The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints makes it a priority to teach children about God and His Son Jesus Christ. To help with this teaching, it has within it a children’s organization called Primary, for children ages 18 months to 12 years, that teaches them about God’s Plan and to follow the example of Jesus Christ.
In the recently concluded festive Christmas season, a series of activities were held with the children in the various branches of the Church. One such event was held centrally at the Kampala Regional Center in Kololo.
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Smiles, laughter, and squeals of excitement were plentiful as nearly 300 children and their leaders gathered to celebrate Christmas and to be treated to a visit from Father Christmas in the month of December.
The program began in the morning with a movie entitled “Joy to the World”, which highlighted the birth of the Savior and reminded the children of the importance of the Christmas season. Following the movie, everyone was entertained by skits, songs, dances, modeling, and plays presented by the children from the various congregations throughout the Kampala area.
The appearance of Father Christmas delighted the children and he enjoyed the remainder of the afternoon with them. Following a delicious warm lunch, the children sang “Happy Birthday” to the Savior and a large and beautifully decorated birthday cake was cut and served to everyone in attendance. Father Christmas then presented a gift to each child. Gifts included dolls, cars, balls, water squirt guns, games, and candy.
As the children left late in the afternoon for their homes, all seemed to have had a great time. When asked what they had enjoyed most, one ten year old boy from Nsambya stated that he "liked the dance his group had performed." Two nine year old girls from the Kololo congregation responded with big smiles that they “liked the cake.” Many of the children stated that their favorite part was “Father Christmas’s visit.”
The main goal of these kind of activities is to help children relate positively to events from the life of the Savior and encourage them to use His example in their own lives as they grow.