Displaying the apostles before conference

Image courtesy ldsapostles.org

I have a friend who displays pictures of the First Presidency and the apostles in the few weeks before conference every year. I stole the idea from her, and I hope it will help my kids be more interested in conference when it comes around. It is already working—my two-year-old has already chosen her personal favorite "bishop," Elder Anderson.

To get my five-year-old son more interested, I printed out a picture of the apostles in order and gave it to him. He got to put the pictures up on the wall in the right order.

Yesterday the kids each chose an apostle from the wall, and we used the information on the back to learn a few things about them. Tonight for Family Home Evening, we will each teach about an apostle, and we will learn a little bit about their titles (President/Elder) and about the organization of our church leadership.

If we do it again next week, we'll have covered 8 of the 15. Guess I need to get the pictures up a little earlier next conference!

Thank you to ldsapostles.org for sharing their picture. Feel free to click on the picture above and print it out for your own use. You can also click through to the site for lots of information on the apostles.

You can buy pictures of the General Authorities here. You can also read biographies about the General Authorities and print off high-quality pictures here.

Learning songs at home

The part of Primary that has stuck with me the most over the years is the songs. If I am looking for answers or having a hard day, often I will receive comfort from a Primary song running through my head.

I want to give my children (ages 2 and 5) the same blessing. I want to get as many Primary songs and hymns into their heads as possible before they grow up and go their own ways.

This year in January, the idea came to me that we could focus on one song each month this year. We took a few minutes during a Family Home Evening to come up with a list of songs we'd like to focus on this year, with suggestions from everyone. The kids suggested a few songs that they already know, but I thought it would be a good opportunity to review them and learn additional verses. My two-year-old now knows three verses of "I Am a Child of God."

We sing the songs during Family Home Evenings, every night when we do scripture study and prayer, and before naps and bedtime. The kids soak up the songs like sponges and learn the words within a week.

Here are some resources to help you choose and teach songs in your home:

• 2012 Outline for Sharing Time (this would help you reinforce at home the songs being taught in Primary this year)
• Interactive Church Music Player (see most of the Hymns and Primary songs; play them; transpose them; print them)
• Download recordings of Church songs
• Learn Primary songs in sign language
• Download additional music published in Church magazines