Yesterday one of those moments happened that, as parents, we pray our children will have. Ashlyn came home from church and shared an experience she had in sharing time. She said that while she and the whole sr. primary were singing the new primary song for this year, I Know That My Savior Loves Me, she felt the Spirit so strongly that she couldn't hold back her tears. She said President Hawks was sitting next to her and felt what she was feeling and that he gently put his arm around her and held her while she cried.
As she shared this experience with us she got a little choked up...I have been praying that she will have more experiences with feeling the Spirit and it's happening. All day as I've talked with friends, they have shared with me their feeling as they watched Ashlyn yesterday and felt of her spirit. While talking with Diane, who is in the primary presidency, she asked if Ashlyn had shared with us what had happened in sharing time...I told her she had and then she continued to tell me how it affected the primary and the presidency. Diane said that she noticed Ashlyn silently crying with tears streaming down her face and she began to cry, then Andreya began crying, then Amy and soon many others were feeling the Spirit, too. She said that after the song was over, Andreya stood and told the children and the leaders in that room what they had just experienced...that they had witnessed the Spirit testifying to them of the truthfulness of the song they had just sung. What a great primary president and what a great daughter!
A week ago tonight Ashlyn had another great experience with feeling the Spirit. We had just finished our FHE lesson on Christlike attributes. We talked about each attribute: Faith, Hope, Charity and Love, Diligence, Knowledge, Obedience, Virtue, Patience and Humility and challenged the kids to choose one attribute and strive to develop that attribute. McKenna chose patience, Ashlyn chose faith, Colt chose obedience and Wyatt chose diligence. I testified of the blessings that would come to each of them and the promises the Lord was bound to fulfill if they could develop the attribute they had chosen, then I invited them to read the scriptures found in Chapter 6 of Preach My Gospel about their attribute and to ask Heavenly Father morning and night to help them attain that Christlike attribute. We said the closing prayer and off the kids went while Garrett and I prepared dessert.
About twenty minutes later, Ashlyn came upstairs and sat on the couch...I could tell something was on her mind, so I asked if she wanted to talk. Her countenance was changed...she got emotional and couldn't speak for a minute, then she shared with us the experience she had just had in her room when she knelt to pray and ask for help with developing faith. We felt the Spirit as she told of her sweet experience and then Garrett promised that if she would continue to seek after the Spirit she would be blessed and that what she felt was something she should never forget.
Later that night Garrett shared with me another tender moment he had as he walked past the girls' room that evening...both girls kneeling in personal prayer by the sides of their beds.
They are such great girls!
