One Heart One Mind

This week we were able to teach the youth Sunday School class at church. I teased Jaden that after he got asked to speak, asked to be in Elders Quorum and then to sub Sunday School he was definitely not flying under the radar anymore!

He had a lot of homework to do so I started building out the lesson outline and then he helped fill in the gaps especially when there wasn't as much class involvement as we had hoped. The class has about 9 or 10 kids age ranging from 13-17. We have a small youth group and combine with the Spanish branch so they combine all ages into one class. The lesson was on Enoch and Zion being of One Heart and One Mind. We began by asking the class to list a bunch of different things that make us different.

Things like: looks, hair color, race, opinions, personality, fingerprints, likes/dislikes, right handed/left handed, Apple or Samsung

Then we listed things that make us the same: children of God, all need food and water, Christ atoned for all of us, all can have an influence and be an example, all are loved by God, all want to belong, all want to feel loved and accepted, all chose to come to earth.

We talked about how if we focus on the things that make us the same then we will be of one heart and one mind like the city of Enoch. 

 We also talked about how Satan wants us to focus on the differences because it increases contention. We talked about the verse where God weeps when he sees the contention and anger between the children of men on earth and how God continues to weep when there is fighting, contention and hatred. Satan rejoices and God weeps when we focus only on our differences. 

Jaden really drove the point home that it's all about little interactions with people and being kind to them that make all the difference. He shared how some of his greatest role models in his life are his role models because they are Christlike and people feel the love of Christ from being around them. Jaden's grandpa Robinson's example is one he commonly references when talking about Christlike love. He died when Jaden was seven but they had a special bond during the short time they spent together on this earth and his influence and legacy lives on by the way his stories are told and his example is followed. From what I've gathered Grandpa Rick was a good man through and through and people who knew him immediately felt the pure love of Christ through him. He is a powerful example of someone who was fully willing to be an instrument in God's hands to bless the lives of others by being an extension of God's hands. If we could all be more like Grandpa Rick we'd be closer to having a people of one heart and one mind. 

One of the things that I really felt like we needed to emphasize with the youth was that they have more of an influence for good than they realize. They can help people feel loved and seen through small interactions. I felt impressed to share an experience I had back in high school with the group. It was my sophomore year and my parents felt strongly that I needed to stay on campus to eat lunch before I got my license and even after until I had hit my six months after getting my license where I could drive with my friends. Most of the time a few of my friends would stay back and eat lunch with me. Sometimes though they would go to other friends' houses so it gave me an opportunity to meet and sit with other people who also stayed on campus. One day I went to the locker room to get my lunch box and I noticed a girl sitting on the bench in the locker room eating her lunch. I recognized her from one of my classes and as I opened my locker I had that little nagging feeling "You should invite her to come and sit with you and have lunch." I brushed it off with the thought "I don't remember her name," and then turned and walked out the door. As soon as I got into the hallway the thought came to me, "her name is Mandy." I knew at once I needed to go back and talk to her. So I turned around and went back, opened my locker and pretended to get something else and then turned to Mandy and introduced myself and asked her if she wanted to come sit with me and my friends and have lunch with us. She said yes and we walked back together. 

Turns out that one of my friends that stayed that day played on the same soccer team as Mandy and knew her, we all were chatting and getting along great and then Mandy told us that she was going through a hard time because one of her close friends had just committed suicide. I distinctly remember feeling so grateful that I had followed a prompting and gone back. It was a confirmation to me that God knows us. He knew Mandy and what she was going through, He remembered her name even when I didn't. I remembered thinking that even if I hated eating lunch at school sometimes especially when my friends would leave, it was all worth it if I could help someone like Mandy. It's not like there's anything particularly special about me or anything I just happened to be there and be listening and God used me to help one of His precious children. 

Thomas S. Monson said it best, "The sweetest experience I know in life is to feel a prompting and act upon it, and later find out that it was the fulfillment of someone's prayer or someone's need. And I always want the Lord to know that if He needs an errand run, Tom Monson will run that errand for Him."

We bore testimony to the youth that they have more of an influence than they realize and that as they focus on the fact that we are all brothers and sisters and try to reach out and help those around them that they can help create a people who are of one heart and one mind. 

I firmly believe that.

To close we handed out the following picture and verse and invited them to put their name at the end:

And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if (insert your name_____) build they cannot fall.

 We testified to them that as they built their foundation on Christ and tried to be like Him that no matter what storms and temptations come they will prevail and will help others to do the same.

I firmly believe that.

Peaches 

• Had an awesome chat with friends and learned once more to "be kind for everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about." I'd like to add that we should be kind for everyone you meet has fought a battle you know nothing about. It's so interesting to get to know a group of friends and hear about their backgrounds and life stories, very humbling and inspiring
  
• Jaden and I took my ministering sister to the store again, so grateful that he steps in and helps me since my ministering partner had a baby
• When we took my ministering sister to the store she asked if we could also stop by a second store on the way home because they had a particular type of milk she likes (I had never heard of banana milk) she figured that after the remaining money she had left over from the first store she could probably only buy one carton. When she got back into the car she was so excited and said "Guess what it was on sale so I was able to buy two cartons like I wanted... God is good!" God really is good and you can find Him in matters as small as cartons of banana milk
• Awesome setting apart blessing and elders quorum training for Jade
• Sending a virtual birthday card to one of the girls I used to babysit and nanny in Utah. She's the sweetest and she and her sister are growing up so fast I can hardly believe it
• Seeing a pic of Landon's dog wearing a Carhartt chore coat that we gave him for Christmas. One of our client's manufacturers dog products for Carhartt and since we don't have pets we reach out to our friend's dogs to rep our products
• Getting letters in the mail
• Organizing our fridge 
• Jaden made Jeff's famous biscuits and gravy and they were so yummy!

 

 

Pits

• Got so confused by my accounting homework but luckily I've got Megan as a tutor and after 30 seconds of talking to her figured out what my problem was and was able to finish the assignment and ultimately pass my exam
• Absolutely scalded my hand while doing dishes. Didn't get a great picture but it literally scabbed and peeled. Our water temperatures are all over the place
• Ordered my boss Natalie's birthday gift late so it's not going to get to her for another week
• Tried a new Chinese place and ordered ramen. Mine was decent but Jaden's was not great at all. So another swing and a miss find by me
• Hayes' surgery got postponed again. We miss home a little extra because we wish we could be back to help with Crew and Parks. They aren't able to go back home for a few weeks because Megan & Mike have to really lock down and make sure Hayes gets and stays healthy so we can get this surgery done. I really admire Megan's strength and trust in her motherly instincts. The doctor said it was her and Mike's call if they wanted to still move forward with the surgery and they said they weren't comfortable with his cough and oxygen levels. It will be the right choice even if it's the hard one to postpone again. Prayers this next date will work!

 

 

 

 

Lessons Learned

• Focusing on how we are the same is so much better than focusing on our differences
• We ALL can make a difference
• You NEVER know what people have been through and are going through so be kind ALWAYS
• How to categorize an itemized list of numbers into either a balance sheet, income statement or, statement of cash flows
• Always turn the cold water on first and don't turn the hot water on too much 
• Trust the Lord and the promptings He gives to you
• God really is so good