I wanted to share a great experience we had in Primary a couple of weeks ago. I teach Valiant 11/12 so I am in the Senior Primary Sharing Time. I can't describe what happened as well as this email from Judy Ryan, who was there also. She is a professor and very well spoken, so I'll let her words paint the picture!
"Senior Primary yesterday was something amazing, and I wanted to share it with the sisters who weren't fortunate enough to have been there, as a thank you to the Primary workers and also a tribute to the parenting of stellar young learners.
"The subject of Sharing Time was the 12 apostles and something to do with keys. Sister Mills flipped a huge portable board around and there, in a linear array, was the first presidency, the 12 apostles, and about 4,000 little gray keys. There was an audible response from the children, hushed and respectful.
"So I'm thinking to myself, 'How long did it take her to cut out all those keys?' and I'm sure that's going to be the question asked when, before she ever gets a chance to launch into her presentation, the first little hand goes up. But I was wrong.
"'Those are all men. Why aren't there any girls up there?' This from a sweet little boy. 'Hang on,' I'm thinking. 'This is going to be interesting.'
"Well, it was. I learned more in the next 20 minutes than I thought I didn't know. One question after the other, and I have to emphasize, they were serious, well-intentioned curiosities handled with forthright care, answered one after the other. I can't remember all of them, but here is a sampling:
-'Can a girl ever get the priesthood?'
-'Was President Monson ever just a normal boy?'
-'How do you get to be an apostle? Do you sign up?' [like an after-school activity: There's the volleyball list and if you want to go out for Apostle, sign up here.] (Amy's note: this was Claire, and I about fell out of my chair!)
-'Why are there 12 apostles and 14 pictures?'
-'Was President Monson ever at the bottom?'
-'What happens if one of them in the middle dies?' [To illustrate this, Sister Mills regretfully killed off one of the middle apostles and showed how they would shuffle on up.]
-[and my personal favorite] 'None of these guys are from here. Are they all from 2nd Ward?'
"Well, there were more. In fact, she had to cut off the questions for the closing song, and I was afraid there might be a small riot. If so, I would volunteer to lead it.
"I'm trying to analyze why this was one of those rare moments educators dream of, and these are my conclusions:
"1. She was really prepared. I don't know what she was going to do, but there were lots of little gray keys and it was going to be wonderful.
2. What she prepared was not more important than the children she was teaching. In other words, she taught with the spirit.
3. The subject had relevancy. Perhaps the children had been hearing their parents talk about the change in the first presidency and that fueled their curiosity. From where I was sitting, I could turn my head owl-like and see all their faces, which I did. They were ALL engaged.
4. There was something compelling about the pictures themselves that added to the spirit (and perhaps the sense of authority) in the room.
"...or maybe it was just something magic in all those little gray keys."
Thank you Judy for reminding us what amazing spirits we have in our homes, that we have the blessing of serving in Primary, and that we need to stop and enjoy these moments! And thank you Jenni for following the Spirit and letting the questions flow.
This year we had a special afternoon at the Newcastle Cemetery visiting the graves of some of our relatives. I was really glad that we did it, not only to show our love and respect, but to teach our children about our family members that have died. At my dad's suggestion, the adults took turns sharing memories about each of them. The grandchildren were amazingly interested and attentive! My favorite was my brother's memory of our great-grandma Staples and how she would always tell him, "Kid, don't ever let them take your teeth!" She had false teeth (I guess they're called dentures, but that's what she always called them!) since she was in her 40s, and they weren't particularly good ones, so that was an important piece of advice from her!
