*Happy Father's Day! Today at church I was a participant--no substituting! (They had actually printed my name in the program as the organist this week, though, since I had done it for this past month--but our organist was able to come! And the Sunbeam teachers are back!) Of course, that threw the balance off for my kids to have me with them for all of Sacrament Meeting, and they were so squirmy and talky! (I try to believe that they really aren't like this every Sunday.) We had some good talks about fathers, and the Primary sang, and the High Counselor talked about fellowshipping, and how we should be fellowshipping everyone, in the church and out, active or not. We seemed to have no Priests there today. A couple men took care of getting the bread ready during the opening hymn, and stayed to bless the Sacrament. It is sometimes nice to have someone do it who hasn't done it in a while, because they tend to sound a little less rote.
*We talked about the Last Supper in Sunday School today. Our teacher asked about things we think about during the Sacrament, and it was a good discussion. One sister shared that when her sons went on their missions, her mom gave them a smooth small stone to keep in their pockets, and whenever things got hard or they were scared or something was troubling them, they could put their hand in their pocket and feel their rock and know there was their grandma out there who loved them and was praying for them every day. She related that to the Sacrament in that it is a tangible thing that we can hold and partake of as a gift from the Savior for us to remember his love and that he's rooting for us, too.
*In Relief Society, we talked about following the living prophet. How grateful I am for my testimony of our prophet, Thomas S. Monson. I can clearly see where the teachings of the church are veering away from the opinion of the world (definition of the family...) and even opinions in the church (Ordain Women movement...), and if I didn't already have that anchor of my faith in a living prophet, it might be harder to know which way to go. It's not hard. I do know. I am grateful.
It was awesome!
Sunday, June 21, 2015
June 2015, Week 2
*Today at church I did my typical substituting--on the organ and for the Sunbeams. Our poor organist has really delicate health, and the Sunbeam teachers were out of town for two weeks. I am actually happy to help out with both. I do feel bad for my sweet husband who has to wrangle kids mostly on his own for Sacrament Meeting while I'm playing, but he has not once ever complained about it. And those Sunbeams and I are really starting to figure each other out.
*My 14 year old son gave a talk in Sacrament Meeting today. (There is not a huge number of youth in our ward, so they get the chance to speak a lot!) He had just returned from a week at a high adventure scout camp, and he shared about going on a hike with a large number of LDS kids, and a couple non-member kids. He's usually the one in the minority! It was a positive experience for him, and there were apparently several gospel discussions on their hike.
*The 10 and 11 year old girls (including one of mine) sang "Choose the Right" as the special musical number. They did it to pass of one of their Faith in God requirements. That is a good group of girls right there, and I'm glad my daughter has such strong girls to grow up with. I like that song in particular, because it is my "go-to" song whenever I have something float into my brain from whatever source that I want out. I pull up that song and the offender goes away.
It was awesome!
*My 14 year old son gave a talk in Sacrament Meeting today. (There is not a huge number of youth in our ward, so they get the chance to speak a lot!) He had just returned from a week at a high adventure scout camp, and he shared about going on a hike with a large number of LDS kids, and a couple non-member kids. He's usually the one in the minority! It was a positive experience for him, and there were apparently several gospel discussions on their hike.
*The 10 and 11 year old girls (including one of mine) sang "Choose the Right" as the special musical number. They did it to pass of one of their Faith in God requirements. That is a good group of girls right there, and I'm glad my daughter has such strong girls to grow up with. I like that song in particular, because it is my "go-to" song whenever I have something float into my brain from whatever source that I want out. I pull up that song and the offender goes away.
It was awesome!
Sunday, June 7, 2015
June 2015, Week 1
*Today I had an early morning Stake meeting before church. The focus was on keeping the Sabbath Day holy, and it was from a teaching session from the General leaders of the church. They had been discussing those that are losing faith, and who are less active, and what they could do to help prevent that. Of all the things that could be the result of this discussion, they chose keeping the Sabbath Day holy as what would help the most. I loved that so much. We talked about things we could do to invite members to have a spiritual experience during Sacrament Meeting, and how to extend that into our homes, and what we as Stake Leaders could do to use this in our training sessions. I hope to be having this discussion in several settings in the near future, since I think we can all use the reminders.
*One of the scriptures we talked about was Isaiah 58:13-14-- "If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord..." I've heard the phrase "call the sabbath a delight" before, but I think I haven't reflected on how I can make that really happen. I'm still working on my thoughts on that one. I did share how reporting on my Sundays each week has helped my Sabbath Day perspective tremendously, and was reminded that I can give that gift to my children if I consistently ask them to return and report on their lessons, as well.
*I subbed on the organ, and the first hymn was 226, "Improve the Shining Moments." There's a line that caught my eye today--"We cannot bid the sunbeams to lengthen out their stay." It made me laugh a bit, because I also subbed in the Sunbeam class again, and we've been working on a reasonable level of reverence for the class. The line from the song seemed applicable. :)
It was a delight!
*One of the scriptures we talked about was Isaiah 58:13-14-- "If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord..." I've heard the phrase "call the sabbath a delight" before, but I think I haven't reflected on how I can make that really happen. I'm still working on my thoughts on that one. I did share how reporting on my Sundays each week has helped my Sabbath Day perspective tremendously, and was reminded that I can give that gift to my children if I consistently ask them to return and report on their lessons, as well.
*I subbed on the organ, and the first hymn was 226, "Improve the Shining Moments." There's a line that caught my eye today--"We cannot bid the sunbeams to lengthen out their stay." It made me laugh a bit, because I also subbed in the Sunbeam class again, and we've been working on a reasonable level of reverence for the class. The line from the song seemed applicable. :)
It was a delight!
May 2015, Week 5
*Today at church we were happy to be accompanied by my husband's parents. They were in town because of my newly eight-year-old's baptism that week. My sweet girl is our fourth child to be baptized. This time we didn't do all the preparations we have in the past, like a Family Home Evening or other discussions about baptism, and I wasn't sure I'd prepared her as much as she might need. I shouldn't have worried. It was a small group who attended (including my parents, who had to leave on Saturday), but the Spirit that was there filled the room. My daughter told me that when she went into the font, the water was cold, but as she was immersed, she was filled with warmth. I asked her (as she was dripping wet and shivering and I was helping her get dry and dressed) what she think made her feel so warm. She said it was the Holy Ghost there, because she was doing what was right. Her eyes were so sparkly and bright. She's a treasure.
*Today we heard a talk from a sister about grace and the Atonement. It was pretty awesome. She quoted a lot form Brad Wilcox's talk on the Infinite Atonement. That's a talk worth reading more than once. I had the privilege of hearing it in person at Time Out for Women a couple years ago.
*I was able to go to Sunday School and combined 5th Sunday Discussion with my in-laws and my husband, as I only subbed on the organ. I like going to classes with family. I do miss being closer to my family, but my ward does a great job at filling in.
It was awesome!
*Today we heard a talk from a sister about grace and the Atonement. It was pretty awesome. She quoted a lot form Brad Wilcox's talk on the Infinite Atonement. That's a talk worth reading more than once. I had the privilege of hearing it in person at Time Out for Women a couple years ago.
*I was able to go to Sunday School and combined 5th Sunday Discussion with my in-laws and my husband, as I only subbed on the organ. I like going to classes with family. I do miss being closer to my family, but my ward does a great job at filling in.
It was awesome!
May 2015, Week 4
*Today I had to go to church early, and I was listening to a sermon from a church in Dallas on the radio on the way there. The speaker said that it's interesting how some churches focus on God (Muslims, Jews), some focus on Jesus (Baptists, Church of Christ), and some focus on the Holy Spirit (Pentecostal). He said it would be ideal if we could take these focuses and mix them in a bowl and pull out the ideal combination for our worship. He said it's kind of up to us to find that mix for our personal worship of the Godhead (though he said the Trinity). I wanted to talk to that man on the radio and say, "It is not up to chance! There is a sure way! There is truth about the Godhead, and it is easy to find!" I was left with a gratitude that I did not have to search far to find the truth (thanks to the gift of the gospel taught to me as a child), and that the truth about our Heavenly Father, our Savior Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost and their unique roles and identities has been confirmed to my soul. I know them and I love them, and I rejoice to be able to worship them.
It was awesome!
It was awesome!
Monday, May 18, 2015
May 2015, Week 3
*Today at church I substituted on the organ. I was surprised to see all the songs were different than the ones the organist had told me, since there were last-minute switches that happened. Thankfully, the new songs were easier than the original ones, except for the intermediate hymn, which was loud and fast--but joyful! (It was Hymn #64--On This Day of Joy and Gladness.) It went well. :)
*Today my big little girl, newly 12, gave her first talk in Sacrament Meeting. She was assigned the topic of "Physical and Emotional Health." She did not want to do it. Not at all. But, when the time came, she just walked up and gave the talk she and her dad had prepared. I was so proud of her.
*Today our High Counselor gave a talk about service. It was a nice talk--but the thing I noticed most was that all of his quotes came from women. (Bonnie D. Parkin, Marjorie Hinckley, etc.) He also told one of my favorite stories about President Thomas S. Monson--how he would go on trips to Europe, especially East Germany, and come home with much less clothing than when he left because he would give it all away. He'd come home in his slippers after giving his shoes away. He loves and serves people--individual people. Later, in Sunday School, someone commented about what Elder Bednar talked about in a "live chat" broadcast he had with the youth earlier this week. One youth asked him what it's like to be an apostle. He said it seems that what they do is very public, with General Conference, Ensign articles, and so on. But he said he's learned that much of what they do as apostles is very private. He said (basically), "Would the Lord send an apostle all the way around the world for one person? Yes! He does it all the time." We are known and loved.
*Today a sweet sister told of her conversion, and how it hinged on the Book of Mormon. She told of how she investigated the church as a youth, and has dyslexia, so reading the Book of Mormon was a huge challenge, but she kept at it, and one day, it just hit her--it is TRUE. All of it. No turning back now. Then, in Relief Society, we had a lesson all about the Book of Mormon being the keystone of our religion, and we all were able to ponder our own testimonies of the Book of Mormon, and how the gospel is held up by its teachings. Our teacher has been a member for less than a year, and it was great to hear again this message from one who has completely converted and completely believes. I have always had the Book of Mormon in my life, and sometimes wonder what my reaction to it would be if I hadn't been introduced to it until I was an adult. I hope that I could recognize it as truth as these sisters did, and not be blinded by the teachings of men. I am thankful for my testimony of the Book of Mormon. I agree with the first sister--it is true. All of it. No going back now.
It was awesome!
*Today my big little girl, newly 12, gave her first talk in Sacrament Meeting. She was assigned the topic of "Physical and Emotional Health." She did not want to do it. Not at all. But, when the time came, she just walked up and gave the talk she and her dad had prepared. I was so proud of her.
*Today our High Counselor gave a talk about service. It was a nice talk--but the thing I noticed most was that all of his quotes came from women. (Bonnie D. Parkin, Marjorie Hinckley, etc.) He also told one of my favorite stories about President Thomas S. Monson--how he would go on trips to Europe, especially East Germany, and come home with much less clothing than when he left because he would give it all away. He'd come home in his slippers after giving his shoes away. He loves and serves people--individual people. Later, in Sunday School, someone commented about what Elder Bednar talked about in a "live chat" broadcast he had with the youth earlier this week. One youth asked him what it's like to be an apostle. He said it seems that what they do is very public, with General Conference, Ensign articles, and so on. But he said he's learned that much of what they do as apostles is very private. He said (basically), "Would the Lord send an apostle all the way around the world for one person? Yes! He does it all the time." We are known and loved.
*Today a sweet sister told of her conversion, and how it hinged on the Book of Mormon. She told of how she investigated the church as a youth, and has dyslexia, so reading the Book of Mormon was a huge challenge, but she kept at it, and one day, it just hit her--it is TRUE. All of it. No turning back now. Then, in Relief Society, we had a lesson all about the Book of Mormon being the keystone of our religion, and we all were able to ponder our own testimonies of the Book of Mormon, and how the gospel is held up by its teachings. Our teacher has been a member for less than a year, and it was great to hear again this message from one who has completely converted and completely believes. I have always had the Book of Mormon in my life, and sometimes wonder what my reaction to it would be if I hadn't been introduced to it until I was an adult. I hope that I could recognize it as truth as these sisters did, and not be blinded by the teachings of men. I am thankful for my testimony of the Book of Mormon. I agree with the first sister--it is true. All of it. No going back now.
It was awesome!
May 2015, Week 2
*Today at church, in order to celebrate Mother's Day the very best way, my oldest son was set apart to the office of Teacher. He makes his mother's heart happy. We were fortunate to have my husband's brother's family in town for the weekend, so my son's dad and uncle were in the circle to ordain him. I am thankful for the Priesthood.
*Today at church I was able to substitute those Sunbeams again. This time I had time to prepare, and what a difference it made! We played a game, we had a snack, we had a lesson, we sang songs--we had order! They were just as wiggly as in the past, but I was ready, and not trying to figure out what in the world to do next. Plus, we were able to do a little craft for their mothers.
It was awesome!
*Today at church I was able to substitute those Sunbeams again. This time I had time to prepare, and what a difference it made! We played a game, we had a snack, we had a lesson, we sang songs--we had order! They were just as wiggly as in the past, but I was ready, and not trying to figure out what in the world to do next. Plus, we were able to do a little craft for their mothers.
It was awesome!
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