President Hinckley once gave a great allegory of life. Quoting an old newspaper article, he said: “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” (“A Conversation with Single Adults,” Ensign, March 1997, 58).

I think this applies equally to Primary. Having served in the Primary several times, I find that we spend 95% of our time getting out wiggles, trying to keep ‘all four on the floor,’ and by turns sit still, sing properly, stay in chairs and not wrestle with neighbors.

And yet, once in awhile, when the equivalent of beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed come,
Oh! What joy! Those brief moments when the Spirit is in such abundance that all the children feel it at once; when the Holy Ghost is testifying to each sweet soul; there is nothing to compare.

But like the railcar, the fundamentals must be in place. If the train never got on the track, or the passengers disliked the dust and cinders enough to get off the train, the joy of the vistas and speed would never be realized. So in Primary we come every week, we pray, we love, we serve.

Some days we may think we made no difference. But it is in Primary that we teach children to love church. If they know that their leaders and teachers love them, and their wiggles are out and the Spirit is there, those transcendent moments can come. And that makes it all worthwhile.
Primary workers, we salute you and thank you.

All the best,

Editor@DesertSaintsMagazine.com