The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is planning a historic, first-of-its-kind virtual event for children in February.
All children ages 3-11, their parents, Primary leaders and teachers are being invited to participate in a 40-minute Friend to Friend broadcast that will be available for viewing on Saturday, Feb. 20 at 11 a.m.
The broadcast will include messages from President Russell M. Nelson, Elder Ulisses Soares of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and members of the Primary general presidency, as well as music and activities.
With Primary organizations currently unable to meet in person due to COVID-19, Primary General President Joy D. Jones is “excited for the children to experience this very special Friend to Friend event,” she said in a church statement.
“I hope they will feel valued, needed and loved by Jesus and Heavenly Father,” President Jones said. “This will be a memorable opportunity to feel connected to other children around the world as they learn and sing together about how they can help like Jesus.”
The broadcast will be available to view on ChurchofJesusChrist.org, Youtube, BYUtv and other media in English (including ASL), Spanish and Portuguese. It will also be available for viewing in Cantonese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Russian, Cebuano and Tagalog beginning March 13.
Participating children will need a piece of paper, drawing utensils and scriptures for activities during the broadcast. The Friend to Friend event will consist of short segments designed to be watched over and over again, said Sister Lisa Harkness, first counselor in the Primary general presidency.
“Each segment will be a great asset to home gospel study and be the catalyst for inspired family conversations,” she said. “We can imagine children watching with their friends and sharing gospel messages as they learn to follow Jesus’ example together.”
“I hope they will feel valued, needed and loved by Jesus and Heavenly Father. This will be a memorable opportunity to feel connected to other children around the world as they learn and sing together about how they can help like Jesus.” — President Joy D. Jones
Sister Cristina B. Franco, second counselor in the Primary general presidency, hopes the event will be faith-promoting for the children.
“We hope this Friend to Friend event will strengthen children’s faith in Jesus Christ as they follow the Savior’s example by making and keeping covenants, serving and loving others as He has,” she said.
Parents are encouraged to watch the event with their children when it is convenient. Primary leaders and teachers may consider sharing the recording with children who may not see it with their parents or as part of a Primary activity.
Church leaders encourage parents, leaders and teachers to be aware of local circumstances and government restrictions related to gathering and follow the counsel of local and government leaders at the time of this event.
The Friend to Friend event will be available on demand following the initial broadcast. It will be archived on face2face.ChurchofJesusChrist.org, the Latter-day Saints Channel, Gospel Media and Gospel Library and may be streamed or downloaded.