Faith

May 2021 Primary Singing Time

This month’s singing time outline features the following suggested songs (I’ve included ways to sing them in your homes):

  1. When He Comes Again – While you watch this sing-along video, have the children match the pictures in this printable.  Keep playing and singing the first verse until they’re all matched up.  Then sing it with your kids once or twice with the pictures as your guide.  Some of these methods might seem repetitive but I can guarantee that your kids are listening and learning and that repetition is instrumental in that process.
  2. Have I Done Any Good? Introduce this song by watching this music video (featuring Alex Boye and Carmen Rasmussen).  For older children, you can also watch this short excerpt from a talk given by President Thomas S. Monson where he references this song.  There are some great images of things each of us can do to spread “goodness” throughout our communities and the world.  
  3. Choose The Right. Teach your kids how to sing and sign this song by watching this instructional video.  You can also watch the church’s sing-along video as an introduction.  You can also keep the kids’ hands moving as they sing by using these printable CTR shields found at the blog “In the Leafy Treetops”.’

April 2021 Primary Singing Time

What’s not to like about April?  Warmer weather, General Conference, Easter (most years, anyway) and my birthday!  Now I have another reason to love April – the suggested songs for Primary are short and sweet – perfect for teaching a classroom of rambunctious kids.  Or, since we’re still doing church pandemic-style, perfect for teaching whatever number of young’uns happen to live in your home.  

Here they are:

  1.  Jesus Has Risen  For this song, print and cut out a picture of the Savior for each child.  You can use this printable (6 to a page).  As you sing through the song, raise the picture up each time the Savior is referenced.  To “shake” things up a little bit, fill a plastic Easter egg with beans or rice, seal it up, and shake the egg each time the Savior is referenced.  The song’s message is simple and this exercise will reinforce the central importance of Jesus Christ in our lives.  (Modified slightly from a lesson on Camille’s Primary Ideas).
  2. I Want to Be a Missionary Now  Do you remember when we used these directional signs as we learned the first verse of this song during virtual singing time in February?  Dig them out and use them again with your families to learn the second and third verses.  You can also watch this sing-along video to help you.
  3. Jesus Said Love Everyone   Let’s learn a bit of sign language to go along with the words of this sweet song.  Check out this video to help you learn it!

Feel free to take the time to learn Joseph Smith’s First Prayer in your home over the course of this year.  Whether our Primary Program is virtual or in-person, I plan to include this beautiful hymn in some way.  You can use the storybook you received in January’s singing time packet. 

During virtual singing time a couple of months ago, we used our five senses to imagine what it must have been like that spring day – sun shining, birds singing, bees humming in a shady woodland.  That helped us learn the first verse of the song. 

I also have this printable to help learn the second verse.  It talks about some of the feelings young Joseph had as he prayed vocally for the first time.

And here’s a video I created for learning the third verse.  Grab a pair of glasses (or wait for the ones you’ll get in this month’s singing time packet) and try to imagine what Joseph saw as he spoke with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.

 

March 2021 Primary Singing Time

It’s hard to believe it has been almost a full year since we last met together for singing time at church!  I miss meeting together, but I am a huge fan of home-centered learning.  Especially when it comes to the gospel.  The songs we sing in Primary can be sung just as easily at home, and we don’t really even need fancy methods for learning them (although they can help!) 

Parents: It’s important to remember that, while it may feel silly to sing these songs over and over, repetition is how children learn.  They also learn music by experiencing it – which is why I like to provide a few ideas for how to practice primary songs in new ways.  It may seem like a distraction and that the kids are just having fun, but since children learn by having fun, you can bet they are absorbing the music and words (especially if you do it more than once or twice).  In time, the meaning of the words will also sink deep into their souls and build their testimonies of eternal truths.

Here are the three suggested songs for March 2021(plus ways to introduce them to your children):

  1. The Church of Jesus Christ  Have you noticed how many times this song says the word “I”?  Print out this spinner activity on cardstock, attach a spinner (like this one you can buy on amazon) and follow the directions.  Play as many times as you want to!  You’ll have the song memorized before you know it.  You can also watch this sing-along video for some extra practice.
  2. When I am Baptized  Do you remember last year when we used ribbon wands as we sang this song?  You can try it again at home by making your own ribbon wand, or by using a scarf, or a bandana, or by using a stick(or even your hand).  Watch this instructional video on how to sing this song with ribbon wands (Borrowed from Camille’s Primary Ideas).  
  3. When He Comes Again  Cut on the dotted lines of this printable and have your kids match the words of the song to the corresponding picture as they listen to it.  Then sing the song together.  You can also watch this sing-along video.

Home-centered primary singing time for the win.

A birthright or a mess of pottage?

I mean, which one would you rather have? An inheritance in Israel or a bowl of soup? The answer seems obvious, right?

In the Old Testament, the story of Jacob and Esau always puzzled me. I mean, the idea that the eldest son traded his birthright for a measly bowl of soup? Incredulous.

Honestly, how hungry (and short-sighted) would one have to be to sacrifice his entire inheritance to satisfy an appetite? It just made no sense.

Thousands of years later we live in a digital age where our appetites for pretty much anything (good or bad) can be satisfied with the click of a button.

We decry philosophies that involve any sort of denial of one’s self, proclaiming that “living authentically” is the be all and end all to our existence.

But what if what we think of as “authenticity” is contrary to our divine nature and birthright? What if delaying gratification allows us to achieve an inheritance in the afterlife? I personally believe it will.

What can we liken in our lives to Esau’s irresistible mess of pottage? What appetites are we satisfying today that compromise our ability to achieve all that our heavenly parents have and want to give us?

I can remember going skiing as a teenager and ending up on the lift seated next to a total stranger. We struck up a conversation and discovered that we’d both grown up in the same religion. He’d decided as a teenager that Sundays constituted valuable skiing time and eventually quit going to church in favor of spending the Sabbath day “in nature”, so to speak. He traded God for skiing. Could that be a mess of pottage, of sorts?

Or how about my grandparents, who decided that rather than choose the faith of their ancestors they wanted to spend most of their days on the golf course. They were good people. But in my mind, they had traded something eternal for something very temporary.

Those are fairly trivial. But a so-called “mess of pottage” can be anything but. What about a person whose sexual orientation doesn’t seem to mesh well with God’s commandments? One who longs for a fulfilling relationship but who has been taught that the bounds the Lord has set means that marriage will remain a distant (if not unattainable) reality, if he/she wants to keep the commandments, that is.

That’s super rough. Life can seem long and hopeless under those circumstances. I don’t blame anyone who chooses fulfillment in this life over the promises of the next when their reality is homosexuality.

And yet, when this life is over and those promises are fulfilled, might it seem silly that we chose the bowl of soup over eternal glory? Maybe. It all comes down to faith and patience, right?

I don’t have all the answers.

The good news is, we have a lot of time to figure it out. Esau may have sacrificed his birthright, but it’s not as if he lost everything. Twenty years later found Esau managing his own property, reconciling with his brother Jacob, and burying his father.

He was still blessed, despite having lost the birthright.

Isn’t that beautifully merciful and just at the same time?

I believe in a God who exacts standards of behavior in order to inherit certain blessings. I also believe that one does not have to be perfect to inherit some measure of those blessings.

Our inheritance will be in direct proportion to our level of commitment of keeping our covenants with him.

I personally hope I can keep my eye on the prize. Though the sacrifices I make to be true to my eternal covenants are at times exhausting, the payout is too great. And thankfully, I get glimpses of eternity often to remind me that living the gospel benefits me not just in the next life but today.

A mess of pottage might be just what we want in the moment. But my faith rests in the promise that my birthright is far better than a bowl of lentil soup.

February 2021 Primary Singing Time

In January during our virtual singing time, we learned the first verse of Joseph Smith’s First Prayer by using our senses.  Could you sense what it was like in that grove of trees?

During the month of February, we are going to focus on the second verse of Joseph Smith’s First Prayer by understanding some of the emotions Joseph Smith experienced as he knelt to pray.  Use this emoji worksheet to better understand all the feelings young Joseph had at the time.  It will help you learn the words to the second verse.

The following are the suggested songs for Primary in February 2021:

  1.  I Want to Be a Missionary Now   As they strive to teach the gospel, most full-time missionaries will spend a lot of time walking.  Use these directional signs to walk in place while you’re learning the words to this song.
  2. The Priesthood is Restored  Play the game “Last Singer Standing” as you learn the words to this short song.  You may be short on breath while you hold out the notes.  
  3. I Stand All Amazed   Sing along to the words as you watch this sing-along video.  Another beautiful version of this song can be found here.

Happy learning!

My father dwelt in a tent.

I recently completed and restarted my study of the Book of Mormon. Sometimes it feels a little like Groundhog Day, as if there is little possibility I could still glean new insight or wisdom, considering that I am reading the exact same book for the umpteenth time.

And yet, heeding the prophet’s call to study it again and again, I turned right back around to 1 Nephi and started reading.

When I was a teenager and someone would ask me which scripture verse was my favorite, if I was in a snarky mood, I’d respond with “And my father dwelt in a tent.” I was kidding, of course, but as I have matured and gained insight, I’ve started to wonder at why Nephi made mention of this fact not just once, but several times in his record.

Specifically, he notes on three separate occasions: “Now all these things were said and done as my father dwelt in a tent in the valley of Lemuel.”

With a limited amount of space on which to write, and the fact that it was labor-intensive, why did Nephi repeat himself over such a seemingly trivial thing? Well, for starters, he’s simply giving a point of reference, so we know when and where certain events occurred.

I’m sure the scholars could write an entire book about it, but I’ll just add my humble musings on the matter. Take a look at the stories that precede Nephi’s references to their tent-dwelling in 1 Nephi 9, 1 Nephi 10, and 1 Nephi 16.

Each of these chapters contains a vision or prophecy. An occasion where the heavens were opened and Lehi (or Nephi, as the case may be) received revelation from God. Is it any coincidence that such revelations came as they “dwelt in a tent”? I think not.

Lehi was a very wealthy man in Jerusalem. Surely the demands of a large family and estate overwhelmed him and his wife Sariah at times. They lived there prior to Babylonian captivity, when Jerusalem’s inhabitants were ripening in iniquity.

Their means probably put them in social circles where there was pressure to keep up with the Joneses, so to speak. Maybe Sariah shuttled her children to and from various activities and a frenzied pace became the norm. Perhaps she worried about her kids’ friends and the influence that a privileged life was having on their commitment to the important things in life.

It’s possible that family time was slipping away from them and that a study of the word of God took a back seat to any number of activities that pulled them in different directions. (I don’t pretend to know what those are, but I do know that a life of entertainment and hobby is not uncommon among families whose finances are secure. Surely, that applied anciently, as well.)

In any case, Lehi and Sariah and their family left it all behind to “dwell in a tent” in the wilderness. Family time was the only time now. Social engagements canceled for good. Hobbies? Who has time for those when you have to find your own food?

In this simplified existence, I’m sure that quiet time with God became more prevalent, not to mention, necessary. Removing all distraction was a gift to Lehi and his family, as they learned to navigate life with the bare minimum, not knowing where they should go or what they should do.

I can’t help but see some parallels between this experience and the 2020 pandemic. Keeping up with a family of seven before COVID hit our country was utterly exhausting. I lived life in maintenance mode, moving from one event/project to the next.

Sure, we studied the gospel regularly in our home, but sometimes only half-heartedly or in a rush to wrap it up to get kids here or there or because they had homework to complete. Half the time we were missing at least one family member.

My personal quiet time of reflection came at a great cost as I had to wake ridiculously early to fit in any sort of scripture study. I fell asleep often because my body couldn’t keep up with the pace of family life.

As the pandemic hit, we figuratively left behind Jerusalem with only the necessary provisions (toilet paper included). Our lifestyle instantly simplified, we found joy in our family relationships, in simple pleasures, in studying the gospel with greater purpose.

Without all the distraction, I have found I am more in tune with my children’s needs. I have more energy to read up on how to navigate the troubles they experience, and more time to commune with the One who has all the answers.

Aside from a few camping trips we took this summer, we have not left everything behind to dwell in a tent. But, by stripping away much of our pre-pandemic baggage, we’ve discovered a closeness to God and one another that I dare say took a back seat for far too long.

Primary Singing Time – January 2021

Here are a few ways to learn the three suggested songs for Primary children in January 2021:

Joseph Smith’s First Prayer – In addition to your regular Come, Follow Me study in Joseph Smith History, use this song to teach your children the story of the First Vision.  Here’s a “storybook” to help them learn the words.  (Cut along the horizontal dotted lines and fold along the vertical dotted lines to assemble).  They can refer to it while you play the music.

(Original idea found at Primary Singing Time Ideas)

You can also watch this sing-along video for extra practice.

Search, Ponder and Pray – Print out this worksheet and follow the instructions for a fun way of teaching your children this song.  You can access the words, vocals, and music here.

(Modified from an activity found at Camille’s Primary Ideas).

Family History, I am Doing it – Junior Primary kids can become familiar with this song by listening to it (on repeat, if necessary) as they color this family tree worksheet.  For an extra challenge(I’m talking to you, Senior Primary kids), see how well they can complete a four-generation chart found here.  (While listening to and learning the song, of course).

The Still Small Voice – Primary Singing Time

The Holy Ghost is a companion I hope to never be without. Listen to the song in the game below and fill in the blanks with the words that are missing. Each missing phrase is a way in which the Spirit helps us in our lives.

Notice that the song reminds us that the Holy Ghost speaks to us in a still, small voice.  If we are never still and our lives are so filled with things and activities, we may risk drowning out the voice of the Spirit.  Let’s remember to be still so that the Holy Ghost can help us in our lives.

Now try singing the song again with all the words.