CTR 5A

When we moved into the Falls Church, Virginia Ward shortly following our marriage, we were told that because of the large ward numbers (780+ prior to some boundary changes last month) and the transient nature of our ward (a lot of student and foreign service families) we probably would not get a calling for a while. With everything going on in our lives at that time, we probably sighed our sigh of relief a little too loudly because two weeks later we received a calling.

(For readers that don't attend the LDS church, I apologize for the LDS-lingo-heavy post.)

We were called to teach CTR 5A which is sunday school for four-year-old kiddos turning five during the calendar year. I was very excited to work with children and Will was, to put it lightly, nervous about teaching little ones. We started teaching in January and by the time we left, the children we taught were some of our best friends. We didn't know many adults in the ward, but couldn't have had better friends.

During the eight months, we had between eight and ten children in our class, each with very unique personalities and a ton of energy. Our hearts were broken watching the hard life of one young girl living with struggles way beyond her age. We watched in amazement at the teaching and training done by the parents of these brilliant children. I was blown away with Will's teaching skills and the way he related to and paid individual attention to each child in the class. He was also extremely patient with my procrastination in preparing lessons. We didn't have church until 1, so Sunday morning was perfect prep time for me.

It was such a blessing to help our children learn more about our Heavenly Father's love for each of us and that choosing the right does make us happy. Will and I also learned a lot from lessons such as "I can make right choices," "We have special families," "I can share," "I can show gratitude," and "Jesus Christ loves me." The truths of the gospel are so simple. Teaching four-year-olds was a great reminder of that. We loved it when parents told us stories of the kids sharing what they had learned and when they remembered things from lessons long past. One lesson that came up over and over was the nature of the Holy Ghost. One child was riding in the car with his parents and shouted "Stop!" When his parents asked him why, he said, "The Holy Ghost is hear with us, right now!" He was very excited and I think they all learned that the Holy Ghost is one ghost that a) is not scary and b) we want to be in our room at night. Another favorite was acting out the parables of Jesus. We built boats out of the chairs in our room more than once and acted out the parable of the good Samaritan enough times for all eight children to be the good Samaritan (and so each could be the donkey that the good Samaritan used to take the sick man to the inn).

In addition to teaching them, we played with the kids. Instead of bringing treats to class as reinforcement for reverent behavior, we filled up a "reverence" chart with stickers. I was amazed that it worked as well as it did, but the kids worked hard to put a sticker on the chart. They filled up all 32 spots in mid-June (1 chart worked for six months!). The prize they chose to earn was a pizza and brownie party at our apartment. And party we did! Seven kids came and the favorite activity was definitely swimming in our hot tub. It's amazing how long they entertained themselves in so little water. But, they had fun. We also ate pizza and brownies and played a few games.


It was such a fun time that when we found out we were moving, we had another party that was also very fun. (Those pictures are on my camera which I need to pick up at the post office tomorrow from it's little jaunt west. Thank you Meg!)

And, just in case you're doubting Will's enthusiasm for CTR 5A, I give you proof:

We miss the children and our ward, but are having fun getting to know people in our new ward, which is much smaller and much more diverse. We like it!