Katie's First Primary Talk

Katie gave her first talk a couple of weeks ago in Primary.

Good Afternoon Brothers and Sisters,

I want to share the words of a song with you.

I have a family here on earth
They are so good to me.
I want to share my life with them
Through all eternity.
Families can be together forever
Through Heavenly Father's plan.
I always want to be with my own family
And the Lord has shown me how I can.

I love my family so much and I'm glad that I know
that I can be with them forever.  I say these things
in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

New Church Calling

Most of my married life, my church callings have been in Primary.  

All last year and the beginning of this year, I've been teaching the 9-10 year old class.  

About a month ago, the bishop asked to meet with me in his office and 

extended the call to me to be the second Sunday Relief Society instructor.  

This calling totally came out of the blue.  

The kids in my Primary class were sad to see me go and a 

couple of the girls gave me little gifts on my last day of teaching them... how sweet!

I taught my first Relief Society lesson this month.  

Having never taught adults before, I was nervous teaching this lesson.

I had a good 40 minutes to teach.  

I'm sure I'll get better at this whole teaching thing eventually.

General Conference Favorites

Quinton L. Cook: "Repentance is the cure for spiritual drought."
Craig C. Christensen: "You will feel and recognize the spirit in you heart more than your mind and ears. The spirit knows us the same way our Heavenly Father does."
Pres. Dieter F. Uchdorf : "Busy is not always good, priorities are best when we put the Lord first [very basic, but often forgotten] Slow down so we don't miss the little things in life. Give our best self to those we serve most [family]. WE DETERMINE OUR HAPPINESS."
L. Tom Perry: "Make life at home for spouses and children a fun place to be. Teaching in the home is the most sacred responsibility we as parents have. Pray for the love and patience it takes to be mom. Share your testimony often with your spouse and children." 
Dallin H. Oaks: "Children are precious to our Savior. Be grateful for the children I have... never take them for granted. Pure little children are a near perfect example of the humility and meekness we as people need to have."

Pres. Henry B. Eyring:  "God knows each of us and loves us. The things of this world and temporal things DO NOT MATTER. Simplify. Let the Lord fill your time. As we serve the Lord we will be come like Him."

I have been taking the advice given in General Conference. I've been making more time to just hang out as a family. With no strict agenda, it's been nice to see Sam and the kids open up more and just be themselves. Last night, we went on another family walk at a tree lined trail down by the river. It was so fun.  Our kids are at fun ages and it's nice that they are easily entertained.

To watch General Conference, click HERE.

Brian's Primary Talk

Good Afternoon Brothers and Sisters,

I have been asked to speak on how fasting and prayer strengthens my testimony.  On the lds.org website, it states, "To fast is to go without food and drink voluntarily for a certain period of time." 

Fasting combined with sincere prayer can strengthen us spiritually, bring us closer to God,

and help us prepare ourselves and others to receive His blessings.

Even though I have not started to fast yet, I know that fasting and prayer is important.

I have been taught that when people fast, they can pray for themselves or others that their 

trials in life can be overcome.  My parents fast and pray every month and I can't wait until I can fast.

I know that Heavenly Father blesses people when they fast.


I know the things that I said are true.  And I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Our New Church Building

August 2011

 October 2011

 November 2011


Easter Sunday was the first week our ward met in our new chapel.

It is a beautiful building.  It's been fun to stop by periodically and check out the chapel's progress.
It's really nice that we have the option of taking a 5 minute walk to church or driving over.
Tonight our building will be dedicated.

April 2012

Tyler's 1st Primary Talk

 Tyler – age 3 1/2

1^st Primary Talk

November 27, 2011
(We forgot to bring his talk to church that day
so Tyler didn't share it with the Primary yet.)

Topic- Reverence is Love and Respect for God

“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind” (Matthew 22:37).

How can we show love and respect for God? 

One way is through prayer.  When we pray, we show love and respect for God by being reverent.  We fold our arms, bow our heads, and close our eyes when we pray so we can concentrate on the words we say. 

Being reverent in our Primary class and in sacrament meeting helps us to learn and to feel the Spirit.  When we feel the Spirit, that is God’s way of speaking to us. 

May we all be reverent to show our love and respect for God.  I know that the words I said are true.  I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Camp Early

Since the beginning of the year, Sam has been team teaching the 10-11 year old Primary class. He was also called to be a scout leader. Two weeks ago, the scouts had an overnight campout. They had lots of fun. They had tin foil dinners, the boys went "snipe hunting," they had a pancake breakfast, and went sledding.

Jesus Wants Me for A........

SUNBEAM!!! Sam and I were called this past Sunday to be Sunbeam teachers. We're excited to be serving in the Primary. (Just as a sidenote, when we moved here in May, our ward was huge with about 950 members. About one month ago, our ward was split and a brand new ward was formed. We are in the brand new ward. The bishopric has been super busy organizing the new ward). Anyway, there are two Sunbeam classes. We're team teachers. Sam taught the first lesson and I'm teaching the lesson this Sunday. We had 5 kids in our class. (Tyler is an honorary member of our class). I have a feeling that our class will only get bigger as time goes on. So far, so good. I'm not going to bring treats to church to bribe the kids. Does anyone out there have any suggestions to keep the kids' attention during class?! Any suggestions are welcome. Thanks!

I am A Child of God

The theme for Primary this year is I am A Child of God. There are several wards that meet in the same church building as us. Our Primary Presidency was in charge of decorating the big bulletin board in the Primary room. We decided that having a big drawing on the board would be nice along with having this year's theme, the monthly theme and corresponding scripture. (I will post a picture of the completed bulletin board once I return to church). Anyway, our Primary President is an elementary school teacher and had access to a projector. She projected the image on the wall and traced it for me. I volunteered to color the image. It sure was a bigger project than I thought it would be...especially when my only art supplies were crayons and colored pencils! I finished coloring it in the day before Tyler was born, hence the huge belly!


This is what the poster looks like on the bulletin board in the Primary room.

Tyler's Blessing Day

We'll miss you, President Hinckley!

This past Sunday, we had four people call (within 5 minutes) to tell us of President Hinckley's passing. I couldn't believe it. Surprisingly, I didn't cry, but felt a peace come over me. Peace that President Hinckley lived a wonderful long life and that he is now with his wife, who he'd missed so much. I will miss President Hinckley. I was lucky enough to be in the same room as him more than once (in the Conference Center for General Conference). I grew up with this prophet and will never forget his voice or his wise counsel.