Thoughts on Conference Talk - "I Have Given You an Example"

Love this article entitled "I Have Given You an Example" by Elder Richard G. Scott.

After reading it several times, I have been contemplating the many examples I have had in my life that have helped me become a stronger person.

Elder Scott said, "... I have reflected on loved ones whose tender influence helped me find the divinely appointed path that aided my spiritual progression.  At vital times in my life, Father in Heaven blessed me with someone who cared for me enough to help guide my choices in an appropriate direction."

I appreciate those people in my life (and there are many) who have loved me, trusted me, taught me, encouraged, provided questions, shared principles, testified, served me, etc.  I want to be the type of person who can be a positive influence on others and I know the Lord puts people in my path who help me and that I can help.

I am compiling a list of people who have been an example to me and influenced me for good.  This list will keep growing.  I know it is important to see the tender mercies in our life when people teach us things and love us.

By sincerely loving each other, we can help them feel God's love which is the most important thing, right?

General Conference Idea - Word Treat Jars

My cute nephew.

My friend posted this fun idea on Facebook and I asked her if I could share it.  I love it!  She has candy in each of these jars with word cards attached to the front of each jar.  Every time a speaker at General Conference says one of these words, the listener gets a candy.  Brilliant!  I've added pictures of friends' and family's application of this idea as well.

I am running out to the store to buy some candy tonight so we can do this in our family. I have teenagers so I will add in some other jars with key words that I'd like them to listen for.  Way to make things fun.

We also take notes using a form that I created a few years ago.  Click HERE to see the form.

By the way, this idea could be altered for other educational purposes. For instance, if your child is learning sight words or certain vocabulary words, you could make jars like this for when they are reading a book.  If someone is concerned about loading their kids up on sugar, they could put healthier snacks in the jars like pretzels, nuts, dried fruit, low-sugar cereal, carrots, etc. (although candy or cash would work much better on my kiddos LOL).

General Conference - Notes Template

I designed this form to take notes for General Conference.  I'd found some other similar ones online, but this one works best for the way I think and take notes.  Feel free to copy and print it if you'd like to.

The Prophet Receives Revelation for the Church - Primary Lesson 15, Manual 5

Here's a handout that I made to go with my Primary Lesson today.  I chose to include the story from the last General Conference that President Monson shared about when he was a little boy and started a forest fire because I thought the kids would remember the lesson.  Click HERE to read President Monson's complete talk called "Obedience Brings Blessings."

Click HERE to read the entire Primary lesson called "The Prophet Receives Revelation for the Church."

I am personally so grateful to have a living prophet on the earth today who receives revelation from God.

I agree with President Dieter F. Uchtdorf who said, "Because Heavenly Father loves His children, He has not left them to walk through this mortal life without direction and guidance.  That is why He pleads so earnestly with us through His prophets.  Just as we want what is best for our loved ones, Heavenly Father wants what is best for us."

Click HERE to watch a video about why we need living prophets.  As God's children, it makes perfect sense to me that He would send prophets to earth to guide us.  This is one of the reasons I know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints contains the fullness of the gospel.  There are lots of great churches and religions out there, but to contain the fullness of the gospel, we need a living prophet and also the priesthood authority from God to perform ordinances such as baptism.  Logically and spiritually this makes perfect sense to me.  I dearly love and appreciate President Thomas S. Monson as he serves as a living prophet on this earth.

General Conference - April 2013

My friend's teenager daughter designed this artistic creation based on the General Conference talks.  I loved it and asked her if I could share it on my blog.  I think I'll invite my kids do something like this next time.  I think it's frame-worthy!

Click HERE for General Conference information.

Talk - Our Own Personal 9/11 Experiences - "Face the Future with Faith"

When I realized that we’d be speaking on 9/11, at first I felt a little worried. But upon reflection, I saw how perfectly it related to our assigned topic.

I still remember that fateful Tuesday, September 11, 2001 when we first learned about the terrorist attacks. We lived in Northern California and our oldest child, Zach, was in kindergarten. Our alarm clock went off, in radio mode, and as I half consciously went to hit snooze, I heard something about a plane hitting the WTC. I jolted up in bed and turned on the TV. I called my parents and said, “Turn on the news.” My dad asked me what channel and I replied, “Any channel.” My heart sank even further as we learned more and more details about the tragedy and saw the second plane hit. At the time, Thane commuted to work in San Francisco on the BART public transit system, but he stayed home that day because we were afraid the bustling city of San Francisco could be a terrorist target too. When we took Zach to school, all us kindergarten parents stood around and talked about the horror of this event. We were all scared of what might come next. We were in mourning for all those who were suffering, dying, or losing loved ones. We were bound by a collective grief and fear. But I remember the unity I felt with my family, friends, neighbors, and fellow Americans.

As I was preparing for this talk, a realization came to me. Every one of us have “9/11 experiences” in our own lives. Some of us may have health challenges. Some deal with wayward children. Others deal with divorce, death, unemployment, addictions. The point is, we all have challenges.

When dealing with these personal 9/11 experiences, there is a difference from the day the world stood still for all of us together as we faced a common tragedy. In our personal 9/11 moments, we may feel very alone in our fear and sadness, we may feel embarrassed, abandoned, downtrodden, worried, and scared.

General Conference Link

Click HERE to watch the General Conference sessions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Handout - Make the Most of General Conference

Here are some handouts that I made for my Primary class to distribute before General Conference.  I made a version of one per page and another with four per page.  I saw a picture on Pinterest and made my own version.  I will print it out on colored paper and then attach it to a bag of MnM's.  Simple and fun!

P.S.  These ideas come from THIS article in the March 2012 New Era.

General Conference

Click HERE to watch LDS General Conference.

This is one of the highlights of my year!  Loved watching it yesterday and looking forward to watching more today.

General Conference April 2011

Click HERE for the most recent General Conference talks.

Smiling guy at LDS General Conference 2011

We laughed so hard when we saw this guy pop up with his happy smile at the end of General Conference on Sunday. My son posted it on YouTube. The "smiling guy" commented on YouTube and told us his name is Dan Smith from Australia. Somehow I bet that will be edited out of any DVD's the church puts out later...