Tara is always great at bringing hand outs and physical objects that help beautify and enhance the lesson. She is the best substitute!!! She printed quotes from the manual lesson on colored cardstock and made them into airplanes before the lesson and flew them out to us to read at the right moments in the lesson. Luckily no one lost an eye; it definitely brought a smile to my face! She passed out copies of President Lorenzo Snow's quote that she based the lesson on:
"We have got to reach... a higher plane: we have got to love God more than we love the world."
We got some Air Head candy to help remind us to reach high :)
She also brought
her black tap shoes. She told a story about
when she was in dance as a little girl and wanted so badly to join the dance
company and get the tan tap shoes that the pretty dance company girls had. She
said "I wanted them so bad,” so she went
with her parents to find out about the company, and
found out that she'd be required to dance on Sunday. “My heart sank… My parents told me I could make my own
decision; that I had been baptized and was old enough." As bad as she wanted those shoes, she chose not to try
out for a company because keeping the Sabbath day holy was more important to
her. Even though she couldn't have the tan shoes that she desired for so long,
she was grateful for her black shoes and knew she could be happy with and love
her black shoes- she could dance just as good in the black ones as she could in
the tan ones.
Tara was such a good example
of not loving beauty, prestige and popularity more than she loves God. I love
that she said she could be happy with what she had, and knowing that she has
chosen God (I think this is the perfect scripture to go along with the story).
Even when we don't have what we want, we can still be happy. Tara had a quote written on the board, "Love what you have and you'll have more to love."
Talking about how to reach high and love God, one sister shared how she and her husband weren't doing bad things, but that they weren't doing the little things, the right things to invite the spirit into their lives. Finally they got around to going to the temple and she felt such a spirit there that she never wants to do anything that could compromise having that spirit, the blessings of the temple, in her life. She said she is better able to help others when she has the spirit herself in her life.
Sister Ellie Jensen helped me take notes on the lesson and write this post. She wrote:
My story is similar to sister Bond's (the previous comment) in the fact that my husband and I recently sat down to reexamine our lives and what we need to do better at in order to be happier. We had noticed a decrease in the spirit throughout our days and didn't know what we were doing wrong. We came to the conclusion that we weren't really doing anything wrong, we just weren't doing very many "good" things. We discussed the power spiritually inviting media/literature has on us and decided together to watch/read at least one spiritual thing in efforts to feel the spirit throughout the day. Some of the things we have found influential have been- watching BYU devotionals on the BYU channel, listening to church music, reading/watching inspirational stories on the internet, & watching Mormon messages on LDS.org. We haven't been perfect at doing this, but on the days we have watched/read/listened to one of these things, we have felt an immense difference in our day. We are happier with each other, we feel more desire to serve others, we remember our importance as children of God, and we have clearer perspectives on where we should spend our time. I I have a testimony that our lives will be filled with happiness, inspiration, and love when we fill our lives with spiritually inviting media/literature. It's such an easy way to feel the spirit, and IT WORKS! I challenge you sisters to start doing this. I know you will be blessed! -Elli Jensen
A few good questions to ask yourself are: When was the last time you went to the temple? What did you feel there? What is keeping you from going more often? Goal: plan your next visit or make the changes you need to in your life to be prepared and ready for visiting the temple.
Throughout her lesson, Tara emphasized that God loves us SO much! More than we will ever comprehend in this life! He knows our potential as His children, He believes in us, and has promised us eternal life if we obey him.
Tara pointed out that we are GOOD people! Following, she asked, "How do we preserve ourselves as "good" people? (answers from sisters below)
-Do the little things, like going to the temple. Jeanette Bond shared her testimony about the salient influence this can have on our lives. Going to the temple brings you back to what truly matters most.
- Keep our covenants
- Feed His sheep
-Love ourselves & others as much as God loves us!
-Invite the spirit into our lives every day!
-Continually reexamine our priorities. Communicate with God about them.
-Be grateful for what you have
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