patches

i was patching my favorite pair of jeans today.   i love these jeans!   i inspected them and kept finding places that needed little reinforcements before they tore out.   i am determined to continue patching these jeans until i am patching patches and there is nothing left but patches.   in an effort to better use my time, i was also listening to a talk by craig a. cardon entitled, the Savior wants to forgive

i took me until the end of the talk to realize the object lesson in this.  

"Peter once inquired how many times he should forgive his brother and then asked, “Till seven times?” Surely that would be more than enough. But the Savior’s response opened wide the door to His merciful heart: “I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven."

i realized that i was doing for my jeans, is what the Savior does for our spirits through the Atonement.   he patches, and patches, and patches, and patches.

as i was finding those thin spots, and applying some backing to strengthen them, i realized the same thing happens in our spirits as well.

"The Lord knows our weakness and the eternal consequences of “the world” upon imperfect men and women. ".   

ether 12:27  And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.

 God strengthens us, He sees the weak spots and will bolster us so that those places do not completely wear through.     of course, we have to do our part.   like my jeans, passing through the heat of my iron, we have to read, pray, have faith, all of those simple primary answers that just seem too easy to have any effect.   all of those things put a patch on our weak spots.   the simple, daily things that God has asked us to do, strengthen us.    the Atonement repairs us.   Christ wants to patch us up, heal our souls, because he loves us.   He loves us more than i could ever love my jeans that i am putting so much work into.   He does so much more than patch.      

i don't know how crafty you are, but if you have ever have to patch a pair of pants, a tire, a stuffed animal, a roof, or anything else, use that moment to teach and learn something deeper.



the references for the underlined quotes from brother cardons talk
Matthew 18:21–22; emphasis added; see also Luke 17:1–4.

Doctrine and Covenants 64:2; emphasis added.

1 Nephi 20:9–11; Doctrine and Covenants 24:2; 50:41; 63:47;108:1–8.

snap back

there was a missionary that always had d rubber band around his wrist.   finally i asked him why.   he said that when things were tough and he was having a hard time or beginning to whine, he would pull it and snap himself.   it reminded him that things could be worse and that the painful times only last a little while.  just like the snapping of a rubber band.   it really hurts for a second but then it's gone with in moments.   it doesn't seem so bad once it's over.

through the button hole

we had the missionaries over for family home evening last night.   what a blast!

we used the games i wrote about here - missionary games.   we also gave them a positive packet that i describe here - perpetual positive propulsion packet.   in their packet, and as one of the activities while we ate, i gave them this object lesson.   i found the basic idea here - http://agwebservices.org/Content/RSSResources/Spain_MissionsObjectLesson.pdf

of course, i tweaked it a bit.

i wanted something that they could take with them and use on their mission, in life, family etc.    the original uses paper but i wanted it sturdy.   i thought about fabric but had no time, my sewing machine is not running and i was afraid that the fabric would give too much and thus , not really get the point across.   so, i used one of my favorite, go to, fixer upper, do it all, resources - duct tape!

i tore a piece about 10 inches long, folded it over, (probably the hardest part of this craft), and cut.   make sure that your holes at the bottom are not too big.   a slit or little oval is better than a hole.   it only needs to be as large as the center strip you cut.    i think the one you see laying out flat is the one that had a too large hole and i had to quickly make another one for my industrious missionary that was able to get his button out of the hole.

the buttons were fun to do and i probably overdid just because i like to crochet.   my excuse is that i wanted to make something sturdy.   that's my story and i'm sticking with it.


you could use buttons, sticks, pieces of wood, bottle caps or can tabs as long as your hole is smaller that what you use.  you may notice that my string is much shorter than the one in the original site.   my son was able to pull the string over the top and get the thing off that way.  even with the strings so short as i made them, one missionary got his off that way.   ok, so there is more than one way to solve a problem.  here's a basic on how i crocheted the buttons together.   just a tiny hook and pull the yarn through the holes.   i did 20 stitches between the buttons and it turned out about right.

 i let the boys struggle with these and listened to the conversations.   when someone thought they had it figured out, they would hide it under the table so no one else could see.   one young man got the buttons off but wasn't sure if he got it right and wanted to know how i had done it.  i showed him because he asked.

the object of the lesson is a bit more than the thought on the original site.  i told them that everyone is handed problems in life, everyone has struggles.   we have to do all we can to solve them.   we also know that it is possible, no matter how impossible it seems, God always provides a way.   then i pointed out that most of them had not asked for help.   i pointed out that we have to help each other in our troubles.   we all laughed about the helping each other in times of trouble because they had been really secret about their discoveries.   they had a little ah-ha moment about the way they had been teasing each other and telling each other not to cheat.   it was all fun and very light.  we all laughed about the lesson compared to the behavior.   i don't think ah-ha moments need to be serious all the time.  

i truly just kind of went with the spirit on this lesson, i had a basic idea and just went with whatever came out of it.

here's the finished product, (you can see that i did not measure in any way shape or form).    i hope you have fun with it and can use it in your object lessons.  

here's a quick how-to on getting the buttons on and off.   pull the center strip through the hole.   push the buttons through to get them on or pull them out to get them off.   that's all there is to it.   super simple once you know how.

what's on your sunday?

we had the missionaries over the other day and were talking about object lessons.   this one came up and i thought i would share.

the teacher comes in and sets down a box of ice cream and asks who wants some.  (our missionary happened to volunteer and pointed out that his birthday had just past so he should get to help out with this lesson.)   the teacher put some ice cream in a bowl and then asked what his volunteer's favorite sport was.  basketball - ketchup on the ice cream.   what's your favorite music? rock - mustard on the ice cream.   hobbies, books, games, all resulted in things pepper, salt, pickles etc being put on the ice cream.  the point being, the although all these things are good, and have a time and a place . . . they just don't belong on your sunday.

i love the play on words.   i'm wondering if he would have gotten some chocolate for his book had he said the scriptures or something.   obviously, our sunday is not the place for every other day things.

a light in the dark

i heard an intersting comparative in church today.   it was mentioned briefly to illistrate doc. & cov. 45:7  
for verily I say unto you that I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the light and the life of the world - a light that shines forth in the darkness and the darkness comprehendeth it not.    I've been rolling this around in my head all day and it has gained more and more meaning.   i have gained different points of perspective on it.   it has been opening up new possibilities of object lessons all day.  

i have expanded the brief idea and i'm including my few thoughts for object lessons.   you could use a candle in a candle holder or a little Christmas house with a light in it.  

think about a house in the middle of the darkest night.  the house has lights on inside.   if you open the door, the dark does not come in, instead, the light shines out.   the dark can not come into the light.   the light wins and penetrates the darkness every time.   scientifically, darkness does not exist, it is only the absence of light.


now, compare this to God's light.   satan cast himself out of the light, he is in the absence of God's light.

how about being in the world and not of it?   we can shine into the light without stepping into it.

the Holy Ghost being in more than one place at a time.   people in different places can see the lights in the house all at the same time, the house does not move, but the light radiates.   the sun has been used to illustrate this as well.   half the earth can see and feel the sun all at the same time, the sun sits still but still affects half the earth all at once.   the Holy Ghost does not withdraw, we simply turn away from it.

don't think of yourself as being in the dark, but rather in an absence of light.   you can change that!   this is amazing missionary thought.

how about that same line of thinking just with positive thinking?   there may be negative darkness all around you but you can shine positive light into it.

God's love is always extended to us.   we may move away from the light, but the house and the light stay put, with an open door, waiting for us to come back inside, and into the light. 

growing faith

we had a really wonderful lesson in church on sunday.   i asked if i could take a picture before she took it down so i could use it for family home evening.   she gave me the whole thing!    score for mom's fhe lesson!

it's obviously in german so i'll translate as best as i can.   i think you can figure out the gist of it with the pictures and scripture references too though.   this is a great planting the garden lesson too.

our teacher started out with a quick skit where she asked a farmer what kind of crops he had.    he told her a bout a wonderful crop that could be used for all sorts of things.   making plastic, eating, yada, yada.  . . the soy bean.   Here are few references for soybean uses - north carolina soybean counsel, history and uses of the soybean, american soybean council.

obviously, the fruits of faith far exceed the uses of a soy bean but it's a great example.   you could take the lesson that direction as well.   what are the many "uses"or fruits of faith?   peace, guidance, forgiveness, strength.     lds.org faith scripture references

  

alma chapter 32  

5 Schritte zu einem festen Glauben - 5 steps to a firm belief or faith

Maßnahme - actions, operations, things to do

 27 But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than ^adesire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words.

this is the flowr pot.   give the gospel a place.   how do you do that?   by giving it time for prayer, scripture study, family home evening, 

Christ's childhood

yesterday, i gave my first talk since moving to a new ward.   i thought i was safe for a while more since we moved to germany and my german really stinks!   not so!   i was told that i was welcome to ask someone to translate for me.   that was an odd experience in itself.   i gave my talk one sentence at at time and then waited after each sentence for my friend to translate it.   there were a few words she wasn't sure what to use but the people sitting on the stand behind us helped.  anyway, i had help from friends but the thing that really inspired me was this friend magazine article from 1979.
 http://www.lds.org/friend/1979/12/jesus-once-was-a-little-child?lang=eng

When I think of Christ and His life, I often find myself thinking about His childhood. We don't know a lot about His childhood but it is a special part of His story to me. It was His time to learn and prepare. Just as our lives are our time to learn and prepare. We are still children compared to Him. And we are His children.

In Luke 2:40 and 52 it says “And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him. ” , “and Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man.”. I would like to break this down and talk about each part.

“And the child grew” also from verse 52 “and Jesus increased in stature”– as every one of us is born into mortal life, Jesus was born to a mortal mother. He had birthdays, learned to walk and talk and play. He ran and played and did chores. He learned from his parents and the world around him. Being the son of a carpenter, he learned hard work. He also learned of splinters and motes and beams. He learned that you must be able to do something yourself before you can teach it to someone else. He used these boyhood lessons from Joseph’s workshop to teach the masses later in life.

He “waxed strong in spirit” – Jesus was taught to pray and learned the scripture stories. He also learned lessons of the spirit from the everyday things around him. I'm sure Jesus learned from watching his mother take care of the family and the house. He learned the importance of leavening in the bread she made for their family to eat. As His mother fed the family, Jesus also learned the importance of feeding the spirit.

“and Jesus increased in wisdom” and was “filled with wisdom” Of course, Jesus was taught by His parents and teachers. One of the things he must have been taught was about money. I think we all teach our children about finances. While we may struggle to simply balance our budgets, make good spending choices and learn the value of working for a living, Jesus saw lessons about gifts of God or talents, justice and mercy, and eternal perspective and rewards.

Jesus continues to learn “and increase in wisdom” throughout His childhood. He learned about obedience watching the sheep in the fields. He learned about the love and care a person has for those they serve and protect by watching the shepherds in those same fields. He learned about stubbornness from watching the strong willed goats that he later compares to the disobedient. I know this analogy gained new meaning for me when we owned some goats who refused to stay within the safety of their fences.

The child Jesus saw spiritual meaning in the olive trees, the vineyards, and the fishermen on the sea. He grew in wisdom because he looked deeper than the surface of things and saw lessons in the entire world around Him.

The next piece of the scripture is “the grace of God was upon Him” - the grace of God is defined as being divine help or strength in the bible dictionary. We know that angels ministered to him in his adulthood and protected him in his childhood. His divine grace is available to each of us as well. God strengthened Jesus the boy, so that He could accomplish the things He had to do as a man. Christ now does the same for us. He strengthens us and helps us. Sometimes we don’t recognize the help because it doesn't come in the form of angels or thunderous miracles. We know that the Mary and Joseph were selected especially for their mission of raising the Son of God. So too, our families are a precious gift to us. Our own families should be a help and strength to us. We must recognize them as the gift from God, the support system that they are given to us to be. We must be the great strength and support to our families that we are meant to be. Jesus often spoke of and gave special attention to families. He talked of the good gifts of a parent, great joyful weddings, the receiving of the prodigal son, and brothers working their father's fields. He raised the dead to show mercy to grieving families. His own cousin paved the way for Him and baptized Him. I think one of the most important things Jesus learned as a child, was love in His family.

Lastly, “Jesus grew in favor with God and with man” I see a boy who saw the teachings of His Father He saw gospel principles in all the world around Him. He was able to see how those things meant something to the people around him as well. Thus he was able to relate to and gain favor with God and man. Now we come to the question, “How does this help me?”. Although I understand the sheep and goats, and I see the value of work and money, I don't understand olive trees, or vineyards or boats full of men throwing nets into the sea. Jesus was kind enough to explain all of these things to us, and when we pray, he will teach us in our understanding. But here is the lesson that I have gained from Jesus' childhood - When we look for the spiritual lessons in the world around us, we can learn, and teach, and find ways to relate to God and the people around us the way He did.

I'd like to share a couple of examples from our family's proverbs. We talk about faith and testimonies when we plant and care for our garden. We talk about being prepared and following the prophets when we preserve the food we harvest.

We discussed the naughty goats and the safety of their fences and the calm easily led sheep at our friend's house. When we built a small garden wall, we talked about our family, naming things like kindness and service, empathy and obedience with each stone we placed. We decided that the concrete holding our family together was love.

We talked about our cell phones and the gift of the Holy Ghost. I was surprised at some of the wonderful comparisons our family came up with during that lesson.

One of the kids favorite parables involves cinnamon bites. They have come up with several parables that go along with it's preparation and baking in order to have them as the treat on family night. They have become adept at finding a spiritual lesson to go along with any treat or activity they want to do. While many of their stretching observations have amused me, all have had merit and have been a good spiritual lesson.

To me, this ability to find God in all things, to be able to bring the spirit into everything you do, to me, this is wisdom. This is what I think of when I think of the boy Jesus playing with his friends and siblings. Running and jumping and climbing trees. Watching sheep and fishermen, helping his parents, and talking to his father in Heaven. May we all see the lessons of the spirit in everything around us. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.