Building Faith- March 19, 2017

March 19, 2017

Ward Conference- Special Lesson by our Stake Relief Society President Sister Linebarger
"Building Faith"

Sister Linebarger began her lesson by describing the Millennium Tower in San Francisco. Although this skyscraper was claimed to be a luxury structure, it is now sinking and tilting. Many problems were overlooked as it was being built. The engineers and builders took structural shortcuts that have compromised the building. Now repairs must be made and secondary structural supports are being but in place to help straighten out the building and keep it from sinking and tilting any further.

Sister Linebarger likened the tilting skyscraper to our own lives. Many times we are building our towers and unforeseen trials shift and tilt us in our faith. We need various supports to help straighten us out and get us back on track.

Sister Linebarger also used Elder Rasband's talk as a guide from October 2016 General Conference titled, "Let Thou Forget."

Do you ever feel like you are sinking or tilting in your faith?

Why does our faith sometimes start to fail? Some ideas offered from our sisters:
-"Good things can distract us from better things". We must put our #1 priorities first
-We don't know how satan will come at us
-We think we are building up, but then real life hits and knocks us off center
-Complacency (We think we will never lose our faith, but we must be active our faith)
-External supports m ay fail
-We are tempted by things that test our faith. Some challenges we can anticipate, others we don't even know are coming. There are unforeseen challenges and twists we don't see coming
-Opinions of other people, popular opinion

Sister Linbarger shared a quote from Elder Rasband's talk where he related what he tells his friends who are struggling with their faith:  "I encouraged them, as I encourage you now, to recall, especially in times of crisis, when you felt the Spirit and your testimony was strong; remember the spiritual foundations you have built. I promise that if you will do this, avoiding things that do not build and strengthen your testimony or that mock your beliefs, those precious times when your testimony prospered will return again to your memory through humble prayer and fasting. I assure you that you will once again feel the safety and warmth of the gospel of Jesus Christ.''

How do we know if we are starting to sink or twist?
What tools do we have to help us know if we are straight or sinking?
-Stay close to the spirit
-Alma 5:26 "if ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?"
-We may not feel so now, but the spirit can help us k now if we are sinking, tilting, or shifting (church leaders can help us have an eternal perspective and comprehensive view)
-Remember what the Lord has done for our ancestors. Recall stories of how they found the Lord and the sacrifices they made for their faith

If we are sinking or someone else we know/love is, what are things we can do to be an external support to them?
-Love them through their faith struggle
-Pray for them
-Strengthen yourself spiritually first
-Pray to serve and know those you visit teach, your love and friendship is more important than any lesson given
-listen without judgment to hear their heart, be friendly
-Discuss family history stories of trials with your children. Remind them they can do hard things

Elder Rasband mentions several ways to fortify ourselves:
* Ponder scriptures regularly, write down impressions and thoughts
*Attend church meetings, especially sacrament
*Partake of the sacrament and renew covenants
* Share your testimony and record it
*Never forget or ignore personal, sacred, spiritual experiences
*Do not forget your divine heritage, even in life greatest storms

We were challenged to DIG DEEPER! We must build our faith strong starting down at the bedrock.
What do you do to dig deeper?
-Eliminate distractions
-Make choices to give up things that take time away from your prayer and scriptures
-Pray (with listening!) like Enos who spent all day in fervent prayer
-Dig deeper as your study the scriptures and keep a notebook for thoughts and impressions
-We can fast with a dedication to focus our intentions and eliminate distractions
-Serve others
-Act on promptings, acting on a prompting will lead to more!
-Receive invitations and challenges to act

Daughters of God- March 12

Emilee P. taught our lesson this week from Chapter 5 of the Gordon B. Hinckley manual, "Daughters of God."

We discussed qualities we see in woman we admire. These included:
-vision
-work ethic
-loyalty
-intuition
-perseverance
-long suffering
-empathetic
-sense of humor
-gives compliments


Gordon B. Hinckley said, "You are very precious, each of you. You occupy a high and sacred place in the eternal plan of God, our Father in Heaven. You are His daughters, precious to Him, loved by Him, and very important to Him. His grand design cannot succeed without you."

Why is it so important in the decisions we make daily to know we are daughters of God?
        -He needs the qualities we admire in other woman to move the kingdom forward and bless others. 

Gordon B. Hinckley also encouraged: 
"In very large measure each of us holds the key to the blessings of the Almighty upon us. If we wish the blessing, we must pay the price. A part of that price lies in being faithful. Faithful to what? Faithful to ourselves, to the very best that is within us. No woman can afford to demean herself, to belittle herself, to downgrade her abilities or her capacities. Let each be faithful to the great, divine attributes that are within her."

How can we be faithful to ourselves?  Some ideas shared:
-Don't beat yourself up and be too hard on yourself
-Be grateful and show gratitude
-Everyone has value and something to offer
-Keep our eye on what's most important
-We can honor God by doing our best

We also discussed council given to Emma Smith in Doctrine and Covenants 25 that can be likened unto our circumstances and attitudes today. Some points of discussion included:
-keeping journals
-laying aside things of this world
-keeping covenants
-being happy despite worries

How has Relief Society been a source of immeasurable blessings for you?
-Many sisters were able to share how others had come to their aid through helping hands, meals, a listening ear, and loving support.

Parenting Series Notes 3/7: The Opposite of Spoiled - Teaching kids about work and money

Discussion:

We want kids to leave the house hard working who know how to use money and how to take care of themselves. Make a plan!

Whatever your plan is, the most important thing is that you're trying something. Kids need experiences learning the value of money, saving, and being generous. Your plan may need to be altered depending on the child, circumstances, and when you test what is and isn't working.

What do you want your children to know about work when they leave home?

Examples:

• Money doesn't grow on trees.
• Work is part of life and necessary.
• Rewards are linked to how hard you work. 
• It feels good to do a job well. 
• We value things that we work hard to get. 
• Everyone has to work.

When a child was asked about how he felt about the way his parents taught him finances, he was very grateful they had done something because he was empowered.

Thought questions: 

• What do your current practices with housework and chores teach your children about work?
• What do you want your children to understand about money when they leave home?
• What do you think your children currently understand about money? What is your current system teaching about the value of money, how money can be earned, etc.?

When making your plan, think about who pays for what?

• What kinds of things do you feel you should provide for your children?
• What kinds of things do you think your children currently need to earn and pay for themselves? (clothing, birthday gifts, toys, movie tickets, extracurricular activities, sharing cost of family vacation)
• When kids are older and can babysit and do other jobs in the community, does that change what you can expect them to pay for?
• Do you plan to provide a car, cell phone? What kind? How much will child pay for car insurance, gas, maintenance, etc.?

Family Work Assessment

• How do you train your children to do family work properly?
• How do you want to track completed work and make sure children know what is expected of them?
• What can you do to make work fun in your home and a relationship building activity?

How Your Children Get Money

• How will your children get the money they need to cover what you're requiring them to pay for?
• How much money should children earn or receive each week? How will you decide the amounts for different ages?
• How and when will children receive money they've earned? How will you track it? When will they be paid?
• will it be actual or virtual money?
• At what age or stage will they open up a bank account?
• Will you pay interest?
• How do you help guide children on how money is spent? How will you help them learn about saving?

Provide ways to get money:

• allowance/share of family budget
• earned income 

Purpose of your family economy

• set up a micro economy in your home that teaches real world economic principles in a safe environment
• give children practice handling money- small mistakes now may prevent big mistakes later
• Mistakes are the best teachers
• "Learn while they're under your roof and not in your basement!" - Katherine 
• give children a sense of ownership for their spending choices and help them lose the feeling of entitlement
• Let kids make decisions about money now to make them more prepared. Having ownership over money now makes them feel less entitled now and later.
• Give kids a reason to want/need money. 
• Give your kids an idea early about what they will be required to pay for (college, mission)

Things to Remember:

• Many of these "teaching moments" (i.e. cleaning the house as a family, doing chores, helping kids manage money) can be stressful and contentious and it is easy to give up. We need to remember we are teaching our children to be adults and we are teaching the value of work. BE CONSISTENT with the plan you make.
• Be a team! Show empathy when mistakes are made but have kids accept consequences. 
• Example: daughter got in a fender bender and made the decision to pay for the damager herself because it was her own mistake. She felt no anger at her parents because her parents showed empathy. They were a team.
• Example: son had earned money for his own bike. He forgot to lock it up at school and came home sad because it was gone. Luckily the custodian had locked it up in his closet and son got his bike back. However, he learned to take much better care of the bike and always lock it up.

References:

Entitlement Trap by Richard Eyre and Linda Eyre

The Opposite of Spoiled: Raising Kids Who are Grounded, Generous, and Smart About Money by Ron Lieber