The first Sunday of each month is Fast and Testimony Meeting at church. It’s kind of like an open mic night where anyone who feels so inspired can get up in front of the congregation and share their testimony of the gospel. It’s often one of my favorite meetings because the spirit is thick as people share their feelings but it can occasionally go array. Think: false doctrine. And that would be my son.

As a part of Fast and Testimony,  we are asked to go without food and drink for two consecutive meals and to give a generous fast offering for the care of the poor and needing.  This offering should be at least the value of the two meals we went without while fasting and the funds are used to provide food, shelter, and other necessities to people in need, both locally and worldwide. It’s a wonderful opportunity to serve in a simple way while becoming more in tune physically and spiritually.

Every month, our family decides something (or someone) we’re going to fast about and unitedly kneel in prayer before and after our fast. There’s no requirement to fast–it’s completely voluntary. Jamie and I decided age 8, when the kids get baptized, would be a good time for them to start. But Bode being Bode (and age 7 going on 40) decided to put aside his carnal self aside and started fasting with us earlier this year.

As we knelt in prayer this morning, Hadley dramatically feigned starvation (she is my daughter, after all), while Bode man reverently stayed on his knees a few seconds after we finished. “Do you know what I was praying about?” he later asked me. “I was praying that our family would be strengthened by the Holy Ghost.” Good gosh, the kid is more spiritual than moi.

Getting up in front of a congregation of 300+ people to bear an unscripted testimony is an intimidating thing for anyone, especially if you’re a little kid. Hadley has done it a few times and I was pleased when she did it again today and talked about our recent studies of the creation. Bode has never borne his testimony in Sacrament Meeting and that is something I’d never force. In fact, even though I wanted to, I never did it as a kid because I was too nervous.

When she sat down, Bode leaned over and whispered, “I have made the goal to bear my testimony two times this year” and from the tone of his voice, today would not be the day. Until his best buddy Carson got up for the first time and all bets were off.

“Mom,” he said urgently. “What can I bear my testimony about?”

“Bode, you should let the spirit guide you. I can’t tell you what to say.”

Now, as an aside, when the youth turn 12 they are occasionally asked to prepare a 5-minute talk in front of the congregation. I’ve never been afraid of public speaking and enjoyed preparing and giving my talks. But the one I gave when I was 17 goes down in infamy. It was a mind-blowing time. The Berlin Wall had fallen and I found a fascinating revelation given by an apostle nearly 50 years earlier that predicted everything that was happening–from how the wall fell to democracy taking over communism and the gospel flooding these lands. This was the premise of my talk and it was powerful to be living in such a time as that.

Until the Bishop got up after I sat down and denounced my talk. I’d never seen this happen before, nor have I ever since. But just that morning he had received a notice from the Church about this very revelation that, though it likely happened, they couldn’t 100 percent confirm it. Remember, these are the days before Google and I’ve since confirmed its veracity.

Later in his office the Bishop lovingly talked to me about everything and, though embarrassed, I understood why he had done it.

Fast-forward to Bode today. When kids get up to bear their testimony in Sacrament meeting, it’s often simple along the lines of “I’d like to bear my testimony. I know the gospel is true. I love my family, I know that Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon etc.”

Not Bode. I could see his little mind was in overdrive trying to identify gospel principals he knew to be true. “I know what I’m going to talk about,” he finally whispered. “Can you remind me what language the scriptures were translated from?” Jamie started spewing off a bunch of facts. The Bible’s Hebrew and Greek, the Book of Mormon’s Reformed Egyptian. It was a fire hydrant’s worth of information for what should have been a little trickle of water.

Bode was unnerved. The Bishop was about to close the meeting when Bode popped out of his chair and bravely strode to the pulpit. “I’d like to bear my testimony that I know the gospel is true….”

I breathed a sigh of relief. He was sticking with the basics. But oh no, he was nervous and kept right on going, “And I know that Joseph Smith translated the Bible,” and he threw in some Greek, Hebrew and reformed Egyptian for good measure. He was flustered by the end but I stifled a laugh. Trust Bode to take the most complicated approach to something that can be so simple.

Jamie learned over to me and laughingly hissed: “That false doctrine? It comes from your side of the family.”

Touché.

Every year, the Primary children (kids ages 3-12) in our congregation perform a program for Sacrament meeting. Each child is assigned a short  scripture or talk and it is interspersed with lots of music. Putting on a production like this takes a fair bit of planning–from writing the script to rehearsing to performing. In years past, the kids have received their parts several weeks in advance with plenty of time to practice. A couple of overachieving Primary presidencies have even burned a CD with all the Primary songs for the kids to learn.

This year, the kids received their parts only one week prior, leaving very little time to prep. I was admittedly a bit irked about this but then realized I was forgetting what I love most about the Primary program: when kids mess up. Now, I’m not talking about anything demoralizing that would land the kids in therapy session but rather, those funny little unpolished moments where kids are just kids (like the one time toddler Hadley very obviously lip synced when she forgot the words).

Every year, I have helped my kids memorize their lines but that didn’t quite happen this year due to three reasons.

1) Lack of time. Remember that?

2) Complexity of what was required of them. This is specifically referring to Bode, who was given a humdinger of a scripture in the book of Abraham that even I couldn’t keep straight…something proving them herewith to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them. Huh?

3) Messing up on key terms in a major way.  And yes, there is a story behind this.

Bode had memorized his introduction, “My name is Bode and I am a child of God” and he had practiced reading his scripture several times so he could recite it smoothly. But here’s the thing: he was over it before it even began. Before church started, he complained, “When this is done, I can’t WAIT to throw away this piece of paper with my lines.”

Because the 10 minutes I required them to practice was just so demanding.

Standing up at the pulpit in front of 300 grown-ups is terrifying for anyone but all was going smoothly until Bode got near the end. We had practiced smiling as he wrapped everything up and I was prepping myself for his million-watt toothless grin…until…until…until while he was saying his final few words, he turned around and went back to his seat, still reciting it as he walked.

At first I was mortified until the congregation united in a collective chuckle. It could have been a lot worse and that worse couldn’t been Hadley.

You see, her part was a bit longer but a lot easier so she had memorized her lines. Part I involved her going up with a darling Sunbeam (3-year-old) and asking him, “Owen, what is your favorite story of Jesus?” Owen, being an unrehearsed 3-year-old, gave her a deer-in-headlights stare and shrugged his shoulders. More laughter.

But then I braced myself for Part II. You see, when Hadley had been practicing, she made a very critical error along the lines of “Because Jesus was crucified, we can be crucified, too.” I reeled in horror and then laughter when I told her the word she should have used was resurrected.

After Owen sat down, Hadley continued with her lines, which she decided to read. Normally I would have been disappointed because she had already memorized them but decided to look on the bright side:

Not preaching false doctrine from the pulpit? I’ll count that one was a win.