We can pray to Heavenly Father~ lesson 34

This is my newsletter for the lesson as well as the paper handouts and words trips I used. Again this lesson was too long ago that I don't remember much of what I did. I know I used cell phones and called on of them and had a member of the class answer. I then proceeded to tell them a few random things that happened that day and some things I needed and then abruptly ended the call. Then I did it again saying the exact same thing. I then likened it to how we speak to Heavenly Father. 

Lesson from manual

Newsletter HERE

Handout (Cut in half to use) HERE

word strips HERE

The sacrament reminds us of our covenants ~Lesson 33

Unfortunately I am starting these posts about a month too late. I can't remember everything I did for this lesson and I haven't been taking pictures of the handouts I've been giving either. SO starting at lesson 39 you'll start seeing the hand outs and activities. 

   While I was preparing to get started I also came across and idea about doing a newsletter each week for the kids. I have my class do the activity, read the scriptures, and answer the questions on the back and then bring it back the following week for a small treat. Only those who bring back their newsletter get the treat. (smarties) and so far almost all of my kids bring them back (I have 8 in my class).


Lesson from Manual

You can download the newsletter HERE

Starting Primary

When I was called to be a primary teacher I'll be honest and say I wasn't super excited. I had just moved into a new ward and I know that sometimes when you're in Primary you can feel isolated from the rest of the ward. But I decided to make the most of it and enjoy it. 

   

  I read and researched as much as I could on ideas for primary classes because I know it's hard to keep them engaged and reverent. I came across an ideas for giving out kindness and reverence cards. So I made up a girl & boy version of both. I attached a Hershey Kiss to the bottom and when ever I see them being kind or reverent during Primary they get a card. 

I am also a handout kind of girl so I wanted to know what kind of things they like so I could make handouts personal if possible. And with so many people with dietary restrictions now I wanted to accommodate those as much as possible. BUT sometimes the handout is specific to the lesson and they can just choose to not take it or take it home and throw it away. So I made this sheet to get to know the kids in my class. 

You can download all these files HERE

New Calling

Big things have changed in my life and I am back to teaching again. This time in Primary. I've decided it can be just as much fun to teach there as in YW's. I also decided I need a lot more help. I currently teach the CTR 7's and they are harder to keep on track than Beehives. When planning a lesson I look for ways to mix it up and make it interesting so I'm not just sitting in front of them talking. I have appreciated the help and ideas I've found so far but realize there is just not much out there for Primary teachers.

   Which brings me to where am I am now. I have only been teaching for a few weeks so far but I decided it was time to share. So on the side of my blog you will find a Primary button that will direct you to all my primary lessons. I hope it helps!

Done for Now

Well I wasn't expecting this day to come so soon but I was released as YW president about three weeks ago. I was only Pres for about a year and a few months but my husband was called to be 2nd counselor in the Bishopric so that meant I had to give up my calling for him to serve. I have been in YW's as long as I have been in my current ward (3 years +) so I felt like it was his time to serve. He's had other callings of course but none that really challenged him or gave him many opportunities to grow. I am excited for him and know he's going to do a fabulous job. Now it's his turn to go to meetings and be gone in the evenings.

  I finally got my next calling this last Sunday, I am now on the Enrichment committee, I am SO excited about this one. Planning parties for a calling, what could be better (besides being in YW's)? So now I'll have to add a new tab to my tool bar for enrichment activities. We don't have anything in the works or on the calendar until July so it may be a while before I actually get something up here. Although because I have such a lull in my time I've decided to throw a Favorite Things Party so I'll put those detail here for fun.

 Thank you all for your great comments on all things YW's. Now on to the next. : )

Progressive dinner

We had our progressive dinner this weekend and had such a good time. We wanted to bring a little sunshine back into our program and so we had the dinner to help the girls see how they can help.

Our invite, to which I attached a yellow sucker.

We started at one of my counselors home with appetizers she made spinich dip with baguettes and wrapped asparagus, both were SO yummy. The activity we did at her home was each girl pinned a piece of paper to her back that said "I'm fabulous because. . . . " and everyone wrote something fabulous about her on it.

after they had eaten their appetizer and finished writing we watched a short Mormon message about loving one another. 

Then on to the next home. Here we had a wonderful salad and bread sticks. My secretary was in charge of this course and she had taped all the forks to dowels, well as it turns out you can't feed yourself with something that long and so we had to feed each other. The lesson being we need to look outside ourselves and find opportunities to serve those around us. 

When preparing for this dinner we wanted to have a theme to work with and my first counselor found THIS fabulous article about scattering sunshine. So our theme was being rays of sunshine, hence the yellow. Anyway in that article they listed ways to scatter sunshine and one of the ways was to sing a happy song. So we split the girls up and had one group sing You are my sunshine in a country accent and the other sing Scatter Sunshine in a British accent. Everyone was a great sport and it was hilarious to hear. 

They also watched anther Mormon Message at this home. (I left early because my house was next so I didn't see which one it was)

Sorry I didn't get pictures at the other homes, my arms and hands were busy with a baby in them.

We then headed off to my home for the main course. We served pork loin, garlic mashed red potatoes, and green beans along with a yummy yellow punch. 

We put place cards on the table so that we could mix the girls up from sitting next to their usual crowd. On the inside of the place cards I put a question that everyone at the table then answered. It made for some fun conversation. After dinner we watched a short video on Christ like attributes. 

From here we headed to the last home for dessert. My counselor had made mini cheesecakes which were so good. At her home we showed Sister Dalton's video about letting your light shine and my fabulous beehive advisor wrote three skits. Two were for the girls to do and one for us as leaders to do for the girls. They were so fun and everyone had a great time preforming.

We also sent the girls home with a little thank you treat.

It was a wonderful evening and it was wonderful to spend some time with the girls.

New Beginnings ~D.O.T.S.

Our theme for New Beginnings this year was D.O.T.S. Depend On The Savior (which we found all over Pinterest. We presented the class presidents with four choices for themes and this was the one they decided on. They helped in planning the program and making assignments, making the decorations, and deciding on refreshments.

We went with a pink and gold color scheme and I love how it all came together.

We also had an amazing program. The girls each took care of the values as well as the other parts we're to cover in the PP book. (theme, motto, logo, class symbols, etc.) But for the value presentations we had them read the little exert from the Come Follow Me through PP article . That was a little something we did differently. Some thing else that the girls decided to do was instead of having a speaker we had a parent stand and tell us how they see their daughter depending on the Savior. It was a great program and was amazing to hear these parents praise their daughter for living the gospel. I think it was important for the girls to hear and to realize their efforts are noticed.

Here are a few pictures of our night.


First is our invitation. we punched out the gold and pink dots to add to the CD sleeve envelope.

AAAHHH this one is upside down, sorry.

Like I said the girls cut out all the circles to hang

And made the tissue poms for the walls

And glittered the vases for the flowers

For their take home treat we made sugar cookie bars from THIS recipe and put them in some mini pizza style boxes we made. HERE is the tutorial on how we made the boxes.

 It was a wonderful evening and I'm so thankful for all the girls and leaders and their hard work.