Mary Margaret Thompson was raised in Salt Lake City by two California natives and converts to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Mary served a mission in upper New England, which covers the birthplace of the Prophet Joseph Smith. Upon her return, she met and married the amazing Spencer Thompson and earned her master’s degree in early childhood education at the University of Utah. She taught kindergarten for three years and is now raising four precious children. Mary has served in various callings, both in ward and stake Young Women presidencies, as well as a Primary presidency and as Primary chorister. She is currently a Relief Society teacher. She has also been the supporting role for her husband who served as the president of NorthStar International for several years. Mary has a great passion to write inspirational thoughts and has written a personal blog for the past seven years, since President Nelson’s plea for us to receive personal revelation.
Enter Mary…
One of the most underestimated blessings of any calling in the Church is the blessing of learning from and loving those you serve with. What a blessing to love and be loved by those we serve with! Thus, I got one more extra year than anticipated in Primary, and for me it felt complete, having gotten through teaching music for all of the standard works.
The other great blessing from experiencing different callings in the Church is the ways callings can stretch us and challenge us. If you ever find yourself praying for an added measure of joy and an added measure of humility in your life, Primary chorister would be perfect for you!
God’s Magnifies Our Weak & Simple Efforts
It’s equally as joyful as it can be humiliating at times! I was overjoyed to receive this calling and was also very quickly humbled by it. Each week I was brought to my knees pleading for help to know how to best bring the spirit and fun into the lives of the primary children. However imperfect the delivery, without fail, God always pulled through and something came that was definitely meant from heaven.
My testimony grew in this truth: God uses the “weak and simple” to do God’s work. (D&C 1:23)
There were plenty of weeks that I felt like a failure, but I learned that if we are willing to simply be a vessel, God can use us and magnify our efforts. In the missionary study guide Preach my Gospel, we learn that
“When you have done your very best, you may still experience disappointments, but you will not be disappointed in yourself. You can feel certain that the Lord is pleased when you feel the spirit working through you.”
Our Heavenly Parents Love their Children Deeply
As I continually pleaded for help, I was constantly taken back by the way God put words in my mouth or ideas in my mind which were not mine, or not part of what I would have chosen to do. This was a witness to me that God loves those children and cares deeply about their souls. One example I experienced, which taught me this truth, was during a lesson when I was teaching the song “I’ll Walk With You”.
While teaching the children the line, “If you don’t walk as most people do…some people walk away from you, but I won’t, I won’t.” Out of nowhere, a story came like lightning into my mind. A story which happened in one of the areas I served in on my mission. This was the story of Joseph Smith’s leg surgery. Knowing Joseph was seven at the time, I had all of the seven year olds raise their hands…and then began to tell them the story about Joseph’s leg and how he had a sickness in his bone…and that he was going to have to have his leg cut off, but that miraculously the only doctor in the world who knew how to perform the surgery Joseph needed happened to live in the same town. I was able to share how courageous he was and share the miracle of how his leg was saved, which helped him complete the work he had to do…and that he always walked with a limp for the rest of his life. He walked differently.
This moment wasn’t anything I planned to share, but I remember the Spirit being palpable as I was able to testify of the truths God helped me share as I taught them this beautiful song. Later that day I learned that it was the 177th anniversary of the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith. In this story, Hyrum was a true example of displaying, “I’ll walk with you,” and he did walk with Joseph for the cause of Christ, even in death. After learning what day it was, I felt the Spirit confirm to me that God wanted those truths to be shared. I simply got the honor of being the vessel.
I Accept Your Offering
Experiences like this were not uncommon. I am a witness. One other personal experience I had during our last Primary program was during a song we had practiced for several months. It was my favorite for so many reasons. It is called “The Tree of Life” by Shawna Edwards. I tend to get emotional from time to time when the children sing, but while the children were singing this particular song during the program, something about the spirit in which it was delivered was so powerful that it completely overcame me.
I lost it.
I was not just emotional, I was sobbing. I fell apart while leading the music, but those sweet children just kept singing. They kept it together and knew it so well. All during this experience, I felt that all of those years, all of those prayers, all of those days of fretting whether I had done enough, were received by God. Like God was saying, “I accept your offering.” Not just with words, but with deep love. It reminded me of when the saints spent years sacrificing to build the Kirtland temple, and when the Lord appeared He said, “Behold, I have accepted this house.” (D&C 110:7)
I felt relief that must have been a smidge of what those Saints had felt when their work was accepted by God. I was not building a temple, but I was building God’s children. And I felt God accept my efforts. It was such a tangible moment, which I will always be grateful for. Those children may not always remember me and my very human efforts, but I pray they remember those beautiful songs in their hearts forever.
The Greatest in Spirit
President John Taylor once said,
“It is true intelligence for a man to take a subject that is mysterious and great in itself and to unfold and simplify it so that a child can understand it.”
This is what Primary songs do.
I’d like to share a few lines from some of the songs we have sung over the years, which echo this sentiment. There is something about children singing pure truth that brings the spirit unlike anything else, and I do believe it is because they are the purest vessels:
- “Jesus is a God of miracles, nothing is at all impossible to Him.”
- “Jesus is my loving friend, He is always near”
- “Jesus wants me for a sunbeam to shine for Him each day.”
- “I feel God’s light shining in me…”
- “The wise man built His house upon a rock.”
- “Even though it’s still hard with questions that arise everyday.”
- “I will find my own sacred grove, away from all of the noise of the world.”
- “The greatest place in all the world to be, is at the tree.”
- “Scripture power, every day I need the power that I get each time I read.”
- “I will spread God’s love to all I know and serve, I will be what I believe.”
- “By this shall men know, ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”
How I love the simple profound truths I have learned while serving in the Primary. Most of all how grateful I am for the sacred stewardship of serving the children in our ward. It has been an honor to be in their midst.
May we all seek for ways to learn from “the least of these” in age, but perhaps the greatest in spirit.
