Today our children participated in our annual Primary Program, where all Primary children sing songs about Heavenly Father and Jesus, and share their testimonies about the gospel. As always, the Spirit was very abundant and the children brought the simple joy of gospel blessings into our hearts. Gillian, Jefferson and James had practiced their parts and did wonderfully. Jefferson was loud and clear as he delivered his lines. His primary class sang a song all by themselves and Jefferson did his best. I could hear his voice singing powerfully. James had memorized his piece and shared it without making any mistakes. He had practiced hard and wanted to do it all by himself without any help from the teachers. I was so proud of James. Gillian was sweet and humble as she shared her talk and testimony with the congregation. All the senior primary children had been given the opportunity to choose between writing their own talk or reading prepared lines. Gillian had decided to write her own talk, and although it took a while for me to get her to finish her assignment, the end result was very beautifully done. The theme of the talk was missionary work and how it has changed her life or her family's life. Here is her talk:"My mother and her family lived in Albania and the government there didn’t allow them to go to church. My mother told me that they were not even allowed to read or talk about the Bible. But my grandma Lili believed in God and wasn’t scared to tell my mom about Heavenly Father. When the bad government was replaced by another government and they allowed religion in the country, my mom and her family went to visit many churches, but they didn’t find what they were looking for. When the missionaries from our church knocked on their door, my mom and her family felt God’s Spirit radiating from these young men. After learning about Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, and the belief we have about eternal families, my mom knew this was the true church. She and her family were the first to join the church in their city.
My father’s parents, Mama Lu and Papa, were members of the Baptist church when the missionaries found them. My father’s extended family, most all of them, are Baptists who love Jesus and are good people and I love them all very much, but their church doesn’t have the Book of Mormon or a living prophet. My grandfather felt the Spirit when the missionaries showed him the Book of Mormon, and when he read it, he knew it contained the words of God. My grandparents’ family was against them joining the church, but Mama Lu and Papa chose to join anyways.
Because of those good decisions made some years ago, today I have two parents who themselves served a mission and feel strongly about the gospel. They teach me and my brothers to follow Jesus’ example. I too want to serve a mission, but till then I’ll be a good example to my friends. I’m grateful for missionary work. It changes lives."
