Music — particularly gospel music — has played an important role in the life of recording artist Yahosh Bonner, who is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and whose family was recently featured by the Mormon Channel singing an original gospel rendition of “I Need Thee Every Hour.”

Prior to joining the Church, Bonner's parents were members of a Baptist church and served a mission in Liberia, Africa.

“My mother first came to know Jesus Christ through being a member of a Baptist choir in her hometown of Flint, Michigan, and has been a vocal coach ever since," said Bonner, who is a teacher at American Leadership Academy. "My dad has a background in gospel music as well, and they have both made it a point to make sure that we know who we are — our ancestry, our heritage and our culture.

"A lot of that has to do with gospel music and our black heritage — being African-American, and the strength that comes with that,” he said.

The love of music is evident in each member of the Bonner family, as each works in music in some aspect. Some are vocal coaches, some are teachers, some are recording artists, others are in musical theater. Their mother, Debra Bonner, is a vocal coach as well as the director of Unity Gospel Choir.

It was this collective love of music, the gospel and their mother that caused Yahosh Bonner’s father, Harry, to request that the family get together from across the country and sing a song for their mother this past Christmas.

“Our mother always loved hearing us sing together, so we wanted to do this for her," Yahosh Bonner said. "We all have the same love for Christ and for our mother, and for that reason, we got together."

This song titled “I Am Here” was written and composed by Yahosh's brother Junior Bonner.

“We spent one day and we recorded it, and when the Mormon Channel saw it, they asked that we re-record it for them to share,” Yahosh Bonner said.

From the movie "Jane and Emma" "I Am a Child of God":