Sharing Time: The Sacrament Renews our Baptismal Covenants

Each week we attend church we have the opportunity to partake in the sacrament. This is a time when we can reflect on our past week and focus on what we need to do better the next week. This is a reverent, sacred time while we await the bread and water to reach everyone. This week we are going to talk about why we take the sacrament.

Start off asking everyone if they did something special today. I'm sure you'll get a whole range of answers, but if no one says partake in the sacrament, tell them this is one of the most important things they do all week. Ask them why they think it is so important? You guessed it, this is because it renews our baptismal covenants! We've actually been told that Sacrament is the most important meeting we have all Sunday.

3 Nephi 18:1-11  is, in my opinion, a really good reference to read for this. I wouldn't have them read this all aloud in Jr. Primary, but it's not too bad for senior. It's just a little long for Jr. I would think. If you want to use this for Jr. I would pick out maybe 3 versus to read and just fill in the blanks before and after. I know I've said this before, but for anyone new, my primary is pretty small so we combine Jr. and Sr. for third hour and do singing time and sharing time together. I usually struggle to find a way to keep both groups engaged.

Now that we've gone over how important the sacrament is, I thought it would be good to focus on what our thoughts  and actions should be like during the sacrament. I've prepared a bit of an activity to get them thinking. I made word strips you can print and cut out (see my last paragraph about how to get these, I'm having technical difficulties at the moment). Draw a happy face on the chalk board and a sad face. Have a child come up and choose a word strip, read it, and figure out if it's a good thing to do during the Sacrament or a not very good thing. Tape it under either the smilie face or frown. I have 13 word strips so if you want to involve more kids, just think up a couple more things.

I also made a printable bookmark you can print out, laminate, and pass out for them to use in their scriptures. They can look at this during the sacrament to help remind them what their thoughts should be like.

 

 

I tried to upload a direct link to print these out, but it's not working. If you would like me to email the attachments to you directly, just comment leaving your email address and I will send them to you ASAP. Usually within an hour or two. I do have pictures above so you can see what they look like. Hopefully I can figure out how to get the direct links up again soon.

 

 

**Update 9/18/13 - I think I got the link up and working for these. This should take you to the Christ Bookmarks**

Sharing Time: If I Live Worthily, the Holy Ghost Will Help me to Choose the Right

I know that every week I say I'm so excited about this lesson, but this week I REALLY mean it, times 500! My nephew is getting baptized this Sunday!! So this lesson is so far beyond perfect, I can't even express it. I am excited to make this fun, spiritual, and educational. This is so important to the gospel of Christ. Soooo extremely important.

Last August I gave the talk on the Holy Ghost at a different nephews baptism. It was such a great opportunity to read and ponder about the Holy Ghost, it really helped to strengthen and develop my testimony even further on this subject.

What you need:
Scriptures
Some kind of fruit snacks (enough for everyone to go home with one pack and one pack for the lesson)

Start with scriptures, you can't go wrong. Have someone look up 3 Nephi 30:2, which is our scripture for this month. They should hear that so much during the month that they begin dreaming about it! ;) Ask the person who read the scripture (or even someone else), "When we are baptized we make covenants with Heavenly Father, we talked about these last week. Once we're baptized are we all on our own or does Heavenly Father give us anything to help us choose the right?"

I think it's good to emphasize that the Holy Ghost is a gift from Heavenly Father. I am going to pull my nephew to the front (you could do this as well, just do it with someone who was maybe recently baptized.) I am going to ask him if he received any gifts because he is getting baptized (I know he did, because I got him something! If they say no, you can say weeellll, actually you did...and go into the Holy Ghost from there). I then will explain that he is going to get something priceless from our Heavenly Father, the Gift of the Holy Ghost. He gives us this gift to help us choose the right when we are faced with temptation. We only get this gift after we are baptized. Before we are baptized we can be touched by the Holy Ghost, meaning we can feel the spirit, but it isn't with us all the time until after we are baptized and receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost.

The Holy Ghost is the best friend we could ever have. He will never lead us astray. He can never lie to us. He will only help us to make good choices. But if we choose to not live the commandments, he cannot stay.

Ask the primary children, "How does the Holy Ghost help us to choose the right?"

I mentioned earlier that he cannot lie to us. This means he will only ever tell us the truth. He will testify to us of things. This will help us to grow our testimony. There a lot of times when we read something or hear something and we can feel it's true. Probably the easiest example to explain to the primary children is when we read the scriptures and we feel the spirit. Or when someone is bearing their testimony and we're able to feel the spirit so strongly, that is the Holy Ghost testifying to us that what we are hearing is true. Have someone read Moroni 10:5.

The Holy Ghost can also comfort us. He is referred lots of times in the scriptures as "The Comforter." There have been many times in my life that I get panicked and stressed out about something, and I know the Holy Ghost has helped to calm and comfort me. This was especially true when my great grandmother died. She lived with us for a few years before she died, so I was really upset when I found out. She was the first person I've ever really known who has died, so it was something new for me. I could tell that not only was I comforted, but I felt that she was okay and that she loved me. I'm sure we all have stories along these lines.

The Holy Ghost will guide you in life if you allow him. Because he will let you know when you are about to make a bad choice, he will try to help you go down a correct path to make good choices. I say try because we all have our agency and will choose what we want. The Holy Ghost only encourages, he doesn't force.

Now it's time for the object lesson. I used this idea with my nephew for his Holy Ghost talk at his baptism nearly a year ago, so I apologize I do not remember where I read it to give proper credit. If anyone recognises this PLEASE comment below so I can link it up. I tried to find it and couldn't.

Call someone up to the front, open a pack of fruit snacks. Ask them to eat one, just one. Ask them what flavor it is. Let's just pretend they picked up a grape one, they will tell you it's grape (hopefully! haha!). Ask them, what if I told you that was orange? That's not what it is, but what if I tried to convince you it is orange. They will most likely remark, well it isn't orange, it's grape. The Holy Ghost cannot lie to us. If he knows a "fruit snack" is grape, he will tell you it's grape. He will never try to convince us it's "orange."

Send everyone home with a pack of fruit snacks so they can remember that the Holy Ghost will never try to decieve us or lie to us.

The other thing I think is important to discuss is that everyone feels the spirit differently. Some of us feel a burning sensation, others feel calm and comforted. Everyone is different and will feel it differently, its important to develop a special relationship with heavenly father so we can recognize the spirit and be able to use it when we need it. No one will be able to tell them how they will feel it, it's something they have to figure out themselves.

Tell them that all these wonderful things the Holy Ghost can do for us only happen if we live our lives in a way that he can be with us. If we do not, he has to leave. The spirit can not dwell in unholy places. You may want to go over some things that would cause the spirit to leave.

Close with your testimony. 

Here's a link for a Holy Ghost coloring page.

Vanilla Cake with Strawberry Cream Cheese Filling

Three months ago I made my son his second birthday cake. As I was planning the party I found a vanilla cake with strawberry cream cheese frosting on pinterest. Let me tell you, it was love at first sight. It looked so good, I knew I had to try it. I wanted to do a trial run because, what if it wasn't? But, as luck would have it, I ran out of time. I had never made a vanilla cake from scratch, and to be honest, I was really concerned when I read the ingrediants. It called for things I didn't have in my kitchen and I don't like making substitutions the first time I try a recipe. I just wasn't sure it would turn out well. I debated on what to do since I knew I wasn't going to have time to redo it and decided on using this vanilla buttermilk cake recipe from Lick the Bowl Good. I really cannot say enough about this blog. I have tried several of her recipes and they all turn out really good. I have never met her or spoken to her, so my opinion is in no way tainted. She just has really good recipes. Because I've used her recipes before and had a lot of success, I felt more comfortable knowing what the finished product would be then someone I've never heard of before. I've had complete disasters before from random people and I didn't want to risk it with a birthday cake.

The one thing I was really worried about is the size of the cake. I wanted to make a 9x13 size sheet cake because I wanted to decorate the top of it, but because I wanted to do a filling, I needed enough for two layers. The Vanilla Cake recipe I used made plenty for me to do this, so I was really really happy. I didn't have to use all the strawberries it called for in the strawberry cream cheese frosting because I only did one layer. I used maybe 1/2 to 2/3 of the strawberries it called for. I spread the cream cheese frosting out and then laid sliced strawberries on top. I put the second layer on and frosted it in the remaining cream cheese frosting. It tasted really good, but I kept having to stick it into the freezer because it was kind of soft. It wasn't very good for decorating. Oh well, live and learn. I used a buttercream recipe to decorate the guys and write "Happy Birthday."

I made this again this past weekend for Memorial Day, which I don't like to repeat recipes because I have so many to try..haha! I used fresh locally grown strawberries we picked a few days previously and decorated the cake with blue frosting to make it red white and blue.

This cake recieved more compliments then anything I've ever made. I had people come back up for seconds, so you know that's a good sign. :)  Seriously, go make it! And splurge on the ingredients, get the buttermilk and get the cake flour, you won't regret it!

Stop on over to Lick the Bowl Good for the Vanilla Buttermilk Cake recipe.

Check out Perry's Plate for their recipe for the Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting. Or you could always make the recipe they give with it. It has a lot of good reviews, I just wanted to stick with what I know. :)

Five Years, 3 addresses, 1 Business and a baby

My husband and I just celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary. I know a lot of people say they can't believe its been so long but I feel the opposite! I feel like we've been married forever! I honestly really have to think about it to remember my prebaby life, let alone my prehubby life! In the past five years we've had a lot of fun, and maybe some not so fun times. ;) I'm so glad we've stuck it out though, he's my guy and theres no way I'm letting him go!

So on our anniversary we both worked, afterwards we got pizza from a local pizzeria we'd never been to before. We came home and watched a movie. Laid back and wonderful. Seriously, no complaints here. :)

I love you hun!

 

 

Shirt- Banana Republic about $20

Skirt- Sexymodest.com $19

Shoes- Target $7.48 

Instagram....Insta-whaaat?

Hey all!

I've been toying around with the idea of getting a public Instagram for a while now and finally decided to do it a couple weeks ago. I've been updating for a few weeks regularly on some things I've been up to and some things that interest me. You can find anything from fitness to food to motherhood on there. So if you have one, come follow along! 

@alisha_masten

Mother's Day: Awesome or Hallmark?

I've always appreciated Mother's Day, you would be hardpressed to find someone who loves and is as close to their mother as I am. That hasn't stopped me from viewing Mother's Day as many view Valentine's Day, a commercial holiday. That doesnt mean I didn't celebrate Valentines Day or Mothers Day, absolutely not! But I maybe haven't been as enthusiastic about them I guess you could say. I became a mother  2 years and 3 months ago. My first mother's day was nice, but to be honest, my husband kind of forgot about it until the last minute. We didn't do much, I can't even remember what to be honest. Frankly, I hadn't felt like I'd earned it. Afterall, I'd only been a mom for a few months. My second Mothers Day was wrought with drama and even though all ended well, it was a little stressful. My husband did take me to a Japanese steakhouse by us, so that was nice. This year was awesome, I am now a believer in Mothers Day.

 

It started by attending church with my family. We had three awesome speakers who spoke on the importance of motherhood. How instead of it being something to sneer at and look down upon, it's something to glorify and take pride in. The speakers left me so emotional, and I wasn't the only one. I then received a plant from the Young Men in our branch and a cupcake from the Relief Society (seriously, does it get better then a cupcake??). I helped our primary aged kids to make bracelets and cards for their mom's. All of this is nice, but it isn't what really made me feel differently. It was seeing my two year old walk up to me with a butterfly craft he made in Nursery. Seeing this little child present my first ever mother's day present to me, made me realize this day isn't for the moms. Its for the ones that us moms care about. Sure, I got roses, chocolates, bullets (does my husband know the way to a woman's heart or what!), and the most amazing card. But more importantly it was an opportunity for my son to learn to respect and love women. It was an opportunity for my husband to thank me for the work I do, and an opportunity to call his mother and tell her he loves her. It was an opportunity for me to reflect on my own mother and what really made her the best mom ever. It gave me a chance to reflect my own parenting and decide what changes should be made.

 

So to all the moms who say they maybe dont deserve a mothers day because they've only been a mom for a few months, or maybe you think it's a "hallmark holiday?" To you I say, so what? I was there once, but again, so what? So maybe people are going out and spending a ton of money on their mothers. Is that a bad thing? Certainly there are worse things to spend it on. And that doesn't mean you have to. Call your mom or mother figure. Tell her you love her. Say thanks. That's all it is about. :)

Who has time for hobbies

Hey everyone!

Thanks for following along! Sorry I've been so absent for this past month. My husband and I moved and still don't have internet hooked up or anything. :/ Between packing, moving and now unpacking I've barely had time to even breathe let alone write. Seriously guys, it's been bad, I haven't had a home cooked meal in about a month. Gaaah goodbye weight loss plans! Ha! I am hoping to get back into the swing of things after this weekend though. Maybe life will FINALLY calm down. ;)

Anyone else have this issue? I hate moving. Please tell me I'm not the only one. :(