Be Happy!

One of the kids in my 5 year old Primary class at church has cancer. He was treated for it before he turned 3 and thankfully it went into remission. Sadly, it's now back.

Nephi (*name changed) is the most upbeat kid you will ever meet!  Even with all the endless appointments, needle sticks, and host of other negative things in his life, he's often quick with a smile and an optimistic word. It's a blessing to know him!

Last Sunday as part of our lesson, I shared a story of Elder Featherstone when he was a little boy. Elder Featherstone's family was very poor and could not afford new shoes for him. He contemplated skipping church rather than wearing embarrassing hand-me-down women's nursing shoes. Thankfully he chose to go and no one made fun of him for it.

The main point of the story was that we should make the right choice to come to church and worship the Lord on the Sabbath no matter what. The secondary lesson that I wanted my students to understand is that they should never tease anyone who comes to church, no matter what they look like!

To help them gain a little more understanding and empathy, I asked them, "What should you do if you see someone come to our class wearing a dirty tshirt instead of a button down shirt? Would you give him a dirty look or tell him he shouldn't wear that here? What if a girl came with messy, tangled hair? Would you point and laugh? How would you feel if someone did that to you?"

I could tell they were really connecting with the message so I continued, "What about if someone had a tear in their dress, or breakfast stains on their clothes, or holes in their shoes, or-"

At this point Nephi chimed in with a big smile, "Or no hair! Or a funny hat!"

(Nephi had come into class earlier wearing a red apple-shaped knit hat and whipped it off to show off his shaved, patchy head. Then he excitedly explained to us that his hair was falling out in clumps.)

As everyone giggled, I seized the moment and asked, "Yeah! How would you feel if someone laughed at your hair?"

Nephi: "It would be fine because it's funny!"

Me: "Ok, but pretend that it really bothered you. Pretend to be really sad that I'm calling your hat silly."

Nephi: "But it is silly! I can't pretend that! It wouldn't make me sad at all!"

He is such a good example to me. Never get down about the way you look or what other people think about the way you look!

The world needs a few more Nephi's!