Primary Program Success!

It was a little less stressful this year getting together the primary program since I'd already been in charge of it the year before. I kept some of the things I thought worked well, dropped the ones that didn't and added a few new tricks. This year, it went SO SO SO good. We had so many compliments and had almost everyone in tears by the end. :) Plus, I DIDN'T come home and cry this year, so win win!

We have less kids this year (only 13) than last year (20) and so some things were eaiser... like interviewing the kids for their parts. I kept a lot of the kids talks throughout the year too and used some of them for their parts so some kids I didn't even have to interview. I knew I wanted to use our two oldest primary kids (Alec and his friend Benjamin) to be narrators again and so I sat down and wrote out an outline with the two narrators talking back and forth to each other tying together the monthly themes.  Then I created a list of questions for each theme that I could use in my interviews with the kids. I really enjoy taking the kids one by one out of their class or sharing time for about a 5 minute conversation where I ask them some of those questions and try and explore their life experiences regarding the gospel topics.  Kids really do say the darnedest things.  I record the interviews so I can make sure I have their exact wording. Then I pick 1 or 2 questions that they had a lot of good stuff to say about, trying to balance it out amongst all the kids so each monthly topic is covered by 2-4 kids. It worked out that everyone had two parts this year.

It kind of sounds like a long process, but it goes by pretty fast and it allows each child's part to be so authentic and heartfelt. It makes for a program that truly is full of the children's individual candid testimonies.  With the older kids, I throw in some of the monthly scriptures at the beginning or end of their part that goes a long with what they're saying.  The kids parts seriously make the program. They spoke of honest things like, "Sometimes I get mad at my sisters when they do a wrong move during a chess game" or "I spit water all over my sister and even though it wasn't even that bad she planned to spit water on me. But I know she forgave me because she eventually played with me again. Sometimes you don't have to say the words, I forgive you, to forgive someone. You have to just let it go and move on."  or "I try to be like Moroni by showing my faith. I believe in church and I go to church. I believe in reading the scriptures and I read them every night. I'm up to 13 verses a day and I'm already in 3rd Nephi." or  "Jesus was a nice guy. He loves everybody. I can love everyone too. I give my family hugs every morning." (that last one was one of Freddy's parts).

We held one Sunday practice during class and sharing time the Sunday before the program and then met again for about an hour on Saturday, the day before the program.  My good friend is the music leader and she did an AMAZING job teaching the songs throughout the whole year, so that the kids knew all the verses to all the songs without needing any kind of prompts. Plus, she picked a really special new song that the kids just love. Its called, I will be what I believe. The end has the chorus of Army of Helaman overlapping with the chorus from the song. We asked the YW and YM to come up and sing the Army of Helaman part with us and it turned out SO GREAT.

I sat on the floor by the mic, so I could help with parts for the non-readers, and get the stool ready for our shortest kids.  I organized the program for the kids into colored groups. Each song has a color and the kids who have a part after that song are in that color group. I have a flip chart next to me that shows the color group we're currently on and the color/song coming up. Then after each song I just hold out the flip chart and mouth, "Yellow group" and the kids usually remember which color their are (or they can see their name written) and get in the right order for the microphone.  I have the program itself divided by these groups too, so that I have one piece of paper on the podium for each group to read off of and I switch out the next group's sheet during the standing up of the songs.

I had the sister missionaries and Chris come sit up on the stand to help the kids since we had no teachers available to sit up there during the program (one of them is the pianist and the other couldn't make it) then my one counselor I put by the microphone controls to monitor those and help the children line up in the correct order for their parts.

All of this helped me to be able to focus and listen to what the kids were saying and sort of just enjoy the program as it went a long. If we had extra time to fill at the end, I wanted to be able to be in the zone and share my own testimony, but as it turned out, I didn't have to say anything! No adult did, except the Branch President who kind of bore a short testimony as he closed the meeting.  (He was in tears too, by the way) Really almost everyone was.   Like one little boy in our primary was so moved by the song, I will be what I Believe at the end that he started crying (like scrunched up face, wiping away tears with his sleeve) crying.  I had tears myself, and when it was all over and I was gathering up my stuff I could see red eyes on almost everyone in the congregation.

Alec did an amazing job narrating. He had so many parts and added animation to his voice and spoke slowly. Its crazy to think that he's going to be the oldest kid in Primary in just 6 months and then he'll be 12 in a year and move on!! what?!?! Charlie had some really cool insight in one of his parts and laid out some good doctrine on the sacrament and repentance in his other.  I liked when he said something like, "Choices and consequences are like a fox and his tail. One end always goes with the other. You get to pick your choice but you can't pick the consequence." Charlie even volunteered last minute to read one of the 'guest' parts I had written in, in case some of our less actives showed up and wanted to participate.  Gwen did a great job as well and is a really good singer.  I love how I can count on her to sit by some of the more rowdy kids and not get rowdy with them.  A few people told me Freddy kinda stole the show. He ended up on Chris' lap for 1/2 of the program and Chris helped him do some of the actions for the Wise Man and the Foolish Man song and apparently Freddy's face was of PURE JOY and delight. Also every time he got up to say his parts, he would take his time stepping up and take a big deep breath as he looked out at the congregation before starting. Super super cute.

Mostly I think I feel so good about it because its OVER! And besides every day stuff like teaching preschool, Thanksgiving, and Freddy's birthday, it was the LAST BIG THING on my plate before the baby comes. Well, I am planning on doing a small Faith in God show and tell meeting sometime in November but thats going to be during the 2nd hour and pretty low key, so it almost doesn't count.