One Sunday afternoon at the dinner table when I was sixteen, my Dad, who was in the bishopric of our ward, the South Cottonwood Eleventh Ward was lamenting that he had to find a primary teacher for my brother Christopher’s class. That class had gone through many teachers already and everyone had given up and had asked to be released. I immediately said, “I’ll do it!” Dad, who was sitting right across the table from me, did a double take and looked right at me. “You will?” He was very surprised. He thought very quickly, and then realized that idea just might work. He then aid, “Meet me in the bishops office right before Sacrament Meeting today.”
A few hours later, I met Dad in the bishops office. He sat at the bishop’s desk and said, “Billy, for sixteen years were have been pouring Gospel knowledge into you. We now want some of that back out of you. We are calling you as a primary teacher for the Star B class. And we know you can do it.”
I was sustained in Sacrament meeting a little later on. Several guys my age were shocked to hear that I was going to be a primary teacher. Others thought it was very funny, and snickered openly. My first day of teaching came up a few days later. I prepared the lesson the night before. I sat with the class during opening exercises and sang the songs with them. Of course I sang an octave lower than everyone else. Children looked back at me. They weren’t used to hearing a lower voice in primary. There were six children that regularly attended, among which was my brother Christopher. I had been warned how wild they were. They were all in kindergarten and I figured they just needed someone who was closer to them in age. Someone who understood them very well. Since I had a vivid recollection of kindergarten, we all hit it off from the very first day. Christopher later said he could understand my lessons better than anyone else’s.
In those days, primary was held on a Tuesday afternoon, right after the elementary school got out. Since high school got out an hour earlier, I went to track practice, and then ran directly to the church with my gym bag in hand. I changed my clothes in the bathroom and made it just in time for opening exercises. Once, I got to the church a little late. Some boys in my class were goofing off in the hall when I came in the building. They followed me into the bathroom and talked to me while I went in a stall to change. I had encouraged them to go onto opening exercises, but they insisted they would wait for me. Weren’t we a sight when all three of us came walking into opening exercises, fifteen minutes late! And there happened to be stake leaders there too that day.
I enjoyed being a primary teacher very much. I had attended lessons in church all my life, now I was able to teach some. And the Primary Presidency was very encouraged that I hadn’t given up. When summer came, Primary changed to Tuesday Mornings and I was able to change with it. But with the approach of the fall, I told the Primary Leaders that I would be involved in the school musical and probably wouldn’t be able to fit teaching Primary into my schedule. So they released me, but they had me called again the next year, after my schedule changed slightly, for the same group of children. It was a great opportunity to teach Christopher and it started me on the road to formal Gospel teaching that I have never left.
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