Primary Program

We had our primary program today and (it ran a little long but) it went great! 

Phoebe made Grandpa take her onto the stand to join her nursery class in singing "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam." Zoë played "Book of Mormon Stories" while the rest of the primary kids sang. We had a mother-son duet. Another family sang a song with ukulele accompaniment. We sang a song with sign language ("I Feel My Saviour's Love"). We even broke out the handbells for one of our songs ("We'll Bring the World His Truth"). The kids did wonderfully!

Everyone also had a speaking part and did great!

Here's Zoë's little talk:

One of my favorite Book of Mormon stories is about Nephi building a boat and getting the plates. As you know, Nephi and his family were in the wilderness, looking for the promised land. But there was a problem. The Lord had asked them to get the brass plates from a wicked man named Laban in Jerusalem. As the song “Nephi’s Courage” tells us, “Laman and Lemuel were both afraid to try, Nephi was courageous,” and so on. Nephi slew Laban, and brought the plates to his father. 

Next, Nephi was commanded to build a boat. In the second verse of Nephi’s courage, it says “Nephi’s older brothers believed it would not float,” but Nephi built it anyway. Remember, Nephi is just a young man and building a boat is no small task, but Nephi did it, and his brothers were shocked, but were still mean to Nephi. 

What this has been leading up to is that Nephi didn’t let his brothers discourage him. His feelings were probably hurt, but he persevered; he was determined to do the task that he was given. Later, when they were traveling across the ocean, Nephi’s brothers actually tied him to the mast of the boat and treated him with “much harshness,” all because Nephi asked them to make good choices. Because they refused to make good choices, the Liahona stopped working and they ended up in a terrible tempest, or storm. They eventually released him and Nephi was able to use the Liahona to guide the ship to the promised land. 

Nephi shows a pattern of forgiveness. In 1 Nephi 7, Nephi’s brothers ask forgiveness for ANOTHER mean thing they did to Nephi—they bound him up and intended to leave him in the “wilderness to be devoured by wild beasts!” One of the daughters of Ishmael and Ishmael’s wife pleaded until the hearts of Laman and Lemuel were softened and they released Nephi and realized how wrong they had been. When they asked Nephi for forgiveness, Nephi says, in verse 21, that he “frankly forgave them.” 

This means that he forgave them quickly and with sincerity. 

This story has taught me that I can also be forgiving. Sometimes I am hurt by things that people say or do, but when I think about Nephi I remember to forgive and let things go. This helps me not feel as hurt and opens up my heart to love others as Jesus loves them.  I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

 And here's Alexander's part:

We read a story from The Friend about a girl named Giulia who was afraid of earthquakes. To help her feel less afraid her parents had a special Family Night lesson. They said, “We’ll do our best to prepare, and the Lord will help us.” They practiced what to do during an earthquake, like how to protect your head. They also talked about the story in 3 Nephi when “there was a big storm with fires and earthquakes before Jesus Christ visited the Americas. The people felt scared and sad. But Jesus said He would heal and comfort those who came to Him.” 

When Giulia was woken up one night by an earthquake, it was very scary for her! But she remembered—and did—what her family had practiced and thought about how Jesus promised to comfort people. That helped her feel calm.

It is important to be physically prepared and spiritually prepared for things. Alma: 34 says “For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors.” D&C 38:30 promises that “if ye are prepared ye shall not fear.” 

Sometimes I get scared about natural disasters, but I know that if we prepare by doing what we can do, and exercising faith in the Lord, things will work out for us. 

I was really worried about Hurricane Helene, but my family spent a lot of time preparing. We cleared out the gutters and storm drains in our yard. We moved the yard furniture to a safer location. We prepared food, water and flashlights. We did extra laundry in case the power went out. We also made sure to pray for safety. Even though the hurricane didn’t hit us too badly, I am still glad we prepared because it helped me feel safe. We are still praying that the people who are suffering because of Hurricane Helene can get the help they need. 

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

One of the best parts was when our little friend C. got up to speak and on his way up to the podium announced (loudly) to the primary president, "Don't worry. I practiced."

Another great part was when our friend B. finished with a very touching story, closed his talk "in the name of Jesus Christ, amen," and then popped back up to the microphone and said, "And by the way, my name is Brian Oaks!" (that's not his real name, but you get the picture).

I'm glad the program is behind us! Now it's time to prepare for the Christmas program!