Kuching’s First Latter-Day Saint Children’s Devotional
Pertemuan Rohani Kanak-Kanak Orang Suci Zaman Akhir yang Pertama di Kuching

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(For Non-Muslim Use Only)

At the end of May 2024, Sister Amy Wright, the First Counselor in the Primary General Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, participated in a nine-day ministering tour of four countries in Southeast Asia. One of her stops was at East Malaysia, in the city of Kuching. During her three days from May 27 to 29 in Kuching, she visited many sites, observed humanitarian projects, and met with the local missionaries. But her final day culminated in an evening devotional with children under age twelve of the Church’s Kuching District.

Before the devotional began, Sister Wright made the following statement to the adult leaders that were there to participate: “Don’t look at the children as replacements in the future, look at them as reinforcements now.” With that sentiment in her heart, she turned her full attention to teaching the children.

Sister Wright began her exchange with the children by showing them how to shake their hands and snap their fingers if they knew an answer to a question. When she showed a picture of Church prophet President Russell M. Nelson, and asked if they knew who that person was, the hands of nearly 50 children began to wave and they snapped their fingers excitedly. Sister Wright said that President Nelson had asked her to share a personal message with them, “He said, will you please tell the children, ‘We love you, we trust you, and we need you’.”

After asking if the children liked to do puzzles, Sister Wright showed them a metal puzzle with two pieces that were tangled together. The object of the puzzle was to try and separate the two pieces. She invited a child to come up and see if she could do it. The child was not able to do it on her own. Sister Wright offered the child some help, and together they were able to solve the puzzle. “Isn’t it easier to do some things if somebody helps us,” taught Sister Wright, “that is what the Holy Ghost does. He helps us.” As an additional object lesson, Sister Wright then taught the children how to sign “Holy Ghost” in American Sign Language (ASL).

Sister Wright then posed a question to the children, “What has someone helped you with?” Answers included going to sleep, doing a puzzle, multiplication, and learning the gospel. Her next question was, “Who taught you about Jesus?” After acknowledging the children’s responses, Sister Wright asked her concluding question, “What do you know about Jesus?” Their answers included: He is our friend, our Savior and Redeemer, He always helps us, He is loving, He saves us, and He sacrificed for all of us. Sister Wright then exclaimed, “You just bore powerful testimonies.”

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As another object lesson on the Holy Ghost, Sister Wright invited three children up to the podium to ring some tiny bells. Each bell had a different tone. She showed the children how to ring the bells in a specific order. The children then played a simple tune with their bells that was only six notes long. Sister Wright told the children to concentrate very hard and to “listen with your ears, we are going to learn something very important”. After listening to the simple tune a few times, she asked if they could guess the name of the song they were hearing. From just those six simple bell tones, the children recognized that it was the first few notes of the song “I Am a Child of God”.

Sister Wright then explained that that is how the Holy Ghost teaches. “He brings words to our minds that can guide, comfort, and teach truths…the Holy Ghost communicates with us with simple impressions…as thoughts in our head. We receive them as impressions in our minds,” she said.

The presentation turned to the subject of partaking the sacrament as Sister Wright spoke about the importance of baptism and confirmation, and the renewal of covenants through the sacrament. Sister Wright used an illustration of the word “TAKE” to help them remember what to think about as they eat the bread and drink the water of the sacrament: T – Take his name upon you; A – Always remember Him; K – Keep His commandments; E – Everyday.

To conclude the evening devotional, each child was given a blank piece of paper and some crayons. Sister Wright asked all of the children to draw a picture of something that they could do to follow Jesus.

Several children joined Sister Wright at the pulpit to share what they had drawn. The illustrations showed the children reading scriptures, teaching their friends, being helpful, and loving others.

The children’s devotional then closed with the singing of, “I Will Walk with Jesus”, a song from the new church hymnbook. Sister Wright’s presentation echoed her words to the adult leaders in an earlier session, “We can’t return to our Heavenly Father until we become as a little child; humble, teachable, loving, giving and kind.” Both child and adult were well instructed and spiritually fed.