Audrey

Audrey is my oldest child (6). From the moment she was born she was amazing. I remember being in the hospital room with my husband and our new baby daughter about 12 hours after she was born. She was looking around, she was looking at us and, she was looking at her hand. We were in complete amazement of her. She just seemed so awake and alert. Not only was she about 12 hours old, but she was also 4 weeks early. I expected a much less developed baby than what we had before us.

I have always felt that Audrey's spirit was more advanced than mine. She picks up on things so quickly and has always been so confident and independent. Audrey is an amazing gift in my life!

Last week there were two things that happened that add to the amazement I feel for this little girl of only 6 years old.

The first: Last Thursday she came home in tears form school. She told me while she was coming home from the bus stop how she was trying to protect a younger child from other's being mean to him. One of the girls (Audrey's same age) that was picking on the younger child grabbed Audrey's fingers on her one hand and pulled them in opposing directions.

I got the details of what happened and had an idea of who the child was. I relayed the incident to my husband and then tried to figure out what we were going to do about the situation. I'd never dealt with anything like this before and didn't know if we had to go to the parents of the other child or if we could go to the school. The decision was made to discuss what happened with Audrey's teacher and see what our options were. The next day I went to the school and picked Audrey up, hoping to talk to her teacher. Her teacher was not there. While walking to the office to leave a message for her teacher Audrey told me she made a new friend that day.

I inquired of her new friend. "It's the girl who hurt my fingers". I was in shock.

"Oh yeah, how did that happen?" I asked.

"There was a boy that we both know that was sitting by himself. I went to sit by him so he wouldn't be alone. She went and sat by him too. I told her that what she did made me feel bad. She apologized." Audrey explained.

I asked her what she wanted to do now about the situation. I wondered how she felt now that she had faced the person who hurt her. She told me she wanted to drop it, that everything was fine now. I told her that it was very mature for her to talk to the person who hurt her.

The second: Audrey has been wanting to bear her testimony at church. She sees other children do it all the time. I explained to her that bearing your testimony is not just getting up there and repeating what every other child has said (you know the standard testimony -- "I'd like to bear my testimony, I know the church is true, I love my mom and dad and brothers and sisters, I know president Hinkley is a true prophet. In the name of Jesus Christ Amen."). Don't get me wrong, this is fine. I think it helps children feel confident to be able to repeat something they've heard many times. They are more likely to follow through with bearing their testimony if they know what to say.

However, this is not what I want to teach my child. She is already very confident, she doesn't need any more confidence. What I want to teach her is what a testimony really is. A testimony is what you believe and why. By that definition, repeating what she has heard other children say is not a testimony. She may believe the same things, but she has come to those beliefs differently than other people. I also explained to her that she would need to practice bearing her testimony at family home evening (something we do with my husbands family).

A few weeks ago she bore her testimony at family home evening. Afterward she proudly announced to me that she would be bearing her testimony in sacrament meeting the next Sunday.

After the first few testimonies I started to feel like maybe she had forgotten. I should have known better. She didn't forget. She asked "Is it time now for me to bear my testimony?" I told her that they were doing testimonies and if she felt ready she could go do it. She grabbed her Book of Mormon and walked up to the pulpit. As a side note: the 1st counselor in the Bishopric got out the stool for her to stand on, but she just shook her head that she didn't need it (she's pretty tall). She began her testimony.

"I'd like to give my testimony on faith. I have a lot of experience with faith. I have a scripture I want to share with you, it's on page 2 Nephi 1:10 - 'having power given them to do all things by faith'. One of the experiences I have with faith is when I lost my shin guards and I didn't want to play soccer without them. I prayed that I would find them and I had faith. And my mom found them. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."

The 2nd counselor in the Bishopric got up to bear his testimony. He said "I have been impressed with the testimonies that have been shared today, particularly, Young Sister Hunter's...." People came up to me afterward and expressed their amazement in how composed she was and the things she said. I felt a bit badly about saying "thank you" to their compliments. Even though I have taught her things that may have helped her to do what she did, it is her that took those things and applied them in her life and used them. Also, I had nothing to do with her being so confident, she was born that way. She has always had a radiating confidence in herself.