{Sharing Time} Dressing modestly shows respect for Heavenly Father and myself

This week is going to a tough one and I wish you the best of luck dear sisters! I think that this week is so hard to teach because you really just don't want to call out kids that you deem immodest. So what I wanted to do for this week it to share the WHY behind modesty.


I love what Elder Hales has said and I believe (doctrine according to me) that this is the reason we strive to be modest:
"Modesty is at the center of being pure and chaste, both in thought and deed. Thus, because it guides and influences our thoughts, behavior, and decisions, modesty is at the core of our character. Our clothing is more than just covering our bodies; it reflects who we are and what we want to be."

As I was studying for this lesson, I ran across this talk by Elder Hales and here's a part that he said:
"The next time you approach the temple, pause to look at the temple grounds. Have you ever considered why the temple is surrounded by beautiful plates, reflecting pools, and architecture? They give an outward presence and feeling that prepares the patron for the sacred ordinances that await inside the temple...Our clothing is equally important. It is the "landscaping" for presenting our bodies as temples. Just as the temple grounds portray the sacredness and reverence for what takes place inside the temple, our clothing portrays the beauty and purity of our inner selves."

I really just want to print Elder Hales talk and just blow it up and put it up everywhere so that we cam always remember why it's so important to be modest. Now when he said 'landscaping' it got me thinking that maybe just maybe we can use that to help these precious children WHY we dress modestly.

Now due to copyrights and me not wanting to me sued, you will need to do a Google search for two pictures. A house with a messy, unkempt yard and another of a clean, manicured yard. Below are  links to a couple pictures I think would be just perfect comparisons for the lesson.

Print these out onto full sheets and at the beginning of your lesson ask "which looks more inviting?" "which would you rather spend time playing in?" "Why is it more inviting/do you want to play there?

Write the children's responses and add your own if you like.

 ~ it's clean/ it's dirty 

~ it's taken care of and loved by the owner

~ there's garbage everywhere

~it wouldn't be easy/fun to play in the grass

~ it's relaxing

~ pretty plants

Messy Yard

Manicured Yard

By just looking at this picture -hold up the manicured lawn- we know that this owner loves their home and wants to take care of it.

Just like this lawn, we can show Heavenly Father that we love and are grateful for our bodies by taking care of it. One way we can take care of our bodies is by dressing modestly. As we dress modestly we invite the Spirit to be with us. When we choose to dress modestly we send a message to those around us that we know who we are, sons and daughters of God.

I also found this article in the Friend that I think talks about modesty beautifully without getting into the clothing too terribly much.

To add a bit more to your lesson you can bring in items to represent each point and have the kids pick the items then discuss.
(I will not go further into this topic as I believe that it is you dear sisters that knows exactly what your Primary needs to hear about why we are modest)

For your reference and study:

Modesty: Reverence for the Lord (Elder Hales talk from above)

Courage to Choose Modesty - this talk is AMAZING and clearly goes over the doctrine, many of this is more for parents than children but I think you can add and incorporate it's teachings.

Flower in a Pail

This is a portion of the talk given by President Monson during the General Relief Society Meeting. If you have not heard this talk, please take the time to read/watch/listen to it, you may do so HERE.

A woman by the name of Mary Bartels had a home directly across the street from the entrance to a hospital clinic. Her family lived on the main floor and rented the upstairs rooms to outpatients at the clinic.
One evening a truly awful-looking old man came to the door asking if there was room for him to stay the night. He was stooped and shriveled, and his face was lopsided from swelling—red and raw. He said he’d been hunting for a room since noon but with no success. “I guess it’s my face,” he said. “I know it looks terrible, but my doctor says it could possibly improve after more treatments.” He indicated he’d be happy to sleep in the rocking chair on the porch. As she talked with him, Mary realized this little old man had an oversized heart crowded into that tiny body. Although her rooms were filled, she told him to wait in the chair and she’d find him a place to sleep.
At bedtime Mary’s husband set up a camp cot for the man. When she checked in the morning, the bed linens were neatly folded and he was out on the porch. He refused breakfast, but just before he left for his bus, he asked if he could return the next time he had a treatment. “I won’t put you out a bit,” he promised. “I can sleep fine in a chair.” Mary assured him he was welcome to come again.
In the several years he went for treatments and stayed in Mary’s home, the old man, who was a fisherman by trade, always had gifts of seafood or vegetables from his garden. Other times he sent packages in the mail.
When Mary received these thoughtful gifts, she often thought of a comment her next-door neighbor made after the disfigured, stooped old man had left Mary’s home that first morning. “Did you keep that awful-looking man last night? I turned him away. You can lose customers by putting up such people.”
Mary knew that maybe they had lost customers once or twice, but she thought, “Oh, if only they could have known him, perhaps their illnesses would have been easier to bear.”
After the man passed away, Mary was visiting with a friend who had a greenhouse. As she looked at her friend’s flowers, she noticed a beautiful golden chrysanthemum but was puzzled that it was growing in a dented, old, rusty bucket. Her friend explained, “I ran short of pots, and knowing how beautiful this one would be, I thought it wouldn’t mind starting in this old pail. It’s just for a little while, until I can put it out in the garden.”
Mary smiled as she imagined just such a scene in heaven. “Here’s an especially beautiful one,” God might have said when He came to the soul of the little old man. “He won’t mind starting in this small, misshapen body.” But that was long ago, and in God’s garden how tall this lovely soul must stand!

Already a Butterfly

Several weeks ago my little two-year-old daughter was playing with her toys and decided to strap on her butterfly wings. She was having a pretty good time for a while, until she got further down in the toy box and found her purple superhero cape. She wanted to put it on. When my husband tried to convince her to take off the wings, she refused. So he Velcroed the cape on right over the wings. It was awkward. She yanked on it for a while to keep it from being so jagged, but she looked like a crooked purple hunchback. She tried to go with it for as long as she could, but pretty soon she flew back over to us and uttered a very profound truth. I only wish I could remember her exact toddler jargon for this. But essentially, she said, "No cape. Alrey butterfly."

Think about it. You don't need a cape if you're already a butterfly! The moment I heard her say it, I knew it meant something. But it has taken a little bit of time for the meaning to unfold for me. I spend a lot of time—too much time, really—trying to fit into a cape. I see my neighbor in a beautiful cape, making incredible gourmet dinners with vegetables from her backyard. It's usually on a day I hardly had time to pick up a pizza. I see songwriting friends writing songs I truly wish I had written. They're so good. I see their capes billowing in the wind. I go to the mall to try to find something that can make me look amazing—and then I notice the ridiculous price tag. Capes I can't afford. I get discouraged.
All the while, I don't remember that I have wings! I have my own set of gifts. My own list of things I do best. If I paid better attention, I might notice some of those superhero ladies admiring my wings, even wishing for them.
Is being a butterfly better than being a superhero? Not necessarily. But is a superhero better than a butterfly? I'd say not. I have to admit that most of the time I feel more like a caterpillar than a butterfly. But I'm starting to remember more often that I really do have wings. I want to use them to do what they're best at, and fill this world with the things that only I can give. I want to quit trying so hard to be someone else. Easier said than done, I know.
I have lots of superheroes in my life, and I'm so grateful for them. I will always try to be more like them. But I'll try to do it in my own special butterfly way, because that's who I am. And I get the feeling that God loves butterflies quite a lot.

By Cherie Call

He Knows You

DOWNLOAD HERE (5X7)

$20 Bill

Hi guys! There hasn't been a post for a few days, from illness to being with my sister it has been long days and late so everything is back in order and I can start posting again. So for my first post I have a story for you. It's called $20 Bill and it's one of my favorites. Hope you enjoy it as well!

$20 Bill
A well-known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a $20.00 bill. In the room of 200, he asked, “Who would like this $20 bill?” Hands started going up. He said, “I’m going to give this $20 to one of you, but first let me do this.” He proceeded to crumple up the 20 dollar bill. He then asked, “Who still wants it?” Still hands were up in the air. “Well,” he replied, “What if I do this?” And he dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe. He picked it up, now crumpled and dirty, “Now who still wants it?” Still hands went up in the air. “My friends, we have all learned a very valuable lesson. No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth $20. Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way. We feel as though we are worthless. But no matter what has happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value. Dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased, you are priceless to those who do love you. The worth of our lives comes not in what we do or who we know, but by who we are. You are special – don’t ever forget it.” Count you blessings not your problems.

YW Inspiration - Apples

Here's is the first of who knows how many of my Young Woman Inspirational kit. This quote, is one of my favorites, it helped me while I was in school, not dating, thinking that I was no good, come to find that my prince charming was still there. It's the Lord's timing and not mine. I hope that this will help or inspire both you and your daughter/granddaughter/any other young woman in your life who may be struggling with their individual worth. The download is a 12x12, please email me if you want a smaller size :)
DOWNLOAD HERE

** Look for other quotes and stories that helped me in my youth as well as those I find along the way!
http://latterdaychatter.blogspot.com/2010/02/yw-inspiration-mirror.html
This is what the quote says:
“Girls are like apples...the best ones are at the top of the trees. The boys don't want to reach for the good ones because they are afraid of falling and getting hurt. Instead, they just get the rotten apples that are on the ground that aren't as good, but easy. So the apples at the top think there is something wrong with them, when, in reality, they are amazing. They just have to wait for the right boy to come along, the one who's brave enough to climb all the way to the top of the tree...”