Share a memory of going to church as you were growing up.
Here is another story that I have already written about this subject.
Primary in my Youth |
The church schedules have changed from when I was in my youth. One of those changes was when primary was held during the week. We did not have it on Sunday as we do now with the consolidated meeting schedules. It was usually on a Tuesday or Wednesday afternoon following school.
I would leave the elementary school with Lee, and Wendell Moon and others who were my age. We would walk the one and a half blocks down the street until we got to the main business district which was one block long. There we would usually go through the Kohl’s store and sometimes stop to buy candy before leaving through the back of the store to continue the other two blocks to the church. I can remember a couple times stopping to buy candy cigarettes which seemed to be unusually tempting on our way to primary. It never even seemed to cross my mind when in the store with Mom or Dad but with my friends on our way to primary it was always a temptation.
I don’t remember really ever getting in trouble at primary for having them but I do remember that they really were not that good. I liked the Boston Baked Beans and Nebco candies a lot better and would often even be able to pass the candy cigarettes for them. I don’t even remember ever really buying a chocolate candy bar even though my favorites were Butterfingers and Rocky Roads or whatever else looked good at the time. The candy bar choices were actually quite limited. I would like to someday be able to know what was available. Some candies are gone also and the cigarettes are one of them.
After we left the store we would usually have to run the other two blocks past the Post Office to the church since by that time we would be getting close to being late. It was a pretty easy run but at that age it seemed to be a very long one. I look at the town now and think of it as a very short distance from the school to church. I made those walks to primary for several years while in Elementary school. Of course by the time I was in 6th grade I was advanced to the Young Men’s program. Then when I was 17 and a Junior in high school I once again made the walk since I was then called as the Guide Patrol leader over the 11 year old boys. I would teach primary and take them on scouting outings.
Primary had opening exercises and singing time and we would often have to give talks. We also would give talks in Junior Sunday School on Sunday as well. I liked Primary and had good teachers. I can’t remember any of the specific ones right now however. I do believe that both Lee and Wendell’s mothers were however my teacher during some of these years.
We often had to practice songs that we would sing for Sacrament meeting but the songs I remember best were the ones we had to sing for Stake conferences. I remember doing that several times and thinking as I got older that I soon wouldn’t have to because I would be going to Mutual in stead and they never had to sing. It woud not just be our ward either but every ward in the Stake would be there singing with us.
I remember Max Wimmer’s mother quite well since she was my Cub Scout leader for all a couple of years. Scouts was on Thursday after school and she lived just couple blocks further past the church. So our run to her place was always much the same as the one to Primary. The County Road Shed was right across the road from her home so after scouts we would often play on the large mounds of dirt that were put there for the winter roads. King of the hill was one of the best games that we often would play. I am sure my shoes were always filled to capacity with dirt by the time Mom and Dad would come to pick me up.
Summer time was a different story. Mom would often take us down but there were many times that we would walk to Rasmussen’s then down their road until we had to take a trail to the edge of the hill on the east end of town where we would go down the trail off the hill to the highway where we then would cross the old bridge and run that three or so remaining blocks to the church. We would return home on the same trail.
I enjoyed those years and my testimony received it’s foundation from attendance in class and from the lessons that would sometimes condemn the candy cigarettes that we so often thought we had so well concealed yet the teacher seemed to know that it was time to talk about the “very appearance of evil” or some similar topic.
