Family Scripture Study Ideas

Getting Started

So recently I posted about my desire to do better at family scripture study especially in involving our toddler and making it more engaging for him. So we have started on our journey. Some of my ideas have changed since that last post but I am really liking it so far.

We decided to use the Book of Mormon Primary Manual as our reading guide, mostly just to get the main stories and suggested verses and chapters. However, one lesson from the manual could end up being anywhere from 1-7 days worth of family scripture study. We have determined to keep the number of verses small so we tend to read around 4-5 verses a day and do a small activity with it.

For example, this week although not from this manual, we have been talking about Joseph Smith, the Gold Plates, and the coming forth of the Book of Mormon. This will end up taking us 7 days but has been really good. Today we are going to dig up the Golden Plates (felt tied together with yarn which only took about 10 minutes) in our backyard, underneath a rock. It should be fun. I hope I can stay this enthusiastic and excited about creating fun activities like this. I tend to jump on and then die down.

Here is a brief rundown of our week:

Sunday - The First Vision JSH 1:15-20 - used pictures from Gospel Art Kit and colored a picture of the first vision.

Monday - Angel Moroni JSH 1:30, 32-34 - we used a felt board set that we have.

Tuesday - The Gold Plates JSH 1:50-54 - we sang "The Golden Plates" 86b from the Children's Songbook and used the felt board again.

Wednesday - Getting the Plates and Translating them JSH 1:59, 66-67 - we are going to dig up the plates as I mentioned above

Thursday - Testimony of 3 & 8 witnesses then talk about how we are thankful that we have handled, seen, read, and know of the Book of Mormon.

Friday - Portion of the Intro the the Book of Mormon - Define testimony and write/color a one line testimony of the Book of Mormon on the gold plates we dug up on Wed. Testimony starter will be "I know the Book of Mormon...." and we will finish it in our personal plates.

Saturday - Book of Mormon teaches of Christ - I haven't determined exactly which verses we will read but they will be chosen from the selected verses on this page, we will use pictures from the Gospel Art Kit and then we will color the book provided.

You may think that this planning took a long time but I have switched my personal reading so that I can read a long with what we are doing as a family. I planned this whole week in probably a 20-30 minute personal scripture study.

Scripture Power Poster

I also made this poster that has our scripture reading chart in it and then we will rotate other things in and out as our scripture stories change. It is down on our sons level and I catch him pointing to things on it frequently. Here is what it looks like right now:

Planning Chart

Another help that I created was this little chart that has the scriptures for that story that I need to read and break down into smaller daily segments as well as the story chapter in the Book of Mormon Reader, song page numbers in the Children's Songbook, Scripture Mastery Scriptures, the number of the picture in the Gospel Art Kit, and if we have a felt set for it. This will make it easy to know what options I have to use for that story.

I hope that something in here will be helpful to some of you. I know that I am super excited to continue. It has been fun so far and very rewarding. If any of you have ideas, suggestions, or questions I'd love for you to leave a comment.

Scripture Power

Tonight I learned a little bit about SCRIPTURE POWER. So my husband has been gone most of the day excluding a brief sighting around dinner time and about that time I was at my wits end. My toddler was super grouchy and tantrumy and I started to turn in that direction myself.

Then as my husband is about to walk out the door again I realized that we didn't squeeze our scripture study in during his "visit", this meant that I was going to have to do scripture study, with my son, on my own, and I was sure with his mood and mine it was going to be an absolute disaster.

Well, to get us rolling I started to sing the chorus to Scripture Power (you can get MP3s and PDFs of the song here) and when I finished he said in his almost-two year old way, "scripture powers". This made me smile...we were off to a good start.

We continued on with me reading just 4 verses (well half reading, half story-telling) and my son sticking Joseph Smith and Angel Moroni and other pieces on our flannel board. When I finished reading he had put all of the pieces on and said "again". Again? Wow, it was going good. I then went back and told a more full account of what we have been talking about the last couple of days and he put the characters on again. And even after all of this he wanted to continue - he asked for Laman and Nephi.

I think I was a little off in thinking it would be an absolute disaster, it turned out to be a great success - he was happy for the rest of the night and I have been smiling myself. Who knew the Power Scriptures could have to turn our moods around and to make the rest of our night a happy one.

Plan of Salvation Puzzle

So I just came across this Plan of Salvation Puzzle on Sugardoodle and I thought it would make a fun FHE. You can find the cutouts at this link --->Plan of Salavation Puzzle.

Becoming a Missionary

Missionary work has been on my mind a lot lately as I have been recognizing the opportunities for missionary experiences in my neighborhood. I have never lived in a place where there are many missionary opportunities and now I am surrounded by people who are not members or who are not active members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The opportunities are there yet it can be difficult to take them. I have taken a few small steps in the right direction and even then I was nervous. I felt impressed to give two sisters that I visit teach (both are not active) copies of the conference issue of the Ensign. This obviously was nothing too big but it was kind of a leap for me. I am not sure if they have read any of it or plan to, but I feel good knowing that I received a prompting and I followed it.

With all of that said about my recent experiences with missionary work now I will mention the real reason for writing this post. My husband has been reading his mission journal lately and thus has shared stories with me that I have never heard. I was absolutely blown away at some of the experiences he had. I am not talking about wonderful experiences of baptizing a family, or teaching a wonderful sister, or anything of the sort. I was shocked by the unreal experiences he had with a few very disobedient and heartless companions (this was before the bar was risen).

After he shared one particular experience I responded with a line of this sort - "If I found out that my son was that kind of missionary I would be heart broken and dissapointed...we can't let our children be missionaries like that." Then I asked him if their parents knew that their sons were missionaries like that and he said that they probably didn't. Then I asked him, "So how will we know if our sons are good missionaries?" We came to this conclusion...we will know long before they ever leave what kind of missionary they will be.

This brings me to this wonderful talk by Elder David A. Bednar called Becoming a Missionary. He perfectly answers what one must do to prepare for a full-time mission and further suggests that in every area of our lives we must focus more on becoming rather than going. Enjoy portions of the talk below or click on the link above for his full talk:

“In meetings with young members of the Church around the world, I often invite those in attendance to ask questions. One of the questions I am asked most frequently by young men is this: “What can I do to prepare most effectively to serve as a full-time missionary?” Such a sincere question deserves a serious response.

“My dear young brethren, the single most important thing you can do to prepare for a call to serve is to become a missionary long before you go on a mission. Please notice that in my answer I emphasized becoming rather than going. Let me explain what I mean.

“In our customary Church vocabulary, we often speak of going to church, going to the temple, and going on a mission. Let me be so bold as to suggest that our rather routine emphasis on going misses the mark.

“The issue is not going to church; rather, the issue is worshipping and renewing covenants as we attend church. The issue is not going to or through the temple; rather, the issue is having in our hearts the spirit, the covenants, and the ordinances of the Lord’s house. The issue is not going on a mission; rather, the issue is becoming a missionary and serving throughout our entire life with all of our heart, might, mind, and strength. It is possible for a young man to go on a mission and not become a missionary, and this is not what the Lord requires or what the Church needs.

“My earnest hope for each of you young men is that you will not simply go on a mission—but that you will become missionaries long before you submit your mission papers, long before you receive a call to serve, long before you are set apart by your stake president, and long before you enter the MTC” (Ensign, Nov 2005, 44).

Let us all focus on becoming missionaries now and help our children to do the same. I loved Elder Bednar's suggestion to emphasize things differently - to focus on the more important issues and become better people rather than just go through the motions of going to church, going on a mission, or going to the temple. Let us not only go but become.

Scripture Mastery Songs

One of my friends posted a comment about how her family has been memorizing scripture mastery verses and I thought it was a great idea. It reminded me of these great scripture mastery songs that an LDS seminary teacher wrote especially for use in the seminary classroom. However, they can also be great tools for all of us and are free to download at this link - LDS Scripture Mastery Songs. A lot of them are really catchy and many are sung to common tunes. Hope you enjoy!

A Meal, A Miracle

So I had a really interesting and neat experience this morning and I couldn't wait to post about it. I am the Compassionate Service Leader in my ward and therefore I set up a lot meals for people. A sister who lives in our ward boundaries but has been inactive for quite some time has been the most recent recipient of meals. She just had her 4th child. She has not had this close of contact with the LDS church in quite some time (however her Mom, who is an active member, lives with her) so I wanted things to go well. So there is a little bit of background for you.

So yesterday afternoon I gave her Mom a call to make sure the meals had been coming in okay. Sure enough everything had been going great, which I was glad to hear. Then later on in the evening my husband and I had a meeting to attend and were gone for several hours. When we returned home I checked the messages on my phone and found out that the meal for that night did not make it to this family. The sister who I had asked to bring them a meal got stranded at a copy store because she locked her keys in the car. It ended up being a big ordeal, she got home late, the meal was not delivered, and the family was not contacted.

I felt absolutely sick about it. I was sure the family had sat around wondering when the meal would arrive, with children hungry and ready to eat, with a Mom and her new born baby - the situation played out in my head and I felt really bad. It was about 9:30 or so when I received the message so there was not a whole lot I could do at that point. I decided I would call the next day (which is today) and apologize for the whole situation.

So this brings us to just about an hour ago. I dialed there number a little nervous about how to approach the situation. When she answered I started to apologize that a meal didn't come in last night. She quickly stopped me and told me that they had received a meal. I was shocked. I asked who it was who brought the meal but she didn't know her name. She said they brought it early in the afternoon and it worked out great. I still do not know if I accidently scheduled two meals for this night (unknowingly for this purpose) or if a very in-tune sister brought a meal over that afternoon but I do know that it was a miracle - it was the hand of the Lord at work. The mother of this sister said that having sisters from the ward bring in meals has been really good for her daughter. I am grateful for this miracle and for the blessing it was to have things work out so well for this family. The hand of the Lord is really in all things and small miracles surround us each day.

A Birthday Gift for President Monson

I thought that this was a great idea and a great opportunity for our children to be a part of President Monson's Birthday. Of course it is a great idea for us adults as well. What gift could you give President Monson for his birthday this year?

A Birthday Gift for President Thomas S. Monson

In his conference talk, Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said: “When our beloved prophet, President Thomas S. Monson, was asked on his birthday this past August what would be the ideal gift that members worldwide could give him, he said without a moment’s hesitation, ‘Find someone who is having a hard time, … and do something for them.’”1

Children, would you like to give President Monson a birthday present? Think of an act of ser-vice you could do for someone. Maybe your grandpa needs help around the house. Or perhaps that new boy at school needs a friend. There are many people who need help, and many kind children to help them! Tell us about your act of service, and then read about many others in the August 2009 Liahona and Friend—President Monson’s birthday month!

Please e-mail your letter, photo, and permission to friend@ldschurch.org or to liahona@ldschurch.org.

Or send your letter, photo, and permission to:
Birthday Service Friend [or Liahona] Magazine 50 E. North Temple St., Rm. 2420 Salt Lake City, UT 84150-0024, USA

The following information and permission must be included:
Full Name
Age
State/Province, Country
I grant permission to print submission and photo:
Signature of parent or legal guardian

Please respond by December 15, 2008. Children whose letters are submitted should be at least three years old.

If every member gave this gift to President Monson this year for his birthday a great ammount of service would be done. So go and “Do something for someone else on that day to make his or her life better. Find someone who is having a hard time, or is ill, or lonely, and do something for them. That’s all I would ask.”

Mormonads: Thoughts - Our Hidden Sin

I couldn't resist posting all of the mormonads on thoughts. They are all so good and I hope they will provoke some analyzing on how your thoughts are doing. I think that controlling our thoughts is something that everyone can work on and is something that we easily put off because it is such an easily hidden sin - that is until our thoughts start to reflect themselves in our actions, and that doesn't take too long.


We must be so careful with our thoughts because they can have a great effect not only on ourselves but on those that are around us. We must be kind to others in our thoughts. We must be moral in our thoughts. We must be clean in our thoughts. We must be positive in our thoughts. We must be smart in our thoughts. We must watch our thoughts.

Mosiah 4:30 says, But this much I can tell you, that if ye do not watch yourselves, and your thoughts, and your words, and your deeds, and observe the commandments of God, and continue in the faith...ye must perish. And now, O man, remember, and perish not.

When looking up the word 'watch' in the dictionary it brings to light what it truly means to watch your thoughts. When you read the definitions below think about how you could better watch your thoughts:

• to be alertly on the lookout
• to be careful or cautious
• to keep awake, for a purpose
• remain vigilant, as for protection or safekeeping
• to keep guard
  












President Boyd K. Packer - Worthy Thoughts
“One who can control his thoughts has conquered himself.”

Mormonad: Differences...and 6 of my Quirks

I may have been tagged by my sister but I have a sister-in-law with my same name so I am not super sure. I generally don't get tagged since I don't have a personal or family blog and if I do I wouldn't normally respond but I thought it would be fun (whether I was actually tagged or not) to join in this one and give you a little peek at what I am like. Of course I would feel weird not adding a little spirtual twist so stay tuned to the end of the post for that.



So here are 6 of my quirky habits... I am not going to tag anyone else since most of you that check this blog are complete strangers. Enjoy my weirdnesses and think about the funny quirks you have.

1 - When I can’t sleep I stick my pillow on my head. This began in college when I had a roommate stay up late doing homework with her lamp on (annoying you might think, but she was actually one of my favorite roommates). To block the light I would stick the pillow on my head and now I have no light to block and for some reason it still sends me to the ZZZs a lot quicker when I am having a hard time getting there.

2 - So many of you will think this is crazy but I still bounce my son (just shy of 2 years old) before he goes to sleep. But that is not the quirky part…here’s my quirkiness - I actually count the number of times I bounce him. This habit began when he was younger and a very tough sleeper. I had to determine how many times I would sway back and forth to keep myself sane and know that when I hit that number I would put him down whether he cried or not. Well now it just stuck. I’ve kept counting but the number has decreased. I little OCD, I know.

3 - I actually like some of the cartoons my almost two year old watches on PBS kids. As sad as this may sound I kind of look forward to the song at the beginning of Sid the Science Kid…”I love my Mom.” “Uh-huh” “My Mom is cool.” “Uh-huh” - those of you with kids may know what I am talking about. If we turn it on after the beginning of the show I am actually slightly bummed. It’s catchy, what can I say.

4 - Now this one is pathetic…I am obsessed with checking the stats of this blog. I love to see where the people live that check the blog, how many visits the blog got the previous day, etc. I check every morning. Then if that isn’t enough I check at least 3 different times during the day to see if I have any comments. Sadly most often it is none. Obsessed, I know.

5 - I love words, especially their official meanings. For some reason I really like to look common words up in the dictionary – words that we all really know but I like to hear the official definition. Words like: live, change, continual, etc. There is just something about a good definition that does something for me. :)

6 – I never tuck our sheets in when I make our bed. I hate it when they are tight and you get in and feel like a mummy…I get Claustrophobic I guess. Some would still tuck to make it look nicer but I figure I would just pull them out before bed…why bother.

So you may be thinking, "She's weird" or "I can relate to that" or "How funny". But isn't it great that we are all so different - that we all have different things to add? Isn't it great that we each are unique with different talents, with different quirks, and with different experiences? How would the world be if your quirk was mine and mine was yours and there was no diversity? Well, it would be boring.

President Howard W. Hunter said, We are all different and unique individuals; we have each had different starting points in the race of life; we each have a unique mixture of talents and skills; we each have our own set of challenges and constraints to contend with.

1 Corinthians adds that each individual is needed. We are all a part of one body and without each of us, invidual and unique, our body would not be whole.

1 Corinthians 12:12-21
12 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.
13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one abody, whether we be Jews or bGentiles, whether we be cbond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.
14 For the body is not one member, but many.
15 If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?
16 And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?
17 If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling?
18 But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.
19 And if they were all one member, where were the body?
20 But now are they many members, yet but one body.
21 And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the ahead to the feet, I have no need of you.

Finding Family Kindness

It feels like I have been posting a lot about kindess and service lately; I guess it's been on my mind. Here is yet another kindness post to add to the mix but I couldn't resist I really liked this idea. I came across this link on Operation NICE that took me to the PBS parents site and this great article. It is such a good idea!!! I think we all could use a reminder to look for the good deeds others do for us rather than nit-pick at each other all of the time.

Find Family Kindess

Posted by Patience on August 18, 2008

A few years ago the teachers in my son's preschool class noticed the kids seemed to be struggling with lots of conflict. It was towards the end of the school year when classmates are more comfortable with each other and start acting almost like siblings.

Instead of whipping the kids into shape with a reminder of rules, the teachers found a more creative approach to changing the feel in the classroom. They invited a puppet named Verde to come and talk to the kids about being kind to one another. The kids and Verde came up with the idea of documenting acts of kindness. Everyday, the children were on the hunt to find the acts happening around them, not their own. Before long there were lists all over the room and kindness had worked its magic.

I was so touched by the idea and wondered if it could work for our family. We gathered the markers, decorated our own sheet and proudly displayed the colorful paper on the refrigerator.
"Mom! Mom! Jack helped Lucy put her jacket on, put it on the list mom!" Josiah yelled from the other room.

"Josiah, mom made pancakes, we LOVE pancakes mom. I think it's an act of kindness..." Jack said trying to find something in the hunt for goodness.

I sat at the table one night watching my husband Jorge and thought to myself, "Awww, He DOES love me, look at him doing the dishes." I quietly walked to the door and added his act to the list. I started noticing the things he was doing instead of focusing on our long standing "discussion" on division of labor.

A week later small things held new value and peace had claimed a bigger stake in our everyday family life. The list eventually filled up and faded with water marks and juice stains but I didn't have the heart to take it down until we moved. Every once in awhile when everyone gets kind of grouchy and sick of each other, I revive the idea even if it is only identified in words. Kindness can always find it's way back if we just look for it.

What are your secrets for turning things around when your family is in a funk? Try this kindness activity and tell us if it was a winner or a bomb at your house, or any variations that you think would work better.

Family Scripture Study with Young Children

"May I suggest that in our family night gatherings we make it a project to memorize one scripture citation a week pertinent to this work. At the conclusion of a year our children will have on their lips a fund of scripture which will remain with them throughout their lives."(Conference Report, April 1959; Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley, p. 344; Gene R. Cook, Searching the Scriptures: Bringing Power to Your Personal and Family Study, p. 115).

What a CHALLENGE!!!

During the last few days I have been thinking about how it is about time to really start getting into Family Scripture Study. We read our scriptures every day as a couple, which used to be our whole family, but now we have a little boy (who is a few months shy of 2 years old) and we sometimes read with him but it has not become a consistent habit. He is definitely at an age where he can grasp a lot and I feel bad that this wasn't made a consistent habit earlier...but at least we are going to start now, right!?!

So with all of that said I have set out on journey to figure out just how we want to go about this and have come across things that I like and I have also created some things to help a long the way.

I really like this schedule (link below) because it allows you to adjust your reading to work for your family. There are chapters selected for younger families to read each month or you can read the entire Book of Mormon.

ALL OF THE BELOW LINKS DO NOT WORK IF YOU WOULD LIKE ME TO SEND THESE DOCUMENTS TO TOU PLEASE EMAIL ME AT becominglds@gmail.com AND I WILL SEND THEM TO YOU!!! Thanks!

I Will Read the Book of Mormon and Cutouts - A Yearly Book of Mormon Reading Schedule for Young Families

Next, I really want scripture time to be fun so I've create three lists to coordinate with songs from the Children's Songbook, pictures from the Gospel Art Kit, and the Book of Mormon Stories (you can download the video or text version of this online now). I hope that they will be helpful.

They should help in knowing when there are songs, pictures, or scripture stories to aid in your family scripture study. For example, when you hit 1 Nephi 3 you might look at the song list and know that you can use this song from the songbook - 1 Nephi 3:1-7 - Nephi's Courage - #120. The same thing goes for the two other lists. One day I may combine them into one document or grid to make planning easier until then the links to the current documents are below.

Children's Songbook Scripture Songs

Gospel Art Kit Scriptures

Book of Mormon Stories Scriptures by Chapter

ALL OF THE ABOVE LINKS DO NOT WORK IF YOU WOULD LIKE ME TO SEND THESE DOCUMENTS TO TOU PLEASE EMAIL ME AT becominglds@gmail.com AND I WILL SEND THEM TO YOU!!!  Thanks!

I haven't figured this all out yet but I plan to have certain days of the week be dedicated to certain things. For example, I may have a certain day of the week when we simply read, another day when we use a gospel art kit picture or if there isn't one we might draw a picture or color a picture printed off the the computer for that day, another day we might use the Book of Mormon Stories book or tell the story in more simple terms, ect. This way we really get to know the stories and have fun with it. I never want to use these activities to substitute for the actual words in the scriptures so each activity above will be used in conjunction with reading something from the scriptures for that day. If anyone already has a schedule that they have created or any fun ideas I would love to hear them.

I also found this link to a simple version of the Book of Mormon. It would be a great read for a young teen or anyone trying to understand the Book of Mormon better. http://www.plainbookofmormon.com/

Again, if anyone has any ideas on how to make Family Scripture Study with Young Children fun and understandable I would love to hear them. I hope the little bit that I have done might help some of you.

Book of Mormon: Laying Down Our Weapons of Rebellion

Last night I was reading from Alma and came across these verses that stuck out to me...

Alma 23:7 For they became a righteous people; they did lay down the weapons of their rebellion, that they did not fight against God any more...

Alma 24:16 ...behold, we will hide away our swords, yea, even we will bury them deep in the earth, that they may be kept bright, as a testimony that we have never used them...

The Anti-Nephi-Lehis' weapons could commit physical death but more importantly they were creating in them their own spiritual death. Our weapons of rebellion may not be bringing about the physical death of others but just as the Anti-Nephi-Lehis our personal weapons of rebellion can slowly but indefinitely lead us to our own spiritual death and leave bad examples for others to follow to their spiritual decline.

Are our choices holding us down and causing us to use our weapons to fight against God? That statement really stuck out to me, "they did not fight against God any more." It made me realize that when I sin or when I make bad choices I am literally fighting against Him. Luke 11:23 says, "He that is not with me is against me...".

Let us all bury our weapons of rebellion deep in the earth. Let us keep our weapons that were once dirty with sin bright as a testimony that we never used them again. Let us find weapons of righteousness within ourselves. Let us beat the enemy we all find within ourselves and submit to will of our Heavenly Father.

President James E. Faust said it perfectly, "Each of us needs to train ourselves to be bold, disciplined, and loyal men [and women] who are prepared with the proper weapons to fight against evil and to win.

Ten Ways to Spend Time With Your Children

I just came across this list of 10 ways to spend time with your children and thought it was wonderful. I have really been enjoying spending time with my little boy lately. I have always enjoyed it but recently I have been noticing the wonderful example that my little boy is, how much I can learn from him, and how much fun it is being a mom.

Here are a few of my recent fun, fulfilling, and wonderful Mommy Moments -

So one day just before lunch my little boy and I came across President Monson speaking on KBYU. He loves and knows all of the Apostles and Prophets so he got excited. We had it on for a minute or two and then I turned it off so we could have lunch. My little boy started to follow me into the kitchen and then turned around and I didn't think a thing of it. I started to get lunch ready and then decided to check on Luke and this was what I found. He had turned the TV back on and was sitting on the couch watching our Prophet, President Monson speak. It was so cute. What a good example my one year old is.

Our Fun Experience with Prayer - During the last few months we have been working on teaching our little boy how to pray. At first it started out in having him repeat the words we say. Now it has turned into a wonderful list of thanking. I am amazed of the things he thinks to give thanks for...his list of thanks always starts off with toys, colors (this is what he calls crayons and coloring pencils), and paper and then the list varies each time from things like Mommy and Daddy to fans, books, the temple, suckers, car, house, etc. Now even when it is not his turn to pray he will recognize when it is time to give thanks and will start listing off the things he is grateful for. I love to hear the things that he thinks of. He tends to notice the simple things that we tend to forget. He says the best prayers ever. Seeing the fruits that have come from the time spent teaching my son is so fulfilling.

Enjoy this great list of things to do with your children! I know that if we follow his cousel we will grow, our children will grow, and we will have so many great Mommy Moments.

Ten Ways to Spend Time
With Your Children
by President Ezra Taft Benson

BE AT THE CROSSROADS. First, take time to always be at the crossroads when your children are either coming or going -- when they leave and return from school, when they leave and return from dates, when they bring friends home. Be there at the crossroads whether your children are six or sixteen.

BE A REAL FRIEND. Second, mothers, take time to be a real friend to your children.

READ TO YOUR CHILDREN. Third, mothers, take time to read to your children. Starting from the cradle, read to your sons and daughters.

HAVE WEEKLY HOME EVENINGS. Fifth, take time to have a meaningful weekly home evening.

BE TOGETHER AT MEALTIMES. Sixth, take time to be together at mealtimes as often as possible.

READ SCRIPTURES DAILY. Seventh, take time daily to read the scriptures together as a family.

DO THINGS AS A FAMILY. Eighth, take time to do things as a family. Make family outings and picnics and birthday celebrations and trips special times and memory builders.

TEACH YOUR Children. Ninth, mothers, take time to teach your children. Catch the teaching moments.

Teach children gospel principles. Teach them it pays to be good. Teach them there is no safety in sin. Teach them a love for the gospel of Jesus Christ and a testimony of its divinity.

Teach your sons and daughters modesty, and teach them to respect manhood and womanhood. Teach your children sexual purity, proper dating standards, temple marriage, missionary service, and the importance of accepting and magnifying Church callings.

Teach them a love for work and the value of a good education.

Teach them the importance of the right kind of entertainment, including appropriate movies and videos and music and books and magazines. Discuss the evils of pornography and drugs, and teach them the value of living the clean life.

Yes, mothers, teach your children the gospel in your home, at your own fireside. This is the most effective teaching that your children will ever receive. This is the Lord's way of teaching. The Church cannot teach like you can. The school cannot. The day-care center cannot. But you can, and the Lord will sustain you. Your children will remember your teachings forever, and when they are old, they will not depart from them. They will call you blessed -- their truly angel mother.

Mothers, this kind of heavenly, motherly teaching takes time -- lots of time. It cannot be done effectively part-time. It must be done all the time in order o save and exalt your children. This is your divine calling.

TRULY LOVE YOUR children. Tenth and finally, mothers, take the time to truly love your children.

Operation NICE

"You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

So my sister pointed me in the direction of this blog. It is filled with experiences of others' acts of kindness as well as assignments to do specific NICE things. I really enjoyed the site and thought I would share it here---->Operation NICE

I also like the kindness corner at one of my favorite websites, Sugardoodle.com---> Kindness Corner.

Reading these sites made me think of this thought provoking hymn - Have I Done Any Good?

1. 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? When they needed my help was I there?

[Chorus] Then wake up and do something more Than dream of your mansion above. Doing good is a pleasure, a joy beyond measure, A blessing of duty and love.

2. There are chances for work all around just now, Opportunities right in our way. Do not let them pass by, saying, “Sometime I’ll try,” But go and do something today.’ Tis noble of man to work and to give; Love’s labor has merit alone. Only he who does something helps others to live. To God each good work will be known.

[Chorus] Then wake up and do something more Than dream of your mansion above. Doing good is a pleasure, a joy beyond measure, A blessing of duty and love.

Text and music: Will L. Thompson, 1847–1909, alt.

There are opportunities right in our way so let's wake up and do something more - let's go and do something today.

The Ten Commandments

Well I just realized that I haven't posted a video in quite a while now and it is about time. This is a video that can help in memorizing the ten commandments. It is catchy, rhymes, and has pictures to help a long the way. Enjoy!

I also found this cute finger play for younger children -
Ten commandments - A Finger Play
by Carol McAdoo Rehme, May 1998, Friend

1 This is the mountain where Moses went. (Put fingertips together to form a peak.)
2 This is the tablet Heavenly Father sent. (Put hands together, palms open.)
3 This is Christ’s finger that wrote the words. (Have pointer finger “write” on open palm.)
4 This is the voice that Moses heard. (Cup hands around mouth.)
5 This is the cloud on the mountain tall. (Clasp hands above head.)
6 These are the commandments—count ten in all. (Wiggle all ten fingers.)
7 One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten!

Here is a coloring page as well as a bookmark - Moses and the Ten Commandments Coloring Page ~ Ten Commandments Bookmark

All of this could be rolled into a fun Family Home Evening for all age groups. I haven't tried it yet but maybe next time.

Gratitude

I love this time of year. I love the colors of the leaves on the trees. I love to close my eyes and feel and listen to the crunch of leaves beneath my feet. When I was younger I thought that stepping on dry fall leaves sounded and felt like I was crunching potato chips underneath my feet. I remember that each Fall and enjoy it. I also really love the smell of the leaves. I love to take a few leaves in my hands and put them up to my nose and take a good, long, deep breath. I am grateful for all of these wonderful things that this time of year brings.

With Thanksgiving and Christmas approaching we all tend to think about how blessed we are and how grateful we are to have all that we have. We think of our families and friends. We think of our homes, our clothing, and our food. We think of the Gospel, our testimonies, and of the Savior. We recognize that we have been given so much. I love how this time of year causes us to reflect on these things and notice how abundantly we are blessed.

As I was thinking about how we are led to relect and recognition our blessings I thought about how we can truly show our appreciation, our love, and our gratitude. My thoughts turned me to this question: Do we just merely recognize that we are blessed or do we take it a step further and actively show our gratitude to our Savior and our Heavenly Father?

I researched a little bit about how we can truly show gratitude and acknowledge God's hand in all things. The quotes below are excerpts from Gospel Topics: Gratitude or True to the Faith and are only a few of the many wonderful ways we can express our gratitude.

TITHING - By paying tithing, Church members show their gratitude to God for their blessings and their resolve to trust in the Lord rather than in material things.

FASTING - Fasting is one way of worshiping God and expressing gratitude to Him (see Luke 2:37; Alma 45:1).

PRAYER - We can silently express gratitude to our Father and ask Him to strengthen us in our responsibilities. Every morning and every evening, we should kneel together in humility, giving each family member frequent opportunities to say the prayer and uniting in gratitude for the blessings Heavenly Father has given us.

SACRAMENT and TEMPLE WORSHIP - As we reverently partake of the sacrament and attend the temple , we remember and worship our Heavenly Father and express our gratitude for His Son, Jesus Christ.

REVERENCE - As people show reverence for God, they also show reverence and gratitude for His blessings, His commandments, His prophets , His Church, His ordinances , His priesthood , and His plan for His children.

HYMNS - Through the hymns, we can express gratitude and praise, learn the Savior’s restored gospel, remember His Atonement, and commit to follow Him.

WORD OF WISDOM - You are a spirit child of God, and your body is created in His image. To show your gratitude for these blessings, you can care for your body by obeying the Word of Wisdom.

Thank your Heavenly Father for His goodness to you. You can express your gratitude to God by acknowledging His hand in all things, thanking Him for all that He gives you, keeping His commandments, and serving others. Thank Him for His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ. Express thanks for the Savior’s great example, for His teachings, for His outreaching hand to lift and help, for His infinite Atonement. Thank the Lord for His restored Church. Thank Him for all that it offers you. Thank Him for friends and family. Let a spirit of thanksgiving guide and bless your days and nights. Work at being grateful. You will find that it yields wonderful results.

I really enjoyed the line above..."Work at being grateful." Being grateful is something that takes work. We must strive to recognize our blessings and to actively live in such a way to express that gratitude. My challenge to us all this Thanksgiving season is to not just simply recognize how blessed we are but to find some way that we can better express our gratitude through the way we live our lives.