I Love Church!

Sundays, lately have been such a drag....with two of our four children not wanting to go to class. We've tried everything from sitting with them, giving them a week or two with us, bringing toys or blankets, bribing with treats after if they go and nothing has been working! So, last Sunday, I laid down the law! I told them that primary is where they need to be and they would go and we would not be able to stay with them or them stay with us no matter what! How's that for being mean! Dan and I decided that the older girls would take them to primary instead of us. Also, this week I went to the gym during the day a few times and compared it to taking them to primary. I would always come back and they needed to stay and enjoy themselves. The gym is great, they keep the kids while they are crying and weepy instead of taking them to the mom the second they start crying. During primary, the second the kids get sad, they bring them to us and that is frustrating! To make a long story short, they stayed in primary yesterday! I was so excited! Joe came to my room after church was over and exclaimed "I LOVED CLASS AND I DIDN'T EVEN CRY!" I was so excited that I gave them cookies I had brought for my class and just flipped out all afternoon about how proud of them I was for going to church! Last night as I was telling them again for the fiftieth time how great it was they went to primary...Joe said "I love primary, I love singing and I just love church, I love it, mom!" We all started laughing. He's so cute!

My class yesterday was awesome! I love teaching these 14 and 15 year old girls! I had my team teacher in the class with me as well as the YW counselor and then I had the bishopric member come in and normally these things intimidate me a little but it didn't yesterday. My lesson was on "Living the Gospel Daily". I read my lesson earlier in the week and then thought about it all week. I don't know about you but every once in a while do you just find yourself having internal struggles? I did this week, about many things. I won't go into details because it's just too personal, but I had a terrible week! Nothing to do with anyone else but myself....so needless to say living the gospel daily was sort of a struggle for me. Anyway, I was slightly worried about my lesson but as always, I enjoy getting a discussion going and it takes the focus off of me and puts it back on the wonderful girls! We talked about 6 ways we can stay close to the Lord.
1-Love - Two greatest commandments, love the Lord and love your neighbor
2-Prayer - Sincere prayer is the heart of a happy productive life. Prayer strengthens faith.
3-Service - To serve others willingly and unselfishly should be one of our greatest virtues. It is not even a matter of choice. It is an obligation, a sacred command...(I love that!)
4-Obedience - There is only ONE way to achieve true joy and lasting happiness...and that is through obedience to the commandments of God.

*This one sparked great discussion. The bishopric counselor and leaders had some great questions...some of which were "do you find it hard to obey the commandments, if so, why?" "Why should we obey?" "Do you find the commandments to be restrictive, if so why?" The girls really gave some great answers! They talked about the pressure to listen to bad music, speak unkindly, word of wisdom, boys, being kind to those who are not kind to us, etc. I told these girls that the commandments are a PROTECTION to us and keep us SAFE! I told the girls of my experience teaching the 13 year olds when I was only18 and that the manual mentioned the fact that at this age, the youth don't understand eternal perspective. I asked the girls if they knew what that meant. They didn't . I told them that it meant what choices they made now, affected them eternally! Sometimes we think that what we do will only affect us and no one else, but it affects everyone else! Looking at pornography will plague them for life! Not only will it put images in there minds that will never go away but even when they find forgiveness it will always be a temptation, it will affect they're marriage first and foremost and will also bring a great deal of worry to those close to them who know of they're problems and see they're struggles. All things they do will be some sort of and influence to others and will affect all those around them.

5-Study - When we follow the counsel of our leaders to read and study the scriptures, benefits and blessings of many kinds come to us...

We have a 100 day challenge to read the Book of Mormon. I presented the question "if we read the scriptures daily, are we obeying the commandment or if we read the scriptures and DO what the scriptures teach, are we obeying the commandment, then? Reading our scriptures alone will not "SAVE" us but making it an action will.

6- Work - "Energetic, purposeful work leads to health, achievement, clear conscience, and refreshing sleep." I asked the girls if it's difficult to "work"...they all agreed it's a drag. I asked them what they feel when they see a section of the yard weeded and groomed, or they're room super clean and organized or the effects of exercise and eating right. It makes our heart and soul feel refreshed and helps us feel energized. I told them my favorite thing to do is clean my room and then lay on my bed an take a nice long nap!

The last question I posed was "Will living close to the Lord eliminate all of our problems?" NO! but it will bring added peace, comfort, strenth and answers in time of need. We talked about serious problems that plague some youth around us and how doing these things will bring them closer to the Lord and help them as they endure these struggles in life.

I really was astounded that I had the spirit with me during this lesson as my week was so depressing, but it was an answer to my prayers. The Lord knows our struggles, He helps us and when we feel as though we're in the "depths of despair" (Anne Shirley), He clearly blesses us with his tender mercies and I felt that yesterday when I so desperately needed to!

So, how was your Sunday?