(Sorry for the confusion for some of you who may have downloaded this podcast before 8 am AZ time. I woke up feeling sick – that some things I had said were wrong. Heavenly Father has an amazing knack for letting me know when I’ve overstepped or maybe took some liberties on some scripture interpretation that wasn’t correct. And no one even had to tell me this time. So yay! Hopefully you will erase Episode 39 if you downloaded it this morning and upload the right one. SORRY PEOPLE!
And check out the last 9 min of the podcast!!! It’s Episode #1 of the Book of Mormon for YOUth podcast that is starting Jan 1. Hurray! Have your kids email their favorite scriptures in the Book of Mormon to me as soon as possible so I can get interviewing and recording! comefollowmeforus@gmail.com
September 23–29
The gospel of Jesus Christ offers freedom from spiritual bondage. But sometimes people who have experienced the freedom of the gospel turn away from it and “desire again to be in bondage” (Galatians 4:9). This is what some Galatian Saints were doing—they were turning away from the liberty Christ had offered them (see Galatians 1:6). Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians, then, was an urgent call to come back to “the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free” (Galatians 5:1). This call is one we also need to hear and heed because while circumstances change, the struggle between freedom and bondage is constant. As Paul taught, it’s not enough to be “called unto liberty” (Galatians 5:13); we must also “stand fast” in it (Galatians 5:1) by relying on Christ.
Brigham Young, the second President of the Church, reported: “The question was asked a great many times of Joseph Smith, by gentlemen who came to see him and his people, ‘How is it that you can control your people so easily? It appears that they do nothing but what you say; how is it that you can govern them so easily?’ Said he, ‘I do not govern them at all. The Lord has revealed certain principles from the heavens by which we are to live in these latter days. The time is drawing near when the Lord is going to gather out His people from the wicked, and He is going to cut short His work in righteousness, and the principles which He has revealed I have taught to the people and they are trying to live according to them, and they control themselves.’”
I love listening to your podcast. You give great ideas for helping me to better feel the spirit. So far my only Come Follow Me study has been listening to you as well as listening to Don’t Miss This on Youtube. So thank you for kind of keeping me in line. Hopefully I’ll start studying a little more on my own soon.
Last week and again this week, you asked for people to send you easy service ideas to make a list. I am so excited for this list! I can’t wait to see what fun and creative things people have done. So I wanted to share some of my thoughts. I hope this is helpful.
– Last year when my daughter had just turned 3, I decided that in our family, I want my kids to help participate in a family service project every year for Christmas. I am still brainstorming what to do this year, so I hope your list helps me come up with some good ideas. But last year, I found a woman in South Jordan who collects books and then mails them to kids in need. So my daughter helped me pick out some of her own books to donate and then people from our ward brought us some. So we had a whole box of books to drop off to her.
– One lady in my ward is always brining people Swig (Flavored drinks). One day, I was having a rough morning because it was the end of my maternity leave and she happened to cal me and just said, “what’s your order?” Then she dropped it off. I don’t really care for soda and drinks from Swig, so I had her get me a lemonade. But what she brought wasn’t important, it was the fact that Heavenly Father knew I was having a rough time and he sent her over so I would know he was thinking about me. And for that I am grateful. I know she often brings drinks to lots of women in our ward, and I think she goes by the spirit to know who needs one that day. So awesome.
– A friend of mine was super ill this summer with her pregnancy (so ill she couldn’t get out of bed, was in and out of the ER and on IV’s). Rather than just ask to take her kids, I set up a playdate rotation so she didn’t have to worry about it. She gave me the dates and I set up the people to pick up and drop off the kids and to take over lunch when necessary.
– Once when I was a Mia Maid leader, I felt prompted to write my girls small notes each week to give them on Sunday. They were small (half the size of a index card) and I put silly stickers on them. Usually they just contained a small compliment. I did it for a month or so. I don’t know if the girls needed it or not, but it was something I felt prompted to do.
– When I was a Laurel, I remember my Young Women leader at the time gave each of us 6 girls $100 of her own money to spend on any kind of service. And then we reported back to her with what we did and how it felt. Another girl and I pooled our money and went to Sam’s club where we spent $200 on food items. We door bell ditched my neighbors across the street who were struggling with money and had young kids. We ran to my garage and hid and watched him. First the neighbor was super mad because someone door bell ditched him (and the food was in a box and not wrapped like presents, so not very noticeable in the dark). He stated yelling and was mad, but then he realized what was on his porch and started crying and saying thank you. When we met with all of our laurels, we found out that another Laurel had also been prompted to help that family and she spent her $100 on toys for the kids. It was a sweet Christmas and if I’m ever rich enough to do that, I would love to do it with my kids or future young women.
– My husband is the best example of service I can think of. If someone needs to move, a car has broken down, someone needs a truck ride to home depot because they only have a small car, he will always drop what he is doing to help (to the point that it annoys me and I need to work on my attitude).
– I have been in my current ward for about 5 years now. And I feel like it took me and my husband 3 years to make any friends. Now we love it and it is a very inclusive ward. But to get this way, I started planning a bunch of activities that I would invite the whole ward to on our ward Facebook page. Once I posted that we were going to the local elementary school to play Four Square and it almost turned into a primary activity with the amount of kids that came with a few moms. I’ve planned a big game night where everyone can come hang out or bring games to play. In Herriman, there is a little manmade reservoir that is about 20 minutes from our neighborhood. Over the summer, for 3 or 4 Mondays in a row, my friend and I invited our whole ward to join us and let ward members use our paddleboards, kayaks, and kid kayaks. We ranged from five -15 families that came. And after summer, 3 or 4 of the families had jumped on the band wagon and also purchased kid kayaks. At the end of summer, I booked a group Campsite at a lake and invited all of my friends that wanted to come. About 10 families form our ward (plus other friends) ended up coming and there were people introducing themselves to each other that didn’t know they were in the same ward. It was really fun (and probably had a better turn out than our “ward campout”). So I’m not good at spreading the gospel, but I try to be good at including everyone in fun activities. And that has made a difference in the feeling in our ward.
Thanks for all you do!
I always enjoy your podcast. I have felt the spirit very strongly hearing your testimony about things. Please keep it up and thank you.
Shortly after I began listening to your podcast, I found out that you are a friend of a friend of mine, which I’m pretty sure based on your Mitt Romney logic, means we are friends. Every time I listen to one of your new podcasts, I feel that I am talking to a friend who knows what my struggles are, and is there to lift me up and give me advice. Your thoughts and testimony have regularly sparked thoughts of my own, and have passed the spirit on to me to help me in my individual struggles and trials. As I’ve listened I’ve tried to become a better mother, wife, daughter, sister and friend. Your podcasts are truly inspiring me to be better and to do better. Thank you so much!
Awesome! We have Mitt Romney in common! We’re practically sisters!