Agency and Accountability Sacrament Talk

Tori had to give a talk today in church.  She was super nervous, but as always did a WONDERFUL job.  So many people commented to both of us how great of a job she did.  I don't think the notes that she based her talk on can tell you how down to earth and wonderful her talk was, but here they are anyway.

Strength of Youth 

Agency and Accountability

What is agency?

   Agency is “the ability to choose and to act for yourself” (True to the Faith, 12).

   Elder Robert D. Hales said: “We teach that agency is the ability and privilege God gives us to choose and ‘to act for [ourselves] and not to be acted upon’   

   (2 Nephi 2:26). Agency is to act with accountability and responsibility for our actions” 

2 Nephi 

     27 Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and call things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself.

  ---Continues to say---

     28 And now, my sons, I would that ye should look to the great Mediator, and hearken unto his great commandments; and be faithful unto his words, and choose eternal life, according to the will of his Holy Spirit;

     29 And not choose eternal death, according to the will of the flesh and the devil which is therein, which giveth the spirit of the devil power to captivate, to bring you down to hell, that he may reign over you in his own kingdom.

---FAVORITE PARAGRAPHS IN STRENGTH OF YOUTH

Heavenly Father has given you agency, the ability to choose right from wrong and to act for yourself. Next to the bestowal of life itself, the right to direct your life is one of God’s greatest gifts to you. While here on earth, you are being proven to see if you will use your agency to show your love for God by keeping His commandments. The Holy Ghost can guide you in using your agency righteously.

You are responsible for the choices you make. God is mindful of you and will help you make good choices, even if your family and friends use their agency in ways that are not right. Have the moral courage to stand firm in obeying God’s will, even if you have to stand alone. As you do this, you set an example for others to follow.

DEUTERONOMY 11 

    26 Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse;

    27 A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day:

    28 And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day,

JOSHUA 24

    30 And now remember, remember, my brethren, that whosoever perisheth, perisheth unto himself; and whosoever doeth iniquity, doeth it unto himself; for behold, ye are free; ye are permitted to act for yourselves; for behold, God hath given unto you a cknowledge and he hath made you free.

    31 He hath given unto you that ye might know good from evil, and he hath given unto you that ye might choose life or death; and ye can do good and be restored unto that which is good, or have that which is good restored unto you; or ye can do evil, and have that which is evil restored unto you.

In several verses in the scriptures it talks about how we know good from evil and sometimes its gonna be hard to choose, weither its hard because we know the right disition but we want so bad to see what the other choice would be like, or its because we're really not sure. Thats when we need to pray to see weither its a sunrise or a sunset (EXPLAIN THAT) 

MORONI 7

 15 For behold, my brethren, it is given unto you to judge, that ye may know good from evil; and the way to judge is as plain, that ye may know with a perfect knowledge, as the daylight is from the dark night.

QUESTION AND ANSWER

  @  How can I convince my friends that our standards are really about freedom and are not a burden?

    “The commandments are not a burden or a restriction. Every commandment of the Lord is given for our development, progress, and growth. The Prophet Joseph Smith taught: ‘God has designed our happiness. . . . He never will institute an ordinance or give a commandment to His people that is not calculated in its nature to promote that happiness which He has designed’ (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, sel. Joseph Fielding Smith [1976], 256)”

   @  What are the consequences of how I use my agency?

   “Your use of [agency] determines your happiness or misery in this life and in the life to come. You are free to choose and act, but you are not free to choose the consequences of your actions. The consequences may not be immediate, but they will always follow.

 

  @  Besides choosing between right and wrong, how else does agency apply to my life?

   “You are . . . responsible for developing the talents and abilities Heavenly Father has given you. You are accountable to Him for what you do with your talents and how you spend your time. Choose to do many good things of your own free will” (For the Strength of Youth, 3).

  @  Why does Heavenly Father allow Satan to tempt us?

   “Satan’s increasing influence in the world is allowed to provide an atmosphere in which to prove ourselves."

March 21, 2012 Picture of the Day: Delicious

This picture was inspired by Pinterest and Josh.  Josh has dreams of opening his own brownie store someday.  He wants it to be much like the Cupcake Stores that are popular today.  The idea inspired me so I've been pinning a TON of yummy looking brownie recipies.  But we rarely ever try them.

So this week, we decided to try one new brownie recipie a week.  Then we could share them with someone and get a true taste of which ones were good for his store someday.

Today I tried Cream Cheese Brownies by 5 Boys Baker.   OH MY GOODNESS!  These were SO good!  Very rich, but the cream cheese just makes it so yummy!  Definitely a Delicous keeper.

So here's the recipie card for the Bryson Family Cookbook.

Let me know if you try them and what you think!

March 20, 2012 Picture of the Day: Before & After

Today's picture of the day is Before and After.

This picture was inspired by Zach.  I don't know what it is about this child, but he can not seem to go outside without coming back with half the dirt in Colorado in his shoes.  I don't know if it's because there is no grass here and everyone uses rocks and dirt for their yards, or if it's just Zach.  But we are building a bit of a dirt ramp in the backyard thanks to Zachary's shoes.

March 19, 2012 Picture of the Day: Funny

Today's picture is something "funny."

Yesterday Henry was on a snack kick.  He would come upstairs every 5 minutes and eat ANOTHER banana. Then he would go downstairs with some smart comment like "I'm a banana eating monster." "I'm so scary that little bananas check under their beds for me."  It was actually funny.

Today when he got home from school, he found this note from the bananas... "Don't Eat me Scary Banana Monster!"  Gave us a little chuckle on a busy day.

March 18, 2012 Picture of the Day: Corner of the House

I got this awesome new camera for Christmas.  I am so very excited about it.

I've been using it alot for pictures on my work blog, but I want to take more pictures of the kids and everyday life too. 

I've seen some neat ideas around the web where bloggers take one picture a day.  I thought I would give it a go.  Not sure it's going to totally happen since I'm usually running from 5 in the morning until I die at night...but I want to give it a go.

I'm not a very good photographer.  No where near the likes of Sherry or Amber, but I like to play...so here we go.

Today's picture is of a "corner in my house".

I took this picture because it's Josh's favorite corner.

He loves to build things on the game "Roblox".  It's essentially a Lego type game where you can build buildings and then play in them.  He's a bit of a pro at it, and I'm wondering if we are seeing an emerging architect.

This Pray sign is in one of my favorite corners.  We made these cute scrapbook letters at a church Enrichment night back in Terre Haute last year.  I didn't know where to put it in our new house so it kind of just found a home on accident.  It on a ledge at the top of the basement stairs.  You can see it every time you go upstairs...reminding the kids to pray.  (Do you think it's actually worked?)

Scouting, Snowboarding, and Stitches...oh my!

Josh got to go on his first Scout campout this past weekend.  Hank took off of work and took Henry and Josh up into the mountains to camp.

It was very beautiful..but very cold.

The temperature hoovered around 5 degrees all night and didn't provide for much sleep, but all the cold and snow made for a fun Saturday.

Josh has been asking to go snowboarding since the moment he found out we were moving to Colorado.  I kept pushing him off...I'm a wuss that way.

But someone brought a snowboard to the campout and he finally got to go.

I guess he did really good and had fun the first few times....

but then he got going too fast and hit a bump.

His knee hit his face, followed by a rock.

Followed by a 100 mile per hour trip to the hospital,

and 6 stitches later.

Up, Up, & Away!

This weekend I took Henry up to Boulder so he could participate in a USA Track & Field indoor meet at the University of Colorado.  It was our first experience and we learned a lot of things in doing it.  We got up at 4 in the morning and waited all day before he was able to High Jump at the meet.

It turned out it was almost the last event of the day and he was the oldest of the boys so they went last.  It made for a long day. 

By the time he actually got to jump, we were tired and hungry, but he did AMAZING.  His first time jumping in almost a year and in sweats, and he WON!  He jumped 5 feet 10 inches--tying his record of last year.  I am sure he could have jumped more, but was pretty worn out by then and had no competition.  He was that good.

We are SUPER proud of him and wanted to share one of his jumps!