The Miracle of the Shamrock Shakes

My sister-in-law Noma wrote this and graciously allowed me to post it on my blog.  This is one of those awesome, faith-promoting experiences that will be passed down through generations in our family (and other families as well since she has shared it with a ton of her Seminary students over the years).  Every time I hear "Shamrock Shakes," my thoughts automatically think of the blessings of obedience and that the Lord really is aware of our needs and desires.  Thanks for sharing Noma!  You are a gifted writer and story-teller.

On occasion this time of year, teenagers tag me in pictures of them drinking Shamrock Shakes. It's time to share this Cody Seminary tradition with the FB world. Twenty-six years ago, Derrik and I were dirt poor newlywed college students, both completing our senior year at BYU, working, and barely surviving financially. We were sitting in church, and a lady stood up and gave a talk on tithing. She told a story about a person who was @ $56.32 short on rent, but she acted in faith and paid her tithing anyway. The next day she looked in the kitchen garbage and saw a white envelope. She opened it and found.... $56.32!! Did this story spark a little cynicism in me? Oh, yes. I leaned over to Derrik and mumbled, "We're poor, and we pay our tithing. Why don't I ever find money in the garbage?" (Not a proud moment.)

The next day was President's Day, so there were no classes. While Derrik was reading the newspaper (which must have been free, because we couldn't afford a subscription) I walked by and saw a 1/4 page color ad for Shamrock Shakes. I had never heard of them, and I was completely smitten and infatuated. I suggested to Derrik that we celebrate our holiday by going to McD's and getting a Shamrock Shake. He reminded me of the hard truth that we were poor college students and couldn't afford to run off to McDonald's on a whim. I knew he was right. So I sulked my way to the kitchen and started cleaning. As I went to take the garbage out, I grumbled, "Yeah, I pay my tithing and I can't even afford a Shamrock Shake. Why don't I ever find money in the kitchen garbage?"

Garbage in hand, I murmured my way outside to the apartment dumpster. As I threw the garbage into the dumpster, a movement by my foot caught my attention. I looked down, and I was standing on a $10 bill. I bent down and picked it up. It was a windy day. I looked up and down the street to see who might have lost it. No one was outside. At which point I lost all dignity as I ran into my apartment waving the $10 bill over my head, yelling, "Derrik, Shamrock Shakes! Shamrock Shakes!" We indeed got our Shamrock Shakes that afternoon (in addition to Big Macs and fries)!

This unconventional experience reinforced some great lessons. First, Heavenly Father is completely aware of the least of us down to the smallest details, and He cares. He knows us personally. And He hears our murmuring. (After the minty nirvana left my tongue, I was somewhat spiritually embarrassed by my behavior.) Next, we are blessed for obedience, even if our hearts need to make some progress. And finally, I know He has a sense of humor. Because I can only imagine how much fun it was arranging for me to stand on that $10 bill, knowing that hundreds of Seminary students would be subjected to the story at least annually.

Scripture Timers and Poem

I love to read the scriptures and want to encourage my son, nieces and nephews to feel the joy that I feel from reading them everyday.  I bought these three minute timers on Amazon Prime and wrote a poem to go with them so encourage them in their personal studies.  I hope they will enjoy using the timers.

Make TIME for Scripture Study

How many hours are in a day?

We can work, learn, sleep and play.

Make time for scriptures everyday!

You’ll learn from what the prophets say.

Ponderize, pray and be happy and strong,

And learn to choose between right and wrong.

Parables, lessons, lots to learn and know.

You’ll feel the spirit and testimonies will grow.

Remember to treasure all that you read.

Heavenly Father loves his children indeed.

He gave us scriptures because of His love,

So we can return to Heaven above.

Just like we brush our teeth every day

Reading scriptures should be treated that way.

We take care of our bodies and also our souls;

In both areas we set some important goals.

This reading timer shows you three little minutes,

So you’ll know when to start and when to end it.

Flip it again if you’d like to double your time,

And flip it once more to read for nine.

Whether you choose to read for nine, six or three,

You’ll be blessed for your efforts and very happy.

Primary Lesson 19, Manual 5 - "The Saints Are Taught to Recognize Good and Evil"

Here's my handout for church this Sunday to go with Lesson 19 .  I'm posting it on Friday instead of waiting until Saturday night or Sunday morning LOL.

This is an object lesson that I will be using.  The basic idea of it is from the manual but I added the questions/examples in the beginning and also changed some of the wording so that my younger kids could better understand.

Which would you rather have— an imitation item or the real thing?

Would you rather have a cheap fake flower or a beautiful fresh rose? Would you rather have a valuable diamond ring or a fake ring that will fall apart soon? Would you rather snack on a real apple or a plastic one? Would you rather have a true friend or a person who pretends to be your friend?

Imitations are often of poorer quality or less value than the real things they imitate.  Satan is a counterfeiter. He tries to deceive us with bad imitations of good things Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have given us. He does this because he wants us to follow him instead of Heavenly Father and Jesus.

Primary Activity - Two Little Hands

My kids attended a fun Primary Activity Day today. The theme was Two Little Hands. They had five stations and the activity lasted 1.5 hours.

1) Popcorn Hands - The kids filled the loose plastic gloves with popcorn and a jelly bean candy for the fingernails.

2) Scripture Bingo

3) Testimony Gloves - (see picture) They discussed the five basic elements of a testimony and what a testimony is (not a thank-imony, love-imony, etc.). The hand out said the following:

A Pure Testimony is....

1-I know that God is our Father in Heaven and He loves us.

2-I know that Jesus Christ is His Son, our Savior and Redeemer

3-I know Joseph Smith is a prophet of God, and he was the instrument through which the gospel of Jesus Christ was restored to the earth. He translated the Book of Mormon by the gift and power of God.

4-I know the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Lord's Church on the earth today.

5-I know this Church is led by a living prophet who receives revelation.

4) Magical Hands Storybook and Craft - They read a book about a group of men in a small town and on their birthdays he would do their morning farmwork as a secret service. Then when it was his birthday he woke up and his chores were all done. The kids decorated a little paper hand that they can leave when they do service. It said, "I've served you with my magical hands. Please leave this hand with the next person you serve." I like that idea of paying it forward.

5) Service and Games - The kids helped clean the nursery toys with sanitizing wipes and then played games.

They "handed" out ice pops at the end. Very creative. I give it a two thumbs up!

Sunday School - Book of Mormon Lesson 21

Book of Mormon Lesson #21: “Alma … Did Judge Righteous Judgments”
Mosiah 29, Alma 1-4

1. Bruce R. McConkie: Adam, our father, the first man, is the presiding high priest over the earth for all ages. The government the Lord gave him was patriarchal, and from the expulsion from Eden to the cleansing of the earth by water in the day of Noah, the righteous portion of mankind were blessed and governed by a patriarchal theocracy. This theocratic system, patterned after the order and system that prevailed in heaven, was the government of God. He himself though dwelling in heaven, was the Lawgiver, Judge, and King. A New Witness for the Articles of Faith, p. 35.

2. Joseph Fielding McConkie & Robert Millet: We believe that governments were instituted of God for the benefit of man; and that he holds men accountable for their acts in relation to them, both in making laws and administering them, for the good and safety of society. Doctrinal Commentary on the Book of Mormon, vol. 2, p. 320.

3. Albert E. Bowen: That which is right does not become wrong merely because it may be deserted by the majority, neither does that which is wrong today become right tomorrow by the chance circumstance that it has won the approval or been adopted by overwhelmingly predominant numbers. Principles cannot be changed by, nor accommodate themselves to, the vagaries of popular sentiment. General Conference, April 1941.

4. Henry B. Eyring: Do you remember a man named Nehor in the Book of Mormon? He wanted to become popular and wealthy, so he preached a message that he knew people would like. He essentially said, “I’ll tell you something about the future that’s certain, and I’ll make it very attractive.” … And many of the people believed him. If they had searched the scriptures and prayed about his message, they would have known it was a lie. But he told them a pleasant lie – don’t worry, all will go well – and many believed him. Draw Closer to God, pp. 82-83.

5. Joseph Fielding McConkie & Robert Millet: As the night follows the day, so also does ridicule and persecution follow the true Church. Darkness cannot tolerate light, and the prince of darkness certainly has no regard for those who have taken upon themselves the name of the Lord of Light. It is a bitter irony that those who choose to traverse the broad roads of worldliness cannot rest while some others seek to navigate the strait and narrow course to eternal life. Nothing brings greater discomfort to the perverse than to be in the presence of the pure. Nothing alarms and aggravates the haughty and the pompous more than the humble and the contrite. And surely nothing incenses the practitioner of priestcraft more than witnessing the selfless service of one whose eye is single to the glory of God. Doctrinal Commentary on the Book of Mormon, vol. 3, p. 7.

6. Joseph Fielding McConkie & Robert Millet: Nehor’s doctrine would be very popular among many of our own day. He obviously did not believe in a fall, from which mankind required redemption. He advocated some form of humanism, the pernicious belief that men and women have but to fulfill their genetic blueprint in order to be happy, for they are by nature good and noble, having no need for divine assistance. … [H]e surely preached against guilt and shame and judgment. Like his master, Lucifer, his program propounded the pernicious but popular belief that all mankind would eventually be saved, without righteousness, without faith, without atonement and repentance. Doctrinal Commentary on the Book of Mormon, vol. 3, p. 4.

7. David J. Ridges: The book of Alma covers only 39 years, yet it takes up about one-third of the Book of Mormon. As with the rest of this sacred record, the book of Alma is rich in teachings and relevant to us and our day. The Book of Mormon Made Easier, part 2, p. 141.

8. Gordon B. Hinckley: I see and admire beauty in people. I am not so concerned with the look that comes of lotions and creams, of pastes and packs as seen in slick-paper magazines and on television. I am not concerned whether the skin be fair or dark. I have seen beautiful people in all of the scores of nations through which I have walked. Little children are beautiful everywhere. And so are the aged, whose wrinkled hands and faces speak of struggle and survival. I believe in the beauty of personal virtue. There is so much of ugliness in the world in which we live. It is expressed in coarse language, in sloppy dress and manners, in immoral behavior which mocks the beauty of virtue and always leaves a scar. Each of us can and must stand above this sordid and destructive evil, this ugly stain of immorality. Ensign, August 1992.

9. Jack R. Christenson & K. Douglas Bassett: I have witnessed [that] costly apparel is used as a shield for people to hide behind so they don’t have to make needed changes within themselves. When our hearts are filled with pride, we rationalize that if we surround ourselves with all the toys of success, then we will be thought of by others as being successful. This allows us not to have to deal with the real internal issues that keep us from progressing. We then begin to value personal possessions more than personal relationships. In this light, it is not hard to see the importance of ridding ourselves of costly apparel. Life Lessons from the Book of Mormon, pp. 118-19.

10. Robert L. Millet: Even when we are not in a position to contribute dramatically to the alleviation of hunger in Africa or India, for example, there is still something we can do, something vital for those who aspire to discipleship. We can avoid as we would a plague the tendency to be indifferent, to ignore the problem because it is not in our own backyards. Further, we can teach our families or friends by precept and by example to use wisely the food and other resources we have been blessed to have. An Eye Single to the Glory of God, pp. 64-65.

11. Brigham Young: [Alma 3:27 – for every man receiveth wages of him he listeth to obey] Every person who desires and strives to be a Saint is closely watched by fallen spirits that came here when Lucifer fell, and by the spirits of wicked persons who have been here in tabernacles and departed from them. … Those spirits are never idle, they are watching every person who wishes to do right and are continually prompting them to do wrong. Journal of Discourses, 7:239.

12. Joseph F. Smith: Our fathers and mothers, brothers, sisters and friends who have passed away from this earth, having been faithful and worthy to enjoy these rights and privileges, may have a mission given them to visit their relatives and friends upon the earth again, bringing from the divine Presence messages of love, of warning, or of reproof and instructions to those whom they had learned to love in the flesh. Journal of Discourses, 22:351.

13. John Taylor: One might as well undertake to throw the water out of this world into the moon with a teaspoon, as to do away with the supervision of angels upon the human mind. … They are the police of heaven and report whatever transpires on earth, and carry the petitions and supplications of men, women, and children to the mansions of remembrance. The Gospel Kingdom, p. 31.

14. Ezra Taft Benson: The central feature of pride is enmity – enmity toward God and enmity toward our fellowmen. Enmity means “hatred toward, hostility to, or a state of opposition.” It is the power by which Satan wishes to reign over us. Pride is essentially competitive in nature. We pit our will against God’s. The proud make every man their adversary by pitting their intellects, opinions, works, wealth, talents, or any other worldly measuring device against others. … God will have a humble people. Either we can choose to be humble or we can be compelled to be humble. General Conference, April 1989.

15. C.S. Lewis: Pride gets no pleasure out of having something only out of having more of it than the next man. … It is the comparison that makes you proud: the pleasure of being above the rest. Once the element of competition has gone, pride has gone. Mere Christianity, pp. 109-10.

16. Joseph Fielding McConkie & Robert Millet: [Alma 4:19 – bearing down in pure testimony] The Holy Ghost is the converter. The gospel teacher has much to do in the preparation of the lesson, the search of the scriptures, the declaration of the truth; but the Holy Ghost is the converter and the gospel teacher must never forget this. … The person who bears pure testimony never seeks for cheap substitutes for the Spirit. … He tries the virtue of the word of God, trusts in the power of the scriptures and the words of the prophets to penetrate to the heart of his listeners, and bears witness of his message with sincerity and soberness. The Holy Ghost, pp. 119-20.

17. M. Russell Ballard: [Alma 4:19 – pure testimony] My experience throughout the Church leads me to worry that too many of our members’ testimonies linger on “I am thankful” and “I love,” and too few are able to say with humble but sincere clarity, “I know.” As a result, our meetings sometimes lack the testimony-rich, spiritual underpinnings that stir the soul and have meaningful, positive impact on the lives of all those who hear them. Our testimony meetings need to be more centered on the Savior, the doctrines of the gospel, the blessings of the Restoration, and the teachings of the scriptures. We need to replace stories, travelogues, and lectures with pure testimonies. … The Spirit cannot be restrained when pure testimony of Christ is borne. General Conference, October 2004.


Next week: Alma 5-7 “Have Ye Received His Image in Your Countenances?”

Story - Growing a Testimony

Here is a story that was taken from talk given by Elder Olsen, Fifth Quorum of the Seventy, at
the Las Vegas Lakes Stake Conference, Second Session on February 11, 2001. I don't think this was published anywhere officially. My friend took shorthand notes while she was there. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Plant the seeds of your doubts in the garden of obedience, and what will sprout is a brand new testimony.

I joined the Church with my wife when I was 19 and a year later we went through the Temple. A little while after this I began to have some serious doubts. I didn’t know if there was a God. And so I told my wife one night: “I don’t know if there is a God.” And she started crying, I’m sure thinking that her eternal marriage and sealing were being lost. Then she stopped crying, and she said to me: “I want to talk to you more about this tomorrow.” I said: “Alright.” The next day my wife said: “I want to talk to you some more about what you said last night.” Then she said to me: “Until you can tell me you know there isn’t a God I want to keep going to Church as a family.” And I thought this was fair and said: “Alright.” Then she upped the ante and said to me: “Until you can tell me that you know there isn’t a God I want to pay a full tithing.” And I told her that was alright too, I didn’t mind paying tithing, I had never had a problem paying tithing. Then she said to me: “Until you can tell me that you know there isn’t a God, I want us all to keep the Word of Wisdom, and I want us to say prayers as a family every day.” Again I told her alright, and finally she said: “When we were baptized we covenanted to serve in the Church. Until you can tell me that you know that there is not God, I want us to serve in whatever callings we are given.” And I told her yes, I thought I could do all of those things.

It wasn’t too long after that that we moved to New York. And it wasn’t too long after that that the Branch President called me into his office and said: “Brother Olsen, we would like to call you to be the Gospel Doctrine teacher.” He was a little taken aback when I replied: “Alright, but I don’t know if there is a God or not.” This wise and loving man told me: “We’d still like you to serve in this calling, as long as you promise not to make the classroom a forum for your doubts. You just bear testimony of the things that you know to be true. Do you think you can do that?” I told him, yes, and within a very little time I found my testimony. What did my wife do? She was so wise; she took my doubts and planted them in a garden of obedience. And a new testimony grew. Don’t be afraid of your doubts. Doubts are nothing but platforms to a stronger testimony. Just be obedient. Just be obedient. In obedience there is testimony, there is safety, there is peace. Ether 12:6 “You receive no witness until AFTER the trial of your faith.”