As Hendrik is already 6 six years old, I wanted him to be hands-on in preparing his talk. A few weeks before our sacrament talk/presentation, I gave the lesson during our family home evening (FHE) on the topic assigned to us by the Bishopric. I told Hendrik that he had to listen carefully to my lesson and to remember the things I shared because he will be making his sacrament talk from my FHE lesson. To help him remember things shared during our FHE we had visual aids pasted on the wall of our bedroom. This was for him to see and read every day and become familiarized. By the time we started writing the draft of his talk, we would always refer to the visuals on the wall. I think it was a good idea that I made him say and/or write the sentences for his talk based on the visual aids. That way, I hope, he was able to understand the topic better. Besides, the talk is more authentic and genuine as he crafted the words and sentences himself. Of course, proofreading was done by me but Hendrik was able to experience for himself and get a grasp of what it is like to prepare a talk. Here’s the final version of his talk:
Good afternoon, brothers and sisters!
As the eldest child in the family, and since my baby brother cannot speak yet, I am given the task of doing the introduction for our talks and present the order of speakers from my family. Sister Alexis, as the eldest child in her family, also did the introduction when they had their family sacrament presentation. If I am not mistaken, Sister Alexis said that it is a privilege and honor given to firstborns to do the introduction for family sacrament presentations. =) So, here I am standing in front of you taking the privilege and honor.
My family will be sharing talks on The Articles of Faith today. I am not going to recite The 13 Articles of Faith as I did 3 years ago, but as the Bishopric assigned the topic to us my family will be sharing messages and testimonies related to The Articles of Faith.
The first speaker from my family is yours truly. After my message, we will be doing a song number. The second speaker will be my Mommy Feona. After my Mommy Feona’s talk we will then have our intermediate hymn. The third or last speaker will be my Daddy Joseph to give his concluding remarks.
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In one of our family home evenings, my Mommy shared about the story told by President Thomas S. Monson in the Ensign 1994 magazine. It was about a man travelling on a bus to San Francisco. The man happened to sit next to a Primary girl on the bus. The man asked the Primary girl if she was a Mormon because she boarded the bus at Salt Lake City. The Primary girl answered yes. The man then asked her what the Mormons believed. The girl answered the man by reciting and explaining The Articles of Faith. The man was impressed. When the man reached his destination in San Francisco, he called up the Mormon Church and asked questions. He also mentioned about the Primary girl he met on the bus who shared The Articles of Faith with him. The missionaries then visited and taught him the gospel. Later on, the man and his family were baptized. This was made possible because a Primary girl knew the Articles of Faith and she was brave enough to share them with the man.
Just like the Primary girl in the story all of us can also share The Articles of Faith if someone asks us what we believe as Mormons and as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We cannot expect the same result as in the story but we can try our best and be brave to share what we believe. In church, during our Primary Sharing Time, the teachers make the children memorize and understand the Articles of Faith. With our young minds, we cannot fully understand the principles behind them, but we always try our best. As we grow older and as we attend Church every Sunday our understanding will also increase. The primary teachers can help us learn more.
During one of our family home evenings also this month, my Mommy shared to us how the Articles of Faith came to be. The prophet Joseph Smith wrote the Articles of Faith in response to a letter from Mr. Wentworth. Mr. Wentworth worked for a newspaper publisher in Chicago. Mr. Wentworth asked Joseph Smith questions about LDS beliefs. As the prophet Joseph Smith answered the letter, he was inspired to write 13 statements that cover the beliefs of the Church. These 13 statements became our Articles of Faith. At a General Conference in October 1880, church members raised up their hands and voted to accept the Articles of Faith as scriptures. We can now find the Articles of Faith in the Pearl of Great Price.
All of us – young and old - can memorize and understand The Articles of Faith. The primary children are blessed with the love and Spirit of God to feel that they are true. When my baby brother Fyodor is old enough, I will also share and teach him The Articles of Faith. If I continue to pray, read the scriptures, listen to my Primary teachers and always doing what is right, my little testimony will grow. My understanding of the teachings of Jesus Christ will increase. My parents, teachers and friends in church can help me know more about Jesus Christ and our beliefs in the church. Little by little, and step by step, my friends in the Primary and I will fully understand The Articles of Faith.
I know that Jesus loves me. He loves all of us. These, I share in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
As mentioned above, Hendrik did the introduction for our family sacrament presentation. The church members who were present were quite impressed because he was the only primary kid who did something like that in church. It was usually the fathers or an adult member of the family who normally does the introduction for family sacrament presentations. But Hendrik did it very well and we couldn’t be more proud of him.
It was also our first time as a family to sing a song as part of our sacrament presentation. Joseph and I are not really confident in singing in public, but Hendrik made us sing that day. Days before our sacrament presentation, the family would practice “Families Can Be Together Forever” before we sleep at night; and more often than not Hendrik would teach us the right tune. Thankfully, he has a nice voice and he pulled us through during our song number. Hendrik sang solo for the 2 verses of the song then Joseph and I joined him in the chorus. Here’s a sample video of Hendrik singing “Families Can Be Together Forever” that the family sang during sacrament:
We felt good after our talks and we were glad that people came to us and thanked us for the messages that we shared as they say it touched their hearts.
Related post: 3-Year Old Hendrik Reciting "The Articles of Faith"
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