Long Ago, Within a Garden
#1210 Hymns—For Home and ChurchLyrics
The Story Behind “Long Ago, Within a Garden”
An apostle's final sermon about three gardens — Eden, Gethsemane, and the empty tomb — became a text one friend wrote and another set to music within 24 hours.
Three Gardens
In April 1985, two weeks before his death, Elder Bruce R. McConkie gave his final general conference address — a testimony that framed the Atonement through three gardens: Eden, where the Fall began the story; Gethsemane, where the Savior bled at every pore; and the garden of the empty tomb, where the risen Lord appeared first to Mary Magdalene.
Fourteen years later, in 1999, R. Devan Jensen — an executive editor at BYU's Religious Studies Center — turned that three-garden frame into a hymn text, with a fourth verse inviting every singer to partake of the fruit of the tree of life.
Music in 24 Hours
Jensen showed the text to his friend Daniel Lyman Carter — the composer of 'As Now We Take the Sacrament' in the 1985 hymnal. Carter's verdict: the words were far too beautiful for the borrowed tune Jensen had in mind. So he wrote an original one — within twenty-four hours, an experience he described as 'like receiving a gift.'
They named the tune EVERGREEN, for what doesn't die. Jensen's hope for singers: 'We hope they will ponder the impact of Adam and Eve, then think of the female disciples who were the first witnesses.'
An Easter Hymn of Firsts
'Long Ago, Within a Garden' was released February 26, 2026, as hymn #1210, the Easter entry of its batch — and, as Church News noted, among the first Latter-day Saint hymns to center both Adam and Eve and the women who first witnessed the Resurrection. The day after its release, Elder Gérald Caussé sat down and played it on the piano in a Church video.
Its story spans the whole plan in three gardens — which was Elder McConkie's dying point: the graves will open because, long ago, within a garden, everything necessary was done.
Did You Know?
- The hymn's three-garden structure comes from Elder Bruce R. McConkie's final conference address, given two weeks before his death in 1985.
- Composer Daniel Lyman Carter wrote the music within 24 hours of reading the text — 'like receiving a gift.'
- Carter also wrote 'As Now We Take the Sacrament' in the 1985 hymnal.
- The tune is named EVERGREEN — for what doesn't die.
- It's among the first LDS hymns to center both Adam and Eve and the women who first witnessed the Resurrection.
Scripture Connections
- Doctrine and Covenants 29:40–42 — Eden and the Fall — the first garden, where the story of redemption begins.
- Mosiah 3:7, 10–13 — Gethsemane foretold — blood 'from every pore' — the second garden.
- Matthew 28:1–8 — The garden tomb, empty — and the women who knew it first.
- 1 Nephi 8:10–12 — The tree of life and its fruit — the fourth verse's invitation to every singer.
Talk About It
Questions to spark a conversation with your family or Primary class:
- Why do you think so much of the plan of salvation happened in gardens?
- Women were the first witnesses of the Resurrection. Why do you think the Lord chose them first?
- Elder McConkie bore his testimony two weeks before he died. What would you want your last testimony to say?
- The composer felt the music came 'like receiving a gift.' Have you ever made something that felt given to you?
Teaching Resources
Categories
Attribution
Music by: Daniel Lyman Carter, 1999; alt. | EVERGREEN
Text by: R. Devan Jensen, 1999; alt.
Audio files from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints