OK, SO I HAVE TO BRAG...!

Our Wonderful Primary Children:

SR. PRIMARY

JR. PRIMARY

JR. PRIMARY (Can you find Demarie???)

Last week, our ward had the Primary program during sacrament meeting at church. I just have to say that they did an AMAZING job!!!! I was so proud of each and every one of them! It has been a week and I am still on a high from the beautiful Spirit that was felt during the meeting. First of all, 400 people showed up! They had to open up the entire gym! Usually our ward averages between 280-300 people for a Primary program and that is our largest attendance during the year. The children did a great job being missionaries and inviting their friends and family to come. Demarie even walked across the street and gave an invitation to our neighbors that we carpool with and she gave an invitation to a boy in her class and her teacher. She was pretty sad that nobody she invited came, but I told her that is sometimes what it is like to be a missionary. I encouraged her to continue inviting because you never know when someone is ready and willing to listen to the gospel. Anyways, we were pretty excited about the attendance. Second, Aaron is the pianist in our primary (thanks to an inspired Primary President Tammy Jolley) and he did a great job on the piano. I am so proud of him! He started the year only knowing 2 primary songs. When it was time for the primary kids to come up to the stand, he played a beautiful arrangement of "Reverently Quietly" by Paul Cardell while they quietly walked up to take their places. Then, we went right into a beautiful new song that the Primary learned this year called "I Know My Savior Loves Me." That alone set the tone for the entire meeting! He played all the songs with such beautiful dynamics and we ended with "I Believe in Christ" with the congregation joining in. My friend's mom was visiting from Utah and she plays the piano at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and is a very accomplished pianist. She wrote him a thank you note and said, "I thoroughly enjoyed your piano talent today in Sacrament meeting. I marveled at the way you took the place of an entire orchestra! It was truly a gift to me and the whole ward. I love beautiful experiences. Thank you." I thought that was pretty neat. I know how hard he worked all year and he really helped bring the Spirit into the meeting. Third, the children sang so beautifully! Sis. Gubler, our primary chorister did a great job teaching the children the words to the songs this year. Each class also had a special solo verse that they got to sing and each of them did a wonderful job. I was especially touched with Valiant 10 and 11 when they sang the second verse of "I Believe in Christ" and CTR 7 singing "The Fourth Article of Faith." Fourth, each of the children knew their speaking part and said it loud and clear in the microphone. I sat at the microphone ready to help them with their parts, but every single child did their part all by themselves! I didn't have to help a single one! Nobody yelled in the microphone or mumbled or got too scared. They just did a great job bearing their testimonies. Fifth, the words they shared were so touching. This year in primary, each child has kept a journal and at the end of the month, they get to write their testimonies about the topic we talked about that month. So, when it was time to put the program together, I went to the church and read all of their journals. I was able to pull something from each of their journals! I then went home and typed them all up and cut and pasted them in order of their topic. And that was it! The program fell together all on it's own and it was all from the testimonies they had shared in their journals. A few of the speaking parts were also taken from special talks that the children had given in primary or experiences they had shared. We had a missionary activity earlier in the year and the children were encouraged to give out a Book of Mormon. All the children that gave one out were able to tell about their experience and how they felt sharing the gospel. It was a very spiritual experience for me to put the program together. I just felt like Heavenly Father was behind it 100% and guided me in the direction to go. The final result was an incredible Sunday filled with warm fuzzies, sweet tears, and big smiles. Later, during Sharing Time, I asked the children how they felt during the program. One young boy raised his hand and said, "I felt sad. I don't know why, but I started to cry." It was cute. The Spirit touched his little heart and he knew that crying was associated with sadness. It was neat to teach him that we can also have tears of joy when we are moved by the Spirit. Sixth, all the children sat so reverently on the stage! Even the cute, wiggly Sunbeams were perfectly still! It was crazy how perfect they were! Seventh, our Primary President Kata Dean did a wonderful job sharing the story behind the song "I Know My Savior Loves Me." She opened the scriptures and told about when the Nephites sent their children up to be blessed by Jesus. It was a beautiful image and as I sat on the stage with all the children, I looked around and I knew that Heavenly Father loves and knows each one of those beautiful spirits. I am blessed to have the opportunity to not only teach them, but to learn from their sweet testimonies as well. Seventh, of course I have to be so proud of Demarie. She shared a Book of Mormon with her friend Chase and was able to tell about her experience. She is always such a good little missionary and example to me of service and love. She truly loves Heavenly Father and tries so hard to do what is right and be like Jesus. I just love her so much! What a perfect Sunday! The only thing missing was not having our own family there to be a part of it. It's moments like these when you wish grandparents and other family members could see your children (and in this case your wonderful husband too) and appreciate how much they have grown and changed!