Words are not enough

Jackie,
I've really been putting this off because how do you express thanks in words for a gift so great as the one you have shared with my family for so many years.  I know that the love of music that my children developed when they were young started with your love and enthusiasm for beautiful music.  That love has blessed our home for all these years and still does.  
The enthusiasm for singing in the Aiken Ward (both ward now) is only emphasized when we visit another ward.  
It was certainly a blessing in our lives when the McArthurs moved to Aiken.
Love you Jackie! Thanks for your loving service.

Carol

Raising the Bar

As I've lived in other wards, I've come to realize how much I took for granted the immense musical talent of the Aiken Ward and Augusta Stake, where music was such a big part of our meetings.  I absolutely loved participating in those choirs.  Some of my favorite memories are of the Easter Cantatas (specifically The Garden), the multi-stake choir at USC where the choir and congregation sang "How Firm A Foundation" but ironically the congregation was advised not to stand as a safety precaution with the steep terracing, and a Stake Conference in the late 90's when the visiting Authority asked us on the fly to sing his favorite hymn, "In Humility Our Savior."  Since that day, that has been my favorite hymn as well.

Thank you so much Sister McArthur (and Sister Hart!) for sharing your magnificent talents with us and helping us all to develop our own talents.

With Love,
Natalie (Taylor) Nash

Hello again, Jackie! We are so grateful that we were blessed to share in five of those memorable 19.3 years you served as Augusta Stake music chairman. 

Shorly after moving to Georgia in 2000, we heard about the choir from the Standages.  Karla said that Augusta Stake had wonderful stake choir and a fabulous choir director, Jackie McArthur. Soon you called inviting us to be part of the choir.  We had sung in stake choirs before and they were pretty much  of a short-term-prepare-for-stake-conference-please-beg-your-friends-to-come-join-in-also sort. 

This practice was different.  It was fun and easy to feel that this choir loved singing together, but especially loved singing under your direction. There was an amazing spirit and we came to love the variety of songs and sharing opportunities. Prior to moving to Georgia, joining the Mormon Tabernacle Choir had been a goal we were working toward. Soon we were saying, “We’ve found our hoped for choir experience here in the Augusta Stake and we are loving it.”  Thank you, Jackie, for giving us such an experience.  

In a CES Fireside, Feb. 1998, Elder Boyd K. Packer said:

Music is properly used to entertain, to cheer, to amuse, to challenge and develop the intellect, to comfort, but in its highest, purest reaches, it is an act of worship. It is a gift from God to draw us nearer to him. 

Under you direction, the choir enjoyed and shared all these gifts, but especially the the last and in abundance.

. . .sending our love from the Philippines Cebu Mission.

Mark and Merrillyn Dover

From the very beginning, I loved being a part of the choir -- and not just for the mints! I have lots of memories - the highs, the lows (accidentally stepping on a foot pedal after the song during stake conference in the Carolina Coliseum, or that time the pages were out of order...). It took me a few years but I eventually transitioned from the organ bench to the alto section and enjoyed being a part of "The Garden" program and others. Thanks, Jackie, for bringing the Spirit into many, many meetings and for helping me recognize that feeling at an early age.

Janet (Hart) Melonakos
(page turner, emeritus)

Dear Jackie, 

Congratulations on 19.3 years as Stake music director!  I smile as I reflect on the years I served with you and the happy memories of those days.  You magnified your calling and you served the Lord and the members of our Stake. You chose music which was spiritually uplifting, entertaining and sometimes technically challenging, all of which I enjoyed.  

We had a wealth of talent in the Stake; so many were anxious to sing, and you welcomed all.  I appreciated your ‘perfecting’ of the music we performed, but your fun-loving spirit made it enjoyable to tediously rehearse over and over again.  

You shared your musical talent as well as your teaching talent and your friendship talent. You have blessed many lives. I wish you and your family the best in your next calling of 19.3 years.

Love,
LuAnn

Singing in the Stake Choir was an amazing experience. I loved the bonding it created between members of the Stake; seat mates became friends, a large group of diverse people became a cohesive unit, the whole was greater than the sum of it's parts, and often we were joined by angels.

One of my favorite songs was  " Consider the Lilies ", not just the words and melody, but the fact that after much practice I finally learned the 2nd soprano part and it is indelibly stamped on my brain! I have to say every song was my favorite as we sang it. Jackie I loved the way you reminded us to read the words of the songs and be inspired by them, singing with and for you was as much a spiritual experience as it was a musical one.

With much love,

The Other Jackie

I had an opportunity to sing in the Stake Choir many times and the main reason I enjoyed it so much was because of Jackie.  She was always such an inspiration to us all.  She made you feel and experience each song not just sing it.  I had a band director in high school that always talked to us about each song we were to perform and the story behind it.  We were able to play with such feeling.  This is what Jackie ALWAYS did.  We would sing each song with such feeling and emotion you could not help but to be truly moved.  I have such a love for music and Jackie increased that love ten fold.  Love you Jackie!!

Ida Leeth

Jackie,

I am trying to speak for Don when I  write this. I know Don enjoyed singing in the choir with you as director. Even though he gave you a hard time and played around in the back row with Chuck and teased and laughed, he loved your music.  You have a great way of putting programs together and finding the right people to sing the parts.  Don truly enjoyed singing  in the men's quartet. It was his favorite I think.  He just loved music and you made it enjoyable.

love,

Denece

Sister McArthur,
Thank you for all that you have done to make our stake conferences memorable.  Performing "Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing" under your direction is a treasured memory.
Neal Askew

Jackie, 

I don't know where to begin! Music has been such a huge part of my life that I'm pursuing it as my career. I know that my involvement in Stake Choir, with you, has been a huge influence in the love for music I feel. I am so grateful for your hard work that made every single song we performed amazing, and taught me that church choirs can be spiritual AND musically perfect. Well, darn near. ;) 

I think my first stake conference I sang in, we performed The Spirit of God. It was, of course, amazing. I am grateful for the opportunities you gave me to sing duets. Once with Joan Estep, Come, Thou Fount, and once with my sweetheart, John, Jesus, Lover of My Soul. 

I especially loved our two performances of The Garden, and the Praise concert. 

So many wonderful memories! I can't thank you enough. May the Lord bless you and keep a song in your heart. 

Much love, 

Karen (and John, I'm sure) Estep