Jesus told his disciples to "suffer (or let) the little children come unto me". I believe he meant the ones who were there in that moment and the ones who would come afterward, through all generations. And so I am honored to work in the Primary and give the children - for such a few short years - the knowledge and re-assurance that He exists and loves them.
Our primary is small. In fact, there was one Sunday where there were only 2 children in attendance. This gave us the opportunity to prove to them that they are important and worth the time and effort - whether they are part of a big group or even just by themselves.
Our annual primary program in October went really well. We had 14 kids who participated by singing songs we'd been working on all year and giving talks. I think my favorite part was the musical number "Give Said The Little Stream" - they belted out the lyrics as loud as they could "Singing Singing all the day, give away oh give away!". I also felt the joy they gave to the congregation who clearly adore them all and have commented on how precious a day it was.
The day before the program we had an activity to practice, and then just have fun: a play dough and magnetic toy table, a marble art table, giant bubble making outside, and pizza for lunch. I took some pictures, just because. And then, on the way home, decided I should get the pictures developed and make posters of the children - with their artwork as a background - for people to see as they walked in. I was so mad at myself, however, because I was doing this last minute and even went to the wrong Walgreens to pick up the pictures. It took hours out of my day and I told myself it wasn't that important. But thankfully I didn't listen to myself (ha ha!) Again, seeing the adults reaction to the pictures was wonderful. But even better is seeing the kids' reaction. Weeks later I still see the kids stop, with their parents, to find themselves in the pictures as they are walking into the chapel. And I have noticed friendships form between the children throughout the year.
Two of the children were baptized recently. The Mom went up to the podium and talked about how the 8 year old was describing to his friends and family what he does on the weekends. He mentioned he goes to church and how much he enjoys primary. Any and all of the efforts by myself, the teachers, and the rest of the primary workers are rewarded a million times over throughout the year. That boy's teacher recently shared at the podium what a sweet spirit has come into his and his wife's life as they have taught primary and helped with the program.
Well, this is a long post - but lastly I wanted to mention how fun today was. Now that the program is over we are a little more relaxed with our singing time and can just have fun. Today's song was about how children all over the world say Thank You. We had a world map on the board which they loved looking and talking about. They were each given a card of different countries and had to match up where they were on the map and what language they speak. Who knew that children ages 3 to 11, and the adults in the room could have such a rousing discussion! We talked more than we sang, but by the end the board looked pretty impressive. One of the teachers took some pictures, and though I don't love sharing pictures of myself (though this makes 2 posts in a row now that I have) I want to remember my time as a Primary worker and how fun and sacred of a job it is.
I am looking forward to next week as we will sing this song again, and others to finish off November. With the one called "Autumn Time" we drop silk autumn leaves on the kids' heads which they think is hilarious, and with other songs we let them play instruments. Maybe we will even make it a field trip down the hallways and call it "The Primary Marching Band".
