Sam's Sacrament Meeting Talk - July 2014

Last month was Sean's month to conduct and assign speakers for Sacrament meeting.

So he decided to ask me to speak. He also assigned a talk to himself.

While I was in Washington my mother-in-law suggested

that everyone in the family saved their Sacrament meeting talks and we shared them with each other.

Then we could use each others talks or at least parts of them in our own talks.

So here you go Kristi...

Sean and I are both from Washington state. We grew up in the Snohomish Valley about 10 miles apart. Snohomish is 30 miles north east of Seattle. It’s where is starts to feel less like a big city and more like a small town. We meet 13 years ago at our stake youth conference when I asked Sean to dance. We are both motor mouths so we instantly hit it off. We were best friends, than dated in high school before Sean’s mission and were married in the Seattle Temple six months after Sean returned home.

Sean is the fourth of six kids. His parents are both from Utah and met while serving in the Eastern States mission. All eight of the Christensens lived in a small 3 bedroom house. So my father-in-law created a bedroom in the garage and that’s where Sean slept most of his life. In high school Sean was the base guitarist in a band he formed with some of his friends. Sean served in the Peru Lima East Mission. He graduated from BYU-Idaho with a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting. He’s been an auditor for the Department of Defense for the last four years. Sean loves geography, politics, playing his ukulele, sports in general but especially BYU football.

I have one younger brother, Ryan. My parents divorced when I was three. When I was five my mom met Donn. They dated for five years before they were married. And by dated, I mean, they took me and my brother out to eat. Now they sealed in the temple and I’m sealed to them too. I studied Child Development at BYU-Idaho. One semester, I studied at a University in Chile. I had the time of my life living in South America. I actually went to Peru and hiked Machu Picchu. Something Sean was never able to do even though he lived in Peru for two years. Now I’m a stay-at-home mom. I spend my days with our three children- Lexi who is six, Avery who is four, and Eli who is 21 months old. And I’m pregnant with our fourth child, another little girl who is due on Thanksgiving day. I love reading, blogging, playing board games and photography.

Sean and I have been married for seven years. During that time we have frequently tried to figure out how to build a Christ centered home where we can feel the spirit and teach our children the gospel. We are not perfect and we often make mistakes as parents but we are trying. This year we have adopted a scripture as our theme for the year. It’s Doctrine and Covenants 109:8 “Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing, and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God.” I have found that Sean and I as parents have to deliberately try to create a house of God, it just doesn’t happen on its own.

Building the kingdom of God begins with building a righteous home and family. The family is the most important unit of the Church. As members of the Church, we should establish a home where the Spirit is present. A Christ-centered home offers us a place of defense against sin, a refuge from the world, and is where we can find committed, genuine love.

Creating a Christ centered home requires us to prioritize our life and our time. We need to recognize the things that are not just good or better but best for our families. This past general conference, Linda S. Reeves said something that really impacted me as a mother and has helped me realize what is most important. She said, “It is OK if the house is a mess and the children are still in their pajamas and some responsibilities are left undone. The only things that really need to be accomplished in the home are daily scripture study and prayer and weekly family home evening.” Let me say that again, “The only things that really need to be accomplished in the home are daily scripture study and prayer and weekly family home evening.”

Having family home evening, family scripture study and prayer seem like such simple things but with growing family and many young children it is not always easy, convenient, or successful, but it is my hope that over time these simple gatherings will became treasured family traditions.

!And I have great news! This past year family home evening has really started to feel rewarding. Maybe it’s because Lexi and Avery are older and will sit still and listen to a lesson, most of the time. Maybe it’s because Sean and I are finally starting to see the fruits of our labors now that the girls can remember some of the things that we are teaching them. So it’s true once again, you reap what you sew. And even if the children don’t remember what we read in the scriptures or what the family home evening lesson was about they will remember that we read our scriptures and prayed and had family home evening and were together as a family. We are building celestial traditions in our home.

Learning, teaching, and practicing the principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ in our homes helps create a culture where the Spirit can dwell. Through establishing these celestial traditions in our homes, we will be able to overcome the false traditions of the world and learn to put the needs and concerns of others first.

It is difficult to overstate the importance parents have in teaching their children celestial traditions through word and example. But it’s important to note that children also play an important role in establishing a Christ-centered home. Children can keep their rooms clean, help out with a good attitude and be a good example to their siblings and try to always choose the right.

…

A family can be likened unto a rope. A rope has different strands woven together to make it strong. If a rope had only one strand, it wouldn’t be able to get the job done. But because there are many strands that work together, we are able to use it in many different ways and it is strong. Families can be like ropes. When only one person is working hard and doing what is right, the family will not be as strong as when everyone is putting forth the effort to help each other.

 When parents preside over the family in love and righteousness and teach their children the gospel of Jesus Christ by word and through example, and when children love and support their parents by learning and practicing the principles their parents teach, the result will be the establishment of a Christ-centered home.

…

We are constantly working so hard to create an environment in our homes where the Spirit and love are presents. I think it’s important to mention the impact that media and technology have in our homes. All the media that we use for entertainment- anything from books, music, and digital and social media will impact the atmosphere of our homes. These are the things that our spirit consumes.

In the June Ensign there was a great article about the influences of media in our lives. I’d like to share a few key points with you.

1) Avoid Light-Mindedness. Often we use media as a way to unwind at the end of a busy day or escape from the struggles of life or just as a way to relax. As a family, it can be a way to share laughter and good discussion. The enjoyment we feel from these activities come from the influence of the Holy Ghost, whose fruits are love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance. But in order to feel the Holy Ghost after our recreation, we must choose entertainment that keeps us open to the promptings and healing power of the Holy Ghost.

To avoid losing the Holy Ghost’s companionship and harming our spirits, we are counseled to not attend, view, or participate in anything that is vulgar, immoral, violent, or pornographic in any way. But sometimes media can be void of all of these and still be just as harmful because they distract us from the purposes of life. Some entertainment distracts us from the purpose of the plan of salvation by occupying our minds with what Elder Dallin H. Oaks calls idle thoughts and trivial things.

I know firsthand that I can be doing something that appears to be good- like reading some of my favorite blogs, checking my emails, or keeping up with friends online but they have a way of eating up a lot of time and distracting me from what’s really important- my family.

2) Be an Active Agent. Although it can be easier to just passively let our entertainment enter our hearts and minds unchecked, an essential part of life is to learn how to become agents- to learn to act for ourselves and not be acted upon as stated in 2 Nephi 2:26. An important part of becoming a true agent is being aware and critical of the entertainment we use. Instead of thoughtlessly consuming media for entertainment, it’s important that we are aware of how much time we’re spending with it and what messages are being sent.

A year and a half ago, Sean and I canceled our cable. We decided that there just wasn’t much on TV that was worth our time. We found that it was too easy to just turn the TV on and watch whatever was playing. It wouldn’t matter if we watched for 30 minutes or hours, when we’d stopped watching and we’d feel like we never really watched anything of value or that we even really wanted to see. Now we use Netflix. (An no this isn’t an advertisement for Netflix) So when we want to watch something, we have to choose what we want to watch. And we’re more aware of how much time we are using. Sean and I have also decided to not watch any TV while our children are wake. We save the evenings for our family time. And you know what we’ve found, at the end of the night; Sean and I usually don’t want to watch anything. We often wonder how we ever had time for TV anyway.

3) Spend Time Wisely. Part of being a more active agent is being aware of how much time we spend on entertainment. There is just so much to choose from. There is no way we can watch every show that looks entertaining and read all the books we’d like to and surf the web and keep caught up on social media. I think the best way to spend our precious free time is with our family.

4) Choose Media that Edifies. Another important part of carefully selecting our entertainment is being mindful of the messages the media is sending. As a mother this is especially important to me. The majority of movies and shows that are geared towards children, I won’t let me girls watch. I find that they often aren’t age appropriate or edifying in any way. Lately, I’ve been focusing on reading to the girls as a form of entertainment. I’ve found that reading chapter books to Lexi is fun for both of us.

5) Choose Media that Edifies. Every form of entertainment communicates something. It’s important to be mindful of the messages the media we are consuming are sending. We need to ask ourselves what messages and values are being presented. And more importantly, we need to ask ourselves if we can think about Christ while participating in our media usage. If we can’t gleam some gospel-related truth from our entertainment’s message, it’s not valuable and certainly not worth our time.

It might be tempting to say, “It’s just entertainment, isn’t not school or church. I don’t need to be learning something from it.” But whether you are conscious of it or not, whatever you read, listen to, or look at has an effect on you. It also effects the environment of our homes and our families. It’s important to remember the thirteen article of faith, we seek after “anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy” even in our leisure time.

It’s important that we unplug from the world and spend time together as a family. Christ told us to “behold your little ones.” To behold them to give them our full attention and eye contact and to really listen to what they are saying. Studies have confirmed the importance of parent-child “beholding.” The nonverbal communication of a mutual gaze is essential to proper to development of infants and children. And I know firsthand that my children crave my undivided attention. Lexi will frequently tell Sean and I, “Excuse me it’s my turn to talk.” She needs to know that we are paying attention to her.

I’d like to bear witness to you today with my testimony of the incomparable importance of our homes and our families. In the end that’s what matters most. I know that families are central to God’s plan. I’m grateful every day that I married a worthy priesthood holder who took me to the temple. I love this gospel. Nothing has ever brought me more happiness than living the gospel and keeping the commandments. No words can express my gratitude to the Savior- for his love, example and sacrifice. I leave my testimony with you in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.