Roseville, California 1st Ward... I Applaud You

I am always looking for ways to build a bridge between church and home. For Father's Day weekend we were visiting the greater Sacramento, California area and stayed at a hotel right by the temple.

It was a packed house! We had a lady in front of us who was a primary teacher welcome my children and was super friendly! Oh how I love people that don't ignore children! And a little girl held my daugther's hand so she could also sing to her daddy for Father's day. Thank you for being a ward full of awesome friendly people. We didn't stay for primary (which I was dying to do because I love learning and getting new ideas) however, there was a connection that I thought was brilliant.

On their Sacrament Meeting program, on the back, they put the primary monthly theme and scripture! Is that simple? Is that helpful? Is that wonderful? Is that a quick way to help parents reinforce the principles being taught on Sunday?

Kudos to you Roseville CA 1st Ward!!

Monthly Primary Newsletter Ideas

In our Primary we have a monthly newsletter. Our newsletter is called "Primarily Yours". The basic parts of the newsletter include:

1. The month's theme and scripture (From the 2008 Sacrament Meeting and Sharing Time Booklet)
2.Presidency Message
*** 3. Children of God, Children of the scriptures ***
4. Monthly Birthdays
5. Spotlight on a Primary Child or sometimes an adult member of Primary
6. Some sort of activity they can do with their family based on the month's theme
7. A song to learn (what the month's song is to learn)
8. Any contributions from Activity Day Girls or Scouting, any announcements for the month

I think doing a newsletter can seem overwhelming, but really it's not. Here are a couple tips that help me out a lot.

*Take pictures of the children at church in January for the spotlight section so you don't have to ask parents to email you and have all that technical fun. Of course, to do so you need all parent's permission!

*Don't sweat it if you don't get it done the first week. There's always the next.

*LDS.ORG-searching the Friend, using "Fun Stuff" as key words with the theme you want, always produces an activity that is suitable to do with their parents.

*If possible, have the Primary Secretary make copies of the newsletter at church while you give sharing time. If not possible, learn to love Kinko's for the magnificent place it is.

My favorite part of the newsletter is by far "Children of God, Children of the Scriptures". What I do for this section is ALWAYS keep my eye out for experiences having to do with children in the scriptures or church history. It is an ode to children and their EXTREME importance. It is a good food for thought section that also includes reference to our yearly theme of "I am a child of God."

So here are a couple examples of what the section would include:

(This image and following information taken directly from the GAK 420)

** “Wherefore, all children are alike unto me; wherefore, I love little children with a perfect love.” Moroni 8:17
Joseph Smith tried to keep all of Heavenly Father's commandments. He wanted to be kind to everyone, especially children. Joseph knew that Jesus Christ wants all His disciples to have the faith and humility of little children (see 3 Nephi 9:22). Joseph taught the people about God's love for children (see Moroni 8:17) and showed them, through his example, how to treat children.
Joseph loved to be around children and often took time to play with them or help them. One girl, Margarette Burgess, remembered a time when Joseph Smith helped her and her brother, Wallace. They were walking to school on a very muddy road when they got stuck in the mud and could not get out. The harder they tried to get loose, the deeper they went in the mud. They grew very frightened and became worried that they would be forever stuck in the muddy road. They began to cry.

The children saw Joseph coming from his store. He pulled them out of the mud, put them on drier ground, and cleaned the mud from their shoes. The prophet talked to them kindly and used his handkerchief to wipe the tears from their faces. Soon Margarette and Wallace stopped crying and were able to go off to school.

** Jacob, Lehi’s firstborn in the wilderness, grew up to be an awesome prophet! He wrote many things that are of great worth to us in the Latter Days. He was the first Nephite prophet to deal with an Anti-Christ named Sherem. What else do you know about Jacob? Read 2 Nephi:1-4 (especially verse 4) to see what made Jacob a very special Child of God.

**(This taken directly from the Friend. Pictures go along with the story, but alas, my computer is going really slow tonight... sorry!)

Jesus feeds 5,000 thanks to the help of one selfless little boy.

Some friends of John the Baptist came to Jesus and told Him that John had been killed. He had been killed because he had told the king to repent. Matt. 14:1–12

When Jesus heard this, He went to a place near the Sea of Galilee to be alone. Many people knew He was there and went there, too, hoping that He would teach them. More than five thousand people went to hear Him. Matt. 14:13; Mark 6:44

After He had taught them, it was time to eat, and most of the people did not have any food. His disciples wanted the people to go to the villages, where they could buy food. Mark 6:36

The Savior, however, told the disciples to see if anyone had brought food with them. They found a boy who had five loaves of bread and two small fish. Mark 6:37–38; John 6:9
Jesus told all the people to sit down. Then He blessed the bread and the fish and divided the fish and broke the bread into pieces. Mark 6:39–41

When the disciples gave the food to the people, there was more than enough for all of them! Mark 6:41–44

How can you be like the boy who helped feed 5,000?

** Are you 10 years old? Are you close to 10? When the prophet Mormon was only 10 years old he had a special experience. In Mormon 1:2-4 it says, "And about the time that Ammaron hid up the records unto the Lord, he came unto me, (I being about ten years of age, and I began to be learned somewhat after the manner of learning of my people) and Ammaron said unto to me: I perceive that thou are a sober child, and art quick to observe... And behold, ye shall take the plates of Nephi unto yourself... and ye shall engrave on the plates of Nephi all the things that ye have observed concerning the people." Because of Mormon and his obedience as a child of God we now can enjoy the Book of Mormon!!

Newsletters are a great way to involve parents and keep kids updated. Do what you can! Keep it simple. Include pictures of Primary Activity Days. Have fun with it. Newsletters are not mentioned in any official Church Primary documentation, so don't feel like it's necessary.