“A Friendly Primary Visitor,” Friend, October 2017
A Friendly Primary Visitor
The author lives in Georgia, USA.
“Follow the prophet; he knows the way” (Children’s Songbook, 110–11).
Illustration by Roger Motzkus
“It’s time for our friendly visitor!” Sister Palmer said.
Elijah could hardly stay in his seat. He was so excited.
“Who will it be?” whispered Lily Kate.
“I don’t know,” Elijah whispered back.
Sometimes a special visitor came to Primary. It was always someone different, but the visitor usually talked about a story from the Friend magazine. That’s why Sister Palmer called him a friendly visitor.
One time the visitor was dressed up like a farmer and read a story about a boy who took a watermelon without asking.
Elijah stared at the door, waiting. All of a sudden, a tall man with a black helmet and a vest came through the Primary door.
“It’s a pilot!” whispered Brinkley.
“That’s my dad!” said Lily Kate.
Brother Owen was a helicopter pilot. He asked Lily Kate to come to the front of the room and pretend to fly a helicopter with him. Lily Kate put on a helmet and safety gear, and she and her dad started to fly. They listened to the control tower on the radio so they would know which way to go and where to land. It was so much fun pretending to fly through the clouds!
Then Brother Owen looked at Elijah.
“I have time for one more flight,” he said. “Do you want to try?”
Elijah nodded. He jumped up from his seat and ran to the front of the room.
Brother Owen helped Elijah put on his gear and flight gloves. They got ready for takeoff. But this time Brother Owen said they didn’t need to listen to the control tower. He said the weather was beautiful and they knew how to fly.
Elijah held out his hands like he was steering the helicopter. It was great! They made noises like they were flying through the air. Zoom!
“Oh no!” said Brother Owen. “A tree! Look out!”
Elijah tried to fly away from the tree, but it was too late. Brother Owen shook their chairs as they pretended to crash to the ground.
“I guess we made a mistake, huh?” asked Brother Owen.
Elijah nodded.
“I guess we should have listened to the control tower,” Brother Owen said. He turned to the other kids. “Do you know why it’s important to listen to the tower?”
“So we can have a good flight and not crash into things,” said Lily Kate.
“You’re right,” said Brother Owen. “The control tower has a computer that can see everything. The control tower tells the pilots if they are going the right way. They also make sure there’s no danger ahead.”
“Like really tall trees,” Elijah said.
“Exactly!” said Brother Owen. “And guess who is like a control tower for us? He helps us choose the right and teaches us important things in general conference.”
“The prophet!” one of the kids called out.
“That’s right! Like a control tower, President Monson can see the big picture.” Brother Owen held up a picture of President Monson from the Friend magazine. “He gets revelation from our Heavenly Father to help us stay on the right path. He warns us if there are dangers ahead. When we listen to our prophet, we can be safe and happy, just like the pilots who listen to their control tower.”
Brother Owen gave the kids a salute.
“Time to fly home,” he said. Then he disappeared through the Primary doors just as fast as he had come in.
Elijah liked all of the special friendly visitors. But this had been his favorite one of all.