At church I have a calling as the first counselor in the Primary Presidency. I have served in Primary many times over the years (teacher, pianist, music leader, den leader, president) and it is such a great place to be!
One of the things I love about Primary is the way that the gospel is taught and shared in it's most basic form. Faith, obedience, repentance, family, baptism, the Holy Ghost, prophets, temples, etc. And to see those teachings come alive in the eyes of these small children . . . it is just magic.
The most basic truth that we teach over & over again to these 3 to 11 year old children is that Jesus Christ lives and that He loves each and every one of them. It is SO important that they know this -- that we ALL know this -- because this testimony, this understanding will lay a foundation for their self-worth and the choices they make throughout their lives.
This year our theme in Primary is "I Know that My Savior Lives" and it is going to be such a great opportunity to truly focus on Jesus Christ while building these tiny testimonies of Him.
A few days ago we held a Meet Your Teacher activity where the kids could meet their new teachers and see their new classrooms and be all prepared for the first Sunday of the new year. Along with that activity we introduced the theme and shared a song that will be the center of the Primary program this year.
It is called, I Know That My Savior Loves Me and I made a little slideshow to go along with it to show the children.
I Know That My Savior Loves Me from Shannon on Vimeo.
I've been meaning to share a few Primary related things for a while, so maybe this post will be an opportunity to throw a few things together.
I don't mean to sound boastful, but we have a pretty great Primary Presidency. :) Everyone is so on top of things. But I have to say that our president, Katie, takes it to a whole new level. She thinks of everything! (and then some) and is so so so good at making the extra effort to show appreciation & thanks to everyone who assists us in and out of Primary. Kristi has a knack for connecting with the kids, she has a big heart when it comes to helping the kids build their testimonies & understand the gospel, and we love her occasional slip-ups because they make us giggle ("I'm not saying that all hobo's choose the wrong . . . . "). And Lena (secretary) is just a rock and seamlessly takes care of all that behind the scenes stuff that secretaries do. I know it can be a lot of work!
CHRISTMAS CARDS
We thought it would be so fun to give each of the Primary children a Christmas card with our photo on it this year. Katie had already purchased a bunch of acrylic snowflake ornaments for the kids and found a cute poem to go along with it. It only made sense for us to do a snow themed picture! In the desert, no less.
I was honestly surprised by how much the children LOVED it! We got so many thank you's from the kids that day at church. (The "cards" are just simple 4x6 photos printed up at Costco.)
Here is the poem that went along with the snowflake ornaments (designed by Katie):
Download The Meaning of the Snowflake
One more thing I want to share . . .
I have a blog friend, Emily, who I was actually able to meet when our lives crossed paths in Vegas for a few months. She was on her way out when we were on our way in. :) Anyways, she runs a blog with her sister and they share some pretty great teacher and education resources. She just shared the COOLEST thing on her blog -- a resource for Senior Primary teachers. This year those classes are studying the New Testament and she created a Passport to the New Testament. It is a booklet for the kids to answer questions, write down scriptures, and earn a stamp for each lesson of the year. It is amazing. Check it out!