Category: Come Follow Me for Individuals and Families

Ward conferences report

This is my view as I think about my experiences over the past few months. Paige’s watercolors are on one wall. The large canvas print is one I ordered from the Church History Museum gift shop.

We finished a very intense ward conference season on Sunday and I feel a mixture of emotions. As stake Primary president, I have had speaking assignments, teaching opportunities, and ministering visits which have taken my energy and some of my health (cold and flu season stuff), but I miraculously rallied each weekend thanks to the prayers of good friends.

I have felt the love of God for his children, and Primary children in every ward were well behaved and anxious to participate. I have seen a leap in their knowledge and understanding during the past few years because families are teaching them from the scriptures at home. The Come Follow Me program has amazing results!

The passing of my first counselor Anne’s husband in the midst of these conferences has been a source of deep sadness. These words from the Book of Mormon are true of my inspired and faithful presidency, “But behold, they have received many wounds; nevertheless, they stand fast.” (Alma 58:40)

Here are some words from the song that I taught in each Primary that summarize my thoughts, “I know He lives, I will follow faithfully, my heart I give to him, I know that my Savior loves me.”

Deuteronomy

I thought of this quote by William Tyndale as I studied Deuteronomy this week.

This is a book worthy to be read in day and night and never to be out of hands. For it is the most excellent of all the books of Moses. It is also easy and light and a very pure gospel that is to wete [know], a preaching of faith and love: deducing the love to God out of faith, and the love of man’s neighbor out of love to God.”

William Tyndale

Some of my favorite words from Deuteronomy:

“Fear not, neither be discouraged.” (Deut. 1:21)

“God so nigh” (Deut. 4:7)

“Take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget.” (Deuteronomy 4:9)

“Out of heaven he made thee to hear his voice.” (Deut. 4:36)

“Thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.” (Deut. 6:5)

“Thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children…talk of them…in thy house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.” (Deut. 6:7)

“Love ye therefore the stranger.” (Deut. 10:19)

“Open thine hand wide unto [thy poor brother].” (Deut. 15:7-8)

“Thou shalt rejoice in every good thing which the LORD thy God hath given unto thee.” (Deut 26:11)

“Choose life…for he is thy life.” (Deut. 29:19-20)

“But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.” (Deut. 30:14)

“Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.” (Deut. 31:6)

“Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people saved by the LORD, the shield of thy help.” (Deut. 33:29)

Do you have a favorite passage from your study? If you like, you can share in the comments or send me a message. I love to swap favorite scriptures.

Walking and Talking

We’ve reached a moment of decision in the Old Testament curriculum this year. Before now, we studied every chapter, but recently, we began to move ahead more rapidly, with only selected chapters to read. I had to ask myself, “Will I read all, or just the assigned chapters?” I have decided to read ’em all, because I can.

So, today I studied Leviticus 26, even though it wasn’t on the list. If you have a minute, Leviticus 26:3-13 is really worth reading. It’s basically a list of promises to covenant Israel.

Take a look at the Hebrew footnote “a” in verse 9. It says the Lord will “turn unto” his covenant keeping people. This image is beautiful. All of these verses teach me that he is attentive, protective, and wants to walk among us.

I love that the Lord promises he will “walk among” us! To me, this indicates the need to be with other covenant people. If I surround myself with people of faith, this also increases the Lord’s influence on my life. For if he is inspiring me, he is inspiring others of faith. This is one reason I attend church. The most important reason, though, is to maintain my personal covenant relationship with God.

When I think of the Lord walking with me personally, I think of the steep roads I must climb. He is there. I think of the times I get hurt. He is there. I think of the confusion I feel sometimes. He is there, teaching me. After all, what is a walk without conversation?

My hope is to be able to hear him and notice him better among those of faith, and in my own private reaching. It’s not a question of him being there or not. It is whether I will recognize him. He keeps his covenants.

Discipleship in the days following Easter

Holy Week teaching tools

Each year during Holy Week, we repeat our tradition of reading scriptures and setting out objects to remind us of Jesus Christ’s last week.

This year, my thoughts kept returning to Peter’s three denials of Christ. He really messed up here!

On Easter evening, we listened to the words of John 21:15-17 in a song,

15 ¶ So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.
16 He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
17 He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.

In perfect mercy, Jesus allows a great reversal, offering Peter the opportunity to affirm his love for him three times.

With each “Yea, Lord,” and, “Thou knowest that I love thee,” the denials are overcome, one by one.

In the days following Easter, I want to remember Peter’s story of denial, and his story of reverting to fishing when Jesus left. Most of all, I want to remember the reversal that Jesus made possible for him. Peter’s story could be anyone’s story. No one is perfectly loyal to Jesus. Everyone can accept Christ’s mercy, repent, and get (back) to work feeding the sheep. That is just what disciples do.

Dinner party before the women’s session of conference

So much of my heart went into this night that it feels strange to write about it here. I’ll fill some pages in my journal about it.

Please enjoy the pretty pictures of my family and homemade petit fours. (Mark helped me with the fondant glaze and Paige made the rosettes.)

And then there was one

10th grade

One son in high school means that I am going to be driving him to school most of the year. Lucky me, I really like doing that. Mark seems fine to be off to school again. He likes his time with friends and his excited energy made for a companionable and talkative Mark last night after dinner. We all gathered (Richard, Angela, Paige, Michael, Daniel, McKenna, Timothy, and Mark) for a meal and to view the photos and videos of our trip. We saw around 15 waterfalls, but based on the number of photos, it probably seemed more like 300 to those who weren’t on the trip, but politely listened to us talk about our adventures. Our dinner question was, “What did you learn last week?” The answers were really good.

With travel, a camp, and a family reunion during the last month, I am counting it a win that we are just one (long) section behind in the Come Follow Me study schedule. School forces a routine, so better days are ahead for focused effort on spiritual things.

Tim’s mission shopping list is so much shorter than Daniel’s. He won’t even need a suit, and certainly not winter gear. I told myself I wouldn’t make the same mistakes I made with Daniel when I was shopping for mission gear. Since the list is different, I will certainly make new mistakes this time. I am not really firm in the reality of this mission yet. This time of year I tend to go through the mechanics of school prep and season change in a fog. Change is challenging, and I react by retreating into my thoughts that have nothing to do with the life that is calling me to action. Only writing seems to bring me back to reality.

This week is about reading less news and doing more family history work instead. I will print the mission to-do list so I can make a schedule for getting it accomplished, and I will prepare for training two groups of Primary leaders and teachers. Here we go.

On the docket

Spring and winter have been at war all week. Sun and snow, wind and mild. Even our daffodils have hung their heads a bit in the fray. I went for a walk one afternoon that made my eyes water and my ears ache for the bitterness of the elements. But we must keep moving, keep our heads up (not just talking about the daffodils), and hope for the Easter weekend of our dreams. Next week, my siblings and parents will be gathering for the first time since Paige’s wedding in December 2019. We (and the world) could use some togetherness. So, let’s all hope for sunshine so we can stay outside for long talks as we watch our families hunt for Easter eggs.

On the docket for this weekend:

Get back to weekly scripture appointments with a friend.

Begin our family Easter study.

Make more edits for my dad’s book.

Read more from these books: My Antonia, Theodore Rex, and Dusk, Night, Dawn.

Make more guacamole.

Identify the function of each room of the house so I can tweak the design to reflect this season of our lives. I think I want to move the bookshelves to a completely different area of the house. This plan may also include getting rid of the elementary school science supplies, I don’t know.

Perform a scented candle intervention for this house.

Thanks, steady friends. I saw significant traffic on the post I wrote about fear, another evidence that sharing experiences is one of the important things we need to do. We are getting through these times together, despite distance.

Most of these are gifts from my children. They are tiny and sit inside an heirloom glass case at my kitchen window.

Master Healer

As we approach the worldwide fast for relief from the effects of COVID-19 tomorrow, I want to share this painting by J Kirk Richards entitled, He Healed Many of Diverse Diseases.*

As you look at this painting, what do you notice? Can you picture yourself here, and if so, which person seems most like you? What do you learn from the child in the painting? Who are the people that are ministering? Who might be feeling fear or anxiety, and what can you learn from their acts of faith? What feelings does this painting evoke? What truths about a merciful God can be found here? What can you do to point others to the Master Healer at this unique time?

I like the following graphic, but it is missing an important point: a prophet of God issued this call to fast. President Nelson is inviting us to plead for ourselves and our brothers and sisters all over the globe.

*This painting can be found in the 2020 Come Follow Me for Individuals and Families manual for the week of February 10-16, page 29.

Small Plates

The Come Follow Me curriculum with teens has taught me the power of one or two insights each week. My job is not to cover everything, but to help them identify and remember the insights that come to their minds as they read. These insights and feelings are personal revelation, or what the Lord wants them to learn individually.

I had some wooden books and rings left over from a girls camp and our family used them to make “small plates”. We found art from the Come Follow Me manual to paste on the covers. As you see, not everyone participated in this craft activity. Typical! I could have just as easily bought simple notebooks. The papers are small, just a quarter sheet. As we read a chapter of the Book of Mormon aloud, we focus our attention on a topic from the manual and write down what we learn from reading. If our sons write one insight a week, this adds up to more than 50 insights a year for each of them. 50 pieces of instruction from the Holy Ghost. 50 helps from heaven. If we each write down one insight a week, we will have over 200 lessons gained as a family. Not that I am counting, or even looking at what they write. These are their sacred, small plates.

Reading as a family is a challenge. When we finally sit down to read after all kinds of contortions to make it happen, the family seems to lose all energy, and the dog becomes extra needy, distracting, and playful. It is during these times I call the little dog Satan and wish the teen years weren’t so tricky. But when I listen to the boys pray after we read, I hear their words of thanks for the time spent as a family. The sweetest advice I have been given is to LISTEN to what your teens say in their prayers. This is how they really feel.

This year we’re keeping our study small (focused) and simple (personal, in few words), trusting that great things will come of it. (Alma 37:6)