Primary Program (and Phoebe's first talk)

We had a long full day of church-related stuff. Thankfully I got to have a nap in the middle of it all. Some notes:

• yesterday was "Donut Day," also known as the anniversary of Karen's death; Grandpa brought some donuts over for us
• this morning was our primary program; Grandpa and Darla came to watch; Elder Fish of the (tenth quorum of the) seventy was there
• then I taught primary as normal; the entire stake primary presidency was there, along with the stake president
• Andrew stuck around long enough to have a temple recommend interview and then took Phoebe home because she's not entirely healthy still
• I had a temple recommend interview after primary
• I took a nap
• We went to choir practice
• Miriam drove me to the stake center for a stake leadership meeting

All in all it was about 12 hours of church-y stuff, so a very church-y Sunday, indeed. 

I made a slideshow that told all the kids when their part was coming up, and had all the songs in order and everything. And then I had a complete brain meltdown before one of the songs and couldn't remember the time signature or even feel the beat of the song somehow and realized that I've probably never actually conducted that song in my life, in spite of having spent the past 11 months teaching it to the kids, because I've only ever done the actions and...it was a bit awkward. But we got through it just fine...more or less.

Next time, I'm going to make a note of the time signatures for myself just to give my brain a break. 

I just...completely forgot how to conduct for a minute there. And I didn't have any music up there with me because I don't use music in primary. I just...sing along with the kids...sans music. So I fumbled through a few bits, but that's okay.

It went well. We had about a dozen kids there and they sang nicely and said their lines just fine. 

Zoë was in charge of helping the Sunbeams, specifically because we knew Phoebe wasn't going to let anyone else help her. She said, "Jesus loves us all the time, no matter where we are. How can you show love to someone else, just like Jesus does?"

Then she prompted Phoebe to say, "I can show love to others by drawing them a picture."

The other Sunbeams said things like "share my monster trucks," and "give a high five," so she was very much on theme.

Alexander got to tell a little bit about his baptism day. He said:

I was so excited to get baptized into the church last Saturday! We sang a song my great-grandma wrote, which says “baptism is like a new birth” at the beginning of every verse. This felt really touching to me because 1) the song had very good music and 2) baptism is like a new birth “into a new life”—when we go under water and come up again we are fresh and clean. But we all make mistakes and it is hard to keep feeling that way. Luckily, we renew our baptismal covenant every time we take the sacrament because Jesus sacrificed himself for us so he made the first sacrament. I’m grateful I have the chance to repent and become fresh and clean each Sunday that I take the sacrament. I bear my testimony that we will always remember our baptism day in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

And this was Zoë's part:

Every week in class, Brother Wasden asks each of us what we did that was kind for somebody in the last week. He says that it doesn’t matter how big or small the thing is, it just matters that you did it. 

In the story of the Good Samaritan, a Jewish man was attacked by a few men. Some people walked by, glanced at him, and crossed the road to keep going. Then a Samaritan rode up. The Samaritans were enemies of the Jews at the time, because they had different beliefs, but this man came over to the Jew and helped him get to an inn. The Good Samaritan paid for the man to stay, and dressed the man’s wounds. The Good Samaritan did something when others would not. 

In my house, my parents put up signs to remind us to “DO THINGS.” That’s all the signs say—DO THINGS. When I do things, it makes everyone in the household a bit happier. 

For example, on Halloween morning, I woke up my siblings early so that we could finish schoolwork earlier, so we could play with Phoebe while Mom was working. This made everybody happier.

I bear my testimony that we can all DO GOOD THINGS.

I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

And, since we're sharing things and I never wrote about Phoebe's first talk in primary, here's Phoebe's first talk (which she gave on October 12 of this year):

“The Lord will lead me by the hand and answer my prayers”

When my family goes for walks, my mom holds my hand at intersections to keep me safe from cars. It makes me feel good when my mom holds my hand because I know that she’s helping me. Sometimes I don’t want to hold hands and just want to run, but my mom can see things that I sometimes I don’t, so I know it is important. 

When we pray to Heavenly Father, it’s like we are at an intersection. We take time to slow down and hold his hand. We ask him to show us things we might not see if he didn’t show us. Prayers can make us feel safety and peace. 

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.