Understanding the Sacrament

 We started "normal" church again this week. Not really normal, but we have in-person Sacrament meeting every week now! It's so crazy! It seems like so long ago that we woke up and drove to church...

Our new schedule has Sacrament meeting in the (gasp) morning! Ok, 10:30 isn't THAT early...but it does cause a showering crisis in our family. Years and years ago, we quit doing showers and baths on Saturday, because the kids always managed to get dirty again by the time we went to church. So, we do our cleanin' up for church Sunday morning. And getting 8 showers done in time for 12:00 church is just about right. 10:30 church is where we need to be pretty focused to get it done on time. Sigh :)

As we were taking the sacrament this week, a thought entered my head which I presume was the whisperings of the Holy Ghost. I realized that the little kids probably didn't understand the sacrament prayer very well, and it might be more meaningful if we translated it together. So for our Primary lesson, we got the videos of the sacrament prayers and went through it one sign at a time, one phrase at a time. The kids and I signed along with the video, over and over again until we knew it all.

Some of the signs were tough even in English. None of the younger kids knew what "benefit" means. (This is the sign used in "bless and sanctify this bread to the souls of all who partake of it".) They totally struggled with the opening, "O God, the Eternal Father." What does "O" mean? Yeah, it's not a word we use a lot in every day language any more. 

After we were done with all the practice, which frankly was longer and more tedious than I would normally ask from a Primary lesson, I congratulated the kids on their hard work and told them how great it would be to be able to understand what they are saying next week. Martha laughed and said, "Or, I can just read the captions, like I do every week..."

Touche, little girl.

The Primary Program

 Today was the day! It was the PRIMARY PROGRAM! Enjoy it while it lasts, the video might not be up for long...my kids are in the first and last song, if you want to skip to the parts they're in.

Weren't they so cute?!?

Interestingly, today went just like most Primary program days...frantic and stressful leading up to the show. There were some last-minute technology changes that had me emailing and posting on FB the changes, then realizing I forgot to feed my kids lunch, then stuffing a sandwich in my face while yelling at people jobs to get set up...sigh. Even without leaving the house, the Primary program still causes drama :) But it was lovely to not have any kid drama. Nobody getting nervous and refusing to go up, nobody crying in the middle of a song and running down to their mom...the kids all performed beautifully! Of course, I was privy to some of the drama from 3 weeks ago, when the videos were due... And speaking of due, the whole reason we recorded the kids instead of just having them take turns on Zoom was because one mom was due the week after the program and was worried she'd have the baby before the program...and she did, the day before. Good call there, Mom!

Sam, Martha and Jane thoroughly enjoyed seeing themselves on camera. They probably paid attention to church better than any other time during the pandemic :) It was a little tricky to keep them sitting down... During the actual church service, the sound didn't come through. This is ok - it's a deaf branch. It gave us a much more authentic experience, for sure! But after church, the kids wanted to watch the songs again, with the sound. So we did, about 3 more times.

The kids have all grown up so much in the last 8 months. Our 3 boys who are graduating from Primary at the end of the year all look like deacons now. They're big and capable and intelligent. Eight months ago, I couldn't picture them hanging out with Lige in any meaningful way...but that doesn't seem like such a stretch any more. 

We don't have any Sunbeams, but Jane and Alora are coming into Primary in January, and both made complementary appearances. They provided the cute factor very competently. Jane couldn't keep up with the whole song, Nephi's Courage, but she totally knew the sign "obey" and always did it with vigor :) I didn't sign the song the same way I usually do, copying the video on the church website. I tried to simplify it a lot to make it easier for the young crowd. It was still a bit challenging for them. I've been thinking a lot lately about simplifying translations to make it easier for young kids. I'm curious what I'll think about this in the future, but for right now, it seems to make sense to keep the signs simple so the kids can actually get each sign, even though that usually sacrifices a little of the meaning. (For example, the song says, "I know the Lord provides a way, He wants me to obey" and we signed, "I know the Lord provides a way, I will obey.")

I told my sister after the broadcast, watching the kids today was exactly what I'd been craving for the last 7 months. Zoom parties with friends and other interactions are great, but little kids preaching the gospel is just what the soul needs. The kids are so darn human, so positive, so cheerful. They're my friends, the people I spend (spent) every Sunday with. Only even better now than before! It was just a fabulous day. 

So, next week we go back to having church every week, except no Primary. I sorta wish we could do something together, but for now, I'll just miss my cute kids. I'm glad things are moving forward, and look forward to actually having Primary in-person again!