It's Game Day - January 1, 2017!

Hello Everyone and Happy 2017! 

It's been a while since I wrote an update on what's happening with the youth. 

I still maintain it is clearly one of the best callings I have ever had, and at times

one of the most challenging.  I feel like the Lord's hand has been with me for the last 11 months. On January 28th it will be one year. Hard to believe time has flown by so quickly!

Due to work travel and Christmas falling on Sunday, I was away for a few weeks. As I thought about how I wanted to start the year, I could hear one of my young women ask, " Are we playing Jeopardy ? "  She would play a game at every lesson if given the option, and she's good at them too! So with her specific request in mind, I decided to create version 2 of our Jeopardy game.

Now you have to know that the young women felt completely gypped at the end of our last game. They were clearly ahead, and in the spirit of the actual game,

I decided to make the last question of a point value where the young men could come back and win by 1 point if they got it right, which they did, fairly and squarely. However, they have never let me forget it - or the young men!  So 

in their minds, this game was going to have the ending they should have had the first time. 

I did a review of what we talked about in 2016 and came up with categories that were both easy and challenging.  And for the first time ever, there were as many young men as young women, an even 5/5.  Usually our class is heavy with young men, but this week worked out beautifully and included 2 guests from Utah visiting family. You would never have known these kids were visitors. They blended beautifully with our teens.

I leave it up to them to create team names, and this time the battle was going to be between " Championship Alpacas" and " Apple Pie, Bow-ties and French Fries". The latter was a compilation of what the young men liked and included input from  each of them. I thought it was pretty clever.  I'll have to ask how the young women decided on that name. More than anything, I knew Champions were how they saw themselves, long before the game started. :)

The categories were Scripture Chase, Fill-in-the-blanks, Storyteller, Covenants and Commandments and It's a Numbers Game.  I felt this time that the teams were pretty evenly divided, both in knowledge and ages and personally, I was excited to see who would win. 

As I watched the game, I was struck by the things that have changed in the last 11 months. Finding scriptures comes easier to them, they offer more thoughtful responses, some are  remembering the stories in the scriptures, some have even completed reading the Book of Mormon. I've watched our youth mature, taking on new callings as leaders.  I feel the Spirit as they answer questions with pure faith, and ask questions that require reflection.

I've seen them grow taller, smarter, and choosing to deepen their roots in their faith. Words can't adequately describe the love I have for this class. I consider it both an honor and a privilege to have this calling. It has grounded me in my faith through regular scripture study and earnest prayer as I strive to know what lessons are best to share with them. I am blessed beyond measure for this experience at this time in my life. 

And in case you are wondering, the Championship Alpacas did indeed win without question this time around. It came down to the last question and ended

exactly the way they envisioned.  The score is now 1-1.  I see another game in our future. 

For me, however, they are all winners. Every Sunday they choose to get out of bed, regardless of how much sleep they have had, they arrive and participate. Early or late, scriptures or not, they could be 100 other places and they are here in our class. And for me, that is a winning recipe for developing a testimony of Jesus Christ, and a love for the scriptures and their faith. 

 Thanks for reading and feel free to comment below!

- Rachel xoxo

 

Keeping the Commandments - The World From Their Eyes

In case you want to read the lesson itself, you can find that

here: September - Commandments - Lesson # 3

I asked the youth to give me a few things they see at school among their peers that could be better if their peers knew and lived the commandments. 

1) Respect of parents - It seems pretty common place for the kids to hear of their peers talking poorly about their parents. It could be because they are angry about discipline handed to them, or because they esteem the parents as old fashioned or out of touch.  We agreed it is okay be unhappy with your Mom or Dad if they give you a consequence, but it isn't okay to gossip about them. (Unless of course you are going to say how AMAZING your parents are, then they felt it was absolutely okay to spread that message.)   I'll go along with that .

2) Taking the Lord's name in vain - Every person in my class has been bombarded with this kind of language, without exception.  And when I asked them if that included their teachers, several said yes, including them as well. 

I shared with them a story of a recent experience I had at a local grocery store with a group of young men who were cursing up a storm. They were absolutely clueless that anyone else was listening to them, and moreover they were unaware that their language was of any concern. They didn't even remember what they had said that could be offensive.

I'm fairly certain that the next time a 50 year old woman saunters up to them to say something, they will think twice about what comes out of their mouth. (At least that is the hopeful attitude I'm going to keep regarding that incident.)

3) Drugs - Word of Wisdom 

This is always an interesting conversation. They seem to clearly understand that marijuana, cocaine, heroin, beer, liquor,and cigarettes are things to stay away from. They know there are kids that are doing drugs in their schools, and they haven't experienced it in their circle of friends.  What's interesting to me is to have the conversation about the gray areas in people's understanding.  What is the Church counsel on the Word of Wisdom ?  Do you drink Dr. Pepper to get out of bed ?  Do you use cough medicine to go to sleep and you aren't sick ?  The buzz words are stimulate and excess. 

One of my senior students said, " Keeping the commandments could help everyone - all over the world!" 

EXACTLY! 

Our class then took a turn as we read about Abinidi and his stellar example of keeping the commandments. He died because he wouldn't deny the commandments. So what does that tell us about our efforts to keep them ?

1) You always have a choice to be an example. 

2)  Search for ways to keep the commandments even if it            seems like it may be hard to do so.

3) The Spirit can guide you if you keep the commandments       and stay worthy to receive that guidance.

My heart aches for the youth of today. The adversary wants to desensitize their souls and cause them to be beyond feeling. He wants them to be so used to pain, suffering, death and destruction that they turn a blind eye. He uses the great and spacious building to keep them from holding on to the rod, learning about the Savior and choosing the right. 

I hope that my class knows that if they arm themselves with the shields of prayer, hope, faith in Jesus Christ and keeping the commandments, they will be "the light of the world."  They have been sent here at this time to be examples to those in their circles of influence. I see their brightness, their goodness and their potential.  I can't wait to see what these young people become. 

Keeping the Commandments - When the Rubber Meets the Road - Part 2

There are people who are meant to be examples to others. Their lives are a testimony of their faith, and their convictions are solid and immovable. They inspire me to do better, to examine my own walk and make the needed course corrections. 

One such person was Abinidi, a prophet from the Book of Mormon. If you want to read more about him, you can click here: Abinidi's Life - Chapters 11-17 .


Abinidi's entire mission was to warn the people of King Noah that they needed to repent and help them to turn their lives around. He wasn't the least bit concerned that this made King Noah angry, uncomfortable or that his life would be in danger by following through on his mission. He had a message to deliver, and he wasn't going to be deterred in any way until he completed his mission.
He is the epitome of steadfast and immovable.  He called out the king, questioned his leadership, and made the consequences very clear: 

 20 And it came to pass that there was a man among them whose name was Abinadi; and he went forth among them, and began to prophesy, saying: Behold, thus saith the Lord, and thus hath he commanded me, saying, Go forth, and say unto this people, thus saith the Lord—Wo be unto this people, for I have seen their abominations, and their wickedness, and their whoredoms; and except they repent I will visit them in mine anger.

 21 And except they repent and turn to the Lord their God, behold, I will deliver them into the hands of their enemies; yea, and they shall be brought into bondage; and they shall be afflicted by the hand of their enemies.

 22 And it shall come to pass that they shall know that I am the Lord their God, and am a jealous God, visiting the iniquities of my people.

 23 And it shall come to pass that except this people repent and turn unto the Lord their God, they shall be brought into bondage; and none shall deliver them, except it be the Lord the Almighty God.

 24 Yea, and it shall come to pass that when they shall cry unto me I will be slow to hear their cries; yea, and I will suffer them that they be smitten by their enemies.

 25 And except they repent in sackcloth and ashes, and cry mightily to the Lord their God, I will not hear their prayers, neither will I deliver them out of their afflictions; and thus saith the Lord, and thus hath he commanded me.

When a prophet tells you 4 times to repent, you better take a good hard look at your life and figure out what he is talking about.  Fortunately Abinidi is so clear ; there is no way his words could be mistaken.  And King Noah doesn't care - AT ALL !   He's more than happy to continue the path of idolatry, greed, burdening others for his own gain and complete disregard for the teachings of Abinidi, his father and his ancestors. It is astounding to me that he could hear all of this and his heart be so very blinded to his own personal sins and misdeeds  

And Abinidi's message almost sinks in ...King Noah  gets really close to letting Abinidi go...unfortunately, he only gets close before his wicked priest convince him otherwise. 

So why am I telling you the story of Abinidi and what does it have to do with my work dilemma I spoke about in last week's blog  ?  Let me get to the point.   The last few verses of chapter 17 are the account of the very last words of Abinidi as the flames are burning him to death.  He doesn't mince words: 

14 And now when the flames began to scorch him, he cried unto them, saying:

 15 Behold, even as ye have done unto me, so shall it come to pass that thy seed shall cause that many shall suffer the pains that I do suffer, even the pains of death by fire; and this because they believe in the salvation of the Lord their God.

 16 And it will come to pass that ye shall be afflicted with all manner of diseases because of your iniquities.

 17 Yea, and ye shall be smitten on every hand, and shall be driven and scattered to and fro, even as a wild flock is driven by wild and ferocious beasts.

 18 And in that day ye shall be hunted, and ye shall be taken by the hand of your enemies, and then ye shall suffer, as I suffer, the pains of death by fire.

 19 Thus God executeth vengeance upon those that destroy his people. O God, receive my soul.

 20 And now, when Abinadi had said these words, he fell, having suffered death by fire; yea, having been put to death because he would not deny the commandments of God, having sealed the truth of his words by his death.

And that is what stopped me in my tracks. Verse 20.  He was put to death because he would not deny the commandments of God. 

How in the world can I stand before my youth and tell them about keeping the commandments, keeping the Sabbath day holy and not find any other way around my work dilemma ?  Did I even try to find a solution ?  Sadly to say that up to that point, I had not.  I was willing to give into the story I was telling myself, " I have to work."    I promise you, there was nothing forcing me to work. I  chose to be the captain, I chose to participate and I wanted to make a different choice. 

I wasn't sure I could find a replacement, or even a decent compromise, but I was 100% certain that if I didn't ask, I wouldn't know what my options were.  However, I felt as if somehow it would all work out.

I spoke to my colleague and told him of my situation. He immediately said, " I can take the team for you so you can teach your kids. That is much more important than being at the Walk."  (This conversation took place via IM and when I saw his words, tears came to my eyes.)   

Yes, indeed, it is more important. Our solution was that I would handle the set up of our table, meet with the team for photos and then hand over the rest of the event to my colleague.  And that is exactly what I did. I left the event, quickly drove to the freeway and arrived just in time for my class to start.  They were surprised to see me, and I was surprised I made it on time.  I told them the story of how I was able to be there and while I am not entirely sure it mattered to them all that much, it mattered to me.  It helped me remember that sometimes we have to stretch ourselves to keep the commandments. I needed the lesson as well as the reminder. 

I may have been called to be their teacher by the Bishop, but there is absolutely no denying that they are the ones that teach me, encourage me and inspire me to be a better member of the Church and a better person overall.  I thank them for being the catalyst behind this lesson and for giving me yet another reason to continue to read the Book of Mormon.  And thank you, Abinidi, for your unwavering faith and commitment to keeping the commandments. I am striving to follow in your footsteps. 

It has been a glorious week! 

RMC