Good morning Primary friends!
We hope you've had an enjoyable week so far! Hasn't the weather been just gorgeous? I think Fall is here! :)
We just wanted to send out a quick reminder of a few things, hence the potpourri! Friendly reminders, of course :)
1. The program is coming up!! If you haven't yet, please make note: it will be Sunday, October 23. For those of you with old lesson calendars, you might see a different date. Please be sure you have the updated calendar that reflects the October 23 date. If you don't have this calendar, please let us know. With all the excitement about the program, it is imperative as teachers that you LEARN the songs and SING the songs with the children. Believe it or not, you probably already subconsciously know them. ;) At any rate, a few weeks ago, Sis. Whaley passed out word sheets for all the teachers and we would encourage you to please place these in a strategic place in your binder! Use it often! Use it every Sunday! We have 5 weeks before the program--actually 4, with General conference. Every week we will review the songs. Please participate! Your children look to you to be the example. If you sing, so will they. Also, especially for JR primary, feel free to practice the songs in class if you have extra time. Many of you have the CD's we gave out with the songs on them. Feel free to bring that in to practice. We have more CD's too, if you still want one.
**Special note to the CTR7 teachers**--Your children especially need the practice with the signs for the song "Faith". They will be signing the song, by themselves, first before we sign and sing it as a group. They are doing very well, but could use all the practice they can get. Please try to save extra time in class to practice the signs every week with them. If you don't know the signs, contact Sis. Whaley.
2. We are very excited about our first "Chat and TAT (Teacher Appreciation Treat)"! We are soo very grateful to each and every person who works with the children in our Primary--from Nursery to 11 year old scout leaders. You all work so hard and put in so much time and effort and may often feel the return is small. Rest assured, the return is GREAT when serving the Lord and His little ones. We wanted to share a small portion of that return with some goodies and a quick gathering to allow you to chat with your fellow Primary workers. I know we, as a Presidency, don't always have the opportunity to chat with you either and we want to get to know you too. We hope you will come--September 25, right after church in the Cultural Hall. Again, this is for ALL primary workers: Nursery, Sunday Primary, Scouts, Activity Days. I realize this may equal half the ward, but so be it! :)
3. Finally, a BIG thank you to all the youth who helped us out last week. It was tremendous to see the Priests and Laurels in our ward step up and teach the little ones. Truly inspiring! We hope you all enjoyed the meeting regarding mormon.org. With that, I hope to see many more hands raised this week when we report. :) Again, if you need assistance, please let me know and I can get that for you. If you need your member ID and confirmation date, please contact Br. Jensen or Br. Prusse OR let me know and I can contact them for you. I've thought a lot about the purpose behind the profile this week and actually came upon 2 thoughts. First, Br. MacLay actually shared a thought in Ward Council on Sunday on preparation--Doctrine and Covenants 84:85. He related also how Captain Moroni, in battle, physically prepared each city by building it up, fortifying it, and preparing the people. We, too, are fighting a battle today--but a spiritual one. With the media blitz coming up on October 1, we need to be prepared how to answer! Because of this blitz, we may be asked more questions than usual about our faith. If for nothing else, filling out the profile on Mormon.org helps you to formulate an answer to one of the most common questions, "Why are you a Mormon?". In all things, we benefit from much preparation and this is no different. Plus, the type of reflection needed to answer these questions is good for our testimonies to grow. Honestly, how often have you thought about why you do what you do? We should know how to answer that question and filling out a profile can help us be prepared to answer that.
Along with that, the other day I re-read Elder Russell M. Nelson's talk from April's General Conference, titled, "Face the Future with Faith". With the idea of preparation already in mind, the following quote hit me hard, "Why do we need such resilient faith? Because difficult days are ahead. Rarely in the future will it be easy or popular to be faithful Latter-day Saint. Each of us will be tested. The Apostle Paul warned that in the latter days, those who diligently follow the Lord "shall suffer persecution". That very persecution can either crush you in to silent weakness or motivate you to be more exemplary and courageous in your daily lives....Our beloved President Thomas S. Monson has given us his prophetic witness. He said:"My beloved brothers and sisters, fear not. Be of good cheer. The future is as bright as your faith". "
Could this be one of our tests, to be more exemplary and courageous just by filling out a profile? Maybe. Will you be blessed for your preparation and obedience? Definitely.
We love you! Thank you for all you do! The best of the best is with us in Primary and I feel so blessed to work beside you all.
