Nathan’s Primary Talk

By Therese Reid

Prayers of the faithful shall be heard (2 Ne 26:15).

“Mom, guess what?” Nathan said as he climbed into the car after church. “The Primary president asked me to give a talk in Primary next Sunday.”

“Great!” Mom exclaimed. “What are you supposed to talk about?”

“I’m supposed to talk about all the blessings that I have from being a member of the Church.”

“Well, I think that you can give a talk about that. First, you should think about all the things that you are thankful for; then we can write them down on a blessings list,” Mom said.

“Mom,” said Nathan, “I want to be able to give my talk all by myself, with no one helping me this time, just like the big kids do.”

“OK, we’ll work on it,” Mom said encouragingly. “You keep thinking about the things that you’re grateful for.”

During the week, Nathan told his mom the things that he thought should be on his blessings list and Mom wrote them down. Every night before he went to bed, he and Mom sat down with the list and he tried to memorize it. But try as he might, he just couldn’t remember it all.

When Saturday morning came, Nathan was worried. “Mom, I still can’t remember my talk. What am I going to do?”

“Maybe if we say a prayer together, Heavenly Father will give us an idea.”

They knelt in the living room, and Nathan thanked Heavenly Father for all the things on his blessings list. Then he asked Him for help to find a way to give his talk all by himself.

After the prayer, Nathan and Mom sat quietly to listen for Heavenly Father’s answer.

Nathan’s mom jumped up. “I think that Heavenly Father gave me an answer. You sit right here, and I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

Nathan sat very still, anxiously awaiting her return. When she came back, she had a big smile on her face and she was holding a big piece of paper. “Here are your talk ‘notes.’ Do you think you can read it all by yourself now?”

Nathan looked down at the paper. This is what he saw:

I am happy to be a member of the Church. I get blessings from Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father. The blessings are: my family, food, sunshine, my home, flowers, and my teachers. I am happy I can give my talk all by myself. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

“When you see the pictures, say their names,” Mom explained. “You know the word my. The cloud with the sunlight coming through it stands for blessings, and you’ve already memorized the first part and the last two sentences. Do you think that you can give your talk now?”

On Sunday Mom and Dad came to listen to Nathan give his talk. He gave it perfectly. But before he said the last sentence, he looked up from his notes and said, “And I’m glad that Heavenly Father answers our prayers.”

Illustrated by Julie F. Young