*Today I went to three Ward Councils and two Ward Conferences, and taught Sharing Time in the Spanish branch. No worries--a lot of that overlapped, though I was in some sort of meeting from 7:45 am to 4:00 pm. I comfort myself that the Stake Presidency started even earlier, and stayed even later. I am meeting so many people, and learning so much Spanish! (Not nearly enough, though.) My fabulous counselors taught the Sharing Times in the other two wards while I was at the other meetings. I freely admit that my natural introverted self would love to just stay in my home, all the time, and not talk to anyone but my family, but I also freely admit that it is a blessing to be challenged beyond my natural introverted self to step out and serve and love. I would never choose to do this type of calling on my own, but it seems to be exactly what I need to grow into what Heavenly Father needs me to be. It seems I have lots of growing left to do.
*Today was a hard day for my husband at church. He gets lots of practice getting everyone to church alone, and he substituted in my 13 year old son's Sunday School class, and he helped in the Deacon's Quorum, as he does each Sunday, with the company of our 2 year old son, who refuses to stay in the nursery, and then had BYC and a flag sales meeting for the Scout camp fundraiser after church, with all the kids in tow. He admitted that it was hard, but he also said how willing he is to support me in my calling, and that we can do hard things. He is wonderful.
It was awesome!
Sunday, January 18, 2015
January 2015, Week 2
*Today in church I was able to attend a Ward Conference for another ward in our stake. It is the first in a series that I will be attending in the next few weeks. We heard our Stake President's talk for the first time, and he presented the theme of "Preach My Gospel," and the challenge to read the manual from cover to cover. He is extremely interested in missionary work, and has had that as our theme in some way almost every year, but he says that rather than seeing it as a missionary theme, we are to look at the "Preach My Gospel" manual as a tool for teaching our families core doctrine. By extension, we will want to preach the gospel, but he wants us to focus on teaching our families first. I am anxious to begin.
*Today I presented the Sharing Time for this ward. They have a smaller primary, with such sweet children. Our presidency was asked a while ago to determine how we will use the "Preach My Gospel" manual this year in the ward primaries, and we decided to focus on chapter 6, which is about the attributes of Christ. The theme for Primary this year is "I Know My Savior Lives," and we thought this focus will align well with it. We came up with four challenges for the children can do--memorize the 9 attributes, read a set of scriptures about them, read about them in the manual with their families and tell in their own words what they mean, and do something that exemplifies each attribute. Once they do all four challenges, we will give them a certificate. For the Sharing Time, I told about people I admire for their good attributes (my grandpa, who showed faith by praying before each time he flew a combat mission in WWII, and President Monson, who showed love and charity in so many examples), and how Jesus Christ is the perfect example of all. We read some scriptures showing other attributes He has (patience, knowledge, hope, virtue, humility, obedience, and diligence), and then showed the "Preach My Gospel" chapter where we got the list of attributes, and then introduced the challenge. I then got to bear my testimony about how these attributes have blessed my life. So far we have had pretty positive feedback about the challenge. I hope it helps the children have a way to open up discussions about the theme with their families.
*Today I spent some time with the Spanish branch primary. They have a wonderful president, and some other great leaders, but it is a lot of work to make everything happen that needs to happen on Sundays. I just went to observe, and to answer some of their questions. I also got to play the piano for them. Usually, the music leader just uses a CD, as they don't have a pianist. I can imagine how hard that would be as they try to learn new songs, and want to go over specific parts. I hope I was of some help, even though I didn't always understand exactly where she wanted me to start playing.
It was awesome!
*Today I presented the Sharing Time for this ward. They have a smaller primary, with such sweet children. Our presidency was asked a while ago to determine how we will use the "Preach My Gospel" manual this year in the ward primaries, and we decided to focus on chapter 6, which is about the attributes of Christ. The theme for Primary this year is "I Know My Savior Lives," and we thought this focus will align well with it. We came up with four challenges for the children can do--memorize the 9 attributes, read a set of scriptures about them, read about them in the manual with their families and tell in their own words what they mean, and do something that exemplifies each attribute. Once they do all four challenges, we will give them a certificate. For the Sharing Time, I told about people I admire for their good attributes (my grandpa, who showed faith by praying before each time he flew a combat mission in WWII, and President Monson, who showed love and charity in so many examples), and how Jesus Christ is the perfect example of all. We read some scriptures showing other attributes He has (patience, knowledge, hope, virtue, humility, obedience, and diligence), and then showed the "Preach My Gospel" chapter where we got the list of attributes, and then introduced the challenge. I then got to bear my testimony about how these attributes have blessed my life. So far we have had pretty positive feedback about the challenge. I hope it helps the children have a way to open up discussions about the theme with their families.
*Today I spent some time with the Spanish branch primary. They have a wonderful president, and some other great leaders, but it is a lot of work to make everything happen that needs to happen on Sundays. I just went to observe, and to answer some of their questions. I also got to play the piano for them. Usually, the music leader just uses a CD, as they don't have a pianist. I can imagine how hard that would be as they try to learn new songs, and want to go over specific parts. I hope I was of some help, even though I didn't always understand exactly where she wanted me to start playing.
It was awesome!
Sunday, January 4, 2015
January 2015, Week 1
*Today in church was "lonely,"as my 11-year old daughter put it, since we were missing my 5 and 2 year olds, who were home with fevers, and my husband, who was keeping them company. I never thought that four kids would seem like a small group, but she was right--we were lonely with them gone.
*Today was Fast and Testimony meeting again. I think a good 90% of those who spoke were converts, and none of them made a big deal about it, but it impressed me (as always) that they were willing to change their lives for the sake of the gospel truth--and they are all grateful to have made the change. I think of my dad's parents, who joined the church when he was a small boy, and how many people have been blessed for their decision. I am thankful. Having been raised in the church, I had to be converted, but it involved a change of heart, not of lifestyle, or even friends. Converts are heroes to me.
*Today my sweet 9 year old daughter chose to bear her testimony for the first time. It was so sweet. She follows the righteous desires of her heart.
*Today our new Primary President was sick, on a critical transition day (First Sunday! Everyone moves up! Teachers change, rooms change, manuals change!) so I went in to help. The Sunbeam teacher hadn't been called yet, and the next class up was missing a teacher, so I took the 7 kids. It was a bit..chaotic. However, they all left with smiles on their faces, so I count that as a success. I came home and took a nap.
It was awesome!
*Today was Fast and Testimony meeting again. I think a good 90% of those who spoke were converts, and none of them made a big deal about it, but it impressed me (as always) that they were willing to change their lives for the sake of the gospel truth--and they are all grateful to have made the change. I think of my dad's parents, who joined the church when he was a small boy, and how many people have been blessed for their decision. I am thankful. Having been raised in the church, I had to be converted, but it involved a change of heart, not of lifestyle, or even friends. Converts are heroes to me.
*Today my sweet 9 year old daughter chose to bear her testimony for the first time. It was so sweet. She follows the righteous desires of her heart.
*Today our new Primary President was sick, on a critical transition day (First Sunday! Everyone moves up! Teachers change, rooms change, manuals change!) so I went in to help. The Sunbeam teacher hadn't been called yet, and the next class up was missing a teacher, so I took the 7 kids. It was a bit..chaotic. However, they all left with smiles on their faces, so I count that as a success. I came home and took a nap.
It was awesome!
December 2014, Week 4
*Today at church I was able to teach the lesson in Relief Society. We discussed a talk from April 2014 General Conference by Elder Robert D. Hales called "If Ye Love Me, Keep My Commandments." It had an interesting section about different types of obedience, that he called natural man's obedience, selective obedience, and the Savior's obedience (or spiritually mature obedience). I was anxious to hear the insights of the sisters in my ward, and they did not disappoint. It was refreshing to be in a lesson where there was dialogue, and learning, and emotion. I was more bold than I thought I would be in declaring that we must be obedient to the Prophet, because he is obedient to the Lord, even when popular opinion goes another way--and even when the popular opinions are from church members. I find it easier to be bold in Primary than in Relief Society. I think it is because the women there have such varied experiences and I don't want to offend any who are on the fringes, but I should not be ashamed of declaring obedience to the Prophet. The Primary kids are willing to believe bold statements, because their hearts are soft and open to truth--and not offended. I did enjoy the experience. I think I will always be a Primary girl, but Relief Society isn't too bad, either. :)
It was awesome!
It was awesome!
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