Teaching the Youth

Chris and I have a new calling in church, and in order to begin preparing I have taken a little time to read. I found a great article from the Liahona written by Robert D. Hales and titled, “Teaching by Faith.” I found many of the concepts not only vital and important when teaching the youth, but I feel they apply to me now and to many adults who are seeking to learn and grow in the gospel. I will try to compact the best I can and put the most moving concepts to me below. I encourage you to read this article if you are looking for teaching advice.

• When we teach youth by the Spirit, hearts will be touched and lives will be affected.
• You will recall the story related in the book of Mosiah about Abinadi standing bound before the wicked King Noah. Abinadi taught the gospel with the fire of the Spirit. He gave stern and specific warnings as he boldly taught the principle of repentance. Although Abinadi taught by the Spirit, King Noah was not touched. Alma, however, who was in the court and heard the testimony, was converted (see Mosiah 12:9–17:2). We do not always know whom we will reach, but I promise you that as you teach and testify by the Spirit, you will reach those who are ready to be taught.
• As teachers, we must require our young people to think. (They need to think, respond, question, and teach eachother)
• After discussing each story, we were asked questions such as “What does that mean to you?” “How does this scripture [or story or principle] relate to your life?” “How can you apply this teaching in your home?” “How do you feel about it?” We were asked to think. We were not learning only the stories. We were discovering how we could apply them in our lives.
• Teach the importance and power of pondering
• provide time to ponder, to think, and to exchange ideas
• Use practical application: “What does that mean to you?”
• Faith-promoting incidents occur in teaching when students take a role in teaching and testifying to their peers.
• Get to know what is happening in the lives of the youth.
• a true teacher, once he or she has taught the facts and the students gain the knowledge, takes them a step farther to gain the spiritual witness and the understanding in their hearts that bring about the action and the doing.
• “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? …
  “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
  “Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:35, 38–39).

September...

It seems weird that another school year has started, and I didn't start going to school. I am however still teaching preschool, which means that I had many children move up to the pre-k class and I got a much younger class. Next week should actually be a challenge because I am getting a difficult child. It should be okay. Chris will be starting an online class soon and I am excited for him to be starting some school finally.
My mom and I spent Saturday evening working on a fun Halloween project and am excited to see it finished. It is my first project of this sort I have done, I will put pictures up when it is done. I also am excited because yesterday Chris and I spent a majority of the day cleaning up the craft room and making it usable. So now I have a really nice workspace and I will be much more motivated to work on my scrapbook, and on the quilting projects that I want to do. It is nice to have a zone that I can work on my projects in and leave them out with out the house being a great big mess.
It is nice to be close to my family for a change. We are looking forward to a trip down to see family in California, and Nevada for Thanksgiving. It should be a very fun trip to see everyone!

The Cake: A Year Later

I thought that a before and after picture might be nice. Although you cannot see the beautiful detail in this picture very well. It was beautiful! It still looks amazing concidering it has been in my parents freezer for a year. It is very exciting, and I am incredibly lucky to have such an amazing husband!

August 25, 2007

August 25, 2008

Summer Adventures

Hi Everyone! I just wanted to update my blog. I will try to write more here soon, however I have posted a some new stuff (including pictures) on my other blog. You should be able to click on the title of this post and it will take you to it, otherwise there is a link on the right hand side and the blog is titled "It all Started With a Handshake." Anyways I hope all is well and please check out the other blog!

My New Quilt

This is the start of my new quilt, I still have a ways to go but I really like it so far.

Unfold

Sometimes there are lyrics that just touch me to the core. I found this song today on Myspace and it says so much and I have felt these feelings countless times in my life. I have struggled with overcoming my shy nature. I am improving in many area's but I still have such a hard time in others. I am blessed to have such safety with my husband. I just hope that someday I will not have to work so hard to "Unfold". The title of this post will take you to Marie Digby singing this song, she is definitly talented.

unfold :
by: Marie Digby

what i can remember is a lot like water
trickling down a page of the most beautiful colors
i can’t quite put my finger down on the moment
that i became like this...

you see i am the bravest girl
you will ever come to meet
yet i shrink down to nothing
at the thought of someone really seeing me
i think my heart is wrapped around
and tangled up in winding weeds

but i dont wanna go on living
being so afraid of showing
someone else my imperfections
and even though my feet
are trembling and every
word i say comes stumbling
i will bare it all... watch me unfold unfold

these hands that i hold
behind my back are bound and broken
by my own doing and i can’t feel
anything anymore i need a touch
to remind me i’m still real

but i dont wanna go on living
being so afraid of showing someone else my imperfections
and even though my feetare trembling
and every word i say comes stumbling

i will bare it all... watch me unfold
unfold my soul it’s dying to be free you see..
i can’t live the rest of my lifeso guarded
it’s dying to be free it’s up to me to choose...

what kind of life i leadbut i dont wanna go on living
being so afraid of showing someone else my imperfections
and even though my feet are trembling
and every word i say comes stumbling
i will bare it all... watch me unfold unfold

i will allow someone to love me
i will allow someone to love me.

Things Change...

One night can change your life. I went to bed on Thursday night and everything in life was mostly normal, very predictable. I was awoken on at 12:30am on Friday morning to a loud pounding on the door and Cooper barking at whoever it was. When Chris and I went down to the door we found in to be someone there repossessing our truck, which is current on it's payments. We were in complete and utter shock, because he had an order to take the truck and we had no clue why. we have since figured out the cause and if the bank had told us what we needed to give them the whole thing could have and should have been avoided. Instead they chose to steal our truck and then tell us there was a problem. It is just crazy to think that they can just decide to take a vehicle back whenever they want. The whole incident takes a long time to explain and we will be taking the company to court about the situation because we now have a 900.00 fee we have to pay to get our truck from the repo yard 2 hours away! The point that I want to make is that just because things seem like they are okay doesn't mean they are, and the opposite just because life seems to be terrible it does not mean it is. What will make or break a situation is how we as individuals choose to view and deal with the issues at hand. Chris and I have been actively making plans about how we think our life should go. I think that a few of the plans are going to be changing because our plans are not in line with Heavenly Fathers. At this point I am not at liberty to discuss the plan which is possibly going to change because we are still praying and contemplating. However it is exciting and I think that Heavenly Father is telling us that it is time. Life changes very quick and very rapidly, I just hope I can keep up. It can be so scary sometimes, but it is more than worth it. I am excited to live a full life on this earth with my husband and our families. This is definitely an exciting ride.