When Primary General President Susan H. Porter was 7 years old, her family moved to a town 2,000 miles away. A few weeks later she turned 8 and wanted to be baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Her father was not a member of the Church and her family didn’t know anyone in the small branch. Soon they met a friend who agreed to baptize her.
Holding a picture of herself as a child and sharing this story during the Friend to Friend that premiered Saturday, Nov. 5, President Porter recalled the cold, rainy day in November she was baptized.
“She was cold and shivering but in her heart, she felt peace,” President Porter said of young Susan. “She felt warmth. She knew that Heavenly Father knew her. He was aware of her and so proud of her for making that decision to be baptized and to become a member of His Church.”
Continuing this year’s Friend to Friend focus on the covenant path, President Porter — along with her counselors, Sister Amy A. Wright and Sister Tracy Y. Browning — taught Primary children about the two great commandments: Love God and love others.
The Primary general leaders were joined by an audience of Primary children and a young “explorer” who has been navigating a jungle path representing the covenant path in the two previous Friend to Friend episodes this year. The Friend to Friend in March taught about baptism, the Holy Ghost and the sacrament; in July, the episode was on the temple.
The November Friend to Friend — titled “My Heavenly Father Loves Me” — was the first to be prerecorded with a live audience. In addition to a live audience, the broadcast featured interviews with children around the world, commentary from puppets, a talking toucan and interactive music.
The two great commandments
“Jesus told us the best way to be happy is to live the two most important commandments,” President Porter said. She invited a child in the audience to read from Matthew 22:37-39.
To help children remember these commandments, President Porter showed them how to first, point and look toward heaven (love God), and second, spread both arms out wide (love their neighbor).
“How can we show Heavenly Father that we love Him?” President Porter asked the audience. Responses included praying, reading the scriptures, studying “Come, Follow Me,” fasting, attending church, helping someone who is lonely, and repenting.
Sister Browning asked three children to observe a scene of a family in the kitchen — a young boy taking out the trash with a hole in the bag, a sink nearly overflowing with water and dishes, a baby in a highchair whose bottle fell on the floor, a man with groceries in one arm and several books in the other, and a woman stirring a pot on the stove.
As the children suggested specific ways they could help the family, Sister Browning asked how serving might make them feel and Heavenly Father feel. “He would feel happy and comforted that He knows I want to be like Him,” one child said.
Sister Browning said, ”When we help others, we’re becoming more like our Savior Jesus Christ and we’re becoming closer to those we serve — living the first and second great commandments to love God and to love others.”
Interviews with children in the Philippines and Trinidad
During Sister Wright’s recent visit to the Philippines and Sister Browning’s recent visit to Trinidad and Tobago, they interviewed children about how they feel Heavenly Father’s love and how they share that love with others. Clips of these interviews were shown during the Friend to Friend.
“Whenever me and my sister fight, we try to understand each other and forgive each other,” a child in the Philippines told Sister Wright.
A child in Trinidad told Sister Browning, “I show my love for Heavenly Father by praying for every meal and also protecting others, even though they’re being bullied.”
Recognizing the Lord’s voice
In the craft room on stage, Sister Wright asked two children to play a sequence of notes on a xylophone. The children recognized the sequence as the first notes of “I Am a Child of God.”
Similar to how the children thought of the words “I am a child of God” while the chimes were played, one of the ways the Holy Ghost can speak is by putting words into one’s mind, Sister Wright pointed out.
“The Holy Ghost can also inspire us with ways in which we can serve one another and help build the kingdom of God,” she said.
To show the children how this could work, she invited them to say a prayer in their mind and ask Heavenly Father to help them think of a way in which they could help someone — and pay attention to what came to their hearts and minds. The children then drew pictures or wrote about ways they could serve.
“I testify to you, my friends, that Heavenly Father loves you. He trusts you and He needs you. Your service will make a huge difference in the world as, together, we prepare for the Savior’s Second Coming,” Sister Wright said.
A video montage of scenes of children serving was shown during an African American spiritual titled “I’m Gonna Live So God Can Use Me.” The song was recorded by Primary children.
Happiness on the covenant path
At the end of the Friend to Friend broadcast, the explorer joined the Primary general presidency on stage to talk about what she learned on the covenant path. When asked what helped her stay on the path, she mentioned encouragement from family and friends as well as the Children’s Guidebook that helps her set goals to become more like Jesus.
“When I follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost, I can feel Heavenly Father’s love and that makes me happy,” the explorer said.
By loving others as Jesus does, Sister Browning said, “we spread that happiness.”
“We can all show our Heavenly Father and Jesus that we love Them, too, by loving others. The kinds of things we do for each other, even small things, can make a big difference in the world,” she said.
President Porter and Sister Wright also shared their testimonies of Heavenly Father’s love.
“No matter where you’re from or what is happening in your life,” Sister Wright said, “our Father in Heaven and Jesus Christ see you and care for you.”
President Porter added: “I want you to know that Heavenly Father loves you. He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to help us all return to Him again. … Remember to help others feel Heavenly Father and Jesus’ love. Share the happiness that is found on the covenant path.”
The full Friend to Friend broadcast and segments will remain available after Nov. 5 to supplement teaching at home or at church. Videos are available on ChurchofJesusChrist.org, Gospel Library and Gospel Media.
English, Spanish and Portuguese versions are also available on the Gospel for Kids YouTube channel (El Evangelio para niños in Spanish and Evangelho para Crianças in Portuguese).
For more activities and videos for children, visit the Gospel for Kids YouTube channel and the Gospel for Kids app.
