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I just know that you can be a missionary, however old you are. When I came to church, I felt nervous. That was his first Sunday at church. So I really wanted him to feel welcome. He showed me around and made me not feel nervous. When Alessia came to church, she was kind of alone with her brother. I felt really nervous and shy. And she didn't know anybody. Genna made me feel happy. I think that was really important because she needed friends. A lot of kids in our ward have come and embraced our kids. They made Alessia feel very comfortable at church. A child, we want to know that they also feel that love and that support and that they're welcome in a situation so that they want to return. To see the support that my children received at the Church was huge. They immediately started making friends. The kids were so welcoming. When we went there and we saw them, how embraced they were and how much they learned-- We quickly recognize, as the presidency, they obviously don't know the songs right now. And so having on hand the little Children's Songbooks and showing them, "It's on this page," and them being able to turn to that. To see our children, how happy they are to go and how much they're learning, it was wonderful. Seeing that support just means the world to me because I can turn it over to the ward, and they're going to be OK. Coen came to my baptism. You could just read Isaiah's face. I mean, he was nervous. There was 50 people there, and they were celebrating me. So my son said, "Are you nervous? Are you feeling nervous?" And he said, "I am." And he said, "That's OK. I was nervous too." When I was baptized, I felt good and happy about being a member of the Church. What led up to me being at the baptism was, I had a number of things going on in the stake that weekend. And that afternoon, I wanted to spend some time with President and Sister Leachman. And I said, "If you've got a baptism, let's go and do that." As I observed the baptism, what happened before, during, and afterwards, it was very clear that the children, Isaiah and Alessia, had been wonderfully well prepared. They had friends. They were mixing and mingling with the children from the ward and other friends. And it was just a model of integration in that sense. It was really cool to see how much love and support even the kids had for the other kids and how they were doing missionary work as well. I think missionary work is about being authentic. And a child is authentic. Last time that I had my Primary program, I invited my two friends. I wanted to invite them so that they could feel the Spirit. And three years in a row, he has had those friends and their parents and his schoolteachers come. Even though they're not members, it was just cool that they could experience it. One of the wonderful, natural gifts of children in missionary work is that they're less hung up about it than adults. They're less anxious; they're less caught up and worried. And so they just normally would say to a friend, "Hey, why don't you come?" I think for our young friends, that's a wonderful approach. [MUSIC PLAYING]

Children Sharing the Gospel

Description
Children make great missionaries because they are genuine, like Coen and Genna. Their thoughtful friendship prepared Isaiah and his sister Alessia for baptism by helping them feel loved.
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