Nefi Hernández 

Nefi Alejandro Hernández Muñoz, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was born in Querétaro, México. His professional name is Nefi Hernández.

Throughout his life, Nefi has always known about and believed in God. He says, “I was born of goodly parents, just like the prophet Nephi says, (1 Nephi 1:1) and it’s a big honor to hold up that name in this life.” From a young age, he was taught by his parents and church leaders to have faith in God and to always seek what is good.

Family is extremely important to Nefi. His family has always been there to support him in all his plans, ideas, doubts, sadness, happiness, achievements, and even at times when he has failed. He comments, “With the help of Lord, we’ve always kept moving forward.”

The Music in His Life

When he was a young boy, his father taught him how to play some songs on a keyboard. Two songs that he loved to play were “Heart and Soul” piano duet by Hoagy Carmichael and Frank Loesser, and “Right Here Waiting” by Richard Marx.

When he was 11 years old, he decided that he wanted to learn to play the drums. He asked his father for a drum set so that he could practice at home. However, drum sets were expensive, so he played using homemade drumsticks, with boxes and cans as his drums. Even though it was not the best quality as far as sound, he always imagined that it was a real drum set. When he was 12 years old, he wrote his first song. The song, which is now called “Someone You Can’t Believe” was written for a girl at his school.

Although he always wanted to learn to play the drums, his father surprised him with a gift of a classical guitar. “I just thought, ‘what I should do with this?’” after his friends taught him a few songs and chords, he started learning to play the guitar. He continued to hone his skills from what he learned from the internet, books, and video tutorials, and started writing songs, learning techniques, and received inspiration from various artists.

Nefi’s genre of music includes pop, ballad, indie rock, romantic, and instrumentals. Some of the artists who have influenced him musically include Camila, Reik, Aleks Syntek, Zoé, and Secondhand Serenade. The songs that he writes talk about what love is and how great it feels, as well as how it hurts when love fails or is not the best. He also writes about life and beauty and inspirations from nature.

The Importance of the Gospel in His Life

Nefi grew up attending church regularly. When he was singing in the primary choir at Church, he loved going to choir practice and singing the hymns and songs in the children’s songbook. He learned the primary songs after practicing them a few times. He also loved to sing 2nd vocals.

He will be the first to admit that at six years of age, he was not the best singer, but singing always reminded him that he is a child of God, and that lifted his spirits when needed.

When he was 6 years old, he was in an accident and broke his elbow which put him in the hospital for a few days. During that experience, he felt the love of the members of his ward from church, family, friends, and church leaders as never before. He never thought that they would be so interested in his health and well-being. In fact, his parents never left him by himself while he was in the hospital. His father even slept under his bed during the hospital stay. He remarks, “I could feel how God loved me and made me recover my health and restore my arm, by the blessing of the good intervention of the medical staff and the prayers and fasting of the people who stood beside me, as I knew the Savior was always there.” He further commented, “I made covenants with the Lord at the age of 8, but even that time I hadn’t felt by myself all the Love that God was preparing to show me, even my testimony wasn’t all of my own and not strong enough…”

Nefi testifies that he knows that God loves him, the Book of Mormon is true, the Bible is the Word of God, and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true all over the earth. His favorite scripture is found in Doctrina y Convenios 88:68 (Doctrine and Covenants 88:68) which gives us the great promise that if we sanctify ourselves and trust in the Lord, we shall see Him in His own time. Nefi says, “that promise lifts me and encourages me to do my best until the day I could see God again.” The verse reads:

“Por tanto, santificaos para que vuestras mentes se enfoquen únicamente en Dios, y vendrán los días en que lo veréis, porque os descubrirá su faz; y será en su propio tiempo y a su propia manera, y de acuerdo con su propia voluntad.”

[Translation: “Therefore, sanctify yourselves that your minds become single to God, and the days will come that you shall see him; for he will unveil his face unto you, and it shall be in his own time, and in his own way, and according to his own will.”]

Spreading the Gospel Through Music

In 2012, Nefi started writing songs about the importance of the gospel of Jesus Christ in his life. At the age of 14, after gaining a personal testimony and feeling the Savior’s love in an extraordinary way, he attended his first EFY event in México. That spiritual experience led him to write the song, “start Again.” He says, “I’ve always tried to do my best, but sometimes I got to understand in ways I didn’t expect, and sometimes I doubted of what I had learned about, and the plan God had for me.”

A song called “Never Be the Same” sung by Erik Michels and written by Tyler Castleton from the 2012 Arise and Shine Forth album made him feel stronger than ever before. It was the first EFY song that he learned by hearing it played on the piano, and it encouraged him to become more involved with music. Since then, his love for music from EFY and other inspirational songs from Latter-day Saint music artists has grown, and he has learned many songs that have had an impact on his life. He says, “For I knew the power of music which changed my life, and I wanted to do the same when singing or playing the piano or the guitar. So, I continued composing songs of the deepest feelings from my heart.”

Nefi also participated in many shows and musical programs as a member of the Young Men and Women Stake Choir. The choir performed the “For the Strength of Youth” musical by Janice Kapp Perry and Joy Saunders Laundberg. The songs from the musical help youth to remember the standards that will help them to keep the covenants made with God, and to be a light unto the world – to make a difference in the world – to make a change. He also had the opportunity to sing several songs as a solo including “Never A Better Hero” by Kenneth Cope. And he participated in shows and competitions while still in high school for composition and performance, singing some of his original music, always finishing as a first, second, or third placed winner.

Nefi also participated in youth conferences — For Spanish Youth (FSY) — in variety shows, playing the mutual theme songs. He sang “Stand” from mutual 2013, “Come unto Christ” from mutual 2014, “Embark” from mutual 2015, and other EFY and Mutual songs. He sang the songs as part of the devotionals and lessons taught over a five-day period. He sang the songs for the youth and the FSY leaders, one of whom is his best friend in music and the Church, Isaac Salgado, who has always supported him and helped him to improve his God-given talents and gifts. Both Isaac and Nefi love EFY music. Both have recorded covers, as well as, performed LDS music with other young musicians and singers from their stake and region.

Nefi also had the opportunity to record the Mutual Theme 2016 Album in Spanish. He sings second vocals in four songs on the album. He recorded “You Already Know it” (Tú Ya Lo Sabes) at the musical event “Nuestro Canto es Ahora” celebrated in Mexico City at the old Missionary Training Center (MTC). At the Mexico City Temple, he met marvelous young men and women whose strong testimonies taught him that the greatest friends are those who are all standing in holy places and have the same goals and perspectives about eternal life. He also met great musicians and benefited from the counsel of leaders. Men from the Publishing Department Services also gave assistance, and they also received assistance from the great Latter-day Saint songwriter and singer, Nik Day, who went to Mexico and taught the youth techniques of composing and structuring a song with spiritual messages. Nefi comments, “So, it was my first group CD recording, for the Church, and it was great as I helped in the work of God through the music, and these songs have crossed the world in a very short time, especially in Spanish-Speaking countries.”

Nefi Hernández also participated in the recording of the Mutual 2017 album for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with the song “I Hear His Voice,” which he recorded with Nik Day before leaving on his mission. Also, in various events and devotionals for young singers and friends, he and Nik helped talented young men and women to not only compose original songs, but also afforded them the opportunity to perform their music.

A Church Mission and His Mission in Life

Nefi Alejandro Hernández Muñoz served a full-time two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Serving a mission was something that he has always wanted to do since he was a young boy. He said that he wanted “to share the testimony that I have of the restored truth in these latter-days – the things that I have seen in my life and invite others to come unto Christ and receive the gospel in their lives, and to change them also.”

In October 2018, he released his debut album, “El Tiempo Es Perfecto,” on all music platforms. The album includes songs about his personal feelings about love and life, as well as songs about his testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ and his personal relationship with God.

Nefi has plans to continue his college studies, release new music, and collaborate with other talented artists in Mexico, and artists outside his country if possible. He wants to compose Spanish music in Mexico that “uplifts the soul of people because of the sense we all have as children of God to the spiritual things, and they can help others to change and testify of God and to follow the Lord.”

You can follow Nefi Alejandro Hernández Muñoz on Spotify, SoundCloud, and his social media channels: