Warm Fuzzies

During General Conference, everyone in the family wrote down ideas of things they thought we should follow up on as a family. Everybody mentioned President Monson's talk, What Have I Done for Someone Today?,  so that became the topic for our Family Home Evening lesson last night. (I love that we can watch general conference talks again anytime we want!)  We only watched a small portion of the talk, but all the kids remembered it, especially when we saw the picture of the warm fuzzies-Jeffrey's favorite part.

We focused on the idea of loosing ourselves in service to others and the following thoughts from President Monson:

Often we live side by side but do not communicate heart to heart. There are those within the sphere of our own influence who, with outstretched hands, cry out, “Is there no balm in Gilead?”⁷

I am confident it is the intention of each member of the Church to serve and to help those in need. At baptism we covenanted to “bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light.”⁸ How many times has your heart been touched as you have witnessed the need of another? How often have you intended to be the one to help? And yet how often has day-to-day living interfered and you’ve left it for others to help, feeling that “oh, surely someone will take care of that need.”

We become so caught up in the busyness of our lives. Were we to step back, however, and take a good look at what we’re doing, we may find that we have immersed ourselves in the “thick of thin things.” In other words, too often we spend most of our time taking care of the things which do not really matter much at all in the grand scheme of things, neglecting those more important causes.

We want to focus on "doing" and follow through. The boys went with me to buy warm fuzzies. We piled them in a jar so that each time someone does something kind, they can glue it on a mat surrounding a picture of President Monson and the poem he said he has used as a guide through his life:

I have wept in the night

For the shortness of sight

That to somebody’s need made me blind;

But I never have yet        

Felt a tinge of regret

For being a little too kind.

While we were talking, the spirit whispered to me that this lesson, or the results of this lesson could change the lives of our family. We all loved President Hinckley so much (Jeffrey still regular talks and prays about developing the 6 B traits), but now we have a new prophet, leading us in his own special way. Who is kinder than President Monson? And who knows how long we will have him? How long do we have to become more like him? He is one of the kindest, purest souls on earth. If each of us could be more like him, we would be better people.  He is Christ's messenger on earth today.

I remember the spirit touching my heart when President Packer testified of President Monson and reminded us to pray for him, his wife, and his family. I was similarly touched when, the next day, the prophet himself asked us to pray for him. I don't need to be told 3 times. Every day since then, I have tried to make those pleas a part of my life. I've encouraged my children to do it. I've reminded the missionaries to do it. And this is a natural extension of those prayers. We pray for people we love. We also listen to and emulate the people we love. They are all wrapped up together. Praying for the prophet not only sustains him, it changes us. Jen taught me once, that our job as mother's consists of 3 simple things: providing for the physical needs of our family, loving and teaching them to love, and helping them understand their relationship to their Father in Heaven and to their Savior, Jesus Christ. Following the prophet in this way encapsulates each of these three areas.  During this week of Thanksgiving, as a mother, as a daughter of God, I am deeply grateful to my Savior, Jesus Christ, for a prophet on the earth to love and follow.

A little help, please

This is a great week! Why? The Ensign came. It's already been a whole month since general conference. It's hard to believe. And here's where the help comes. Watching conference once each 6 months and reading each article online or when the Ensign comes is really just the tip of the ice berg. So what ideas do you have for wringing every ounce of goodness out of conference?

Here are some of our ideas:

• Each member of the family has their own copy of the conference edition of the Enisgn to bring to FHE and for personal study. (Got that one from Lisa Greene years ago when our husbands were in the bishopric together.)
• Embrace the digital age and download the music and talks from the church's website.
• During conference, there are slips of paper available for members of the family to write down ideas or impressions of things that want to study/try as a family. These become some of our topics for FHE lessons and activities.
• Create your own crossword puzzle from conference talks for Sunday activities. There are lots of websites, but this one is easy.
• Make a list of clear and measurable goals and objectives with a timeline during a Family Counsel or Family Home Evening.
• Everyone make a list of questions when they read a talk and have every bring them to scripture study to discuss.

Also, if anyone has ideas for specific talks. For example, who has a great idea for a talk dealing with the rod of iron? I love this picture, just had to add it:

• With all the talks about 'love', our kids want to resurrect an old idea. Each week we pick a different person and put little notes of appreciation in a jar. At the end of the week-that person gets the 'You are Special" plate and Dad reads all the messages.
• When I read Elder Scott's talk, I thought we could have an object lesson with a grape and a jalepeno pepper.

Elder Andersen poses these great questions during some talks given in regards to conference and counsel from living prophets.

Since the last general conference, what have we done with the counsel and encouragement we received from our Church leaders?

What is our reaction to this prophetic counsel? What has been my response and your response to this First Presidency letter of nearly eight months ago? As a parent of teenagers in a busy world, I can confirm that it takes giving these issues our highest priority to see them effectively work in our family.

I'm so excited!

murmur, murmur, murmur

I love all the songs in the primary children's song book, but one of the kids' favorites is Nephi's Courage. (Do you think it's because of the hand motions?) And why not? It's a great story! What kid can't relate to being teased for wanting to do the right thing or has a big task ahead of them that they've never done before? What young boy or girl (grown ups, too) out there doesn't need more courage to do the hard things? We want heros that inspire us.

Certainly Nephi was courageous, but even more than courage, Nephi possessed a willing heart. Perhaps those two qualities can't thrive without the other. Reflecting over the last two years and rereading the passages of 1 and 2 Nephi again and again, I'm struck by how much attitude, not aptitude or opportunity, make the difference in a successful and happy 'journey'.

When I read 1 Nephi 3:5 & 6, it seems to me that Lehi is sad his older sons don't recognize his relationship with the Lord and his role as a prophet. They 'murmur' about the difficulty of the assignment. (Note that Lehi doesn't discount it is a challenging requirement.) Then, without any recorded comment from Nephi, Lehi knows Nephi will go without murmuring. For that willingness, Lehi responds, "go...and thou shalt be favored of the Lord..." It's only after these statements that we receive Nephi's inspiring words, "I will go and do..." How did Lehi know Nephi would respond positively? Can I think of specific responses I've made that put me in either the category of the 'doers' or the 'murmurers'? What possibilities opened up to Nephi due to his willing heart?

When Mark talks about Nephi, he often speaks of 1 Nephi 3:7 "I will go and do" and 2 Nephi 33:15 "I must obey" as the book ends of Nephi's life. I love that visual. I feel like I'm doing OK with the first end, now I only have to finish strong-and isn't the finish the most important part and the most difficult? So what do we do to maintain or even develop a willing heart?

Nephi knew the Lord would prepare a way-how? Through the same pattern that any principle becomes knowledge; through his own experiences and the experiences of others as taught by prophets-scriptures. [Alma 32, Bible Dictionary 'faith' and John 7:17-a pattern of persistent action and obedience.] Nephi had developed a relationship with God that Laman and Lemuel hadn't despite being taught by the same parent. (1 Nephi 2:12) Reflecting on the past and learning from it is a big part of that. We don't just read the scriptures, we apply those principles, or precepts, to our life. One of my favorite phrases in the scriptures is, "O remember, remember". And what is it that we're meant to remember?

'What great things the Lord has done for the children of men'. Each of those accounts deal with Him freeing them from bondage, healing them, guiding them, and being merciful to them-all shadows or types of the Atonement. To have a willing heart, we must come to know the Savior-who He is and why He is.

"As your understanding of the Atonement of Jesus Christ grows, your desire to share the gospel [and obey any of God's commandments with a willing heart] will increase. You will feel, as Lehi did, the 'great importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth.' " (PMG pg 2) Increasing our understanding of the Atonement is a topic for another day, but I'll leave with one final thought. When we take the Sacrament, we do it in 'remembrance' and as a 'wittness' that we are willing, that we will remember, and that we will obey.