What’s Sensational?

By Nancy Merz Roberts

(A story for you to think about what you would say)

I’m glad that I live in this beautiful world Heav’nly Father created for me (Children’s Songbook, pages 228–229).

In her Primary class, Sister Andress said to the children, “When we’re quiet, we can hear interesting sounds. What are some interesting sounds you hear at your home?”

“My brother’s just a baby, but you know what? He can hum,” Teddy said. “He goes, ‘Hmmm.’ It’s cool!”

Frieda raised her hand. “When my cat, Gretchen, is happy, she purrs. It’s a nice sound.”

“I like scary music in a TV movie—if I’m watching it with my dad.” Joachim smiled.

“I like it when my mom calls me for supper,” Franz said. “That’s the best sound, I think.”

There are interesting sounds at your home. Could you tell Sister Andress some of them?

Next Sister Andress said to the children, “There are wonderful smells all around us. Tell me your favorite.”

“The best is my dad’s aftershave lotion,” Marla said.

Paulie said, “I like the smell of rain.”

“My sister Hilda—she’s in high school—sometimes makes cocoa for our family home evenings. I like that smell,” Ursula said.

“My favorite smell in the whole world is a Christmas tree,” Mary Margaret said.

You have some favorite smells. What would you tell Sister Andress?

“Now,” Sister Andress said, “think of something special that you like to touch.” “It’s fun to touch cotton because it’s fluffy,” Patrick said.

“I have lots of pretty rocks,” Fouad said. “I think it’s fun to touch them. Some are real smooth.”

“Sand is fun to touch, too,” Frieda said. “But I like to feel my dolly’s hair. It’s soft.”

“I like to touch my mama’s face,” said Teddy. “And I love the hugs that we give each other after family prayer.”

What would you tell Sister Andress are things you like to touch?

“There are lots of different things to taste,” Sister Andress said next, “like apple juice and crunchy celery and tuna-fish sandwiches. What tastes do you like the most?”

“That’s easy,” Joachim said. “Bubble gum!”

“My mom and I like the taste of tomatoes. We eat them in salads and sandwiches and sometimes just by themselves,” Franz said.

“Anything orange,” Ursula said. “That’s what I like most. Orange juice, orange pudding, orange gumdrops, orange cake, orange lollipops.”

“I like vanilla ice cream,” Marla said. “We always go for ice-cream cones after we help Brother Garcia in his yard. That’s when they taste the very best.”

There are many things for us to taste. What would you tell Sister Andress that you like to taste?

“There is one more way that we sense things,” Sister Andress said. “When we look around, we can see beautiful things everywhere. Tell me what you like to look at.”

“I have a picture on my wall of three horses running around,” Mary Margaret said. “I like to look at it just before I go to sleep. I pretend that they’re real.”

“Our new puppy. I look at him all the time,” Paulie said. “He makes me laugh.”

“The pictures that the clouds make in the sky,” Patrick said. “They look like cats or trees—things like that.”

“My Book of Mormon Stories—especially when I read it with Mom and Dad,” Fouad said. “There’s a big picture in it of Jesus Christ coming from heaven to visit the Nephites—that’s my favorite!”

There are many, many beautiful things to look at. What would you tell Sister Andress are some of your favorites?

Photos by Craig Dimond