Guess who got Botox today??

Me, that's 'oo.  (What movie??)  Yep, you read that right.

Ya know, this whole cancer thing has completely changed my thoughts about a few things.  For one thing, it's made me less judgmental.  I mean, I'm not really a judgey person to begin with - let me just put that out there for you.  Judgeyness is seriously my biggest pet peeve of ALL TIME.  But I suppose, in the deep recesses of my brain, I have judged certain behaviors in a bad light.

For instance, until I accidentally took my son's ADHD meds and felt like a freakin' ROCK STAR for like four hours (before crashing and burning and having this major paranoia/panic attack thing), I thought, "Oh, women who take their kids' ADHD meds...wow, that's messed up...." But when I experienced that euphoria?  I was like, Oh.  I can see why this happens.  They want to feel like a million bucks and get every dang thing done in record time.  I see the draw.  I'm not saying I'm going to keep doing it, or that it's a very good idea for people to do it, but I can see how, in a moment of desperation, a person would want that.

Or pain pills.  It kicked my buttocks flesh (my favorite phrase that a yoga instructor of mine used to always use, before I got all ADD and started jogging instead.  And then got all ADD and started dancing.  Before yoga, it was spinning.  It changes all the time) to get off those suckers.  It was more of an emotional withdrawal than physical!  But before that experience, I was all, "Oh, people who get hooked on pain pills...wow, that's messed up..."   And now I get it.  I totally get it.  Still not saying it's a good idea, but does anyone ever set out to get addicted to pain pills?  No.

And plastic surgery.  I was all, "I'm not ever having fake boobs."  (Well, obvi, my life plans changed dramatically this summer.)  And now that I have them, I LOVE THEM!  They don't bounce, you guys!  I mean, maybe when they take my "stretchers" out and put in my real implants (I think this happens after radiation, so, like, April?), they'll bounce?  But I know that they put the stretchers, and then the implants that replace the stretchers, under your pecs.  And I'm not kidding, you guys.  I taught ballet last week and did a whole petite allegro sequence for like half an hour, and these things didn't move an INCH.  Petite allegro is very, very bouncy.  They didn't move an inch.  I wasn't even wearing a bra!!!  I don't have to wear a bra!  And nobody knows!  And my boobs are just so...perky! This has really been such a pleasant surprise.

And Botox.  I was always like, "I'm going to grow old gracefully.  No Botox for me.  No siree.  I want to look authentic."

But then here's the deal - my right eyelid has been twitching almost constantly since my diagnosis. So, um, almost two full months.  It will sometimes pause, but like a minute later, there it goes.  I don't know if it's stress, or lack of sleep (I don't sleep very well since my diagnosis) or what, but it's driving me CRAZY.  I mentioned it to my plastic surgeon (I have a plastic surgeon now) the last time they filled my boobs up a little, and he was like, "If your eye is still bugging you in two weeks, let's put some Botox in it!" I guess he does that all the time for people whose eyelids are wigging out on them.

Today was my final fill-er-up, and I was like, "Um, so, my eyelid.  Still twitching."

And he was all, "Let's Botox it!"

I was really nervous, but it only hurt as much as it would if you just kind of tapped your skin with the end of a tack.  For realsies.  I was like, "Oh!  Okay!  Cool!"  This is basically what I looked like when he did it:

Not really.  I looked more like this:

And then he goes, "I've got some left over in the vial.  Do you want me to put some anywhere else?"

And boy howdy, instead of demurely putting up my hand, stop-in-the-name-of-love style, and saying, "No, sir.  I shall not sully my face.  I shall grow old gracefully..." I was immediately like, "YES!  SHOOT IT UP BETWEEN MY EYEBROWS!!!"

Because you see, my skin is usually nice and oily, right?  And you don't see many wrinkles on me, on account of its suppleness.  It happens to come with wicked acne, so don't get too jealous.  But since chemo, well, lots of things have changed.  One thing is that I'm growing peach fuzz all over my forehead and jowls.  I have to shave my peach fuzz, for Pete's sake.  I could list a billion other things that have changed.  But notably, my oily, acne-prone face is now a dry, wrinkly pruneface.  And my frown lines between my eyebrows are REALLY prominent.

So yeah.  My views on Botox have changed dramatically, apparently.  It's supposed to take effect in a couple of days.  I'm a little excited to see what happens with my eyelid and with my frown lines.

And my boobs?  They're gorgeous.  Mainly.  They're bigger than they were before, but not crazy big and weird.  Just...nice and proportional.  Proportional for my body type.  They are really lopsided right now, so we'll have to make adjustments, I suppose.  Lefty is higher and smaller than righty, even though equal amounts of...whatever it is they put in the stretchers...have been put into each side. I'm sure my plastic surgeon will take care of it.  He says that Righty "dropped."  I made a lame-o joke about it expecting its baby any day now.  He laughed.  He's very kind to put up with my dorky jokes. We're going to take a prayerful watch-and-wait stance on the lopsided boob issue.  (What movie?)   Maybe Lefty will also "drop" a little to match Righty.  We shall see.  If not, I trust my plastic surgeon.  It's his job to make things pretty.  So I'll let him do it.

The Lesson - Why is it important to learn about my family history?

Making Connections – Family History

1.               Write down a gospel principle that they recently learned from a parent, sibling, or other family member.

2.               Write down any experiences you have had doing family history work (such as being baptized for an ancestor, participating in indexing, or preparing the name of an ancestor for temple ordinances).

3.               Why does Heavenly Father want us to do family history work?

We did exactly as the lesson asked us to do with the Richard G. Scott part.  I gave each kid a copy of the last few paragraphs of his talk:

The Joy of Redeeming the Dead

“Any work you do in the temple is time well spent, but receiving ordinances vicariously for one of your own ancestors will make the time in the temple more sacred, and even greater blessings will be received. The First Presidency has declared, 'Our preeminent obligation is to seek out and identify our own ancestors.'

“Do you young people want a sure way to eliminate the influence of the adversary in your life? Immerse yourself in searching for your ancestors, prepare their names for the sacred vicarious ordinances available in the temple, and then go to the temple to stand as proxy for them to receive the ordinances of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost. As you grow older, you will be able to participate in receiving the other ordinances as well. I can think of no greater protection from the influence of the adversary in your life.

“In the Russia Rostov-na-Donu Mission the youth were invited to each index 2,000 names and then qualify at least one name from their own families for temple ordinances. Those who accomplished this goal were invited to go on a long journey to the new Kyiv Ukraine Temple. One young man shared his experience: 'I was spending a lot of time playing computer games. When I started indexing, I didn’t have time to play games. At first I thought, “Oh no! How can that be!” When this project was over, I even lost interest in gaming. … Genealogical work is something that we can do here on earth, and it will remain in heaven.'”

–                 Elder Richard G. Scott, “The Joy of Redeeming the Dead,” October 2012 General Conference

Important/Not Important

I have all of these images in this file, and I think I printed them out and put them in a grab bag.  Then I had each kid draw a picture out of there, and I had two areas on the ground in front of them with stand-up cards labeled "Important" and "Not Important."  I had each kid say what the picture showed and put it in the pile.  It seems like a dumb activity, but it helped to kind of get them moving and not so sedate, and they actually really liked it.  Here are the images (I feel like I had a ton more, but they aren't in my file.  Just google stuff that you think isn't worthwhile and then google family history stuff and print those images out so that each of your students gets something out of the grab bag):

 (this is a picture of indexing):

Then we did exactly what the lesson suggested on the Redeeming the Dead and Your Responsibilities part.  Here are my sheeties for that:

Redeeming the Dead

Many of Heavenly Father’s children have died without having the opportunity to receive the fulness of the gospel. In His mercy and infinite love, the Lord has prepared a way for them to gain a testimony of the gospel and receive the saving ordinances of the priesthood.

In the spirit world, the gospel is “preached to those who [have] died in their sins, without a knowledge of the truth, or in transgression, having rejected the prophets. These [are] taught faith in God, repentance from sin, vicarious baptism for the remission of sins, the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands, and all other principles of the gospel that [are] necessary for them to know in order to qualify themselves that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit” (D&C 138:32–34).

Many in the spirit world embrace the gospel. However, they cannot receive priesthood ordinances for themselves because they do not have physical bodies. In holy temples, we have the privilege of receiving ordinances in their behalf. These ordinances include baptism, confirmation, Melchizedek Priesthood ordination (for men), the endowment, the marriage sealing, and the sealing of children to parents. The Lord revealed this work to the Prophet Joseph Smith, restoring a practice that had been revealed to Christians shortly after the Resurrection of Jesus Christ (see 1 Corinthians 15:29).

As you receive priesthood ordinances in behalf of those who have died, you become a savior on Mount Zion for them (see Obadiah 1:21). Your effort approaches the spirit of the Savior’s atoning sacrifice—you perform a saving work for others that they cannot do for themselves.

Your Responsibilities in Family History Work

In family history work, you have three basic responsibilities:

1. Receive the temple ordinances for yourself and help immediate family members receive them.

2. Hold a current temple recommend and attend the temple as frequently as circumstances allow.

3. Gather family history information so you can help your ancestors receive the blessings of the temple.

You can participate in temple and family history work, at least to some extent, regardless of where you live or what your circumstances are. While you probably will not be able to do everything, you can do something. The following ideas may help you get started:

• Record important details about your own life. Record your birth date and birthplace and the dates of your baptism and confirmation. Keep a personal journal to record the highlights of your life, including personal experiences that will strengthen the faith of your children and other future generations.

• Learn about your ancestors. Begin by recording information from your memory and from accessible sources at home. Record the vital information you accurately remember or can find about siblings, parents, uncles and aunts, grandparents, and great-grandparents. Where possible, obtain copies of certificates or other documents that include this information. As you gather more information, you may want to search in other locations, such as public records. The local ward or branch may have a family history consultant who can help you. You may also want to visit the Church’s official Web site for family history, www.familysearch.org.

• As you identify your ancestors, use pedigree charts and family group forms to record the information you find. These forms are available on paper and also in Church-produced software programs, such as Personal Ancestral File.

When you have gathered the necessary information about your ancestors who have died without receiving the gospel, ensure that temple work is performed for them.  Even if you do not live near enough to a temple for you and your family members to be able to do the ordinance work, you can submit ancestors’ names to a temple so others can do the work for them. You may be able to visit a nearby family history center or consult with local ward or branch family history consultants to see how to do this.

The Prophet Joseph Smith declared that there are “principles in relation to the dead and the living that cannot be lightly passed over, as pertaining to our salvation. For their salvation is necessary and essential to our salvation, as . . .they without us cannot be made perfect—neither can we without our dead be made perfect” (D&C 128:15). Through your participation in family history work, you and your ancestors progress toward salvation.

Then we watched the Elder Bednar video and I had the kids jot down their ideas on this worksheet as we watched:

Why Family History Is Important

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

The Lesson - What opportunities are there for learning and teaching in the home? - What I Did

Well, I can't see that I did any introductory stuff for this lesson.  I just started with the video clip, giving this sheety to my kids to fill in while they watched:

A Heaven-Inspired Program

Directions:  As you watch the video clip with President Monson, fill in the two lists below.

Dangers We Can Be Protected From                       Strengths that Can Come from

by Studying the Gospel as Families                          Studying the Gospel as Families

Then we discussed the worksheet, of course.  We always discuss, unless some of the stuff is private stuff for them to stick in their scriptures or journals or whatever.  But I always tell them on their sheeties if they'll need to share or not.  Then we did the following worksheet for the L.Tom Perry part.  I split his talk up and gave each kid a different worksheet:

Becoming Goodly Parents

Directions:  Read the following suggestion (From Elder Perry's talk from October 2012) for creating a stronger family culture.  After you read the suggestion, answer the questions that follow it.

“Parents can pray in earnest, asking our Eternal Father to help them love, understand, and guide the children He has sent to them.”

If you can think of one, share an example you have seen of a family following the suggestion.

What can you do now to prepare to follow this suggestion when you become a parent? 

Becoming Goodly Parents

Directions:  Read the following suggestion (From Elder Perry's talk from October 2012) for creating a stronger family culture.  After you read the suggestion, answer the questions that follow it.

“Families can hold family prayer, scripture study, and family home evenings and eat together as often as possible, making dinner a time of communication and the teaching of values.”

Share an example you have seen of a family following the suggestion.

2.  What can you do now to prepare to follow this suggestion when you become a parent?

  

Becoming Goodly Parents

Directions:  Read the following suggestion (From Elder Perry's talk from October 2012) for creating a stronger family culture.  After you read the suggestion, answer the questions that follow it.

“Parents can fully avail themselves of the Church’s support network, communicating with their children’s Primary teachers, youth leaders, and class and quorum presidencies. By communicating with those who are called and set apart to work with their children, parents can provide essential understanding of a child’s special and specific needs. “

1.  Share an example you have seen of a family following the suggestion.

2.  What can you do now to prepare to follow this suggestion when you become a parent?

  

Becoming Goodly Parents

Directions:  Read the following suggestion (From Elder Perry's talk from October 2012) for creating a stronger family culture.  After you read the suggestion, answer the questions that follow it.

“Parents can share their testimonies often with their children, commit them to keep the commandments of God, and promise the blessings that our Heavenly Father promises His faithful children.”

1.  Share an example you have seen of a family following the suggestion.

2.  What can you do now to prepare to follow this suggestion when you become a parent?

Becoming Goodly Parents

Directions:  Read the following suggestion (From Elder Perry's talk from October 2012) for creating a stronger family culture.  After you read the suggestion, answer the questions that follow it.

“We can organize our families based on clear, simple family rules and expectations, wholesome family traditions and rituals, and “family economics,” where children have household responsibilities and can earn allowances so that they can learn to budget, save, and pay tithing on the money they earn.”

1.  Share an example you have seen of a family following the suggestion.

2.  What can you do now to prepare to follow this suggestion when you become a parent?

Then we did the Proclamation on the Family activity.  I gave each kid a copy of the 7th paragraph of the Proclamation:

The family is ordained of God. Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan. Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity. Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities. By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children. In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners. Disability, death, or other circumstances may necessitate individual adaptation. Extended families should lend support when needed.

–                 The Family:  A Proclamation to the World

Then I did the Recreational Activities Part like so:

Wholesome Recreational Activities

1.  What recreational activities do you enjoy participating in with your families?

2.  What gospel truths or principles have you learned as you have taken part in these activities?

And then we shared our answers to this part.  [I put the picture of a boat at sunset, because I grew up on a boat - those were some of the best times of my life. :)]

My Sinead O'Connor Lipsync Video

Oh my gosh, you guys are going to die.  I set out to make a totally cut-rate, hilarious lipsync of "Nothing Compares 2U," mimicking the video, and I've got to say, with the help of my mom and my friend Megs, we did it.  We did it GOOD.

Impertinent Fellow...

Um, so this kind of looks like our purple couch that's for sale.  Except we don't have fringe on the bottom, thank goodness.  Our new place in Oregon is, like, 1/3 the size of the dream-house-I-only-had-for-eight-months.  So we had to let a lot of stuff go.  Including my beloved purple couch.  I slept on that thing during four pregnancies, you guys.  I had to sleep almost upright during each one because of the horrible acid reflux I had, and that couch provided me with the perfect little corner to wedge myself up in.  I slept on it when Ben snored so loudly that I couldn't sleep (before I discovered Mack's earplugs - a lifesaver).  Ben parked his badonkadonk on there to watch his awful zombie apocalypse shows and other horrific movies that I hid in the bedroom to avoid.  My kids jumped on it.  We lost several toys and cell phones in its bowels.  I'll miss it.

So anyways, our purple fabled one is sitting in my old garage, waiting for someone to buy it for $20. I have had a few inquiries, but nobody's been serious about buying it.

Until today.

I get a text:  Hey, I'm interested in your purple sofa.  Is it still available?

Me:  Yes!  If you want to look at it, I can meet you.

What I was starting to think was a dude (you can just tell):  Can you drop the price to $10?

Me: [thinking "Eh, what the hell"]:  Sure.

Dude who should be paying $20 for my beloved purple couch:  Awesome.  If it's that price, I don't need to see it.  When can you bring it by?

Me:

I was like, "Jigga WHAT?  Who is this guy?  Who does he think he is?  He's only paying ten bucks for the purple fabled one?  And he wants me to deliver it to him?"

And then I get a call from this guy.  I was really interested in hearing him talk.  Thinking he  might be stoned or something.

Me:  [Answering sweetly] Hello?

A 12-year-old voice:  Hey, I'm the guy that's been texting you about your sofa.

Me: [chuckling]  Ohhhhhh!  Hiiiii!

12-year-old that looks at Craig's List for SOFAS:  So is there any way you can deliver that sofa to my house?

Me:  Well, I was just about to text you that I don't have a truck or a trailer or anything.  You'll have to have someone come pick it up.  [Because you're only 12 and can't drive yet.]

Silly boy who is a little bit unschooled in the ways of Craig's List - for good reason - because he's TWELVE:  Ohhhh.  Okay, well, I'll talk to my parents about it tonight and see what we can figure out.

Me:  Okay, you do that.  Buh-bye.  [And have a nice day in 7th grade tomorrow.  Hope being a Sevie is working out for you.]

That phone call seriously made my day.  This kid reminds me of my Dylan - an evil genius.  I haven't yet told you the tale of Dylan figuring out how to buy $50 of video games the other day.  I still can't figure out how he did it.  But, somehow, he guessed Ben's apple ID password and Ben's credit card got charged.  Ben's password is soooo complicated - I often have to ask him what it is.  And I don't have his credit card info at all!

Ben called me and was like, "WHAT DID YOU BUY?"  And I was like, "Huh?"  We soon figured it out, and luckily, Ben was able to have the charge (and the games) removed, and Dylan is hereby grounded from the iPad FOREVER.  This isn't the first iPad altercation we've had with him.  He's seriously like a crack addict about that thing.  Tomorrow I'll tell you the tale of the day Dylan ran away from home - for realsies - because I took away iPad privileges.  And this only happened a month ago.  After my mastectomy.  Like a champ.  That's the perfect thing to do when your dad is gone and your mom is recovering from major surgery.  Good times.  Really good times.

Kids these days.  Sheesh.

The Lesson - How will keeping a personal journal bless me and my family? - What I did.

Kay, so I wanted to kind of introduce the lesson by testing the reliability of the students' memories.  I gave each kid this little sheety:

The Reliability of Your Memories

Directions:  In the space below, describe this past Christmas Eve.  What did you do to celebrate?  How did you feel?

I also wanted to do this part of the introduction:

• 
  
• 
  
• If possible, share an entry from your personal journal or the journal of an ancestor (or invite a class member or ward member to do this). Why was it important to record this experience? How are others blessed because someone kept a journal?

I loooooved this part, because I have some really amazeballs stories from my family history.  I would have definitely shared these two.

One of my ancestors is Jonathan Harriman Hale.  He joined the church in 1834 in Dover, New Hampshire.  He went on two missions, moved his family to Kirtland, went on two more missions, then moved his family to Far West (later, he would move to Nauvoo and become a bishop there, go on a mission, and be a colonel in the Nauvoo Legion).  Isn't he incredible?  I just read in his autobiography that his favorite hymn was "How Firm a Foundation."  I can't even believe that - it's been my favorite hymn for years!  That is so neat!!

Well, his wife was also incredible.  Her name was Olive Boynton Hale.  So while they were living in Far West, Governor Boggs issued his extermination order, and mobbers started burning houses and killing and driving off the settlers' livestock.  The following is an account from Olive and Jonathan's son, Aroet (who is my dear friend Gregg's direct ancestor.  I come from Alma, Aroet's brother):

"Our tents were searched by a  mob militia.  My dear Mother was lying sick in a wagon box in a tent.  Four men entered our tent, two on each side of the bed where Mother was lying, evidently in search of firearms.  They rolled Mother from side to side of the bed, roughly thrusting her against the sides of the wagon box, until she was nearly exhausted.

"The tents and wagons of other families were treated in like manner.  After obtaining all the arms and ammunition they could find, they took Father and the other brethren prisoners and marched them away.  I was about the largest boy in camp.  I had to cut wood, burn it into coals, and take the hot coals into the tent in a bake-kettle to keep my mother and the children from freezing.

"Father returned in a few days.  Mother handed him two silver-mounted Derringer pistols, which she had preserved from the mob by concealing them under her breasts.  We lived in the tent until the ice on Grand River had frozen sufficiently to bear loaded wagons across."

Can you belieeeeeeve this story?  How cool is Olive??  Sadly, Jonathan, Olive, and the two youngest children died of malaria at Council Bluffs.  The youngest was a baby, only one month old.  This left four children - four orphans - to cross the plains.  Somehow, they managed to do it.  They kind of joined one of the wagon trains across the plains and arrived in Salt Lake.

Alma went on to settle in Logan.  Every winter, his brothers (their sister passed away as a young mother in Salt Lake) would come to Logan, and the three of them would do temple work in the Logan temple.  The following is taken from Jonathan Hale's biography, part of which was devoted to each of his surviving children's lives:

"Upon the completion of their record of sealings of husbands to wives and children to parents, following a Hale program in the Logan Temple one evening in February, 1896, that a strange phenomenon was reported; the sacred structure, it is said, became suddenly illuminated - flooded from dome to foundation with a blaze of light.  Apostle Marriner W. Merrill, who was then President of the Temple, observed the phenomenon as he was traveling on the highway that night from Logan to Richmond.  It was likewise observed by many residents of Logan.

"'President Merrill viewed the occurrence with some concern,' the account in the Deseret News read, 'and he made anxious inquiry the following morning to determine the cause.  There were no electric lights in Logan at that time and no means were provided for illuminating the Temple in any such manner.  Furthermore, he had closed the Temple for the night and was on his way home.  He could find no physical means by which to answer his interrogations.  The following night, however, the Temple was again flooded with illumination, the same as the previous night.'

"President Merrill finally concluded and announced to the general assembly in the Temple that this beautiful and glorious manifestation was a spiritual phenomenon.  'The matter was subsequently called to the attention of President Wilford Woodruff,' the account continued, 'who declared it to be an assembly of the great Hale family from the spirit world, who had gathered within those sacred walls in exultation over their liberation through the beneficent ministrations in their behalf.'"

A. maze. ing.  I love these stories.  So I shared them as an introduction to the lesson.

• Invite the youth to read the first eight paragraphs of President Henry B. Eyring’s talk “O Remember, Remember” (or show the video based on the talk), and ask them to look for blessings that came because President Eyring wrote about his experiences daily. What else do they learn about keeping a personal journal from President Eyring’s message? Read together the last paragraph of his talk, and share a recent experience from your life in which you saw the hand of God or He seemed to have a message for you. Invite the youth to ponder their own answers to the questions suggested by President Eyring and record their thoughts.

O Remember, Remember

Henry B. Eyring, Oct. 2007 General Conference

Directions:  We're going to read this talk together.  Then we'll answer the questions on the back of this sheet together.

When our children were very small, I started to write down a few things about what happened every day. Let me tell you how that got started. I came home late from a Church assignment. It was after dark. My father-in-law, who lived near us, surprised me as I walked toward the front door of my house. He was carrying a load of pipes over his shoulder, walking very fast and dressed in his work clothes. I knew that he had been building a system to pump water from a stream below us up to our property.

He smiled, spoke softly, and then rushed past me into the darkness to go on with his work. I took a few steps toward the house, thinking of what he was doing for us, and just as I got to the door, I heard in my mind—not in my own voice—these words: “I’m not giving you these experiences for yourself. Write them down.”

I went inside. I didn’t go to bed. Although I was tired, I took out some paper and began to write. And as I did, I understood the message I had heard in my mind. I was supposed to record for my children to read, someday in the future, how I had seen the hand of God blessing our family. Grandpa didn’t have to do what he was doing for us. He could have had someone else do it or not have done it at all. But he was serving us, his family, in the way covenant disciples of Jesus Christ always do. I knew that was true. And so I wrote it down, so that my children could have the memory someday when they would need it.

I wrote down a few lines every day for years. I never missed a day no matter how tired I was or how early I would have to start the next day. Before I would write, I would ponder this question: “Have I seen the hand of God reaching out to touch us or our children or our family today?” As I kept at it, something began to happen. As I would cast my mind over the day, I would see evidence of what God had done for one of us that I had not recognized in the busy moments of the day. As that happened, and it happened often, I realized that trying to remember had allowed God to show me what He had done.

More than gratitude began to grow in my heart. Testimony grew. I became ever more certain that our Heavenly Father hears and answers prayers. I felt more gratitude for the softening and refining that come because of the Atonement of the Savior Jesus Christ. And I grew more confident that the Holy Ghost can bring all things to our remembrance—even things we did not notice or pay attention to when they happened.

The years have gone by. My boys are grown men. And now and then one of them will surprise me by saying, “Dad, I was reading in my copy of the journal about when …” and then he will tell me about how reading of what happened long ago helped him notice something God had done in his day.

My point is to urge you to find ways to recognize and remember God’s kindness. It will build our testimonies. You may not keep a journal. You may not share whatever record you keep with those you love and serve. But you and they will be blessed as you remember what the Lord has done. You remember that song we sometimes sing: “Count your many blessings; name them one by one, And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.”

Make a list of the blessings Elder Eyring received from keeping a journal:

Read the last paragraph of his talk:

Tonight, and tomorrow night, you might pray and ponder, asking the questions: Did God send a message that was just for me? Did I see His hand in my life or the lives of my children? I will do that. And then I will find a way to preserve that memory for the day that I, and those that I love, will need to remember how much God loves us and how much we need Him. I testify that He loves us and blesses us, more than most of us have yet recognized. I know that is true, and it brings me joy to remember Him. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Now think about the last 24 hours.  Answer Elder Eyring's questions in the above paragraph below.  You don't have to share these – they are for you.

Ask each youth to read one of the following scriptures:1 Nephi 1:1–3; Alma 37:8–9; Moses 6:5, 45–46. Ask the youth to think about and share some of the blessings that have come because the people in these scriptures kept a record. What are some reasons people do not keep a personal journal? What do the youth learn from these verses that helps them see the importance of journal writing? 

What if Nephi hadn't kept a record??

Directions:  You and your partner(s) write down the blessings that have come because Nephi kept a record.  (Hint – something that helped me with my list was to flip through first Nephi and noting things that he had written about and done, and what we learn from him.)

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 What if Alma the Younger hadn't kept a record???

Directions:  You and your partner(s) write down blessings that have come because Alma the Younger kept a record.  (Hint – something that helped me with my list was to flip through Alma 32 – 39 and noting things he had written about and done, and what we learn from him.)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        What if Moses hadn't kept a record??

Directions:  You and your partner(s) write down blessings that have come because Moses kept a record.  (Hint – something that helped me with my list was to read in the Bible Dictionary under Genesis and also to flip through the book of Moses in the Pearl of Great Price, noting things that he had written about and done, and what we learn from him.)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             I wanted to kind of combine the next two items on the idea list in the lesson, so I came up with these - I gave each kid one, but if you have a bigger class, you could have them couple up or group up.  Each one is different.

        

The Scriptures Teach Us About Journal Writing

Directions:  Read 1 Ne. 1:1-3.  What do you learn from these verses that helps you to see the importance of journal writing?

The Scriptures Teach Us About Journal Writing

Directions:  Read Alma 37:8-9.  What do you learn from these verses that helps you to see the importance of journal writing?

The Scriptures Teach Us About Journal Writing

Directions:  Read Moses 6:5, 45-46.  What do you learn from these verses that helps you to see the importance of journal writing?

The Scriptures Teach Us About Journal Writing

Directions:  Read 1 Ne. 6:3-6.  What does Nephi feel is important to write about in one's journal?

The Scriptures Teach Us About Journal Writing

Directions:  Read 3 Ne. 23:6-13.  How might this scripture apply to our efforts to keep a personal journal?  How much should we write?  

 That's all we got to, I'm afraid.  Theeeee end.  Sorry there's a big old gap at the end of this entry.  I can't make it close.  Ah well.  You can't win 'em all.