The One Woman Show...

I am the Primary Secretary in our ward. But this past Sunday, I was in charge of doing Sharing Time (mini lesson) for the 4-11 y/0 children. Two of the ladies in our Presidency just had babies, so I was conducting as well. Of course, last Sunday our Chorister was released, so I did Singing Time too!!! Our other counselor was the "roamer." Between the two of us, I think we had our Primary covered... :-) I wasn't worried about doing the sharing time, music, and conducting. The only thing I was worried about was the children getting sick of listening to one person the whole time...But it went well!

Jr. Primary didn't go as smoothly as Sr. because I didn't get to get to all the activities I had planned. At the time, I wasn't sure why I was running out of time and I got a little flustered by looking at the clock. Where did all the time go?! Jim told me sacrament ran over by almost 10 min. plus the time it took the classes to settle into their seats....we started almost 2o min. late! HELLO! No wonder...

Sr. Primary went very well! I got to all of my activities and the kids were paying attention and so reverent! After church, one of our teachers (with the rowdiest class) came up to me to thank me and tell me what a great job I did. She said, "She's never seen her class sit still for so long!" Yeah!

The Lesson:

"Faith Strengthens Our Family"

Marina gave me the idea of an accordion style family that "grows." So I made this accordion family that sits on the couch, because isn't that where most of us spend our time? :-)I had a picture of the Savior above the family and the family had to reach the Savior by building their faith. I had 4 stories from the scriptures and they had to relate the story to our day. I used my Punch Board to choose the story I would tell. I had 4 for Jr. and 4 for Sr. (they were color coordinated.)We would sing a song in between the stories. After each story the family would "grow" closer to the Savior...

We nurture our faith by: Praying, Keeping the Commandments, and Reading the Scriptures. At the end, I had 4 volunteers hold up our "shields of faith." I had a large serving platter, a top of a large pot, a small Tupperware top, and a 1/4 teaspoon. Each object was their "shield of faith." The more we develop and nurture our faith and make right choices the larger our shield becomes! The kids had to protect their face/families by holding up their shields. I then threw small trials/temptation balls at them (marshmallows work best.) The kids LOVED it! The poor boy with the teaspoon got pegged. LOL

My Stories & Songs:

1. David Slays Goliath - We can overcome trials and challenges that seem impossible if we have faith in the Lord. (song - I'll Follow Him In Faith)

2. Daniel Refuses the King's Meat & Wine - Word of Wisdom (song - If the Savior Stood Beside Me)

3. Lehi's Family Leaving Jerusalem - Sometimes we're asked to move, but we still have our family. (song - My Eternal Family or Follow the Prophet)

4. Two Thousand Young Warriors - We can listen to our parents and Stand up for what is right. (song - Seek the Lord Early)