Positive Parenting

Teaching Children to Feel and Recognize the Spirit

"Testimony isn't something you have today, and you are going to have always. A testimony is fragile. It is as hard to hold as a moonbeam. It is something you have to recapture every day of your life." -President Harold B. Lee

my notes:

Teach Children to live by the power of the Holy Ghost.

Create a peaceful home. An environment to feel reverence . . . identify that feeling.

Electronics need to be monitored and controlled. Rarely can we feel the influence of the Holy Ghost if we are always being entertained.

You can not "force" children to have a testimony or to be spiritual. Your responsibility as a parent is to provide the environment (water, soil, sun) where their seed of faith can grow.

"You can no more force the Spirit to respond than you can force a bean to sprout, or an egg to hatch before its time. You can create a climate to foster growth, nourish, and protect; but you cannot force or compel: you must await the growth." Elder Boyd D. Packer

-have children home with us

-create order

-media off

We give too much of our "teaching time" away.

Learn to recognize the Holy Ghost in own life. We can't teach what we don't know. 

The Holy Ghost speaks to you as a feeling. 

Teach children to acknowledge their feelings. Validate how they feel, don't dismiss feelings.

Reverence: Deep respect, appreciation, and love for that which is holy. A feeling of peace and joy.

create many moments of reverence.

Keep the Sabbath Day Holy:

The Sabbath should be different than all other days of the week. Engage in the Lord's work (different than your work) create in our homes something different so they feel something different on the sabbath.

ideas: Sunday box (box filled with various sunday activities)

Work on Faith in God

Review Scouting

PPI (Personal Progress Interviews)

Write letters \ journals

look at family pictures of videos together

General Conference:

Conference weekend is a time for the family to be together. Talk about conference coming up. Post pictures of the Prophet and Apostles in your home several weeks before conference.

Prepare Conference Notebooks for each child. Assign a speaker to each child to report on.

When the Conference Ensign comes out, purchase one for each child and use these as the basis for Home Evenings for the next six months.

***Homework***

Look at your sabbath day and pray about it, so the Lord will reveal to you how to make it a Holy day.

Make conference fun! Make your family excited to be there. (cinnamon rolls for breakfast!!!)