Our little Millie girl was asked to talk for 6 minutes in stake conference. Over a week’s time, we did some brainstorming and wrote out an outline. She made sure things were in her own words and took some suggestions from dad (and had a few moments of I CAN’T DO THIS). We practiced at night, playing a game of uno between each reading. Then on Friday we practiced in an empty tabernacle where she shook off her nerves and was speaking joyfully from the heart! We got some ice cream to celebrate how far she’d come.
Then today, of course, Georgia who she requested sit on the stand next to her for support woke up sick, not to mention the dumping of snow and the roads weren’t plowed. Nevertheless, we all made it. In spite of shaky knees and a tight voice, our little 8 year old stood at the pulpit on a a step stool in the Ogden Tabernacle and gave her talk. We are so proud of you, Millie!
When I was five years old, my mom wanted to teach me about faith with an object lesson. She put a blindfold on me and handed me an egg. Then she told me to drop the egg. So I did.
She said I could take off the blindfold and asked me if I was nervous about dropping and breaking the egg. I said “No. I knew you would catch it.”
My mom was trying to teach me how we can trust Jesus even though we can’t see him. Instead, my mom learned about my trust in her.
My parents aren’t perfect, they make mistakes all the time. But I know I can trust them because they always help me.
I trust them when they tell me that I am a child of Heavenly Parents. I trust them when they say I need a testimony of my own.
I have a testimony of my own. I know Jesus loves us all because he died for us. He loves us all because he knows us all. He wants us all to be happy in a different way. Because we are all different and we are supposed to be different. I know that Jesus loves you because you are you and you are different than everybody else.
I have a testimony, but I have to keep growing it all the time. Every year at school the math problems get harder. But I keep practicing and building on what I know, so it doesn’t feel too hard. My faith is like that too. I keep building on what I know.
I really love dinosaurs. My favorite is a Pteranodon. I have loved dinosaurs since I was one year old. When I was little I liked to roar like a dinosaur and watch Dinosaur Train. As I get older I am learning more about every kind of dinosaur. A while ago I got worried because I believe God made the world, but I also believe in science and I wasn’t sure if I could believe in dinosaurs and God.
My parents taught me that all truth is part of the gospel. Science is how our Heavenly Parents work! We just don’t understand all of it yet. Just like I am still learning a little at a time, we are all still learning how God works. President Russell M. Nelson said, “There is no conflict between science and religion. Conflict only arises from an incomplete knowledge of either science or religion, or both.”
It is okay that we do not have all the answers right now. It’s fun to learn new things as we go.
I was baptized in November. I remember my mom walking me to the font and my dad was down in the water waiting for me. I said “I’m gonna jump in!” And my mom said “Please don’t!” But I kind of wish I had. I was so excited to be baptized because I love Jesus and I want to follow him.
I like to follow Jesus because living the gospel can be fun. I love going to primary. I like singing the songs and doing Activity Days. I know that I am blessed for showing up. I don’t like to miss anything because I know that something good always happens when I show up.
My primary teacher was Amber. She was always nice to me and I learned a lot from her. She always said I did good and I love her and she loved me back. My teachers help me learn about the Holy Ghost so that I can know how to feel it.
In Proverbs 4:26 it says “Ponder the path of thy feet”. I think that means we should follow the path of Jesus.
My family likes to go hiking. The trails in our area cross all over each other. If we start at the 27th street trailhead and want to go to the bench overlook, we can take lots of different ways to get there. Even if we don’t know exactly which one we should take, I know we aren’t lost because we know where we started from, and we know where we are going.
That’s kind of like following Jesus’s path. Sometimes we aren’t sure which way to go. Sometimes we take a path that gets tricky. But if we remember where we came from and where we want to end up, we are never really lost on the path.
In the springtime we always try to pull out Dyers Woad. It has a pretty yellow flower, but its an invasive species, which means that it kills out the plants that are supposed to be there. One time we were hiking and pulling dyers woad and my friend, Livvy couldn’t get out the roots. I told her “You didn’t get the root, but you stopped the seeds!”
Just like Dyers Woad, bad things can choke out the good things in our lives. We need to pull some weeds in our lives and repent – keep trying and let the good things in our lives grow as we follow Jesus.
I love to see cool bugs, clouds and rocks when I hike. On the path of Jesus there are so many things I love too. I love temples, baptism, helping people, and praying with my family and reading the scriptures. Living the gospel will help me through my whole life. I want to stay on the path and follow Jesus.
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
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