Type A

disclaimer: this post isn't going to have pictures. Sorry. It's worth the read though!

going to church in a different country is fun.

you get to see all the differences that come with a new culture, but at the end of the day you feel at home. it's definitely been a testimony strengthener to me to see the faith and dedication that the saints across the European continent have. But I think my favorite thing is to have felt the same spirit that I feel in Provo, Orem, or Lindon here in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and England- even when I don't understand the language. Our meetings truly have a feeling that is so unique to any other place in the world.

that being said... Remember when I told the story about trying to get to church last sunday? and I showed a picture of Stacey? if not, scroll down and keep reading. 

Well... lucky us, we got to teach today!

There's four sunbeams in my class. Two girls, two boys: Stacey, Thomasino, Jayden, and Misbach. And to say that they're a handful would be an understatement.

Today, the lesson that I was supposed to teach was on the sacrament. I'm not quite sure how you explain to four 4 year olds the magnitude of the sacrament, so my game plan was to go in teaching them how it's important for us to think about Jesus and be reverent during it.

That would have been nice if I could have gotten that far.

I even allowed for a couple games of "duck, duck, goose" and hangman, hoping that they would get it out of their system.

I pulled out a picture of Jesus and asked them who it was. I got an answer, was excited about the way things were looking, and turned to get my next picture. That was apparently my first mistake... In the ten seconds it took for me to get my next picture, Jayden and Misbach had commenced a full on wrestling match, Thomasino had found a box of toy fish, and Stacey had grabbed the chalk.

I spent the next ten minutes trying to get them to sit down and be quiet, but to no avail.

So I sat. Sat with my legs crossed and my arms folded. I watched them play for probably 15 minutes. We went and got drinks. We came back, and I watched them play again.

And then this is where the story really gets good. I'd had it up to my boiling point when we went into sharing time. The primary president is this sweet, black lady who says she's never been in primary before. She taught the sharing time lesson last week and not a single person listened to her because there was so much noise in the room.

She tries to begin the lesson, but every child is busy talking to the person next to them, climbing all over Kenz, Lily or me, or finding their next toy to occupy themselves with. I was ready to lose it.

The snapping point for me came when Misbach and Jayden had found scissors and were about to fight with them.

I wasn't having this anymore. I don't care that kids are kids. Children can sit for an hour on a chair and be quiet and listen! haha I'm going to be a great mom, right?! So anyways... I decide I'm doing something about this monstrosity.

I start grabbing toys from every child's hand and putting them away. I'm picking kids up off the floor and putting them in chairs. I'm yelling to Kenz and Lily to grab the kids who are misbehaving next to them. All the while, the primary president is just continuing on with her lesson.

At one point, I've got Stacey on my lap, but Misbach is fighting with someone in the other corner of the room. I pick Stacey up, put her on my hip, and drag Misbach to my chair by his sweatshirt sleeve. I put them both on my lap, and in a full on deadlock put both my arms around them. After about ten seconds, they both are squirming and trying to get out, but I've got a great grip on them and they weren't going anywhere. That was definitely my high point.

THEN, the primary president looks at me and mumbles something about it being singing time. Great. So I go over to the piano, she says she wants them to learn a new song, she tells me the song, and sits down. 

So.... I'm supposed to play the piano and lead the music and teach them the lyrics to a new song? 

They've got a CD so I find the song on the CD, yell over the noise of the kids who are now acting up again, and we begin to learn a new song. 

Kenz writes the lyrics up on the board, and over and over we sing and slowly erase the lyrics as we go. 

side note: i'm tone deaf. literally. can't sing to save my life. and yet I'm basically singing a primary song I've never heard by myself in front of 20 kids. It had to have been so comical. 

and THEN... then it gets really good. We end after a successful knowledge of a new song, say a prayer, and start to walk out. The primary president comes over to me, hands me a couple sheets of paper, and starts to explain how she has laid out the primary program that is in three weeks but she would like us to look over it, and add and subtract where necessary to make sure it's the right amount of time and everything.

Oh and I'm playing the piano for it. Good thing I've got 8 years of successful primary programs to fall back on when we are basically putting the program together over the next 3 weeks!

So yes, you could say we're being utilized in the ward we're serving. So much so in fact, that I'm basically planning on revamping the entire primary expectations and the way things happen there. 

Type A personality? maybe just a little.