I started watching Jared Halverson’s video from his Unshaken YouTube Channel for this upcoming Sunday’s Come Follow Christ lesson and love it! It covers Acts 6-9.
In it, he says (around the 27:18 mark) “What would you as a Jew in the first century A.D. be missing if somebody back in the first century had not been willing to say, wait a minute, these apostles agree with our scripture, and this additional scripture already confirms what we already have? Huh, maybe Jesus was serious when he said ‘I have come to fulfill and not to destroy.’ “
Then he gives a simple syllogism:
“Judaism is to Christianity as Christianity is to the restored gospel.”
What is this restored gospel? It is truly “a marvelous work and a wonder.” Isaiah foretold that this happen, see Isaiah 29:14 and watch this video here.
You can learn more here. I have felt the Holy Spirit witness to me that God the Father chose Joseph Smith to restore the gospel of Jesus Christ. It’s true!
You can watch both parts of Jared’s video on Acts 6-9 below. Check out his IG page here. He has such a gift for explaining gospel truths.
If you have believed in the restoration and feel you are facing a faith crisis, watch Jared’s video at the very bottom of this blog post. It’s all sooooo good!
Have I got a treat for you! If you are into homeopathy you are going to love this book! If you aren’t into homeopathy, may I introduce it to you? Watch below if you want a quick introduction, then read the rest below.
You can get a free copy of the book here. The author, Priscilla Medders, is so passionate about the book that she is giving the PDF away. She wants as many people as possible to learn about it!
This book is so wonderful! In this book you will learn the following:
-the difference between acute and chronic illnesses
-what homeopathic provings are
-why homeopathy is not the placebo effect
-why and how homeopathy works
-how to choose an acute remedy
-why you should choose classical homeopathy
-how to get the best results when home prescribing
-how to dose the remedy
-how to find a professional homeopath
-how to work with a professional homeopath to get the best results
-cell salts, what they are, how to dose them, etc.
-non-complementary therapies to homeopathy
-lots of homeopathy resources
Enjoy! If you want a basic course in homeopathy, then come join me in Paola Brown’s Homeopathy for Moms Book Club. Round up 5 other friends and I will facilitate the group for you.
This week’s picture book ties into the patriotic theme of last Tuesday’s Independence Day. If you’ve ever wondered why people started using flags, and what flags have flown over America, this book is for you and your kiddos. It’s a great Morning Basket read!
What are the names of the flags below, that are featured in the book? They each have a name, such as The Taunton Flag and the Fort Moultrie flag. After reading the above book, you will know! I snapped these photos when visiting Colonial Days this past week.
I give this book 5 out of 5 stars! The author/illustrator Cheryl Harness has such a beautiful style. I love that she tells the story of how flags in general got started, and then the different flags involved in the American Revolutionary War. Then she explains the beginning of the U.S. flag, Francis Hopkinson, Betsy Ross, and the story of the Star-Spangled Banner anthem and flag. It’s such a beautiful book! I highly recommend it for ages 8 and up. With younger ages you could still use it, but just point to pictures in the book and talk about them or read one sentence per page.
One of my adult sons texted me last Monday asking me if I was going to see Sound of Freedom. I replied with “Oh you mean Cries of Freedom? We saw that on Saturday.” I thought he had mixed up the title, since he knows I love to go see Cries of Freedom every year around Independence Day.
Cries of Freedom is one of my Independence Day “must-do” traditions. I’d rather give up eating hot dogs and hamburgers on the summer holiday, which I’ve done, when I was on my 70 pound weight-loss journey, eating a special diet, than give up watching Cries of Freedom, which I’ve also done. When we lived in AZ I had to give up watching it in person and only watch it on YouTube. Missing the real thing made me almost cry every year! This is our third summer back in UT so I’ve been watching it annually again. It’s so good to be back in the land where I can drive to see Cries of Freedom every year! It never fails to move me to tears.
We also attend the festival in the park near the showing of Cries of Freedom, called Colonial Days. I just love it all! All these pictures here are from that. We spent parts of two days there because I wanted to take in as much as I could. It’s like some people carve out a bit of Colonial Williamsburg VA and transplant it to Orem UT every summer for a few days. We did that on Saturday and Monday.
On Sunday my husband and I attended the Freedom Festival Patriotic Service. I like to stretch out holidays as much as I can (Christmas being king of course, with Easter second) so I’m thrilled I could do that this again with Independence Day.
Anyway, it turns out my son was talking about the new movie, The Sound of Freedom, based on Timothy Ballard’s story of fighting human trafficking.
I haven’t watched it yet and don’t know if I will since I avoid PG-13 movies as even movies like Edward Scissorhands give me nightmares. That’s the last PG-13 movie I saw. My sister-in-law and brother-in-law, however, saw it yesterday on opening day and loved it.
Here’s a short review of the movie. Then below is a video from Angel Studios, the distributor, about the premiere.
I like that at the end of the review the two guys say that yes it’s true, as Timothy says in the movie, that “God’s children are not for sale.” Where do we get this truth? From the Bible, which is part of the Judeo-Christian faith tradition. I’m so grateful for this faith tradition. I’m grateful for absolute truth from God, found in the Bible, (The Old Testament here, and New Testament here) and other scriptures I believe in, that teach us who we are, children of God. These scriptures teach us where we came from and what our destiny can be. It was people believing in the Bible that abolished slavery in the U.S. It is people believing in God and his word now that will abolish human trafficking, if enough of us do so and work on this faith.
Below is a new interview of the actor who played Timothy Ballard, Jim Caviezel, along with Timothy Ballard himself, with Jordan Peterson.
(Just in case anyone is wondering, For Independence Day half of us went to the parade then we went to have a picnic with my parents up in the mountains. It was about an hour drive each way. I made the drive more patriotic for all of us by listening to some of Stephen Pratt’s stuff at libertyandlearning.com, on the way there. Then on the way home I quizzed my husband and myself with trivia cards about America from an All-American Trivial Pursuit game I picked up while thrifting years ago for $3. Then we listened to Jim Weiss’ story of Thomas Jefferson’s America. It’s soooo good!)
It’s that time of year when I feel like learning all I can about the glorious heritage of liberty that the U.S. Founding Fathers worked to enshrine in the documents of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. So I check out all these books from the library about liberty, the American Revolutionary War, and the Founding Fathers. I put them in my morning basket and get out my own books to share with my children. I also pull out the movie National Treasure because, even though it’s not true, it generates a ton of excitement about the Declaration of Independence and American history in general.
My son watched it for the second time last week. I have let my children watch it after taking the LEMI Key of Liberty class. Almost six years ago, my two kiddos who are 18 months apart took Key of Liberty together. So, after the school year was over, we watched the movie, but my daughter didn’t even want to watch it. Because she is super picky about the movies she watches, she often just sits movies out, reading books in her room. My youngest child did Key of Liberty this past year so we pulled out the movie again and this time my daughter watched it, for her first time, at age 17. Yay!!! It’s just such a fun movie. (Except the part where he drops her to save the Declaration….yeah, I take issue with that.) We all know the story isn’t true but the movie does make one wonder about the fact vs. fiction.
Four years ago I got to go on this wonderful trip that I call my personal “National Treasure” tour. I blogged a bit about it here and here. As part of a group of homeschoolers, I visited Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Mount Vernon, Colonial Williamsburg, Yorktown, and Valley Forge. It was soooo amazing!
On this trip, I discovered a few things I consider as “national treasures,” because they promote liberty and faith in God, connected to U.S. history. Here are two of them:
First, the National Memorial Arch in Valley Forge PA. It was built in the 1910s to commemorate George Washington’s leadership of his army, specifically, while the army stayed in Valley Forge, the winter of 1777-1778.
The second thing is something you will rarely see anywhere. It’s a nearby monument. A few steps away from the arch you will see a smaller structure, a monument featuring freemason symbols. It’s called The Pennsylvania Freemason’s Revolutionary War Monument.
The symbols on it include the square and the compass. I’m sorry and sad that I accidentally cut off the compass superimposed over a book at the bottom in the photo below. Anyway, what do these symbols mean and why are they there? The short answer is that they are there because George Washington was a Freemason, and Pennsylvanian Freemasons donated money and labor to refurbish the arch, $1.5 million, in 1996. They did this to honor George because they love him and his leadership so much. As it says on the page here:
“We, as Freemasons, believe our children and their children need to know that the men in 1777 cared about freedom. They need to know that Freemasons in 1996 still care about freedom.” Edward O. Weisser, R.W. Grand Master, Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Pennsylvania, March 15, 1996
These symbols are on the Freemason Revolutionary War Monument, close to the National Memorial Arch in Valley Forge PA.
Why were some of the Founding Fathers Freemasons? What do the symbols mean? Such interesting questions! You can learn more in Tim Ballard’s book below.
Hannah Stoddard of the Joseph Smith Foundation also created the documentary, Statesmen and Symbols, a few years ago about the topic and how the symbols fit in with the founding of our nation and the founding of Washington D.C. The trailer is below, and you can buy the DVD here.
Last but not least, Hannah did an interview on the radio with a few insights about the Freemason links to early American history in the podcast below.
Here’s a follow-up to my recent post about Peter’s denial of Christ. This comes from Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin, a former apostle of Jesus Christ, who passed away in 2008. It’s a talk he gave in General Conference October 1992, called “Spiritual Bonfires.” You can read it here or watch it below. It’s so good!
What he says makes so much sense! Here are some excerpts:
“Imagine for a moment that you are Peter. Three years ago a holy stranger invited you to set aside your fishing boat and nets, your means of support for yourself and your family, and then asked you to follow Him. You did so without hesitation, and for three years you have continued to follow and to love and support and sustain Him. You have seen Him confound the wise, comfort the weary and the afflicted, heal the sick, and raise the dead to life. You have seen Him conquer evil spirits, calm the troubled seas, and for a few minutes, at least, you even walked on the water toward Him. You were at His side when Moses and Elias appeared to Him; you saw Him transfigured before your very eyes. You have committed your entire life to Him. And now He questions you by instructing you to strengthen your brethren ‘when thou art converted.
“Peter was surprised. He assured the Lord, ‘I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death.’ (Luke 22:33.) But Jesus knew and understood. He was not condemning Peter for a lack of conviction; Peter demonstrated his conviction during the Lord’s arrest. Rather, the Savior was telling Peter what he needed to do when his testimony became more secure.
“As He knew Peter, the Lord understands you and me when our testimonies may not be the brightly burning bonfire you may think they are or want them to be. Perhaps in some cases, that testimony is constructed unwisely, built on a social foundation of programs and personalities instead of the sure rock of personal revelation. Or perhaps you have allowed your testimony to flicker gradually through the years of disuse and spiritual complacency.
“Regardless of the reason your testimony may be growing dim, the Savior lovingly urges you to come unto Him and become strengthened in Him. Said He to Moroni: “If men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; … for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.” (Ether 12:27.)”
Brother Hank Smith quotes the above talk from Elder Wirthlin in the video below. In reply, Brother Belnap acknowledges that we are all going to be like Peter. We are all going to fail in our faith some time, just like Peter. Jesus knows this! How all-knowing, patient, and merciful He is to us. When we fail, that doesn’t mean our faith is wrong, it just means we are human. Part of our faith needs to be faith that Jesus has faith in us to realize our failure and start over. The enemy wants us to think we can’t come back to Jesus.
I love that Brother Belnap explains what conversion involves. Jesus told Peter “When thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.” Brother Belnap says that conversion involves two things: 1. Knowing why we need to have faith in Christ, and 2. Knowing that Christ has faith in us. The evidence that He has faith in us is in His giving His life for us. He atoned for our sins and died on the cross for us. So we can rejoice and go forward, constantly repenting, knowing that Jesus saves us from our sins as we consistently fail but always turn back to Him. What great news!
We surely have reason, as Nephi says, to glory in our Jesus! See 2 Nephi 33:6:
“I glory in plainness; I glory in truth; I glory in my Jesus, for he hath redeemed my soul from hell.”
This week for my church’s Come Follow Christ study we are reading the accounts in the New Testament of Christ’s suffering in Gethsemane. We are also reading about Peter’s denial and betrayal of Christ. I’ve always felt sad and slightly confused about that. Jared Halverson, affectionately known as “Bro Hal,” gives much insight into the suffering of the Savior and Peter’s actions. See videos below. They are soooo good! So many insights!
Part 1 is above, Part 2 is below.
He quotes a lot from the talk President Spencer W. Kimball gave at BYU in 1971 about Peter. You can listen to the audio of the text here. I’ve copied and pasted excerpts that Bro Hal shares in the videos below.
Image Credit: Jared Halverson’s Unshaken YouTube Channel
Last week’s videos for Come Follow Christ by Jared Halverson were amazing, as always! Watch below. They were all about the Last Supper. I love how he honors other churches and their ceremonies, and explains transubstantiation, and what we as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believe about the tokens of the sacrament. It’s not the bread and water that transform us, it’s what they represent, Christ’s sacrifice, that changes us. It’s so wonderful that Jesus gave us these tokens to remember Him. The image above reminds me that I want to always remember the value of the tokens and remember Christ’s counsel to always remember Him.
It just so happened that I came across this beautiful story from a Latter-day Saint about what she thinks about during the partaking of the sacrament to keep her mind on Jesus. It’s by Isabelle Alpert. Here is the story, copied and pasted from the Ensign magazine, June 2008:
“Recently my husband and I had dinner with some friends. The conversation turned to religion, and one friend, a less-active member of the Church, began telling me why the Church was not true.
“In the course of his explanation, he became adamant, hostile, and angry. The entire time I sat and listened. At first I felt like crying, but then I became angry and wanted to tell him off. The still, small voice, however, told me to be quiet.
Our friend didn’t finish his tirade until we had finished our dinner and paid the bill. Then he paused, as if waiting for my rebuttal. I sat there for a moment in silent prayer. Then, in a soft voice, I calmly said, “Do you know what I like best about going to church on Sunday? The sacrament. It allows me the opportunity to quietly bow my head and pray to Heavenly Father. I tell Him all the ways in which I could have done things differently during the past week, and I seek for ways to improve.”
“Then I added, “I think of all the people I tried to be a blessing to during the past week, and I ask Heavenly Father to help me find more people to bless during the coming week. I am thankful that I have time during the sacrament each week to do this and to become the best I can be.”
“Our friend looked at me and said nothing. We left the restaurant and walked to the car. I then asked him if he remembered all of the self-help books I had on my bookshelf at home. He did. I told him that since I had joined the Church, I had never read another self-help book. I said the only book I get my answers from anymore is the Book of Mormon.
“A few days later he called to apologize.
“Come unto Christ … and love God with all your might, mind and strength” (Moroni 10:32), Moroni counsels us. As I have tried to follow that counsel, my love for God’s children has increased—even for those who try to be my enemy.”
I love her example! The Come Follow Me study guide had the question this past week of what to do make sacrament more meaningful. I loved being able to share this story during our devotional time to give them some ideas. I am going to start thinking the same things during the partaking of the sacrament.
To kick off summer I’m blogging about The Summer Book by Susan Branch. I first heard of Susan Branch when I read one of Sally Clarkson’s books, either the Life Giving Home or the Life Giving Table, I can’t remember which one. She highly recommended getting any cookbook by Susan Branch. Upon that suggestion, I started keeping my eye out for Susan Branch books while thrifting. So far I have found four: the one above (for only $1!), plus the one about autumn, the girlfriends one, and the heart of the home one. I think that one was her first. Two of these were misplaced in the children’s book section. Lucky for me, I spied them on the bottom shelf there. Score! They are all soooo delightful! She fills each one with her own lovely, dreamy watercolor and pen illustrations to accompany the recipes. Each recipe is written in her own hand, a beautiful cursive. On top of all this you will find quotes, and tips for homemaking, hospitality, gardening and family life. You can see her lovely website here and sign up for her monthly newsletter, called Willard, after her grandfather, which is guaranteed to brighten up your email inbox. You can read the archives of Willard here, but I’m warning you, they are addictive! You can’t stop at just one!
So who is Susan Branch and why I am sharing her book? Susan is an author and illustrator who lives in Martha’s Vineyard. She grew up in a big family of 8 children in California. Her mother taught her to bake, cook, sew, tend children, as well as all the other homemaking arts. Susan loved learning all of it. She dedicated her first book to her dear mother, who she says was the strong foundation of her life. (You can read about her mother here.) The video below features Susan singing a song her mother taught her. I remember learning this song in third grade, but I only learned the first verse, so it’s fun to hear more of the song.
This is a little excerpt of what she wrote about her mom in the link I just referenced, “I think I saw the loneliness in my mom’s face on some of the tough days when the house would fall into chaos (beyond what was normal), and it stayed with me. I tried to say thank you while writing my first book, not only to her, but to all moms, to help them know that what they do, and did, really does matter. My mom (and dad) gave me a stable childhood, something every child deserves — I think if everyone had that, the world would be a better place. That’s why moms are so important. And the more support moms everywhere get raising children, it just follows, the better our world would be. Because no matter what the circumstances, no matter how much money they have, they are capable of being shelter in a storm, just by being there. I celebrate Mother’s Day deep in my heart, it’s another chance to tell my mom what a FABULOUS, WONDERFUL, HEAVENLY MOTHER she’s been to me. ♥”
After growing up, and while still living in CA, she went through a painful divorce. Part of her “starting over” process was to buy a home in Martha’s Vineyard, thus becoming a New England transplant. Before she moved to New England, she had a friend who encouraged her to write a cookbook. The friend, Jane, loved the illustrated, hand lettered recipe cards that Susan gave to Jane as a wedding gift. Jane thought Susan could turn them into a cookbook. Susan tucked that idea away. After moving to New England and orienting herself to single life and her adopted home state, she dusted off the seed of an idea that Jane had planted in her heart. She happened to have a friend who had a connection with a publisher, Little Brown, who agreed to publish her cookbook. So she now she has these wonderful cookbooks, with her watercolor illustrations and hand lettering, plus she has a memoir trilogy, based on her journals. (The trilogy is self-published.) She also has other types of books, like a memory book for keeping photos and mementos of your baby, Christmas books, her Distilled Genius book, and calendars. So fun!
You can watch a video below where she tells her story.
When you open the summer book, you will feel like you are stepping into the summer of your dreams. It just oozes summer sunshine and the vibe of idyllic carefree days. You will find recipes for yummy summer foods, from appetizers to salad dressings, side dishes, to drinks, main dishes, and desserts. You will learn how to make the perfect picnic sandwich and the perfect cheeseburger. Some examples of some of the recipes: Potato Fish Cakes, Three Layer Coconut Cake with Lemon Filling, and Salad Nicoise. Along the way, turning the pages, you will see suggestions for summer activities: an old-fashioned picnic, a tea party, how to draw, how to garden, how to have great lighting for your summer evening parties. I just wish it had menu ideas and family traditions suggested for Independence Day. Interspersed with all of that are memories of her childhood summers, and lots of quotes full of wisdom. I highly recommend it! Even if you never use any of the recipes, you will just love reading it! Reading her books is one of the ways I dazzle myself, to “romance my heart,” as Ramona Zabriskie of Wife for Life talks about. I hope you enjoy it! Put it on your “thrifting wish list” or get it new from Susan’s shop. You will just adore it! Here’s a brief video review below.
My firstborn, a son, got married last Saturday! Now I can say I have three married children, my three oldest: two sons and a daughter. We traveled to Texas to witness the wedding. It all seems so surreal. I have prayed for this day for years and it finally happened! So I definitely have weddings, marriage and romance on my brain. I blogged about weddings last week here and I’m blogging about marriage again today. (If any of you read that blog post I just referenced, and are wondering what the send-off to the honeymoon involved for my son’s wedding, here is the answer: ribbon and paper streamers.)
It took us two days to drive to TX, then we spent two days there visiting (including the Alamo) and attending the wedding. After the big day, we drove back home over two days, after attending church services on Sunday morning. What a whirlwind trip! My husband showed me some little courtesies on the trip that I thoroughly enjoyed as a touch of romance. Here are some of them: he put my suitcase on the only suitcase rack in the motel room instead of his, he got some earphones situated on my head so I could hear a video on my phone while I was driving, he read aloud trivia questions for me to answer while I drove, and when we pulled up to our motel room to stay on the last night of the trip, it was raining cats and dogs. He let me out under the canopy connected to the motel entrance, so I didn’t have to get wet while he drove the car over by the room and walked through the rain. I looked for ways to show him courtesies too like filling up his water bottle at the gas station when I filled up mine. It’s been 31 years of marriage for us, with a ton of mistakes. Neither of us is perfect. I hope we have been good examples to each of our children of working to make marriage work, including communication, showing affection and appreciation, going on dates, and apologizing and forgiving. My firstborn has been out of the nest for years but hopefully those memories are in his brain as well. It was wonderful to see my son so happy with his new bride. I pray that he will continue to show her romance and courtesies for all their married life together.
Tree of Life Mothering 