2012 Primary Program Songs

As a fairly new primary president, I gave the assignment to myself and my counselors to read over the words to the songs for the program, and to write their thoughts and feelings concerning the messages of the songs. I know that this will be a great help to my dear counselor whom I've asked to write the program. For anyone else who is interested, I have decided to add a post to my blog. Maybe some of the ideas will help you in your own program or talks. HSS


Thoughts Concerning 2012 Primary Program Songs:

As a Child of God

I am thankful for parents who taught me the gospel. I am thankful that I grew up in a home where we were taught to love and to serve one another. I’m thankful for family prayer and that I could feel my parents’ testimonies and love for the Lord and for me as they prayed. I am thankful that I was baptized when I was eight-years-old and that I received the Gift of the Holy Ghost. The Holy ghost helped guide me while I was a child in my parents’ home, and He has guided me in rearing my own family.

The Wise Man and the Foolish Man

Jesus told the story of the wise man and the foolish man. Living in California, we have seen houses slide down off their sandy foundations. After fires, rainstorms, and flooding, homes have been lost. House built on granite or other solid rock foundations are more secure. Recently in Highland, many beautiful homes were destroyed because they were built in zones where flooding was likely to occur.

When Jesus talks about building our houses on rock foundations, He means that we must build our testimonies upon Him and His restored gospel, and the Rock of Revelation. In Helaman 5:12, Helaman says to his sons, "And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall." Jesus is the true and sure foundation.

Nephi’s Courage

Nephi 3:7—“And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them.”

Nephi did not know in advance what would happen when he went back to Jerusalem to get the plates. But Nephi believed that his father Lehi was a prophet, and he knew the commandment to get the plates came from God. So Nephi went, not knowing beforehand what he would do. (See Nephi 4:6)

Even though Laman and Lemuel laughed at Nephi because he was going to build a boat, Nephi was able to continue with his plans and obtain revelation from God on how to build the boat. He knew that God would help him and that he could do it because God commanded him to.

We can be like Nephi. We can learn to rely on the prophet and put our trust in the words he gives us. We can be obedient to our parents, and the Lord will bless us because of our faith and obedience. Our testimonies will become stronger as we do the things which we know are right.

Tell Me the Stories of Jesus

I love to hear about Jesus’s life. I love to hear how he blessed and healed so many people. I know that he loved the little children, and He told the people to suffer the children to come unto Him. He also said that we need to become like little children in order to return to Him. We know that He blessed the children in His homeland during His earth-life and the children of the Nephites and Lamanites after his resurrection. I know that he loves and blesses all of his children still today.

Choose the Right

(Also see Primary song There’s a Right Way to Live and Be Happy.)

We are all born with the Light of Christ, and it is given unto us to know right from wrong. The power of the Holy Ghost is also a gift to all of Heavenly Father’s children who are seeking after truth and righteousness. And when we become members of the Church through faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism and confirmation, we receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost. He can be our constant companion if we choose to do what’s right.

We have been blessed to know right from wrong, and we have the Holy Ghost to help us to be faithful and obedient. Heavenly Father will bless us through the Holy Ghost to feel peaceful and happy when we do what is right.

Even when things go wrong in our lives, we need to keep choosing the right.

I’m Trying to Be Like Jesus

If I want to be like Jesus, I need to get to know what He is like. I need to read stories about Him. I need to treat people with love and kindness like He did. I need to follow what He said were the first two great commandments.

Mark 12: 29-31: “And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

I need to listen to His prophets and follow His commandments. John 14:15: “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” I need to show my love for Him by serving my fellowman. John 13:35: “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”

Jesus Once Was a Little Child

It is good to know that Jesus was a little Child. He had to grow from grace to grace like all of us do. He was tempted, but he didn’t heed temptation. He was mocked, scourged, spit upon, and crucified, but he did not retaliate or show anger or hatred.

In Hebrews 5:8 we read, “Though He were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which He suffered.” I try to remember to be more like Jesus by being obedient and by being like a little child, both meek and submissive. He always did those things which pleased His Father, and I am striving to do those things which will please my earthly parents, Jesus, and my Heavenly Parents. I love Him.

Stand for the Right

Our prophet speaks for the Lord. Jesus told us in the Doctrine and Covenants section 1 verse 38, “Whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same.” If we follow the words and council of our prophet, we will not go astray. If we stand for the right, we will not fall for the things that are wrong. We need to listen to our prophet at conference time, and we need to read his words and follow his counsel. The Lord will bless us if we do.

When I am Baptized

I love seeing rainbows. The rainbow was the sign of the covenant that the Lord made with Noah that the entire earth would never be flooded again. In Noah’s day, the earth was baptized with water. That was part of its needed purification. The rainbow also reminds me that I need to be baptized just like Adam and Eve were and just like Jesus was. When I was baptized, everything that I had done or thought that was wrong, was washed away. Each week when I partake of the sacrament worthily, with a pure and honest heart, my wrongs are washed away again. I can be clean and pure all the time because of the atonement of Jesus Christ. The light that shines through a prism of water produces a beautiful rainbow. The Light that flows into me as a disciple of Jesus Christ creates in me a beautiful tapestry as I follow His commandments and do His will. I want to stay clean and pure and have Light in my life.

Daily Quotes

4-13-11
Posting my feelings about cancer on Facebook won't change anything. I hope that faith, prayers, and advances in modern medicine will someday. While it is such a debilitating disease, and we all share in our desire to see its end, those who have suffered through it are often blessed in ways that we can't begin to comprehend. I don't believe that cancer patients have their hopes and dreams and wishes snuffed out by the disease. They are way stronger than that! My experience is not that they only have one selfish dream, of themselves licking the cancer, but they have many hope and dreams for the happiness and welfare of all those they love. I can't begin to imagine that I can speak for someone who has, or has had cancer, because I don't. But I know that their cancer doesn't make them stop being who they are.
4-22-11
So appropriate for Earth Day to be on Good Friday. Thank you, Jesus, for this beautiful world we enjoy and for the gift of the Resurrection!
7-12-11
I did not know when I wrote these words that my sister would pass away on the same day. How fitting that she could go on Good Friday.
4-23-11
My sister's long battle with cancer is finally over, and she won. She endured to the end. I will miss her, but I know that because of Jesus Christ she is whole in spirit now, and she will be whole again in the flesh in the Resurrection. Happy Easter, everyone. ♥ ♥ ♥
4-29-11
A new sadness and a new gladness. Yesterday's gone, but a glorious future lays ahead for all of us. Kathy's funeral yesterday was beautiful. So wonderful to see family and friends. My new prayer should be my sister's, that I will endure to the end.
Kathy not only endured; she prevailed.
"Enduring is merely surviving the fear and the dangers of life. Prevailing is overcoming that fear and those dangers. To prevail is to triumph." (k-12 English lesson)
6-10-11
The point isn't trying to get away with doing the least that you can; the point is learning to do the best that you can.
7-10-11
We all have our quirks; we all have our problems. But if we all tried to be more loving and accepting and less judgmental and offish, the world would spin ever more nicely on its axis and follow its orbit with greater ease.
7-11-11
We need to be a little bit more discriminatory in our non-discrimination.
7-12-11
When the dark of night overtakes you, look to the source of all light, Jesus Christ. He will again carry you through to the light of day.
7-13-11
I hope that I will die gracefully when the time comes; but, even more so, I hope that I will learn to live graciously.
7-18-11
No one has a corner on pain or sorrow. If you are mourning the loss of a loved one, someone else is mourning the same loss or another one. If you are struggling with a financial burden, so is your neighbor. If you are struggling with an illness, so are many others around you. If you want to improve your lot, start by offering relieve to another. You will be immediately lifted.
7-19-11
Thank you to all the folk musicians who write and sing the music that speaks to my soul.
7-24-11
I stepped out of the car, and my glasses steamed up.

While waiting on the Lord, we must not put our lives o hold. We shouldn't wait to make the improvements that we want to see in our lives. We can begin now by asking, "Lord, what would You have me do?" Then we need to follow through and do it. (HSS)
7-25-11
We talked to this Apollo team member at Johnson's Space Center today. He was visiting for the 40th anniversary, and we got to listen to him talk about working on the Apollo capsule. He is a very humble man about his part in it all, but we are thankful for the behind-the-scenes people. They are always important.
7-27-11
Despite local residents claims that Houston is hot and humid, we think Houston is pretty cool.
7-29-11
I'm not interested in chasing fabricated rainbows for non-existent pots of gold. (HSS)
7-30-11
While it is true that God created us initially, he did not mean for us to stay in our infant condition. Within us are the seeds of godhood. One of the greatest gifts we have is agency or the freedom to choose. Each day we can redefine and recreate ourselves by the choices that we make, by our thoughts and our actions. To say that we are the way we are because God made us that way seems to be more of a copout than saying the devil made me do it.
8-2-11
I think that cat's should teach self-defense. They are masters at "circle, twist, and run."
8-3-11
You know YOU'RE from Grammarville if you don't like seeing a possessive determiner taking the place of a you are contraction.
8-4-11
We must always remember that when things seem too good to be true, they are!
8-5-11
Don't mess with the momma bear.
Reverse discrimination: Do unto others anything bad that has ever been done to you by whomever.
8-13-11
(Revised from another post) This is for all the wonderful students beginning a new year of school: If you see someone who is struggling, or someone who is being bullied, or someone who is not well-accepted because he or she dresses differently or talks differently, or someone who just seems shy--PLEASE step up. Say hi and smile at them in the hallway. You never know what someone is facing in his or her life outside of school. Your kindness might make a BIG difference in someone's life! Friendship begins with a smile.
8-14-11
I love my family. A special thanks to my children for teaching me how to be a mom. It's taking me many years, but I'm happy with the privilege that I've been given to be yours.
8-17-11
Heading to bed. Thanks to Jenae Terrill for inviting Christine M. Stevenson and me to come watch their puppies being born. There were already some born before we got there, but we got to witness the live birth of a puppy! The next two were stillborn. They were just too underdeveloped. Nine puppies so far. The mother is still delivering.
8-18-11
Awesome evening. It's not every day that I get to see new life entering the world.
8-19-11
I am real. I don't live in cyberspace. I knew most of you before Facebook existed.
8-20-11
God is allowed with our children everywhere they go. No politically correct measures can limit God's presence. Like always, we need to invite Him into our lives. Bad things, unfortunately, do happen and always have. God allows agency. It's too bad that He has been abandoned by so many people, but, if we are true to Him, He will never abandon us.
8-30-11
I'd like to encourage everyone to come up with his or her own status for just one day. Copy and repost if you agree.
By the way, this is not a repost.
9-4-11
I will get through this present struggle. I will get through this present. Struggle. I will get through this. Present struggle. Just give me the present, would you?
11-16-11
Acting superior by pretending to be magnanimous does not prove you believe in equality.
True understanding must stem from having in place a deep-rooted belief system that although we are all children of God, He knows and loves us better than we do ourselves, and although He knows that obedience to His laws is what will bring us happiness, He will not personally impose discipleship. While He must certainly expect that His children also not impose obedience on each other, He most certainly does not condone the repealing of His laws.
12-7-11
Remember that the Good Samaritan took the injured person to an inn, not to his own home. Do what you can to help others, but remember that your family comes first.