Sisters, I’d like to share two stories today of events that happened when I was serving in Primary.

We have two
guest speakers today, and I’m going to turn the time over to the first.

Clears throat. My name is Sister Lion, and this is my story. It all began when I got called as the Valiant 9
Teacher in my ward. Which has absolutely got to be the hardest calling in the church. Seriously. I was a busy
young mother with three lion cubs of my own, and I didn’t have much time for preparing lessons. And so I
relied on my class to be very well behaved so I could read the lesson right out of the manual. And if they
disrupted me, I became frustrated. So I was particularly frustrated when a new little lamb showed up in class
one Sunday. His name was Shawn. And the moment I saw him, I knew he was a troublemaker.

Pioneer children sang as they walked and walked and walked…

I tried ignoring Shawn. Hmph. I tried disciplining him. Shawn Sheep, you fold your arms this minute! I tried
talking to his mother. Shawn, do you want me to get your mother again? Nothing worked. Needless to say, I
didn’t mind much when Shawn stopped coming to Primary. The other kids in my class didn’t mind much,
either.

The End.

Thank you Sister Lion.

May I go now?

Yes, if you’d like.

Well good. I have tons of errands to run today, so if you don’t need me anymore, I’m going to duck out of this
leadership training thing.

SWITCH PUPPETS.

OK then. (switch puppets). Sisters, may I introduce you to our next guest speaker Sister Sheep. Sister Sheep
will now share her story.

Several months ago, a lost little lamb came to my Primary class. His name was Shawn, and his parents were
recently divorced, which was hard for him. We got to know one another, and I had him over for dinner a few
times. I encouraged my own little lamb Jason to watch out for Shawn at school, and asked two members from
our class to be his special friend at church. Shawn loved soccer, so I tried to incorporate soccer analogies in our
Sunday School lessons. Once Shawn felt included and loved, he stopped acting out during Sunday School.
He became one of the most reverent children in Primary. I made sure Shawn had a ride to church every week,
and he grew to love Primary so much that he said he wished every day was Sunday.

One day Shawn came up to me and asked:

Sister Sheep, how do you know that Jesus loves you?

This was the first of many wonderful opportunities I had to share my testimony with Shawn. I gave him his own
set of scriptures, and he began to read them every night. Shawn gained his own testimony of the Savior.

It didn’t take a lot to turn this little lamb around. Just a bit of love, patience, and time. Most importantly, I have
learned that I need to be worthy to have the Spirit’s guidance in my life. When I pray for members of my class I
can receive specific inspiration for each child.

I know that my calling in Primary is to be a shepherd. To find the lost sheep and bring them back into the fold.
SWITCH PUPPETS. PUT OUT SIGN

The best counsel for us to give young people is that they can only arrive back to Heavenly Father as they are
guided and corrected by the Spirit of God. So if we are wise, we will encourage, praise, and exemplify
everything which invites the companionship of the Holy Ghost. When they share with us what they are doing
and feeling, we must ourselves have qualified for the Spirit. Then they will feel in our praise and our smiles the
approval of God. And should we feel the need to give corrective counsel, they will feel our love and the love of
God in it, not rebuke and rejection, which can permit Satan to lead them further away.

The example they most need from us is to do what they must do. We need to pray for the gifts of the Spirit. We
need to ponder in the scriptures and in the words of living prophets. We need to make plans which are not only
wishes but covenants. And then we need to keep our promises to the Lord. And we need to lift others by sharing
with them the blessings of the Atonement which have come in our lives.

And we need to exemplify in our own lives the steady and prolonged faithfulness that the Lord expects of them.
As we do, we will help them feel from the Spirit an assurance that if they will persist, they will hear the words
from a loving Savior and Heavenly Father: “Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful
over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.”4 And we who
help them along the way will hear those words with joy.

President
Eyring
April 2010 General Conference