family

How a Mission Transforms Lives

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On ldsunplugged, we are challenged to become ‘Weekend Warrior’s’, unplugging from the world replacing worldly media; entertainment; and music with wholesome activities and recreation.   Would you be willing and able to take on and commit to a ’18-month’ or even a ’24-month’ challenge??...

Well, this is what’s asked of thousands of young adults from the age of 18 to 25.   These young adults, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, are ‘called to serve’ as missionaries for a period of 18 months to 24 months.   Once set apart as a missionary, they are given certain conduct standards, one of them specifically related to entertainment.

“Oh ye that embark in the service of God, see that ye serve him with all your heart, might, mind and strength, that ye may stand blameless before God at the last day… And faith, hope, charity and love, with an ey single to the glory of God, qualify him for the work”  (D&C 4:2,5)

This conduct standard is one of my favorites, yet one of the most difficult standards for today’s young adults to follow.   I, from personal experience, know first hand how in order to keep your eye single to the Lord and His work while serving a mission, know how important it is to avoid all forms of worldly entertainment.

Missionary’s, like my neice who recently returned from serving a proselyting mission, are asked to not watch television, go to movies, listen to the radio, or surf the web while on their mission.   They are asked to listen only to music that is consistent with the sacred spirit of their calling.   They are not authorized to have a personal computer nor have use of any computer or electronic games while they are serving the Lord.

You may think this is crazy thinking and impossible feet to accomplish, yet ask the thousands of missionaries around the world who have accepted this challenge of being unplugged from the world to work on a service greater than many on this earth will ever understand.  They will first hand tell you how difficult it is, yet at the same time how rewarding the fruits of their labors are.

With the permission of my niece, I wanted to share final thoughts she had as she returned from her mission:

I am SO grateful for my decision to serve a mission. It really has changed my life forever!! I am a different person from when I started my mission!!

Growing up, I always went to church but I never had deep roots in the church. I only read the Book of Mormon once through (didn’t understand much), never have read the Bible, and my relationship with Heavenly Father was pretty superficial. In the mission I have been able to grow in my conversion and deepen my understanding of this gospel!! The church is trueeeee!!!!! Heavenly Father loves us more than we know. He has made a beautiful plan for each of us. We have a purpose on this earth and through promises with Him we can be with our families forever!!

Why did I decide to serve a mission? Well to be honest, I never wanted to go. I wasn’t very spiritual and did not think it was in my plans. After a humanitarian trip, I decided to pray to know if the Lord would have me serve a mission. As I was finishing the Book of Mormon I read in

Moroni 8:2:

2 My beloved son (daughter), Moroni (Kennedy), I rejoice exceedingly that your Lord Jesus Christ hath been mindful of you, and hath called you to his ministry, and to his holy work.

I felt so strongly that Heavenly Father was speaking to me at that moment and that I needed to go on a mission!! It was not an easy process. I had to be patient and exercise my faith, but I received my mission call!!

My experience in Chile has been full of JOY!! I have met SO many wonderful people, helped others learn about God, and see how the gospel is applied in a lot of families!!

I have worked in a lot of imperfect wards with imperfect people, but I have learned that the reason we go to church is to remember Jesus Christ!! He is the center of everything we do, and I have come to know Him here in Chile. I’m thankful for the miracles that I see every day. I know God is preparing His people for a temple here.

My mission has helped me decide the kind of life I want to live as an adult and when I have my own family!! There is security in the gospel, and I want to be an active member and not a passive one!!

I know I’m not going to be perfect when I go home, but I know that I’m on the right path.

Thank you to everyone supporting me!! I hope that you have felt inspired to strengthen your own testimonies!! I wanted to end with this scripture in the Book of Mormon.

Jacob 5: 71-72:

71 And the Lord of the vineyard said unto them: Go to, and labor in the vineyard, with your might. For behold, this is the last time that I shall nourish my vineyard; for the end is nigh at hand, and the season speedily cometh; and if ye labor with your might with me ye shall have joy in the fruit which I shall lay up unto myself against the time which will soon come.

72 And it came to pass that the servants did go and labor with their mights; and the Lord of the vineyard labored also with them; and they did obey the commandments of the Lord of the vineyard in all things.

I’m thankful to have contributed my small part in the greatest cause on earth!! I love you alllll!! So, so grateful for all of you and will see you soon! 💗

♡/Hermana Ainsworth  

So, when you tell yourself, it’s impossible for me to ‘unplug’ from the world for a short period of time, think of the thousands of young adults who have not only ‘unplugged’ from worldly entertainment, they have ‘plugged in’ to their spirituality and are building relationships that will last through the eternities!

Lets have some Fun!

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“Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities.“

The statement above, included in The Family: A Proclamation to the World, gives guidance on how marriages and families can be successful. The principles shared seem to be practical and a given in theological standards, yet where in the world did ‘wholesome recreational activities’ come from? You mean marriages and families need to have recreation in their lives in order to be successful? The answer, is a resounding YES! Now, it’s inspired that preceding recreational activities, we find the word ‘wholesome’. Ah, blasted, that seems like a word that takes away all the ‘fun’ in the recommendation, yet when you really dive into what the word means, you’ll find that it means to be good for one’s health and well-being. Whew! That’s a good thing, ‘fun’ back in the equation!

This morning, as I was thinking about this blog post, I decided to do the following search “what are some wholesome recreational activities to do” and to my astonishment about 19,800,000 results popped up! Almost 20 million! Needless to say, we live in a world full of activities to fill our needs and desires. Here’s a quick snippet of a few activities that popped up from my search:

Snippet from Google Search Engine

What’s interesting to me is that all of the activities listed above do not include any technology, no computers, no phones, no digital tablets, etc. You see, as I have learned, and as has been stated in many books, Our free time should be used wisely to create the best possible life, to promote individual growth and strengthen families... In general, we spend an inordinate amount of time with electronic media and, as a result, become disconnected from one another… Wholesome family recreation can help us strengthen our relationships and reduce negative emotional and spiritual consequences. Wholesome recreation strengthens families (Eds., Hawkins, et al. 2020, p. 225).

One of my favorite things to do during my free time is looking through old photos. I reminisce on the activities with my current family as well as the activities when I was growing up. I remember and cherish the moments of time in my life when I was young when my family would go out on camping trips, host parties, play board games (monopoly and dominos being a family favorite), cook together, dance together, work on the yard together. All good wholesome things that brought us closer together. And it’s those memories and activities that sparked and ignited the ideas of the activities that I now enjoy and cherish with my own family.

Let us all commit today to search and find the activities that interest you and your family the most, plan them out doing things that will bring you together and create lasting memories, and lastly and most importantly, Have Fun! It doesn’t take much to find joy in the simple things in life and what better way to create joy than by doing things with those with whom you love.

References

Eds., A.J.H.D.C.D.T.W. D. (2020). Successful Marriages and Families: Proclamation Principles and Research Perspectives. BYU Bookstore Publishing Services. https://online.vitalsource.com/books/9780842528030

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (1995). The Family: A Proclamation to the World. https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/the-family-a-proclamation-to-the-world/the-family-a-proclamation-to-the-world?lang=eng

First Comes Love… Then Comes Marriage…

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Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Then comes baby in a baby carriage!!

This month, my youngest child celebrated another birthday. As I gave him a hug and patted his bum the amount of times of his age (a tradition from his first birthday) I reflected on how quickly the years have gone by and thought about how it felt like it was just yesterday that I was holding him in my arms, cradling him to sleep.

How fast time seems to slip by and how I am in awe sometimes as to how I and my lovely wife made it through our children being babies, to being toddlers, to children, teenagers, and now young adults! I reflect on the good times, focusing on our successes and reminiscing on the failures and learning experiences we had in raising our children.

For those who are looking for counsel as to how to be more successful in your parenting endeavors, I would say, read, re-read, and read again,  The Family: A Proclamation to the World. It is in this proclamation, that you will find the secret nuggets of wisdom which will guide you and give you the roadmap on how to be successful. One of my ‘ah ha’ excerpts from this guide is how it states that Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness. What a profound statement!

How does one raise their children in love and righteousness? Well, there are so many opinions out there, yet for what I have found, following the counsel given in the book Successful Marriages and Families: Proclamation Principles and Research Perspectives, edited by Alan J. Hawkins, David C. Dollahite, and Thomas W. Draper (2020) and learning the Authoritative Parenting Style you will be just that, successful! I really like how the book talks about ‘Love, Limits, and Latitude in Parenting’. Check out the following excerpts:

“The first of the three characteristics of authoritative parenting is Love, or connection. Brigham Young counseled, “Kind looks, kind actions, kind words, and a lovely, holy deportment toward them will bind our children to us with bands that cannot easily be broken; while abuse and unkindness will drive them from us.” Prophetic statements such as these, supported by research, suggest that warm and responsive parenting tends to promote lasting bonds between parents and children and “felt security” within children.” (Eds., Hawkins, et al. 2020, p. 108).

“The second element of authoritative parenting is Limits, known in the scholarly literature as regulation. Finding ways to effectively help children learn how to regulate their own behavior in noncoercive ways is one of the most challenging parts of authoritative parenting. Determining how and when to tighten or loosen the reins requires considerable creativity, effort, and inspiration.” (Eds., Hawkins, et al. 2020, p. 109).

“The third component of authoritative parenting is Latitude, or autonomy. Children benefit from being given choices and appropriate levels of latitude to make their own decisions in a variety of domains. Children learn and grow by learning how to make choices within limits that are acceptable to parents.” (Eds., Hawkins, et al. 2020, p. 112).

As babies come into our lives, we become parents, and I feel that as we become parents, we naturally learn how to love our children; we naturally set limits with our children; and I would even say we naturally learn how to give our children the autonomy needed to become who they are meant to become. We need to have faith in knowing that God will direct us, guide us, and lead us to knowing exactly how best to parent our children. In the premortal existence, we were born from a loving Father and Mother and I firmly believe that our heavenly parents taught us about our divine destiny, one of the most divine callings being that of being a parent. Let us remember this and give the best that we can in loving the children that are given to us to raise in love in righteousness.

References

Eds., A.J.H.D.C.D.T.W. D. (2020). Successful Marriages and Families: Proclamation Principles and Research Perspectives. BYU Bookstore Publishing Services. https://online.vitalsource.com/books/9780842528030

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (1995). The Family: A Proclamation to the World. https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/the-family-a-proclamation-to-the-world/the-family-a-proclamation-to-the-world?lang=eng