HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!!!!!!!

Grandpa and I were visiting his mother in Colorado for Mother's Day so we didn't teach a lesson in primary yesterday. This post is going to be about my mother. I want you to know about my mom because each of you has a very special MOM.

My mother's name is Barbra Laney Jensen. She was a very dedicated mother. She had 9 children!!!!!!!!! Can you imagine if you had 8 siblings (ask your parents what that word means if you don't already know :)? Well, that's how many I had. Four brothers and four sisters. And most of the time we got along, but not always. With that many siblings, there was always at least one that I wanted to play with or talk with or do something with.

Our mom and dad taught us what was right. They taught to be honest, to work, to share, to help others, and to be happy. They taught us in Family Home Evening, around the dinner table, when we were in the car, and in personal conversations. I didn't as many personal conversations as I wanted because I shared my parents with 8 other kids. So sometimes my mom would come help me when I was doing the dishes (no dishwasher :) or folding the laundry. I would get so excited to have my mother's undivided attention. My mom knew that I really strongly disliked matching socks, so whenever she had time she would fold those so I didn't have to. That's the kind of understanding mom she was.

My mom and dad taught me about the gospel of Jesus Christ. They taught me the commandments and helped me understand them so that after I was baptized I knew how to be obedient and how to repent when I made mistakes. They taught me that I showed my respect for them by doing what they asked me to do and by talking with them. They taught me to love them even when they spanked me or grounded me. They taught me that they did this because they loved me. That's a hard thing to teach to a child, but I knew it was true because they loved me so much.

Their best teachings were their examples. I never saw them do something that they told me not to do. They told me to keep the Sabbath Day holy and they kept it holy. They told me to dress modestly and they always were modest. They taught me not to talk badly about other people and they didn't gossip. They taught me to be grateful for what I had, and they did the same. They taught me to pay the first 10% of what I earned as tithing, and explained how they learned the importance of this principle. When I disobeyed they always gave me a consequence so that I would learn that obedience brings blessings and disobedience brings unpleasant consequences.

When I became an adult, my mom became one of my best friends. I will always remember helping her paint her home, walking around the mall parking lot with her, and helping her organize her slides. Your parents and I may tell you stories about your Grandma Jensenand her game-playing skills. She was fun to play games with, and she always hinted that perhaps she was cheating just so she could win. I don't think anyone ever actually proved it, but it was a lot of fun to tease her.


Some of you might remember Grandma and some of you never met her. I hope your mom and dad will tell you about their experiences with her so that you will know what a wonderful woman you are related to. And you will know that she is one of the people who I am trying to become like. She was one of the most Christlike people I've ever met, and I was lucky enough to be raised by her. She and my Dad were a very successful team.

You have a great heritage, and I want you to always remember that. I love you VERY VERY MUCH! In fact, you have lots and lots of grandmas and great-grandmas who love you!

The Coming Forth of the Book of Mormon

Today we talked with our class about how we received the Book of Mormon. We started by telling them that long ago some fathers kept histories of their families, which they passed to their sons to continue writing their histories. Some of these fathers were prophets, like Mormon who gathered all the histories of his people and then copied the most important parts onto thin sheets of gold, which we now call gold plates.

We gave each of our class members an empty tin can and a nail and told them to write their initials on the bottom of the can so that they could get a feel for what the ancient prophets did. We told them to turn their cans upside down so that the sharp edges couldn't hurt them - This was a FUN activity.

Then we talked about Mormon giving the plates to his son, Moroni, who later built a stone box in which he buried the plates. This was becaue Heavenly Father knew that what was written on the gold plates would be important many years later, to US. We sang "The Golden Plates" and talked about why Mormon used gold plates. It's because he knew they would last a long time.
Next we told our class about Moroni appearing to Joseph Smith 3 times in the night, and once again the next day, to tell him about the gold plates. Each time Moroni gave Joseph Smith the same mesage. Why do you think Moroni appeared to him so many times?
It was becaue the message was so very important and he wanted Joseph to learn it and remember. We told about how Joseph was told to tell his father about all he had seen and heard, and how his father told him that he believed him and felt it was from God. Later that day Joseph went to the Hill Cumorah and recognized the spot where he had been told the plates were buried. Angel Moroni appeared to him again and told him to return each year for 4 years. Every time he did, he found Moroni waiting to teach him what Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ wanted him to know.

After 4 years he took the plates out of the stone box Moroni had buried them, and began to translate them. A special tool, called the Urim and Thummim (like special glasses that would help him understand what the writings meant in his language) was also in the stone box to help him. When the translation was completed, the book was printed and is called The Book of Mormon.

Here are some pictures you can color and cut out to tell the story to someone else:
Do you have a copy of this great book? Do you read it or have someone read it to you?
I know that the Book of Mormon contains the words of ancient prophets and that it is a true book. I know that when you read it you will feel how much Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love you. You will learn what you need to do to be happy.

I love you!

Jesus Christ Made It Possible for Us to Live Forever

Last Sunday was Easter and Grandpa taught our class:
When Jesus was resurrected, he became immortal, and he also made it possible for all of us to be resurrected and become immortal. This means that after we have been resurrected, we will never die again. We can live with our families forever.

He showed his hand to the children and then said:
When we lived with Heavenly Father before we were born we were called spirits. We could move (He moved the fingers on his hand) and think and learn.
When our spirits came to live on earth, we were given earthly bodies. (He put on a glove.) We could still move (He moved his fingers in the glove) and think and learn, but Heavenly Father gave us wonderful bodies to have and take care of.

When we die, the body must separate from the spirit (He took off the glove). The body cannot move by itself (He pointed at the glove) but the spirit is still alive.

When we are resurrected, the body becomes perfect and is once again united with the spirit (He put the glove back on his hand). After we are resurrected, we can never die again. That means that the spirit and the body can never be separated.

Because Jesus Christ loves each of us very much, he died for us. Jesus was the first person to be resurrected. Because of what he did for us, we will be resurrected and may live again with Heavenly Father. When we think of Easter, we should think about the first Easter and remember the love that Jesus Christ has for us. He gave his life for us. He was resurrected. Now he lives in heaven with his Heavenly Father.

Jesus Christ’s resurrection is so wonderful that each year we celebrate Easter to show him how grateful we are for what he did for us.

You might want to print this off:


We gave each of our kids a paper with that, and each one drew a picture of him/herself inside the circle and wrote "Jesus Christ loves me" on the paper below.

I want you to know that I know that Jesus Christ loves each of you and that He lives. We will live again because of Him. And when we are obedient we are showing Him that we love Him.

I love you!
Grandma

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

It's easier to keep the commandments 100% of the time

Today I want to share a story Pres. Monson told in General Conference last October. I want to share it because it's about a young man who did something very hard. He chose to obey the commandment to keep the Sabbath Day holy even when everyone around him wanted him to do something else. He chose to be 100% obedient. He chose to keep a commitment he made to himself, no matter how difficult.

"When he was 16 years old, Brother [Clayton M.] Christensen decided, among other things, that he would not play sports on Sunday. Years later, when he attended Oxford University in England, he played center on the basketball team. That year they had an undefeated season and went through to the British equivalent of what in the United States would be the NCAA basketball tournament.

They won their games fairly easily in the tournament, making it to the final four. It was then that Brother Christensen looked at the schedule and, to his absolute horror, saw that the final basketball game was scheduled to be played on a Sunday. He and the team had worked so hard to get where they were, and he was the starting center. He went to his coach with his dilemma. His coach was unsympathetic and told Brother Christensen he expected him to play in the game.

"Prior to the final game, however, there was a semifinal game. Unfortunately, the backup center dislocated his shoulder, which increased the pressure on Brother Christensen to play in the final game. He went to his hotel room. He knelt down. He asked his Heavenly Father if it would be all right, just this once, if he played that game on Sunday. He said that before he had finished praying, he received the answer: “Clayton, what are you even asking me for? You know the answer.”

"He went to his coach, telling him how sorry he was that he wouldn’t be playing in the final game. Then he went to the Sunday meetings in the local ward while his team played without him. He prayed mightily for their success. They did win.

"That fateful, difficult decision was made more than 30 years ago. Brother Christensen has said that as time has passed, he considers it one of the most important decisions he ever made. It would have been very easy to have said, “You know, in general, keeping the Sabbath day holy is the right commandment, but in my particular extenuating circumstance, it’s okay, just this once, if I don’t do it.” However, he says his entire life has turned out to be an unending stream of extenuating circumstances, and had he crossed the line just that once, then the next time something came up that was so demanding and critical, it would have been so much easier to cross the line again. The lesson he learned is that it is easier to keep the commandments 100 percent of the time than it is 98 percent of the time."

Why do you think Pres. Monson would say it's easier to keep the commandments all the time than to keep them some of the time? Every time we choose to obey a commandment we make it more of a habit and more likely that we will do the same thing the next time we have to make a choice. This story helps us remember that sometimes it's hard to do what's right and that every time we obey we become stronger. Choosing to do the right thing is a habit I hope you are learning to do every day. I love you!


Here's a photo of Grandpa and me in Egypt last year - with Elena and a sphynx. It's a good thing we went there last year.

To My Grandchildren

One of my goals for the year 2011 is to write letters to each of you throughout the year.


Although I've written you many letters, I usually write to every child in the same family at the same time.

This year I'm going to write to just one of my grandchildren each week.


I made a schedule and just mailed the first letter. (Actually the first 5 letters since I'm a month behind. :)


The letters may come randomly to different members of the same family, and I hope that doesn't create a problem.


I promise that each of you will be receiving a letter every few months.


I am packing as much love as I can into each one - and I hope you can feel it.

I LOVE YOU!