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MOM • Kiss O' The Irish Print & Teen Kissing

3/13/2015

1 Comment

 
Happy St. Patrick's day next week. Don't let the Polynesian looks fool you - I'm Irish. And the part of me that's the most Irish is the kissing part. Yeah I like to kiss. Probably has a lot to do with the Boyfriend I kiss. But I digress. 

Since we're talking about kissing, some of my kids (they're 8 of them) have come to me in their teens and asked, "How old do you have to be to kiss?", "When is kissing alright?", or "Is kissing wrong?" That's such a loaded question for a parent!

On the one hand you don't want to encourage it, like it's all good, go ahead, kiss whoever you want. Then on the other hand you don't want to discourage it, make them all freaked out and repressed as if it's wrong. And sometimes kids just want to find out what their parent's are going to say just so they can do the opposite. But you're not sure when they're going to use that tactic. See the problem? So I've always handled it this way - with the truth.

I tell them kissing is fun. Very fun. That I really haven't met too many people who are just starting out on the relationship road say that kissing is boring. I tell them it's exciting. I tell them it drives a mix of emotions. I tell them it's meant to lead us to greater intimacy.  I tell them once you start you really don't want to stop. I tell them that it's very hard to go in reverse once you start. Lastly, I don't tell them when it's okay to kiss. I just say, "Put it off as long as possible." That's it. I put it back on them to decide. Risky I know. But to my surprise most of them have put it off much longer than... well never mind. My kids read my blog sometimes.
DIY St. Patrick's Day Print - Kiss O' The Irish
Okay, so we were talking about St. Patrick's day. See how sidetracked I get with the kissing stuff? Go get my gift Kiss O' The Irish print here. Then kiss someone. And then tell me how you've handled the kissing question in your family.
Shannon Christensen on LDS NEST
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MENTOR • How to make Service Message Youth Videos

10/9/2014

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Back in July we had Youth Conference. In that post I mentioned that we did service videos but couldn't share them because they weren't edited yet. Well, now they are! Our Stake had a premiere night to show them to the youth. We did a red "carpet", awards, paparazzi, and dressed up. Here are photos from that night.
DIY How to Make Service Message Youth Videos & Premiere Night
DIY How to Make Service Message Youth Videos & Premiere Night
Here's how we did our backdrop. 
RED CARPET • Red plastic table cloth on a roll
ROPE • Red cording by the yard, pvc pipe spray painted gold, mason jars filled with sand to hold them up
BACKDROP • (2) 4' x 8' masonite boards painted in chalkboard paint
ANGEL ICON • Cut a stencil, use yellow chalk to stencil the icon on
Here are the videos.
#LDSMakeYourMark  #ShareGoodness
#LDSRealMen  #ShareGoodness
#LDSTrueBeauty  #ShareGoodness
#LDSMusicMovesMe  #ShareGoodness
I was in charge of the overall project so I thought I'd share how we went about doing it incase you want to try. We did four for our stake but I would recommend doing one on a ward level.
1) Have a message that you want to share
2) Have some guidelines as adult leaders. These were some of ours
        • to use the youth as much as possible, especially in the video
        • have a point/message to it
        • have the youth part of something bigger than they are
        • done so it won't be lame :)
              (don't have youth speak or act much, keep it simple)
3) Have some conceptual idea how you want it to video tape it. Copy other's ideas with variation. For example
        • Make Your Mark was based on the video Flourish by 
           Dana Tanamachi-Williams
        • True Beauty & Real Men were based on this video An       
           Experiment in Words
(or 36 Smiles) from the Pleasant     
           Grove Utah Mount Mahogany Stake 4th Ward
        • Get approval of the concept summaries
4) Make a committee
         • Ours included Stake Youth (SYC youth), Stake YWYM Presidency       
          members, and Specialists
          • Have youth go over video concepts and make changes, suggestions, 
          and/or other ideas
          • Re-write concept summaries and get approval
5) Get Specialists. These had to be skill specific. Meaning they had to be 
            artistic, conceptual thinkers, or have video/editing skills. It would 
            have been nice to have all professionals but that's usually not the 
            case in the church for projects like this. This is a large project that  
            requires Approve and call specialists.
          • Make Your Mark - construction crew (chalkboard), design,  
            videographer, video editor
          • True Beauty - Materials, videographer, video editor
          • Real Men - Props, videographer, video editor
          • Music Moves Me - transportation, music, talent, videographer, 
           video editor
6) Meet together as a whole. There's a lot of moving parts/people here so the sooner you can meet all together the better. The truth is, this didn't happen for some groups until the morning of. 
7) Video tape. We used a 3 hour block of Youth Conference to video tape. Every group (approx 220 total youth) worked at the same time. Before taping, we had a speaker for each group (except Music) talk about the topic for 15 minutes to set the tone and share the idea. Video tapping was a one shot deal so we had 2-3 videographers for each video. 
8) Edit video. This is basically a one person job. This is where your conceptual idea has to have been communicated clearly since it's this person who will ultimately pick and choose what goes into the video. Some or parts of our videos didn't turn out the way the committee had intended. Communication is key but even then sometimes things just work out differently than planned. Stake YWYM leaders did an initial viewing with recommended changes.
9) Final Approval. Our Stake Presidency had final approval and recommendations before the youth viewed them. 
10) Be realist, gracious, and thankful. Remember we all do this for free. Usually we don't actually know what we're doing. Being realist (for the planned and unplanned), gracious (accepting what people can/can't do), and thankful (that it came together at all) to all who help.
This video project was out of a lot of youth and leader's comfort zones. It's hard to say how things you've never done will turn out. The uncertainty adds anxiety. Hopefully these steps will help keep the stress level low. This is a project that I would do again.

I think this is a new face for service. It's not the traditional shovels and rags but a lot of work nonetheless. Which translated into 15,000 Facebook views for about the first week. Not bad for a bunch of mostly amateurs.
One last thing - CELEBRATE at a Premiere Night.
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MESSENGERS • Service Message Videos for Youth Conference

7/20/2014

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Here are a couple of photos from our Stake's Youth Conference the last couple of days. This first one is of Wade (son and brother) and his t-shirt design. He did it himself and you can read more about it here. Love this kid.
Wade Christensen Youth Conference T-shirt Design
Wade and his Youth Conference T-shirt Design
Second is a photo from one of our service projects. I don't know about your stake but our youth are super fast at service projects and we often have a hard time finding something that will fit our 3 hour time frame that involves our 200 youth. (If you have any good ideas, share them with us below.) This year our stake decided to broaden our service project vision. We did the filming for 4 Service Message Videos at youth conference. One of the videos involves this 24' x 8' chalkboard near our stake center and Kansas City Temple.
Liberty Missouri Stake Youth Conference  Service Message Video Preview Shot #ldsmakeyourmark  #ldsmusicmovesme  #ldstruebeauty  #ldsrealmen
Liberty Missouri Stake Youth Conference Service Message Video Preview Shot #ldsmakeyourmark
I think this video (#ldsmakeyourmark) had about 75 youth with scriptures that inspired them and their testimonies. The other videos involve music (#ldsmakeyourmark), beauty (#ldstruebeauty) and manhood (#ldsrealmen). I'm not going to say much more about it. Except I'm very excited about them (though there was a lot of uncertainty in the project until we did it) and to share them with you. You'll have to watch for the videos in September.

What do you think of our Service Message Videos idea?
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PS You might even see one of Alisha's boys - my grandson - in one of them.
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MORALIST • FHE & YW Knowledge #7 Let's Go Get Our Emergency Kit

4/28/2014

10 Comments

 
Extreme weather storms are going through parts of the US right now causing disaster in its wake. It makes me think of this FHE lesson - Let's Go Get Our Emergency Kit we've done in the past. It has scriptures that tie into things needed in an emergency kit. I've included an outline for FHE too. It might be a useful FHE to do this month.
FHE & YW Knowledge #7• Let's Go Get Our Emergency Kit • LDSNEST.com
CLICK ON THE IMAGE ABOVE FOR DOWNLOAD PAGE
I've also included a YW Personal Progress Activity for Knowledge #7. It can be done on a mutual night and then the girls can go home and give the FHE lesson to their families as part of it.
FHE & YW Knowledge #7• Let's Go Get Our Emergency Kit • LDSNEST.com
CLICK ON THE IMAGE ABOVE TO DOWNLOAD PAGE
This doesn't stop the storms but it gives a sense of peace, especially for children. They don't feel so helpless. And even if everything including emergency kits or food storage are destroyed we can go to the Lord in confidence, asking for mercy, knowing we did all that we could. I hope none of us are effected and that we can serve those who are. Be safe.
Shannon Christensen for LDS NEST
10 Comments

February Come, Follow Me Handouts

2/8/2014

3 Comments

 
Come, Follow Me handouts for February from LDS NEST #ldsyw #lds #ldsnest Treat your body like a temple
Handouts for "Why should I treat my body like a temple?" You can download both versions here. 
Come, Follow Me handouts for February from LDS NEST #ldsyw #lds #ldsnest Treat your body like a temple
Come, Follow Me handouts for February from LDS NEST #ldsyw #lds #ldsnest Treat your body like a temple
Come, Follow Me handouts for February from LDS NEST #ldsyw #lds #ldsnest Treat your body like a temple
Come, Follow Me handouts for February from LDS NEST #ldsyw #lds #ldsnest Treat your body like a temple
Check out our other handouts for this month here. Come back next week for more! Say, "Thanks!" by pinning, sharing, or tweeting! 
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Come, Follow Me LDS handouts for December

11/29/2013

2 Comments

 
Come, Follow Me LDS handouts for Young Women from LDS NEST #lds #ldsyw #ldsnest
The last month of the year is almost upon us! Here are young women handouts for Come, Follow Me in December. I hope you've found our previous handouts useful!
Handouts for "What does it mean to 'stand as witnesses of God'"? You can download them here. PDF version available here.
Come, Follow Me LDS handouts for Young Women from LDS NEST #lds #ldsyw #ldsnest
Come, Follow Me LDS handouts for Young Women from LDS NEST #lds #ldsyw #ldsnest
Come, Follow Me LDS handouts for Young Women from LDS NEST #lds #ldsyw #ldsnest
Come, Follow Me LDS handouts for Young Women from LDS NEST #lds #ldsyw #ldsnest
Handouts for "What is Zion?"  You can download them here. PDF version available here. 

OPTIONAL CLASS ACTIVITY

Purpose: to build unity within the young women.

What you'll need: 
  • paper
  • package of crayons 

Bring a full sheet of paper to class with each girl's name across the top. Have each girl choose a color they love from the crayons. Have them go quietly to each person's paper and write something sincere and meaningful that they admire in that girl. 
Come, Follow Me LDS handouts for Young Women from LDS NEST #lds #ldsyw #ldsnest
Come, Follow Me LDS handouts for Young Women from LDS NEST #lds #ldsyw #ldsnest
Handouts for "How can I prepare to establish a Christ-centered home?"  You can download them here. PDF version available here. 
Come, Follow Me LDS handouts for Young Women from LDS NEST #lds #ldsyw #ldsnest
Come, Follow Me LDS handouts for Young Women from LDS NEST #lds #ldsyw #ldsnest
Handouts for "How can I help my less-active friends return to church?" You can download them here. PDF version available here. 
Come, Follow Me LDS handouts for Young Women from LDS NEST #lds #ldsyw #ldsnest
Come, Follow Me LDS handouts for Young Women from LDS NEST #lds #ldsyw #ldsnest
I apologize that there aren't as many to choose from this month! I may or may not be making more before the holidays come! Thanks for coming by, and feel free to share these and our other handouts with your friends!
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Come, Follow Me LDS Handouts for October

10/16/2013

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Free handouts from LDS Nest for Come, Follow Me in October #lds #ldsnest #ldsyw #ldsideas
Here are some handouts for your classes from October's Come, Follow Me "Why is it important to be grateful?" You can also use the journal cards found here that I made for my aunt's Relief Society activity. You can download all of the cards for this lesson outline here or click on the images and "save as". Handouts are 4x5 so you can fit 4 on a page. Print on card-stock and you are good to go!
Free handouts from LDS Nest for Come, Follow Me in October #lds #ldsnest #ldsyw #ldsideas
Free handouts from LDS Nest for Come, Follow Me in October #lds #ldsnest #ldsyw #ldsideas
Free handouts from LDS Nest for Come, Follow Me in October #lds #ldsnest #ldsyw #ldsideas
Free handouts from LDS Nest for Come, Follow Me in October #lds #ldsnest #ldsyw #ldsideas
These are mini 3x2 cards to be used throughout the week. Print them on card-stock and have the girls take a few to write down the blessings they see throughout the week. Again, here is the link to download them.
Free handouts from LDS Nest for Come, Follow Me in October #lds #ldsnest #ldsyw #ldsideas
Free handouts from LDS Nest for Come, Follow Me in October #lds #ldsnest #ldsyw #ldsideas
Free handouts from LDS Nest for Come, Follow Me in October #lds #ldsnest #ldsyw #ldsideas
Free handouts from LDS Nest for Come, Follow Me in October #lds #ldsnest #ldsyw #ldsideas
Are these helpful in your lessons? Comment and let us know! 
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MESSENGER: How Do I Guard My Virtue? Come, Follow Me Printables

9/19/2013

5 Comments

 
Free journal cards and handouts from LDS Nest for Come, Follow Me; How can I guard my virtue? <3
Hello Nestie friends! Have you signed up for our blog updates? If you haven't, do it! (look in the sidebar) so you don't miss out on free stuff like this every week. These journal cards and handouts are for "How do I guard my virtue?" if you haven't covered that section yet. As always, click and save the images to print out on your own, or click here to download. 
{journal cards 4x6}
Free journal cards and handouts from LDS Nest for Come, Follow Me; How can I guard my virtue? <3
Free journal cards and handouts from LDS Nest for Come, Follow Me; How can I guard my virtue? <3
{handouts 3x4/4x3}
Free journal cards and handouts from LDS Nest for Come, Follow Me; How can I guard my virtue? <3
Free journal cards and handouts from LDS Nest for Come, Follow Me; How can I guard my virtue? <3
Free journal cards and handouts from LDS Nest for Come, Follow Me; How can I guard my virtue? <3
Free journal cards and handouts from LDS Nest for Come, Follow Me; How can I guard my virtue? <3
Free journal cards and handouts from LDS Nest for Come, Follow Me; How can I guard my virtue? <3
Let us know if you download these! Feel free to pin and share with your friends!
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5 Comments

Messenger: Come, Follow Me Young Women Handout September

9/10/2013

2 Comments

 
Free download! Come, Follow Me handouts from LDS NEST. Free download! <3 #youngwomen #ldsyw #ywideas
Come, Follow Me this month focuses on "commandments". I came across this scripture while planning my talk for this Sunday: 
Come, Follow Me handouts from LDS NEST. Free download! <3 #youngwomen #ldsyw #ywideas
"...choose ye this day, to serve the Lord God who made you." {Moses 6:33}. I love it! It just really spoke to me. So I made some handout for you to use in your classes, going along with the theme of "How Can I be in the World but not of the world?" Just click on the images and "save as", or click here to download all.
Come, Follow Me handouts from LDS NEST. Free download! <3 #youngwomen #ldsyw #ywideas
Bloom where you are planted. Make any place a holy place. Come, Follow Me handouts for Young Women from LDS Nest. Free download! #LDS #LDSYW #LDSNEST #YWIDEAS
Come, Follow Me handouts for Young Women from LDS Nest. Free download! #LDS #LDSYW #LDSNEST #YWIDEAS
Come, Follow Me handouts for Young Women from LDS Nest. Free download! #LDS #LDSYW #LDSNEST #YWIDEAS
Come, Follow Me handouts from LDS NEST. Free download! <3 #youngwomen #ldsyw #ywideas
{Journal Cards}
Come, Follow Me handouts from LDS NEST. Free download! <3 #youngwomen #ldsyw #ywideas
Come, Follow Me handouts from LDS NEST. Free download! <3 #youngwomen #ldsyw #ywideas
Come, Follow Me handouts from LDS NEST. Free download! <3 #youngwomen #ldsyw #ywideas
Come, Follow Me handouts for Young Women from LDS Nest. Free download! #LDS #LDSYW #LDSNEST #YWIDEAS
Let us know if you use them in your classes and if they were helpful for you! 
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PS. You can get more products like phone cases, cards, and pillows here.
2 Comments

MORALIST • How Do You Teach Fasting?

6/2/2013

4 Comments

 
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Some people really get fasting. I don't think I'm one of them. I do it, just not to the depth that the principle can go. I'm working in the right direction though and I'm happy with that. 

Teaching kids about fasting is even harder than teaching yourself. We usually start to prep our kids at 7 and give them the option to fast. They start with us but have difficulty keeping at it all day but the pressure is off so they don't feel guilty when they don't make it. They're practicing. Then by 8 they've gotten a feel for fasting and know it's time to go all day. 

One of my daughters was complaining of headaches every fast Sunday until I reminded her to hydrate herself on Saturday in preparation for fasting. Some of the others I've told to go say a prayer when they get especially hungry. 

So, what do you say to kids to help them with fasting? What tips work for you? We like ideas. Please share. 
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4 Comments

Mentor • Interactive Personal Progress Training 

4/30/2013

16 Comments

 
This weekend I did some Personal Progress training. I decided to try and make it a little interesting and came up with this graphic art for the presentation. Since my hard drive died a month ago I've gotten new software that makes interactive PDFs a breeze to make. So I thought to myself, self, you could do an interactive personal progress pdf. And that's what I did. 
LDS NEST • INTERACTIVE PERSONAL PROGRESS PDF
CLICK ON IMAGE TO DOWNLOAD

If you click on the word(s) it should take you to information about the topic. Some sections are general and you may have to scroll to find the answer, others are more specific. It doesn't contain all that there is to know about Personal Progress but it's a basic overview. Even if you're not a young woman or in YW (maybe you're a parent or aunt) this will help explain the program to you. 

Hope this improves your day in some way. All we ask is that you tell us that you downloaded it below. 
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16 Comments

Spotlight Traditions • Long Distance

3/29/2013

0 Comments

 
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We introduced SPOTLIGHTS in our Newsletter & Notes for April. It's a great family tradition. This is one way we put it into practice for our Marine son.

One night when we were on our way to get a treat for FHE we did SPOTLIGHT in the car. We had the time and included everyone. Our son happened to text me while we were traveling. I decided that we need to do SPOTLIGHT for him. It was really nice to include him even though there's such a distance between us. 

Just after texting SPOTLIGHT with Reece one of our daughters called. I told her what we'd just done with her brother and she said she wanted to do it with us too. So we did SPOTLIGHT with her, everyone saying something about her. But, I found out what she really wanted to do was to say something nice about everyone else. Which she did. 

It was such a great way to connect with a couple of our kids. We've been doing SPOTLIGHT for many years and there's just something about sharing things you like about each other. If done right (tips in the Newsletter) then it just makes you feel the love. Whether your giving or receiving. 
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