[MUSIC - AMBER LYNN STOPPEL, "HIGHER"] Let me tell you a story about a life. I know we've all got high hills to climb, But one morning, I find That those hills turned to mountains in front of my eyes, And the roads turned to rivers instead. Now the water's up over my head, And I don't know how I got in this mess, But I'm gasping for air through the black and the red. Just when I thought it was over, Something inside kept pushing me on. And ooh, just a little bit higher, oh yeah, Ooh, just a little bit more. What's holding you down is only making you stronger, oh yeah, so Ooh, just a little bit higher. Ooh, just a little bit higher. I'm just saying I've been there and I know. I've felt these feelings you're trying not to show. But the road that we got, it ain't long. So just remember where you've already gone. Come on, it's just a little stormy weather. Come on, don't you know it gets better? Come on, won't you get yourself together And bring it all, bring it all home. Just when it feels like it's over, Something inside's gonna push you home, ooh, ooh. Ooh, just a little bit higher, oh yeah. Ooh, just a little bit more. What's holding you down is only making you stronger, Oh yeah, so Ooh, just a little bit higher. Mm, if you surrender like you think you should, Don't you know it won't do any good? 'Cause when you realize how close you stood, You're only gonna wish you would have tried harder, longer, so don't stop now. And ooh, just a little bit higher, oh yeah. Ooh, just a little bit more. Oh, what's holding you down is only making you stronger, oh yeah, so Ooh, just a little bit higher. I said ooh, just a little bit higher.

[MUSIC - ASHLEY HESS, "THE MOMENT YOU STAND"] Dark days of heartache and feeling alone, Empty and lonely, but nobody knows.

You try and hide the pain behind your eyes, but the tears tell your secrets.

You try and stay strong and keep your faith, but all you feel is weakness. And you cry out, "Father, I'm down on my knees. Tell me, why hast Thou forsaken me?"

When you've had enough and you feel you can't get up, You can 'cause there's one who knows your pain, And He will be your strength and He'll take your hand The moment you stand.

Everyone's asking you if you're OK.

White lies and fake smiles to mask all the pain.

But deep inside, the storm is raging on, And you're drowning in fear.

Fear of yourself and fear of this place, And wondering how you got here. And you cry out, "Father, I'm down on my knees. Tell me, why hast Thou forsaken me?"

When you've had enough and you feel you can't get up, You can 'cause there's one who knows your pain, And He will be your strength and He'll take your hand The moment you stand. He wants to silence all your fears. He wants to wipe away your tears If you reach out and take His hand.

When you've taken all that you can take, He will wrap you in His warm embrace And He'll say, "When you've had enough And you feel you can't get up, You can because I know your pain, And I will be your strength and I'll take your hand The moment you stand."

Welcome to Mormon Channel Studio. I'm your host, Bri Ray, and today we have two special guests with us. First we heard "Higher" by Amber Lynn Stoppel, and we just heard "The Moment You Stand" from Ashley Hess. Thank you for being with us today, ladies. Thank you for having us. Yeah, thank you. I'd love to know kind of the background behind both of those songs and what kind of inspired you to write them and get you to this point of completion. Me first? Yeah, go for it. Um, I wrote "Higher" a few years ago, and it's actually a really funny and embarrassing story how that came about. My favorite. It turned into such an inspirational song, but if you knew the backstory, which you're about to--so I am not--like, I like hiking, but I'm not like a serious hiker. And I had some friends that wanted to go on this hike that they had never gone on before, so we had no idea, like, how hard the hike was until we got there. It was supposed to be, like, a three-hour hike. It turned into, like, an eight-hour hike, and I cried, like, half of the mountain. So I remember just being like, I felt like my body literally could not move another muscle. But it kept going because like, literally, you're on a mountain, and it's like, "OK, either I keep going, or they fly a helicopter in here and take me off the mountain--" Exactly. --which would have been a much cooler story, but I just felt like my body was doing things that I never thought that it could or I never gave it credit to do. And I got home, and you know, I was obviously so excited that I didn't die on the mountain, but I was thinking about our spirits and like how we--our emotions or our morale, or whatever you want to call it, how we feel like we just can't take anymore. We just can't. And we doubt ourselves, and we're like, "This is it. This is--" I mean, how many times have we been down and been like, "This is it. This is the bottom. I can't do anything more"? And we do. And so I just kind of thought about what it would feel like to be in the afterlife, or wherever it is that we can look back on our lives and be like, "I was so close," and how awful that would feel to know that you were so close and you gave up. And so that's where the inspiration for "Higher" came, to think of, like, you're almost there, and you cannot just turn around and go back when you're so close. So that's where that came from. Wow, I love that. That's so cool, and it's awesome that you could pull all of that and that great meaning from a hike and put it into such an amazing song. That's so, so awesome. So way to go. Thank you. Ashley, what about you? So my inspiration is a little bit heavier than that. So I was actually inspired by this story that I read about this woman who had, like, the craziest experience. So she found out all in the same day that her husband had died, but he was actually murdered by this man because, apparently, her husband was having an affair. And so the woman he was having an affair with--that woman's husband actually killed her husband. And so it was just this crazy story, and she was left with five kids to take care of on her own. And I can't even imagine what that would feel like. But she--just reading her story and her perspective and how she overcame that was so inspiring to me because she, I mean, was given probably one of the hardest trials you could absolutely experience, but she made the best of it, and she relied on a higher power to pull her through that. And I--it just touched me so much because I know when I've had hardships and trials, that anchor, for me, is the same thing. And it's just so comforting to know that we have somebody who's experienced all that that we can turn to that can pull us out of those dark days, because we all experience them. And so just kind of her story, and then just personal experiences that I've had, were just the inspiration behind me writing that song. Well, those were both beautiful messages, and I'm so happy that I could hear those from you guys. And I'm excited you're both going to sing together now. Yeah. Yes. What song will we be hearing? "How Great Thou Art." Perfect. Take it away. [MUSIC - AMBER LYNN STOPPEL AND ASHLEY HESS, "HOW GREAT THOU ART"] O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder Consider all the worlds thy hands have made, I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder, Thy pow'r thru-out the universe displayed.

Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to thee, How great thou art! How great thou art!

Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to thee, How great thou art!

How great thou art!

When thru the woods and forest glades I wander, And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees, When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur And see the brook, mm.

Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to thee, How great thou art! How great thou art!

Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to thee, How great thou art! How great thou art!

When Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation, And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart!

Then I shall bow in humble adoration And there proclaim, "My God, how great thou art!"

Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to thee, How great thou art! How great thou art! Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to thee, How great thou art! How great thou art! How great thou art!

How great thou art!