Primary 2011

I was recently asked by our ward historian to provide a little something about my experience in Primary for last year. I can't believe that I have been the Primary President for an entire year now! Here is what I provided. I don't know if it is exactly what she wanted, her directions were quite vague, but I tried my best.

2011 Primary

By: Karli Jaeckel

                The year 2011 was a busy and exciting year for me. After moving up to Rexburg, ID in January to attend school, I was called to be the Primary President no longer than a month after moving into the ward. This was the start of many firsts for me, including the first real calling I have ever held. Little did I know, this experience would hold so many blessings for me.

                Throughout this year I have fallen in love with the primary children that have been in our ward. Being a married student ward, we have many kids filter in and out of our primary and nursery frequently. There is an interesting dynamic in a ward of this type. While there are over 20 kids in nursery most Sundays, there can as low as only 6 kids in primary. Last year however, our ward decided to pull up any child over the age of 3 to attend sharing time. This was motivated by end of the year program approaching fast. We needed more of those little voices to sing all the songs we had learned! Our primary grew to a total of 9 kids. While this may seem like a small primary (and it is) and therefore a small calling, you couldn’t be more wrong. Although there were only 9 kids, they are all under the age of four. Boy those 3 year olds can be a handful at times!

                The primary program was probably the hardest part of the year for me. Putting together something that included 9 very young, energetic kids, was a difficult task. However, with my awesome presidency, chorister, and pianist, we made it work. That Sunday, after sacrament and after the program came to an end, I experienced the most satisfying, spirit filled, feeling I have ever felt. Each primary child did their parts perfectly! They all were brave enough to stay on stage for the entire 45 minutes. They all sung their best and remembered most of the word that they had worked so hard on. I was so proud of them all. As much work as that all was to prepare, the feeling I felt at that moment made it all worth it.

                While being in this ever changing calling, I have learned so much about our gospel and about how the church is organized. Just being able to attend ward council every week has taught me so much. It is amazing to me how much love a bishopric can have for their ward members. I never knew that individual families were spoken about in such detail every week within this meeting. It made me understand why our church is growing at such a rapid rate and why no matter what ward you attend within the LDS church you feel that immediate sense of love. I definitely have a much stronger testimony about the church and the way the church is put together. It is truly an inspired organization and I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to experience, learn, and witness more of it.

                One worry I had when I was first called to this position is not being able to attend Relief Society every week and take part in the lessons. That was before I found out how much my testimony could grow in preparing for and attending primary each week. I have the spirit and the children to thank for this. The small comments they make each week and the direction that the lessons naturally take due to the spirit teaches me things that I could never have learned anywhere else. I am so thankful that I have been able to partake in this primary experience.

                This new year, 2012, we have a total of 10 primary age kids (without moving up nursery kids). This is a huge group for us and I have recently heard that we are the largest primary in the stake! I am looking forward to what this year will bring and am thankful to still be able to be a part of the primary organization.