I am new to my calling with the Stake and still learning. I visit your Primaries, talk with you, and see wonderful things happening. I wonder what message or encouragement I can share. So, I reflect upon my experience as a Primary child.
I cannot remember the names or faces of my teachers or leaders. I cannot remember the lessons they taught or any of the fun games we played. I remember very few of the names of the other children. I do remember the songs we sang and how I felt at Primary.
I loved going to Primary and wanted to be there. Although everyone knew who I was at Primary, I did not always feel that I belonged. My family did not attend church every week and when I was there I had to find someplace to sit because it seemed to me that they forgot to set up a chair for me with my class. Many leaders could not pronounce my name correctly and I was too shy to correct them. I could not answer questions like “What do you remember from last week”, and felt badly.
Regardless of feeling out of place, I LOVED primary. I loved it so much that when I was 10 years old I yelled at my parents one Sunday morning when I found out that we were not going to church that day. I told them I was going to church whether or not they were and as my parents it was their responsibility to get me there. I boldly told them to either drive me over to church or find me a ride. I was trembling and a bit afraid of how my parents might react. After all, I was yelling at them and telling them what to do. I ran back to my room and started to cry on my bed and waited for my fate. A while later, my dad was standing in my doorway dressed in his suit and we went to church together. They never spoke to me about it, but I never had to ask for a ride to church again. Why did I insist upon going to church? Because those wonderful leaders, who couldn’t pronounce my name, taught me with the spirit and the truth was engraved upon my heart.
So, my weekly teaching moment is to love and teach each child in Primary with all that you have. Know them and their circumstances. Look them in the eyes, smile at each one and testify to them. Prepare yourself that you might be an instrument in the Lord’s hands and by doing so the truth can be engraved upon each precious heart in your Primaries and classrooms.
“I encourage you to reach out to those you serve and love them….True happiness and lasting joy will come to you and to each one you serve as you take a hand and reach a heart.” -Thomas S. Monson, “Sugar Beets and the Worth of a Soul,” Liahona July 2000
Elise
Elise Simbeck
Stake Primary Presidency
Second Councelor
