OK, so I am just basically going to summarize my Sunday in one word.
AWESOME!!! You thought I was going to say SUPER huh? ha ha
So at church, my first new friend in the state of Washington gave a talk, and it was pretty good. and then her husband spoke and I learned she is moving to Bainbridge and I almost started crying, even though its not that far away, its further than the two minutes that currently separates us.
But before that happened, I found out super mom was in my ward. Let me explain. So I have an awesome new friend in the ward, and her daughter was speaking today. Apparently she (the daughter) is on the shy side and speaking in sacrament meeting isn't on her list of all time favorite hobbies. It is on mine, but it wasn't always. Any way, so she was a little upset when she stepped up to the microphone to speak, well, a lot upset. She didn't seem to be able to go on. I was rooting for her. I wanted to hear her speak. I don't know her though, so I was sitting helplessly in the audience praying someone would know what to do. The bishop and his councilors uttered words of encouragement, that I believe from my seat appeared only to result in more tears and frustration. Then out of no where, a very amazing mom who I didn't notice had been seated on the stand to help her daughter popped up, well ducked up behind her, and uttered just the right words of encouragement. The girl stepped back, took a breath and read her talk so well it didn't sound like she was reading it, nervous, or any way affected by the beginning trauma.
Wow!! I sat in my seat awed. What a perspective, loving and amazing mom. As the girl finished her talk, she took her seat next to her mom on the stand, and her mom gave her a hug and more words of encouragement. If I'm ever a mom I hope I do that. I hope I know my kids well enough to know just what to say, to be aware of there challenges, and to be there for them when they need me, in just the way they need me. I found it completely inspiring.
After that, I went and taught my primary class the most amazing lesson I have ever taught in primary. We kind of have free reign as to what lesson we choose to do these two weeks before Christmas, and I got this Idea, and cleared it with one of the primary presidency that since last week we only talked about 7 verses in Moroni 10, that I wanted to cover the rest of them, on the Gifts of the Spirit. I had a genius idea. Inspired, I am sure, to tie it into Christmas gifts. So this morning I got up early and wrapped up pictures of scripture stories, apostles, prophets, and other objects that represented the gifts of the spirit mentioned in the verse. Then I wrapped up my baby Jesus from my Creche and well, it all weighted about 25 lbs. it was heavy.
But we opened each one, discussed the objects relation to the scriptures, then I ended with John 3:16, and how Christ is the greatest gift we have received from God, and then back to Moroni 10 where it says all good gifts come from Christ. I actually kept their attention for the entire lesson. It was awesome, and I am glad I followed the prompting to teach it that way, because I think I may have actually reached them today.
On a last note, in my last post I encouraged all of you to check out the churches new website www.mormonsandgays.org . Not wanting to be a hypocrite, I went and not only checked it out, but watched every single video on there, and read each section. I think it is a great site. It is a balance of maintaining the importance of living gospel standards, but encourages with a message of love and compassion to those struggling with same sex attraction within and without of the church. It also encourages greater love and understanding from those in the church NOT struggling. It shared the experiences of many people in the church who's lives have been touched by this issue in one way or another. In this day and age, I think we all have. The video testimonials of Elder Christofferson, and Elder Oaks were inspiring, and the messages of hope of those willing to share their stories were also great, the thing I enjoyed the most though was Elder Cook sharing his experiences from his time serving as a Bishop and Stake President in San Francisco, the people he met, and the impact it had on his life. It was very touching. I encourage you all once again to take a moment and take a look at it. If you do nothing else, watch Elder Cooks video.
Happy Sunday and Happy Christmas to all!!
AWESOME!!! You thought I was going to say SUPER huh? ha ha
So at church, my first new friend in the state of Washington gave a talk, and it was pretty good. and then her husband spoke and I learned she is moving to Bainbridge and I almost started crying, even though its not that far away, its further than the two minutes that currently separates us.
But before that happened, I found out super mom was in my ward. Let me explain. So I have an awesome new friend in the ward, and her daughter was speaking today. Apparently she (the daughter) is on the shy side and speaking in sacrament meeting isn't on her list of all time favorite hobbies. It is on mine, but it wasn't always. Any way, so she was a little upset when she stepped up to the microphone to speak, well, a lot upset. She didn't seem to be able to go on. I was rooting for her. I wanted to hear her speak. I don't know her though, so I was sitting helplessly in the audience praying someone would know what to do. The bishop and his councilors uttered words of encouragement, that I believe from my seat appeared only to result in more tears and frustration. Then out of no where, a very amazing mom who I didn't notice had been seated on the stand to help her daughter popped up, well ducked up behind her, and uttered just the right words of encouragement. The girl stepped back, took a breath and read her talk so well it didn't sound like she was reading it, nervous, or any way affected by the beginning trauma.
Wow!! I sat in my seat awed. What a perspective, loving and amazing mom. As the girl finished her talk, she took her seat next to her mom on the stand, and her mom gave her a hug and more words of encouragement. If I'm ever a mom I hope I do that. I hope I know my kids well enough to know just what to say, to be aware of there challenges, and to be there for them when they need me, in just the way they need me. I found it completely inspiring.
After that, I went and taught my primary class the most amazing lesson I have ever taught in primary. We kind of have free reign as to what lesson we choose to do these two weeks before Christmas, and I got this Idea, and cleared it with one of the primary presidency that since last week we only talked about 7 verses in Moroni 10, that I wanted to cover the rest of them, on the Gifts of the Spirit. I had a genius idea. Inspired, I am sure, to tie it into Christmas gifts. So this morning I got up early and wrapped up pictures of scripture stories, apostles, prophets, and other objects that represented the gifts of the spirit mentioned in the verse. Then I wrapped up my baby Jesus from my Creche and well, it all weighted about 25 lbs. it was heavy.
But we opened each one, discussed the objects relation to the scriptures, then I ended with John 3:16, and how Christ is the greatest gift we have received from God, and then back to Moroni 10 where it says all good gifts come from Christ. I actually kept their attention for the entire lesson. It was awesome, and I am glad I followed the prompting to teach it that way, because I think I may have actually reached them today.
On a last note, in my last post I encouraged all of you to check out the churches new website www.mormonsandgays.org . Not wanting to be a hypocrite, I went and not only checked it out, but watched every single video on there, and read each section. I think it is a great site. It is a balance of maintaining the importance of living gospel standards, but encourages with a message of love and compassion to those struggling with same sex attraction within and without of the church. It also encourages greater love and understanding from those in the church NOT struggling. It shared the experiences of many people in the church who's lives have been touched by this issue in one way or another. In this day and age, I think we all have. The video testimonials of Elder Christofferson, and Elder Oaks were inspiring, and the messages of hope of those willing to share their stories were also great, the thing I enjoyed the most though was Elder Cook sharing his experiences from his time serving as a Bishop and Stake President in San Francisco, the people he met, and the impact it had on his life. It was very touching. I encourage you all once again to take a moment and take a look at it. If you do nothing else, watch Elder Cooks video.
Happy Sunday and Happy Christmas to all!!
No comments:
Post a Comment