Remembering Jesus

By Jane McBride Choate

They are willing to take upon them the name of thy Son, and always remember him (Moro. 4:3).

Josh fidgeted on the bench. Sacrament meeting had already lasted an hour, and he was tired of sitting. He was tired of being quiet too. His feet didn’t quite reach the floor, and that made his legs hurt.

When he tried to ask his mother what the speaker’s talk was about, she said, “Shh.”

Josh looked around him at his friends. Tammy was coloring a picture of Captain Moroni. Jody was making a Noah’s Ark out of a piece of paper. Josh wanted to do that, too, but his father told him that it made too much noise. “Try thinking about Jesus,” his father whispered to him. “Remember, Jesus wants us to be reverent in church.”

“I’m trying,” Josh whispered back.

Josh couldn’t wait until Primary. Sister Cheshire always had such good stories in his CTR-A class that he could sit for almost twenty minutes without wiggling.

As soon as Sunday School singing practice was over, he jumped up from the bench and started to run to the Primary room. He stopped when he saw the Primary president. She smiled at him. Josh walked the rest of the way to class, but he walked very fast.

Today Sister Cheshire told the class that she needed their help. “I want each of you to name a way you can show Jesus that you love Him.”

“Going to Primary,” Jody volunteered.

“Picking up my papers after sacrament meeting,” Tammy said.

Sister Cheshire smiled. “Those are both good ways. What about you, Josh? Can you think of a way of showing your love for Jesus?”

Josh thought hard. “Being reverent,” he said.

“That’s a very important way,” his teacher agreed. “How can we be reverent?”

“That’s easy,” Tammy said. “We just have to be quiet.”

“What do you think, Josh?” Sister Cheshire asked.

Josh looked at his teacher. “We can be quiet anytime,” he said, frowning thoughtfully.

“That’s right,” his teacher said. “Being reverent means more than just being quiet.”

“My father said I should try thinking about Jesus during sacrament meeting. I tried, but I kept thinking about other things.”

Sister Cheshire held up a picture of Jesus in a white robe. His face was kind and gentle. “When we partake of the sacrament, we promise that we will always remember Jesus. Now, what does the bread represent?”

“His body,” Jody said before anyone else could answer.

“The water’s supposed to stand for His blood,” Tammy added.

Sister Cheshire smiled. “You’re both right. The water is a symbol of Christ’s blood, just as the bread is a symbol of His body.” She looked at Josh. “What do you think about when you see a picture of Jesus?”

“I think about how much He must have loved us,” Josh said slowly.

He looked at Sister Cheshire. She was crying.

“I didn’t mean to make you cry,” he said, feeling like he might start crying too.

“It’s all right, Josh. I’m crying because you’re right—Jesus does love us very much—so much that He was willing to die for us.” She handed a small copy of the picture to each child. “When you come to church next week, I want each of you to bring this picture with you. It will help you remember Jesus when the sacrament is being passed.”

Josh stared at his picture. Jesus looked as if He was smiling right at him. Slipping it inside his Bible, he said, “Thank you, Sister Cheshire.”

“Thank you, Josh, for helping us better understand how we can be reverent. Will you say our closing prayer now, please?”

Josh started the prayer the way he always did. Then, after thanking Heavenly Father for Primary and his teacher and the beautiful day, he remembered the picture and said, “Heavenly Father, please help us to remember Jesus and show Him that we love Him by being reverent.”

He felt good a few minutes later as he walked down the hall, telling his mother and father about the lesson and showing them his picture of the Savior.

Illustrated by Jerry Harston