My Adorable Girls

Things are going better for me as the Primary Chorister. I am getting the hang of how it works and now that we are done with learnign the songs, we can now just have fun by playing games that practice the songs. I am starting to learn more of their names, which makes me connect with the children more and they have more fun. Yesterday we played a board game where each square had an activity for them to do, like one children quacks the tune of a song while the rest of the children guess what it is, or having one of the children lead. It was really fun and overall the children liked it. Yeah!

So in a month or so, our Ward will be having their annual Primary Presentation and being the Primary Chorister I am in charge of the music for the presentation. I decided that it would be fun to have a small group of girls sing one of the songs and a small group of boys sing another song, you know, to add variety to the presentation. I had announced it last Sunday at the end of our singing time, and so this Sunday those who had volunteered stayed after to practice. You should have seen them. They are so adorable! There is this one girl, Abby, who wanted to do it who I thought would be too young (she is only 6). But she did wonderful. I had them all sing by themselves so I could get a feel for their voices and this little six-year-old sang so sweetly. And she was really well behaved and obedient as we practiced. So cute! I wish I had pictures to share to show her cuteness. I had a lot of fun practicing with them and I am so glad I got a good-sized group to volunteer (I've had 8 volunteer so far). No boys have volunteered yet, so I asked the Bishopric to sing it with they're sons and they seem up to the challenge. Each one has one son that is still in Primary, so it works out great.

So overall things are going well for me and the Primary choristering. I am so glad that I'm getting the hang of it. It really is a reward to work with children!

Church Singing

So again I don't have much to report. On Sunday I again did the Singing Time for Church. I always get really nervous before Singing Time cause I worry about whether the kids will participate and whether they'll have fun. On this day, I decided to play hot and cold with them (they sing loudly when the child searching is near the hidden item and softly when they are far away). The children participated well and they had fun. I think it went well. Afterward, I was in the hallway when one of the girls passed by me with her family and said to me, "I like your singing." I am not sure if she meant my singing in particular or just Singing time, but it was awfully cute and I told her thank you. Later when my hometeacher came to teach us, I asked him if his children had said anything about Singing Time at all (whether they liked it, etc.) and he said that they hadn't, but his niece, who has been visiting them all this month, has been singing the songs around the house. He also said their family doesn't go to church, so this is her first time learning these songs. That made me happy. Yeah.

This I still get nervous before Singing Time though. It is pretty nerve wracking for me. I am just glad that the new Nursery leader is a music person and so she is going to do singing with them so I don't have to. That really helps!

Aaron's family is going to be here soon (I think within the next week!). Yeah.

Called to Be a Primary Chorister

So I was called last week to be the Primary Chorister for my ward. I have to say that when the councilor in the bishop called on Saturday night and wanted to come over (we got the message around 9 p.m., but he still wanted to come over even though it was late) I thought that somehow we'd gotten ourselves in trouble. I couldn't really see how, but it sure seemed that somehow we must've, cause why the urgency? Well, it was just to ask me if I'd be the next Primary Chorister. I guess they'd been without for over a month after the last chorister moved away and so they wanted to get someone in as soon as possible.

I was surprised and elated that they would want me to do it (and more importantly that God would want me to do it). I love music, and I love children. I was really nervous though. In fact, today I actually did it for the first time. Last week I watched as another sister in the ward did it, so I could see what she did. It was very nerve wracking and overwhelming. But even so, I know it will get easier and that God will help me get better at it. It's a much bigger calling than I knew. I mean, you have to plan twenty minutes of singing every Sunday (practically) and all you have to go on is that the children need to learn a song each month for the program in the fall. Oh, well. Pray for me!