Christmas in March, Parenting and Family History!

Thank you, Familia, por el paquete increible (for the incredible package)! I was in awe of the craftsmanship and creativity. When I opened it, I was filled with a surge of warm homey-ness. It was perfect. I think I am going to keep the box. Jenna, your picture made me laugh and laugh. Your drawing is excellent.

Happy Birthday to Hermana Oaxaca!

​Picture to the left: L to R: Hermana Wilson, Hermana, Castro, Hermana Oaxaca, and Lia) in the home of the Familia Mull. The Pastel (cake) was made by Hermana Mildred.

Social and Doctrinal Commentaries on Parenting  

by the Non-Parent
Hermana Ludlam

There is a lot of "hands-off" parenting here, and I've been thinking a lot of how so many people say "It's not fair that I tell my child what to think or what to believe, I let them make their own choices."

That would work very well if living life was a neutral situation. BUT IT'S NOT. There's an opposing team, too, and that team is NOT passive at all. The adversary is CONSTANTLY bombarding people with what to think and what to believe. If you don't teach your children absolute principles, you're not liberating them, you're leaving them defenseless. They're going to be indoctrinated regardless-- but you can beat the adversary to it if you indoctrinate in childhood with TRUTH!

Of course, you would have to know for yourself what that truth is-- you can't know the best things to teach your children if you've never investigated what really is the best. Good thing Truth is discernible. Good thing God knows what Truth is.

​ If you don't know what religion, what morals, or what ideals to teach to your children, do a study (I would suggest visiting with your local missionaries) and then ask God if He agrees with you and then teach it to your kids even though they aren't going to like it. That is Love!

I was reading an awesome article in this month's Liahona (church magazine in South America, etc) about agency and what the plan of Satan really is. I had always wondered where it says in scripture that Satan's plan was to force us to be saved. It doesn't!  It said he would have "destroyed the agency of man." Thus Satan's plan was not an alternative option for obtaining salvation, by force instead of by choice. It was a LIE-- His plan never would have worked! In the article it talked how his plan was probably to award salvation regardless of merit, or to remove the absolute consequences of sin. And like Elder Christofferson said in April 2014 Conference (read or watch here), taking away absolute truth would destroy agency, because we could never intend the future consequences of our actions.

I LOVE MODERN REVELATION. IT ALWAYS COMES AT THE RIGHT TIME.

I really liked the visual design of the Liahona this month, too, kudos to the design people. (See here)

I have a family history story. Hermana Oaxaca and I were on a bus, and the last person got off and so it was just us and the driver. So I moved up to the seat behind the driver and started talking to him, and steered the conversation towards family history. He got really into it. I pulled out my personal "Mi Familia" folleto (booklet) just to flip through the pages for him, but he takes it and then STOPS THE BUS in the middle of the highway u-turn, blocking the entrance, for a good five minutes and reads through it ALL, asking me questions. (He looked at the picture of Mum and said, "She is very beautiful."). Datos conseguidos, jiji. (they are going to go visit this gentleman)

Sincerely in love with Family History (and my living Family, too),

Hermana Ludlam