Follow the Prophet - Samuel the Lamanite

Hello, all!  Where have I been?!  It's been slow going the past few months, but I'm finally getting my act together.  Our primary children are feverishly working on learning several new songs - some are for the program, but most are just for fun. 

On Sunday, we learned another verse to "Follow the Prophet."  Since the kids had so much fun singing "Samuel Tells of the Baby Jesus" for Christmas, I decided to teach the Samuel verse first this year.  After a surprisingly accurate run through the Christmas song (I can't believe they ALL remembered it!), we learned the following verse:

Samuel the prophet was a Lamanite
Called to teach the Nephites; bring them gospel light
Prophesied that Christ in five years would be born
"Repent or be destroyed" are the things that Samuel warned.

It's a really fun one, and they got a kick out of me shaking my finger at them when we sang "Repent or be destroyed."  So practice that one when you're singing around the house, and look forward to several more Book of Mormon and modern-day prophets throughout the year!

What's coming next week?  We'll begin learning a song called Hand in Hand Together, from the Friend!

I Know the Scriptures Are True

As the time draws nearer to the program (November 14th - yay!) and we are putting the finishing touches on the songs we are currently singing, I am finding my attention is veering more and more to next year's program and the songs that we will start learning in January.  For those of you that haven't heard, the theme for next year is "I Know the Scriptures Are True." 

Oh, how excited I am for this theme!  We are singing some AMAZING songs, and I just know that we will continue to feel the Spirit in our primary just as we do now each week. 

Although we still have a lot of fun activities to do before January, I feel prompted to share with you my testimony of the scriptures.  I have had the choice opportunity to read the Book of Mormon with my kids over the past few months (I know, I know...it's about time!  But we're just now getting around to it now that Gibson is in kindergarten!) and I have felt the Spirit during those brief minutes each day so strongly.  It is amazing to see how we can all be so cranky beforehand, and then when we sit down and I start reading we all relax and just share in that time together.  It is truly a special time with me, my children, and my Heavenly Father.  As I read aloud, the scriptures are coming to life as they never have before.  My testimony is strengthened when my children's eyes light up as they recognize a story from primary, or ask questions about what the hear.  They love their Savior.  They love hearing about Him, reading about Him, and praying to Him.  We have been blessed by the spirit of the Book of Mormon and by our (sometimes sporadic) obedience in reading from it.  So many prayers have been answered as I search the scriptures - not only in the words that I read, but in promptings that I get while I'm reading.  The spiritual floodgates are opened, and I feel my Savior's love.  Many things in life are complicated and discouraging, but when I draw near unto my Savior, he likewise draws nearer to me.

I KNOW the scriptures are TRUE!  In 2 Nephi 25:26, it says, "And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ...that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins."  I am so excited for the opportunity to teach from the scriptures, and to hear the testimonies of our little ones as we rejoice in our Savior each Sunday.

Thank you parents for being such a wonderful example to your children and our primary children.  It seriously surprises me as I figure out how smart these children really are!  I love them (and you!) very much!

Thank you for letting me share these thought with you and for letting me learn from your children each week.  And on a program note:  don't forget to help your children learn their parts!  And if they say anything crazy about my makeup on Sunday...well, that's another post completely!

Lots of love,

Follow...

Today we had an awesome sharing time about following the prophets, with a little conference review in the process.  The children remembered a lot about conference and the teachings of our modern-day prophets.  Their testimonies are so pure and strong!  We then sang the last verse of "Follow the Prophet" together:

Now we have a world where people are confused.
If you don't believe it, go and watch the news!
We can get direction all along the way,
If we heed the prophets; follow what they say.

Since our program is only a few weeks away, it's time to get down to the nitty gritty and learn some singing skills.  Today's focus, because the theme for this week is following the prophet, was learning to follow...me!  I wore white gloves to make my hands stand out, and in junior primary did a lot of exercises to help them remember to watch my hands.  It's amazing how well kids can sing when they are distracted by something so simple!  (would it look weird to wear the gloves during the program?!)  They were very reverent and sang so beautifully.  The Spirit was very strong as the children sang about prophets, missions, and our Savior.  There is an excitement in Junior Primary that is really hard to beat.  Parents of JP kids - nurture their love of singing!  They are still young enough to sing their hearts out regardless of ability or the opinion of others.  It's a special thing to hear them bear testimony through song.

As fun as that was, the really amazing thing happened in Senior Primary (who are a lot harder to keep entertained)!  Instead of explaining what I was doing with the gloves, I began by holding a stack of papers on them that had printed what I would have normally said out loud.  It went something like this:

Today we're going to play a game.
To see how well you follow directions
And do it QUIETLY.
Are you ready?

It went on for about 15 pages, and I just stood there without saying anything.  You could hear a pin drop!  They followed the directions on the pages and far exceeded my expectations.  I put on the white gloves and we did a lot of the same things we did in JP, and accomplished a lot.  At the end, I held up signs that said:

Was that hard?
What was hard about it?
What was easy?
Why is it important to follow me?
Who else should we follow?

It was a great way to share my testimony about the prophet and the sweet leaders of our church, the Savior, and the Holy Ghost.  It was a day full of reverence, and let me fill you in on something - you are in for a real treat when we do our program!  It's going to be awesome!

Nothing Like It

I think there is nothing better than to see little brains at work.  On Sunday we played a game I like to call "Heads or Tails."  We're having some trouble with a couple of our program songs, and I wanted to focus on our theme song, "I Know That My Savior Loves Me."  I wrote down the phrases of the song on slips of paper, and let the kids toss a coin - if it landed on heads, they had to say the phrase that came before the phrase on the paper; if it was tails, they said the phrase that came after.  It was much harder than it seems!  But it was so fun to see them whispering the words, looking off to the left to see the mental picture of the verse, singing to themselves - it was hilarious!  Thinking of what comes before is really hard!  After I worked their little brains into mush, we had a little bit of fun (just so you don't think I'm a slave-driver!), and at the end of singing time, both Junior and Senior primary were much more familiar with the verses of this beautiful song about our Savior.  I wanted them to realize that the words are already in their heads and hearts - sometimes it's hard to hear them, but if we focus we will hear the song play in our minds and our focus will turn to them.  It is also this way with the Spirit.  The Spirit's influence is working constantly - but we need to tune into it to really feel it's power and gain strength from it. 

Activity Idea:

Come up with a few scenarios that have positive and negative consequences - read a scenario then have your child flip a coin.  If it lands on heads, have them tell you what happens if the right choice is made.  If it lands on tails, have them tell you what happens if the wrong choice is made.  The possibilities here are endless!

This is an easy way to talk about gospel principles, the Holy Ghost, and a few of our primary songs along the way!  Have fun!

Keep the Commandments

Keep the commandments,

Keep the commandments,

In this there is safety,

In this there is peace.

He will send blessings,

He will send blessings,

Words of a prophet:

Keep the commandments;

In this there is safety and peace.

Today we introduced this song, and the children learned the whole thing in just a few minutes!  Some of them already knew the words, and that made the teaching part so much easier.  We began singing time by talking a little bit about a letter written by President Kimball.  You can read that letter here.  We taked specifically about how he said, "The most important thing I can say to you is to live the commandments of our Heavenly Father."  The most important thing!  We also talked about the blessings that come when we keep the commandments.  In the song it mentions safety and peace, but the kids thought of so many blessings that they have received by being obedient.  It was really a neat experience to see them recognize the hand of our Heavenly Father in so many aspects of their lives.

Family Home Evening Challenge:

Read the letter from President Kimball to the primary children.  Explain that even though the letter was written many years ago, the words of our prophets are still true today.  How is the world different for children today vs. 30 years ago, or 100 years ago?  How is it the same?

Read John 14:15.  How do we show our love for the Savior?  How do we know what the commandments are?  There are so many commandments to keep track of!  Read the following scriptures to find out what some of them are:

Alma 13:28-29
D&C 1:37
Exodus 20:8-11
D&C 59:9-12
D&C 119:4
Matthew 22:36-40

What other commandments can you think of?  Explain that when the prophets speak, whether it's in General Conference, the Ensign or the Friend, or in ancient and modern scripture, they command us to do things that the Lord would have us do.  "Modern" commandments include staying out of debt, wearing only one earring per ear, accumulating food storage, and not watching R-rated movies. 

Read 1 Nephi 3:7.  Help the children understand that we have been blessed with all the tools we need to be obedient and make good choices.  Keeping the commandments truly does keep us safe from sin and sorrow, and we can have the peace that comes from knowing that we followed the words of our Heavenly Father and His prophets.

Have fun!

Thanks!

A big, big thank you to those of you who have dropped off baby food jars!  I am gathering them to make rythm jars to practice rythm and beat with the primary kids.  I still need lots more (the idea would be to have enough for each primary child and teacher), so keep 'em coming!  I work during the day, so just drop them on the porch if I'm not home.  Thanks for all of your help!

Also, you can sign up as a follower of this blog, so you get notified each time it's updated!  And, as always, any feedback or comments that you leave will make it much easier for me to adapt this blog to fit your needs as the readers.  So keep me informed, and I hope you find this to be a fun and useful resource!

"Feel the Music"

Yesterday in primary, we talked about feeling the meaning of our songs, and not just singing the words.  We did a really fun activity where some of the kids got to come up and guess which song we were singing by feeling an object that gave a clue.  (Of course they couldn't see the object - their hands were behind the poster!) 

Some of the items were:

Missionary tag = I Hope They Call Me on a Mission
Rock = To Think About Jesus
Fishing Net = Come, Follow Me
Heart = I Know That My Savior Loves Me
The Letter "I" = I Belong to the Church of Jesus Christ

It was a really fun and challenging way for the kids to think about the words of the songs and how they make them "feel!" 

Family Home Evening Challenge:

We talked about how the primary songs and hymns are based on scriptures, and how when we sing them we are bearing witness of our Savior and showing Him how much we love Him.  The following are a few scripture passages that have inspired the songs we are currently working on.  Can you guess which songs belong to each scripture?  Look up the scripture, guess the song, and sing it as a family.  What a great way to discover the meaning and understand the purpose of each song we sing!  How do our songs make you feel?

D&C 9:23-24
D&C 21:1, 5
Ephesians 4:11-12
John 3:5
D&C 138:3
D&C 115:4-5
John 14:26
D&C 133:8, 37
Matthew 4:19
D&C 76:20

**Remember - some of these scripture clues refer to the words in the song, not the song title.  So really think about it, and test your kids' knowledge of the music!

Have fun, and I'll keep you posted!

Love,