Brightening My Light

lds.org A few years ago, I wrote a post on how to prepare for general conference . Now that I have two kids, and after seeing great ideas online, I think it's time to share how to prepare your kids for general conference too! 1. Explain what general conference is. Tell your kids the week before that instead of going to church the next Sunday, you will be staying home and watching the prophet and other church leaders speak to us about the gospel starting Saturday morning. Show them pictures of the First Presidency and other church leaders in the Friend or conference issue of the Ensign . 2. Put together activities for the kids. Thanks to blogs and Pinterest, there is a plethora of activities for your children to do during conference, and most require little preparation. Here is a link-up to some great ideas . There are also activities on the Church website . Be sure to match the activity to your children's ages and likes and any goals you have in mind (ex: listening

My friend posted on her blog an article about being a single LDS woman . Both ladies made many good points I will not reiterate here. Instead, I would like to discuss the motivation behind these posts: judgment. And judgment applies to all situations, not just to being single. In fact, once one of these women gets married, the judgment won't stop. The next nosy question she will be asked is, "When are you going to have children?" Then, "When are you going to have another child?" Then either, "Why aren't you going to have more?" or "Don't you think you have enough?" Then there will be comments and questions about her parenting choices and so on. Elder Neil L. Andersen shared this example in his October 2011 general conference talk : President J. Scott Dorius of the Peru Lima West Mission told me their story. He said: “Becky and I were married for 25 years without being able to have [or adopt] children. We moved several times

In a birth book I've been reading, the author mentions the belief some have in the curse of Eve; that is, experiencing pain in childbirth as punishment for eating the forbidden fruit: "Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children" ( Genesis 3:16 , see also Moses 4:22 ). While it is true we women experience pain in labor, this verse has been misinterpreted. The above belief implies that had Eve not eaten the fruit, she would have had no pain in childbirth. However, we learn from the Book of Mormon that she would have had no childbirth at all: And now, behold, if Adam had not transgressed he would not have fallen, but he would have remained in the garden of Eden. And all things which were created must have remained in the same state in which they were after they were created; and they must have remained forever, and had no end. And they would have had no children; wherefore they would