"Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by bsmall and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise"
Deciding this month to focus on the small and simple things we have been reading scriptures during breakfast together. Just a verse or two. Memorizing, discussing, review other scriptures we've learned, marking them in the boys books, and relating other stories that share similar morals. It has also become a stepping stone for the rest of the day as we lead out focusing on an attribute of the saviour that we would like to emulate.
We have used this story:
"Oftentimes we are like the young merchant from Boston, who in 1849, as the story goes, was caught up in the fervor of the California gold rush. He sold all of his possessions to seek his fortune in the California rivers, which he was told were filled with gold nuggets so big that one could hardly carry them.Day after endless day, the young man dipped his pan into the river and came up empty. His only reward was a growing pile of rocks. Discouraged and broke, he was ready to quit until one day an old, experienced prospector said to him, “That’s quite a pile of rocks you are getting there, my boy.”The young man replied, “There’s no gold here. I’m going back home.”Walking over to the pile of rocks, the old prospector said, “Oh, there is gold all right. You just have to know where to find it.” He picked two rocks up in his hands and crashed them together. One of the rocks split open, revealing several flecks of gold sparkling in the sunlight.Noticing a bulging leather pouch fastened to the prospector’s waist, the young man said, “I’m looking for nuggets like the ones in your pouch, not just tiny flecks.”The old prospector extended his pouch toward the young man, who looked inside, expecting to see several large nuggets. He was stunned to see that the pouch was filled with thousands of flecks of gold.The old prospector said, “Son, it seems to me you are so busy looking for large nuggets that you’re missing filling your pouch with these precious flecks of gold. The patient accumulation of these little flecks has brought me great wealth.”This story illustrates the spiritual truth that Alma taught his son Helaman:“By small and simple things are great things brought to pass. …“… And by very small means the Lord … bringeth about the salvation of many souls” (Alma 37:6–7).Brothers and sisters, the gospel of Jesus Christ is simple, no matter how much we try to make it complicated. We should strive to keep our lives similarly simple, unencumbered by extraneous influences, focused on those things that matter most. " - Elder M. Russell Ballard
from Elder Ballard's april 2011 talk, since conference to teach our boys. I evn found gum that came as flecks of gold and used it as an object lesson giving them just one fleck to stat and then another and another seeing that they added up to be delicious gum. This movie was just done. i will use it tomorrow
This week we are participating in the BC food drive it is one of the big outward ways to give. I give selfishly as I always feel renewed when I give. I am trying harder to give selflessly here at home in the wee hours of the morning, when my patience is running thin, when there are only angels to witness the kind acts that pass seemingly unnoticed and unremarkable. where it counts focus on what matters MOST.
elder holland on the role of teachers
Even with the scripture study our kids are still energetic, still fight and still try my patience but I am becoming more grounded and feel inspiration come quicker as I try to teach and guide my little ones.
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