Not So Perfect ( but Progressing) Scripture Reading

Our daily family scripture reading isn't perfect, it kind of moves in cycles. We are fairly consistent about reading, but some weeks and months we just listen (or try to) Daddy read outloud. Sometimes, we all manage to open our own scriptures and follow along, sometimes we each take turns reading a verse or more. When things are really going well, not only do we all follow along and take turns reading, but we also have a discussion and really study and learn together.

I recognize the fact that we would never get to have the amazingly spiritual days when we just look at our kids and say, "Wow", if we didn't have the opposition of the "not so perfect" days. It's difficult to be at the height of spiritual family scripture studies with 5 kids, two of whom are non-readers, but even on the really bad days I take comfort in the fact that we are following the counsel of the prophets by reading the Book of Mormon and that we are instilling a vital habit, and providing the opportunity for testimonies to grow.

I love this quote by President Marion G. Romney

“I feel certain that if, in our homes, parents will read from the Book of Mormon prayerfully and regularly, both by themselves and with their children, the spirit of that great book will come to permeate our homes and all who dwell therein. The spirit of reverence will increase; mutual respect and consideration for each other will grow. The spirit of contention will depart. Parents will counsel their children in greater love and wisdom. Children will be more responsive and submissive to the counsel of their parents. Righteousness will increase. Faith, hope, and charity—the pure love of Christ—will abound in our homes and lives, bringing in their wake peace, joy, and happiness” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1980, 90; or Ensign, May 1980, 67). (“Lesson 16: Family Prayer, Family Scripture Study, and Family Home Evening,” Marriage and Family Relations Instructor’s Manual, 79)

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My Other Book of Mormon Posts.

Family Scripture Reading Posts by other bloggers.

Gospel Art Family Scripture Study by Becoming LDS

We Believe: Family Scripture Study by Mormon Women

How to Make family scripture study fun, interesting - LDS Church News

Joy, oh Joy, it's Joy School Time

I finally have a young child old enough to participate in Joy School again and I am so excited. Two of my older three were in Joy School and we had so much fun. I somehow stumbled across the book, Teaching Your Children Joy by Richard and Linda Eyre. I began reading the book and was hooked. I wanted to teach my children JOY.

I was blessed to find two experienced JOY school Mom's to join up with and we had a wonderful experience in Joy School with the other little kids in Joy School. The Joy School program is fantastic. It is all laid out so that you know what you are teaching, what stories and activities to do, what songs to sing, when to have rest time and a snack. It is structured so that although the kids are at a different house each week, with a different teacher, they are still with the same friends and having a great experience. The "JOYS" are so much fun to teach, and learn about" and more important, and taught less, than other "academic" lessons.

Here is a list of the JOYS, broken down into the 5 main areas:

Physical Joys
Spontaneous Delight
Body
Earth

Mental Joys
Interest & Curiosity
Imagination & Creativity
Order, Priorities, & Goal Striving

Emotional Joys
Trust & Confidence to Try
Family Security, Identity & Pride
Individual Confidence & Uniqueness

Social Joys
Realness, Honesty & Candor
Communication & Relationships
Sharing & Service

Spiritual Joys
Simple Faith and Receptivity to the Spirit
Obedience & Decisions
Gratitude and of Knowing God as Our Father

Most joys are covered in a module of about 2-4 weeks, except for the Spiritual Joys. Only Obedience and Decisions is covered as a module. Joy School is Christian based, but the most evidence that I remember is the Nativity Play the kids put on in December. It would be easy to portray your religion in the program. I loved having that having a group of LDS kids allowed me to talk about Heavenly Father whenever appropriate. (Maybe this is part of what led to my homeschooling).

Logistics involve rotating teaching between a group of mothers. Class is 2 days a week for 2 - 3 hours, and a group of about 4-8 kids is ideal, ages 3 - 5, or the two years before typically entering Kindergarten. The kids love going to their friends house, but also love having class at their house (except sharing toys and Moms). The cost is a $50 registration fee, and then $70 a semester to purchase the curriculum. Once you buy the curriculum you may reuse it within your own family. You get the lesson plans as downloadable PDF's, plus the music as MP3's and CD's. Once you have the curriculum you color and cut out the flannel board pieces ( I like to laminate mine) and then use them to teach the songs, tell the stories, etc. My older kids love to help color them, and I think they will enjoy remembering the songs and stories from their JOY School Years!

It's been 5 years since I've done JOY SCHOOL and I'm so excited to do it again! If you have any questions about the program, don't hesitate to ask.

UPDATE: I finally found my password for the JOY School website and it is even better than it was 5 years ago - surprise surprise. You don't have to color the pictures if you don't want to, you can get them in black and white & in color!

Sewing is Sew Sew Fun!

A few months ago I received an email announcing that Karalee was offering sewing classes this summer and I signed my daughters up right away. I knew that Rebecca would be interested because her “TALENT” at the Stake Talent show the last 2 years has involved sewing.

Rebecca made and nighttime ensemble for her American Girl doll Sariah. The ensemble includes PJ’s, a blanket, an mattress, and a pillow. Also pictured is Emily’s doll, Emily.

Rebecca models the dress that she made for the talent show in 2009. She received many compliments and wistful comments that they wished more girls learned how to sew today.

Emily was excited to take a sewing class also. Being the jealous Mom that I am I decided to ask if I could participate in the class also. I explained that I already knew how to sew but would like to get some help on zippers and hems. I was excited to be invited to join my girls in taking their sewing class. I’m sew glad that I did too.

Rebecca, Emily and I showed up for class the first day loaded down with 3 sewing machines, patterns, fabric, and iron and lots of enthusiasm. I got some great tips on how to put a zipper in and even got to practice on some scrap fabric Karalee told us that most of the work of the sewing project is in the cutting out, but that most of the problems can be eliminated if you make sure you cut your pattern out accurately. I am humbled to say that learned a lot about the importance of not trying to take “shortcuts” in my cutting that often have resulted in problems later on. After two hours of listening to Karalee explain to us how to rip fabric to make sure it is straight, how important it is to cut the pattern accurately, and the necessity of ironing as you go along ( although, we didn’t iron our pattern pieces) both girls had their skirts cut out.

Our second day of class we got down to the business of sewing. The girls got to practice going straight, doing zig zags, finishing edges, and finally they got to sew the side seams in their skirts. I was glad that there was just the three of us in the class because we got a lot of individual attention, and I knew enough to be able to help out my girls part of the time.

As we were sewing we also discussed our family tree and determined that we were both related to Wilford Woodruff through his wife Sarah Brown. I also was able to begin to explain why I wanted to be part of the sewing class. I explained it as being part of our HOPE CHEST JOURNEY. The Hope Chest Journey was conceptualized from history by Donna Goff and is about preparing daughters to become wives and mother’s. I love how Donna says this,

“All the while she was preparing her hope chest, the women in her life were preparing her, chatting as they worked, passing along a large body of knowledge and skill, incidentally, from one generation to the next, and building bonds of community support, kinship, and sisterhood. These young girls learned about relationships, parenting, family life, recipes, home nursing, and so much more, through listening to and participating in conversations with the women in their lives. Many of the women in this community were informally helping the young girl to prepare to become the queen of her future home.”

I hadn’t even told me girls about the Hope Chest Journey, they got their introduction to it as they listened to me explain it to Karalee.

We have however, already begun our journey, we just didn’t have a name for it. In 2004 I invited my Grandmother to teach my kids to sew. We began with making cute little stuffed animals out of felt and plastic canvas designs. At this time Emily was 5, Rebecca was 6.5, and Isaac was 3.5. They loved having Great Grandma Glasgow come over every Tuesday morning for sewing lessons. Believe it or not, but they all sat quietly at the table and sewed for almost 2 hours each week.

The kids all chose to give Bonnie and Tyler an animal for their wedding present.

The following summer we looked forward to sewing with Grandma again. This year we progressed onto embroidery, and Rebecca (as the eldest(7.5) started on an embroidered pillowcase. Grandma was making one, and Rebecca was making a a matching one. Unfortunately, this perfect example of a hope chest item remains unfinished, because Grandma passed away that November. We have fond memories of our times sewing with Grandma, and my only regret is that I didn’t document the stories that she told us those 2 summers as we sewed together.

And now back to our sewing class. It took us several extra hours on Thursday to finish up the girls skirts, but Karalee hung in their with us and we finally got them done. The girls outdid themselves. I was worried that after 2 hours they would have had enough of sewing each day, but they hung in their and were still happy and energetic and the end of a four hour session. I should have remembered how good they did all those years ago with Grandma and I wouldn’t have worried. Karalee said she was impressed with how happy and fun to work with the girls were. They also enjoyed working with her and telling her all about their American Girl dolls ( who came to class as well).

As I was quietly working on my own projects I was thinking about all the different lessons that could be learned from sewing, like how the little things do matter, how to be patient, to do it right, or do it again, so that in the end you have a product that you are happy with and enjoy wearing, the importance of modesty and beauty, the joy of wearing something that you chose and made yourself. The girls asked me if sewing was cheaper than buying clothes and and we had a discussion about cost and “fair trade” items, but I didn’t even factor in all the other little lessons, traditions, and love that sewing stitches right into the clothing that we wear.

This is just another step on our Hope Chest Journey, and hopefully only the first of many sewing classes that we take from Karalee, because I know I learned a lot, and I hope that my girls did also, and it wasn’t all about stitching.

Liberty Day Parade

We attended the Liberty Day Parade this morning, and I was really disappointed. I remember attending the parade in years past and it being a fantastic event with Marching Bands, horses, scout groups political groups, and business groups, fire engines, clowns, and much more.

The best part of today's parade was cultural groups, the Scottish Bagpipers, the Koreans, and the Hare Krishna's. I think that the groups that take the time to learn about their religious, cultural, and family history realize what a great place america is to life. To many of the rest of us are complacent.

There were a few other groups that had a good turn out, and these were the groups that are taking the time to learn about the history of this great country, the constitution, and the founding fathers. They are the one's that realize how far our country is moving away from the constitution that has made us great. I don't know the name of all those groups but some of them were representing the 9-12 project, Boise Tea Party, and Idaho Tea Party, and and Freedom from Tyranny group. These groups had some nice floats, people dressed up as founding fathers, a representation of George Washington's Prayer at Valley Forge, and another float had Benjamin Franklin and Davy Crocket.

We as a People need to show our support for the this country, we need to come out to the TEA Party's, we need to participate in the parades that celebrate this great country and the founding father's and all that they have done for us, and recognize the veterans that have served our countrys, and the soldiers that are currently training and protecting our country.

In an effort to do my part I am going to give away a copy of the book, The 5000 Year Leap by Cleon Skousen. This is the book that Glenn Beck has been recommending that everybody read to learn more about how our country was set up. I haven't finished reading the book, but wow, what a great book. Read this book, share it with your friends, and enjoy discussing the principles with them, and then go out and help save our country. You can buy the book from the NCCS - order 10 or more copies and you can get it for $5 each and then you can share them with your friends. To read more about this check out my blog post The 5000 Year Leap.

To win a free copy of The 5000 YEAR LEAP post a comment telling me what you did to Celebrate the 4th of July and link to your blog if you have one. Then check out my sister's post about the Declaration of Independance and see the need video that she posted.

Summer Is Here!

Spring just flew by - right from Easter Eggs to Summer Break. Ok, so summer break for a homeschooling family isn't much different than a school day, except just a lot crazier. They kids (and the Mom) are ready for a change of pace, so we put down pencils and pick up different tools. I'm thinking paintbrushes, rakes, shovels, sewing needles, etc.

Right now the girls are busy getting ready to go to Jubilation - a huge girl scout campout. They are very excited - I wish I was going with them, it sounds like a lot of fun. The following weekend the boys are headed out for the annual Father's and Son's campout. Last night Isaac informed me that I needed to go on a camping trip with him so we could "spend more time together" and fish. I'm not the fishing type, although I do really enjoy fishing.

I'm ready for so more one - on - one time with my kids as we relax and play and learn at a slower pace this summer.

Easter Story in Eggs

I found this great idea to go along with the Resurrection Eggs (or Easter Story in Eggs) that I bought a few years ago. We have done this for several years and my kids really enjoy opening the eggs and seeing what trinket is inside. The only problem is they don't use the King James Version, so I printed out my own scriptures.

This year we are going to go a step further, and create a lapbook in the same style. Check out Jamin's cute lapbook where I found the great printables and got my inspiration.

Since I am doing this project with 6 kids, I spent a bit more time to prepare everything so that it will go smoothly and everyone will be able to decorate eggs to their hearts content.

Here is the link to the Easter Symbols Printables on the Christian Preschool Printables website.

I found some great easter eggs to color on the following website - I downloaded them, opened them up in photoshop and resized them all to approximately the same size before printing them out.


Activity Village
Coloring on DLTK
Milliande Printables
Lucy Learns



I then created a template to trace onto construction paper to make the mini books. I still have to resize the text to fit inside the eggs, maybe we'll add the text on Thursday.

The 5000 Year Leap

The National Center of Constitutional Studies is offering copies of The 5000 Year Leap - the book recommended by Glenn Beck for $5 each to make it possible for people to share them with friends, family, and others. The books talks about the correct principles of government. The NCCS also sales pocket constitutions for $1 and is having a sale on their 3 book collection called the American Classic Collection ($35 - what a great deal).

I placed my order today - and for sharing this with 10 friends I am getting a free video on the constitution. I hope you will join me in sharing the principles of sound government with your friends.

This video shows some of the principles found in The 5000 Year Leap.

General Conference Treasures

Shortly after last General Conference we discovered this little treasure on the internet through the wonders of mass emailing.


A few weeks ago we were watching it again and I wondered, have they made a new one yet? Of course, I knew they didn't know who the new apostle will be - but just maybe . . .


What a treasure this has been to help my kids become excited about the apostles. We are looking forward to seeing the new video when it comes out after conference and the chance to get to know another new apostle.

Speaking of apostles this week we will be learning about the apostles to prepare ourselves better for General Conference. Here are some of the resources we will be using:


The Special Witnesses pages in the 2002 Friend was a Getting to Know (the Apostles) page.
January - Elder Jeffery R. Holland
February - Boyd K. Packer
March - Elder Henry B. Eyring
April - Elder Richard G. Scott
May - Elder Dallin H. Oaks
June - Elder Russell M. Nelson
July - Elder L. Tom Perry
August - M. Russell Ballard
September - Joseph B. Wirthlin
October - Robert D. Hales
November - David A. Bednar
December - Dieter F. Utchdorf

The 2006 Friend had Guess Who pages for Each of the Apostles.
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
The individual links take you to the text pages, but you can also get the pdf version by going to the main page for Friend.

Once we have learned a little bit about each of the apostles, and what their jobs and responsibilities are we need to better prepare ourselves for listening to their inspired messages.

In the March 2009 Ensign there was an article titled Preparing our Children for General Conference that gave some great ideas for turning General Conference into a spiritual experience for the whole family.

I've never really thought about what I needed to do to prepare for General Conference so this post by Bethany on Preparing for General Conference was really eye opening for me. I also liked this Pre-Conference Checklist included in General Conference Worksheet by Lisa Smith. Mostly my preparations for General Conference have fallen along the lines of how am I going to keep the kids quiet, happy, and paying attention.

Well, I have good news -

Some wonderful members have put together some packets to use to encourage children and youth to listen to conference. There are a lot of great ideas here - so remember, you can't do them all this time, but conference comes around again every six months (and by then your kids will all be six months older.)

2009 General Conference Packet by Melanie Day

General Conference Ideas/Packets/Games - on Sugerdoodle - this has a whole list of different activities

General Conference Activity Pages from The Idea Door.

General Conference on About.com

Make Conference Memorable by Mormon Mamma

How to Stay Awake and Interested during General Conference - by Bethany


If you are looking for more coloring pages this site - ldscoloringpages.net indexes the coloring pages from the Friend.

As you can see there is a plethora of ideas. I like bits of pieces of all of them, so I pick and choose what to present each time to my kids, each child is different, so each packet can be different. I hope that you can find something that will work for you and your kids.


I look forward to General Conference - and enjoy the time spent with my kids watching and learning. Last conference was the first time we had a DVR and so we took advantage of it and would stop oonference so we could discuss the talks, and take better notes as it was going along. However, I still find that I miss quite a lot while taking care of the younger ones, so I love listening to conference on my MP3 player. You can usually download the MP3's of the conference talks within hours and begin to absorb the messages. I also anxiously await my Ensigns and spend the next 6 months reading and rereading the talks, and taking notes and highlighting them. I truly treasure our inspired modern day scriptures. I hope that this will help you to also treasure the wonderful blessing of a semi-annual General Conference.

Temple Geography

I am excited to be studying Temples this year with my kids. It is part of my Mother's Educational Course that has been such an inspiration to me this year, and has tied in so nicely with all the little bursts of inspiration I was getting last fall but didn't know how to incorporate into my life.

A couple of days a week I have been reading to my kids from Chad Hawkins book The First 100 Temples (Hawkins, Chad S., The First 100 Temples. Deseret Book, 2001). It is a beautifully illustrated book with a page or two on the history of each temple and several faith promoting stories. Included in the illustrations of each temple is a hidden picture. The kids love to find the hidden picture after I finish reading to them.

 

We have also incorporated the Temple Cards that were published in the Friend in 2002. We use the cards find the locations on our large wall map as we review what we remember about that temple. The kids were very excited to find that the book mentioned the first donation to the Mesa Arizona Temple was by Helena Rosebery (one of our relatives).

Rebecca began taking notes about the temples the other day and it got me to thinking that we needed some way to document our tour through the Temples of the World, but I couldn't anything other than the temple cards, and the Temple to Dot the Earth Game (Friend November 2002). So I decided to create my own notebooking pages. I created several versions, since I have kids at various levels. I'm planning on creating a Family Temple Notebook and having a different scribe for the day, since 150 temples is a lot to get through in 52 weeks. I included longitude and latitude because we just learned about it this week, but also to aid in locating the cities on a map. I was surprised to find someone had already created a longitude and latitude list (which is way more accurate than mine was going to be) and not only that but I found 2 interactive temple tours one using Google Earth and one using Live Maps. I'm so thankful for the work that other people create and share with the world through the amazing power of the internet.

I found these Temple Trivia questions on about. Com, but I don't like sites with so many advertisements, especially for my kids, so I created my own Temple Trivia Crossword Puzzle based on The First 100 Temples. I think this will be a fun way for them to review what they have learned, and will be able to look through our notebook to find the answers. I'm looking forward to creating more puzzles after I see what they take notes on as we continue on our world tour.

Rebecca said that she would like a report page so she could do her own research on one of the temple sites that I had found. (It really is true, if you trust the process they do transistion into scholars.)

The House of the Lord – Official LDS Site on Temples

LDS Church Temples – wonderful, up to date page on all the temples, facts, wonderful maps, downloadable screensavers.

Temples to Dot the Earth – Mostly maps of the temples, some interesting statistics, and links to local temple websites.

I have only just begun to create this notebooking pages, it will take me a long time to do 150 also. I wanted to share this now, and see if anyone had any suggestions, or recommendations for particular ones that you would like to use right away. I also want to have something that talks about the importance of the temples, I guess I'll have to search the Friend for more Ideas. If you have any ideas, I'd love to hear them.

Nancy

Bibliography

I found the longitude and latitude of the temples as a download in an CSV file (can be opened in a spreadsheet program) from (GPS Coordinates CSV File) http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/downloads/

Trivia taken from stories in The First 100 Temples (Hawkins, Chad S., The First 100 Temples. Deseret Book, 2001)

 

The outline pictures of the temples was from the January 1986 Friend ( Pat Graham, "Sharing Time: The Spirit of God," Friend, Jan 1986, 46) but you can download the individual files from this about.com site. The colored temple cards can also be downloaded from about.com at (and can be located easily at this location in a modified format or this location which just links you to the church's site easier. Here are the links to the other months not already listed April 2005 and September 2007.

 

© Nancy Georgeson 2009 –becomingpeculiar.blogspot.com

 

One Minute to a better YOU

As part of my Mom's Ed Course I read, The One Minute Teacher (by Spencer Johnson, M.D. and Constance Johnson, M.Ed.)

I really like the idea of taking just "one minute" not only to review my goals, but also to praise myself for progressing on them, and sometimes to take "one minute" to recognize that I am not progressing towards my goals and to accept taht I did something wrong but that I can turn the situation around and begine working on my gaols again. This reminds me of a quote from Flylady.

"You are not behind! I don't want you to try to catch up; I just want you to
jump in where we are. O.K.?" ~ FlyLady

I have often been guilty of thinking I am so far behind that I will never catch up, but now I try to rememder to tell myself that I don't have to catch up, I just have to start again right where I am.

As I was reading this book I kept thinking of how I need to use the One Minute Recovery when I catch myself in the kitchen eating - when I don't really need to be eating. I also need to set a one minute goal to review, and to remember to praise myself. I also could see ways that this would work with my kids.

I especially want to teach my kids to "Cooperate with Others, Compete with Myself."(pg 85) I love homeschooling my kids for this reason, rather than my kids comparing themselves to their peers it is a lot easier to teach them to compare themselves to where they were last week, last month or last year, and to teach them that as long as they are doing their best and continuing to progress they are successful. I need to teach them to set their own goals, and to learn to praise themselves, and to learn to recover gracefully when they are off track. By teaching them these tools of goal setting, praising, and recovery they can better direct their own life and learn to be the best person they can be.


This book fits in well with some of the other studies that I have been doing - see my posts on habits and sharing - even though I haven't had time to fully explore these areas they all tie together.

I found this great summary of the one minute teacher by Michele - I'd like to further explore her blog.

Opportunities and Attitude

I've thought a lot lately about how your attitude is all important. If I choose to be upset, things are upsetting, but if I choose to make the best of it, it is just a momentary setback. Disasters and tragedies become trials that only serve to make us stronger, and more aware of our strengths and weaknesses if we only have the right attitude.

I didn't realize how pervasive this was in the LDS culture - I was only just discovering (or rediscovering) it for myself. I love how Mariah Proctors says it in her "I'm grateful for the opportunity"

For Latter-day Saints, life isn't a stream of miserable events, a river of burdens or entitlements, it is instead a series of “opportunities' and that changes everything. "

Attitude really does change everything, and often we just need to slow down, and figure out what Heavenly Father is trying to teach us so that we can adjust our attitude to be one of humility and learning.

I've been trying to teach this to my kids lately. We are memorizing a scripture that Isaac chose,
and I have been trying to teach them that serving others is much more beneficial than fighting. One of the most common complaints at our house is that "so and so" didn't clear their place at the table. Of course, it would take about 5 seconds to "serve on another" and clear their place for them while clearing the rest of the table . . . but the kids seem to think that "failure to clear your place" is a felony offense and must be reported to the Kitchen Police (MOM) and tried before a judge (MOM) and punishment rendered immediately ("so and so") must clear their place right now. Can they not see that this takes about 3 minutes and causes hard feelings, drives the spirit from the room, and distracts Mom.

Maybe I should institute a Kitchen Police and time how long infringements take out of our day. The punishment could be reduced time on the computer. YEA - this might really work. It may be fun and games for awhile, but I know that it is important to teach my children to serve one another, and to love on another. That is what will serve them best in their life. Clearing the table is only a nicety.

Youtube AAAHHH!

I had an aaahhh moment about youtube today.

I've kind of avoided a lot of websites like myspace, youtube, facebook, and blogging (until recently) for a variety of reasons. Some of those reasons are, is it really going to stick around, is there anything good there, or just a bunch of time wasting drivel, am I going to have to worry about bad stuff all the time. Ok, so some of the other reasons are I'm an extremely busy homeschooling mother of 5 kids under the age of 12, who is involved in my church, my extended family, and would like to have a reasonably clean house most of the time and live on one income(my husbands), and I really enjoy digital scrapbooking in my free time. I just don't have time to spend exploring every website community out there, so I just don't try to do it all.

A couple of weeks ago I was almost convinced to join facebook. I don't quite remember the reason why, but I did sign up, except I never have clicked on the link to verify that I signed up, I've just been to busy to get back to that particular email. I do love blogging now that I have rediscovered how much I enjoy learning, and thinking, and writing to improve that learning process. Like most people, I want to be remembered and to pass on my knowledge to future generations as well. As I have gotten into blogging I have learned (again) that there are many amazing and talented people out there who are constantly contributing wonderful things to the internet community. Some of my favorite blogs to I read - when I get the chance - are

Everyday Food Storage

Diapers and Divinity

The Happy Housewife

Milestones Academy

The Lazy Organizer

of course, this isn't all the blogs that I read, and I'm always finding more, but I'll save for another day.

I had an aaahhh moment about youtube today.

I didn't forget -- this post was inspired by article I read on Meridian Magazine "Church Videos for Blogs and Websites" By Larry Richman. It contains a list of website with uplifting, inspirational videos that depict the LDS church in a postive light. Of course, I haven't had a chance to watch hardly any of them, but I'll set a goal to watch 1 video a day, and this is why:

Please share this list with others. Feel free to embed these videos in your blogs and Web sites. When you watch these videos, be sure to rate them and leave a comment. That will help positive videos about the Church to show up higher than negative ones!

AAAAHHHHH! One thing that I can do to help fulfill the mission on the church is to increase the popularity of good, so that good can outshine the bad. I'm off to sign up for a youtube account so that I can rate video's and help to my part in spreading joy!

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." incorrectly attributed to (Edmund Burke)

10 minutes later

WOW, that was easy, and I can sign in using my google account so that makes it even simpler! Here is the first video that I watched on, rated, and commented on.

Gordon B. Hinckley - Lessons I Learned as a Boy

Bible Pop Quiz

Can you name this character from the Bible?"

"This man preached tirelessly to a people who largely rejected him. He was just and perfect in his ­gen­eration. But he was mocked by the people. Grieved by their sins, he did all that the Lord commanded him. The people sought to kill him. He constructed the means of saving all mankind. Those who followed him were saved from death. Only those who were his family were saved. His salvation also saved the animals from death."

So - do you have an answer ?

Are you sure?

Is that your final answer?


If your answer is NOAH - you are right!

But wait, was that your first answer?

If your first thought was Jesus Christ you are also right.


Trick question you say, well maybe, but so fascinating. How many other Bible characters have lives that parallel the life of Christ? Curious now? OK, here is another one.

"There was a long wait for this person's birth. His name and birth were foretold by an angel. His mother conceived miraculously and brought forth a son. He was called `the only begotten son.' He traveled to Jerusalem on a donkey. Those with him were asked to wait while he went yonder to worship and pray. He was to be sacrificed on a hill in the area of Moriah. He carried the wood to be instrumental in his death. He was one with, and in similitude of, his father. He voluntarily submitted to the will of his father. Those who accept the gospel become his seed--his sons and his daughters."

So - I bet you figured out it could be Christ, but who else?

No, I didn't figure these out by myself, but I am highly intrigued to go and study my scriptures more know and to learn more about he lives of the prophets and the Savior. I'm reading this great book called, The Holy Secret by James L. Ferrell and the best part is you can read it online for free from DeseretBook.com. The pop quiz questions posted above are only a small part of chapter 7, but don't start there, read the book from the beginning. It will open your eyes and really get you thinking about how you study the scriptures.

The Holy Secret
by James L. Ferrell
online by Deseretbook.com
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
. . .

Contemporaries in History

I learned so little about history in school. Ok, so I know a few main characters, and a little bit about how the government in supposed to work, and that the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution are our founding documents, but beyond that I really didn't learn to understand the fabric of history.

I didn't even know how much I didn't know and understand until recently. The first inkling of my lack of knowledge was towards the end of my college career. I was taking an art class (art 101: History of art or something like that). We covered a lot of types of art throughout history. I remember being amazed when I realized that 6000 years is a really long time, and that their is a art history that goes back that far. Here I was, a young married mother of two, and finally grown up enough to enjoy an art class(where we did indeed experiment with many types of art) and finally learn that a people had been creating art for thousands and thousands of years.

A few years later, when I was a mother of 4, I was finally privileged to learn again how little I really knew about history. We were studying ancient history, and the Old Testament side by side, what an amazing bit of serendipity. I didn't know enough to plan it that way, but it was indeed a blessing from above that we were able to see how the Old Testament is the spiritual account of history, and that other historical records exist to verify the existence of people like ABRAHAM and DAVID. I had never, until that time, really connected the scriptures, with actual history. I didn't doubt the scriptures, I guess I just assumed they were the only records that we had . . . ?

I am still often pleasantly happy to discover many more fascinating stories from history, and feel so very blessed that I am able to learn right along with my kids as we learn together in our homeschool. I know that they are learning so much more than I learned at their age, and I am finally getting the education that I continually desire.

On that note, I'd like to share my amazing discovery for today. Joseph Smith and Abraham Lincoln were contemporaries, and their lives are amazingly similar. Think about it, they were both born and raised poor, were basically self educated, ran for President of the United States, served fellowman immensely and were both martyrs. I learned even more about Abraham Lincold and Joseph Smith by reading this article: Did Abraham Lincoln ever meet Joseph Smith by David and Nancy Leroy. While it is impossible to say if they ever met in this life, I'm sure that they've met on the other side. I know you'll agree with me.

I'm getting an Education - and Loving IT!

I discovered this great group of women from around the world that have organized a course of study, titled, "A Mother's Education Course for Latter-Day Saints." I've only been participating since January, but it has made a huge difference in my life this month. My thirst for knowledge, especially gospel knowledge has increased, the feeling accomplishment is wonderful as complete something that, unlike dishes and laundry, won't have to be repeated again tomorrow. The feeling that I have friends that are striving, like me, to become better mother's, better wives, and better daughters, to understand more about the gospel, despite our busy schedules, and precious responsibilities.

A month ago I thought, how am I going to find the 15 minutes a day to read the scriptures, but now 30 minutes a day doesn't seem like enough time. I want to keep reading and studying.

I posted that thought on the LDSMOMED yahoo group and was asked how I got to that point. Although we've been taught for years that we need to read, and study, and pray every day it isn't just something you can decided to do, will-power doesn't seem to be enough. As I've thought about that I had to go back in time a few years. Life runs in cycles, sometimes I've been doing great spiritually, and then sometimes I'm down. I can see the cycles in my life now if I look back, but I can also see that it's not just a circle, it's more like an upward spiral. Each time I am up, I reach higher and deeper, and learn more, but then the fall comes, but I don't fall as far down as I was before, because I'm a different person than I was before. It is still difficult to climb off that plateau and get moving upward again, but once I've taken the first step, the 2nd and 3rd is much easier.

In 2006 I joined a yahoogroup called GCFHS were we began a serious study of the General Conference Issue of the Ensign and then discussed the insights that we gained. Although I haven't been real active in the discussion I have come to love General Conference and can't wait to get my Ensign to begin to study the words of the prophets. Even through my last downward spiral I kept up my reading of the Conference issue, even though scripture reading was quite lacking.

However, as I discovered this new group, and moved into a new year, it was exciting to once again begin the upward climb, and I can feel myself learning, and my testimony growing. The more I learn, the more I want to learn. I feel just like my Grandma when she said this week, "I've decided that what I want to do for eternity is read, and study, and learn."

I have no doubts that there won't be tough times ahead, and my studies will suffer, but I also know that I will be able to climb higher, and move closer to the Lord again as he teaches me the things that I need to know to return to live with him.

Joseph Smith and the Angel Moroni

I am teaching the 11/12 Valiant Girls class in Primary again this year. This has been such a great class to teach. The girls are still young and innocent, yet eager to learn and understand the doctrines of the gospel. They often as questions that make me pause and think, I don't remember asking such questions at their age. This year we are studying Doctrine and Covenants and Church History in Primary, and also in Gospel Doctrine.

During Family Home Evening this week Emily was giving a lesson about how Joseph Smith prepared to receive the gold plates. We have been using the primary manual at home for devotionals and family home evening as well, there is so much information in there that I get through so little of it during my class. We were amazed to learn that Joseph Smith had received visits from other Book of Mormon prophets such as Nephi and Alma as he was being spiritually prepared to receive and translate the gold plates.

Joseph Smith’s mother, Lucy Mack Smith, wrote that after the first visits of Moroni, “Joseph continued to receive instructions from the Lord, and we continued to get the children together every evening for the purpose of listening while he gave us a relation of the same. … During our evening conversations, Joseph would occasionally give us some of the most amusing recitals that could be imagined. He would describe the ancient inhabitants of this continent, their dress, mode [method] of traveling, and the animals upon which they rode; their cities, their buildings, with every particular; their mode of warfare; and also their religious worship. This he would do with as much ease, seemingly, as if he had spent his whole life among them” (Lucy Mack Smith, History of Joseph Smith, pp. 82–83). Because he had always been honest, Joseph Smith’s parents and brothers and sisters believed all Joseph told them. “Lesson 4: Joseph Smith Prepares to Receive the Gold Plates,” Primary 5: Doctrine and Covenants: Church History, (1997),16

I realized that Joseph went through a scholar phase at this time and was being taught be great mentors from history to prepare him for his mission in life. He had many trials, and had to be tested and to learn the things that he needed to know to perform his great work.

This led to a discussion of Angel Moroni, and how many times he visited Joseph Smith. I had previously read these next two quotes and was able to share what I remembered with my family.

David Whitmer Comes to Help Joseph Smith

By May 1829 the work of translating the Book of Mormon was almost complete. Although Joseph Smith had possessed the gold plates for about two years, he had only worked on the translation a total of about three months. Joseph had been careful to protect the plates and had not shown them to anyone, but he became concerned about their safety in Harmony. Oliver Cowdery, who was acting as Joseph’s scribe, wrote to his friend David Whitmer, who did not know Joseph Smith, and asked David to bring him and the Prophet to Fayette, New York, where they would be safe and could finish the translation.

Before he could take his wagon to pick up Joseph and Oliver, however, David had to prepare his fields for the spring planting. When he went out to start plowing the soil in the morning, David discovered that someone had plowed part of the fields already. This person had done a very good job and left the plow in a furrow, ready for the work to continue. At the end of a day of plowing, David found he had accomplished in one day what normally would have taken two days to do. David’s father, Peter Whitmer Sr., was impressed with this miracle and said, “There must be an overruling hand in this, and I think you would better go down to Pennsylvania as soon as your plaster of paris is sown” (quoted in Lucy Mack Smith, History of Joseph Smith, p. 148). Farmers in that area added plaster of paris to the soil to make it less acidic. The next day David went to the place he had left the plaster, near his sister’s house, but the plaster was gone. His sister told him that the day before, she and her children had seen three strangers spreading the plaster with great speed and skill. She had assumed they were men David had hired, but David knew they were helpers provided by the Lord.

David was grateful for this divine help, and he hurried off to Harmony. Joseph and Oliver came out to meet him as he neared the town, which surprised David because he had not told them when he was coming. Oliver told David that Joseph had seen David’s trip in a vision and thus knew when he would arrive. David had never met Joseph Smith before, but he soon became sure that Joseph was a true prophet, and they became good friends.

“Lesson 9: Witnesses See the Gold Plates,” Primary 5: Doctrine and Covenants: Church History, (1997),42

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David Whitmer, in 1878, told Joseph F. Smith and Orson Pratt a story that includes three more visits, the fifteenth through seventeenth. He was traveling with Oliver Cowdery and Joseph Smith to Fayette, to finish the translation when “a very pleasant, nice-looking old man suddenly appeared by the side of our wagon and saluted us with, ‘good morning, it is very warm,’ at the same time wiping his face or forehead with his hand. We returned the salutation, and, by a sign from Joseph, I invited him to ride if he was going our way. But he said very pleasantly, ‘No, I am going to Cumorah.’ This name was something new to me, I did not know what Cumorah meant. We all gazed at him and at each other, and as I looked around enquiringly of Joseph, the old man instantly disappeared, so that I did not see him again.

“Joseph F. Smith: Did you notice his appearance?

“D. Whitmer: I should think I did. He was, I should think, about five feet eight or nine inches tall and heavy set, about such a man as James Vancleave there, but heavier; his face was as large; he was dressed in a suit of brown woolen clothes, his hair and beard were white, like Brother Pratt’s, but his beard was not so heavy. I also remember that he had on his back a sort of knapsack with something in, shaped like a book. It was the messenger who had the plates, who had taken them from Joseph just prior to our starting from Harmony. Soon after our arrival home, I saw something which led me to the belief that the plates were placed or concealed in my father’s barn. I frankly asked Joseph if my supposition was right, and he told me it was.”Robert J. Woodford, “Book of Mormon Personalities Known by Joseph Smith,” Ensign, Aug 1978, 12

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My curiousity was now piqued and I did some more research on Joseph Smith and Angel Moroni and found this great article "Moroni - Joseph Smith's Tutor" that talks about many of the known visits of Moroni to Joseph Smith. I am just thrilled that the more that I learn about early church history, and Joseph Smith the more that my curiosity and testimony grows.

H. Donl Peterson, “Moroni—Joseph Smith’s Tutor,” Ensign, Jan 1992, 22

The Invisible Woman

What a touching tribute to women and a motivation to continue to serve, even when we fill invisible.

She's Growing UP

When MaryAnn is the age Rebecca is now Rebecca could be married or serving a mission, but I will still have a little girl who is growing up. Rebecca is looking forward to being in Young Women's before the end of the year, and likes to remind us the she won't be able to come to Webelos anymore, because she will be at "HER" activity.

Meridian Magazine showcased MormonAD video's today, and it reminded me how much I enjoyed reading the New Era when I was a young women, and Rebecca has already been asking me to get the New Era for her to read. WOW, my little girl really is growing up! This was one of my favorite MormonAd's - I have always been my own person, my own kind of beautiful, and what a wonderful gift of identity I have been given to love myself for who I am. I hope that I am able to instill that gift in my children.

Another Question

It appears that others are asking questions, like Eamonn McCann when he asks, "What if Mormons are right and Catholics and Protestants wrong?"

Here's the article
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What if Mormons are Right and Catholics and Protestants wrong?
Thursday, 28 August 2008

Why are the Catholic bishops so concerned about Mormons baptising dead parishioners? The Mormons didn’t invent baptism of the dead. The practice has a significant history within mainstream Christianity. The decision to order its abandonment was taken only after heated debate, and was a close-run thing.

What’s the difference, anyway, between baptising the dead and baptising babies? A tiny infant will have as much understanding as a dead person — none at all — of the complex philosophical belief-system it’s being inducted into when baptised, say, a Catholic. Transubstantiation? There’s daily communicants go to their deaths without any clear understanding of the concept. So what chance the mewling tot?

Indeed, given that all Christian Churches believe that the soul lives on after death and retains understanding and consciousness of self, doesn’t it make more sense to baptise dead adults than live babies?

Apart from which, if the Catholic bishops hold that the beliefs of the Mormons are pure baloney (as they must), and their rituals therefore perfectly meaningless, how can it matter to them what mumbo-jumbo Mormons might mutter over Catholic cadavers?

The current controversy has been prompted by Archbishop Dermot Clifford and Bishop Bill Murphy complaining to the National Library in Dublin about records handed over by the Church being made available to all and sundry. The Mormons are believed to have taken advantage of this facility to comb through parish records and baptise the souls enumerated therein, a batch at a time.

The bishops stepped in after the Vatican warned all national churches earlier this year about Mormons misusing diocesan records. I have heard it suggested that the alarm of the Holy See had escalated after reports that Mormon multiple baptisms were regularly breaking the official record set by General Liu Kung Lee who, in one afternoon, baptised seven regiments of Chinese soldiers into Christianity with a fire-hose.

Let’s look at the facts as understood by the early followers of Christ. For more than 300 years after the Crucifixion, baptism of the dead was widely accepted, its biblical basis located in 1 Corinthians 15, 29: “Otherwise, what shall they do who are baptised for the dead if the dead rise not again at all? Why are they then baptised for them.” In other words, a deceased person could be baptised by proxy: otherwise, how could such a person be included in the Resurrection? A good question.

The radical Cerinthians and the Marcionites were especially energetic baptisers of the dead. It was to wrong-foot these sects, seen as competitors with the official Church at a time when it was consolidating its position as the State religion of the Roman Empire, that the Synods of Hippo (393) and Carthage (397) voted, after bitter debate, to condemn the practice.

Interestingly, a clear trace of baptism of the dead has lingered in official practice to the present day, in the form of prayers for divine intercession on behalf of the unbaptised souls. Prayers for intervention were encouraged in Catholic schools in the 1950s. For all I know, this remains the case.

Baptising the dead might be seen as analogous, too, to the Jewish prayer of intercession. Which serves as a reminder that US Jews put a halt to galloping post-mortem Mormonism a couple of years ago by arguing that deJudaising those who’d perished in the concentration camps constituted a profound insult to Holocaust victims. Following talks in New York between leaders of the two religions, the Mormons backed off.

The key point is, surely, that all religions believe that the soul, after death, at last knows what’s what — whether Hinduism, Free Presbyterianism, Jainism, Judaism, Islam, Catholicism or whatever is the true religion. What if it’s Mormonism? What if it’s an everyday occurrence on the other side that Catholics and Protestants are left standing dumbstruck at the Gates, gasping: “Mormons! Who’d have believed it?” And maybe a wife berating her husband: “There! I told you it would be the Mormons! But would you listen?! Now it’s eternal hellfire for the two of us, I hope you’re satisfied.”

In that scenario, shouldn’t all members of all other religions be literally eternally grateful to the Mormons for sharing their saving grace even unto and after death?

If, on the other hand, it isn’t the Mormons at all, those who turn out to have been right can wave a merry farewell to the crestfallen followers of Brigham Young as they trundle downwards to their eternal comeuppance.

What’s the problem?

Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon

I've always believed the Book of Mormon to be true, to have been translated from Gold Plates by Joseph Smith, and the more that I learn about Joseph Smith, and the standard works of the LDS Church, the more that I believe. How Can you not belief, that is a question I often ask myself when I come across something new - like this video.

Glasgows at Home

The Glasgows are a wild and fun loving bunch, who enjoy getting together, talking, laughing, joking, teasing, eating, talking, working, laughing, and eating, did I mention talking and laughing.
We had a great evening tonight at my Mom and Dad’s house. Bonnie, Tyler, and Ally decided to surprise everyone and move back from Florida. They discovered that it is really difficult to orchestrate a cross continent move without telling anyone, and without trapping someone in a sticky situation between a story, half truth and little white lie. You may think it deceitful, but to “a Glasgow” it is a lot of fun, and makes life much more interesting. All the hiding, truth evading, and stories came to an end tonight when the entire Gail Glasgow Clan descended upon Mom and Dad at “HOME”.

We had a wonderful evening full of love, laughter, food, talking, hugs, and joy. We worked together to put one of our favorite family meals on the table, Finger Food Delight, we lifted our voices up in song as we sang, The Primary Colors, we bowed our heads in prayer as we blessed the food, and began and ended our family home evening. We all listened and learned more about the Prophets of the 7 dispensations of the Gospel as we listened to Malinda teach us a lesson. We rejoiced in the fact that we were all together again, all 15 of us.

A Second Fridge

When my Grandma moved in with us she had 2 fridges and an upright freezer. She hardly ever uses her extra fridge, so she said that I could use it. It has been so wonderful, and really saves me a lot of time and money. I am able to go shopping at Costco twice a month, get 8 gallons of milk and store it in the 2nd fridge until we need it. This saves me from having to "run to the store" late Saturday night so we have milk for Sunday. It also saves me money because I am in the store less, therefor less of a chance for items to jump into my cart that I don't really need.

We just recently discovered another item that stores well in Grandma's fridge, yogart. We love yogurt, and having a wide variety of flavor in little cartons takes up a lot of room, but now I can get our favorite Tillamook yogurt at Winco once a month (about 50 containers) can easily be stored in the extra fridge.

While MaryAnn and I were shopping this morning she made a new friend.

Laughter Really is the Best Medicine

Our Sunday evening traditions usually find us planning games as a family. I don't often get to play however, as I am the one tending to the little kids. However, this week we played Family Fun with my parents. I love this game because even it is an interactive game that doesn't require a lot of continual focus or card holding and I can play even if I am busy with the baby.

Tonight my parents were playing with us and we were first entertained as Rebecca and Emily had to sit down on the floor back to back and try to stand up without using their hands, and without their frogs falling off of their head. I wish that I had my video camera, it was so much fun to watch them struggle, and laugh, and except that they had tried, but failed.

Next we got to watch Isaac attempt what my Mom said was impossible, laying down on the floor, putting a cube on his forhead, and standing up without dropping the cube. It only took Isaac 2 tries and he succeeded! Woo Hoo, Way to Go Isaac. Again, I wish I had my camera.

However, the funniest part of the night was when Brad had to hum a tune and try to get his teammates to guess it. Both Rebecca and I had read the card, (I had to decide if Isaac would know the song to hum it, or if he should just try to guess.) As Brad opened his mouth (or closed it) to begin humming my Dad shouted out, "The Star Spangled Banner" Rebecca and I were both amazed, I started laughing, while Rebecca shouted "What?" Dad was right, and Brad hadn't even hummed a note. My Dad started laughing, and laughter is mighty contagious. It was so funny, I was crying. It was probably a good minute or so before we got ourselves under control and could go on with the game. I don't think we ever really even asked Dad how he came up with that answer, just a wild guess, I assume.

Brad and I were reviewing the events of the day and we had to laugh again at how much we had laughed before. I have now gotten at least 2 great workouts out of my Dad's confident (yet premature answer), "The Star Spangled Banner." Brad said he was worried that Dad was going to fall out of the chair, or "croak" right then and their. Blessedly, that is not the case, and as we continue to laugh as a family we will keep his heart in good shape. Laughter is one of the best Glasgow Family Traditions!

No More Guilt

Mother's feel guilt, often, and lots of it. Homeschooling mothers have even more reasons to worry. This article by Kathryn Louis of Milestones Academy is appropriately titled, "Let Me Reassure You." This paragraph by Kathryn is very reassuring to me, because this is what our homeschool looks like most of the time.

One sweet mother asked what the bare minimum should be. In my opinion, devotional, the 3 Rs, and plenty of outdoor time are the most crucial school activities. If you then can add a little history and science, you are doing well. Handicrafts are almost too sad to miss but may be postponed.

Thanks you Kathryn for your sweet words and your dedication to share your wealth of wisdom and experience with homeschooling mothers everywhere.