8 Quotes on Faith

Quote #1 “It is never too late to strengthen the foundation of faith. There is always time. With faith in the Savior, you can repent and plead for forgiveness. There is someone you can forgive. There is someone you can thank. There is someone you can serve and lift. You can do it wherever you are and however alone and deserted you may feel.”  Pres. Henry B. Eyring

Quote #2  "Immersing oneself in persistent doubt, fueled by answers from the faithless and the unfaithful, weakens one’s faith in Jesus Christ and the Restoration. “The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him.” Elder Neil L. Andersen

Quote #3 “Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the first principle of the gospel and is more than mere belief. 4 Faith is a “hope for things which are not seen, which are true.” 5 “Faith always moves its possessor to … physical and mental action.” 6 “To have faith in Jesus Christ means to have such trust in him that we obey whatever he commands. There is no faith where there is no obedience.”  Elder L. Whitney Clayton

Quote #4   “Your faith will grow not by chance, but by choice.      How we live our lives increases or diminishes our faith. Prayer, obedience, honesty, purity of thought and deed, and unselfishness increase faith. Without these, faith diminishes. Why did the Savior say to Peter, “I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not”? Because there is an adversary who delights in destroying our faith! Be relentless in protecting your faith.” Elder Neil L. Andersen

Quote #5 “No matter who we are or where we live, there is much about our daily lives that is routine and repetitive. As we go about this dailiness, we must be deliberate about doing the things that matter most. These must-do things include making room first for the minimum daily requirements of faithful behavior: true obedience, humble prayer, serious scripture study, and selfless service to others. No other daily vitamins strengthen the muscles of our faith as fast as these actions. We also must remember that genuine fasting fosters strong faith. This is especially important as we faithfully seek to fix deeply embedded character flaws which go “not out but by prayer and fasting.” Elder L. Whitney Clayton

Quote 6:  “I have never witnessed the removal of an actual mountain. But because of faith I have seen a mountain of doubt and despair removed and replaced with hope and optimism. Because of faith I have personally witnessed a mountain of sin replaced with repentance and forgiveness. And because of faith I have personally witnessed a mountain of pain replaced with peace, hope, and gratitude. Yes, I have seen mountains removed”  Bishop Richard C. Edgley

Quote 7:  “When faith is properly understood and used, it has dramatically far-reaching effects. Such faith can transform an individual’s life from maudlin, common everyday activities to a symphony of joy and happiness. The exercise of faith is vital to Father in Heaven’s plan of happiness. But true faith, faith unto salvation, is centered on the Lord Jesus Christ, faith in His doctrines and teachings, faith in the prophetic guidance of the Lord’s anointed, faith in the capacity to discover hidden characteristics and traits that can transform life. Truly, faith in the Savior is a principle of action and power.”  Elder Richard G. Scott

Quote #8 “Because of the conflicts and challenges we face in today’s world, I wish to suggest a single choice—a choice of peace and protection and a choice that is appropriate for all. That choice is faith. Be aware that faith is not a free gift given without thought, desire, or effort. It does not come as the dew falls from heaven. The Savior said, “Come unto me” (Matthew 11:28) and “Knock, and it shall be [given] you” (Matthew 7:7). These are action verbs—come, knock. They are choices. So I say, choose faith. Choose faith over doubt, choose faith over fear, choose faith over the unknown and the unseen, and choose faith over pessimism.”  Richard C. Edgley

7 Quotes on the Atonement

Quote #1 “For some reason, we think the Atonement of Christ applies only at the end of mortal life to redemption from the Fall, from spiritual death. It is much more than that. It is an ever-present power to call upon in everyday life. When we are racked or harrowed up or tormented by guilt or burdened with grief, He can heal us. While we do not fully understand how the Atonement of Christ was made, we can experience “the peace of God, which passeth all understanding.”    Elder Boyd K. Packer  

Quote #2   “Most of us clearly understand that the Atonement is for sinners. I am not so sure, however, that we know and understand that the Atonement is also for saints—for good men and women who are obedient and worthy and conscientious and who are striving to become better and serve more faithfully.” Elder David A. Bednar

Quote #3  “It is my testimony that many of the deepest regrets of tomorrow can be prevented by following the Savior today. If we have sinned or made mistakes—if we have made choices that we now regret—there is the precious gift of Christ’s Atonement, through which we can be forgiven. We cannot go back in time and change the past, but we can repent.”   Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Quote #4 “Though we are incomplete, God loves us completely. Though we are imperfect, He loves us perfectly. Though we may feel lost and without compass, God’s love encompasses us completely… He Loves every one of us, even those who are flawed, rejected, awkward, sorrowful, or broken.”   Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Quote #5 “The Atonement has practical, personal, everyday value; apply it in your life. It can be activated with so simple a beginning as prayer. You will not thereafter be free from trouble and mistakes but can erase the guilt through repentance and be at peace.”  Elder Boyd K. Packer

Quote #6 "The gospel of the Savior is not simply about avoiding bad in our lives; it also is essentially about doing and becoming good. And the Atonement provides help for us to overcome and avoid bad and to do and become good. Help from the Savior is available for the entire journey of mortality—from bad to good to better and to change our very nature."  Elder David A. Bednar

Quote #7 "The Savior has suffered not just for our iniquities but also for the inequality, the unfairness, the pain, the anguish, and the emotional distresses that so frequently beset us. There is no physical pain, no anguish of soul, no suffering of spirit, no infirmity or weakness that you or I ever experience during our mortal journey that the Savior did not experience first. You and I in a moment of weakness may cry out, “No one understands. No one knows.” No human being, perhaps, knows. But the Son of God perfectly knows and understands, for He felt and bore our burdens before we ever did."  Elder David A. Bednar 

How to Print Temple Names on FamilySearch

Have you been doing family history work and want to know how to print off the names you've found to take to the temple?     

Here are step-by-step directions for you:   

1.   Go to FamilySearch.org.   

2.  Click on the "Sign In" button.  

Sign in using your LDS log-in info.  

Click on  the "Temple" tab.     

In the pull-down menu click on "All Reserved"

This is what it will look like:  

Go to the "Ordinance" button and select the ordinances that you want to print off.  In our case we were wanting to print some off for the kids' upcoming temple trip, so we selected only those who needed baptisms.  

Now all of the names needing baptisms will be listed at the top.  

Select (by checking the box) the names that you would like to print off  

Go to the print button and select "Print Family Ordinance Cards"

This screen will pop up and you will need to click "Continue". 

Click "continue" again.  

You should now see this page, from which you can just use your browser's "Print" function (from the pull-down menu on "File").   If you don't see this page, look in another tab or in your download section.  On my computer it was in another tab. 

And now you have these cards that you just need to cut out!   

VOILA!   You're all ready to take your own names to the temple!  

YW in Excellence with a Nautical Theme

I was just going through old pictures and came across these pictures from our YW in Excellence program this past fall.  In keeping with "Embark in the Service of God"  from last year's mutual theme, we decorated in a nautical theme.  

See below for some of our pictures and ideas:  

We dressed as cruise ship directors. 

We decorated the lobby to look like an entrance to a cruise ship.


We served nautical theme foods (that also happen to be super easy to make):








We have 33 girls in our YW program, so the only space big enough for us was the gym.  We used portable chalkboards to partition off the back half, then decorated the one half to look like a cruise ship.


All posters and  decorations were made by the girls at a mutual activity before YWIE.

 These posts were made from painted shipping tubes, cardboard, and paper chains.  The life preservers were made with posterboard and cardstock.


The girls also rolled these cute silverware place settings.


This mural was purchased.









It was a great night and although the girls helped make all the decor, they were definitely still wowed when they walked in the door and saw it all come together.  

Using Binders to Make Youth Lessons More Effective

I never was the kind of student who could skip the lecture because "everything was in the book".  I had to read the book AND go to class in order to really absorb the material.   So a few months after I was called as YW president, I started to really feel like we needed to add that one more thing to help our Sunday lessons to be more interactive.    After a discussion with my presidency, we decided to provide a binder for every young woman that would be kept in the YW closet and handed out before each lesson.  The binder would provide a place for them to take notes, keep handouts, draw charts/illustrations from the lesson, and answer questions asked during class.   

We've been using them now for three years and I think they've played a very valuable  role in helping our Sunday lessons to be more meaningful.   They give the girls that "extra" way to learn the material  and make it less likely that the lesson floats in one ear and out the other.   The part that I've liked most about them is that I feel like their effective use (which takes a concerted effort) has facilitated better discussions.    When the girls have the opportunity to write an answer to a question in their binders first before answering, the answers are invariably more well-thought out and  original, since they wrote their answer before hearing everyone else's answers first.   I also like that they have a sort of spiritual journal for them to go back to.   When a girl moves from the ward or graduates to Relief Society, the binder is given to the girl.   

What do you need?  

1-inch binders with pockets (one for each girl)

pens (one for each girl)

loose leaf paper (to keep in each binder)

a couple of sheet protectors per binder for hand-outs 

3-hole punch to keep in the closet (or use the one in the library)

OR 

1 composition notebook and pen per girl

Why Use Them? 

1. The binder provides a place for the girls to take notes, which helps them remember what they've learned better.  It also provides a place for them to go back and review what was taught another week.

2. The binder provides a place to write down answers to questions asked during the lesson.   When a moment of quiet is provided to write the answer down, then girls are asked to share their answers; the answers are invariably more well thought out and original, since they've written their answers before they've heard anyone else's.  I also feel like it definitely reduces the whole copying the same train of thought as the person before them that often occurs in lessons. 

3.   A lot of the girls really, really like the way the binders help them to better absorb the lessons and  learn the gospel more effectively. 

4.  I think that creating an outline or "worksheet" to go along with the lesson (see picture below), sometimes helps me to better prepare the lesson and helps the girls to have something to follow along with. 

Some Hurdles/Tips

1.  A small percentage of the girls (about 5 of our 33 girls) really do not care to use them.  We do not force the issue.  

2.  If you don't consistently hand them out and/or encourage their use, they will not be as effective.  I'll often chime up in class (when I'm not teaching) and say things like, "That would be a great thing to write in your binder." 

3.  You need to collect the binders at the end of class, so they do not get lost at home.  We rarely see a binder again that has been accidentally taken home.  

We have 33 YW in our ward, so the binders take up an entire shelf (plus a little) in our closet, but in my opinion they are worth the space and time they take up.   

  This year for our binder covers we had each girl watercolor their own background, then when they were dry, we printed this year's mutual theme onto it.  

 Here's a printable graphic I made of this year's mutual theme that you are welcome to use:  

If you use a binder or notebook in your youth class, I'd love to hear your ideas for what works and what doesn't with them.   What other ideas do you have to make your lessons more effective?