2016 LDS Sharing Time Ideas for November Week 1: Reverence is love and respect for God.

2016 Sharing Time Outline Theme: "I Know the Scriptures Are True"

November 2016 Sharing Time Topic: Reverence Is Love and Respect for God

November 2016 Scripture: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind” (Matthew 22:37).

November 2016 Song:  Your Choice

November Week 1 Topic: Reverence is love and respect for God.

Family Home Evening on Preparing to Partake of the Sacrament and Renew my Covenants

I hope and pray that you can use these ideas as a guideline and adjust them to the needs of your own specific family.  Our prophet President Monson says, "We cannot afford to neglect this heaven-inspired program. It can bring spiritual growth to each member of the family, helping him or her to withstand the temptations which are everywhere. The lessons learned in the home are those that last the longest."  On Lds.org there are resources available in helping to make your Family Home Evenings successful, here is a link to that site on Family Home Evenings.

Family Home Evening on Having Good Manners, Courtesy and Like-able Qualities.

I hope and pray that you can use these ideas as a guideline and adjust them to the needs of your own specific family.  Our prophet President Monson says, "We cannot afford to neglect this heaven-inspired program. It can bring spiritual growth to each member of the family, helping him or her to withstand the temptations which are everywhere. The lessons learned in the home are those that last the longest."  On Lds.org there are resources available in helping to make your Family Home Evenings successful, here is a link to that site on Family Home Evenings.

For tonight's Family Home Evening the topic in which I have chosen is: Having Good Manners, Courtesy and Like-able Qualities.(This will fulfill two requirements in the Faith in God Booklet under the Serving Others category)

Welcome everyone to Family Night

Sing: "Kindness Begins With Me" Children's Songbook pg 145

Have a member of the family member say the prayer

Discuss any family business

Follow-up with last weeks FHE.

Introduce this weeks Topic: Having Good Manners, Courtesy and Like-able Qualities.

Scripture: Read and Mark: Luke 6:31

Article of Faith: #3 "We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel." Repeat this Article of Faith as a Family. Help each family member to understand the meaning. Help each family member memorize the Article of Faith.

Begin family night with dinner.  Before dinner, explain that as a family you are going to have an etiquette dinner.  Have family members help set the dinner table so the plates, glasses, utensils and napkins are in all of the proper places. Here is a great image that shows place settings:  I Love to Cook.  Depending on your meal you probably won't have as many forks, knives, glasses, etc. that they do in the image.  

When dinner is ready, invite your family to come and eat.  Before everyone sits down explain to the family members good table manners. Here are some ideas:

"• Wait for the host or hostess to tell you where to sit at a table.
• Put your napkin on your lap.
• Sit up straight.
• Don’t talk with your mouth full.
• Wait until everyone at the table has been served before you begin eating.
• When asking for something to be passed to you, say please and thank you.
• Alert the host or hostess before you arrive if you have allergies. They will likely be glad to adjust the menu to make you feel welcome and comfortable.
• When serving yourself, take small portions the first time at a buffet or the first time the food is passed around." (These ideas came from Good Manners Still Make Sense
BY KAYE TERRY HANSON)

I would also like to add:
- Before leaving the dinner table, ask to be dismissed.
- Chew your food completely and swallow it, before putting more food in your mouth (can you tell I have boys?)
- Use inside voices and respectful language at the dinner table.

Ask everyone to have a seat and begin your meal. Complement family members as they are using good manners.

After the meal is complete and everyone has been dismissed. Gather for the rest of Family Home Evening. 

Give each family member a paper labeled: Qualities You Like in a Person, see free printable below.  Ask family members to fill out the paper.  

Some Qualities Might Include:
Kind
Loving
Hard Working
Happy
Forgiving
Loyal
Trust worthy
Honest
Funny
Responsible
Caring
Smart

After paper is filled out discuss the answers as a family.  Explain that when we show respect and kindness it strengthens our relationships with our family and others.  It also helps us feel good about our selves and helps others feel good about themselves.

Read this statement: "Courtesy is a natural outgrowth of the refining influence of the Spirit of the Lord." —Elder Bruce R. McConkie

Have family member's right on the paper what some polite words or phrases are. The list might include:
Please
Thank you
Your Welcome
Excuse Me
Bless you
May I 

Discuss as a family why it is important to speak politely.

Share with your family some ideas of how to use good manners and show courtesy towards others:

"• Stand when an outsider—man or woman—enters the group.
• When you are introduced, shake hands, make eye contact with the new person, and say their name, “Hello, Tiffany,” or “Hello, Mr. Roberts.”
• Learn to introduce people to each other.
The concept behind introductions is simple: remember to say the name of the most important person first. What makes someone important? Age, gender, or title. So, say the older person’s name first: “Grandpa, this is my friend, Jason.” If people are about the same age, say the woman’s name first, “Lucy, this is my friend, Tyler.” Or, first say the person with a title, “Bishop Manwaring, this is my uncle Max Johnson.”
• Stop thinking about yourself. Think about making the other person comfortable.
• Prepare three harmless questions to start a conversation, like “Tell me about [your work, your vacation, your hobbies, your family].” Or, “What do you like best about [living in Cincinnati, winters in Colorado, the first half of the play]?”
• Avoid saying “I,” “me,” or “mine” all the time.
• Remember, being interested is more important than being interesting.
• Watch for people nearby whom you can include.

• Choose language that portrays courtesy. Offensive words are insensitive to everyone." (These Ideas came from  Good Manners Still Make Sense BY KAYE TERRY HANSON)

Discuss as a family how important it is to say thank you. Share these ideas of how to be thankful:
"• A thank-you note should mention the gift or service specifically and include a sentence or two about how that gift or service is valuable to you.
Dear Aunt Alice,

Thank you for the book about sea creatures that you sent for my birthday. This book will be great for a report I’m working on for school. I’ll think of you every time I read the book.

Love, Darrin

• When someone does you a favor, however small, you should thank them. You will gain a reputation of being well-mannered, because you are.
• Consider thanking someone you don’t even know for a speech you heard, a fireside they organized, or a book they wrote.
• Write a note of congratulations on a promotion, an achievement, or reaching a milestone.
• Learn to accept compliments by smiling and saying thank you.

• Learn to say “You’re welcome.”"(These Ideas came from  Good Manners Still Make Sense BY KAYE TERRY HANSON)

If you have young children it might be a good idea to discuss proper manners in Primary and Sacrament meeting.  Here is a wonderful article on the subject: Primary Manners
BY JAN PINBOROUGH.  First, explain why it is important to have good manners at church.  Explain that it is our Heavenly Father's house and we need to show respect. Explain that we are reverent because we love our Heavenly Father and so we act certain ways to show that love to him.

Here are some ideas of how to have good manners at church:
-When entering the church house walk quietly through the halls. 
-Use quiet, inside voices
-When someone is talking, do not talk, and listen inventively
-Raise your hand if you would like to speak and wait to be called upon. 
-Sit quietly in your chairs
-Fold arms
-Eyes on whoever is upfront speaking
-Use respectful, polite language
-Do not rustle with papers or play games on electronics
-In the chapel remember that this is the most sacred place in the church house. Think of the Savior and Heavenly Father. Listen to what the speakers are saying, try to feel the spirit. Be very reverent during the sacrament. 

Discuss ways as a family that you might show more reverence during Sacrament meeting. 

Thank your family members for their participation in Family Home Evening. 

Bear testimonies on how using Good Manners and Courtesy can help strengthen relationships. And how striving to have Like-able Qualities helps us have a more Christ-Like character.

Close with a Family Prayer.

Free Printables: Best way to print printables is to click on the image and save it to your computer. You will then be able to print the image from your computer.

For More Family Home Evening Ideas Click this Link: Family Home Evening Ideas

Primary: "Reverence 5"

To help remind the children to be reverent in primary last year our primary president made a cute sign, I can't remember exactly where she got the idea.  I was telling my sister-in-law about it and she wanted a copy.  So here is what I came up with.  Just print it off on cardstock, cut out and glue or paste onto a tongue depressor/craft stick. How to use it: Introduce it to the children, explaining what each finger/picture mean (eye: eyes looking up front, arms folded: keep hands to self/fold arms, lips: mouths closed/no talking, ear: Ears ready to listen, shoes: feet still and on ground). Explain that when the sign is raised then they need to do those things, the sames goes with when a leader raises their hand in a five.  The goal is for the leader to be able to hold their own hand up and the children quiet down and be reverent.  I think we reminded the children what the five things were with the sign for about a month or two. Then we would just use our hand and it works great! * Tip for printing: click on image and print. Works best if you reduce margins *

What Have I Been Up To....

Well, I just got caught up on reading all of my favorite blogs!  There are some amazingly creative people out there that are such an inspiration!  Up until Christmas I was super busy getting all Christmas ready then since Christmas I have been working on stuff for 2010 Primary (I am in our wards primary presidency).

I love the theme for this year in primary, "I know my Savior lives".  I had a lot of fun working on some stuff to introduce the theme.  We did a bulletin board.  I used some brown craft paper and at the top was the lettering "I know my Savior lives".  Then starting at the bottom I traced footprints (12 of them) leading to the top.  In the bottom corner is this years scripture.  Then, on my computer I made the foot prints with the monthly themes and cordinating pictures.  Lastly I made hearts with our primary children's names on them. That they would post on the bulletin.

Examples of the foot prints.  Images were found on lds.org & lds.about.com.  February's is actually one of Del Parson's.

I will have to take a picture and post what the bulletin board actually looks like.

The theme song ("I know my Savior loves me") for this year is a beautiful song! We put pictures to the music and made a video to show the primary children to introduce the new song to them.

We also had a special sharing time (we had to cancel our beginning of the year activity).  To introduce the theme we had pictures of Christ on the walls around the primary room.  We then had the children walk around the room and look at the pictures of Christ.  The last place they stopped was a huge mirror. They looked into it and were told that they are made in God's image and that Jesus loves them. They then received their heart with their name on it and they got to post it onto the bulletin board. 

I am really excited for this year and the opportunity the children will have to grow closer to Christ. 

Other 2010 primary ideas we are doing:

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  We are having a birthday box.  On the top is an envelope that says Happy Birthday. Inside the envelope are birthday balloons with the people's names who have birthdays that month.  They also get a picture of christ with the Articles of Faith on the back and they get to choose something from the birthday box.
  
  
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  For our assignments we have a mailbox and someone gets to be mail person each week.  The assignments are put on a wrist band that we tape around the children's wrist.
  
  
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  Spotlight/Reverence Child: We are spotlighting a child each week.  We have asked their parents a Christlike characteristic that they have and then we will share it with the primary before the reverence song.
  
  

Hopefully these idea's might be useful.  I will be posting other 2010 primary ideas as they come up. 

It's Been A While!

It has been a while since I have written on this blog! This month the visit teaching message was you get to choose from all of the wonderful conference talks. I love this one, but it is so hard to choose, since they are all great!

The one I have chose to share is: "Respect and Reverence" given by: Margaret S. Lifferth. She spoke of teaching respect and reverence by example and with love. I believe this is so important. In the world today it seems like we have lost some of that respect for others, ourselves and for our Father in Heaven. It is really sad to see the lack on respect that we see. Respect is defined as having high regard, to be courteous in expression, to want to please. If we have respect for others then we know that they are important, we treat them with kindness and love. I love the sang, "The Golden Rule: Do Unto Others, As You Would Have Others, Do To You". Ways we can show respect are: Speak to others with kindness, especially our elders. Do not cut down or degrade others. Be aware of how the things we do, effect those around us. I think respect is lost a lot of times because of the selfishness of people. We also need to have respect for property. I always try to teach my children when they are playing with someone elses toys, that they be careful with those toys. Because if someone was playing with their stuff they would would want them to be careful too. Next is respect for ourselves. This one is so important, because if we do not respect ourselves then it is much harder to respect anything else. We need to realize that we are children of our Heavenly Father. That we are divine. To have respect for ourselves we need to treat our bodies like they are a temple of God. Because they are the temple of our spirits. By not marking up our bodies, not in taking things which are harmful, eating right, and getting the exercise and sleep our bodies need we are showing respect for ourselves. Lastly, is to have respect for our Father in Heaven. We can show respect for him by how we respect ourselves and others. Also, by showing reverence towards our Father in Heaven. In Sister Lifferth's talk she quoted a song from the Children's Song book: "Rev'rence is more than just quietly sitting: It's thinking of Father above, A feeling I get when I think of his blessings. I'm rev'rent, for rev'rence is love." We are reverent because we love our Heavenly Father.

So how do we teach reverence? By example and with love! I love how Sister Lifferth says, "...if reverence is rooted in love, so its the teaching of it... So begin early and have reasonable expectations." I also loved how she said, "...love those in your class. Often the child who is the most disruptive needs your love the most." She also goes on to quote President Packer: "While we may not see an immediate miraculous transformation, as surely as the Lord lives, a quit one will take place. The spiritual power in the lives of each member and in the Church will increase. The Lord will pour out his Spirit upon us more abundantly. We will be less troubled, less confused. We will find revealed answers to personal and family problems." I also believe that if everyone respected those around them, then it would solve most of our worlds problems!