Blog translation

Thanks to a suggestion in a comment, I have added translation functionality to this blog. Just use the Google Website Translation Gadget in the right sidebar to select a language. I'm sure the translation will not be perfect, but I hope this helps.

YW Manual 3: Lesson 15 - Blessings of the House of Israel

The online version of lesson 15 includes excellent current resources (see the right sidebar) including words of the prophets, additional scriptures, pictures and media.

Here are the suggested discussion questions from the resources:

• What does it mean to be a member of the house of Israel? How did you become a member of the house of Israel?
• What blessings of the house of Israel are given to those who go to the temple?

 And a suggested application:

• Read Abraham 1:2 and select one of the traits in Abraham’s life that qualified him for the blessings he received. How can you develop these characteristics?

Additional Resources

Here's a New Era article that might be helpful: "Articles of Faith: What Abraham's Covenant Means to You" bu Shanna Butler

And here are a few pictures and a wonderful genealogy chart from "Abraham: Father of the Faithful" in the Feb 2006 New Era:

The Abrahamic Covenant


Abraham and Isaac


Abraham and Isaac


The Family of Abraham

Article: "The Mediator Jesus Christ"

I mentioned this current New Era article in my collection of Easter Resources. I love this story written by Elder Boyd K. Packer. It has deepened my understanding of the Atonement. I just noticed that it's featured on the youth website.  This makes it easy to share - I hope you will do that.

Sharing

Here are some ways to share this article:

Click the small "Share" button just below the article.

This opens up four choices, email, twitter, facebook, delicious.

The most commonly used are email and facebook.

To email, you can click on "Email" and work through lds.org to send a link. This requires signing in. Or you can just copy the URL and paste it into emails you send to your young women and others. To make it easy - here's the URL:
https://lds.org/youth/article/the-mediator-jesus-christ?lang=eng

You also have two facebook sharing choices. If you have a facebook account, you can click the little thumbs up icon in the right corner of the window - this will show up on your "wall" telling friends you "like" this article. Or you can click "Share" and then "Facebook."  This will open up a window where you can write a few words and automatically share the link.

Video 



Here's a little hidden gem - If you scroll to the bottom of the article, you will see this:

To see a video about this parable, watch “The Mediator.”

You can view a video of this story online and also download it - right click on the words "The Mediator," (either here or in the article) select "save as." The video should download to your computer.

It is also  available on the DVD "Book of Mormon Video Presentations" (53911).

News to share: Fasting

Fasting can change your life - both spiritually and physically.

Results of a very recent study suggest that people who fast regularly have a 58% lower risk of coronary disease.

The researchers also found that fasting may promote fat burning.

"... 30 patients were asked to fast for 24 hours with water only. The scientists used blood tests before and after the fasting period to look at a number of different metabolic markers. Among other changes, they found that levels of human growth hormone, or HGH, surged after fasting — increasing 20 times in men and 13 times in women. The hormone is released by the body in times of starvation to protect lean muscle mass and trigger the body to start burning fat stores" (New York Times).

You can read more in the New York Times and at KSL.com.


More on fasting:

The Law of the Fast, Joseph B. Wirthlin (April 2001 General Conference)

Fasting with Power, by Shayne M. Bowen (April 2009 Ensign)

What the Scripture Say About Fasting by Robert J. Matthews (Sept 1972 New Era)

The Blessings of a Proper Fast by Elder Carl B. Pratt (Oct 2004 Ensigh)

Kissing?

It's a bit odd to change topics from General Conference to Easter to kissing - but a new Mormon Times article on kissing might be an interesting discussion starter for young women. It's titled "Counsel for Latter-day Saint singles on kissing." If we can help young women be virtuous in every aspect of their lives, they will be prepared to enter the temple, make and keep sacred covenants, and enjoy the blessings of exaltation.

Here are a few excerpts from the article:

President Spencer W. Kimball said: “Kissing has been prostituted and has degenerated to develop and express lust instead of affection, honor and admiration. To kiss in casual dating is asking for trouble. What do kisses mean when handed out like pretzels and robbed of sacredness?”

How is one to avoid prostituting kisses or using them to express lust rather than affection? LDS.org uses the term “passionate kissing” to describe kissing that crosses the line. But, like President Kimball’s kissing quote, I’m not sure we all know what “passionate kissing” means. After much Googling, I mainly came up with revealed definitions for what passionate kissing is not....

More information on this topic:

For the Strength of Youth online: Sexual Purity

The April 2010 New Era focuses on dating - a great resource

"Serious Questions, Serious Answers" - a talk by Elder Richard G. Scott that addresses questions about sexual purity. These might be helpful questions to go over with your young women.

"Speaking of Kissing" - New Era article by Bruce Monson

"What Do Kisses Mean?" - New Era article by John Bytheway

Mormonads - here's a link to the one shown above: Look Forward


Ideas for using these resources

Young Women Manual 3 Lessons 15, 16, 17, and 18 on the temple should be coming up. You could plan an activity on dating standards that lead to the temple. You could assign young women various resources to review and share or organized a dating standards panel.

How would you use these resources? (leave a comment)

Easter

Easter is coming in less than 2 weeks!

This is an ideal time to help young women focus on the Savior.

What Easter resources are available?

Take a look at the LDS Media Talk blog post "Preparing for Easter." The author did a wonderful job assembling a list of resources.

I'll embed the videos here for you:

His Sacred Name - An Easter Declaration - new Mormon Message on Easter



You can find all the scriptures from this video in Church News and Events.

He Lives: Testimonies of Jesus Christ - last year's Easter video



An Apostle's Easter Thoughts on Christ, by Elder Jeffery Rr Holland



A few more things:

I can't think of anything better than "The Living Christ: The Testimony of the Apostles" - perhaps you could challenge young women to read it, or better yet, encourage them to start their Personal Progress Faith value project. One possibility is to memorize "The Living Christ."

April 2011 1st Presidency Message by President Thomas S. Monson - "He is not here, but is risen" 

Special Witnesses of Christ - testimonies from each member of the First Presidency (text)

President Monson's April 2010 General Conference address - "He is Risen"

Classic talk by Bruce R. McConkie from the April 2011 Ensign - "The Purifying Power of Gethsemene"

My favorite story for understanding the atonement is "The Mediator Jesus Christ" by Boyd K. Packer, shared in the April 2011 New Era. There is a video of this story called "The Mediator" available on the DVD "Book of Mormon Video Presentations" (53911). This video is not on any official LDS sites but it is on YouTube in poor quality and I'll embed it (slightly guiltily) here:

General Conference Resources

General Conference was a marvelous time of renewing and revelation. Let's not let go. Young Women need to make General Conference messages the walk and talk of their lives for the next 6 months. That's why the latest messages will be integrated into the new online Resource Guide (found in sidebar of YW Manual 3 lessons).

Here are some General Conference materials:

April 2011 General Conference - text, audio, and video of each talk, including the General Young Women Meeting

From Church Leaders on the youth website - youth focused video clips of talks from General Conference and the General Young Women Meeting

Video Highlights - an 18 minute overview of key themes and announcements

General Conference Summary - from Church News and Events

First Presidency Addresses - text summary

Availability of Conference Materials - schedule for release of text, video, and audio in the 11 internet languages.

Stories from General Conference - a Mormon Channel audio program. I don't know how recent the materials are, but this is a source for good stories.


LDS General Conference Podcast - downloads talks directly into iTunes and any connected device (this is what I use and the day after conference, I was listening in my car and during walks - even the Priesthood session which was fantastic). I can't share a link because it's only available in the iTunes store. If you have iTunes, go into the store link and search LDS General Conference mp3 - if you want it by speaker. That's what I use. If you don't have iTunes you can get the free program here.