Ali's first talk

A couple of weeks ago Ali gave her first talk in Primary. I was a little worried that John was going to have to be the one to give it. She didn't want anyone to hear her practice- even me. The Saturday before her talk we were babysitting a 3 month old and she wouldn't practice her talk unless I had the baby turned away so he wasn't looking at her (he was sleeping but she was insistent). We also had her practice in the Primary room before all of the kids came in. When it sounded like someone was turning the doorknob to come into the room she would immediately freeze and stop talking. Here she is practicing with John. Since she can read, we simply typed out her talk and she read it. It was about being thankful so she held up some pictures of things we should be thankful for. (Food, family, the world etc.) She decided to hold the picture up for the JR Primary to see (they sit on the side that could see her holding it) and then she would give it to John to show the SR Primary. He kept forgetting during rehearsal and she had to keep reminding him how to do it the right way. It was really funny until I realized where she gets that from... So, when the time came to give her talk, she stepped right up to the microphone and started reading her talk. It was perfect! I couldn't believe this was the same child! We were just so proud. It was a moment we'd waited for for so long and weren't disappointed. Later that day I got an e-mail from the Primary President that I'd thought I'd share. (Mostly for posterity's sake since after I copy and paste it here I'm deleting it.) "Sunday was sooo awesome, when she gave her talk so sweetly and fervently. Everyone in the room hushed as she captured their undivided attention…. I remember thinking, too bad for anyone sitting in another room of the church as they were missing the most spiritual and uplifting moments of the day. I felt like if all we had for Primary that day was her talk and the song, that would have been enough."