Church At Home

Janelle gave the lesson today. Since we already had a tent set up in the basement we thought it might be neat to have our lesson there since the lesson was on Mosiah 1-3 covering King Benjamin's sermon to his people gathered in tents. We had Janika and Brandon join in with us through a zoom call. Rick said that he LOVES having church at home and hopes that they continue having church at home once the social distancing mandates are lifted. I told him there was no way that was going to happen! After the lesson we went upstairs for the sacrament and then had a song practice. Later on tonight we all went and played soccer at the park (for Josh's birthday which was last Thurday). It was fun! 

  

Two Hour Church and Come Follow Me

I am absolutely loving TWO HOUR church!!! It is nice not having to prepare a YW lesson quite so often and I love getting home earlier. I also LOVE the new family centered "Come Follow Me" program! I have been impressed at how well the kids are doing on their lessons! We made a new FHE chart and then take turns with a different family member each week: Rick, Wendy, Janelle, Jaiden, Josh, and Jenna. When Janika and Brandon visited we had them take a turn too. Jase is almost always off at his YSA ward. The first time the younger kids had to do their assigned "Come Follow Me" lesson they complained that they didn't know what to do and I ended up spending a good hour or two with each one of them on their week helping them put together a lesson. This surprised me because it is not like they have never done a FHE lesson before!

Anyway, the second time their turns came around for "Come Follow Me" it was totally different. They didn't ask for any help at all and planned out a well thought out lesson! They just got busy working on their lesson and did an amazing job! Janelle and Jaiden made neat handouts with smart art for the family to reflect and fill out as part of their lesson. Josh and Jenna both made a powerpoint with Google slides that had quotes and pictures that pertained to the lesson. I was suprised at how well Jenna could summarize the scriptures stories on her Google Slides. We have really learned a lot from each other and it is amazing to see our children's teaching skills! I am grateful for the time we have had together as a family and I am grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ! 

Our Christmas Eve (2016)

Tonight we had our family's Christmas Eve. We had a yummy dinner of ham and cheesy potatoes (Janika made the cheesy potatoes and yummy salad).  Rick is always in charge of the Christmas Eve lesson/activity and he puts a lot of thought into it and always has something really cool prepared. This year he taught a really neat lesson about the ten Virgins, teaching about how half were ready for the Savior's arrival and half were not. We looked up a bunch of scriptures about the how various prophets testified of Christ's birth and asked what we would do if we knew Christ was coming in just a few days. We talked about preparing for Christ to come again and then watched the video on the ten virgins.  It was a great lesson! 

We then went to the kitchen and he brought out and authentic oil lamp from Israel and lit it. That got the kids attention and then he pulled out a little oil lamp for each member of the family and the kids eyes got really big. They were excited to get their own oil lamp. He poured olive oil into each one and each child would share a part of their testimony to another family member one at a time and then light their lamp. Josh shared his testimony about Faith and told the story about Enos and I shared an experience from after my mission when I had specific prayers answered and each of the kids shared their testimony with a personal experience or example from the scriptures.  We then sang a song together (this is the part where Jared tunes out -- he hates singing with the family). But other than that the spirit was present and it was a neat lesson.

We always have really cool Christmas Eve experiences like that.  At least Rick and I think they are pretty neat -- the kids are probably just anxious to open one of their presents -- another tradition. But they often talk about past Christmas Eve activities.  One of their favorites is when we dressed up in Nativity garb and had goat cheese and pita bread in tents in the basement and roasted S'mores in the wood burning stove. Anyway, the idea tonight was to go out and go caroling to some neighbors who might need some cheer and then give them one of the oil lamps to keep.  It was raining, however, and so we decided not to go caroling (much to Jared's relief). 

 

Two Week Update Aug 19-Sept 1

August 19: Classes started at Dixie which means back to teaching (Tuesday and Thursday afternoons) and interpreting two hours on Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays, plus subbing when available.  Janika also started at Dixie for her Concurrent Enrollment classes.  She has two classes on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings and one class on Tuesday and Thursday mornings.  She then goes to Tuacahn for the afternoons.

Tuesday I brought Jenna in for her preschool assessment.   I am in Scouts now and so I went to Pack Meeting Tuesday night at the park right after my ASL class.  Wednesday was interpreting for me and piano lessons for Janelle and Jared and dance for Jaiden.  Rick had his Back to School Night and I went to Jase's Back to School Night.

Thursday I had playgroup at our house and so I had 8 little girls ages five and under running around.  I made them some flubber and they had fun playing with it.  After they all left Jenna went to play with the new neighbor kids and then brought four neighbor kids back over to our house. Who knew that having just one little girl at home would mean an extra dozen kids over throughout the day!

Rick went to Jared's Back to School Night.  Friday I babysat our neighbor's kids for three hours and then interpreted for five hours.  Rick and I went out to dinner at Golden Corrall and everything tasted so good!

Saturday Jase went to a Cross Country meet at SUU in Cedar City.  I interpreted for a funeral and then went with Janika and Janelle to Natalie and Jocelyn Olson's baptism.  Jaiden went to a birthday party of a boy from school.  It rained much of the day today.  Rick and the kids worked really hard cleaning the house.  The kids kept whining about having to spend their entire Saturday working. Sunday included church and relaxing.  Josh and Rick gave a great FHE Lesson on Testimonies (see next post). 

August 26-Sept 1:  Monday Jase started Driver's Ed in the mornings from 6:30-8:00 a.m. and so he had to switch to afternoon practices for Cross Country -- running in the HEAT -- I don't envy him!   For family night we went to the park and played soccer.  Tuesday Josh wasn't feeling well and stayed home from school.  I had an afternoon appointment and then my class.

Janika, Jase, and Jared went boating at Sand Hollow with the Young Men/Women in the ward and had a blast.  There weren't a lot of kids and so they all got a lot of turns on the tubes.  It had rained a lot today and so we didn't know if they would get rained out but it ended up being fine.

Wednesday Janelle wasn't feeling well and stayed home from school.  This cold went through the four younger children.  In the evening I had the elementary school kids' SEP's including an hour meeting for Josh's class.  Then I went to straight to my visiting teaching appointments.  Thursday Jenna went to playgroup and I met a friend for lunch and had a nice visit.  I had two classes tonight with Jenna's preschool open house in between.

Friday I was in charge of Den Meeting for the Bears.  We learned about Tall Tales and I brought a whole bag of costumes for the boys to dress up like the various characters.  They enjoyed the costumes and acting out the stories.  Friday night Rick and I went on our weekly date.

Saturday Rick and I went to the funeral of Lavell Olson, a man from our deaf branch.  He was a sweet man and will be missed.  Our prayers go out to his sweet wife and kids.  We will miss Lavell, but it is wonderful to think about him finally free of all of the pain and health problems that has been plaguing him for so long.   

Josh went to a fun birthday party at Lincoln and Conrad Wainright's house where they had a giant blow up slip-n-slide.   Rick continued auditions for the carolers last Saturday and this Saturday.  We now have all of our girls but are still looking for more boys.

Sunday Sept 1:  Both Janelle and Jaiden accepted the challenge from our FHE lesson last week and bore their testimony during sacrament meeting.  After church we went over to the Deaf Branch for their potluck dinner.  We had been specifically invited by the Branch President and they honored our family for our years of service in the branch with a beautiful framed picture of the Savior and a sweet card signed by all of the members.  We were really touched! We enjoyed staying and visiting with everyone!

Family Home Evening Lesson

Rick and Josh put together this fun lesson on the five points of a testimony for FHE tonight.  They talked about what a testimony is and how to share a testimony.  They then challenged the kids to share their testimony next week at Fast and Testimony Meeting. 

Rick passed out the following paper to each of the kids along with gloves and pictures to make their "testimony gloves."

What is a testimony?

Means:  I want to talk about the church and about what I know to be true.  I can tell anyone who will listen.  Say what you know and how you know it.  I know_______because______________.

5 Points to a Testimony:

*I know that God is our Heavenly Father and that He loves us.
*I know that His Son, Jesus Christ, is our Redeemer and Savior.
*I know that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God.  He restored the gospel of Jesus Christ to the earth and translated the Book of Mormon by the power of God.
*I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the Lord's church on the earth today.
*I know that this church is led by a living prophet who receives revelation from God.

Attending General Conference

Rick, Janika (16), Jase (14), Jared (11), and Elder Lee left Friday at lunch time to drive up to Salt Lake in order to attend General Conference at the Tabernacle in Salt Lake City.  A few weeks ago Rick told me that he was able to get a few tickets for Conference and he wanted to take the older kids.  I had mentioned it to the kids and they expressed no interested whatsoever.  In fact they said they would rather watch conference on TV in their pajamas.  I told Rick about their reaction and he said that he would talk to them.  The next family home evening Rick posed the question, "How far would you go to see a prophet of God?"  The kids were quiet seeing where this was going.

He shared a couple of stories from the scriptures and then a personal experience about when he learned for himself that President Benson (the prophet at the time) was a true prophet of God.  I also had a similar touching experience when President Hinckley came to speak in our city several years ago.  The spirit was present as Rick shared his experience and the mood became more somber.  As he finished he quietly asked, "Now, who would like to come with me to hear the words of the prophet at General Conference?"  Janika, Jase, and Jared all raised their hands, as did some of the younger kids, but they were not invited on this excursion.  I hope that they were able to feel the spirit and receive a witness that we do indeed have a living prophet on the earth today.

Here are a couple pictures taken from Rick's cell phone...

They all went to Saturday's morning session and then Rick and Jase and Elder Lee came back for the Priesthood Session that night.  They made the long trek home Sunday morning and we all watched Sunday's afternoon session together down on our basement couch.  They said it was weird to think that they were actually there in that building just yesterday!  It was neat for Elder Lee.  He is from Texas and who knows when he will have this opportunity again.

Meanwhile I was home alone with the little ones trying to keep them all occupied and quiet so that I could watch the sessions.  I really relied on Janelle to be my little helper and babysitter.  After the weekend was over she said, "Boy it is tough being the oldest child!"  Janika was grateful that someone acknowledged what she has gone through for so many years!