Little Friends

 Most of my Sunday school seniors are off on missions and a couple are at school or attending the younger Sunday school class with friends, so my class has faded away with the end of Summer. Sister Allred and I have been reassigned to serve in primary until January when Sunday school classes bump up and we receive a new crop of seniors to live and adore. I already love and adore them, and have been busy bust reading some of their college application essays this month. But I am now available to serve during the 2nd hour of church, so off to primary I go. My assignment is with these 4 cheeky little boys plus two girls. I think I have grown a soft heart for wild squirrely little bodies. The majority of the kids in our primary do not attend public school and therefore most of them don’t participate in a regular practice of quiet, organized group instruction.

I know I was specifically asked to “be a firm hand” but I truly am unbothered by little boys stimming and hanging off their chairs.  I’m just not so sure they actually NEED to be sitting rigidly in a chair to absorb the lesson content or feel the Sprit. It would be easier, yes, but these kids will be ok. I think back to 12+ years ago when I was primary President, and we have over 100 kids in primary…it was busy and exhausting, but not chaotic. I feel like my job is really just to help give love and redirect attention or make learning applicable to their understanding. I enjoy this little primary class and the gift to love these little friends (June and Naomi were out sick). They are wild and full of life and energy. It is a divine assignment to take a wild and unorganized environment and create a place with order and peace where learning can happen. They are still wiggly and a perpetual dog pile of little bodies, but they are learning and checked in. And they are so very cute. (And kind of naughty. I went on a hunt for a couple stowaways and found selfies taken by the other two on my phone. 🤪