of truth and I found love, love, love, love, love.

And I won't hesitate no more, no more.
I cannot wait. I'm sure.

Be Thou My Vision

This version of Be Thou My Vision was arranged by Samantha. She taught it to her sisters just before she left on her mission in June. She wanted to see if they could do 4-part harmony, and this is their first attempt. They recorded this the night before she left, and you can see when the Stake President came in to set her apart. You can hear that they didn't have time to really learn their parts, but I'm posting it anyway because I like it.(I'm absolutely sure I'll get in trouble for this ;) Just keep in mind that they didn't have long to learn their parts, and it's hand written which makes it a bit harder to read.

We're going to have them record it when Sam gets back so we'll have a before and after picture. Here's the link to their "before" version: Be Thou My Vision

Now, Sam's not officially a member of our family band, Intuninophkee, since it was formed after she left on her mission. But she's the most musical of all of us, so we'll take her anyway.

Stay tuned in a year or so for their "after" version.

I Hope They Call Me On a Mission/When I'm Gone

We recorded this video last week. First one up, not the first one recorded. You were warned, it may not be exactly in tune, but we have a lot of fun. Here's the link:I Hope They Call Me On a Mission/When I'm Gone

The kids wanted the bird in the video. As you can see, Glow, the Cockatiel, loves Adrienne best. The girls got on a "cup song" kick this summer and came up with some cool variations and twists, but a couple of us couldn't keep up so we just went with the basic.

Florida Tallahassee Mission Song

Sam and her companion were asked to do a mission song for the Florida Tallahassee Mission. The mission president, President Smith, had one from when he was the president of the Marshal Islands Mission, so they used that one. Sam said she tweaked the music (I don't know how much) and they rewrote the words (since they were in Marshallese). I don't know if how much direction they were given on content, but I like the final product! I don't know if Sam is playing piano on this one or not. They split the mission in two and had two big conferences. I know she taught the missionaries the song at her conference, but I don't know which one Sister Smith recorded. I don't know if I have permission to link the music on this site. I'll check.

 Florida Tallahassee Mission Song

We Have Recorded

We have recorded our first two songs, they just need to be edited a bit. For that I must rely on someone besides me *sigh.

Softly and Tenderly

Perhaps while we're waiting, we'll share a song my daughter recorded for us the day my father passed away, January 31, 2013. She put it on facebook so we could share it with my mom. Sam (my daughter) is currently serving a mission for our church, and so is only an honorary member of our band at this point.

I must note that she did not record this with the intention of sharing widely--it was really just for the family. But it means a lot to me. Hopefully she won't mind.

Softly and Tenderly

You may need to be logged in to facebook to listen. I don't know if we need to be friends on facebook or not.