Monday, December 17, 2007

The Second Coming

In Primary yesterday, JD gave a short talk about Jesus Christ and the Second Coming (see PDF of talk). JD was very nervous when he got up to the microphone (in front of the teachers and the other kids) but he managed to gain his composure and get started with my help. Then he read the talk from there without further prompting from me. I was very proud of JD and, on a whole, I think he did well.

In terms of the speech itself, JD basically wrote it by himself. We found out on Friday night that JD would be speaking on Sunday. I was honestly worried about my ability to help him with this assignment - especially for a child audience. I wanted the talk to be in his words and based on his own understanding of the topic but assumed I'd need to guide him through every step of the process. But when I woke up the next morning, he was basically done with the speech. In the PDF linked above, I've included his handwritten rough draft (on page 2). Admittedly, he "borrowed" chunks of text from this board book. But he found the book on his own and selected the text on his own. Also, the other commentary is his. The only things I helped him with were (1) reminding him of reading John 3:16 a couple of months ago, (2) finding a picture of the Second Coming (above), and (3) helping him find the third scripture in the talk (from D&C). Other than that, JD did this entirely on his own - which I personally find very impressive.

1 comment:

mtalinm said...

Great story. Watching a child give a talk in Primary can be one of the more faith-promoting experiences available. Here's to hoping you'll have many more such opportunities! MM