Today at church was our Primary Program. For an usual ward, this would be the Sunday that children from 18months to eleven years of age get up to present what hey learned during the year with the help of the Primary Presidency and their teachers. Living in a BYUI Married Student ward, most of the couples are freshly married or like us still early in married years. The children in our ward are all under the age of 18 months. So being in Primary Presidency, it is a little difficult to have a Primary Program with NO children. Instead of having children speak then as a presidency we have to. This is now my third talk in a year and a half because of the Primary..... Getting better at it though ;)
So here is my talk:
Primary all over the world has had the sacred blessing to help teach each child to come to know that he or she is a child of God. The goal was to help each child learn this important truth as they feel our Heavenly Father's love for us. As adults, we are still children to our earthly parents, to our bishop, and to our Heavenly Father. We need to understand our own divine identity, purpose, and potential. We can help increase our faith in Jesus Christ and our testimony of our Heavenly Father’s plan for us when we realize our full potential as children of God. As we realize this for ourselves we can then teach this in our families, helping our children know and be strengthened by the knowledge that we are children of our Heavenly Father and He loves us.
Heavenly Father wanted us to be happy and He presented His plan to send us to earth and receive a body. He said that we could be happy if we obeyed His commandments. But He knew that we would need a Savior to help us since none of us would be perfect. When we heard about Heavenly Father’s plan, we shouted for joy! How great is the plan of happiness. And how simple it is for us to follow. The Primary song "I will follow God's Plan" explains in simple terms the plan before us.
My life is a gift; my life has a plan.
My life has a purpose; in heav’n it began.
My choice was to come to this lovely home on earth
And seek for God’s light to direct me from birth.
I will follow God’s plan for me,
Holding fast to his word and his love.
I will work, and I will pray;
I will always walk in his way.
Then I will be happy on earth
And in my home above.
In the search for our Heavenly Fathers love, we should be reassured by the examples from the prophets that He knows us by name. Enos when wrestling with his sins, kneeled before god:
"4 And my soul hungered; and I kneeled down before my Maker, and I cried unto him in mighty prayer and supplication for mine own soul; and all the day long did I cry unto him; yea, and when the night came I did still raise my voice high that it reached the heavens.
5 And there came a voice unto me, saying: Enos, thy sins are forgiven thee, and thou shalt be blessed.
(Enos:4-5)
Another example was during Moses' encounter.
"2 And he saw God face to face, and he talked with him, and the glory of God was upon Moses; therefore Moses could endure his presence.
3 And God spake unto Moses, saying: Behold, I am the Lord God Almighty, and Endless is my name; for I am without beginning of days or end of years; and is not this endless?
4 And, behold, thou art my son; wherefore look, and I will show thee the workmanship of mine hands; but not all, for my works are without end, and also my words, for they never cease......
6 And I have a work for thee, Moses, my son;...."
(Moses 1:2-6)
Joseph Smith was also called by name as he kneeled before god...
"14 So, in accordance with this, my determination to ask of God, I retired to the woods to make the attempt. It was on the morning of a beautiful, clear day, early in the spring of eighteen hundred and twenty. It was the first time in my life that I had made such an attempt, for amidst all my anxieties I had never as yet made the attempt to pray vocally.
15 After I had retired to the place where I had previously designed to go, having looked around me, and finding myself alone, I kneeled down and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God. I had scarcely done so, when immediately I was seized upon by some power which entirely overcame me, and had such an astonishing influence over me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak. Thick darkness gathered around me, and it seemed to me for a time as if I were doomed to sudden destruction.
16 But, exerting all my powers to call upon God to deliver me out of the power of this enemy which had seized upon me, and at the very moment when I was ready to sink into despair and abandon myself to destruction--not to an imaginary ruin, but to the power of some actual being from the unseen world, who had such marvelous power as I had never before felt in any being--just at this moment of great alarm, I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me.
17 It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other--This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!"
(Joseph Smith—History:14-20)
God knows each of us by name and understands the trials in our lives. He did not give us just the plan of happiness though. He sent us the Holy Ghost to help us through our way. Again a primary song simply explains this wonderful gift.
"The Holy Ghost"
When Christ was on the earth,
He promised he would send
The Holy Ghost to comfort us,
Our true, eternal friend.
The Holy Spirit whispers
With a still small voice.
He testifies of God and Christ
And makes our hearts rejoice.
And when we are confirmed
By sacred priesthood pow’r,
The Holy Ghost is giv’n to us
To guide us ev’ry hour.
Oh, may I always listen
To that still small voice.
And with his light I’ll do what’s right
Each time I make a choice.
Another gift to help us on our way is our family.
“The Family: A Proclamation to the World,” explains that Heavenly Father’s plan was for His children to come to earth in families.
Think about a bundle of sticks. Each stick separately represent members of your family. By itself, one stick is easy to break. We step on sticks all the time and they break into pieces with ease. But take a bundle of sticks and wrap them with layers of paper. Each layer represents an activity. First is family prayer, then family scripture study, family home evening, family going to church, family games, family support, and family love. Each activity bind the sticks together creating an unbreakable log. These activities invite the Spirit into our homes and lives and bring us closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, which then makes our families stronger.
Our Heavenly Father wants all of his children to come unto Him. He wants all to know of their potential that they are a child of God that they can return to live with him. He can not do this by himself. So he has recruited his disciples those of us who know that he is our father.
There are many ways that we can help others know of their divine potential. But One way is to be an example and serve those around us.
When ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.”
35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
(Matthew 25:35-40)
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf told of this importance in his general conference talk in April of 2010 titled "you are my hands"
He stated:
"A story is told that during the bombing of a city in World War II, a large statue of Jesus Christ was severely damaged. When the townspeople found the statue among the rubble, they mourned because it had been a beloved symbol of their faith and of God’s presence in their lives.
Experts were able to repair most of the statue, but its hands had been damaged so severely that they could not be restored. Some suggested that they hire a sculptor to make new hands, but others wanted to leave it as it was--a permanent reminder of the tragedy of war. Ultimately, the statue remained without hands. However, the people of the city added on the base of the statue of Jesus Christ a sign with these words: “You are my hands.”
There is a profound lesson in this story. When I think of the Savior, I often picture Him with hands outstretched, reaching out to comfort, heal, bless, and love. And He always talked with, never down to, his people. He loved the humble and the meek and walked among them, ministering to them and offering hope and salvation.
That is what He did during His mortal life; it is what He would be doing if He were living among us today; and it is what we should be doing as His disciples and members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Our thoughts and hearts (should be) drawn to Him--the Hope of Israel and the Light of the World.
As we emulate His perfect example, our hands can become His hands; our eyes, His eyes; our heart, His heart."
(“You Are Hands")
As we come to know our Heavenly Father and teach our children that we are children of god, let us not forget to thank him each day for the His plan, his blessing, his son, and our lives.
I am a child of God,
And he has sent me here,
Has given me an earthly home
With parents kind and dear.
I am a child of God,
And so my needs are great;
Help me to understand his words
Before it grows too late.
I am a child of God.
Rich blessings are in store;
If I but learn to do his will,
I’ll live with him once more.
I am a child of God.
His promises are sure;
Celestial glory shall be mine
If I can but endure.
(Chorus)
Lead me, guide me, walk beside me,
Help me find the way.
Teach me all that I must do
To live with him someday.
I testify that I know I am a daughter of God. I know that he loves me and has sent me to an earthly home when goodly parents who have taught me my potential. I know that he has blessed me with the Holy Ghost to know decipher between right and wrong leading me back to live with him. I know that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet of God so have been the prophets before him. I know that The Lord appeared to Joseph and helped him restore the gospel so that I can return again. I know that the Savior atoned for my sins, for I am not perfect and The Lord knew I would need someone's guidance back to him. I know I am a daughter of god. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
