Applying President Faust to this Month's Primary Lessons

I have been reading some materials about President James E. Faust and will be applying some of this to our primary lessons this month (Topic: "Jesus Christ is our Savior") and next month (Topic: "The Family is Central to God's Plan."

I was reading about President Faust's funeral in 2007 (because I was reading "A Growing Testimony" by James E. Faust and ended up reading other materials about President Faust to help supplement my own understanding for the lesson that I am preparing), and read these two quotes that I will share with the primary to apply to things we have been teaching.

Quote #1 -

“Though his body was crippled, his mind was sharp,” said Gordon B. Hinckley, President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. “His wisdom was deep and profound. It came of long experience in many fields. He brought with him the mind of a lawyer, and the compassion of a church leader. His faith in the truth of the restored gospel was unflagging. ...

This is a great application about how everyone is different and special, and about how important it is to grow our testimonies in our youth so that we have a deep, unflagging faith. President Faust wasn't always crippled but he lived a long life, and by the end, his body was struggling, but he never doubted the gospel, and lead his life accordingly.

Quote #2 -

Bishop Marcus Faust, a son, spoke on behalf of the family. “Mother always came first in Dad’s life… From the way he spoke with her, to the way he tended to her needs, we always knew our mother was Dad’s one true love.”

He also recalled his father’s words prior to being sustained as a general authority in 1972. “I cannot magnify this new calling unless I first magnify my calling as husband, father and patriarch to our family. I will never be released from this calling.”

This is a great application about how important it is for parents to honor their children, and for children to obey their parents. President Faust set an example for his children, and also earned their respect because of how he treated his family.

Changing the Bell Schedule

Did you know that the Primary auxiliary is the only one that is supposed to use the bells on Sunday? Of course, we don't mind if everyone listens to the bells to figure out when to go from Gospel Doctrine class to Priesthood and Relief Society, but sometimes it messes them up because we adjust the bells as needed.

We have found that with sacrament running late at times, and the Junior Primary being such wiggly, little bodies, we often run out of time faster in Junior Primary than in Senior Primary. Therefore, we are going to try an experiment and start ringing the bells five minutes later during Junior Primary sharing time. This of course, also means that Junior Primary will have five minutes less class time with their teachers in the third hour, but I don't think the teachers will mind. I loved teaching in Junior Primary but the minutes certainly passed by more slowly than when I taught in Senior Primary.

We announced the change for several weeks before so that the Senior Primary teachers wouldn't let their classes out too early. We tried the new bell schedule for the first time last week. So far, so good!

Of course, if you want to try something similar in you ward, run it past your bishopric counselor ...