I've called my remarks today "Four Things I've Learned in Nursery and Sunbeams." These aren't lessons from when I was in Nursery. I'm a convert to the church and spent only a little more than 2 years in Primary. But in the past 3 years in 2 different wards, I've been called to the Nursery, then to Sunbeams, then again to the Nursery. Previous to this, I hadn't been called to the primary in 20 years--and that was just one summer when I was home from college. Obviously, I have something to learn from the young children of the church. I hope to share some of those lessons with you.
1. Good to be Different. Good to be yourself.
In nursery, little girls can sometimes get excited about their dresses. One day as I was playing with a couple of girls, one said, "I have a blue dress."
The other girl looked down at here yellow dress, a little sad. So being diplomatic, I said, "Yes, you do have a blue dress. And look, she has a yellow dress."
Even better, the girl with the blue dress said, "And I have polka-dots."
And the girl with the yellow dress said "and I have flowers."
I said, "And isn't that great!"
They both beamed.
Whether you have a blue dress with polka dots, or a yellow dress with flowers, or a red tie with stripes, or a blue tie with a diamond pattern, your uniqueness is good.
Doctrine and Covenants 4:2, a scripture that should be familiar to many of you, says, "Therefore, O ye that embark in the service of God, see that ye serve him with all your heart, might, mind and strength, that ye may stand blameless before God at the last day." Notice it says with your heart and your might and your mind and your strength, not someone else's. That's what Heavenly Father needs: you.
As part of your Foundations English classes, many of you have read the essay by Thomas Plummer called "Diagnosing and Treating the Ophelia Syndrome." In this essay, Plummer quotes a friend of his: "If we both think the same way, one of us is unnecessary."[1] You're all necessary because you all have distinct gifts.
Your life may not look like everyone else's and this can be frightening. But Heavenly Father has a mission for you--one that you need to fulfill. I can't tell what that is. Nor can anyone else. Philippians 2:12 reminds us that you need to "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." You have to figure out what you need to do.
That means you might have to do this at different times from other people. Ecclesiastes reminds us, "To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted . . . A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance."[2]
There's a time for everything. But it can look scary when our timeline isn't the same as someone else's. Sometimes we have to wait.
In Nursery, we understand the idea that different things happen at different times. First we do puzzles, then we play with the toys, and then we have the lesson. It's okay to wait. We wait for the snack, and we wait for singing time.
Let me give you an example of how people might do the same things at different times. I have a student Phylicia who lives her life in fast forward--as fast her bishop would let her she was getting baptized and going on a mission. In fact, she listened to the missionaries, got baptized, went on a mission, met the love of her life, and got sealed in the temple in just four years. That's fast. In contrast, my mom listened to the missionaries for the first time when she first married my dad, before I was born. Then about twelve years later she, my sister, and I were baptized. Then she remarried to my stepdad. Then he got baptized. Then finally, nearly twenty years after she first heard the missionary discussions, they were sealed. Some of you might wish you were married tomorrow, or graduating tomorrow, or having babies, or getting your perfect job. But it might take you four years. Or twenty. What matters most is that you're living the gospel and trying to progress.
2. Good to learn. It's exciting!
The children in Nursery and Sunbeams love learning and they love books. At this age, we have lessons like "I Love the Scriptures" and "I Am Thankful for Water." When I taught the "I Love the Scriptures" lesson in Nursery, I passed out copies of the Book of Mormon so they could hold the scriptures. These little guys are two year olds. They can't even begin to read. But they love the scriptures. And I passed out copies without pictures! They didn't want to give them back.
When I taught the Sunbeams the "I Am Thankful for Water" lesson, truthfully, I was a little stumped. How do you talk about water for fifty minutes? We usually try for object lessons, but with water--that would just be a big mess. So I brought a bunch of books with me--any book I could find with pictures of water in it. I figured looking at water pictures might last 2-3 minutes because that's usually how long their attention span is. I should have known better. We looked at pictures of rivers, lakes, and oceans, and waterfalls. We talked about the fish in the oceans, the trees beside the lakes, and the rocks in the waterfalls. We looked at books for more than fifteen minutes. For a three-year-old, that's like six hours. Three-year olds love books. And they want to look at them again and again. Now, I know that some of you think you have deadly allergies to books. You don't. That you might break out in hives if you go near the library. You won't. Like the Sunbeams and Nursery kids, you should love books. You should love learning.
There's a reason for learning. Brigham Young said, "'Mormonism' includes all truth. There is no truth but what belongs to the Gospel. . . . If you can find a truth in heaven, earth or hell, it belongs to our doctrine. We believe it; it is ours; we claim it."[3]
We claim all truth. If that's the case, we all have a lot to learn. Because that means not just the scriptures, but physics, engineering, languages, music, literature, history, biology, economics, sociology, anthropology, and more. If you think that's a lot, remember that Heavenly Father is omniscient--he knows all. If we're to become like him, we must too. Remember that even when Christ was a young man, he had to learn. Luke 2:52 tell us, "And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man."
There's a purpose for this learning. Elder Dallin H. Oaks explains:
A learned Latter-day Saint should seek to understand the important religious, physical, social, and political problems of the day. The more knowledge we have of heavenly laws and early things, the greater influence we can exert for good on those around us and the safer we will be from scurrilous and evil influences that may confuse and destroy us.[4]
Right now you're getting degrees and most of you think of your degrees as a means to get a job. But you need to broaden your perspective. Elder Oaks says knowledge "gives us greater influence . . . for good." The third principle of the BYU-I mission statement reads that we're here to "Prepare students for lifelong learning, for employment, and for their roles as citizens and parents."[5] Notice it doesn't say you're here to learn how to be rich, although that's not a bad thing. But in addition to preparing for employment, you should be preparing for lifelong learning and for you roles in the community and in your families. We sometimes talk about how eduction helps us with our families, I want to give you an idea of how education will allow us to help others in our community.
First, my mom is a speech-langauge pathologist. Basically, she helps little kids talk better. That also means that as part of her job she works with a variety of kids with developmental and cognitive delays. She works in special educaiton classrooms. For most of her life in the church, she's been called to the Primary. And she's always given the class that no one else can control. Once she had a class of twelve kids, three of whom had ADHD. And she was their teacher for two years because no one else could handle them. When a boy with Down's syndrome arrived in the nursery, Mom was put in nursery. And when he moved to Sunbeams, so did she. That's happened to her so many times, she's lost track. But because of her degree, her training, she's better able to serve in the chruch.
In another occasion, a fried of mine, got a master's degree in information sytems. When she and her husband moved to a new town in the midwest where there were very few Mormons, she was asked by a neighbor to help the local library choose a new computer system. My friend told me she spent ten mintues consulting on the system, and hours explaining the beliefs of the church. Not only did she help serve her community, she was given missionary opportunities because of her degree. Your education, too, can give you a "greater influence . . . for good."
3. Good to Share
In Nursery, we learn to share and to take turns. And sharing is difficult for little kids. One study found that most children don't share without some guidance and encouragement until they're seven or eight years old.[6] But in nursery--whether it's the toys or the puzzles or the crayons--we share. That seems pretty obvious, but can you image if during the middle of buying groceries, the store clerk taped your shoulder and said your time for using the cart was up and you needed to give it to someone else? Or, worse, what if, in the middle of the day, you had to give up your parking spot because someone else needed a turn.
Sharing is hard, but it leads to great things.
Right after Christ's visit to the Nephites, it's recorded, "And they had all things common among them; therefore there were not rich and poor, bond and free, but they were all made free, and partakers of the heavenly gift. . . . And it came to pass that there was no contention in the land, because of the love of God which did dwell in the hearts of the people."[7]
One extraordinary example of sharing comes from LDS history. We frequently hear of the faith and determination of the members of the Martin and Willie Handcart companies--more than 1000 poor immigrants who fought all sorts of hardships to make it to the Salt Lake Valley in fall 1856. As most of you remember, they were caught in early snowstorms, and having a horrible time crossing the plains. After hearing of their plight, President Brigham Young stood up in October general conference and told the members there "Go and bring in those people now on the plains."[8] He didn't stop to ask, as we often do: Have they worked hard enough? Do they really need my help?
And the Saints in the Salt Lake Valley heeded the call to help. Right there in general conference, people volunteered to go get the immigrants stuck on the plains. Within three days, sixteen wagon teams had set out and within three weeks, there were 250 wagons.[9] Here's the thing to remember. The people in the Salt Lake Valley weren't having an easy time. The harvests of 1854 and 1855 had been horrible, followed by an even worse winter. One historian put it this way: "The famine of 1855-56 had impoverished [Utah] Territory in its agricultural resources; the handcart emigration had brought to the country several thousand poor people, destitute, after their terrible journey, of even the barest clothing."[10] Remember, that same year three handcart companies full of the poorest saints had already arrived to the Salt Lake Valley, needing help. And there wasn't a lot to go around. Heber C. Kimball wrote to his son that they were rationing food in early 1856. By fall, things weren't much better. By early October, when the call came to help those stuck on the plains, some people didn't even have their own harvests in because winter had lasted so long into the spring.[11] And yet when hearing that there were saints in trouble--somewhere on the trail between Utah and Nebraska--they didn't even know where--they just went.
And what supplies did they take? Their own. Their own food, their own clothes, their own blankets, their own wagons and teams. They took things from their own kids to give them to people they'd never even met. They left their families to get someone in trouble--someone they didn't even know.[12] And those who went traveled from the Salt Lake Valley for Eastern Wyoming. They went back 350 miles. In fact, from Winter Quarters, Nebraska to Salt Lake is 1000 miles. The members of the rescue party made that 1000 mile journey for their families. And then they 700 more miles--350 there and 350 back, in an early winter, to go get people they didn't even know.
When I think of the story of the handcart companies, I think about the people who went back. They risked their own lives and really the lives of the own families to help others. Can you imagine doing that?
Let me give you a modern example. When I was in graduate school at Washington State University, at the end of winter semester I had just moved into a new apartment with my previous roommate, Amy. Ellen, our new roommate, was going home for the summer because she had a great internship lined up. Ellen's home was Juneau, Alaska. So just as I was moving in, she was taking off for the summer. Ellen had packed up everything she owned in her little pickup, planning to store her stuff at her sister's house, across the state, 6 hours away, in Olympia, Washington. The next day, she was supposed to catch her flight from Seattle to Juneau so she could start her internship the following day. She was on a tight schedule. Of course, disaster struck. In the middle of nowhere, Ellen's pickup broke down. This is in the 1990s--before everyone had cell phones. Ellen found someone nice who drove her to the closest town and she was at a service station, waiting for the tow-truck driver. In despair, Ellen called us. My roommate Amy answered the phone. The next thing I knew, Amy was grabbing her coat and keys. She was going to get Ellen. Now, I don't remember what Amy had planned for that weekend, but it certainly wasn't a 700-mile 12-hour round trip across Washington State 350 miles there and 350 miles back. I felt ashamed. My first thought hadn't been to go get Ellen. But, I rationalized that Amy and Ellen were practically family. Ellen had been roommates with Amy's two older sisters and had even spent holidays with their family. So then I didn't feel quite so bad.
But there's more to this story. Amy wasn't the only angel that day. Again, since this was in the days before cell phones, I was supposed to be the message relay at our apartment. Ellen would call to tell me where she was with the tow truck, and Amy was supposed to call to find out Ellen's location. In the midst of my waiting, my parents called to see how my new apartment was--I had just moved in. I explained what had happened with Ellen's pickup and told them I had to get off the phone. Then my stepdad said something I'll never forget. He said, "Wait, she's in trouble. Where is she? I'll go get her." He was ready to drive across the state, six hours each way, to help a girl he had never even met. He probably would have driven her to Alaska. After I convinced him that Ellen would be okay with Amy's help, he let me hang up the phone, but only after I promised him updates about whether Ellen made it safely to her sister's house in Olympia. Later, I asked my stepdad why he was willing to help my brand new roommate--a girl he'd never met and he stated plainly--"she needed help. I'd want someone to help you."
How often do we answer the call or even volunteer to go get those in need? How often do we grab our keys and go? Or say "I'll go get her."
In the Book of Mormon, King Benjamin gives us a similar test about sharing and helping others. As he gives his great sermon, he reminds us:
Ye yourselves will succor those that stand in need of your succor; ye will administer of your substance unto him that standeth in need; and ye will not suffer that the beggar putteth up his petition to you in vain, and turn him out to perish. Perhaps thou shalt say: The man has brought upon himself his misery; therefore I will stay my hand, and will not give unto him of my food, nor impart unto him of my substance that he may not suffer, for his punishments are just.[13]
Can you imagine if Brigham Young and the Saints in the Salt Lake Valley had said that of the Martin and Willie Handcart companies? Eh-It's their own problem. They brought this upon themselves. It's their own fault. Fortunately, they didn't.
King Benjamin continues and tells us why we should not judge those in trouble: "But I say unto you, O man, whosoever doeth this the same hath great cause to repent; and except he repenteth of that which he hath done he perisheth forever, and hath no interest in the kingdom of God."[14]
Even better, King Benjamin gives us a test: "And again, I say unto the poor. . . you who deny the beggar, because ye have not; I would that ye say in your hearts that: I give not because I have not, but if I had I would give."[15] There's our test. We have to be able to answer honestly, "If I had, I would give."
Presidesnt Hinckley reminds us:
There are so many who are hungry and destitute across this world who need help. . . Ours is a great and solemn duty to reach out and help them, to lift them, to feed them if they are hungry, to nurture their spirits if they thirst for truth and righteousness.
There are so many young people who wander aimlessly and walk the tragic trail of drugs, gangs, immorality, and the whole brood of ills that accompany these things. . . .
My brethren and sisters, I would hope, I would pray that each of us. . . would resolve to seek those who need help, who are in desperate and difficult circumstances, and lift them in the spirit of love into the embrace of the Church.[16]
4. Life will have disappointments and difficulties
This picture of the First Vision is from Nursery manual. It's by Walter Rane and it's quite nice. The traditional picture of the first vision focuses on Heavenly Father and Jesus. But this one focuses on Joseph. We can see him about to pray. One of my partners in Nursery was teaching the lesson about the First Vision. She did a very nice job. Sunbeams know the Joseph Smith story--no problem. But the nursery kids are younger. So the teacher showed this picture and said, "Look, here's Joseph Smith, he's kneeling in the woods. What is he doing?" And one of the little Nursery kids piped up--"He's looking for pokies!" Now, for those of you who don't speak three-year old, pokies are stickerbushes or branches that can poke you and hurt you. That little girl was exactly right. Think of what happened to Joseph Smith right before he prayed? The adversary came. What happened to the members of the Martin and Willie handcart companies? They had some real "pokies."
The Doctrine and Covenants reminds us, we'll all have to have difficulties. "Therefore, they must needs be chastened and tried, even as Abraham, who was commanded to offer up his only son. For all those who will not endure chastening, but deny me, cannot be sanctified."[17]
Remember that Abraham and Sarah had waited years to have their son Isaac. And then Abraham was commanded to sacrifice Isaac. Although an angel came to stop Abraham, it wasn't until the last minute--until Abraham had already in his heart given up his son Isaac.
We, too, "must be chastened and tried as Abraham." We usually think of "chastened" as being reprimanded, or corrected. Yelled at. But chasten has the same root as "chastity," meaning to purify.[18] We all must be purified. That which is most difficult for us is what will be asked of us. And that will be different for each of us.
This can sound scary. But it's not meant to be. "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."[19] We are not left alone in our trials. Although an angel might not appear to us, we always have the gift of the Holy Ghost to guide and comfort us.
Our trial might not be as radical as what Abraham and Sarah faced, or what the Saints in 1856 faced. It might just be life.
President Hinckley used to like quoting the following statement, originally printed in the Deseret News: "[The fact is] most putts don't drop. Most beef is tough. Most children grow up to be just people. Most successful marriages require a high degree of mutual toleration. Most jobs are more often dull than otherwise. ...Life is like an old-time rail journey--delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride."[20]
In the Church, we often talk about "enduring to the end." That old-time rail journey sounds like a lot of enduring. But "enduring" sounds like a pretty rotten thing. One passage of scripture reminds us what "enduring to the end" is all about: "Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore if ye shall press forward, feasting up on the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life."[21]
You and I can do this: "press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, [have] a perfect brightness of hope and a love of God and of all men."
And we can do it by remembering the lessons from the children of the church: be yourself, love learning, share what you have, and be ready for life's pokies.
In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Notes
[1] Thomas Plummer, "Diagnosing and Treating the Ophelia Syndrome," BYU Magazine, January 1991, http://magazine.byu.edu/?act=view&a=2537
[2] Ecclesiastes 3:1-4
[3] Brigham Young, Teachings of the Presidents of the Church: Brigham Young (Salt Lake: The church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1997), 16
[4] Dallin H. Oaks and Kristen M. Oaks, "Learning and Latter-day Saints," Ensign, April 2009, 26
[5] BYU-Idaho Mission Statement, http://www2.byui.edu/human-resources/seeking-employment/faculty-administration-and-staff-employment/mission-statement
[6] Ernst Fehr, Helen Bernhard, and Bettina Rockenbach, "Egalitarianism in Young Children," Nature, 4, no. 7208 (2008), 1079
[7] 4 Nephi 1: 3, 15
[8] Brigham Young, Conference Address, October 5, 1856, quoted in Leonard J. Arrington, Brigham Young: American Moses (New York: Vintage, 1985), 404
[9] Rebecca Cornwall and Leonard J. Arrington, Rescue of the 1856 Handcart Companies (Provo: Brigham Young University Press, 1981), 5-11
[10] Edward W. Tullidge The History of Salt Lake City and its Founders, (Salt Lake: Salt Lake City Council, 1886), 246
[11] Ibid, 113-114
[12] Cornwall and Arrington, Rescue, 5-11
[13] Mosiah 4:16-17
[14] Mosiah 4:18
[15] Mosiah 4:24
[16] Gordon B. Hinckley, "Reach with a Rescuing Hand," Ensign, November 1996, 86
[17] Doctrine and Covenants 101:4-5.
[18] Kes, "to cut." Calvert Watkins, American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots, 2nd ed. (New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2000), 41
[19] 2 Timothy 1:7
[20] Jenkins Lloyd Jones, "Big Rock Candy Mountains," Deseret News, June 12, 1973, A4, quoted in Gordon B. Hinckley, "A Conversation with Single Adults," Liahona, Nov 1997, 17
[21] 2 Nephi 31:20