Showing posts with label Primary class. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Primary class. Show all posts

Monday, April 9, 2018

Sunday, April 8th, 2018

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
95th operating temple
Dedicated: 30 July 2000
By: James E. Faust

Jesus Christ Baptism of
John 1:32
And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon Him.
Book of Mormon
Mosiah 3:19-4:3
*What can I do to more fully yield "to the enticings of the Holy Spirit"?
- I can do the things that King Benjamin listed in Mosiah 3:19:
Become as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon me, even as a child doth submit to his father. 
Old Testament
Joshua 13-14
13 There remain some lands yet to be possessed - Some inhabitants are not expelled - The inheritances of Reuben, Gad, and one half of Manasseh are confirmed.
14 The land is divided by lot among 9 1/2 tribes - Caleb inherits Hebron as a special reward for his faithfulness.
Old Testament Favorite Scripture
Deuteronomy 6:5
And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
General Conference
Young Women in the Work
Sister Bonnie L. Oscarson
" Every young woman in the Church should feel valued, have opportunities to serve, and feel that she has something of worth to contribute to this work."



What should I pray for? Alma 13:28
But that ye would humble yourselves before the Lord, and call on His holy name, and watch and pray continually, that ye may not be tempted above that which ye can bear, and thus be led by the Holy Spirit, becoming humble, meek, submissive, patient, full of love and all long-suffering;

I got up at 4:47 to work on my Primary lesson. I got a little distracted when I was making wordstrips and I couldn't find my ruler because the drawer where I keep it was so messy, so I ended up cleaning out the drawer. Luckily I still had enough time to finish up my lesson on Jacob and Esau.

My clean drawer. I wonder how
long it will stay that way.

James always helps me carry in my supplies when we get to the church and he helps me set up my classroom. It certainly would be a lot harder to fulfill my calling without him. 

James and I came home from town yesterday afternoon around 12:30 and started our fast. We had a prayer to start. We are fasting and praying for moisture. There is a forecast of three months of drought but our land is in dire need of some moisture before the fire season begins at the end of May. We would hope that when we open our weather app and look at the two weeks forecast there will be some sign of moisture.

Dave, the guy we sold the water trailer to says there is a hole in it and it won't hold water. James assured him that he would pay to get it fixed. This is not good news as it may cost hundreds of dollars. Something else to pray for.

I bore my testimony in our fast and testimony meeting today. I felt prompted to share two examples of how general conference has helped me in the past year. The first example was regarding President Nelson's challenge in the April 2017 conference regarding studying the life of Christ using the 57 topical headings in the Bible's Topical Guide. There are many scriptures under these 57 headings. I am reading one a day. This has helped me to more fully appreciate the Savior's life and all he has done for me.
The second example was from the October 2017 conference. I shared with them how I read each conference talk each month and March was the sixth month in the cycle. James and I fasted for better health in March and Sunday afternoon after we broke our fast I was thinking about what I could do to improve my health. At the same time I was looking at the Ensign and read from the section Conference Notes, a summary of Sister Joy D. Jones's talk. A quote jumped out at me and touched my heart. This is the quote.
"If the love we feel for the Savior and what He did for us is greater than the energy we give to weaknesses, self-doubts, or bad habits, then He will help us over the things which cause suffering in our lives. He saves us from ourselves."
The thought came to me, which do I love more, the Savior or my Dr. Pepper 10. That thought, along with the promise that the Lord will help me, propelled me to action. I drank my last Dr. Pepper 10 and offered a prayer of help from the Lord so that I could improve my health. I have not had a soda of any kind for over a month. I know I could not have done this alone because I have tried before.
I will be eternally grateful to Sister Jones and hope that someday I can meet her and thank her. (Trina is good friends with her daughter, and has met Brother and Sister Jones.)

This month I am giving up sweets. At the end of the month I will re-evaluate how I want to handle sweets for the rest of my life.

These are the children who attended my Primary class today:
Liana, Andyn, Gracie, Colter, Kacey, Curtis, and Zemira. The last three are from the older class. Their teacher didn't show up.
In our lesson Esau is angry because of the deception that went on when Isaac gave Jacob his blessing. He says he is going to slay Jacob when he is through mourning the death of his father. 
Jacob is sent away to choose a wife from his mother's brother's family. He is gone for 20 years. When he returns he bows down to Esau and offers him gifts. Esau says he needs no gift and he meets him, embraces him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him: and they wept. (Genesis 33:4). This was my favorite part of the lesson.

I am doing away with my Primary Treasure Box. It has been good for Liana and Andyn but Colter just can't deal with the fact that he doesn't get anything because he doesn't do the work. I let him have something from the Treasure Box 2 because he says I "owed him for a time he did a paper." I have no recollection but I told him he could choose something anyway. I will do it this next week and that's it. Not a good spirit, too much contention...not what I wanted it to do. 

After the block Chuck Crane asked to meet with us. Next week I will have a new calling. I am not going to say what it is until after next Sunday. In a way I am excited for a change but I will so miss my dear sweet Primary children whom I have grown to love.

We got home, broke our fast, and had lunch and our naps. I laid down on the recliner and tried to listen to a talk by President Nelson from 1989 but I fell asleep so I will have to listen to it again tomorrow.

Stacy called me because she was lonely and hungry. I wish I was there to help her. She said Paul went to Church today and that Joshua bore his testimony. It went something like this: 
" I'd like to share a story with you about something that 
happened to me this week. 
I was at scouts the other night and we were reciting the
scout law and oath. My scout leader told me to
slow down and listen for the meaning of the words and
I would feel reverent. I thought to myself, how can I feel reverent?
Today during the sacrament I decided to slow down and to listen
to the words. I felt a feeling of reverence and I know
that my Savior and Heavenly Father love me."

What a sweet testimony. I hope he is able to keep it strong. I remember when Dallin used to bear his testimony every fast Sunday.

This evening I helped James get on Family Search. He started to enter our children and their spouses and came up with two Stacy's and couldn't get rid of one of them and I couldn't figure out how to do it either. Merging didn't work and there was no place to edit. Both Stacy's have the same ID number. We tried the help center but they weren't much help. Family Search is doing upgrades so I told him we should try again tomorrow and maybe we would get to talk to a live person. I am sad he had such a frustrating experience.

I asked for help with doing endowments for several names we have. Jared and Sheri responded. Thanks to them!

Today is James's sister Rebecca's birthday. He sent her a message on Facebook and then was afraid she wouldn't see it so he texted Brent because he didn't have Rebecca's number. He remembers that she was born on Easter Sunday and after his Dad went to visit her and his mom in the hospital in Gallup he came back and took all of the kids on a picnic. He says he loves that memory.

I got a text from Hailey today who moved to New Mexico. I was her visiting teacher and she thanked me for always coming to visit her even though she lived on a horrible road. She said the Church needs more "Sister Lambsons." She mad my day.

My friend Sandra asked for the quote I mentioned in my testimony so I sent her Sister Jones's quote.

Channy Arnett's daughter got married in Queen Creek yesterday and we were invited. Although I have never met her daughter I am sorry we couldn't go because I absolutely love the Arnett's.

Channy's daughter Shandra and
her husband.





This was taken on Saturday
during a soccer game.
This is Jared's post, obviously.

Our friends the Lueck's.
There kids have grown up!

Wow! Our friend Betty as a teenager!

I love the Arizona desert in the spring.
When we were down last week it still
hadn't bloomed. Is that because of the drought?


This is the bookmark I received from
the stake Primary presidency. I 
sent it to Stacy today because of
Joshua's testimony.








Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Sunday, April 23, 2017

Salt Lake Temple in the spring

Mosiah 15
* Can you find the words redeem, redeemer, redeemed, and redemption in this chapter. ( I found 11) Underline them.  These words are important to Abinadi's message.  Redeem means to release from debt or to set free by paying a ransom.
* What would happen to us without Christ's redemption?
3 Nephi 7-8
7 The chief judge is murdered, the government is destroyed, and the people divide into tribes - Jacob, an anti-Christ, becomes king of a secret combination - Nephi preaches repentance and faith in Christ - Angels minister to him daily, and he raises his brother from the dead - Many repent and are baptized. About A.D. 30-33.
8 Tempests, earthquakes, fires, whirlwinds, and physical upheavals attest the crucifixion of Christ - Many people are destroyed - Darkness covers the land for three days - Those who remain bemoan their fate. About A.D. 33-34.
DC 61:19-39
36 And now, verily I say unto you, and what I say unto one I say unto all, be of good cheer, little children; for I am in your midst, and I have not forsaken you;
How can verse 36 help us to remember that the Lord is always near?
General Conference
Let the Holy Spirit Guide
Elder Ronald A. Rasband
 "By divine assignment, the Holy Ghost inspires, testifies, teaches, and prompts us to walk in the light of the Lord."
Whatsoever He Saith unto You, Do It
Elder L. Whitney Clayton
When we decide to do "whatsoever God saith unto us,"
we earnestly commit to align our everyday behavior with 
God's will."


Today during Primary class I ask my kids if I could take a picture of them.  This is what I got:

Taylor should be in our class too:


My phone betrayed me during teacher council meeting today and began playing a song.  I had to go out in the hall to stop it.  I could have just turned the volume down but I could a little too rattled.

James did not make it to his meetings today but he felt better this afternoon.  We had 11 elk in our backyard.  They saw us looking at them through the window and got a little skittish but ended up staying.  James watched them for a long time and finally scared them off because one of the yearlings kept eating leaves off one of his apple trees.  He had sprayed them but the elk would chew on it and then spit it out.  He did this several times, so off they went.


While listening to Elder L. Whitney Clayton's conference address, a phrase stuck in my mind: "Simple daily practices of faith lead to miraculous events."  As a result I sent a text message to my kids reminding them that it is through obedience that we receive blessings.  I felt the Spirit very strongly and I was aware of Heavenly Father's love for me for one of the first times in my life.

Text Message 
As I was listening this evening to Elder L. Whitney Clayton's conference address, "Whatsoever He Saith Unto You, Do It," something was brought back to my memory, a miracle that occurred in my life.  I know I have told most of you about this miracle, but as I have pondered over it the last several weeks since it occurred, I have learned something very profound: The small things really are the big things.  Elder Clayton says it this way: "Simple habits of belief lead to miraculous events." 

Let me tell you about what happened when we stopped at a gas station in San Antonio and our car began making a terrible noice.  When Erik heard via cell phone the horrific noise our car was making he told us to stop driving it and have it towed right away.  When dad told me this I said no, we will be ok, drive on. For the first few miles on the freeway this loud clanging noise continued and then it stopped and our car was running smoothly again.  We have not had a problem since.  Oh, did I mention that I was praying continuously and talking to Heavenly Father about how important it was for us to be at Jared and Kacey's sealing.  This was their day and we did not want the distraction of worrying about getting our car fixed, and we could not afford a huge repair bill right now.  

When we returned to Chandler, Erik did a diagnostic test and said it looked like we had had a bad valve but everything was okay now. To me and Dad and Erik this was a miracle, a tender mercy of the Lord.  When Elder Clayton said "simple habits of belief lead to miraculous events," I though of all those early mornings of gospel study and prayer and I realized I was able to obtain this blessing because of my faithfulness.  I say that in all humility because without the Lord and His goodness I am nothing.  I have a testimony that if we strive to be obedient the Lord will bless us at the most opportune times.  I just wanted to share this with all of you whom I love so very much.  The Lord wants to bless us but he can only bless us when we are obedient. 

After scripture study, indexing, and blogging, James and I watched the season finale of "When Calls the Heart" this evening.  I love this show. Although I was a little disappointed that Mounty Jack didn't return from fighting in the Northwest territories.


Random Photos:

Gorgeous!


Watching the hummingbirds
August 2013


Molly can be very entertaining!
She looks so little.

Addy and Lola
Three years ago

I love these two faces!






Monday, August 22, 2016

Sunday, August 14, 2016

That is my goal but I have a long ways to go.

Happy Birthday Joshua!
Ten candles make quite a blaze.
Joshua wanted to eat hamburgers with his brothers and
watch the newest Star Wars movie with these friends.


Just a couple of years ago we were at Joshua's baptism.
A happy day!

Alma 50:21-40
21 - The Nephites quarreling and contentions, and their murderings, their plunderings, their idolatry, whoredoms, and their abominations which were among themselves, which brought upon them their wars and destructions.
22 - Those who were faithful in keeping the commandments of the Lord were delivered at all times, while thousands of their wicked brethren were consigned to bondage or to perish by the sword or to dwindle in unbelief, and mingle with the Lamanites.
23 - There never was a happier time since the days of Nephi, among the Nephites than in the days of Moroni:(This pertains to the people in the Church).
26 - A warm contention arose in the 24th year between the people of Morianton and Lehi.  The people of Morianton took up arms against their brethren to slay them.
27 - The people of Lehi, who had done no wrong, appealed to Moroni.  
29 - Morianton convinces his people to flee to the land northward
35 - Teancum slays Morianton and defeats his army.
37 - Nephihah dies.
40 - Nephihah's son Pahoran becomes the cheif judge.

GC: "Always Retain a Remission of Your Sins" by Elder David A. Bednar

In our Primary class today our lesson was on "Samuel the Lamanite."  We have a new class member, Kaden Singleton, Nadine Singleton's grandson.  Zemira and Curtis were the only other ones in class today.  

In sacrament meeting Aaron Windsor, returned missionary from the Reno, Nevada, spoke.  Before the meeting Aaron told me he knew Vernon Lambson.  It's a small world.  Aaron said he went to the temple this past week to pray for guidance as to what to say today. 
He received the answer: "Testify of me."  He spoke on the Savior's Atonement and then shared an experience on his mission.  He was in a members home with his companion and they had just taught a discussion to an invesigator.  They had knelt down to pray and as Elder Windsor got up he looked into a mirror on the wall.  Instead of seeing his image, he saw the image of the Savior.  He was reminded that as a missionary he was the Savior's representative on the earth.  This was a powerful message to him that what he was doing was accepted of the Savior.  James said he thought of the scripture: "Have ye received His image in your countenance?"
Aaron acknowledge his weaknesses and says he doesn't know why he was given that experience, but he is grateful for it.

After the block today Zemira and I went to visit a boy in our class who does not attend, Cameron Kenyon.  We took him a plate of cookies and invited him to attend.  Cameron is a sweet boy and he said: "I am going to ask my dad to wake me up early so I can come."  

Zemira took home a plate of chocolate chip cookies for himself and his family.  He told me last week that they were his favorite.

This is my sister-in-law Laura's family tree.  
I want James to make me one for our family pictures.

James and Rick Lauritzen went home teaching this afternoon.  They visited Jerry and Millie Scott and Virgil Cooper.  Millie sent us some apricot pineapple jam and some apple butter.  Jerry encouraged James to read a book by Cleon Skousen called "The Cleansing of America."  James asked me to order it and I told him I already had it.  This made him happy!

I read a chapter from "The Painter's Daughter" to James.  I also read from "The Power of Everyday Missionaries", and "Christ in Every Hour."

It was a wonderful Sabbath day.  I will be leaving Vernon early on Tuesday to spend most of the week in the valley.  I can hardly wait to return.
The road to Vernon.




Sunday, June 7, 2015

Sunday, May 31, 2015

Liam on the floor doing our prayer reminder puzzle
 
Malachi was the best at figuring out the puzzles.  We were impressed and his dad said: "Oh, he does puzzles all the time"!
 
A young couple, newlyweds, Brittany and Dan Leavitt were the speakers in sacrament meeting today.  James talked to Dan afterwards and we decided we were probably related because we both have Leavitts in our family history.
 
After church I fixed bacon, eggs, and potatoes O'Brien for lunch/dinner.  We barely had time for a short nap before going over to Brian and Kim's for Joseph's graduation party. 
Contemplating his future
Joe with his "baby" and
Alex with Lola
We didn't stay long, because I felt so miserable.  Kim had lots of goodies but I didn't eat a thing.  You know I must not have felt well to pass up food. 
 
I went home and went to bed.