Dispersed throughout the worldwide Church, they form a mosaic of youthful purity and faith. They are the children of Primary, about a million strong, and their stories are reflected in a new online feature offered by the Friend magazine at www.lds.org/friend.
The feature celebrates the fact that each is a special child of God, said Jan Pinborough, assistant managing editor of the magazine. "Each segment is a 60-90 second video slide show featuring a child from somewhere in the world," she explained.
For example, Danil in Ukraine tells of going with his family to attend the cornerstone ceremony portion of the dedication of the new temple in Kyiv. There, President Thomas S. Monson invited him to place some of the mortar for the cornerstone. "He told me, 'You will be a missionary, and you will be a good missionary,' " Danil relates. "In my soul, a feeling came that the Spirit was covering me and I felt a very strong love of God. ... It's been more than a week since we left, but I still have that feeling."
Sarah tells of receiving a sewing machine as a birthday gift from her grandmother, who then helped her make an apron and some pillows. Months later, an earthquake hit Haiti, and Sarah was sad to see how many children needed help. "Because I could sew now, I thought making skirts would be the best gift I could give," she says. "Sometimes I would have to stay up late when I made mistakes to take out stitches, but after three weeks, I was finished, and I made 13 skirts for my new friends in Haiti. I knew Heavenly Father helped me with this project, and it made me happy inside to help some of Heavenly Father's children too."
Sister Pinborough said children for the feature were found in various ways. Staff members found some while traveling on assignment, and some stories that had been planned for print were re-worked for the online format. People sent in stories, and the Friend staff reached out to contacts and asked them to help.
In one instance a magazine intern went to the Conference Center to interview children of families picking up general conference tickets. One child she found was Enyiche from Nigeria. When his father, Enyiche Sr., was informed the magazine wanted to use the interview, the father responded that his son had said, "Dad, I think this will be the best birthday gift I will receive in my life, since this is coming at my birth month (February 2003) as I am preparing to be baptized in about two week's time."
The online feature is augmented by a song specially written for it, "One in a Million!" with words by Sister Pinborough and music by Michael F. Moody. The words, in part, are We're one in a million, Growing in faith and might! We're one in a million, walking in His light! Uniquely individual — One of a kind — We'll be what Heavenly Father has in mind.
