Inkablinka

PROS planner

Posted on October 26, 2011 by Kristin

I’ve made another mini planner. I love the versatility of these little books. This one is to help take on the challenge given by the General Young Women presidency to be 100% in PROS:

Pray every day

Read at least 5 minutes in the Book of Mormon every day

Obey the commandments every day

Smile and change the world every day

There is a page for every day of the week to write your thoughts as you do these things. After your morning and evening prayer, write a thought that came to you as you prayed. After you read the scriptures, write down one principle or idea was meaningful in your study. Choose something to be especially obedient in, and write it down. Smile, and take note of how you felt, or how someone reacted to your smile.

You many want to challenge yourself or a youth in your circle of influence to take on the PROS challenge and use this planner for a week. It would be a great way to begin a habit of meaningful thought and action.

You can download the PROS planner here. For best printing results, save the pdf file to your desktop (or other preferred location), then open with Adobe Acrobat.

Click here for folding instructions.

You can also find pretty PROS word art here.

You can go here to read an article from the Church News about PROS and smiling

Posted in planner, scriptures, youth | 8 Comments

Hello, Friend!

Posted on October 25, 2011 by Kristin

November’s Visiting Teaching message is to be selected from our last General Conference. I loved the talk given by Elder Richard G. Scott, “The Power of Scripture”. I’ve been pondering several thoughts in his talk, including the following passages:

“Pondering a scripture like that gives great direction to life. The scriptures can form a foundation of support. They can provide an incredibly large resource of willing friends who can help us. A memorized scripture becomes an enduring friend that is not weakened with the passage of time.

Pondering a passage of scripture can be a key to unlock revelation and the guidance and inspiration of the Holy Ghost. Scriptures can calm an agitated soul, giving peace, hope, and a restoration of confidence in one’s ability to overcome the challenges of life. They have potent power to heal emotional challenges when there is faith in the Savior. They can accelerate physical healing.”

I’ve made this “Hello” tag to go along with Elder Scott’s talk, to remind us how the scriptures can be our friends when we get to know them. It wraps around the cover, and has a few points from the talk on the other side.

I used repositionable tape to keep the tag in place, but you could also use a small piece of folded masking tape. When sharing with your sisters, I would bring your own set of scriptures with the tag in place, then give them a tag to use with their scriptures however they wish.

You could also give your sisters a missionary copy of the Book of Mormon with the tag glued or taped to the cover, and encourage them to mark the copy up without restraint. We can sometimes be hesitant to mark up our nice scriptures, especially when trying out a new study method. Open up a blue softcover copy of the Book of Mormon and mark away! These can then be amazing gifts to pass down to younger members of our families. They will love seeing our insights and feelings in subsequent readings.

You can download the November 2011 Visiting Teaching Aid below (thank you so much to my translators: Birgitta, Blanche, Christine, Ana Carolina and Delmy!):

English

French

German

Spanish (click here to see entire post in Spanish)

Dutch

Portuguese

Posted in scriptures | 15 Comments

Framed Within Families

Posted on October 12, 2011 by Kristin

I shared a guest post today over at “We Talk of Christ, We Rejoice in Christ”, with a notebook idea to help study the Book of Mormon. It is inspired by the challenge given from Elder Neil L. Anderson in the October 2011 Ensign, to liken the teachings of the Book of Mormon to your family.

I have been using my notebook for several weeks now, and have enjoyed this focus of study tremendously. I’d love to hear what you think about it.

One additional thought: this could be a great thing to share with Home Teaching families!

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Let’s Dance

Posted on October 11, 2011 by Kristin

Last week for our combined youth activity we danced! We began by talking about dance etiquette: how to ask someone to dance, leading your partner on and off the dance floor, dress standards, hygiene (always shower and use deodorant!), etc. Then one of our leaders taught a few ballroom dance steps, and the youth practiced while politely asking and thanking new partners with each song. It was a great way to get ready for the new school year and the monthly youth dances that come with it.

Afterwards we had punch and cookies, and asked each young man to deliver a treat to a young woman (chivalry is alive!). These are Frostbite Cookies – a recipe found on Pinterest. Very yummy.

Speaking of Pinterest, I am linking up to The Modern Marigold’s “pin-did” challenge, because we all know there are thousands of amazing ideas on PInterest, and it’s so fun to pin, make, and share again!

Posted in youth | 2 Comments

Temple Softie

Posted on October 4, 2011 by Kristin

I made this “temple softie” last weekend, around General Conference sessions. I used Jocelyn’s tutorial, with a few little differences. My little girls and I all love this sweet little temple pillow with the bride and groom inside the pocket. I think it is a great reminder of the temple blessings we all hope to receive. if you haven’t been to Jocelyn’s blog lately, you should go check it out. She is dedicating this month to sharing testimonies of the Book of Mormon, and has some wonderful thoughts to share.

Posted in temple | 2 Comments

Felt Bookmark Giveaway

Posted on September 24, 2011 by Kristin

Congratulations to Tina on September 24, 2011 at 7:47 pm who said:

I love your site!! I check in often! I’m lovin the hearts, too!

(I’ll get your hearts bookmarks in the mail right away!)

_____________________________________________________________________

I’ve been having fun making these felt bookmarks inspired by the ones that I used with October’s Visiting Teaching aid. I thought I’d do a little giveaway for your choice of three bookmarks. Would you like the hearts, clouds or owls? Maybe a combination? Leave me a note telling me which you’d like, and I will pick a name next Monday, Oct 3. I would also love it if you would “like” my facebook page, or subscribe to my RSS feed, but that is not a requirement to enter the drawing. Thank you for being kind friends!

Subscribe in a reader

Posted in anytime | 31 Comments

A Pattern of Precise Behavior

Posted on September 23, 2011 by Kristin

The October 2011 Visiting Teaching Message comes from the special Book of Mormon Ensign issue. It talks about the mothers of Helaman’s warriors (Alma 53; 56-58) and the tremendous impact they had on their rising generation. As a result of their mothers’ examples and teachings, the stripling warriors faced adversity with great courage, faith, and exact obedience. They surely saw how their parents kept with precision the covenants that they had made with God, and learned from their examples to do the same. We can have the same powerful effect on the youth in our circles of influence.

Thinking about the following quote by Sister Beck, I wanted to create a visual reminder to live the covenants we have made with precision:

“When we honor our covenants, Heavenly Father can prepare the way for us. We are to live our covenants with precision. We can, for example, be precise in praying, in studying the scriptures, in holding a current temple recommend, in dressing modestly, in honoring the Sabbath. As we do so, our children will know and be able to say, “We do not doubt our mothers knew it” (Alma 56:48).

This matter of precise covenant keeping can be likened unto the pattern in a beautiful tapestry. As our own pattern of behavior is consistently obedient to God’s commandments, the beauty of gospel living will be evident to those that are watching and learning from our examples. There will doubtless be times that we miss a stitch in our pattern, that we may need to go back and fill in a design that was overlooked in error, but the important thing is that we are consistently striving to keep our patterns of behavior clean, bright and true.

I put together this small “tapestry” with some ways in which we can live our covenants with precision. You might consider these ways and others in which you can be completely obedient to the covenants you have made, and then use the tapestry as a guide to be 100% obedient in these things. Over the period of a couple weeks, color in a little of the pattern each day, until the tapestry is filled with your pattern of faith and commitment to the Lord.

To prepare this teaching aid to share with those you visit teach, download and print the file at the bottom of this post onto white cardstock. Cut the paper in half, so you have the “tapestry” on one paper, and the instructions on another.

I made a fun paperclip bookmark by cutting two heart shapes out of red felt, and sandwiching the top bit of a jumbo paperclip between them with hot glue. I then used hot glue to add a button and felt flower to the front. To add a bundle of crayons, select 5 different colors, stretch a rubber band around them (micro baby hair bands work great), then tie a ribbon over the band. Hook the ribbon over the spoke of the paper clip, and you will have a cute little package to share.

One other tip to share: you may want to use the instructions as the top sheet of your package (not the tapestry as pictured). The crayons make colorful little marks on the paper as you attach and transport them, and it’s nice to have the visual part of the teaching aid unmarked.

Have a great month, and enjoy the October issue of the Ensign. There are so many great articles that have inspired me to recommit to studying the Book of Mormon.

You can download the “Pattern of Precise Behavior” file below (thank you so much to my translators: Birgitta, Blanche, Christine, Ana Carolina and Delmy!):

Posted in Covenants | 7 Comments

General Conference Ideas

Posted on September 18, 2011 by Kristin

General Conference is fast approaching. I love all the ideas I am seeing to help us get ready to sit and listen to the Prophet and our other Church leaders for conference weekend. To start off, you can download a FAQ sheet for conference, which includes times, dates, and inspiring messages to help prepare for the big weekend.

Sugardoodle has a great conference packet for primary, teens and adults, and has also compiled some nice resources from other sites.

Zoey from Jolley Chaos has created a fun handout to share with those you visit teach.

She has this post card size, and some bookmarks that you could attach to some fuzzy socks, to help get into that “warm and fuzzy” frame of mind. Love it. Go here to check it out.

My girls all want a conference basket like I made for our young women last year.

It included the following:

Writing Packet & Pen: to take notes and write impressions during Conference
Twizzlers: practice your (Girl’s Camp) knots with a yummy treat while listening how “knot” to get lost in life.
Popcorn: Faith is like a kernel of corn – it can grow by paying the proper attention
Lip balm: the words of the Savior are a balm to the soul
Tissues: for when the Spirit touches your heart, and you may get a little teary
Hot Cocoa Mug: General Conference and cocoa warm you inside out
Pop-tarts: If you feel a little drowsy, “POP” up and have a good stretch
Candy Hearts: Know that God loves you and has a message for you to hear
Pipe Cleaners: Make a blossom ring while your faith blossoms from hearing the Lord’s servants

The following was a cute idea, also, that Sisters in Zion shared. She dropped off a box of Treasures cereal to her young women, with a note that read, “A little something to remind you to search for the sweet treasures your Heavenly Father wants you to discover during General Conference. Seek after these things.”

Easy is my favorite kind of breakfast. I’m looking forward to the first weekend of October!

Posted in general conference | 3 Comments

Book of Mormon Stories Video Series

Posted on September 16, 2011 by Kristin

This is such a cool resource – Our young children love the illustrated scriptures produced by the Church. The following was sent to me by the Church Curriculum Department, informing us that the books are now online as videos! Love this:

The Book of Mormon Stories video series have gone through a major update and are now available in English in the media library, on YouTube, and on the Roku box Mormon Channel. A technique called parallax animation, in which figures are cut out and moved around the canvas, was used to give the once two-dimensional images a new, animated three-dimensional look. This new version also features sound effects and stunning new visual effects such as lightning, twinkling stars, smoke and fire. A new original soundtrack was also added to the videos.

The Book of Mormon Stories is an excellent resource for teaching children and youth in the home and at church. The Book of Mormon Stories will be available in 10 other languages in December.

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Secret Grandmothers

Posted on September 13, 2011 by Kristin

We have some amazing “grandmothers” in our ward, and we wanted to create an experience so our young women could get to know them and create some lasting bonds of friendship between these generations of sisters. Over a period of about 6 weeks, the girls wrote anonymous letters and shared little gifts with their appointed “secret grandmothers”. At the end of the 6 weeks we had a brunch where the girls revealed their identities.

To start things off we sent these invitations to our grandmothers. (inspired by these)

I didn’t have any large envelopes on hand, so slipped the invites inside of some pretty decorated paper sacks (inspired from here).

We put these mod-podged clothespins on the bulletin board outside the YW room, so the girls and the grandmothers could leave notes and small gifts for each other. It was really fun to see what surprises were hanging there each Sunday. We tried to leave 5-10 minutes at the end of every class during these weeks so the girls could write a note to their grandmothers, telling them things they were learning, asking questions, and sharing tidbits about themselves. We also had a couple midweek activities to make gifts for our grandmothers.

image source: Design Sponge

We made these decoupaged jar lids and filled them with no-bake treats. We also had a jewelry-making activity and made bracelets and earrings for our grandmothers. They were so amazing about answering letters and giving little surprises back. It was a real treat for everyone who participated.

Finally, for the morning of the brunch we decorated a room in our building with pennant banners and yellow balloons. Everyone brought a framed baby picture to help break the ice and get conversation (and laughter!) going.

We made “fancy hats” together with newspaper, tape and silk flowers. I was inspired here. We just put bobby pins through a petal in the fake flowers and stuck them through the newspaper folds.

They were so fun, pretty, and silly.

After making hats we played with making cootie catcher fortune tellers, and also little games like “Two Truths and One Lie”. For the brunch part of our brunch we ate chicken salad croissants, strawberry spinach salad, fresh fruit and chocolate mousse for dessert.

We took a group photo afterwards, wearing our hats, and holding our baby pictures. It was a fabulous experience, and we hope to continue to encourage the friendships we’ve formed by inviting our newly “adopted” grandmothers to participate in activities and share testimonies and experiences in our lessons.

Posted in youth | 18 Comments