The Word of Wisdom

I want to share with you part of the primary lessons that Grandpa and I teach each week. Last Sunday, our lesson was on the Word of Wisdom. You can read about the Word of Wisdom in D&C 89.

The first thing I want to do is tell you that I know that this is Heavenly Father's way to help us be healthier and happier. When I was preparing the lesson for our class, I wanted to find a way to teach them that if they obey the Word of Wisdom, they will have more freedom all their lives, and if they don't, they will lose some of their freedom.

Disobeying it even one time can lead to becoming addicted to things are not healthy. Addicted means wanting something even when you know it's not good for you. Addicted means that you lose some of your freedom to make good choices and to do things that will make you happy.

Grandpa and I taught them the story of Daniel and his 3 friends (in the Old Testament) who were brought with other Jewish boya to the King's palace to be trained as future leaders. The King commanded them to eat foods that were too rich and to drink wine. Instead, they ate fruits and vegetables and grains and drank water (as their parents had taught them.) After a while the king found that Daniel and his friends were more skilled and wiser than the boys who ate the way the king wanted them too. You can read the story in Daniel 1. Verse 17 tells you how they were blessed.

Next we made bag puppets like this:

We used lunch bags and drew faces with markers so that when we put our hand inside to open and close the bag, we opened and closed the mouth of the puppet. Then Grandpa showed pictures of healthy and unhealthy things people put in their mouths and our class members opened their puppet mouths when it was something good for them and closed their puppet mouths when it was harmful. You can find some of the pictures we used at "www.sugardoodle.net/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7542"

Some of our class members didn't know what to do when he showed pictures of cake and cookies. We decided that these sweets are not bad for us as long as we don't eat too many of them. Then we put some badges ("http://emmasplacetobe.blogspot.com/2009/03/word-of-wisdom.html") on their paper bags.

We had fun singing in rounds:

For health and strength
and daily food
we praise thy name,
O Lord.

To finish our lesson, everyone ate some wheat rolls that I made that morning. They all agreed that eating healthy food made them very very happy. :) Come visit me and I will make some fresh rolls for you.

I hope each of you will promise yourself that you will NEVER disobey the Word of Wisdom. I promise you that if you keep that promise you will be blessed with "knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and... understanding in.. visions and dreams" like Daniel and his friends.

I love YOU!

What a Way to Dye!

Easter is only a few weeks ago and you are probably going to dye some eggs for your baskets. I was remembering a method of dying that I did sometimes with your mom or dad when they were young. Instead of using the dyes that are from a store, we used natural dyes. Here are some ideas if you want to try dying eggs this way.

Boil the eggs and let them cool. You can draw on the eggs with a crayon (white will not show) or place rubber bands around the eggs for interesting effects.

Boil 1 c. water, 1-2 Tb white vinegar, and the ingredients for the color you want to dye. Carefully place the eggs in the pan and lower the heat to simmer. Leave the eggs in the water until they are the intensity of color you want.

Remove from water with a slotted spoon and place in an empty egg carton or paper towel to dry. You can dab the wet egg with a sponge to get a textured look. The eggs won't be glossy; you can "polish" them by rubbing cooled eggs with a light coat of oil.

Here is a chart telling you what to use for the colors:

lavender: small amount of purple grape juice

violet blue: small amount of red onion skins

blue: red cabbage leaves OR
canned or frozen blueberries OR
purple grape juice

green: spinach leaves

green-yellow: yellow delicious apple peels

yellow: orange peels OR lemon peels OR
carrot tops OR
celery seed OR
ground cumin OR ground tumeric OR
chamomile tea

golden brown: dill seeds

brown: black walnut shells

orange: yellow onion skins OR
cooked carrots OR
chili powder OR paprika

pink: beets OR
cranberies OR juice OR
raspberries OR
red grape juice OR
juice from pickled beets

red: lots of red onion skins OR
canned cherries with juiceOR
pomegranate juice OR
raspberries

If you do this, let me know how you like it and send me some photos! Better yet, come visit me and we'll dye eggs together. :)


I love you, Grandma