Monthly Archives: March 2017

Blessed are the Piece Makers: How Handmade Pieces Bring Me Peace #PRINCEofPEACE

This past September, my handsome husband, Jason, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Over the last six months of chemo-filled craziness I have learned something incredibly valuable about peace. Real, lasting peace isn’t found; it is fought for. To keep a firm grip on the peace that is so generously extended by my Savior I have to be an active participant. I have to use whatever energy I have for good and surround myself with reminders that I am not alone. Thankfully, in my house, I don’t have to look very far to find comfort (see the the video below).

[embedyt]https://youtu.be/pSfFjp8GFJA[/embedyt]

My house is filled with art, sewing, woodwork and countless other gifts designed to bring me comfort. If yours is too, I hope you’ll share it! Take a picture, make a video, do whatever you can to celebrate the piece maker in your life and share the message of true and lasting peace.

[embedyt]https://youtu.be/Ly9xk59Qkfc[/embedyt]

To find more stories and inspiration about the #PRINCEofPEACE please visit Mormon.org.

To find out more about Maria’a teaching tips click the picture below.

#PRINCEofPEACE

Maria and her fabulous quilt-creating Mom, Sally

#PRINCEofPEACE Infinity Card Mutual Activity

Sharing the gospel online can be a daunting task for teenagers. I created these quick and easy scripture-sharing infinity cards to help the Young Women in our ward share the #PRINCEofPEACE message.

MeckMom #PRINCEofPEACE Infinity Card

The cards are created with a simple piece of paper and scissors so they’re easy to put together in a big group. They’re also great for church activities because they can be recorded and shared without showing any faces. Click the video below to get all the details.

[embedyt]https://youtu.be/UkiB_KbPzlc[/embedyt]

The construction process is really easy. Check out the video below to get all the assembly tips.

[embedyt]https://youtu.be/9BsogN-XZO0[/embedyt]

I tested this simple activity in my sister’s ward in Alpine, UT and the kids loved it. I took the first 10 min to talk about the effect of the #LIGHTtheWORLD campaign on the Church. You can find some cool stat about that here.

Most of them had posted something about #LIGHTtheWORLD during the Christmas season. I asked them how they felt about sharing the gospel via social media and then told them about the upcoming video #PRINCEofPEACE. The Easter video is focused on 8 peace-making principles taught during the Savior’s ministry: Faith, God’s Word, Compassion, Gratitude, Prayer, Forgiveness, Repentance, and Hope.

We chatted about how the scriptures can teach us about all of those principles and can bring us peace during turbulent times. I challenged them to choose a scripture that had brought them peace at some point in their lives and share it on their social media feeds during the Easter season.

We then took the next 30 minutes crafting our cards. Once everyone had the hang of things and had added their favorite scripture, we took turns recording them to our phones. By the end of the hour, every teenager had a cool, 15-second, shareable video saved to their phones and a reminder on their calendar to post them during the week before Easter.

MeckMom Infinity Card Scripture

The kids were enthusiastic and entertained. They came up with so many cool ideas on how to make their videos unique. Some of them changed the background, others flipped their cards in unison, some even came up with grand plans to make a giant card and film it with a drone. 🙂 The night was easy, fun and full of purpose. If you’re looking for a simple way to bring a little fun to your next mutual night, I hope you’ll give it a try. You can find this free printable (and dozens of others) on my site, MeckMom.com, by clicking here.

 

MeckMom’s Teaching Tips: Object Lesson for Faith and Eternal Perspective

Life is hard. When adversity hits we often feel insufficient and hopeless. When we are in the trenches of struggle, there’s nothing more soothing than catching a glimpse of yourself as our Father in Heaven sees you.

This simple object lesson uses a bag of wheat to teach the value of keeping an eternal perspective. It’s a great option for seminary, youth and adult classes. I call it the parable of the wheat.

[embedyt]https://youtu.be/f0r-V4Dim38[/embedyt]
This video demonstrates and idea I mentioned in my free teaching tips podcast with Leading LDS. You can find it here.

Face to Face with President Eyring and Elder Holland

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Did you know that President Henry B. Eyring and Elder Jeffrey R. Holland will answer questions from youth around the world during a live Face to Face event?

WHEN: Saturday, March 4th, 2017 at 11:00 am MST

WHERE: This event is broadcasted live from the Joseph Smith’s Farm in Palmyra, New York where a 14-year-old Joseph Smith, Jr. experienced the First Vision following a heartfelt prayer. A very fitting location given this year’s mutual theme, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God.” (James 1:5)

“Most youth of the Church across the world will never have the chance to visit Palmyra, New York, in person, but I hope that participating in this event will help some of them feel as if they are there,” said President Eyring. “I hope they will feel the spirit of this quiet, holy place and perhaps gain a stronger testimony of what took place here on a spring day in 1820.”

HOW (can I watch it)?: Here are a few options: LDS Youth Instagram livestream, LDS Youth Facebook page, YouTube, & LDS.org (on homepage).

BONUS: Ten minutes before the event, an exclusive world premier video of the First Vision will be shown called, “Ask of God.”  The video will be available to download and share following the event.

WHAT can I do to prepare?

1. Submit your questions to this link.  You are invited to consider what questions you would like to ask and share them on face2face.lds.org or on other social media channels using #LDSface2face.
2. Follow the LDS Youth Instagram page which will livestream the event (they will also have exclusive behind the scenes of the Church History Sites all week).
3. Read the
article, 5 Ways to Prepare for Face to Face.


All youth and their friends, leaders, and parents are invited to participate in this live, interactive question and answer session.

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