“The average woman today, I believe, would do well to appraise her interests, evaluated the activities in which she is engaged, and then take steps to simplify her life, putting things of first importance first, placing emphasis where the rewards will be greatest and most enduring, and ridding herself of the less rewarding activities.” (Belle S. Spafford (9th Relief Society general president) in Daughters in My Kingdom, page xiii)
“By small and simple things are great things brought to pass.”(Alma 37:6)
“Wherefore, be not weary in well-doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth that which is great.” (D&C 64:33)
Today is the first day of Fall. After living in Florida for the past 5 years, I have come to realize that September and October still mean hot and humid weather and swimming for us, while I can only remember wistfully the beautiful changing leaves in the Utah canyons. But wherever we live, October will always mean General Conference and the opportunity to learn from true living apostles and prophets. I am thankful for it!
To prepare our children for General Conference this year we have been learning about the First Presidency during Family Home Evening. A big thanks to A Year of FHE for posting lessons on each member of the First Presidency. So far we have followed Emilie’s lesson plans for President Eyring and President Uchtdorf, enjoying some creative water-coloring and paper airplanes to help us share in the apostles interests. We’re looking forward to our upcoming lesson on President Monson this week. To conclude each lesson we ended with sweet treats and the viewing of any Mormon Messages videos that pertained to that apostle. This video on patience is one of my favorites:
I love the Mormon Message videos, and I often use them in Family Home Evening lessons. You can view all of them here.
Next on my “To Do” list is to get the children’s activity packets ready for use during General Conference. The current version of the ever-popular Sugardoodle packets are available here, and you can get loads and activities and ideas from this Sugardoodle index page. If you want to see my favorite ideas, hop on over to the Tags box in my right side bar and click on General Conference.
Best wishes for fall and an inspiring General Conference!
As I have studied the messages shared at the last General Conference session in April 2011, I wanted to share segments from three talks. Though not necessarily about mothers/families/parenting, they still stood out to me and I wanted to make note of them.
“Desires dictate our priorities, priorities shape our choices, and choices determine our actions. The desires we act on determine our changing, our achieving, and our becoming.”
“Readjusting our desires to give highest priority to the things of eternity is not easy. We are all tempted to desire that worldly quartet of property, prominence, pride, and power. We might desire these, but we should not fix them as our highest priorities.”
“As important as it is to lose every desire for sin, eternal life requires more. To achieve our eternal destiny, we will desire and work for the qualities required to become an eternal being. For example, eternal beings forgive all who have wronged them. They put the welfare of others ahead of themselves. And they love all of God’s children. If this seems too difficult—and surely it is not easy for any of us—then we should begin with a desire for such qualities and call upon our loving Heavenly Father for help with our feelings. The Book of Mormon teaches us that we should “pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that [we] may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ” (Moroni 7:48).”
“The truth is, those who diligently seek to learn of Christ eventually will come to know Him. They will personally receive a divine portrait of the Master, although it most often comes in the form of a puzzle—one piece at a time. Each individual piece may not be easily recognizable by itself; it may not be clear how it relates to the whole. Each piece helps us to see the big picture a little more clearly. Eventually, after enough pieces have been put together, we recognize the grand beauty of it all. Then, looking back on our experience, we see that the Savior had indeed come to be with us—not all at once but quietly, gently, almost unnoticed.”
“It has been my experience that some of the most powerful promptings we receive are not only for our own benefit but also for the benefit of others. If we are thinking only of ourselves, we may miss some of the most powerful spiritual experiences and profound revelations of our lives.”
“Self-reliance is a product of provident living and exercising economic self-discipline. From the beginning the Church has taught that families—to the extent they can—need to assume responsibility for their own temporal welfare. Each generation is required to learn anew the foundational principles of self-reliance: avoid debt, implement principles of thrift, prepare for times of distress, listen to and follow the words of the living oracles, develop the discipline to distinguish between needs and wants and then live accordingly.”
“People across the United States rediscovered the need for God and turned to Him for solace and understanding. Comfortable times were shattered. We felt the great unsteadiness of life and reached for the great steadiness of our Father in Heaven. And, as ever, we found it.”
“The way to be with God in every season is to strive to be near Him every week and each day. We truly “need Him every hour,” not just in hours of devastation. We must speak to Him, listen to Him, and serve Him. If we wish to serve Him, we should serve our fellow men. We will mourn the lives we lose, but we should also fix the lives that can be mended and heal the hearts that may yet be healed.”
“Destruction allows us to rebuild our lives in the way He teaches us, and to become something different than we were. We can make Him the center of our thoughts and His Son, Jesus Christ, the pattern for our behavior. We may not only find faith in God in our sorrow. We may also become faithful to Him in times of calm.”
President Thomas S. Monson, quoted from a guest post online at The Washington Post.
My to-do list for the last two weeks has included this item: Make lunchbox notes/jokes
Tonight, I’m finally crossing this item off my list! And then I realized I should share my fun findings with you.
The background behind this post: When the Ant Bug was in Kindergarten last year, we had fun with little lunchbox notes of love. I was thankful for the creative moms who shared their talents (namely The Teach Mama). I printed off a bunch of notes in advance, and then just stuck them in her lunchbox throughout the year. I think (hope!) the Ant Bug enjoyed the notes and was reminded that I love her, but what she enjoyed most of all were the joke notes. So this year I’m going with joke notes as much as possible! Below are some links to creative lunch box notes and jokes (and some free printables). This should get me through a few months!
“Pure love is an incomparable, potent power for good. Righteous love is the foundation of a successful marriage. It is the primary cause of contented, well-developed children. Who can justly measure the righteous influence of a mother’s love? What enduring fruits result from the seeds of truth that a mother carefully plants and lovingly cultivates in the fertile soil of a child’s trusting mind and heart? As a mother you have been given divine instincts to help you sense your child’s special talents and unique capacities. With your husband you can nurture, strengthen, and cause those traits to flower.”
The text in this video by Elder Richard G. Scott comes from his recent address The Eternal Blessings of Marriage. I also really liked the following quotes from his talk. And when he speaks to the brethren, I would include the sisters as well!
“Two of the vital pillars that sustain Father in Heaven’s plan of happiness are marriage and the family. Their lofty significance is underscored by Satan’s relentless efforts to splinter the family and to undermine the significance of temple ordinances, which bind the family together for eternity. The temple sealing has greater meaning as life unfolds. It will help you draw ever closer together and find greater joy and fulfillment in mortality.”
“If you are married, are you faithful to your spouse mentally as well as physically? Are you loyal to your marriage covenants by never engaging in conversation with another person that you wouldn’t want your spouse to overhear? Are you kind and supportive of your spouse and children?
“Brethren, do you lead out in family activities such as scripture study, family prayer, and family home evening, or does your wife fill in the gap your lack of attention leaves in the home? Do you tell your wife often how very much you love her? It will bring her great happiness. I’ve heard men tell me when I say that, “Oh, she knows.” You need to tell her. A woman grows and is greatly blessed by that reassurance. Express gratitude for what your spouse does for you. Express that love and gratitude often. That will make life far richer and more pleasant and purposeful. Don’t withhold those natural expressions of love. And it works a lot better if you are holding her close while you tell her.”
“May our families and homes be filled with love: love of each other, love of the gospel, love of our fellowman, and love of our Savior. As a result, heaven will be a little closer here on earth.
“May we make of our homes sanctuaries to which our family members will ever want to return.”
“We need to thoughtfully allocate our resources of time, income, and energy. I would like to let you in on a little secret. Some of you have already learned it. If you haven’t, it’s time you knew. No matter what your family needs are or your responsibilities in the Church, there is no such thing as “done.” There will always be more we can do. There is always another family matter that needs attention, another lesson to prepare, another interview to conduct, another meeting to attend. We just need to be wise in protecting our health and in following the counsel that President Hinckley has given often to just do the best that we can.
“The key, it seems to me, is to know and understand your own capabilities and limitations and then to pace yourself, allocating and prioritizing your time, your attention, and your resources to wisely help others, including your family, in their quest for eternal life.”
After viewing the most recent General Conference session last April, I felt impressed that I needed to review the messages that were shared with my children. What better time and place to do that then during Family Home Evening?
This week I am sharing the lessons that we have done in the last few months which were related to the April 2011 General Conference. In most cases I focused on one or two quotes from the talk, and then had a coloring page or activity for the children to do. The highlighted quote and activity page are displayed on our wall throughout the week as a reminder of the lesson. In addition, I make sure to show a picture of the General Authority whose words we are studying, so my children can connect a face with the words.
“There is a hymn about the Lord’s invitation to this work that I have sung since I was a little boy. In my childhood I paid more attention to the happy tune than to the power of the words. I pray that you will feel the lyrics in your hearts today. Let’s listen to the words again:
Have I done any good in the world today?
Have I helped anyone in need?
Have I cheered up the sad and made someone feel glad?
If not, I have failed indeed.
Has anyone’s burden been lighter today
Because I was willing to share?
Have the sick and the weary been helped on their way?
“The Lord regularly sends wake-up calls to all of us. Sometimes it may be a sudden feeling of sympathy for someone in need. A father may have felt it when he saw a child fall and scrape a knee. A mother may have felt it when she heard the frightened cry of her child in the night. A son or a daughter may have felt sympathy for someone who seemed sad or afraid at school.”
Discuss what it means to “Do Good”. Sing the hymn “Have I done any good?” (Hymns, 223).
My children aren’t familiar with this hymn, so I created a few posters to help them with the words. The girls helped me with the coloring. Watch the following video (Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing “Have I done any good?”)
Take turns letting each family member share something good they did recently to help another person. Challenge the family to find ways to “Do Good” everyday.
Watch this video (President Monson Mormon Messages)
Additional Notes
Elder Ballard’s talk tied in nicely with this theme. We didn’t make the connection during the lesson, but I shared the following quotes with my family later in the week.
“In all of our service, we need to be sensitive to the promptings of the Holy Ghost. The still, small voice will let us know who needs our help and what we can do to help them.
President Spencer W. Kimball said: “It is vital that we serve each other in the kingdom. … So often, our acts of service consist of simple encouragement or of giving … help with mundane tasks, but what glorious consequences can flow … from small but deliberate deeds!” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Spencer W. Kimball [2006], 82).
And President Thomas S. Monson has counseled:
“The needs of others are ever present, and each of us can do something to help someone.
“… Unless we lose ourselves in service to others, there is little purpose to our own lives” (“What Have I Done for Someone Today?” Liahona and Ensign, Nov. 2009, 85).
