In our church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the positions held are all volunteer – meaning no one gets paid for whatever calling they fulfill. This is all the way from the highest of church leadership, down to the young men (age 12-14) who gather fast offerings each month.

I have served in many different callings through the years, and my most favorite is serving with the older kids in our children’s organization called “Primary”. I particularly love serving with the girls age 8-11. Not only do they meet each Sunday for sacred instruction and learning about Jesus, but they also participate in two activity days each month. The Child and Youth Program in the Primary organization is for boys and girls age 8-11, and is held on weekdays during the month, not on Sunday’s. There are four different areas of focus - Spiritual, Social, Physical, and Intellectual. The kids get to choose how many activities they do on their own each month, but there are Activity Day Leaders who come up with and help with two extra activities each month. This is the calling I currently have, and I hope I get to stay here for a very long time!!! I love how the kids learn things in the different areas of focus to help them become well-rounded young men and women and adults. This is the definition of planning with a purpose. Our activities are fun, but are also meant to teach something.

My favorite thing about this age group is how excited they are to participate and learn! They are generally not old enough to have cell phones to distract them, and they are kind and respectful to one another as well as their leaders.

With Covid it has been a little tricky to figure out how to keep serving yet follow the safety protocols. There are two leaders per group, and I work with my good friend Liz. We have eight girls in our group that we adore and love! Liz and I got together in December and planned out most of our activities for 2022. Due to Covid, Liz and I have gathered all the supplies, written up instructions and door-bell ditched two activities per month to each girl. We text their moms to let them know what day and time we will be dropping them off, and often receive cute texts back with pictures of the girls and their completed activities!!! We have missed being with them in person, but love the fact that we have been able to continue serving in our calling! We are now in our third year of this calling together.

One of the activities we planned for the month of March was to assemble a “Fortify” flag. My husband Ron is an Activity Day Leader for a group of boys, and so I came up with a more masculine design for them using plain canvas instead of flowers. It’s interesting how we had this activity planned since January, and how fitting it is at this time with all that’s going on around us in the world!!! It seems we are being bombarded with difficult things every day, and these kids are resilient, doing a GREAT job navigating through the trials of the past couple years! Who would have ever thought we would be going into a third year of Covid?!!!! Children have learned it is possible to feel scared or nervous about things, and still feel calm and peace in their hearts as they navigate life with the help of their parents, family, friends, school, and church leaders.☺ I believe this is because each of us has been blessed to be born with the LIGHT of Christ inside us!

Now more than ever it is important to Fortify ourselves and our families to withstand the trials that come our way. We encouraged our girls to complete their “Fortify” flag, then place it somewhere in their home as a daily reminder to be strong, and stay on the covenant path! This is one of the ways we will be able to withstand the temptations and other difficult things in life.

We know we are stronger together than alone, and encouraged them to plan a “Family Home Evening”, something our church encourages families to do once a week, and discuss this question together. “What are things we can do to spiritually Fortify ourselves and our families?” We gave them the list of ideas below, but also encouraged them, as a family, to come up with some more personalized family ideas to add to the list.

· Family and Personal Daily Prayer

· Family and Personal Scripture Study

· Family Home Evening

· Ask Heavenly Father for spiritual and physical protection every day

· Be willing to listen to the Spirit to guide and direct us so that we stay on the covenant path

· Study as families the Come Follow Me lessons – follows our scripture course of study for the year. This year, it is the Old Testament

· Serve others

To make this flag, we printed the words on non-tearable and water resistant paper (Amazon). It will still crease if bent or folded, and is not meant for outside use.

We used cute canvas fabric made by “Rifle Paper Company” for the background fabric of our girl’s flags, and just plain canvas for the boys in Ron’s boy’s group.

The stick at the top was cut from a tree in my backyard.

After hemming the edges of the banner and sewing three ribbon loops at the top, I sewed the printed paper onto the flag, then slid the stick through the ribbon loops on the top edge.

I love felt pom-poms from a little home business out of Midway, Utah called “Paper and Felt”. They get their product from fair-trade women in Nepal who are supporting their families by making these felt items. After cutting a small hole in each pom-pom, I glued them onto each end of the stick.

You know how much I LOVE ribbon, and almost every project I make has ribbon tassels on it somewhere. This one has three different types of ribbon all cut the same length, and tied as one on the stick next to each pom-pom,

The hanging cord inside the ribbon loop on each end of the banner/flag was tied using two overhand knots.

And the finishing touch was a realistic looking butterfly glued to a black alligator hair clip (both from Amazon), and clipped to the edge of the flag. As we have just celebrated Easter this past weekend, I love the comparison of a butterfly and the death and resurrection of Jesus.

Just as the butterfly enters its chrysalis to change into a butterfly, Jesus was placed in a tomb after His crucifixion and resurrected three days later. There’s something magical about the transformation of a caterpillar into a butterfly. This transformation symbolizes rebirth, hope and bravery. I like this reminder each time I see a butterfly, and now I have one hanging in my house!

We gave each girl a clear adhesive “Command Hook” (Amazon) to hang it from. I hung mine on the window of my back door where I see it every day. Not only does it fill me with LIGHT, it reminds me of the sacrifice Jesus made for me, brings a smile to my face, and a desire to do all I can to Fortify myself and my family against the fiery darts of darkness. We may not be able to change the world, but we can change ourselves by choosing to FORTIFY ourselves and our families, be strong, be positive, be happy even in the midst of trials and struggles, and BE THE LIGHT!!!

Happy Spring!

Love Ya, Les ☺