Pioneers

A favorite pioneer song for children to sing is "Whenever I Think About Pioneers," p. 222.  When the children know all the verses, the duet is very satisfying and fun to sing.  Have the entire primary sing verses 1 and 2, then divide the primary in half for the third verse and have half sing the 1st tune and the other half sing the 2nd tune together. Make sure there are teachers on both sides to help.

You may have to sing the duet several times until it becomes easy to sing. 

• Try having the piano play one part while you sing the other part with the children.
• Ask another person that can hold their part, sing with half of the children and you the other half.
• Switch parts so all the children get a chance to sing both parts.

Pioneers Yesterday and Today

A pioneer is one who first discovers a place, area, land and makes it possible to develop.

We refer to the people we settled in Salt Lake City as the early pioneers of the Church of Latter-Day Saints.  It was a desert and they made it "blossom like a rose."  It was hard work, but they made it their home.

Now we have a world-wide church with many pioneers of today.  They may not have discovered a new land but the church is "blossoming" all over the word with "pioneers" who work hard to do missionary work and serve in wards and branches.

Choose a few pioneer songs in the Primary Songbook.  Talk about the challenges the children had as they walked across the plains and then made their home in a desert. 

What sacrifices do we make today to help our church grow?

Pioneers Then and Now

"Pioneer Day" was what my grandmother called "The 24th of July" holiday.  It is the day the pioneers entered the Salt Lake valley in 1847.  Salt Lake City has the third largest parade in the United States on that day.  Yes, it's a big holiday in Utah!

We can all celebrate the freedoms that the pioneers found in this valley, to worship without fear of persecution.  We have grown into a world-wide church and celebrate these same freedoms all over the world.

Share some pioneer stories of children walking that long distance and then sing p. 216, "Little Pioneer Children" and p. 214, "Pioneer Children Sang..."  If time permits, sing p. 215, "Pioneer Children Were Quick to Obey."

Ask the children questions about the children then and now.

• What were some difficult things about being a pioneer?
• What is difficult today?
• Why was it important to quickly obey as a pioneer child?
• Why should we quickly obey today?
• What did the pioneer children do for fun?
• What do we do for fun?