Success!

Last week was our Primary Program, and the kids did really well.  Since most everyone had more than one speaking part, it was interesting to watch how they delivered their second part with more confidence. It had been decided that the congregation would stand and sing verses 2-4 of "Come, Follow Me" after the Primary sang the first verse.  This was something that Sister W (the recently released, but still led the program, Primary President) had explained from the pulpit.  The congregation had also been instructed to sing verses 2 and 3 of "I Stand All Amazed" as the closing hymn after the Primary sang verse 1, but had not been instructed to stand.  The old guy in the front row (like, he literally took his date in a brand new Packard to prom) got a little confused and stood for the second one, too.  Because he was in the front, he didn't notice that no one else was standing (except for the previous branch president, who was standing next to one of the Primary kids sharing a hymnal)...I honestly don't know which of the kids stood and which sat, or when.  But that's the thing about this branch.  We all did what we were comfortable with, what we thought was the right thing, it worked out beautifully, and no one was judged for it.

I had a breakdown at work last Friday (the one before the program), and just sobbed in the drive thru.  I shouted the words, "I need help!" and thankfully there was someone there to come in and help take/deliver some orders.  It was a really stressful week, what with the manager being gone and the assistant manager working 80 hours that week to make up for it.  We also had some construction crew in to install some shelving units that should have been installed a month ago.  So everyone had a long week.  I don't know about all the other full time employees, but I've had more than 40 hours each week since we reopened the store (after heavy renovation) the Saturday after Labor Day.  Mine was made even longer with the dreariness of the weather early in the week and starting my period on Wednesday, the day I was scheduled 10:45-5, and then had to go back in at 7 to do the order.  Of all the days....  Friday, though, I didn't take any Vitamin D like I should have.  Then people kept trickling in, one after another, and I didn't get any chance between orders to do any of the other 'rush ready' work that I normally can.  I also noticed that it took me longer to set up the machines than it normally does, partially because I had put one of the ice cream machine levers on upside down, so I had to tear it halfway down and put it on their correctly.  Things just snowballed, and tears rolled down.

About ten minutes before the breakdown started at 10:45, I looked out the window and noticed how dismal it was outside.  I remember thinking, "Today's going to be a crying day.  I can feel it.  I'm going to cry today."  I didn't realize the tears would come so quickly; I honestly thought I'd be able to hold them off until I got home.  It only lasted about 5 minutes, and when I opened the back door to let in one of the 11 o'clock employees in, he didn't even realize I had been crying.  I had asked the assistant manager on Tuesday (or maybe it was Wednesday) to start scaling me back to about 38 hours starting in November.  I said it was because I had a gig writing for a website.  Which isn't entirely untrue, it's just less true than I anticipated.  (It's a long story.)

The point of that is, one of our older boys had to read a part that had been assigned to someone else.  I think, anyway.  He had two parts, and the first one that he read, he started crying in the middle of it.  It reminded me of how I had been on Friday, and I felt a connection.  I was so proud of him for doing something that had to have been frightening for him, and his teacher comforted him and showed more emotion than he typically does, especially with his class.  And a boy who easily could have made fun of the kid who had cried slid one seat over so he could sit by the teacher and get the encouragement he needed.  That one really wants to serve a mission, and I can hardly wait for him to get out there and serve!

We have so many great kids and youth in our branch!  I just love all of their examples and the spirit they bring to all of our meetings.  I don't know very many of them outside of the chapel walls, but I see how they are inside, and it warms my soul.

The only less-than-successful aspect of last Sunday was the fact that I had misunderstood what was happening in the two hours following the program.  In short, I hadn't realized that I would need to prepare a lesson.  Especially red-faced because there was a visitor from the stake Primary Presidency.  (Although, to be fair, she didn't realize that we had a new branch Primary Presidency, so miscommunications abound.)  Thankfully, I have a back-up lesson plan I keep in the Primary room.  Junior Primary did Singing with Style.  I took a few minutes on the sofa after Singing Time with Nursery (which I had skipped the past two weeks because of practice) and wrote out the names of some of the songs we're singing next year for the Program to see how familiar they are with them.  I put the slips in a can coozie I keep around the water bottle in my bag (otherwise the plastic makes noises when I drink from it) and that was that.

This week's activity, and probably for the next couple of weeks, is one that I probably should have done last month, but...whatever.  In August, the Primary President passed a sheet around the fifth Sunday lesson so that any RMs in the branch could put their name, where they served, and their favorite Primary song.  Then I took a little teddy bear stamp that has a heart in the middle of it and made little figures to put on dollar store maps of the US and world to show where everyone served.  The Senior Primary is given clues about the location, and they try to guess the city as well as the missionary based on the clues and the song.  They did pretty well, even if not much singing happened.  Like I said, it's not necessarily a textbook activity, but it brings the Spirit and the kids love it.  Also, it means that I don't have to do much lesson planning because it will take probably another week in Junior Primary and maybe 2 more in Senior.  Just in time for holiday singing times.  (Which I am not necessarily looking forward to.  I get Grinchy about Christmas.)

But one of the things that makes me feel most successful in my calling is something one little girl did.  This little Sunbeam (who often looks like one because of her white-blond hair and pale complexion) hardly sang along at all with the rest of the Primary.  It always seemed to me that she was off in her own little world, thinking about bugs and monsters because that's what makes her happy.  (Seriously; I almost hit her with the door to the building because she was crouched down to help a spider that didn't have all 8 legs after church today.)  But it's her first year in Primary, and I'm of the notion that as long as kids aren't distracting others, whatever they're doing is fine.  Today, though, all through sacrament meeting and the second hour, she could be heard softly singing parts of "I Know That My Savior Loves Me."  The. entire. time.  If it weren't so cute, it probably would have been annoying.  I honestly had no idea that she even knew that song (despite singing it almost all year), much less as well as she was singing it.

But I doubt there is anything that can make me feel better as the Primary Music Leader than to hear that little voice softly and confidently singing, "I did not touch him or sit on his knee, yet Jesus is real to me."  You sing it, sister!!