Today was our annual Primary program in Sacrament meeting @ church. Rees was assigned to write a short talk about the two temple open houses he attended with me earlier this year.
We invited Bob to come watch (Maryanne is still in Colorado). Bryan was tempted to make a video of the talk, but he was pretty sure he’d go to hell if he did that. So you’ll just have to imagine. We helped with the outline of the talk & some of the doctrine, but the memories & observations were all his. He was a little nervous, but he was brave & did a great job.
In March my mom and I went to the Draper Temple open house. Then in June, I went to another temple open house with some ladies in our ward. It was the Oquirrh Temple open house. Before a temple is dedicated, people are allowed to come and walk through the temple, and see how special it is. Anyone can come to the temple open house.
When I went, I saw a lot of beautiful things. I saw golden oxen with a pool on their backs. The pool is used for baptisms. I saw pictures of Jesus on the walls. Some rooms had all the walls painted to look like forests, mountains, and other things from nature. I saw lights that were made from millions of rings and crystals. They were very big and sparkly. The rugs were white. I saw nice dressing rooms where people can put on their temple clothes. The bathrooms were very clean. The people looking at the temple were quiet and reverent. Even the children were quiet too. There were special temple workers there to help us know where to go and which way to walk. I felt happy to be there. The feeling in the temple was peaceful and calm.
When the open houses were over, both of the temples were dedicated to Heavenly Father. That means that they were blessed and now they belong to him. When I am a little older, I can go back to do baptisms for the dead. Then, when I am ready to go on a mission, I will be able to go back to the temple again. Someday I can be married there too. I want to choose the right, and follow the commandments so I can be worthy to go to the temple.
Tags: I go to church, Rees
October 25th, 2009
Rees gave a talk today in Primary. He has given several this year, so I guess he is volunteering a lot.
For his talk, we made the puppets pictured below. I had the idea, & Bryan made it happen. For scale, note that the faces are mounted on paint sticks. Rees held up the appropriate face as he was reading each portion of his talk. He wrote most of it himself, we really only helped him with the opening & closing paragraphs.
Family members have important responsibilities. A responsibility is a special job. i am going to tell you about my family & our responsibilities today.
I am Rees. My responsibilities are to put my dirty clothes in the hamper, go to school, eat all my food, clear the table, set the table, be nice to my brother, obey my Mom & Dad, & clean up toys.
This is Percy. His responsibilities are to take a lot of naps, & catch bugs & spiders.
This is Daddy. His responsibilities are to play with me, fix things at our house, take out weeds & mow the grass, go to work to earn money for our family, built robots, & teach me things.
This is Mommy. Her responsibilities are to make food, clean the house, wash clothes & dishes, play with me, sleep with Daddy*, & plant flowers.
This is Jamie. His responsibilities are to play with me, be cute, eat his food, clean up toys, & obey Mom & Dad.
All families are a little different. If your Mom & Dad don’t live together anymore, or you live with other family members like Grandma & Grandpa, or another different kind of family, you each still have important responsibilities. Heavenly Father wants us to work together and help each other.
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
*deleted to maintain ‘G’ rating
Tags: I go to church, photos, Rees
March 8th, 2009
This was the first week our family has attended church back at our remodeled building. It’s been about a year since they started upgrading it. The building looks great, brand-new inside, with new carpet, paint, etc. It was also brought up to code (new elevator & a bunch of new doorways) & is earthquake-ready. They re-did the landscaping, which was nonexistent before. We are really glad to be back there – we really missed attending a building that is within walking distance.
About a month ago I got a new calling – 1st Counselor in Primary. It’s fun, I like it. I have been in the Primary in our ward twice previously, once as the 2nd Counselor & more recently as a teacher of the 4/5/6-year olds. Today I conducted & did sharing time by myself.
Posted some old pictures from the aquarium – Nov 21
Tags: I go to church, kids
February 1st, 2009
Today was my first day teaching the CTR 6 class. There are three kids – two boys and a girl. Piece of cake, right? Um, not so much. They are sweet, but the boys are crazy!
I am realizing that I need to shift my teaching style again. About eight years ago I taught the CTR 5 class, and I was in the Primary Presidency a few years ago where I regularly taught Sharing Time. Back then, I found that a short, highly organized lesson followed by an activity seemed to work best. When I moved to Young Women, I learned how to teach in a flexible manner, with an outline and a basic plan of topics and exercises to work through, with the kids’ comments kind of guiding the lesson (which worked much better for the youth). So I did little preparation this week, quickly reading the lesson and putting together a simple craft. I’ll have to step up my game if I’m gonna keep these kids under control. 
Rees did not seem to be affected by my presence in Primary. He noticed me and waved from time to time, but he was content to sit with his class. I was amazed to see how he is when the classes all meet as a group. While the other members of the Sunbeam class were running around the room, playing with chairs, lying on the floor, falling asleep, crying, etc, he was calmly sitting in his chair and – GASP – paying attention to Sharing Time!?! I wonder how long this will last. Go Rees!
Tags: I go to church, Rees
February 24th, 2008
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