Category Archives: Family

COME, FOLLOW ME — SHARING TIME or FHE / FAMILY STUDY KIT {instant download lesson packet}

MARCH Week 3 {March 9 – 15} Jacob 1 – 4 “Be Reconciled Unto God Through The Atonement of Christ”

PLEASE NOTE: WITH THE CHURCH’S ANNOUNCEMENT THIS WEEK THAT TOMORROW WE WILL NOT BE MEETING AS CONGREGATIONS DUE TO COVID – 19…. I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE MOST APPROPRIATE TO SHARE WITH YOU THE COME, FOLLOW ME– LESSON & PRINTABLES FOR THIS WEEK. Perhaps, you could use it for your ‘HOME-CENTERED” STUDY…. during the time you usually spend at church!

IN FAIRNESS TO THOSE WHO ALREADY PURCHASED THE KIT, I am posting the kit MINUS TWO OF IT’S KEY PRINTABLES! Feel free to share and pass this kit with your ward families and friends, and enjoy the wonderful teachings of Jacob as you help your family get “UNSHAKEN” and rooted in CHRIST!

This Sugardoodle Come, Follow Me — Lesson & Printables kit is perfect for Sharing Time leaders, for teachers, and for parents.

In our kits we include content from two manuals so it can be used for PRIMARY and also Come, Follow Me– FAMILY STUDIES – FHE.

Beautiful art, an unforgettable object lesson, and a fun physical activity to help those you lead “ACT UPON” the teachings of Jacob!

In creating our kits, we really try to focus more on the content and overall takeaway from the lesson, than we do on how many things we can pack or cram into the lesson.

Is it “sticky” will they remember it? Is it “engaging” will they participate in it,? Is it “inspired” will they feel it? MOST importantly, does, it help bring the DOCTRINE into their hearts so they can COME, UNTO CHRIST?

MY FAVORITE PART ABOUT THIS KIT. . . Jacob was consecrated to be a priest and teacher of the people by Nephi his brother. He became the prophet and a GREAT leader as he taught the people to BELIEVE in CHRIST, as he INVITED them TO REPENT, and as he DECLARED GOD’S WORDS unto them.

This made me think of how often great church leaders do these very same things today. I thought it would be special then to add to this kit a little appreciation card with the “believe” “invite” and “declare” statements about good leaders and have these words be on the front of the appreciation card – – you can print up one for each member of your bishopric and have all those you lead or parent sign it. A warm plate of cookies would help your messages hit their sweet spots…hearts and tummies!

You can purchase and download this kit at our SUGARdoodleShop on ETSY. Click the link below to go to the shop!

https://www.etsy.com/listing/785816007/come-follow-me-2020-for-primary-march?ref=listing_published_alert

xo April and the Girls at Sugardoodle



COME, FOLLOW ME

March 2 – 2 Nephi 31 -33

I Can Feast Upon the Words of Christ

INSTANT DOWNLOAD LESSON KIT

SUGARDOODLE is excited to be teaming up with GOOD INSPIRATION to bring you Come Follow Me lesson kits.

We are excited to once again be helping leaders, teachers, and parents by shining a light on good ideas and information. 

WHAT WE LOVE ABOUT THIS KIT. . .

We really love the fresh and unique ideas that we put into this lesson.  With its bright and fun printables, it will be hard for your audience to forget the doctrine. The boy pictured “feasting” on his scriptures, is just a sticky idea and is hard to forget!

Happy to share this kit with you…feel free to multiply the JOY by sharing it with family, friends, and other teachers and leaders.

COME FOLLOW HIM, WITH US!

The Girls at Sugardoodle and Good Inspiration

 

.link { color: #FF0000; } /* CSS link color */ CLICK HERE for the PDF for this Come Follow Me Lesson KitDownload

Visit Family History Locations This Summer

The school year is coming to an end, and summer will be upon us soon. Have you made plans for your family vacation yet? Whether you choose to go near or far you can incorporate an element of family history into your travel plans.

When some people think about blending family history with a road trip, they think of visits to cemeteries and courthouses. Depending on your family’s interest in research, this many not incite shouts of joy from your family members. But there are other ways to combine family history learning that will add to the happy memories of your family vacation.

Kids and teenagers can have powerful connections with their ancestors as they get to know them through photos and stories. Having an experience in a physical location with ties to an ancestor can leave a positive impression that will last forever.

A fun mobile app for iOS makes it even easier to visit family history locations on your summer vacation. The Family Nexus is a free app that integrates with your FamilySearch account to automatically plot 6 generations of your family tree. Family members will enjoy exploring the map or tracing the locations for a particular family member. Automatic alerts to your phone when you get near a place from your family history could encourage a spontaneous detour!

In addition to the free features, users can subscribe to unlock additional premium features. For example, subscribers can access photos and stories about their ancestors. They can also customize what life events appear on the map. It also allows you to “check in” and keep track of ancestral places you have visited. One of the newest features allows users to utilize the power of mobile GPS to update the precise locations of birth, marriage, residence, or burial locations.

An Android version is currently under development and is scheduled for release in August 2018.

Download The Family Nexus app and make new family history discoveries and connections on your summer vacation this year! Learn more at https://TheFamilyNexus.com/app.

The New FREE Video Family History Service In Utah!

lifey-logo

Hey Wonderful SugarDoodlers!

My name’s Alex Balinski. Melanie’s been super nice to provide me this opportunity to tell you a little bit about a free family history service I recently started called Lifey.

Here’s a run down of everything you should know about Lifey.

What Is A “Lifey”?

So, to start off, let me define what a Lifey is. A Lifey is like a selfie about your life. It’s your life story in video format. It’s like a browsable, shareable video journal that you can embed anywhere online. I personally believe Lifeys are the best way to share your life story.

Currently there are two types of Lifeys we can create for you (they’re both free): Individual Lifeys and Family Lifeys.

Individual Lifey Example

Below is one of the dozens of free individual Lifeys we’ve created. You can see Clint’s Lifey is broken up into seven sections: Childhood, Aviation, Mission, UVU, Career, Family and Other. Under each section there are specific stories/insights that Clint decided to share from his life.

Individual Lifeys are easy to prepare for and to record. They usually take 1-3 hours to record, though we’ve had some individuals create Lifeys that are 4+ hours long. The beauty of creating a Lifey, is that it’s free (it’d normally cost hundreds to thousands of dollars to pay someone to create a similar video autobiography), it’s long form (1-7 hours long) and it’s browsable (viewers can jump to whichever story/topic interests them).

Family Lifey Example

Below is an example of a family Lifey. Family Lifeys only take about an hour to record (depending on how many people are in your family).

Instead of a one-time comprehensive Lifey about someone’s life, a family Lifey is more like an ongoing family video journal where once a year you can take your family on a date to the studio and each take 5-10 minutes in front of the camera to share highlights from the previous year.

How Lifey Got Started

The story of how Lifey started goes back to the summer of 2006. I was attending my first term at Brigham Young University and I felt strongly like I should look into Broadcast Journalism. I attended BYU for two years, served a two-year mission in Argentina, and then finished my Bachelor’s degree at BYU. While studying journalism I felt impressed to create the Prepare to Serve project where we video interview returned missionaries about their missions, etc.

Then about one year ago I felt inspired to shift my focus to working on Lifey.

Why Record A Lifey?

I believe there is huge value in opening up, and sharing our ideas with each other. I believe every person has experiences and insights that they can share, that can be helpful to others.

Hands down the most prized family history possession I have is my Mother’s Lifey. I’m so grateful that we took a few hours to record my Mom’s Lifey. For many years to come my Mother will still be able to influence, and teach my children values, principles and testimony from her life experiences, because we recorded her Lifey. While reading a journal is good, nothing quite beats hearing and seeing my Mother share her stories in her own words. When I watch my Mom’s Lifey, it feels like she’s having a heart-to-heart conversation with me.

More Info About Lifey

  • We currently offer free video life histories at our office in Provo, Utah (if you live outside of Utah, and would like me to consider traveling to your state to offer free Lifeys in your state for a few days, please email me at alexbalinski@gmail.com).
  • Our service is completely free (you can leave a donation if you’d like).
  • A Lifey typically takes 2-4 hours to record, though we’ve had some Lifeys last longer.
  • Lifeys are recorded in front of a green screen (which works great, as long as you don’t wear a green top).
  • Lifeys are self-directed. When you come in, I’ll welcome you to the studio and get the camera, microphone and lights all working, and then I’ll press record, shut the door, and let you share however much you’d like to share from your life.
  • We encourage people to let their Lifeys be public, so their stories and insights are easily accessible for family and friends.
  • Lifeys are recorded in 4K.
  • Lifeys can be organized into however many stories/topics as you’d like (we once had an older gentleman come in and share 99 different stories/insights from his life).
  • Lifeys can also be used to organize any other YouTube videos (home videos, etc.)

If You’re Interested…

If you’d like me to create a Lifey for you or a loved one, feel free to email me at alexbalinski@gmail.com. If you’d like to learn more about the Lifey project, you might enjoy watching the videos on the Lifey About page.

I hope you have a wonderful summer! The Gospel’s true!

Sincerely,

Alex Balinski

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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