Memorize "The Living Christ": Week 12

My family is memorizing "The Living Christ: The Testimony of the Apostles" by breaking it down into small sections, using helps from BookofMormondiscovery.com as well as a couple of my own. My helps are aimed at adults and teenagers, but the website above has more ideas for younger children.

Week 12 Assignment
Congratulations! You have memorized the entire thing! For week 12, go back and review (see previous posts for review links). Then have a special family night where you can recite this together or for each other.

I've been memorizing this along with you, and my daughter and I have used the experience for a value project for Personal Progress. This has been a wonderful experience to do together and has made the lead-up to the Christmas season truly special. I hope you've enjoyed your time memorizing this special testimony of Christ and that it has enriched your Christmas season as well.

Merry Christmas!

Image from LDS.org, used with permission

Memorize "The Living Christ": Week 11

"Jesus Christ," by Harry Anderson
Image from LDS.org, used with permission

My family is memorizing "The Living Christ: The Testimony of the Apostles" by breaking it down into small sections, using helps from BookofMormondiscovery.com as well as a couple of my own. My helps are aimed at adults and teenagers, but the website above has more ideas for younger children.

Week 11 Assignment
Memorize: “He is the great King Immanuel, who stands today on the right hand of His Father. He is the light, the life, and the hope of the world. His way is the path that leads to happiness in this life and eternal life in the world to come. God be thanked for the matchless gift of His divine Son.”

The Plan

• Start in Week 1.
• Print the Week 11 assignment and hang it where you will see it a lot. After a few days you may want to start using the fill-in-the-blank sheet instead.
• This little booklet (image below) covers weeks 1-12 to help you review while you learn the rest. I punched a hole and used a carabiner to hold the pages. 
• Here is a second booklet with the same pictures but no words (image of weeks 9-12 below).
• Keep reading this week's assignment and saying it out loud. Then go back and practice tagging it on to everything from the beginning.

Materials
Use the images below or the links for printable helps.

Memorize "The Living Christ": Week 10

A detail from Jesus Christ Visits the Americas, by John Scott
Image from LDS.org, used with permission

My family is memorizing "The Living Christ: The Testimony of the Apostles" by breaking it down into small sections, using helps from BookofMormondiscovery.com as well as a couple of my own. My helps are aimed at adults and teenagers, but the website above has more ideas for younger children.

Week 10 Assignment
Memorize: “He will rule as King of Kings and reign as Lord of Lords and every knee shall bend and every tongue shall speak in worship before Him. Each of us will stand to be judged of Him according to our works and the desires of our hearts. We bear testimony, as His duly ordained Apostles—that Jesus is the Living Christ, the immortal Son of God.”

The Plan

• Start in Week 1.
• Print the Week 10 assignment and hang it where you will see it a lot. After a few days you may want to start using the fill-in-the-blank sheet instead.
• This little booklet (image below) covers weeks 1-12 to help you review while you learn the rest. I punched a hole and used a carabiner to hold the pages. 
• Here is a second booklet with the same pictures but no words (image of weeks 9-12 below).
• Keep reading this week's assignment and saying it out loud. Then go back and practice tagging it on to everything from the beginning.

Materials
Use the images below or the links for printable helps.

Memorize "The Living Christ": Week 9

"The Resurrected Jesus Christ," by Harry Anderson
Image from LDS.org, used with permission

My family is memorizing "The Living Christ: The Testimony of the Apostles" by breaking it down into small sections, using helps from BookofMormondiscovery.com as well as a couple of my own. My helps are aimed at adults and teenagers, but the website above has more ideas for younger children.

Week 9 Assignment
Memorize: “We declare in words of solemnity that His priesthood and His Church have been restored upon the earth—‘built upon the foundation of apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone’ (Ephesians 2:20). We testify that He will someday return to earth. ‘And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together’” (Isaiah 40:5).

The Plan

• Start in Week 1.
• Print the Week 9 assignment and hang it where you will see it a lot. After a few days you may want to start using the fill-in-the-blank sheet instead.
• This little booklet (image below) covers weeks 1-12 to help you review while you learn the rest. I punched a hole and used a carabiner to hold the pages. 
• Here is a second booklet with the same pictures but no words (below).
• Keep reading this week's assignment and saying it out loud. Then go back and practice tagging it on to everything from the beginning.

Materials
Use the images below or the links for printable helps.

Memorize "The Living Christ": Week 8

"The Lord's Appearance to Joseph Smith and
Oliver Cowdery in the Kirtland Temple,"
by Theodore S. Gorka
Image from LDS.org, used with permission

My family is memorizing "The Living Christ: The Testimony of the Apostles" by breaking it down into 

small sections, using helps from BookofMormondiscovery.com as well as a couple of my own. My helps are aimed at adults and teenagers, but the website above has more ideas for younger children.


Week 8 Assignment
Memorize: “Of Him the Prophet also declared: ‘And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives! For we saw him, even on the right hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father. That by him, and through him, and of him, the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God’” (D&C 76:22–24).

The Plan

• Start in Week 1.
• Print the Week 8 assignment and hang it where you will see it a lot. After a few days you may want to start using the fill-in-the-blank sheet instead.
• This little booklet (image below) covers weeks 5-8. I punched a hole and used a carabiner to hold the pages. 
• I created a second little booklet with the same pictures but no words (below). Email me if you want it as a DOC or PDF instead.
• Keep reading this week's assignment and saying it out loud. Then go back and practice tagging it on to everything from the beginning.

Materials
Use the images below or the links for printable helps.

Memorize "The Living Christ": Week 7

"The Bible and the Book of Mormon Testify of Christ," by Greg K. Olson
Image from LDS.org, used with permission

My family is memorizing "The Living Christ: The Testimony of the Apostles" by breaking it down into 

small sections, using helps from BookofMormondiscovery.com as well as a couple of my own. My helps are aimed at adults and teenagers, but the website above has more ideas for younger children.


Week 7 Assignment
Memorize: “He also ministered among His ‘other sheep’ in ancient America. In the modern world, He and His Father appeared to the boy Joseph Smith, ushering in the long-promised ‘dispensation of the fulness of times’ (Eph. 1:10). Of the Living Christ, the Prophet Joseph wrote: ‘His eyes were as a flame of fire; the hair of his head was white like the pure snow; his countenance shone above the brightness of the sun; and his voice was as the sound of the rushing of great waters even the voice of Jehovah, saying: ‘I am the first and the last; I am he who liveth, I am he who was slain; I am your advocate with the Father’” (D&C 110:3–4).

The Plan

• Start in Week 1.
• Print the Week 7 assignment and hang it where you will see it a lot. After a few days you may want to start using the fill-in-the-blank sheet instead.
• This little booklet (image below) covers weeks 5-8. I punched a hole and used a carabiner to hold the pages. 
• I created a second little booklet with the same pictures but no words (below). Email me if you want it as a DOC or PDF instead.
• Keep reading this week's assignment and saying it out loud. Then go back and practice tagging it on to everything from the beginning.

Materials
Use the images below or the links for printable helps.

Memorize "The Living Christ": Week 6

"The Resurrected Christ Appears to Mary,"
by Harry Anderson
Image from LDS.org, used with permission

My family is memorizing "The Living Christ: The Testimony of the Apostles" by breaking it down into 

small sections, using helps from BookofMormondiscovery.com as well as a couple of my own. My helps are aimed at adults and teenagers, but the website above has more ideas for younger children.


Week 6 Assignment
Memorize: “We solemnly testify that His life, which is central to all human history, neither began in Bethlehem nor concluded on Calvary. He was the Firstborn of the Father, the Only Begotten Son in the flesh, the Redeemer of the world. He rose from the grave to "become the firstfruits of them that slept" (1 Corinthians 15:20). As Risen Lord, He visited among those He had loved in life.”

The Plan

• Start in Week 1.
• Print the Week 6 assignment and hang it where you will see it a lot. After a few days you may want to start using the fill-in-the-blank sheet instead.
• This little booklet (image below) covers weeks 5-8. I punched a hole and used a carabiner to hold the pages. 
• I created a second little booklet with the same pictures but no words (below). Email me if you want it as a DOC or PDF instead.
• Keep reading this week's assignment and saying it out loud. Then go back and practice tagging it on to everything from the beginning.

Materials
Use the images below or the links for printable helps.

Memorize "The Living Christ": Week 5

My family is memorizing "The Living Christ: The Testimony of the Apostles" by breaking it down into

"The Crucifixion of Christ," artist unknown
Image from LDS.org, used with permission

small sections, using helps from BookofMormondiscovery.com as well as a couple of my own. My helps are aimed at adults and teenagers, but the website above has more ideas for younger children.


Week 5 Assignment
Memorize: “He was arrested and condemned on spurious charges, convicted to satisfy a mob, and sentenced to die on Calvary's cross. He gave His life to atone for the sins of all mankind. His was a great vicarious gift in behalf of all who would ever live upon the earth.”

By the way, here's how to pronounce spurious (I didn't know either!).

The Plan

• Start in Week 1.
• Print the Week 5 assignment and hang it where you will see it a lot. After a few days you may want to start using the fill-in-the-blank sheet instead.
• This little booklet (image below) covers weeks 5-8. I punched a hole and used a carabiner to hold the pages. 
• I created a second little booklet with the same pictures but no words (below). Email me if you want it as a DOC or PDF instead.
• Keep reading this week's assignment and saying it out loud. Then go back and practice tagging it on to everything from the beginning.

Materials
Use the images below or the links for printable helps.

Memorize "The Living Christ": Week 4

"Jesus Raising Jairus's Daughter," by Greg Olson
Image from LDS.org, used with permission

My family is memorizing "The Living Christ: The Testimony of the Apostles" by breaking it down into small sections, using helps from BookofMormondiscovery.com as well as a couple of my own. My helps are aimed at adults and teenagers, but the website above has more ideas for younger children.

Wow! We've made it this far. That means we are about 1/3 of the way through. Well done!

Week 4 Assignment
Memorize: “He walked the roads of Palestine, healing the sick, causing the blind to see, and raising the dead. He taught the truths of eternity, the reality of our premortal existence, the purpose of our life on earth, and the potential for the sons and daughters of God in the life to come. He instituted the sacrament as a reminder of His great atoning sacrifice.”

The Plan

• Start in Week 1.
• Print the Week 4 assignment and hang it where you will see it a lot. After a few days you may want to start using the fill-in-the-blank sheet instead.
• This little booklet (below) covers weeks 1-4. I punched a hole and used a carabiner to hold the pages for one week at a time. 
• I created a second little booklet with the same pictures but no words (below). Email me if you want it as a DOC or PDF instead.
• Keep reading this week's assignment and saying it out loud. Also practice tagging it onto Week 1.

Materials
Use the images below or the links for printable helps.

Memorize "The Living Christ": Week 3

"John Baptizing Jesus," by Harry Anderson
Image from LDS.org, used with permission

My family is memorizing "The Living Christ: The Testimony of the Apostles" by breaking it down into small sections, using helps from BookofMormondiscovery.com as well as a couple of my own. My helps are aimed at adults and teenagers, but the website above has more ideas for younger children.

Week 3 Assignment
Memorize: “Though sinless, He was baptized to fulfill all righteousness. He ‘went about doing good’ (Acts 10:38), yet was despised for it. His gospel was a message of peace and goodwill. He entreated all to follow His example.”

The Plan

• Start in Week 1.
• Print the Week 3 assignment and hang it where you will see it a lot. After a few days you may want to start using the fill-in-the-blank sheet instead.
• This little booklet (below) covers weeks 1-4. I punched a hole and used a carabiner to hold the pages for one week at a time. 
• I created a second little booklet with the same pictures but no words (below). Email me if you want it as a DOC or PDF instead.
• Keep reading this week's assignment and saying it out loud. Also practice tagging it onto Week 1.

Materials
Use the images below or the links for printable helps.

Memorize "The Living Christ": Week 2

Image from LDS.org, used with permission

My family is memorizing "The Living Christ: The Testimony of the Apostles" by breaking it down into small sections, using helps from BookofMormondiscovery.com as well as a couple of my own. My helps are aimed at adults and teenagers, but the website above has more ideas for younger children.

Week 2 Assignment
Memorize: "He was the Great Jehovah of the Old Testament, the Messiah of the New. Under the direction of His Father, He was the creator of the earth. ‘All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made’ (John 1:3)."

The Plan

• Start in Week 1.
• Print the Week 2 assignment and hang it where you will see it a lot. After a few days you may want to start using the fill-in-the-blank sheet instead.
• This little booklet covers weeks 1-4. I punched a hole and used a carabiner to hold the pages for one week at a time. 
• I created a second little booklet with the same pictures but no words (below). Email me if you want it as a DOC or PDF instead.
• Keep reading this week's assignment and saying it out loud. Also practice tagging it onto Week 1.

Materials
Use the images below or the links for printable helps.

Memorize "The Living Christ": Week 1

"Christ Calling Peter and Andrew,"
by James T. Harwood
Image from LDS.org, used with permission

My family is memorizing "The Living Christ: The Testimony of the Apostles" by breaking it down into small sections, using helps from BookofMormondiscovery.com as well as a couple of my own. My helps are aimed at adults and teenagers, but the website above has more ideas for younger children.

Week 1 Assignment
Memorize: "As we commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ two millennia ago, we offer our testimony of the reality of His matchless life and the infinite virtue of His great atoning sacrifice. None other has had so profound an influence upon all who have lived and will yet live upon the earth."

The Plan

• Print "The Living Christ".
• Download the mp3 so you can listen to it as well. There is also a video version in ASL.
• Print the Week 1 assignment  and hang it where you will see it a lot. If it's helpful, after a few days start using the fill-in-the-blank sheet instead.
• This little booklet covers weeks 1-4. I punched a hole and used a carabiner to hold the pages for one week at a time. 
• I also created a second little booklet with the same pictures but no words (below). Email me if you want it as a DOC or PDF instead.
• Keep reading this week's assignment and saying it out loud.

Materials
Use the images below or the links for printable helps.

A Christmas Gift for Jesus: Memorize "The Living Christ"

I was inspired recently by a talk given by Sister Neill F. Marriott. She said:

This summer I had the privilege of attending an encampment of 900 young women in Alaska. ... They came to the camp spiritually prepared, having read the Book of Mormon and having memorized “The Living Christ: The Testimony of the Apostles.” On the third night of camp, all 900 young women stood together and recited the entire document word for word.

The Spirit filled the vast hall, and I yearned to join in. But I couldn’t. I hadn’t paid the price of memorization. ... My hope is to offer the Savior a Christmas gift this year of having “The Living Christ” memorized and securely held in my heart by December 25th. 

Her experience kept ringing in my mind. I thought how wonderful it would be to memorize "The Living Christ," but it seemed so formidable. I didn't know it I could do it, let alone ask my family to. I started looking around for ideas of how others have done it.

I seriously love the internet. There are so many overachievers out there whose ideas I can piggyback on. In my searching I came across the very thing I thought would work best at BookofMormondiscovery.com.  (I get no kickbacks for this, I just really liked her program.) The author has made this incredible packet of free resources to help people memorize "The Living Christ." She has a picture of her family and her kids are even really little and THEY did it. Surely I and my teenagers could do this!

I printed out the helps I thought would work best for my family. I challenged my husband and kids to do this with me, and they accepted with varying degrees of commitment that were completely age-appropriate. We just finished Week 1, and I am really enjoying this experience. There truly has been a better feeling in our home.

My purpose in posting this is to make a public goal and be accountable for reporting regularly. I also hope that my experience can inspire someone else, just as Neill Marriott inspired me. I will post weekly with the helps we are using.

I can think of no better way to approach Christmas this year than preparing for 12 weeks to learn of the Savior, His life, and His attributes. By memorizing "The Living Christ" I can truly feel as if I could kneel at His manger and offer my best gift, my heart.

Join me.

https://www.lds.org/bc/content/shared/content/english/pdf/36035_000_25_livingchrist.pdf

From Depression to Joy and Consolation

Depression is the "blue-eyed monster" that for some reason God has given me--in waves of varying intensity that come and go--to learn the specific life lessons I need. I have been asked how I deal with it and find happiness in those especially dark times when it feels like there is none to be found. I'd like to share an essay I wrote that was originally published on (and links below to) www.DaughtersInHisKingdom.com.

                                *                              *                             *

"Most of us experience some measure of what the scriptures call “the furnace of affliction” (Isa. 48:10; 1 Ne. 20:10). Some are submerged in service to a disadvantaged family member. Others suffer the death of a loved one or the loss or postponement of a righteous goal like marriage or childbearing. Still others struggle with personal impairments or with feelings of rejection, inadequacy, or depression. Through the justice and mercy of a loving Father in Heaven, the refinement and sanctification possible through such experiences can help us achieve what God desires us to become." (Dallin H. Oaks, Ensign, October 2000)

Depression is a topic that a lot of us feel uncomfortable talking about. Even those of us who struggle with it can wonder: Is it my fault? Is it a chemical or hormonal imbalance? Am I just not trying hard enough to feel good? Why do I have to endure this?

This is a sensitive and very personal topic, and I don't claim to have all the answers. Many books have been written about causes, effects, and treatments of depression, and this isn't the place for those discussions. I can only speak from my own experience--that what keeps me going each day is my faith in Jesus Christ and my knowledge that He knows the plan for my life and that there is a purpose for all of the refining pain we go through--that we come to know the Lord through our trials.  I pray that something I say might speak to you as I honestly share a little of how I deal with this ongoing struggle in my life.

This last spring I found that the effects of my antidepressant medication were wearing off. This has happened to me before and usually it means trying new medications and waiting and trying to figure out if I feel better or not. It can be a time-consuming and difficult process. I had been thinking a lot about the atonement and wondering if I was truly relying on Christ and His grace and trusting Him like I should. In answer to my prayers about what to do, I felt like instead of trying a different medication immediately that I needed to step out onto that ledge of faith and trust that the Lord would be there for me and carry me.

Read more >>

Holy Week: Easter Sunday

Sunday: Jesus' Resurrection
Jesus was resurrected! He had risen from the tomb. An angel descended from heaven and rolled away the stone. Jesus told His disciples to teach and baptize others and promised to always be with them. (The Friend, April 2011)

Click "read more" for activity ideas...

Holy Week: Saturday

Saturday: The Jewish Sabbath
Jesus's body lay in the tomb. A large stone was put in front of the door. The wicked priests asked Pilate to have guards stand outside the tomb to make sure no one went inside. (The Friend, April 2011)

Click "read more" for activity ideas...

Holy Week: Friday

Friday: Jesus's Trial and Crucifixion
Jesus was taken to the high priest, Caiaphas. Jesus's disciple Peter denied that He knew Him. Jesus was questioned by the governor, Pilate, and by the king, Herod. He was condemned to die on the cross. Jesus was crucified. A rich man named Joseph laid Jesus in his tomb. Jesus's mother, Mary, and Mary Magdalene visited the tomb. (The Friend, April 2011)

Here is another video that depicts the crucifixion.

Click "read more" for activity ideas...

Holy Week: Thursday

Thursday: The Last Supper, Jesus's Agony in Gethsemane
Jesus's disciples got ready for the Passover meal. During the meal, Jesus told the disciples that one of them would betray Him. Then, to help them remember Him, He gave them the sacrament for the first time. Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane to suffer for our sins and to pray to God. People came with swords and arrested Him. The disciples ran away in fear. (The Friend, April 2011)

Click "read more" for activity ideas...

Holy Week: Wednesday

Wednesday: Rest in Bethany
The scriptures do not say what Jesus did on this day. He may have spent the day with His disciples. You could read the Parable of the Ten Virgins, a story Jesus taught to His disciples to help them prepare for His Second Coming. (The Friend, April 2011)

Click "read more" for activity ideas...

Holy Week: Tuesday

Tuesday: Parables and Teachings
Jesus taught people in the temple and on a nearby hill called the Mount of Olives. The priests plotted to kill Jesus. One of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, agreed to turn Jesus over to the priests in exchange for 30 silver coins. (The Friend, April 2011)

I'd

Click "read more" for activity ideas...