Book Review: Every Day Missionaries

Today will be a broadcast from the church about missionary work.  It's nation wide and will be rebroadcast to the rest of the world. You can learn more about it here:

http://www.lds.org/church/events/the-work-of-salvation-missionary-broadcast?lang=eng

I recently read this book.  I loved it because it taught HOW to get it into the investigators heart; HOW to pray, HOW to keep the Sabbath day holy, HOW to study a book of scripture.  All things that most don't know how to do.  We often baptize people who don't get it, who don't know how to do these things, but this tells us HOW to help get it IN to them!

Mr. Christensen is a member of the 70.  

I took copious notes and I'd like to share them here: 

Part 1 Finding People for the Missionaries to Teach

Ch 1:  1. We don’t need to transform our relationships into friendships as a pre-requisite to invite others to learn about the gospel. (p 21)

2.We don’t have to prepare them.

3. You don’t know who will say yes or no.

4. Asking is success in itself regardless of how it turns out.

Ch 2:  1. Use Finding NEMO (not in the book, but same idea)  NEMO: Natural expressions missionary opportunities.  2. When they ask you a question, ask them “why?” so you know how to answer something they are interested in and you know how to respond.  People joined a. closeness to God they saw in others, b. happiness and sense of peace, c. better sense of purposefulness and direction.   3. Decoupling: “I’m going to ask you a question, but before I do we need to agree that our friendship won’t be affected if you decide this isn't of interest to you.”  4. Compare the questions WE ask, not our answers, i.e.. Joseph Smith question, Council of Nicea- stopped asking questions after words.  Ask them questions as explanations.

Ch 3: Ask them to help us: teach, move, career nights, basketball team.  Focus on a. getting members involved in community organizations. b. invite them to serve with us!  People want to help! 

Ch 4:  Share at work through 1. Words (NEMO) 2. Use the gospel to solve problems.  See the 5 things he learned p 67-68.

Ch 5: Set deadlines to goals and it will happen.   The desperation principle.   It happens near the end!

Ch 6: Sharing the gospel online.  a. create web sites b. call online missionaries c. have non-members read it and help with editing for effectiveness.  See these web sites: 

ablogaboutlove.com

mormonperspectives.com

youngandmormon.com

Part 2 Teaching Toward Conversion

Ch 7: Teach how to pray: ask investigator to listen and notice while 3 people pray.  They usually notice the beginning, how to end, thanking and asking.

Ch 8: Teach how to study the BOM. Have them come with questions.  Give them 2 short assignments to read. Have them pray, read, write, pray read write pray. The writing forces you to think about it.

Ch 9: Teach how to keep the Sabbath day holy.  1. Schedule a mtg with the missionaries at the church.  Teach a wonderful lesson.  2. Teach to take the sacrament; teach to keep the rest of the day holy.  Read Mosiah 3: 16-19   Ask what are some unholy things people do on Sunday?  What are holy thing to do?

Ch 10: Teach about temptations: Our opponents are not passive.  1. Disobey God’s commandments – It’s easier to keep them 100% of the time than 98%.  2. Personal apostasy.  We need to teach that questions lead to revelation. We will learn more and more, but the whole complete truth has already been there!

Part 3 Building the Kingdom of God. (amazing results)

Ch 11: U-night, a mtg in church, each proselyting family brought another family.  Movie- then discussion in home, then U-night with more families, etc. 

Ch 12: In Boston, a twig.  12 people met in a home, then 20, then 40, then 80, 120, a branch.  All because after every meeting they asked themselves who didn't come and then went out and brought them back in! 

Ch 13:  2 wards, 2 branches made into 8 branches and that brought growth.  People called to serve that were not prepared or worthy, but in the desperation it worked.  Strong people trained and there was amazing growth.  Leaders saw themselves as trainers.

Ch 14: The Lord trusts these words to love the new members, to embrace new people when they came in and to do missionary work because they did it!  Amazing number results in Ireland, affluent ward in Boston, and New Hampshire mission area.

Ch 15: Spanish Branch with not enough priesthood.  They fasted for a weekend for god to send a man to lead to bring change.  Next Sunday a 15 year old stuttering Jamie came.  He had a way with children, helped the missionaries out with kids, people joined.  When he came home from his mission no one left the room after his talk.  13 boys came up and promised to go on missions when they turned 19.  12 did.

Ch 16: The thoughts and ways of God

1.      The simple and weak D&C 1:19-24

2.      Friends, responsibilities and nourishment's

3.      The good shepherd “How think ye?”  Who could have been here today that didn't come?”

4.      Love one another.  God trusted these wards. It wasn't miraculous, it’ was predictable.  D&C 58:26-29

Epilogue  My Testimony.  He thinks about missionary work and many other things every day. (He's a Harvard professor)  He simply has been trying to learn fundamental truth and falsehoods that affect us.  He leaves us with a web site to help us do all the things he taught in the book.  

http://www.everydaymissionaries.org/

6 Desires

The Sunday school lesson I taught today to the 16 year olds was on 3 Nephi 17-19.   I used a teaching idea the manuel suggests of having the kids write down 6 desires and then share with them what the Nephities desired.  What they desired was the Holy Ghost.  After we read and I taught about this, I then asked them to cross off any desire that was not spiritual. 

None of the kids crossed off anything.  One young man asked a question asked about his desire for a good job.  I shared with him one of mine about getting out of debt and how that is spiritual to me because I'm in bondage.  Having a good job is a spiritual goal because he will be able to take care of his family.

Since I haven't shared anything spiritual in a while I thought I'd share what I wrote down.  Here are my desires. 

1. Financial worries gone
2. A temple marriage to a righteous husband.
3. Children
4. Anger completely gone, never to return.
5. knowledge about how to do my job better
6. Sarcasm and bitterness gone.

As I walked out of church I thought of another one I should of put down, but wasn't thinking of. 

7. Being able to forgive Jason.

Another thought came to me as I was preparing this.  Maybe the anger, bitterness, sarcasm would be gone once I had forgiven Jason.  Another thought came too.  However I am not just angry about Jason, but other people and situations as well.  I know that number 4 and 6 are biggies in my life right now.  I am sarcastic, angry and bitter A LOT of the time. But if I could forgive Jason I would need to assume my anger towards him would be gone. 

I'm trying to read a book my niece recommended that really helped her.  It's called Love is Letting Go of Fear.   This book says that the only goal we should have is peace of mind.  The book also states that forgiveness is our single function and the way to achieve peace of mine.

I didn't think I was going here, but I guess thinking through things is like therapy, which is why many counselors tell their clients to journal.

Not sure how to do all that, but I know I need to do it.  I'll ask my counselor and I'll turn to Heavenly Father and maybe the bishop.  There is SO MUCH under all of #4 and 6 that go WAY back that still plague me today. 

Oh.  The big message umbrella message that came to me while I was teaching today and shared with the kids was the Jesus knows and loves us all personally.  Ya, even in all our weaknesses and infirmities.  That's what I told then, but do I believe it enough to not make me hate myself enough to love and forgive others.  Enough to stand by myself and still feel my worth and value as an individual.  For decades now I've felt that I will never be completely healed of my infirmities until I am in the arms of my Savior.  Exactly what happened to the Nephities.

Wow- look at the way that all came around as I sat here and cried and thought my way through so many things.

Five For Friday # 5

ONE

Parker my little Japanese chin is a runner.  He loves to get away and explore.  I have a long lead I put him on in the front yard, so he can get around, but when it's on, he does his business and comes right back in, then waits to sneak out.  It's worrisome to me.  He can get pretty far away within a short time.  Coco on the other hand stay very close to home and I never have to worry about loosing him.  I was worried about how I was going to deal with this come summer when we have the door open all the time.

Little Parker with his clothes on.  I love his little paws sticking out!

But a few weeks ago, he got out MANY times and each time I did not scold him at all, just told him he's my little baby dog, that I loved him and carried him back home.  I did this over and over again for the next few days and you know what?  He's coming back on his own ALL the time.  It's so nice not to have to worry about this  anymore and I hope it keeps up!  I wasn't even planning on this being the solution.  I just did it, not knowing why, but I think it's a lesson on the power of kindness.

 TWO

I just finished reading my second book about polygamy. Each has been a little different.




The first book, Stolen Innocence concerns Warren Jeff's group. This story starts out in the metropolitan SLC area. This story is about manipulation, control, broken families and lies.  You can find it on CD and in hard cover complete with pictures.  This poor girl was forced to marry someone who had been mean to her all growing up.  Her father, mother and brother were often taken away from the family, brought back, changed, you name it.  It's shocking.

The second book, Shattered Dreams, is even more shocking.  This starts out in Murry Utah and Irene, the writer is a 4th generation polygamist.  It starts with her childhood and her mothers misery, leaving after dad goes to prison and her falling in love with a man who is 13 years her senior.  She's only 16 and is torn between marrying him or  her 1/2 sisters husband Verlan.  She picks Verlan and becomes a second wife.  Her life is mostly spent in Mexico, in farm land, in the mountains and by the ocean and for a while in Nicaragua. She lives in extreme poverty, with no electricity, no running toilets, thrift store clothes, and 25 or more people in a very small house.  Irene ends up having a total of 14 children.  The first dies the day of her birth. She struggles her whole marriage with loneliness, jealousy and her husband making promises he never keeps.  She falls in love with another man at one point, but stays in her awful situation. 

Verlan had been a temple endowed Latter-day Saint.  He ends up becoming the president of this church his brother started.  He often works in the states, and tries to find converts as far as Canada. Verlan ends up with a total of 10 wives and 58 children.  These people believed in the Adam-God theory, the "purity" principle, which means only sex for pro-creation, and glory and own worlds in the next life.  Irene can't stand the lack of sex and finally finds a text by Parley P. Pratt (I think) for 5 reasons for sex.  The Doctrine and Covenants is quoted as well as Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball.  Irene lives having to be obedient to requests that go against what her heart is telling her is wrong and there for feels TERRIBLE about herself and so unloved.  All she wanted was love and someone to be there for her.

Once Irene leaves he becomes a Born Again Christian. After reading her story, hearing how she felt and then her experience in this kind of a congregation, I believe that God is giving her a gift to live out the rest of her life, responsibility free.  She paid a great price while being a 2nd wife and this is her break.  In the next life, she will know the truth, except it and be OK.  That is my hope for her anyway.

Why do I read this you ask?   Being single so long and in the single adult program that is 31 to dead, I've often thought if there was polygamy I would be a wife and a mother and there would be no need for the SA program. I would always say I don't need a man 100% of the time, 50% or less would be fine.  Another phrase I'd say is "I'll be wife number 2, there isn't going to be no number 3"  meaning of course, a second wife after a death or a divorce.  I was a 5th wife to Jason!

Of course I would never leave the Church for such a thing.  I KNOW it is wrong, unless commanded by God.  In reading Jacob, I believe polygamy is about children.  Abraham needed to have seed to fulfill the promise.  The Mormon Pioneers needed to have children to grow the church, the gospel.  In Jacob chapter 2 he tells the Nephities that they cannot excuse by using the scriptures (David and Salomon) to have more than one wife. The Lord tells us there, He Ok'd it for Abraham and for this purpose as described in verse 30:

For if I will, saith the Lord of Hosts, raise up ^aseed unto me, I will command my people; otherwise they shall hearken unto these things.

The Lord’s law of marriage is monogamy unless he commands otherwise to help establish the House of Israel (see Encyclopedia of Mormonism Vol. 3, pp. 1091-1095).

THREE

You know my little rescue dog Polly, well her name is now Pearl.  I got an email and a picture from the family that adopted her.  The mom even knitted her a little dress.  Here she is all clean and cute. I love her and still want to hug her!  She's such a cute sweet dog, but I'm happy to know she has a good home.  I just hope they don't smoke around her! 

FOUR

This last weekend I went with my sister Cindy, her husband Mike and Amber, their youngest daughter to take her for her second semester at BYU-Idaho.  Ricks used to be my old stomping ground and really the best 2 years of my life.  I had SO much fun there, made great friends that I am still friends with today, and got myself on anti-depressants.  The college then had 4 thousand students.  The hope how is to get 15 thousand students and they are well on their way!  The place has changed so much.  My second year I lived in Harmony House, across from the Spori building.  It's now men's housing and uses our old Vikings mascot in the name.  There are TONS of housing already gone up, and more going up.  More shops, more buildings on campus, more changes.  It's crazy!  They have a conference center called the Idaho-Center, or I-center.  It will hold all 15K students when they get them.  The conference center in SLC hold 21K.  They recently had a fire there (the one in SL) and I couldn't help but think that it would be OK if that burned down, because we have a plan B!

I also went to the temple there.  On the outside it looks like the Twin Falls temple, but it's much bigger and I have to admit I like not having to make an appointment!  The chandelier are amazing, covering the whole mechanism with those crystals  so you see rainbow colors when you look in it. I took some pictures of the temple and the conference center and some of the campus, that will be coming up soon!  Mean while you can go here to see the campus. It's beautiful!

FIVE 

I think recess is the hardest part of the day for me and there are 3 of them, totaling 45 to 60 min of the day.  Greg is usually fine playing by himself so I have a lot of down time unless the kids are coming up to me with problems.  Today I realized that all my thinking is negative.  I think negative about the kids, about Jason, other involved in that mess and even my childhood, and adult years in the past.  My life has been a disappointment to me.  I feel like a failure.  The sad part is, that in my realization (I suppose a step in the direction of healing) I don't know what to think about. Isn't that sad?  I cried about it.  I tried to think about things I could think about, but I really don't know anything that takes up enough of my life or time that would fill those minutes.

It also shows me how terrible this whole ordeal (mainly the marriage and moves) has been for me.  In my pattern changing class the teacher said she had worked with abused women who didn't even know what their favorite color was and other such simple things.  Any ideas of what I should think about?

Future posts about Castleford and BYUI coming soon!

A Cinquain

The teacher of the 2nd grade classroom I work does read-a-loud's of chapter books about every other day.  She's been reading Junie B, First Grader: Cheater Pants, right now. If you have not read any Junie B. Jones books you are missing out.  Seriously! They are so funny and the adults get the humor so much better than the kids do.

In this book, after the cheating episode the teacher, Mr. Scary has the kids get in groups and write a poem called a Cinquain.  I don't remember hearing about this kind of poem, but I may have and just don't remember.  It's one of those pattern poems. I borrowed the book so I could get down the how to and then I wrote one. 

It's in 5 lines:

1. one word (title) 

2. 2 words that describe the title

3. 3 action words about the title 

4. 4 words that express a thought or feeling about the title. 

5. one word that means the same thing as the title. 

As you can imagine I wrote it about my favorite things: Dogs.  So here goes my master piece:

Dog

funny, furry

running, licking, fetching

each one is different

Canine

I know you probably think it's brilliant.  I agree.  

Here is a picture of 2 of my favorite things. 

Parker and Coco in the back of my car on a trip home.

Best Practices

Remember when we were kids and loved to hear the same book read to us over and over again?  

Best Practices? I'm talking educationally here.  I've been in 3 different schools the past few months and seen 2 different reading programs in the elementary schools, each a little different with one big similarity.  That sameness is in reading the same passage or story over and over and over again.

With "read naturally", student are hooked up to a computer with ear phones and read as fast as they can a short passage about someone or something.  They have vocabulary they look at before and need to know afterwords with a test.  The kids are motivated by it, because it's on a computer and they get to pick the story.  The room is full of noise with kids reading out loud, each a different story.   It's about fluency, phonics and vocab, but what I saw with the girl I watched was speeding through it so fast, she missed words.  This is my only experience with it, so I may not be the best judge and I didn't really do much with the other kids in the room.

The school I'm in now uses a text book and they read one story a week.  Every day they read it.  The first day the teacher reads it to them, the second day in groups, they read paragraphs, the next day maybe sentences, etc.  They are taught the vocabulary before they read it and the words are highlighted in the book.  For second graders it's only 5 to 6 words.  Time is spend each day orally with the vocab, acting it out, coming up with sentences, defining it, etc.  A worksheet with a reading theme- cause and effect, summarizing, etc is used daily on a small scale.

I prefer the second method.  It's not about how fast you go, but it is about fluency. 

This second school that I mentioned, also does AR or Accelerated Reader and Accelerated Math. A lot of schools all over the country and world do these computer programs.  G, who I'm working with now who hated math last year loves filling in those pink college bubble sheets, putting it through the scanner and seeing the results.  

Best practices also say that words are learned best in context, not randomly.  Both programs do this.

I WON!

I rarely win anything.  Once while at Ricks' college I won a pizza at the dance club that was trying to get people to come so it didn't have to shut down.   We'll recently I won a book.  A friend of mine has a blog called http://fabulousreads.blogspot.com/  They had a give away and I won!  I got to pick from 2 books.  I picked this one:

It's won Foreword Magazines book of the year award. I think my nieces Amber and Jessica will like it.   I don't know when  I will get to it, because besides the books I just talked about, I'm also reading the first book for work and the second for fun.  

I'm slow with all of them. Bednar's book comes with a CD to watch.   Going to start that tonight.

The 2012 Books

Remember this post about a reading plan with all the books I inherited from my dad?  We'll I did it.  I read Rough Stone Rolling in 2011. It was a good plan and it worked, so I'm sticking with it in 2012.   Tonight I took out 3 possible Nibley books: Since Cumorah, The Prophetic Book of Mormon, and Mormonism and Early Christianity.

I was going to go with The Prophetic Book of Mormon, the longest of the three, but decided on not just one book but two books that are not even on my original list.  One of them is the last book my father was reading when he died.  He never finished it and the book marker he was using is still there.  The book is written by Jeffrey R. Holland one of the 12 apostles and is called CHRIST and The New Covenant.  I actually bought the book, but let my dad read it first. Now I'll finally be getting to all of it for the first time.  The other book is  Isaiah, Prophecies of the Restoration, by Monte S. Nyman.

I'll start with Holland's book.  I love that it has The Doctrinal Exposition on the Father and The Son in the appendix.  I've read that before, but will read it again.  It also has a list of the names of Christ in the appendix too and a few other gems.

With the two books it's a total of 543 pages and I'll have to read 45.25 pages a month.  What will you be reading this year?

The Forgotten Garden

Quotes from a book

"Nick cried in the delivery room, but Cassandra hadn't. She'd been too present, too much a part of the powerful moment, to react in such a way. To cry would have necessitated a second level of feeling, an ability to stop outside events and view them within a a larger context. Cassandra's experience had been too immediate for that. She'd felt fired from within by a sort of dizzy jubilation. As if she could hear better, see better, than she ever had before. Could hear her own pulse pumping, the light humming about, her new baby's breaths." p. 462

"You make a life out of what you have,
not what you're missing" p. 463

"You mustn't wait for someone to rescue you," Mother would continue, a faraway look in her eyes. "A girl expecting rescue never learns to save herself. Even with the means, she'll find her courage wanting. Don't be like that, Eliza. You must find your courage, learn to rescue yourself, never rely on anyone else." p. 122

A Reading Plan

I'm currently reading 3 books, 4 if you count the scriptures. I'm listening to one on CD in the car as I drive, then one for book group that I read at work or when ever I can, and once again have picked up the book "Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling", by Bushman. I'm reading the last one at night.

I have a LARGE collection of books, and over the last year I've given many away or sold them for nothing. But with my mom moving to Boise Idaho I am now officially inheriting my fathers books. I was going to get the whole set of "journal of discourses". But I said it was OK for them to go to my brother Mark. I just don't have the room. I do however have all of Hugh Nibley's and many other books. They are thick books that I realized I may not ever get to. They may just sit there and people will ask have you read these? There are about 25 books. 10 of them being Nibley's. I'm nearing 40 and if I don't get a start on them, it may not happen.

This is my plan: read one book a year by taking the number of pages in the book, dividing it by 12 and then have the goal to read that many pages per month. For instance with Rough Stone Rolling, as to where I am now, I will read 36 pages a month till the end of 2011. If I read more, great. If I read less, I'll have to add that to the next month.

Here are the books on my list except Nibley's:

The Mortal Messiah (vol 1, 2, 3) by McConkie

The First Thousand Years

The Second Thousand Years
The Third Thousand Years
The Fourth Thousand Years
All by Skousen
The Last Days by Gileadi
The Book of Isaiah by Gileadi
Days of the Living Christ (vol 1,2) Skousen
The Fate of the Persecutors of the Prophet Joseph Smith by Lundwall
Spiritual Survival in the Last Days by Yorgason's
The Sign of the Son of Man by Wise

In thinking about it today, I realize that some of the newer ones may sight the older ones and there may be some repetition, but I will deal with that as it comes along. I wonder what I'll read in 2012.

The Peacegiver

If you have not read the book "The Peacegiver", you must. It's about one mans journey learning about the atonement through 'visits' with family and seeing scriptural stories take place. It could change your life. It did mine.

My Mission Comp Laurel

My mission companion Laurel Christensen is SOMEBODY. Were all somebody's, but she's SOMEBODY capitalized. She works under Sheri L. Dew, she knows Ardeth Kapp, She puts on "Time out for Women", She has 3 talk CD's for young women, goes to girls camps to speak and inspire, and this is her second book. You can get it here: http://deseretbook.com/He-Loves-Us-We-Love-Him-Youve-Memorized-Now-Live-Laurel-Christensen/i/5046911

Andy Andrews take 2

Forget that stuff I posted earlier about The Travelers Gift. If you want to read a really good book of Andy's read The Lost Choice! Wow! I have reverence for this book! I really do! The best so far. My next library hold is waiting for me and I will pick that up soon!

Andy Andrews

Who would do that to a kid- give him a name like that? I really don't care, because I love the mans books! I just finished my 3rd book by him and am starting my 4th. Others are waiting on hold for me at the library.

• The Noticer- a variety of stories of people that need their lives turned around.
  
• Island of Saints- German U-boats in the Gulf of Mexico during WWII and forgiveness.
  
• The Travelers Gift
• The Lost Choice

His genre is inspirational fiction or historical fiction.

My mom took notes on the book The Noticer. We (mom, Ruth and me) listened to that on CD. I took notes on forgiveness from Island of Saints. I'll be posting about forgiveness from 2 of his books and of course the well of all truth, the scriptures and prophets. But here is what is the basic's of the travelers gift is about. It was on the NY Times best seller list. It the story of one man and his travels to important people in history and what they have to teach him that will help him through life to be successful.

1. President Truman during WWII: "The buck stops here."
2. King Soloman, the 2 woman with the one baby: "I will seek wisdom."
3. Col. Chamberlain, Civil War, Gettysburg: "I am a person of action."
4. Christoper Columbus on the Santa Maria: "I have a decided heart."
5. Anne Frank hiding in Amsterdam 1943: "Today I will choose to be happy."
6. Abraham Lincoln dedicating Gettysburg: "I will greet this day with a forgiving spirit."
7. The Angle Gabriel complete with wings: "I will persist with out exception."

Check 'em out! It's good stuff!

Too Many Books

I love to read and own many books. I have 2 plus shelves in the extra bedroom and I've given many of my children's books away in an attempt to lighten the load. I also listen to books on CD in my car once in a while. Right now I've got a bunch of books that I'm actively reading, have started, or will soon be reading.
Here's the list:
1. How to Win Friends and Influence People (reading)
2. As A Man Thinketh (started)
3. Preparing the Elders of Israel to Save the Constitution (reading)
4. Throstleford- a novel by Susan Evans McCloud (started)
5. Counseling: A Guide to Helping Others, Vol 2 (reading)
6. The Richest Man in Babylon.
7. Faith in the Service
8. The Shack
9. American Religions and the Rise of Mormonism (started)