When an Apostle & His Wife Carried My Toddler & Walked with Me Home

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Elder Gong was at church again today. He’s in our ward along with Elder Rasband, but they are usually away on other assignments on Sunday.

They are apostles of Jesus Christ, some of only fifteen on the Earth today. It’s the neatest thing when they come. The Spirit of God fills the room when they speak. I feel it.

Last summer, a few months after we moved downtown, we were walking into church on Sunday and Elder Gong held the door open for us. I thought how neat that was, almost starstruck that here was an apostle of Jesus Christ, one of his special witnesses, helping ME.

Little did I know how much he and his sweet wife would be helping me just later that day.

The twins were too young to go to nursery at the time, so Jake and I would take turns strollering the babies around during second hour to get them to go to sleep.

That day they were especially cranky, in fact I couldn’t get them to settle down. They just kept crying.

I opened the church doors and started to make my way home, figuring that a nap was the only thing that would really settle them.

I stopped to soothe the babies at the end of the sidewalk because they were still crying. I sat back on my heels, searching my backpack for something to soothe them, when Elder and Sister Gong came up behind me asking if I would like some help.

“Oh I think they’re not feeling well or something, I figured I’d just take them home to nap.”

“Do you think they’ll be happier if we carry them?” Sister Gong offered.

“We could try it,” I said, not really sure what to do.

Sister Gong then picked Thea up from the stroller and her crying stopped. I did the same with Esther, and we started walking, Elder Gong pushing the stroller along with us.

I was sure to tell them that it was no short walk to our place, that we could try putting them back in the stroller and they could go on their way to wherever they needed to be. But they assured me that they were just fine and were happy to go with me all the way home.

Three quarters of a mile they walked and talked with me. Sister Gong carried Thea the entire way.

I thanked them greatly when we arrived to our door and felt somewhat bad for putting them out and keeping them from other things.

But the truth was, I think they were happy to. They carried what I couldn’t and lifted me up, just as the Savior would, if He was here. They are His friends, that was clear.

I’ve thought of that often, and what a special experience it was for me. I know they’re called of God to serve and witness of Him here, I’ve felt it and I know it.

3 Empowering TIPS for Teaching at Home with “Come Follow Me”

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3 Empowering TIPS for Teaching your Family at Home with "Come Follow Me" The shift to more gospel learning at home may be unfamiliar, but it doesn't have to be intimidating! As a homeschool mom and one who used to be SO INTIMIDATED to teach my children at home, I have honed in on three things that I feel are MOST IMPORTANT and HELPFUL when it comes to teaching the gospel at home. They have helped me to LOVE and really appreciate this time teaching my kids and I hope they will help YOU too! #lds #comefollowme — (notice Thea’s interest in dressing herself as of late)

The shift to more gospel learning at home may feel a bit daunting, but it doesn’t have to be! As a homeschool mom and one who used to be SO INTIMIDATED to teach my children at home, I have honed in on three things that I feel are MOST IMPORTANT and HELPFUL when it comes to teaching the gospel at home. They have helped me to LOVE and really appreciate this time teaching my kids and I know they can help YOU too!

This can apply to daily family scripture study, family home evening, or any come follow me lessons.

1. KEEP IT SIMPLE

There are A LOT of additional resources available, but you don’t have to use them! You don’t! (Did you just breathe a little easier?)

Stick with the “Come Follow Me” manual and your scriptures and you can expand from there as your family and the Spirit directs. Simplicity CREATES SPACE for you to be guided in a way that will be best for you and your family.

My kids just turned seven and four (my toddler twins usually just play while we do this) and often when we sit down to read, we might only get through ONE VERSE and a whole discussion starts from there. That’s when the Spirit can guide.

I ask them questions and we start talking. If they have questions, we talk more. If they don’t seem to be interested or understand, I might pull out some pictures or we’ll look up a video or find some other object that will help them grasp the lesson better. All IN THE MOMENT. I rarely ever plan our daily studies ahead, I definitely study the material ahead of time and gain my own insights, but then I pray and let the Spirit and my family guide. Things grow so well that way.

Some days we just read a few verses and we’re done, especially if we’re having trouble staying focused or participating.

It’s EBB AND FLOW. Some days will be better than others, we often struggle to get everyone to sit and stay “focused,” but we are GROWING and I can already see the beauty from it.

2. FOLLOW THE SPIRIT

The Spirit of God is our greatest teacher and most powerful resource for helping us to know what our family needs to learn, and then helping them to learn it.

Begin with a prayer to invite the Spirit and PRAY on your own each day to know what your family needs to focus on. Direction will come as you move forward and do things the best you know how. (Don’t wait for it.)

Don’t be afraid to go on TANGENTS, those are often prompted by the Spirit through you or your children.

Bear brief TESTIMONY when you can– how you’ve seen the principles work in your life. Let the Holy Ghost witness the truth to them. Those feelings are often the only things we remember after a lesson, but they are the most important.

3. CONNECT

Teaching is as much an opportunity for your kids to CONNECT with you as it is for them to LEARN from you.

Keep calm when gathering everyone. The rest of the house may not be calm but you can help set the tone. KINDESS precedes connection.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned in parenting young children, it’s that the way you treat them sends a stronger message than what you teach them. If we teach them with all the LOVE we can muster, they are more likely to be receptive to it. And if we speak with love, the Spirit will be more able to reach them.

Kids are more capable of learning and understanding than we often assume. Ask questions beyond the basics, questions that will SPARK THEIR INTEREST and allow them to contribute in a way that is meaningful to THEM. Tune in to what interests them. Notice where their interest peaks and capitalize on that.

As for making a family home evening (or any weekly lesson),

FIT IT TO YOU AND YOUR FAMILY–

If you like to make crafts, make crafts, if you like to bake treats, bake treats. If you like to have someone else prepare a lesson for you, go online and find one (there are lots!! — @Familyhomeevening123 @comefollowmefhe and sugardoodle.net are great. There’s also a whole host of other places for inspiration and resources like Pinterest, Google, and LDS.org). But remember that you don’t have to! Do what works for you!

*My biggest & SIMPLEST go-to resources for any lesson with young kids are:

PICTURES (the gospel art book is often all you need) and I love the Gospel Stories Book from the LDS Distribution Center (for just over $4!!) (Sometimes we read these at night as part of our bedtime stories and the kids really like it.)

ACTIONS (let them act it out, hold something, point to something, imagine a scenario with eyes closed, do hand motions, anything that gets them INVOLVED.)

-Teaching about Lehi’s family in the wilderness and they don’t seem interested?

*Let them IMAGINE what it feels like when they’re really hungry.

* TELL them the story about how Nephi’s bow broke and how they couldn’t get food.

*ASK them how they might FEEL and what they might DO about it.

*Let them ACT it out.

This could all happen in just 5 or 10 minutes! You can have a conversation about faith or prayer or how God will help us with our problems. You could even go around sharing experiences if you have time. It’s that simple! (And can be so powerful!)

I could go on about this, but these have stood out to me as the most important. I hope they are helpful tips for you! Teaching at home may seem intimidating at first, especially with young children, but if we practice these things, it won’t be! And we can even feel empowered to do so.

We can keep it SIMPLE, teach by the SPIRIT, and CONNECT in meaningful ways with our children. And there’s not much more important than that. 🙂

Walls

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I sat against the wall in the hallway, resting for a minute while Hyrum finished his bath. Ava sat next to me while I opened my scriptures. “It’s been a few days since we’ve read and I’m feeling it,” I said. “Want to read some?”

She sat close to me and laid her head on my lap as I read. She was tired too. (We’re struggling for earlier bedtimes.)

We bathed and dressed everyone, and I prayed that I would find one of the twins’ shoes. We lost one at home and one at church last week and were left with two left ones. I tilted the basket down from the shelf and a bunch of their shoes and socks came tumbling out. I gathered the shoes and socks from the floor and under the crib where they had fallen, and found that all the shoes were there, all except for the one lost at church. I felt it was a gift and said a prayer of thanks.

We searched for snacks, handed out toys, read books, cleaned up messes, and tried our best to quiet our kids during church. In the middle of meetings I walked the rooms in search of the shoe and prayed again. I felt drawn to a little nook in the coat closet and found the little blue shoe behind some snow boots.

I was tired, and so grateful.

I sat in class next to some kind older women as some thoughts were shared. The teacher read the same scripture that I had read earlier with Ava and tears filled my eyes.

“Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee… Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.”

Those words went into my heart and I felt the truth of them. They filled me from the inside out. They were no longer just words of scripture, they were words to me— words from heaven that I needed to hear.

A wise friend once spoke of these walls. She said that it brought her great comfort to think of the Lord standing by her, seeing the same walls—challenges, struggles, and experiences—as her.

I am certain that Jesus Christ is so aware of us, even with us, in the things we are experiencing—loving, strengthening, and teaching us as we struggle, and when we let Him—even in the small things. It’s all things wonderful and so many things hard raising little ones, and I especially felt that love today.

#mamanotes

The Light & Liberation Project

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I’ve been sharing about this on my social media, but so much of my heart has been in this project the past few years that I thought I should share a little bit on here too.)

A few years ago I was driving from our home in Houston to Austin, Texas for a job interview for my husband and I read an article that opened my eyes to the terrible reality of the fastest growing criminal enterprise in the world–sex trafficking. My heart ached and I wept as I read about an estimated 2 million children being some of those victims. I was reading it out-loud to my husband and I could hardly get through it.

But the article also talked about one man’s effort to do something about it and the organization that has since grown into an incredible source of hope for these children. It’s backed by the support of local law enforcement and the hopes and hearts of hundreds of thousands around the world.

That organization is Operation Underground Railroad, made up of skilled former CIA, Navy SEALs, and Special Ops operatives that locate and rescue trafficked children and provide for their rehabilitation.

I wanted to be a part of that. I wanted to be a part of the effort to help them.

My mind raced with ideas. Over the next few months I created a photography presentation and shared a few hours of my knowledge in a few locations to raise money for the effort. But I wanted to be able to reach more, to help more. I prayed and prayed to know how.

While driving in my car one day, I had the idea to involve other photographers, to enable others to learn from their talent and experiences too. I spent the next few months praying, planning, emailing, and searching for top talent in the areas I felt would be of great value to learn.

And that was just the beginning. I clung to every bit of courage and inspiration and encouragement I felt as I was stormed by doubt amid the discouragments. The process was slow, but came together bit by bit with the courage of those who were willing to join me without ever having met me. These amazing photographers trusted me enough to give their time and share their knowledge to be a part of the rescuing too. That was powerful to me.

I feel I have been stretched in every way, but guided and strengthened through it as well.

It has been a project of patience, trust, and a whole lot of heart, from all of us. And it is finally ready to be shared with others and on its way to doing some good for these children in greatest need.

It’s an affordable, all-in-one course for anyone wanting to improve their pictures or learn how to use their SLR camera. Nine photographers teach the thirteen topics in this course, and they are amazing at what they do. It’s inspiring and easy to understand, just over two hours long (we know you’re busy), and downloadable so that you can watch it at any time and as many times as you’d like. It is a course that will get you excited about your photography and equipped with the tools to help you capture loved ones in beautiful, meaningful ways you’ve only hoped you could. You can read more about it and purchase it on the course page here: gum.co/ourlight.

ALL proceeds will go to Operation Underground Railroad. It’s the neatest thing. If you think you know someone who might be interested, please share it with them and join us in this great cause! I know this has the potential to do so much good — for the kids and for those that get to learn from this course.

-Tami

*Update: Thank you all so much for your support!! I am so grateful for this good we can do together. So many have shared or purchased the course and we thank you! LDSLiving also wrote a wonderful article about the Light and Liberation Project that had me all teary with gratitude. You can find it here.

Remember this week there is a discount of $30 off with code “ourlight” if you purchase by wednesday 11/14/18. (This course is at an incredible deal already and we intended it that way so that we can reach more people and do the most good. So if you have a camera you’ve been wanting to get or one you’ve been putting off learning how to use, this is the greatest way to learn–and do a lot of good!)

Thank you all from the bottom of my heart!

Good Things to Come

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There’s a lilac tree behind our old house in North Dakota that blooms this time of year. We first arrived there in the fall and its leaves were green and soon to turn. Little did we know that it would bloom in the loveliest shades of purple just a few months later.

At the end of our first [cold and windy] winter we anxiously waited for new life on the trees and leaped in excitement when all the tiny buds started to appear. We wondered what kind of tree this would be, and waited, hopefully, for flowers. Then it sprouted little leaves! —then tiny blossoms that grew and puffed into copious shapes of butterflies! It was beautiful and refreshing and we loved it so much.

It was our favorite tree. It gave the sweet aroma of spring and new life and hope for such good things to come. And there were so many good things that came. Long days in the sun, dear friends, new landscapes, and sweet time together. And of course the happiest news of our twins to be.

Then the winter came again. It swept the branches bare and gave some very dark, cold days. It was long and hard and I was very much pregnant with twins. I often looked through my kitchen window to find a blue bird or a bunny finding comfort under those branches, as if to bring me comfort too.

We left for Utah in early April when snow still covered the roads and fresh color seemed elusive. The twins were born in May and with their blessed arrival we began a trying journey through what Jake and I would call three of the hardest months of our lives. Rest was elusive for all of us, and the babies struggled so much in their little bodies. It was hard to see a light of normalcy ahead.

One week in, we returned to our home in ND and there found the prettiest purple blossoms welcoming us home. This simple backyard bush gave the sweet aroma of spring and new life and hope for good things to come. And there have been so many good things. Two healthy little girls, three states to explore, four times the strength I’m guessing we used to have, and a joy greater than we could have imagined. We couldn’t be more grateful for where it all has brought us. Definitely closer, and surely blessed. #mamanotes

1. KEEP IT SIMPLE​

2. FOLLOW THE SPIRIT​

3. CONNECT

1. KEEP IT SIMPLE

2. FOLLOW THE SPIRIT