I was released from my calling as Primary President in the Carlson Farm Ward today. I pretty much knew it was coming. My counselors and I have served close to four years, and since the beginning of the year I have been hearing remarks from all kinds of people that we have been in there LONGER than any one else in the Stake.
But "closer" that I am, I was hoping it would be AFTER the Primary Sacrament Presentation which will be on September 29th. Not a priority for someone. So, we were put out to pasture today.
With every calling comes an eventual release. But when you have what I have come to feel this time around was the best calling in the Ward, it was easy to put that "release" in the back of my mind.
When Bishop Child called me to be Primary President, I had just celebrated my 70th birthday. Though I had served many times before as a Primary president or a counselor, the last time thirty-three years before was when Britty was still a babe in arms. I was 37 years old. Quite a difference.
Not only did I have NO children in Primary, I was old enough to be their grandmother or in a few instances their great grandmother. WOW!
I asked Bishop Child what he would like me to do. He commissioned me to help the kids KNOW they are each a child of God. I said I could do that. And that I knew the scriptures are true.
So, we began with I AM a Child of God in every reference we could. And we emphasized that we are all brothers and sisters in Christ's family no matter how old--or how young, in this case--we are. I told them we were going to call them Brother ______ and Sister _______. Along the way we bore testimony of that principle every time we taught. We helped the kids see that Primary was where they jumped on the Covenant Path with baptism, and that we were there to help them to choose the right so they would STAY on the Covenant Path.
It was a terrific chunk out of my life. I saw a multitude of tender mercies come my way with changes to "unchangeable" schedules which popped up at United--either a last minute SNAFU that put me in the right place at the right time, or waiting until the 11th hour to see that some WONDERFUL someone had been prompted to pick up my trip so I could be there for special meetings, the annual Primary Sacrament Meeting Program each year, or just being able to be to Church.
We finished our tenure as a Primary presidency with two significant events.
1--Missionary Initiative last week when I invited the Elders to come and share with the kids things THEY could do to INVITE people to Church. Also, a brother in the ward came and told about being invited to Primary when he was little, Scouts as he got older, and Seminary. He was baptized the day after his 18th birthday because his mother wasn't keen on the Church. Kids CAN make a difference when they invite their friends!
Then we gave each Primary child a Pass Along Card with instructions to brainstorm and discuss with their families whom they could give it to and invite someone to Church.
2--Primary Birthday Celebration. Today marked 141 years since Aurelia Spencer Rogers organized the first Primary Association. We celebrated every kid's birthday today by giving them three pencils--red, yellow, and blue the Primary colors. Each had a different message: Happy Primary Birthday! Come Follow Me 2019, and Primary Makes Me Happy! They also got a book mark with Primary Come Follow Me 2019. All in time for school to begin on Tuesday. And there was a sugar cookie for everyone with the message Happy Birthday to the Primary and to YOU!
In all it has been a memorable run.....
But today was Graduation Day!
NOTE: This release comes at a time when I am pressed at United because my requalification is next month and I haven't even STARTED the 35 hours of computer classes I have to finish before the end of August so I can die in September at that awful, awful CQ. Actually, I should have had them done by the 15th. I don't think that is going to happen as I leave in 30 minutes for Atlanta. So, no Primary responsibilities will help some, I think. Maybe it IS another tender mercy from the Lord.....
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