the simplicity of primary

happy mama's day to all the wonderful women in my life. 

you are all amazing and i love you dearly. 

i decided that i wanted to go to primary in their ward. right now, my testimony feels like that of a child and i honestly feel more comfortable in a small plastic chair than in a relief society lesson. 

so i went.

at first, i felt foolish because my sister had to "drop" me off like i was a child. when i was introduced to the presidency, i immediately was given the task of sitting by a little girl named Ashlyn.  her bubble gum pink hair matched her bubble gum personality. 

that girl was a spitfire for sure. 

but as i sat with her and sung the simple songs, the spirit bore witness to my heart of the truths of those songs. 

1. jesus loves me

the song "gethsamane" has become a staple song for almost every primary i have been to. the message of this song is that everything that jesus did for us, he did out of love. the little girl i was holding didn't know any of the words except for that line. she sang it with such gusto, i knew that she knew he loved her. 

2. heavenly father wants me to be happy

i honestly can't tell you what song this was actually from but i really loved that line. heavenly father does want us to be happy. that's the whole reason we came to earth was to learn to be happy and then gain eternal happiness. 

3. pray, he is there

from a child's prayer, this song has always had a special place in my heart, but for some reason today it really brought the spirit. i struggle with praying sometimes and feeling dumb. i can hear myself saying "are you REALLY" there? almost every time i kneel down, if i can remember to kneel down, i feel silly talking out loud. but that song is a simple reminder that he is always listening. 

4. scripture power, keeps me safe from sin

this is one of my favorite songs  to hear kids sing. at the chorus, they raise their scripture high in the air and scream the lyrics. SCRIPTURE POWER!! i love their enthusiasm and passion for such a simple thing to do. we sometimes laugh at the children of israel for not looking at the freakin' snake but how often do we not do the simple things like read our scriptures? 

5. jesus is real to me

he totally is. even though sometimes i don't feel like he is, these kids know that he is. while i have never sat at his feet or felt the nails on his hands, jesus is real.  that alone is one of my favorite things to tell myself on those days when i just don't feel like the church is true. because if jesus is real, then the book of mormon is real, and the gospel is real, and god is real, and his desires for are eternal. 

next time you are having a hard time with your testimony, feel free to go sit in primary and just listen. i promise you'll feel the spirit.