Help Us Remember
#1043 Hymns—For Home and ChurchLyrics
The Story Behind “Help Us Remember”
In 1997 a choir director predicted the Church would someday need new sacrament hymns — then wrote one with a friend. Twenty-eight years later, it was published.
A Prediction in San Diego
In 1997, Wendy Lynn Platt was a San Diego ward choir member with a love of music, no formal training in composition, and a growing desire to write hymns. Her choir director, John G. Riley — an accomplished English organist and a recent convert to the Church — proposed they write a sacrament hymn together for that year's Church Music Festival.
Platt balked: 'You know you don't just sit down and write a sacrament hymn.' Riley's reply turned out to be prophecy: 'No, the Church is going to need more sacrament hymns the next time they put out a book.' She wrote the text; he composed the music. The hymn earned an award of recognition at the 1997 festival — and then waited.
Twenty-Eight Years Later
Riley died in 2014, eleven years too soon. When the Church finally 'put out a book,' his hymn was in it: 'Help Us Remember' was released September 18, 2025, as hymn #1043 — the only sacrament hymn in its batch, with a tune named RILEY in the composer's honor.
'I think John was inspired to know that at some point the Church would be looking for new sacrament hymns,' Platt said. Of hearing her own ward sing it, she managed: 'I can't even describe it. It was surreal.'
The Plea in the Title
The hymn asks the Savior for the very thing the sacrament exists to give: help remembering. Its verses plead for lifted burdens, hope, and hearts bound to Him — the covenant of the sacrament prayers turned into music.
Platt's hope is that it will 'bless lives and enrich testimonies, as the hymns of the Restoration have done.' As she puts it: 'There's something powerful in singing.'
Did You Know?
- Composer John Riley predicted in 1997 that 'the Church is going to need more sacrament hymns the next time they put out a book' — 28 years before it did.
- The hymn won an award of recognition at the 1997 Church Music Festival, then waited nearly three decades for a hymnbook.
- Riley, an English organist and recent convert, died in 2014 — the tune name RILEY honors him.
- Wendy Platt had no formal training in music theory or composition when she wrote the text.
- It was the only sacrament hymn in the September 2025 release batch.
Scripture Connections
- 3 Nephi 18:1–13 — The Savior institutes the sacrament — 'this shall ye do in remembrance of my body... my blood.'
- Doctrine and Covenants 20:75–79 — The sacrament prayers — 'that they may always remember him.'
- Doctrine and Covenants 35:24 — The promise to those who keep covenants — the binding of hearts the hymn asks for.
Talk About It
Questions to spark a conversation with your family or Primary class:
- The hymn asks for help remembering. Why do you think remembering the Savior is hard enough that we need a weekly ordinance for it?
- John Riley never saw his hymn published, but his work still blesses people. What are you building that might bless someone after you?
- Wendy Platt thought she couldn't write a sacrament hymn — then did. What have you assumed you couldn't do?
- What do you think about during the sacrament? What could help you remember Him better this Sunday?
Teaching Resources
Attribution
Music by: John G. Riley, 1997 | RILEY
Text by: Wendy Lynn Platt, 1997
Audio files from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints