Corissa Baker of West Lafayette, Indiana

Corissa, who is five years old, has been described by the Purdue Ward Primary chorister as “the best little singer in Primary.” She sings with her family during family home evenings and many other times, too, just because she likes to sing.

Making friends seems to come naturally to Corissa, and although she doesn’t live near many other children, sometimes she gets to play with Joshua, Casey, Johnny, Adam, Corrine, and Frosty at Squirrel Park near their homes.

The only girl in her Primary class, Corissa was a missionary in the Purdue Mission at the Primary quarterly activity. After the Primary, missionaries put on their name tags, they played “Name That Missionary” by guessing who the “missionaries of the past” were in slides that were shown.

Next, the Primary missionaries learned the importance of scriptures by having a scripture chase: They were divided into teams, and each participant was given a picture. At a signal, each Primary missionary raced to the other end of the cultural hall and found the scripture that the picture illustrated.

Then Corissa learned about food preparation as her missionary district made graham cracker bars. From the kitchen, she returned to the cultural hall, where she raced to put on missionary clothes—shoes, jacket, hat, and tie or scarf—and carry a set of scriptures while she “knocked on doors.”

Finally she got her “missionary picture,” which was made by getting her whole body traced; then she colored the tracing.

When she grows up, Corissa wants to be either an ice skater or an artist. She likes to illustrate stories that she makes up, such as those about Love World, “the place that you visit in your dreams.” Besides drawing, Corissa makes things: caterpillars out of egg cartons, paper sack puppets, and costumes for the plays that she makes up for herself and her sister, Chantell (3), to act out.

Corissa’s favorite books are Cinderella and Alice in Wonderland, and she loves to “read” to Chantell. Before long, she’ll have a new sister or brother to read to!

Chores include helping take out the garbage, making beds, cleaning her (and Chantell’s) room, and dusting. Mom says that Corissa always helps cheerfully.

Mom kept a journal for Corissa until she was three years old. Since then, Corissa has drawn pictures to show important things that have happened or that will happen. For instance, she drew a kitchen in her journal to show how much she is looking forward to the time when she can “cook everything, like Mom.”

Mom, Dad, Corissa, and Chantell singing at family home evening

With friends at Squirrel Park

Hugging baby

Taking out the trash

Princess of Love World

Reading to Chantell

Corissa and her Primary missionary district making treats

“Getting her missionary picture taken”

Riding her first bike—whee!