[blows my mind!]

[source: found on Pinterest]

Moses 1:33

And worlds without number have I created...

[another great book]

Yes, I often have multiple books on the go. :)

This book has a chapter on 52 questions in the Book of Mormon. I was reading about the question "Have ye inquired of the Lord?" last night and I like what it says about how sometimes when we ask God something, He doesn't give a "yes" or "no" answer but kind of leaves us to figure it out on our own. Here's a quote from the book:

"But what about a yellow light? What about when we pray and do not receive a clear "yes" or "no"? We may receive a "maybe" answer - or no response at all. Does that mean the Lord doesn't care about us or that the question we are struggling with is not important enough for Him to guide us? Although we often interpret "yellow light" answers [versus red or green light] in this way, those may not be the messages God intends. Instead of viewing a yellow light answer as evidence that God is distant and doesn't care about us or our concerns, one possibility is that we may view it as evidence that God trusts us. We've made good decisions before, and He knows we can make good decisions again. Other possibilities are that perhaps the Lord wants us to gather more information or that the timing is not right.

Elder John H. Groberg taught, "Because the Lord knows we need the growth, He generally does not point out the clear direction. But if a decision is wrong, He will let us know - we will feel it for sure. I am positive of that. So rather than saying, 'I will not move until I have this burning in my heart,' let us turn it around and say, 'I will move unless I feel it is wrong.'"

Here are couple more quotes from the "Soft-Spoken Parent" book:

[omit anger from your life]

I have only read one chapter of this book so far but I can already tell this will be one of my favorite books ever. 

As parents, we often justify our angry outbursts towards our children when they aren't listening or if they aren't doing what they are supposed to be doing.

But anger does NOT help our children to respond positively and it really is just a destructive way to force our children to "do what they are told".

There is a much better way and this book shows you how.

The gospel way is ALWAYS the best way. Always.

Here is just one quote to start with but I'm sure I will be sharing many more in the future.

"Experience teaches me that when I have been angry, I am quite sure I did not have the Holy Ghost, and I was not in any proper condition to administer reproof. It took me quite a long while to learn that. When I became excited, fanatical, and over-zealous, I mistakenly thought it was the Spirit of the Lord, but have learned better, as the Holy Ghost does not operate that way. My testimony is that the internal fruits of the Holy Ghost are joy, peace, patience, long suffering, and kindness."

J. Golden Kimball

One more:

[more charity hearts]

Here are the next CHARITY HEARTS.

Just copy and paste the photos into a Microsoft Word document and print them out on card stock to be used in Family Home Evening or any other lesson.

[banner]

A free banner to print out. My gift to you.

How to use my freebies.

You can make the banner as large or small as you wish. I formatted three columns on a Microsoft Word document = 9 flags on a page (margins: 0.3"). You can print these on colorful card stock too.

Just print out the flags, use a paper cutter to cut them out, fold the top edge under, snip away the little triangles that show from behind, tape the flags to some cotton yarn. I like my banners simple but you can embellish the banner as much as you'd like.

I use painter's tape to attach these on the wall so the paint doesn't peel off.

Bonus: President Hinckley's 6 B's + his extra 3 B's. I was trying to find the source for the extra B's but wasn't successful. But here is the talk about the 6 B's:

President Hinckley's 6 B's talk

["Valentine's Day theme" FHE]

February is all about LOVE, right? I made these hearts for our Family Home Evening. These are just the first ones. I'll come and add the rest as I'll make them. We'll be talking about LOVE all month.

Tonight we talked about how it is a commandment to love everyone, not just "a friendly suggestion". Then we read 1 Corinthians 13: 1-4 and talked about in detail what each aspect of charity means. We'll do the rest of the charity (=LOVE) verses during next FHEs, plus other LOVE themed scriptures and stories.

Tonight we ended the discussion with this scripture from Moroni 7. We talked about how there are two things we can do to acquire charity:

1. Pray to Heavenly Father with all the energy of heart to be filled with this kind of love.

2. Be a true follower of Jesus Christ.

[a story of forgiveness]

This story really touched my heart today, as I am struggling to deal with some people I have to work with, who are making my life very stressful and difficult.

Corrie ten Boom, a devout Dutch Christian woman, found such healing despite having been interned in concentration camps during World War II. She suffered greatly, but unlike her beloved sister Betsie, who perished in one of the camps, Corrie survived.

After the war she often spoke publicly of her experiences and of healing and forgiveness. On one occasion a former Nazi guard who had been part of Corrie’s own grievous confinement in Ravensbrück, Germany, approached her, rejoicing at her message of Christ’s forgiveness and love.

“‘How grateful I am for your message, Fraulein,’ he said. ‘To think that, as you say, He has washed my sins away!’

“His hand was thrust out to shake mine,” Corrie recalled. “And I, who had preached so often … the need to forgive, kept my hand at my side.

“Even as the angry, vengeful thoughts boiled through me, I saw the sin of them. … Lord Jesus, I prayed, forgive me and help me to forgive him.

“I tried to smile, [and] I struggled to raise my hand. I could not. I felt nothing, not the slightest spark of warmth or charity. And so again I breathed a silent prayer. Jesus, I cannot forgive him. Give me Your forgiveness.

“As I took his hand the most incredible thing happened. From my shoulder along my arm and through my hand a current seemed to pass from me to him, while into my heart sprang a love for this stranger that almost overwhelmed me.

“And so I discovered that it is not on our forgiveness any more than on our goodness that the world’s healing hinges, but on His. When He tells us to love our enemies, He gives, along with the command, the love itself.”¹

Corrie ten Boom was made whole.

(From a talk given by Timothy J. Dyches.)