Primary - Hannah

November is the month I was asked to teach Sharing Time in Primary, and since today is the last Sunday of the month, I am now finished for a couple months. The theme was gratitude, and we talked about how we can be grateful for our bodies, our temporal blessings, and our spiritual blessings.

If I ever feel inadequate for a church calling again, I will remember this experience. I was asked to teach children in a language I don't speak. It doesn't get much more inadequate than that. It was far from perfect. And honestly, I don't know what anyone understood.

But I tried my best. I have the feeling that no one expected it to be perfect. I have the feeling that the Lord would rather have our imperfect efforts than no effort. I certainly appreciate when my children try something, even when it's difficult.  

Each Sharing Time this month involved a game, and if there were any stories, they were very short. One game that worked well was Pictionary. We talked about temporal blessings that we are thankful for, and I had papers for the children to choose, with a blessing for them to draw on the whiteboard. The word was written in both Spanish and English, so whether it was one of my children or a Spanish-speaking child, they could understand what to draw, and also recognize answers in either Spanish or English.  

I also told the story of my ancestor, William Bradford, who came with the pilgrims to the United States and celebrated the first Thanksgiving. Everything I said, I said in English so my kids could understand, and in Spanish (thanks to Google Translate).

Next week is the Sacrament Meeting Primary Presentation. Each child has a scripture to share. Jonah has his part memorized: "La Familia es Ordenada por Dios" and is excited to give his "talk." I'll also be sharing my testimony and a few thoughts.

Caleb will accompany several of the songs on the piano, and I'll play violin for a couple of the songs. Julia and one of the sister missionaries will also help accompany on the piano. I was hoping Dylan would play one of the songs too, but it's looking like he may not want to. He was originally excited for the opportunity to play one of the songs, but when it came time to practice he decided against it. Hopefully, he'll decide to learn and play a song in Primary sometime. I'm sure he would be happy afterward to see what he is capable of, with a little effort.

I'm grateful for the good people I work with in the primary, and their great patience with me. Abby, the Primary President, is very young--she was born when I was in high school. But it's clear that she cares for each child and also she has a great laugh. Today was ward conference, so the Stake Primary President and Secretary were also attending. That could have increased the stress level, but they were also very kind, and if I messed up, I just had to think Pura Vida.