This week marked the 8th week that we have been having church at home. When the Corona Pandemic shut down the entire world, it included church. Large groups can not gather, and of course, church is a large group. Luckily, the President of our church was inspired a while ago to start home centered church supported church programs called, Come, Follow Me. When church was announced cancelled, we already knew exactly how to continue with our home church services. I am so grateful for modern day revelation, and for church leaders who are inspired by God.
Every Sunday, we get ready just as if we were leaving the house to go to church. All the kids are in their Sunday best, minus shoes. We either sit in the living room on the couch or in the kitchen around the table. The best part is that Kevin is worthy and has the authority to bless and pass the sacrament. It has been wonderful to still have the ability to partake of the sacrament each week to renew our baptismal covenants. We even had some super nice sacrament cloths made and sent to us by my sister, Lisa. Before her cloths, we were just using paper towels, because that is all we had.
Our Sunday home church has usually been about an hour. We take turns preparing a talk and talking about different things from the scriptures or about gospel principles. We also take the time to listen or watch a conference talk and then take time to talk about it and apply it to our family. We always have an opening prayer and song, and a closing song and prayer. Some of the Sundays, Big Sis or M&M has even played a church song on their cello and violin for us. It has been a very sacred and uplifting experience for us. After our church services, we will either learn a primary song as a family, or talk about the weeks scripture reading. One of our most favorite things to do after our home church is to watch Drawn In. I have a subscription for the redheadedhostess, and part of her subscription includes weekly videos by artist David Bowman as he draws and describes the weeks scripture readings for Come, Follow Me. David Bowman takes the scriptures and makes it so even our Little Monster can understand the material. We love watching Drawn In.
A few weeks after the world shut down and church was closed until further notice, I reached out to my family to see if they wanted to do a family church service together. Every week at 6pm our time, the family gets together on a zoom meeting to be spiritually uplifted together. It has been so great to see family every week. The kids have loved seeing their cousins and Aunts and Uncles. It has been great to feel their spirits and feel my spirit be strengthened by them. We can't commit to every Sunday, because 6pm is awful late for our two littles, and Monster especially is on crazy mode by that time, but we join when we can. I think my kids have seen family more during this time of COVID than they have the past 3 years.
This Sunday was a special Sunday because it was Mother's Day. Kevin had all the girls prepare a talk on Mothers. It was such a joy to hear all my girls and their sweet words. Lucky for me, they all wrote down their talks, so I am going to include all of their talks. It made me feel such joy to be learning from my little ladies.
Little A's talk on Mothers for Mother’s Day 2020:
God gave us mothers because if we did not have a mother then how will we be born? Who will watch over you when your dad is gone and no one will do everything? If we did not have a mother, who will do cooking, shopping, cleaning? No one would give us attention. So, God gave us mothers so we can be born. He also gave them to us so we can be taken care of. I am grateful that I have a mother of my own. So the real reason I am talking about mothers is that they can be with us all the time and also that dad can not be alone all the time. Also they can help each other and I love my mom.
Big Sis's talk for Mother's Day 2020:
Good morning to you all. So the topic that we all were given is “Why did Heavenly Father give us mothers?”
In the October 2001 general conference, Sister Sheri L. Dew gave a wonderful talk called “Are we not all mothers?” She explains many great things about the role of mothers, and why Heavenly Father gave us mothers. She says, “This summer four teenage nieces and I shared a tense Sunday evening when we set out walking from a downtown hotel in a city we were visiting to a nearby chapel where I was to speak. I had made that walk many times, but that evening we suddenly found ourselves engulfed by an enormous mob of drunken parade-goers. It was no place for four teenage girls, or their aunt, I might add. But with the streets closed to traffic, we had no choice but to keep walking. Over the din, I shouted to the girls, “Stay right with me.” As we maneuvered through the crush of humanity, the only thing on my mind was my nieces’ safety.
Thankfully, we finally made it to the chapel. But for one unnerving hour, I better understood how mothers who forgo their own safety to protect a child must feel. My siblings had entrusted me with their daughters, whom I love, and I would have done anything to lead them to safety. Likewise, our Father has entrusted us as women with His children, and He has asked us to love them and help lead them safely past the dangers of mortality back home.”
There are two words that really sum up why we have mothers. Leading and loving are those two words. Mothers roles are not only to care for and look out for her or other children, but to also lead them, and love them. Sister Dew really touched on this and I highly recommend reading the rest of her talk. She also says that Heavenly Father gave us mothers so that they will help him love and lead and care for his children that are here on earth. Mom has done such a wonderful job at doing this. I am so grateful that there is a day that we get to celebrate mom because she definitely deserves it. Mom has led us through so many situations, both easy and hard ones. She has taught us all new things and has given us the love that no other person could give us.
The influence of mothers on their children have been seen and recorded throughout all of the Book of Mormon history. One of the most easiest ones to see is the story of the 2000 stripling warriors. The warriors' mothers taught them to truth and have faith in the lord, and because they did, not a single one of those mothers' sons were lost through the battle in which they served in.
Elder Jeffery R. Holland, in the October 2015 general conference, gave a talk called, “Behold Thy Mother.” He says so many wonderful things in this talk. He says, “...no love in mortality comes closer to approximating the pure love of Jesus Christ than the selfless love a devoted mother has for her child…”
I am so grateful that countless times that mom has simply come up to me and gave me a hug or said, “I love you” because elder Holland is right, and no love is great then the love of God then the love given by a mother. I love my mom and for all the many wonderful blessings that she has given to me and to everyone else in this family. I know that God gave us mothers so we can also learn to be just like them and that we all will have a chance to give our love and guidance to others as well.
M&M Talk on Mother’s Day 2020:
Hi! I prepared a talk dedicated to Mothers and my mom on this very special Mother’s Day. Mothers have been around for so long. They are mentioned in the scriptures a lot. One of my most favorite scripture story about mothers in in Alma 56 verses 47 and 48. In these verses, Helaman takes his army of two thousand and he takes them to war. They are all boys and men and they fought with the power of the lord. They also believed in the words that their mothers taught them. They were told by their mothers that god would deliver them and they trusted their mothers. After the battle, Helaman counted his men and he found out. That not one had fallen to the Earth and not one of them had been killed. They fought with the strength of the lord and trusted the words of their mothers.
Mom, you have taught me many things that have kept me from hitting rock bottom. You cheer me up when I am having a bad day and you even take time from doing things that you want to do to helping all of us. You always put us before yourself and we are so thankful that we have a mom like you. You have taught me to never give up and to keep trying my hardest.
Elder Ballard says “There is no one perfect way to be a mother, each situation is unique. Each mother has different challenges, different skills and abilities, and certainly different children. Elder Ballard acknowledges that some women are “ able to be full time moms “ and that some may divide their lives into periods of home and family and work, but “ what matters is that a mother loves her children deeply and , in keeping devotion she has for God and her husband, prioritizes them above all. “
Elder Ballard also said that “because our mothers love us, we learn, or more accurately remember, that God also loves us. “Mothers give us time, love, happiness, and so much more things that they can’t all be listed. My mom is amazing and I am so lucky to have a mom like her. You have taught me so much mom and I have learned so many things from you. I love you so much.
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