More of “It’s All About You!”

How’s your determination to get answers to yesterday’s questions going? Still thinking about the need to do so? If you’re answer is “yes,” don’t feel bad, you’re not alone. Here are a few more questions. (I just had a thought that maybe you could add some of these questions to your “conversation jar.” You’re children love to here about your life, too!) Well, here’s the questions.

GROWING UP:
1) When you were a young child, what did you look like? What was your hair color? Did you have freckles? Were you fat or skinny? When you were a teenager, what did you look like?
2)What is the very first thing you remember?
3)Where did you live? What do you remember about your home(s)? Draw a floor plan of your home(s). How big was your yard? How many rooms did your home have? Did you have a barn or other buildings? Was there an attic or creepy room that scared you? Draw a map of your neighborhood and where your friends lived.
4) How big was your room? What did it look like? Did you have to share it? Could you keep it messy if you wanted?
5) How many people lived in your house? Did relatives come to visit? Did they stay long?
6) What appliances did you have in your home (for cooking, washing, heating, etc.)? Did you have electricity or did you use lamps? Did you have an indoor bathroom or an outhouse?
7) What was your favorite thing in the whole house? Did you save anything?
8) Were you ever punished? Why and how were you punished? Where was your favorite place to go when you were sad or angry? Did you ever run away from home or just hide from your parents? Why? Were you ever grounded? Did you ever talk back to your parents or other adults?
9) What was your bedtime? Did you ever have sleepovers? Tell about them.
10) Who pulled your teeth? How was it done? How much did the Tooth Fairy leave for a tooth?
11) Did you live where there was snow? Did you make snowmen? What other things did you do in the snow?
12) Did you have best friends? Name and describe them. Did you have fights and secrets?
13) Were you ever teased? How and who did it? Was there a bully who picked on you?
14) What household chores did you have to do? What kind of work have you done for pay? How much did you earn? What responsibilities did you have?
15) Was your mom a good cook? What were some thing you had to eat? Did you have a special place at the table? What were your favorite foods? What were your least favorite foods?
16) Did you have any pets? Tell about them. What were their names.
17) What did you do for fun? What games did you play? Did you have a favorite toy or toys?
18) Were you ever sick? Tell about it. Were you afraid of doctors or shots? Did you ever go to the hospital? Have you had stitches or broken bones? Did you have your tonsils out? Were you ever quarantined? What medicines did your mother give you? Did you ever have warts?
19) Did you have any favorite books or stories? Did you go to the library?
20) What did you want to be when your grew up? What did your parents want you to do or be?
21) Do you remember how much things cost? What years? (clothes, toys, food, gasoline, movies, stamps, etc.)
22) Did you get an allowance? How did you spend your money? What could you buy for a quarter?
23) How old were you when you learned to drive? How often did you get to take the family car? What kind of car was it? Did you have your own car?
24) Who most influenced your thinking? At what age? Why? Did you have a mentor-someone you admired and followed?
25) As a teenager, how did you get along with your parents? Your brothers and? Did you like being a teenager?
26) When did you move away from home? Where did you go and why?
27) What types of recreation did you enjoy? Did you go swimming, fishing, skating, state fair, amusement parks, camping, traveling? Tell about it.

Tomorrow I will give you questions about “Grammar School,” “Jr. High School,” “High School,” and “Post High School Education.”

It’s All About YOU!

Yesterday I promised you that I would give you some questions to help you get information from your grandparents about their lives. Here’s the first set of questions. (I want to give credit to Lindsay Powell for these questions that I found in a manual entitled 2008 Family History Fair. It had no copyright.) During the next few days you might consider saving these questions for they would help you get your history recorded and even your children’s history, too. Wouldn’t it be lovely to make the “beginnings” of your children’s histories in the form of a little book that has these questions provided? (Just an idea!)

YOU:
1) What is your full name? Were you named after someone? Did you have a nickname? What was it? How did you get it?
2) What is your birth date? Where were you born (city, county, state, country)? Were you born in a hospital or at home? Was there anything unusual about the circumstances of your birth? Do you know how much it cost for your delivery, Dr. and hospital stay? What was your weight and length? Did you have hair?

FAMILY:
1) From what country did your ancestors migrate? When was it? Where did they settle? When and where were they born? What ship did they travel on?
2)What is your father’s name? What is his birth date and place? What do you remember most about him from your childhood? What did he look like (body build, hair and eye color, etc.)? What work did he do? Is he still alive? If not, when , where, and how did he die?
3) What is your mother’s name? What is her birth date and place? What do you remember most about her from your childhood? What did she look like(body build, hair color and length, eye color, etc.)? Did she work outside the home. What did she do at home? Is she still alive? If not, when where, and how did she die?
4) How many brothers and sisters did you have? Give their full names, nicknames, birth and death dates & places in the order they were born. (Include children who died early in life or at birth.) Where did they fit in?
5)How did you spend your time together? Did you ever take vacations with your family? Where did you go? Tell about some vacations that you remember.
6) To which family members did you feel closest to. Why?
7) Was “English” the only language spoken in your home? If not, what other language was spoken and by whom?
8) What part did religion play in your life? Did you attend church regularly? Of what church did you belong?
8) Did your family have enough money? Was it ever a concern to you?
10) What were one or two of the worst times in your family life?
11) What were one or two of the best times in your family life?
12) Are their any family heirlooms that have been passed from one generation to another?

Tomorrow I will provide questions for “Growing Up.” Have an historical day.

Wow…! Grandpa and Grandma, Please Tell Me More!!!

How much do your children know about their grandparents’ younger years? Do you realize that their history offers one of the richest sources of tradition and identity within your family? Children are a captive audience if you can get grandpa to tell about his favorite childhood activities or if you can get grandma to tell about her first “crush.” Schedule time to visit grandparents or to have them come to your home. Have dinner and use your conversation jar to stimulate questions. Perhaps you could even make up some questions that are made specifically with the grandparents’ histories in mind. (Be sure to let the grandparents know in advance that you will be fishing for stories from their background.) Maybe you will want to wait until after dinner to begin the sharing time. Get comfy and cozy with pillows and blankets and start asking questions. Before you know it, you’ll be laughing and hoping that you can remember every detail of the stories you are told. Thus, you might consider recording the stories if your grandparents grant you permission.

Tomorrow & the next few days, I will share some questions you might ask to get a complete history from anyone—but it would be especially nice for you to record grandparents’ answers for your Family History Record.

Family Activity Fun Box

I am sure, if you are like me, usually you don’t mind fixing dinner if you know what you want to prepare. The challenge is in the decision of “What shall I fix?” I think the same holds true with spending quality time with your family. If you can’t think of something to do, you allow television or other non-planned things to take over the time you could spend together as a family. So, what can you do to prevent this? How about making a Family Activity Fun Box.

I’m sure I don’t need to give you suggestions but I will anyway because it will help me get mine done for times when my grandchildren are here. I think I’ll use a cute box and have fun decorating it. (Your children can help you, too.) Think of all the activities you would like to do with your family and write them on slips of paper. During this step be sure to include family members. Some of the things I would like to do will be different than yours because my grandchildren range from the ages of 9 years-old to newborn. Here are some suggestions to get you thinking: 1) bowling, 2)read a book aloud 3) play “hot/cold” 4) go for a walk 5) swing 6) play in a sandbox 7)hide treasures in the sandbox and then allow everyone time to dig for “buried treasure 8) have pizza delivered and play a game 9) make cookies and take them to a neighbor 10) lay on the ground and look at the stars by night or the clouds by day.

Be sure to replenish the slips of paper either by replacing them or by adding to the box as family members come up with more ideas. Truly, if you don’t have alternative ideas for filling your time, the unwanted fillers will monopolize your family’s time.

Family Focus Game

Here's my blog for today. It's in a JPeg file for you to open in another page and print. Or just click on it. It will then give you a page where you can go into edit, then "select all", then in edit again you can command "copy". At this point you can go in to your favorite word processing program and in edit of that program you can command to "paste." At this point enlarge it to fit your page and print. This is a great game or activity for large groups including extended family. Get Grandpa and Grandma to play. Use it in Family Home Evening.

Hooray! It's Daddy Day!

The other day I mentioned that Jeff gave each of our children (individually & when they were little) 1/2 hour every Sunday to play whatever they wanted to play. Sometimes he played Barbies or with dolls. Sometimes he played games. Sometimes he wrestled. Sometimes I would find him answering questions that the child would have. I found that the bonding between Jeff and each of the children was amazing. I don’t think any of them have ever forgotten the love that was felt during those times. So, with Dad’s in mind, I’ve been wondering what Dad’s could do (or Mom’s) to create quality time with their children. Here are a few ideas: 1) Pack a picnic and go for a surprise outing to your favorite place—the back yard, the canyon, a park, Grandma’s. 2) Go to Deseret Industries or other discount or Seconds store and allow your child to find a “Theme” treasure—a book on animals, an amazing cooking utensil, a game for “memory’s sake,” an outfit for “An Evening of Dancing” 3) go to a ball game, fishing, hiking, a nature walk, digging for worms. 4) go to the library and explore a child’s interest with him or her. 5) listen to different types of music and dance and/or sing, too! 6) Ask questions like, “What’s the most important job in the world?” or “Who is your hero?” 7) Lay on a blanket on a cloudy day and find different shapes in the clouds. Don’t forget to listen to your child’s ideas as they start to flow freely. 8) Make something with “Dad’s tools!” 9) Read a book together. Show enthusiasm by reading the book faithfully each day or night as pre-determined. Be sure to review the previous reading day’s pages. 10) Dad, you could also make of list of things you want your child to know in the next year and then systematically work on these. 11) Work on a scrapbook.

No more "Boo Hoos" because of the "Tube!"

I received the following as an email the other day from my dear friend Carol. (Thanks Carol!) I have no idea whether this really happened but surely it could have. I sense that there are many children all over the world that feel television, computers, and the telephone are all competition for attention they need so badly. Read this and let me know what you think:

A teacher from Primary School asks her students to write an essay about what they would like God to do for them. At the end of the day while marking the essays, she read one that made her very emotional.
Her husband, that had just walked in, saw her crying and asked her, “What happened?”

She answered, “Read this. It's one of my student's essays.”

“Oh God, tonight I ask you something very special: Make me into a television.
I want to take its place. Live like the TV in my house. Have my own special place, and have my family around ME . To be taken seriously when I talk....I want to be the center of attention and be heard without interruptions or questions. I want to receive the same special care that the TV receives when it is not working. Have the company of my dad when he arrives home from work, even when he is tired. And I want
my mom to want me when she is sad and upset, instead of ignoring me... And... I want my brothers to fight to be with me... I want to feel that family just leaves everything aside, every now and then, just to spend some time with me. And last but not least, make it that I can make them all happy and entertain them...Lord I don't ask you for much... I just want to live like every TV.”

At that moment the husband said:
“My goodness, poor kid. What horrible parents!”

She looked up at him and said, “That essay is our son's!!!” Author Unknown

Have you ever tried removing the television for an extended period of time? While we were raising our family, we eliminated television for extended periods of time several times. It didn’t hurt the children one bit. In fact, it seemed like those times were more blissful and our family was connected. Usually we would justify returning to the television so that we could watch General Conference.

General Conference ended last week and so we have a six-month period where television can be eliminated. What a perfect time for a family experiment. What can your family do without television? Here’s what I thought of: 1) Plan, plant, weed & water, & harvest a garden together. 2) Go for walks, hikes, or runs together. 3) Spruce up your yard. 4) Have cooking school. 5) Sing songs. 6) Learn how to play instruments together. 7) Make popcorn balls. 8) Visit friends and loved ones. 9) Go to a nearby canyon or park and have a picnic. 10) Play games. 11) Make a family video. 12) Have a puppet show. 13) Play with play dough. 14) Make collages of seeds, grains, or things you can find from your yard. 15) Read stories together. 16) Have a talent show. 17) Catch grasshoppers. 18) Do a project or craft together. 19) Play music and dance and be silly together. 20) Do service projects together. 21) Work on merit badges with your sons or value experiences with your daughters. 22) exercise together. 23) Get on the floor and play with your tiny ones. 24) Visit local museums, libraries, parks, etc. 25) Draw (scribble) together. 26)Go for bikes rides. 27) And, don’t forget to get your children’s ideas for things you can do together & write them down.

I hope I’ll be seeing you on one of your evening’s outings since you’ll now make time to visit. Put me on your list, okay? We would love to see you!!!

Play Together, Stay Together

I can’t remember how many times I have heard, “A family that plays together stays together.” (Okay, I’ve also heard it put, “A family that prays together stays together,” too.) But just ask yourself these questions and apply them to my favorite question that I ask myself to determine if something is true: “If people of the world would do this, would the world be a better place to raise my family in?” If you can answer with an exclamation, “Yes!” Then, in my opinion, it’s a pretty good idea to try and apply the idea.

So, with the above in mind, consider playing with your children. Children are a great excuse “to play.” My mother is staying with me right now and she said yesterday when a few of my grandchildren were playing, “I wish I could be your grandchild. I want to play, too.” I told her she could play, too. And almost she cried, “I can’t. It’s too hard to get up and down.” Trust me, I know the years pass all too quickly. Soon, I will be in my mother’s position and my children will be in mine. But perhaps if I can take learning from what my mother said, I can stay younger by continuing to play with my grandchildren. Parents, you too can play with your children. Turn off the television. Turn of the video games (at least for a while) and test the benefits of playing (spending quality time) with your children. Kids talk when they play, and they don’t have to get your attention because they already have it if you’re playing with them. Some of my children still talk about the season of our lives when Jeff (my husband) devoted 1/2 hour every Sunday by playing with each child doing whatever they wanted to do. (Happy memories—not of what they played but that dad played with them.) I am sure you have many inside Board Games and card games. Play them often when outside weather encourages it. With Spring here may I suggest some outside activities: walks, hide and seek, croquet, badminton, tennis, basketball, any kind of ball, hopscotch, jump rope, roller skating, hiking, gardening, exploring, learning outdoor cooking skills, biking. You get the idea. Please, just spend lots of time with your children. I know you will never be sorry.

Conversation Ball (An Object Lesson) & Lovely Thoughts for Your Conversation Jars

Getting conversations rolling during dinner may be difficult; especially if you have older children that have learned that they don’t have to talk if they don’t want to. So here’s an idea to help you bring the point home on the importance of learning to converse with one another: 1) Gather several balls. 2) Have family members sit on the floor on the opposite side of the room. 3) Throw the balls to individuals with the instruction to “catch it and hold it in your lap.” 4) When all have balls in their laps, just sit and look at them for a moment or two until someone asks you what point you are trying to make. 5) At this point say, “It really isn’t much of a game until you throw the ball back to me is it? Then point out that conversation also requires people to toss their ideas back and forth to one another. Point out that if your “catch” another person’s comment but fail to return a comment of your own, it is like holding the ball in you lap. The game is dead-ended. 6) Now, practice “throwing” words back and forth with family members. You might ask, “Joe, Did you have a good time with Grandma, today ?” If Joe responds, Yes,” then he has caught your words but has failed to return any words back to me. If Joe responds with, “Yes, we had ice cream!” Joe has learned to return the conversation ball. 7) Be sure to point out how well family members are playing conversation ball during the passing days.

Although I could supply you with lots more conversation questions for your Conversation Jars, I got thinking in the night that good quotes are fun to talk about, too. So, look up “conversation starters” on Google if you want more of them. Here now, I will include some lovely quotes that might add meaningful conversations to your meals (They can be copied and then pasted into your word processor. Print them up, cut them and add them to your Conversation Jar:

You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along’….You must do the thing you think you cannot do. Eleanor Roosevelt

Sometimes God calms the storm raging around us, and sometimes He calms us and lets the storm rage on.

To Have striven, to have made an effort, to have been true to certain ideals—this alone is worth the struggle. We are here to add what we can to, not to get what we can from life.—Sir William Osler

This is the beginning of a new day. You have been given this day to use as you will. You can waste it or use it for good. What you do today is important because you are exchanging a day of your life for it. When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever, in its place is something that you have left behind...let it be something good!

Security is not born of inexhaustible wealth but of unquenchable faith. Spencer W. Kimball

A heart stitched with prayer is more precious to God than a tapestry of gold.

God made you as you are in order to use you as He planned.

When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us. Helen Keller

Worldly hope is wishful thinking, gentle dreaming of fairies, magic wands, and limitless credit card balances. Christ-centered hope focuses on the truth that with God nothing is impossible.

The Lord saved for now those spirits who would have the courage and determination to face the world, and all the powers of the evil one and who would build up the Zion of our God, fearless of all consequences. George Q. Cannon

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. Mark Twain

There is no such thing in anyone’s life as an unimportant day. Alexander Woolcott

We can do no great things; only small things with great love.
Mother Teresa

Time is too slow for those who wait, too swift for those who fear, too long for those who grieve, too short for those who rejoice, but for those who love, time is eternity. Henry Van Dyke

You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have truly lived are the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love. Henry Drummond

I think that God means that we shall do more than we have yet done in furtherance of his plans and he will open the way for our doing. Abraham Lincoln

Women of God can never be like women of the world. The world has enough women who are tough; we need women who are tender. There are enough women who are coarse; we need women who are kind. There are enough women who are rude; we need women who are refined. We have enough women of fame and fortune; we need more women of faith. We have enough greed; we need more goodness. We have enough vanity; we need more virtue. We have enough popularity; we need more purity. Margaret D. Nadauld

We salute you, sisters, for the joy that is yours as you rejoice in a baby’s first smile and as you listen with eager ear to a child’s first day at school which bespeaks a special selflessness. Women, more quickly than others, will understand the possible dangers when the word self is militantly placed before other words like fulfillment. You rock a sobbing child without wondering if today’s world is passing you by, because you know you hold tomorrow tightly in your arms. Neal A. Maxwell.

The right way to pray for the answer to all your problems is to feel and know that the Indwelling God knows only the answer. Because this is true, you will only know the answer and recall the truth: God never faileth. Joseph Murphy

Time is really all we have. And every individual has an equal portion of it. The trick is to get more out of what is available to us. Gordon B. Hinckley

Truly, there is nothing more vital to our success and our happiness here in mortality that learning to hear the voice of the Spirit, for it is the Spirit who reveals to us our identity-which isn’t just who we are, but who we have always been. Sheri L. Dew

Life is an opportunity, benefit from it. Life is beauty, admire it. Life is bliss, taste it. Life is a dream, realize it. Life is a challenge, meet it. Life is a duty, complete it. Life is a game, play it. Life is a promise, fulfill it. Life is sorrow, overcome it. Life is a song, sing it. Life is a struggle, accept it. Life is a tragedy, confront it. Life is an adventure, dare it. Life is luck, make it. Life is too precious, do not destroy it. Life is life, fight for it. Mother Teresa

There is no obstacle too great, no challenge too difficult, if we have faith. Gordon B. Hinckley

Self trust is the essence of heroism. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Only the Lord can compare crosses, but all crosses are easier to carry when we keep moving. Neal A. Maxwell

For the faithful, our finest hours are sometimes during or just following our darkest hours. Neal A. Maxwell

Be glad of life, because it gives you the chance to love and to work and to play and to look up at the stars. Henry Van Dyke

Solitude is bearable only with god. Andre’ Gide

You can’t do anything about the length of your life, but you can do something about its width and depth. Shira Tehrani

The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook. William James

If...we truly want the best for our sons and daughters, we would want for them—not status—but more meekness, mercy, love, patience, and submissiveness. Neal A. Maxwell

With every ounce of...obedience comes a bushel of blessings. Neal A. Maxwell

No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. Eleanor Roosevelt

If you suffer pain and heartache, for the good that you have done, God has honored you and blessed you, to become just like His son. Peter G. Czerny

Motherhood is not what was left over after our Father blessed His sons with priesthood ordination. It was the most ennobling endowment He could give His daughters, a sacred trust that gave women an unparalleled role in helping His children keep their second estate. Sheri L. Dew

Nothing is so strong as gentleness, and nothing is so gentle as real strength. Ralph Sockman

I wonder sometimes if we realize the importance of music. I wonder if we know that the Lord himself is concerned about it. Pres. George Albert Smith

We must be clear about our most crucial role as women if we hope to stand steadfast and immovable regarding the issues that swirl around our gender. For Satan has declared war on motherhood. He knows that those who rock the cradle can rock his earthly empire. And he knows that without righteous mothers loving and leading the next generation, the kingdom of God will fail. Sheri L. Dew

To withdraw into our private sanctuaries not only deprives others of our love, our talents, and our service, but it also deprives us of chances to serve, to love, and to be loved. Neal A. Maxwell

I am asking that we stop seeking out the storms and enjoy more fully the sunlight. I am suggesting that as we go through life we “accentuate the positive.” I am asking that we look a little deeper for the good, that we still voices of insult and sarcasm, that we more generously compliment virtue and effort. Gordon B. Hinckley

All my life I’ve wanted to be somebody. But I see now I should have been more specific. Jane Wagner

I attribute my success in life to the moral, intellectual and physical education which I received from my mother. George Washington

Don’t let life discourage you. Everyone who got where he is had to begin where he was. Richard L. Evans

God does not begin by asking us about our ability, but only about our availability, and if we then prove our dependability, he will increase our capability! Neal A. Maxwell

Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power. Abraham Lincoln

There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as if everything is. Albert Einstein

We can do no great things—only small things with great love. Mother Teresa

Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it. Helen Keller

Here is a test to find out whether your mission in life is complete. If you’re alive, it isn’t. Richard Bach

Prayer should be the key of the day and the lock of the night. Thomas Fuller

If wickedness never was happiness, then righteousness never was misery.

I do not pray for success. I ask for faithfulness. Mother Teresa

Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are. Let me learn from you, love you, bless you before you depart. Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow. Let me hold you while I may, for it may not always be so. One day I shall dig my nails into the earth, or bury my face in my pillow, or stretch myself taut, or raise my hands to the sky and want, more than all the world, your return. Mary Jean Iron

And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years. Abraham Lincoln

Only God can fully know what absolute honesty is. Therefore each of us has to conceive what this great ideal may be to the best of our ability. Bill W.

Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless. Mother Teresa

What you possess in the world will be found at the day of your death to belong to someone else. But what you are will be yours forever. Henry Van Dyke

Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be. Abraham Lincoln

If you judge people, you have no time to love them. Mother Teresa

If we find nothing of interest where we are, we are likely to find little of lasting interest where we wish to go. Edwin Way Teale

The greatest happiness you can have is knowing that you do not necessarily require happiness. William Saroyan

Be such a man, and live such a life, that if every man were such as you, and every life a life like yours, this earth would be God’s Paradise. Phillips Brooks

We are each of us angels with only one wing, & we can only fly by embracing one another. Luciano de Crescenzo

When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life so that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice. Cherokee Expression

We should not complain about our own life’s not being a rose garden when we remember who wore the crown of thorns. Neal A. Maxwell

Don’t ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive. Harold Whitman

We are more than what we do, much more than what we accomplish...far more than what we possess. William Arthur Ward

We are not human beings on a spiritual journey. We are spiritual beings on a human journey. Steven R. Covey

It is not how much we have, but how much we enjoy, that make happiness. Charles Spurgeon

When you’re having a genuine bad hair day and someone says, “Have a nice day,” simply respond with, “Thanks, but I’ve made other plans!”

Virtue and morality surely must be true principles of God; otherwise, why would we feel so badly when those we love are not virtuous or morally clean? Lori Nelson Bennett

Inspiration comes more as a feeling than as a sound. Elder Boyd K. Packer

It is the grand privilege of every Latter-day Saint...to have the manifestations of the spirit every day of our lives. Pres. Lorenzo Snow

Every man has the privilege to exercise these gifts and these privileges in the conduct of his own affairs; in bringing up his children in the way they should go; in the management of his business, or whatever he does. It is his right to enjoy the spirit of revelation and of inspiration to do the right thing, to be wise and prudent, just and good, in everything that he does. Pres. Harold B. Lee

Because it raises our spirits and helps us resist evil and seek good, the feeling of uplift that is communicated by reading the scriptures or by enjoying wholesome music, art, or literature is a distinct function (as well as a form) of revelation. Dallin H. Oaks


Restraint is one of the most common functions of revelation. It often comes by surprise. Even though we have not asked for revelation or guidance on a particular subject, if we are keeping the commandments of God and living in tune with his Spirit, a restraining force will steer us away from things we should not do. Dallin H. Oaks

A person may profit by noticing the first intimation of the spirit of revelation; for instance, when you feel pure intelligence flowing into you, it may give you sudden strokes of ideas...and thus by learning the Spirit of God and understanding it, you may grow into the principle of revelation. Prophet Joseph Smith

All of us are entitled to the spirit of prophecy & of revelation in our lives, both for our personal affairs & in our ministry. The prayerful study & pondering of the holy scriptures will do as much , or more than any other single thing, to bring that spirit, the spirit of prophecy and the spirit of revelation, into our lives. Elder Bruce R. McConkie

Conversation Starters

Yesterday I promised that I would give ideas on conversation starters. I’ve been collecting them for years. As a parent, you might want to keep a few basic questions printed on a 3X5 card to enable you to have conversations with your children privately or collectively while in the car, at the dinner table or at bedtime. Here’s a short list to choose from for your 3X5 card:

If you could ask God one question, what would it be?

What was the __________ (choose one: most challenging, funniest, most surprising, most amazing) thing that happened to you today?

Tell me your favorite joke.

What was the nicest thing you did for someone else today? How did it make you feel? What was the nicest thing that someone else did for you today? How did it make you feel?

If you were writing a Blog about your day, what would the title be?

Describe your day in three words.

Describe “the perfect day,” from the time you wake up until you go to bed.

In two minutes, tell me as much about your day as you can.

Teach me one thing that you learned today that you think I don’t know.

If you were the President of the United States, name one thing that you would change about our country immediately.

What do you think the world needs—right now?

If you were given $1000, how would you spend it?

What can I do for you that would make your life better?

If you were on a deserted island for a year and you could choose one thing to have with you, what would you want?

If you could invent something that would make life better, what would it be?

In your opinion, what is the greatest invention ever made?

If you could visit with a person from history, who would it be? Why?

If you could be an Olympian, what sport would you like to participate in?

If you were to loose one of your senses and you could choose which one it was, which sense do you think you would choose? Why? If it had to be sight or hearing, which one?

Why do so many people enjoy going to the Disney parks?

If you could go on a vacation anywhere in the United States, where would you go?

If you could make a movie, what would it be about? What type would it be? (Drama, history, comedy, mystery?)

Now for questions to put in your Conversation Jar. Let’s start with the humorous conversation starters that I have been saving. Perhaps you can come up with more humorous ones as well and maybe even find some that younger children will enjoy. Consider printing these conversations starters with humor on green paper (or color of your choice), then when the family seems to need humor, someone can be instructed to pull out a “green” slip of paper for that evening’s conversation around the dinner table. Here’s the humorous list:

Why isn't the number 11 pronounced onety-one?    

If 4 out of 5 people SUFFER from diarrhea...does that mean that one out of five enjoys it?

Why do croutons come in airtight packages? Aren't they just stale bread to begin with?

If people from Poland are called Poles, then why aren't people from Holland called Holes?

If a pig loses its voice, is it disgruntled?

Why is a person who plays the piano called a pianist, but a person who drives a racecar is not called a racist?

If it's true that we are here to help others, then what exactly are the others here for?
If lawyers are disbarred and clergymen defrocked, then doesn't it follow that electricians can be delighted, musicians denoted, cowboys deranged, models deposed, tree surgeons debarked and dry cleaners depressed?

If Fed Ex and UPS were to merge, would they call it Fed UP?

What hair color do they put on the driver's licenses of  bald men?

Do Lipton Tea employees take 'coffee breaks?

I thought about how mothers feed their babies with tiny little spoons and forks, so I wondered what do Chinese mothers use. Toothpicks?

Why do they put pictures of criminals up in the Post Office? What are we supposed to do, write to them? Why don't they just put their pictures on the postage stamps so the mailmen can look for them while they deliver the mail?

Is it true that you never really learn to swear until you learn to drive?

If a cow laughed, would milk come out of her nose?

Whatever happened to Preparations A through G?

As income tax time  approaches, did you ever notice: When you put the two words 'The' and 'IRS' together, it spells... 'THEIRS'?

Now copy and paste these ideas into your word processor. I make 3 columns with mine (you get more to a page that way), and print them, cut them up a put them in a cute little jar or box. Start your fun conversations tonight. (Even older couples can use the stimulation for conversations.) I’ll include more conversation starters tomorrow. Until then, enjoy dinner at your home!