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.

Talk - The Commandments

I was asked to speak about The Commandments.  A lot of the information from my talk comes from lesson 4 in the missionary book called “Preach My Gospel.”  Since I will be able to go on a mission soon, it was good for me to study from this book.

Since the beginning of time, parents have been giving rules to their children. Rules like not playing in the street or not playing with matches. Sometimes the rules seemed like a burden to kids, like their parents must have invented them to keep them from doing the things they really wanted to do—the things they thought would make them happy. As we grow up we learn how important these rules are, how we could have been seriously injured or even killed if we had not obeyed.

Like our earthly parents, God gives us commandments to help keep us focused on what is most important and how to stay safe. All of His guidance is meant to keep us safe, help us stay close to Him and, in the end, to give us more freedom and happiness.

Tips for Effective Scripture Study

We had a great Stake Conference this weekend and I took a ton of notes because I wanted to remember everything.  One of our Stake Presidency members, who is also a seminary teacher, taught us how to more effectively study the scriptures.  I made this handout based on his talk (not his exact words, but it is what I learned from it).  We are trying to use these tips as we study the scriptures personally and as a family.

Things Always Work Out

I've been thinking about adversity and challenges lately. While hardships will always be a recurring part of our lives, I think the important thing is how we face them.  Everyone has their own set of problems.  The severity of our adversity tends to ebb and flow.  The truth is, we never really know what another person is struggling with.  But we all are struggling each day with something, rather big or small.  And if we think we have no struggles, then we have the struggle of pride, right?

Here are some of the ways I personally deal with challenges.

Have faith and hope, not fear and worry.  Our natural-man tendencies lead us to fear.  Having faith instead of fear is a choice and must be worked for.  Everyday.  Try to look at things optimistically instead of focusing on the negative.  Think about all the wonderful things in your life and all the wonderful things yet to be.  Don't allow yourself to mope, stay in bed, wallow in self-pity, or embrace depression.

Trust Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.  They love us and wants to help us.  They will never abandon us.  Unfortunately (or fortunately), humility is key to learning to trust Heavenly Father.  I attempt to be one of those people who chooses to be humble, but it is really hard to keep pride out of our lives.  Challenges compel us to be humble and therefore should be valued.  Humility leads to trusting God and increasing faith.

Pray, pray, pray.  Pray for patience and to be faithful.  Pray for the Lord's will to be done.  I have the tendency to be bossy and have to be careful when I am praying that I don't try to tell the Lord exactly how to answer my prayers.  I am constantly facing the battle of "MY will be done" versus "THY will be done."  This concept has changed the way I pray.  Life experience has taught me that I don't have the full picture.  He does.  It seems logically smart to listen and be guided by someone who knows what I need and when and how I need it. 

My Giant Book of Mormon

I love reading the scriptures and often write in the margins.  I have a really nice set of scriptures that I read but I decided to purchase a "Extra Large Print Triple Combination" to use when I personally study the Book of Mormon (click HERE if you're interested in buying one too, they're only $5.00).

I bought it several months ago and LOVE it!  There is so much room to write in the margins and it lays nice and flat when I am studying.  I use it as a workbook and since it was only $5.00 I don't feel bad writing all my random thoughts and insights in it.

Only bad part is that I get teased!  My friends saw me reading it one day while I was waiting for a meeting to start and church and they harassed me for being old and needing a large print book.  I can take a lot of teasing, having grown up with all brothers, so I handled it well.  They changed their tune once I showed them how cool it was to have all that space for notes and they saw all the stuff I had written in there.

Now that I have been asked to teach Primary this year, this "workbook" will come in even more handy.  I can even put post in notes or sheets of paper in the book for when I am teaching.

Just thought I'd share my idea in case you'd like to try it.  And I promise I won't tease you if you get one too.

P.S.  We still use the Book of Mormon for Latter-day Saint Families for our family scripture study (see my earlier POST about that).

Time Out for Women - Atonement

Brad Wilcox gave a great talk about the Atonement at Time Out for Women.  Here are my notes and thoughts on his talk.

God has a plan.  When you wonder about your future, look back and see how God has guided you in your life.  He gives you opportunities to grow.  He puts people in our lives that we need at that time.  He knows the big picture.

The miracle of the Atonement is that we can all be transformed.  This is more than just saying we are saved by grace, but rather learning to apply the Atonement in our lives and becoming perfected through Christ.

Brad Wilcox was asked by a "born again" Christian, "Have you been saved by grace?"  His response?  "Have you been CHANGED by grace?"

Talk - "Let Him Do It with Simplicity" Part 2

Here is the talk that my husband gave right after I spoke.

I would like for you to listen for a few words during my talk, and when you hear them, listen to the message, and what they are saying to you. The words are: Plainness, Simplicity, Generosity, Spiritual Fuel.

Orson F. Whitney “A speaker's first duty is to make himself understood, to speak with plainness, and he must also be in earnest, must mean what he says, and say what he means, or he can never impress the hearts of his hearers. If he be sincere, earnest, and plain in his instructions, eloquence will take care of itself. A man is never eloquent when he tries to be. Eloquence comes from being earnest, from having IN OUR hearts a desire to bless the people and feed them with the bread of life. It is my desire, during the few moments I shall stand before you, to speak plainly, to make myself understood, and reach your hearts by the power of the Spirit of God.” (Conference Report, Apr. 1910, p. 59) Nearly 100 years ago… but the gospel is plain and simple and true.

L. Tom Perry’s talk is titled; let him do it with simplicity. In my preparation for this talk, I came across this exact phrase in the New Testament, Romans 12:8: … : he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; … which really, if put in context, could mean “let him give with generosity.”

To me, this provided for an interesting parallel. Let him do it with simplicity. Let him give with generosity. Vs. Let him do it with simplicity. The spiritual benefits of a simplified life. When we’re generous, we’re giving of our excess. If we’re spiritual, we’re living a simplified life. We’re giving away our excess. So generosity and spirituality hold a very strong correlation.

To my boys, I’m always telling them, Boys… follow your mom’s good example, and be kind and giving with what you have. I’m thankful to my wife for the good example she is to them and to me about kindness and giving… Which really means, thanks for being a good spiritual example. So together, as husband and wife, hopefully we can key on each other’s strengths and lead our sons in a more spiritually focused life.

Pam shared some wonderful examples and insights about Thoreau, and what he came away with from his 2 years at Walden Pond. First, food.. Second, clothing. Third, shelter. The final necessity is fuel. The fuel elder Perry chose to discuss was spiritual fuel.

Let me share a personal story… about 6 years ago, I remember a good friend in our CA ward sharing his testimony, and how he and his family had just finished reading the B of M from beginning to end. Shock… impressed… awe… It was about that same time that as a family, we were experiencing some trials, and needed to have a more spiritually focused life. We wanted more spiritual fuel. Part of our dedication was a family goal to read from the B of M each night. Nothing extravagant, just 5 or 10 minutes, usually about a page. For us, we come together for family prayer each night, so right before we pray, we read for a few minutes. I’ve heard it takes 30 days of an activity to form a habit. And we’re living proof that not only can you get some daily scripture study in, but you can make it through the Book of Mormon. At a slow pace, it takes about 2 years. And it’s a great family goal.

So this past month, we’ve been plowing through the Isaiah chapters of 2 Nephi. Pam picked up a good book to add some insight as we read: Isaiah for Dummies. During our reading this wee, I came across this verse in 2 Ne 25:4: Wherefore, hearken, O my people, which are of the house of Israel, and give ear unto my words; for because the words of Isaiah are not plain unto you, nevertheless they are plain unto all those that are filled with the aspirit of bprophecy. But I give unto you a cprophecy, according to the spirit which is in me; wherefore I shall prophesy according to the dplainness which hath been with me from the time that I came out from Jerusalem with my father; for behold, my soul delighteth in eplainness unto my people, that they may learn.

I’ve never been one who can just take the scriptures and share deep insights. I blame that on the fact that I served a foreign mission. My theory is that when you serve a foreign mission, you spend a lot of effort learning the language and culture. When you serve an English speaking mission, you have time to study and become a real scriptorian. Either that, or you have to teach Seminary for a number of years and simply delve into the scriptures on a daily basis.

That said, every once in a while I slow down enough to really take a verse of scripture and soak in some of its meaning. And this scripture was one of them for me. First about Isaiah: the words of Isaiah…are plain unto all those that are filled with the spirit of prophecy

Nephi had no trouble understanding Isaiah. Likewise, Joseph Smith’s commented about his ease in understanding the book of Revelation. He said, “the book of Revelation is one of the plainest books God ever caused to be written” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 290). I would never put me on the same level as a prophet, hence, it’s hard for me to understand these writings, but for them, they had both seen in vision the things that Isaiah and John the Revelator saw.

Nevertheless, this is no excuse for us. The Lord has specifically commanded us to study Isaiah, a commandment I give unto you that ye search these things diligently; for great are the words of Isaiah (3 Ne 23:1). We must seek the spirit of prophecy in order to understand Isaiah. The gift of prophecy is one of the gifts of the spirit (1 Cor 12:10). It is through this gift that Isaiah can be understood. We should seek this gift as with the other gifts of the spirit, seek ye earnestly the best gifts (DC 46:8).

Now the real meat of what I pulled from this verse as it relates to our topic today, “let him do it with simplicity.” The end of this verse says: my soul delighteth in plainness unto my people, that they may learn.

I hope this isn’t too much of a stretch, but to me, simplicity is synonymous with plainness. The Lord does not intend to teach us things we cannot understand. Rather, He gives us line upon line, depending on our spiritual preparation, until we understand the mysteries of the kingdom. From 2 Ne 31: 3: For my soul delighteth in plainness; for after this manner doth the Lord God work among the children of men. For the Lord God giveth light unto the understanding; for he speaketh unto men according to their language, unto their understanding.

Something that was strongly impressed upon me as a young missionary was the idea of that the gospel is very plain and simple. If we would devote our time and energy to study and practice of the 4th Article of Faith, and living it, I don’t think we would ever stray. QUOTE or SING the 4th Article of Faith.

The Gospel is simple: Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Gift of the Holy Ghost.

Elder Perry mentions the parable of the 10 virgins. If you really want understand this parable, and learn from a prophet, read Spencer W. Kimball’s, Faith Precedes the Miracle. Pages 121-123. Let me share one paragraph from those pages that made me think of, Simplified Life/Spiritual Fuel. “In the parable, oil can be purchased at the market. In our lives the oil of preparedness is accumulated drop by drop in righteous living. Attendance at sacrament meetings adds oil to our lamps, drop by drop over the years. Fasting, family prayer, home teaching, control of bodily appetites, preaching the gospel, studying the scriptures—each act of dedication and obedience is a drop added to our store. Deeds of kindness, payment of offerings and tithes, chaste thoughts and actions, marriage in the covenant for eternity—these, too, contribute importantly to the oil with which we can at midnight refuel our exhausted lamps.”

Who better to conclude with than Moroni, and his simple promise that every person who humbly and sincerely reads the Book of Mormon may know by revelation that it is true. Read Moroni 10:4 if time permits.

Brothers and Sisters, I bear my testimony:
• That The Gospel is plain and simple.
• That there is joy in a simple lifestyle.
• And that when we focus on the spiritual fuel, and the things we’ve talked about today… We can live eternally as families, and perhaps as a ward family… together with our friends. Like the city of Enoch lifted up.

And to my testimony, I add that of Elder L. Tom Perry in his closing paragraph:
“In our search to obtain relief from the stresses of life, may we earnestly seek ways to simplify our lives. May we comply with the inspired counsel and direction the Lord has given us in the great plan of happiness. May we be worthy to have the companionship of the Holy Ghost and follow the guidance of the Spirit as we navigate this mortal journey. May we prepare ourselves to accomplish the ultimate purpose of this mortal test—to return and live with our Heavenly Father—is my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.”

Book - The Book of Mormon for Latter-day Saint Families

We bought this book around five years ago at Deseret Book. Our kids were ages 7, 4 and 1 and we were struggling with scripture study with them. We knew we needed to improve and teach our kids to read the scriptures regularly. So we decided to read daily and this book helped us keep our goal.

This book contains the normal Book of Mormon writings in it. They haven't changed anything. They simply added some helpful features. Here is a sample page that I scanned into the computer (obviously a bad scan job!). Note how the chapter is subdivided by red titles within that chapter. This gave us a clear stopping and starting point while reading. Sometimes we would read a whole chapter or two and sometimes we just read from one little red subtitle to the next and called it good if the kids were being nuts.

Notice how there are also quotes from latter-day prophets, explanations, word definitions, questions, etc. on each page. We read through these also with our kids to help them understand things better.

The Book of Mormon is a true book, in fact THE most true book on this earth. We love to read it together each night and have a testimony that our consistent scripture study (however short) has made us a stronger family. If you are struggling with family scripture study, I would recommend spending the money to buy this book. I think it was around $50.00 but worth 10 times that much to us.

These are the last days. There is no time to be flakey with our spiritual needs (scriptures, prayers, church attendance, etc.). We would rather miss dinner than to miss reading scriptures and praying as a family.

Analogy - Shopping at Ikea and Studying the Scriptures

We had a fun Sunday School lesson today. It was about Section 1 in the Doctrine & Covenants. The Doctrine and Covenants is the only book of scripture that has an introduction written by the Lord. We read and discussed that for our lesson today.

In D&C 1:37 it says, "Search these commandments..." This prompted a discussion on the difference between reading the scriptures and searching the scriptures.

Someone likened searching the scriptures to shopping at Ikea. Anyone who has been brave enough to shop at Ikea knows that it can be an overwhelming experience. Your journey feels like miles of arrowed pathways leading you from room display to room display. You weave through perfectly decorated living rooms, kitchens, offices, bedrooms, etc. There is so much to observe that even though you are looking around at everything you actually remember very little of the details. You may walk out with some random finds (like some spatulas, storage containers, a frying pan and plastic children's furniture), but usually you leave feeling overwhelmed and in a semi-stuperous state.

Wandering through Ikea is like casually wandering/reading through the scriptures with no purpose. It is a fine thing to do, but leaves you feeling unsatisfied afterward. However, if you go to Ikea searching for something specific, like let's say, a bed, you are more likely to find what you need/want on your journey. You can search through Ikea to find that which is of worth and applicable to you in your current situation. Sometimes you may be looking for a bed, other times a chair or a blanket, but as you search, you will find what you truly need instead of a bunch of sensory overload.

Another person furthered the Ikea analogy. When you arrive at Ikea, you immediately go up the escalator to the second floor and wander through all the displays to find items you need/want. This is like the initial searching in the scriptures for answers. Then, after you find your item of interest, you have to go downstairs to the warehouse to further search for the bin and aisle numbers that house your item. When we read the scriptures often times we must delve even deeper or search further to receive the answers/item we are searching just like we need to search more diligently at Ikea for our boxes of product.

The last person said that their favorite part of shopping at Ikea was the cinnamon rolls at the snack bar. You can't shop at the snack bar until you have finished your shopping experience. Likewise, we can receive our full reward after we have searched and re-searched the scriptures diligently.

As we visit and revisit the scriptures (or Ikea) we will find answers (or items) that we are searching for. There will be many rewards (or cinnamon rolls) that we will obtain as we search and study (or shop).

I got a kick out of the whole conversation and it actually made a lot of sense. I think I'll remember this Ikea analogy this week during my personal scripture studying (and you bet I'll be searching for my "cinnamon roll" at the end of the week!).

Object Lesson - Tug of War Temptations

This can be used for a Primary Sharing Time, FHE lesson, etc.

Tug-of-war temptations

Show a picture of a family and explain that there are three important things we have been asked to do regularly to strengthen our family. They are scripture study, family prayer, and family home evening.

Then we had 4 children come up, 2 girls & 2 boys, and hung signs on their necks that said Dad, Mom, Brother, Sister. We also had two signs that said Temptations of the world, which we had male teachers wear. Then we had the "family" do a tug-of-war against "temptations". Naturally, they lost.

Then we had 3 more teachers come up and wear the signs we made for Scripture Study, Family Home Evening, and Family Prayer. They joined the children representing the family and had another tug-of-war against "temptations and this time were successful!

The children loved it and it was a great visual for them.

(Thanks to Michelle Walton for this great object lesson!)

Poem - Prayer Bear

I used this originally while working with the Young Women, but it can be used for younger children too.

I'm your little prayer bear, I'll sit here on your bed.
I'm just a little reminder, to make sure your prayers are said.
I'll sit here and look so cute, and when the day is through,
You'll see me and remember you have journal writing too.
And just before you climb in bed, and close your eyes so tight,
I'll be there to remind you, to read your scriptures tonight.