Grateful for Kind People

Our new primary presidency was having a primary activity this morning. The older two girls have piano lessons on Saturday mornings and it was going to conflict with the activity. I tried to switch their lessons around, but their teacher didn't get back to me until it was too late. It was Ellie's first primary activity and was excited about it. I told her that she could go find her friends to be with and she immediatlely knew who she would find. While I was doing her hair she said "I get to go in my clothes?" I explained that it was Saturday and they don't have to wear church clothes because they're going to do some fun activities. She seemed confident that she could go by herself. We got in the car and dropped Ashlan and Caitlin off for their 10:00 piano lesson and then headed to the church to take Ellie to the activity.

I pulled up and had a thought "You should take her in". But instead I asked her "Would you like me to take you in or can you do it all by yourself?" I sat there and watched her walk in the church, hoping she would find the rest of the primary kids. I assumed she knew where she was going and that somebody would be in the hall to direct her to where the activity was. I headed home.

10:45 I got a call from one of the bishopric's wife. She said "Did you take Ellie to the primary activity?" Ken said "Yes". Trisha then said "She was found walking on Gordon Ave. and Devin is with her". Ken and I were both beside ourselves, how could this happen? Why did she leave the church? I watched her walk in and knew she was safe. Trisha gave him the address where they were and he immediately went to go get her. He got there and there were quite a few people there with the police. They were very kind and had a coat around her trying to keep her warm. I of course had thought before we left home that she should get a coat on. I would be picking her right up after the activity and so I wasn't worried about it. I also wasn't expecting it to rain.

Silly me didn't think to explain to her how the activities work and where she would be meeting. She walked inside the church and went straight to her classroom. Nobody was there. She said she started to cry. I don't know how long she stayed in the church for. The cultural hall doors I guess were open and she saw the people in there, but she figured because nobody was in her classroom that she needed to go home. That is when she walked out of the church and headed down Gordon - about a block/block and a half. I've tried to pry information out of her, but a lot of the answers she says "I don't know." It must have been pretty scary for her, even though she admits she wasn't scared. This past week in preschool she even learned about firemen and policemen and about stranger danger.

I am grateful for the kind couple with their "older sister" (in Ellie's words) who noticed that she was lost and did everything they could to find her parents. I don't know how much Ellie had told them, if anything at all. It's hard to get her to talk when she is around strangers because she gets really quiet and won't even answer questions. I guess somebody walked down to the church and found a bishopric member who went down to "identify" her. I am grateful that nothing horrible happened to her. I am grateful for the whisperings of the spirit that helps guide us (which I didn't listen to), but will be more aware of the promptings from now on. The primary counselor came by afterward and she was mortified and speechless. She felt horrible. I assured her that I didn't blame anybody for what happened, if anybody, I blamed myself. I think there were lessons to be learned all around and everybody (parents & primary leaders) will all be more vigilant in making sure our kids are safe at the church. I know I've learned my lesson! I think it was good for Ellie to have a hands on experience relating to her safety week at preschool and she'll have a story to tell next week. All is well.