Author Archives: Melanie Day

Teaching Teens About Personal Revelation

Most teens (and many adults) struggle with understanding personal revelation. It’s one of those tricky topics that can actually make us feel inadequate and disconnected from our Father in Heaven, rather than closer. This teaching tip focuses on helping teens understand what the Holy Ghost prompts us to do/become…rather than just how it feels.

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You can find the links to the scriptures I mention below:

Galatians 5:22 – The Fruit of the Spirit…

D&C 11:12 – Trust in that Spirit which leadeth to do good…

Mosiah 3:19 – For the natural man is an enemy to God…

Moroni 7:16 – Everything which inviteth to do good and to persuade you to believe…

The quote about fleeting thought is from President Eyring’s April 2016 Conference Address, Trust in That Spirit Which Leadeth to Do Good. It’s a beautiful address and you should hear every word of it! Here’s the link to the full talk. The quote I refer to is listed below.

“The Lord said, “And now, verily, verily, I say unto thee, put your trust in that Spirit which leadeth to do good—yea, to do justly, to walk humbly, to judge righteously; and this is my Spirit” (D&C 11:12).

You may have received that blessing tonight. For instance, a name or a face of someone in need may have come to your mind during this meeting. It could have been only a fleeting thought, but because of what you heard tonight, you will pray about it, trusting that God will lead you to do the good He wants for them. As such prayers become a pattern in your life, you and others will be changed for the better.”

MeckMom-with-Scriptures

 

Maria Eckersley is a graphic designer and stay-at-home mom of six. You can find more of her teaching tips on her site, MeckMom.com and her YouTube channel Maria Eckersley.

MeckMom’s Tips for better Gospel Doctrine Teaching

Gospel Doctrine is one of the most intimidating callings out there. I was the gospel doctrine teacher in my ward for over 5 years and have learned a ton about how to study and teach the scriptures. This week’s teaching tip focuses on how to tackle this amazing calling (or any other teaching calling) each week without stressing yourself out.

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Maria Eckersley is a graphic designer and stay-at-home mom of six. You can find more of her teaching tips on her site, MeckMom.com and her YouTube channel Maria Eckersley.

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).

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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.

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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.

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

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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.

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This video demonstrates and idea I mentioned in my free teaching tips podcast with Leading LDS. You can find it here.