Temple Experience FHE

As I've mentioned, we're working our way through the Family Proclamation this month, and this week we are focusing on temples.  

The Family Proclamation says, "Sacred covenants and ordinances available in holy temples make it possible for individuals to return to the presence of God and for families to be united eternally."

As I planned out our study of the Family Proclamation, I felt inspired to create a "temple experience" for my kids in our home.  I hoped this would be more of a sacred learning experience for them, and I'm so pleased that it worked out well.

I unfortunately didn't stop to take very many pictures of it, so I'll just try to describe it.

Using dining room chairs, we set our living room up sort of like an endowment room--with chairs in rows for us to sit in, facing our  wall-mounted TV screen.

As each child went into Dad's office for a "temple recommend" interview, the others sat in the rows of chairs and watched a slideshow that I made of pictures of our family visiting various temples There was soft hymns playing during the slideshow, and it created a nice, calm mood.

Each family member (who participated) came out of Dad's office holding an index card that both Steve and the child had signed.  The little kids, Honor in particular, seemed really pleased to get their faux-recommend.

We then had each child present their recommend to me, and I welcomed them to the "temple".

We then watched the video of Elders Bednar and Rasband giving us a virtual tour of the Rome, Italy temple.  In this video, they do a wonderful job talking about the role of Christ in all aspects of temple worships and explaining the process and purpose of each area of the temple.

The Rome temple is so beautiful!  I can tell that it touched my 4-year old Vall, and it brought a wonderful spirit to our home.  At one point, Val turned to me and asked if Jesus ever went there, and he kept referring to the magnificent chandeliers as "icicles"!

When the video ended, we discussed what we saw, how we felt, what we learned, and fielded questions.  We talked about how everyone dresses the same in the temple and how that promotes unity.  I thought it was neat that they point out that every bride gets to dress in the same beautiful bride's room.  No matter your worldly status, all are equal in the temple.

We then showed one more video.  This one explains and shows the temple ceremonial clothing and the temple garments worn by adult members of the church who have made sacred covenants in the temple.  

I like how at the beginning of the video they mention the sacred clothing worn by religions the world over.  Our sacred clothing is simply worn privately, under our clothing, but serves a similar purpose, to remind us of the promises we've made with God.

Recently, we've been taught (see Elder Bednar's talk here) that we need to teach our children more about the temple in our home.  These videos really make it easier for us to know how to appropriately share what we know and love about the temple and about making and keeping sacred covenants.  In the home and in the family is a beautiful setting for these discussions.

One question that was asked was what happens if someone is upset that they can't enter the temple (except during the open house)?  We talked about how the Lord allows each of us to learn and grow at our own pace.  We are expected to keep God's commandments before we enter his holy places and make sacred covenants.  If we enter before we're ready it really wouldn't help us at all, because we wouldn't appreciate it or hold it sacred.

To end the night, we answered a few more questions about the ceremonial clothing.  Scarlett said that our discussion made her more excited to go to the temple.  

We talked with Autumn about her relationship with the temple. Autumn became eligible to attend the temple over a year ago, but because of the pandemic, still hasn't gone!  What is neat about her story is that when it was time for her temple recommend interview back in January 2020, she showed great seriousness in preparing herself for the interview by studying President Nelson's General Conference talk where he shares just what those interview questions are.  We know that more than going to the temple, our willingness to be worthy to attend the temple is what matters most to the Lord.  The change in who we are is the goal, not just the act of attending His temples.  I expect that when Autumn finally is able to attend the temple herself, it will be a very special experience.

To end our special night together, I reminded our family that Jesus Christ is the center of everything we do and learn in the temple.  

In the temple, we learn that Christ's Atonement is the central act of all earth life and all eternity. It is the purpose of everything and brings purpose to all that we do.  It brings light and hope to our lives.  I also reminded then that if they ever find themselves in a position where they can't enter the temple, because of their own choices or if life just starts to get really hard, Jesus Christ is the way back to the temple.  He is the way to overcome sin.  He is the way to overcome every problem.  Jesus Christ is the way back to our heavenly home.

It was just a wonderful experience to help our children understand the temple more.  And in a time when we cannot enter the temple, for one evening, the temple entered our home.

For anyone who might not have a father in the home full-time, I encourage Mothers to conduct the temple recommend interviews.  To my friend who was worried that her rowdy boys couldn't sit still, I encouraged her to take each boy aside starting with the oldest to do this activity one on one. There is definitely room to adjust this to our different family dynamics and make it work for us!

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The Path Foward: Repent Every Day

After that wonderful General Conference, in which we've been asked to "Do Better & Be Better," to "Repent every day," and to do the spiritual work necessary to know God lives and that this is His church, it's the perfect time to turn our minds to the Savior and really reflect on what He has done for us and on what role we want His sacrifice to play in our lives.

Will the Atonement of Jesus Christ be an afterthought?  Something that we think of once a week as we take the Sacrament?  Or will we start today to make a goal to repent of something EVERY DAY?

I realized as I was talking about President Nelson's admonishment to repent every day, that if we aren't doing this (which up until now, I really have not) then perhaps this is one major way that we are taking the Sacrament in vain...taking His name in vain.  It will take great humility and personal committment, but I'm willing to try.  And I believe that doing this one thing, at least in my life, will make a big difference.

It's interesting how at peace I feel after this General Conference.  It all seems doable.  I mean, I understand I have my own personal work to do and that it will be work, however, the gentleness and charity that I believe our leaders displayed in their tone and delivery of their talks, just distills so peacefully on my soul.  I think in many ways we were rebuked, but it was done with such love, that I definitely see a clear path forward...and it's now up to me to take it, and to try my best every day...and repent and use the Atonement to help myself improve when I do mess up.

It seems so simple.  It seems so right.

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Ok, as you know, we've done a lot of fun Easter Activies in our family over the years...(most of them linked here.)

This year, we're trying out a simple, new one, thanks to long-time blog friend Dana Cockrum, who is the creative mind behind an online shop called Home Centered.

Now, as you know, I very rarely promote anything that's a business, like almost never, however Dana has been around a long time supporting my blog, and I really do love the sign (pictured above) which will lead our family through the events of Christ's life during the week leading up to the Atonement and serve as a constant reminder of WHY we are doing what we do each day!

Here are a few things to know:

1. The Easter Countdown sign comes in black or white background.  As you can see it's a really nice size and very well-made.  Like, I was surprised at how pleased I was with the size, and my husband, who usually doesn't love me getting "decor" really loves the simple design and the icons.  And he actually thanked me for getting this for our family. Ha!

2. It comes with a few scripture readings to do as a family each day which will help you focus on Christ during this special week (and the scriptures are on the back of the sign so you won't lose them!)  In addition to the readings, I anticipate that my children will enjoy moving the small wreath each day.

I'm so excited to use this because a) it's beautiful and b) it's just SO simple, and simple is what I need in my life right now.  

3. So, if you're interested, order yours today, and use the online code "HEISRISEN" when you order to receive 20% off.  

4.  Please, order by Tuesday, April 9 to receive it in time for Easter week!  

You can view all of her stuff at Home Centered and follow her on Facebook by clicking here.

Thanks for reading, and have a great week!  I'm going to be taking a look at my General Conference questions and sharing what I learned in an upcoming post...

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EASTER Photo SCAVENGER HUNT

Looking for an easy and fun way to discuss the events that tell the story of Christ's sacrifice and resurrection with your children?  Look no further.

We did this really fun Easter Photo Scavenger Hunt last night with family and friends during a special Easter Family Home Evening.  

I found the idea for this activity at Arabah Joy  Her photo scavenger hunt was so simple and easy!  However, in the end I decided to make my own, because I wanted to highlight different/more parts of the story with my kids.

You can download the hunt that I made up here: Easter Photo Scavenger Hunt or follow the link above for hers.

Here's how it works:  Depending on how many people are in your group or family, you can split up into teams however you decide.  Each team needs the printed clue sheet, access to the New Testament, and a phone or device that can take photos.  Each team then reads the scripture stories and is prompted to find and take pictures of an item mentioned in the stories.  These items are everyday household items.  Each clue also has a question related to it to help participants think more deeply about the stories and relate to their own lives.

If they can't find an item, they can color a picture of it.  I encouraged our kids to get creative with it and think outside of the box.  Also, if they wanted to represent a different part of the scripture clue, they were free to do that. (The picture below shows one group of girls doing just that.  They decided to depict what the disciples did when they were supposed to be staying up watching on behalf of Christ while he was in the Garden.)  For another clue we found that a close-up of a window pane made an excellent cross, etc.

When the teams were finished, they returned to the living room and we took turns sharing what we took photos of and why.  Each team bore testimony and taught the stories to one another.  This was where answering the questions earlier made this discussion even richer.

There was an incentive.  The first team to finish and return won a small prize (a package of mystery-flavored peeps!)

This was a really fun evening spent with friends and family talking about the peace we receive as we follow the Savior Jesus Christ.

And it ended with treats, of course!  Donuts and donut holes made to look like empty tombs.  You don't have to wait until FHE to do this!  Have fun with it!  And have a Happy Easter!

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Is the Book of Mormon Written for Us?

Is the Book of Mormon written for us?  Did the prophets writing therein really see our day and our "doings?"

As our family gets closer to our goal of finishing the Book of Mormon together for the third (?) time, it becomes increasingly apparent that it is written specifically for us and they most certainly did see our day.

Sixteen chapters away from the finale of the book, this is sometimes comforting and at times disturbing as it feels like the sins of our generation are on full blast on the big screen of our scripture reading each morning.

As a result, it makes it very easy to "apply the scriptures unto ourselves," just as it was easy to apply General Conference to ourselves last week.

While reading Ether Chapter 6, it was very easy to compare our family's recent move and all of the travails we've experienced before, during, and since to the journey of the people of Jared across the ocean.  It says that the Lord sent a wind to blow them continuously (344 days straight) until their barges reached the promised land.  I'm so grateful to a college friend who taught me during an FHE one evening to look at the storm and see that it was the method that the Lord used to bring the people to a better place.  Our storms can do the same thing for us.  We also noted that although there was darkness all around them and they spent most of their time buried under water and tossed about, they did not have to cross in darkness because of the faith of the Brother of Jared in Jesus Christ...and we don't have to either.

In Ether Chapter 8, which we read yesterday, we see the reintroduction of secret combinations into what was previously a peaceful beginning to their new society in what we know as the Americas.  Because of a thirst for power, people entered into oaths with one another to uphold the wicked behavior of their leaders or those who wished to lead.  We learn that these secret oaths are had among all nations and are as old as Cain and that the author of these secret combinations is Satan himself.  Moroni warns the modern gentiles (talking to us) to guard against these secret combinations and to not let them get above us, because if we do, it will prove, as with all people, to lead to our utter destruction.

Are these secret combinations had among us?  They most certainly are, if one glance at the news this week is any indication.  I couldn't sleep last night, and made the "mistake" of taking in all of the details of the latest sex scandal in Hollywood--and it's a big one.  Being a news person my main interest was discovering why this wasn't reported sooner by certain news outlets.  I remember seeing this man on TV during a news clip of the Oscars earlier this year and thinking, "Wow, he looks like a real sleazeball."  Little did I know how true that inkling was.  And how disgusting it was last night to read all of the accusations against him and even more disturbing to know that no one stood up to him, in fact, his associates aided and covered for him in a wide range of industries (including media and journalism companies) in order to gain access to his power.

As someone who worked in a lot of professional environments with a lot of powerful people before marrying and becoming a mother, I have some surprising insight into how widespread this kind of behavior is and how much people thirst for power, access to powerful people, and fame in our society.  As a young female, I got to see firsthand how men at almost any level of power prey on the young, eager, and naive women around them.  And my friends who worked in similar fields can share similarly harrowing tales.

Did the prophets of the Book of Mormon see our day.  I testify that they absolutely did, which is what makes it such a powerful tool in our lives today.

As Elder Nelson taught in General Conference, "The Book of Mormon provides the fullest and most authoritative understanding of the Atonement of Jesus Christ to be found anywhere.  It teaches what it really means to be born again...The full power of the gospel of Jesus Christ is contained in the Book of Mormon. Period."

So is it possible to turn our society around and become the kind of people who can dwell with God?  The Book of Mormon shows us that people can turn around rather quickly, if we desire to.  In Ether 9, we read that after losing the kingdom to his conspiring, wicked son, King Omer and then his son King Emer rule in righteousness...so much so that the Lord poured out his blessings upon the land and King Emer saw Jesus Christ in person.

However, we don't want to be flip-floppers during our probationary state--during our lives.  We don't want to be lukewarm.  The world will do what it will do, but we must worship the Lord and obey His commands so that we can cross through the darkness of this world with our lights shining brightly.

I tuned in only at the very end of last night's Face to Face live Youtube event, but what I heard in the last 5-10 minutes was beautiful.  

One young woman talked about standing strong against temptations and how hard that is as a youth today because they are faced with so many evil things.  She said that she thinks about someday after this life we will all sit around a table with the prophets.  She said that no one will want to say, "Oh, my life was easy."  We will say, "I worked hard.  I tried my best. I stood strong," etc.  Not one of us will say it was easy, but it will have been worth it, and our personal storms will be what brought us to a glorious end, to our personal promised land, if we have faith enough in the Savior to make the journey with His help and the help of the wisdom provided in this sacred book, which if read daily can qualify us for heaven's help in our lives.  Help we will certainly all need more and more of in the days ahead!

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Making the Sacrament Count

I enjoyed teaching Relief Society in my new ward yesterday. I am the new TFOT teacher, and the lesson was about Elder Peter F. Meurs' October 2016 General Conference talk "The Sacrament Can Help Us Become Holy".

To start off the lesson, I had written "Easter Every Sunday" on the board. (Which is a concept I learned from my Seminary teacher who shared some of her ideas about that right here.)

To begin the lesson, we talked about what special preparations we each made for Easter Sunday (last week).  Answers such as: we made special food, wore our best/new clothes, talked about the spiritual significance of the weekend, and made sure we were at church on time, were given. I asked if Easter were every Sunday would the world go out of its way to do these things or would it become old hat?  

I then suggested that we do celebrate Easter every Sunday when we take the Sacrament. Has the Sacrament become routine and old hat?  There are, compared to Easter celebrations, relatively small/inward spiritual preparations that we should be making each week, but are we doing those things?  Or have we become relaxed and complacent about the Sacrament because it happens every week and not once a year?

I asked the class to think about what they love about partaking of the sacrament. We listed their answers on the board, which included: feeling new, opportunity to repent, to think about Jesus, and review the past and set goals for the coming week, singing the sacrament hymn, the feeling of coming to Christ and being a part of His fold.

I then asked the class to think of their best time taking the Sacrament, a time when the Sacrament was most spiritually impactful for them personally.  What factors made it so?

I then asked them to think of a time when it wasn't so spiritual or potent for them.  What factors caused this to be the case?

The class easily lead into the first of Elder Meurs five points which was personal preparation for the Sacrament.

We spent time talking about his points as follows.  In order to make partaking of the Sacrament a more powerful experience, Elder Meurs suggests trying the following:

1.  Advance Preparation (pray & repent)

2.  Arrive Early (listen to the prelude music/do not text)

3. Sing and Learn from the Sacrament Hymn

4. Participate in the Prayers

5. Ponder the Emblems

As I was preparing the lesson, I felt prompted to do two things, which we did during the lesson.  I focused on helping them appreciate that Sacrament hymns, which when sung and pondered can teach us powerful doctrine about Christ and put us in the right state of mind to partake of the Sacrament. 

I printed off copies of the Sacrament hymns and asked each sister to take a few minutes to review the hymn and then share doctrine they learned from the song as well as any testimony they might want to share.

The second thing I felt prompted to do was to create a "Sacrament Journal" using the five questions Elder Meurs asks us to consider for the sisters to use for the next month to track their Sacrament experience.  I will share that journal below, if you'd like to use it.

Elder Meurs asks us to consider these questions:

1. What will I do this week to better prepare for the sacrament?

2.  Could I contribute more to the reverence and revelation that can accompany the beginning of Sacrament meeting?

3. What doctrine was taught in the Sacrament hymn?

4. What did I hear and feel as I listened to the Sacrament prayers?

5. What did I think about as the Sacrament was passed?

I presented the women with the option of accepting 1 of 2 challenges in the coming week, which I also wrote on the back of their journals.  They could either keep their Sacrament journals for the next four weeks and either report back or journal about it--or-- they could memorize the firsts verse of one of the Sacrament hymns and then take the Sacrament the next week and journal about their experience.

Sorry this is just a quick synopsis of the lesson, but I wanted to quickly share it with you guys. I will be printing off journals for my kids to use and we will be using this for our family home evening lesson tonight!

Journal Instructions:

1. Print the journal double-sided.
2. The first page is the outer cover.
3. The second page is the inner pages for recording your thoughts.
4. Fold them in half the tall way and nestle one inside the other. Very simple.

I encouraged the women to read the sacrament prayers as they are being said and to fill in the journal each week (not necessarily during sacrament, but after).

This journal activity can be used for an extra YW Faith experience, if desired.

Download below:

Sacrament Journal Meurs by Jocelyn Hatch Christensen on Scribd

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Easter Resurrection Idea

I was intrigued by this Easter activity when I read about it at The Exclamation Point, and decided to try it out with my children at the earliest possible convenience.  That day was today!

All you need for this Easter lesson is two white helium balloons, a plastic, disposable shopping bag, and a few cute kids!  

I started by having my two lovely assistants put together the resurrection puzzle that we have, and asked what they knew about the resurrection.

We talked about how when Jesus Christ died, his body was placed in a tomb, and three days later, he was resurrected and his body and spirit went to heaven.  He had risen.  

This was part of what we call His Atonement, which was the greatest event in all of the history of the world.  

Because Christ was resurrected, we will ALL rise again too.  When we die, our spirits and bodies will eventually be reunited again forever, just like Jesus Christ's was.

But one major difference between us and Christ is this: Christ was sinless, but we all have made mistakes and sinned against God.  

We placed a plastic shopping bag on our balloon to represent our sins.  Then we let our balloon go.

The girls noticed quickly that although our balloon did rise, it was not able to join Christ's balloon.  (For no unclean thing can dwell with God. 1 Ne. 10:21)

That made us sad.  I asked the girls what we could do about it?

They said that we needed to get rid of those sins, so that we can be with Christ again and stay in his presence forever...and that to do that, we need to repent.

  

Having recently reviewed the hope-filled path of Repentance, we talked briefly about what it takes to repent.  We need to ask in prayer for God to forgive us of our individual sins.

The girls were happy to see that after repenting (or removing the shopping bag) their balloon was able now to join Christ's balloon...and stay there.

And isn't that what we all desire...to feel light and happy, and free like that balloon??  And to be with those we love most forever???  That is the happy, wonderful message of Easter, and a promise that we can count on and apply in our lives each and every day!!

This was such a fun and simple activity.  The balloons cost me less than $2 each.  

And the girls had a fun time playing with the balloons.  I don't think they'll forget this lesson, and it'll be a fun memory between two friends.  I am planning on having Autumn teach this to her siblings later today.

Now, I sort of tailored this object lesson to what I wanted to teach my kids, so it's not exactly the same as the idea I read about.  You can read how she did her lesson here for more insights.  One small tip: Make sure the strings on your balloons are extra long so that you can do this object lesson over and over again and get the balloons down from the ceiling easily!

You can find 30 different Christ-centered Easter activities on my Easter Ideas Page

 We will be adding more ideas like this one this Easter season.

PS - Yesterday, at Primary, the girls were able to learn from actual witnesses of Christ's resurrection...role-played by various adults in our ward.  It was such a cool experience, and you can read about the idea on Sugardoodle.   Since the children had recently reviewed what happened after Christ was resurrected, we didn't need to go into much detail on that during today's lesson.  OH, here's the link for the RESURRECTION SHARING TIME.

PPS - {For more posts on Easter and Family History
check out the #MyForeverFamily challenge page.}

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Jesus Christ FHE

Last night during FHE, we talked about the Plan of Salvation...and Jesus' Atonement and Resurrection as the central piece of that plan.

We read the scripture references found on this bookmark and made these paper plate tombs (that look a little bit different than they did when we made them two years ago!)

It's fun to see mt kids' interpretation of things.

Like Scarlett's addition of Mary crying outside of the tomb and Jesus calling out, "I'm here."

We talked about many aspects of the plan of happiness last night.  It was a good discussion.  

Earlier in the day, while we drove to an appointment, Guy spotted a bit of graffiti on the side of the road that read, "One Way - Jesus."  He asked me what that meant and why it was there.  I explained that there is only one name given whereby we can return to Heavenly Father, and that is through Jesus Christ.  The person who made the sign was playing off of a "One Way" road sign, and wanted others to know that Jesus is The Way.

During our lesson, I reminded them of the sign.  I also used another familiar device to teach them about Christ.  Guy is highly interested in passwords.  He knows that passwords are the key to unlocking our computers, to gaining access to email and games, etc.

I told Guy that because Jesus is the only name given for us to return to God...Jesus is like The Password.  We pray to God in the name of Christ.  And the Savior is the one who unlocks our passageway through death to eternal life.  His is the name that opens the way to forgiveness and repentance.  His name is a powerful password indeed.

However, unlike a password, we must do more than type in a few letters, we must also do his will.  

Guy must've really taken the lesson to heart, because before the night was over, he started posting these "rules" around the house to help us in our quest, I guess.  Rule #5 (posted above the TV) says, "Listen to Jesus."

Anyway, there was more, but I've got laundry to do, so I've got to get going.

But I had a thought, as I watched this video this morning about the events leading up to Christ's resurrection.

People often wonder why Christ had to die.  As I pondered this thought this morning, I thought of my friend Lynn, a young mother, who has faced breast and brain cancer, who will most likely be called to her heavenly home very soon.  I wonder if she is scared.  I know her husband and children must be.  I wonder how they are making it through each day.

And then I think back to the Savior.  And I realize how true to his character it is that He, our elder brother, would want to come down and lead the way for us, even in death.

I think about how scary and hard it is to walk into the unknown.  

When you are learning to swim and are afraid of water, it is terrifying to try.  How reassuring it is when an older brother or sister, who has already mastered the skill, goes into the water before you, and shows you that there is nothing to fear, that you will soon swim with great ease, and in fact, love the feel of the water around your body...and will soon be splashing around with others who have learned to swim, who are just waiting for you to join them in the deep, blue, expansive, watery world.

This is what the Savior chose to do when he chose to die for us.  It was such a loving thing.  It was so brilliant a plan.  It required faith, even on his part.  And it requires faith on ours.

I am so grateful to know that Jesus is the Christ and to learn something new about him every day.  I know that he lives, and that he is constantly calling out to us, "I am here."

As an update:  My friend Lynn passed into that next life on Easter morning.
You can read about her passing here.

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