MORALITY
 
What does it mean to be ‘morally clean’?  Do our youth really understand what that means?  They feel like if they haven’t had intercourse they are morally clean.  Our children get this stuff in their lives from TV, the world.  They become desensitized to what is right or wrong.  The world will never teach them specifics.  Some bishops are really good talking to youth and some have a really hard time. We need to teach these things with real intent. 
 
In teaching it we don’t want to teach to the dark side.  We don’t want to create curiosity in their mind about what it is.  We want to focus on the light.   When our kids are involved in any of this the thing that heals them is to bring them to the light.  Light and darkness cannot be in the same place.  We need to teach on a foundation of light.  We need to teach correct doctrine.
 
What is the doctrine we are teaching? We should start teaching morality about age 2.  The plan of salvation is the doctrine.  You had gender before.  It’s where you are going.  Inside that is the doctrine of the family.  In teaching this doctrine we teach the ‘why’ instead of a list of rules.  If we can get them to internalize the doctrine of the plan of salvation their testimony of the light will keep them in the light.  The foundation is to help them from a very young age.  We really need to teach this in the young years. 
 
Top & Chadwick---what are those things that most prevent kids from getting into bad stuff.  They did a study.  It was the religiousity of the family and the relationship of the child with the parents. 
 
You need to have a Christ centered home.  It’s who you are.  Also need that close relationship with the individual child.  We’ve talked about all the tools to build these things.  Having family dinners together helps keep them from getting into bad stuff. 
 
Don’t teach this to your children out of fear!  Teach it out of strong testimony of the doctrine.  We need to put the protection in our homes.  It’s not as fear.  We want to stand as a warrior and be armed.  The filters are armor.  You do it out of conviction and testimony.  If you do it out of fear they will feel that fear.  They read that ‘you expect me to get in trouble.’
 
Heavenly Father ALWAYS gives us a commandment and will tell us how to do it.  He has given us a hand book, but we don’t always use it.  I’m talking about establishing a home that is a fortress.  This is preparing the Nephites before they went to war.  You are preparing your Stripling Warriors before they go to battle with Moroni.
 
My Gospel Standards---This is the child’s version of the For The Strength of Youth.

• I will follow Heavenly Father’s plan for me.
• I will remember my baptismal covenant and listen to the Holy Ghost.
• I will choose the right. I know I can repent when I make a mistake.
• I will be honest with Heavenly Father, others, and myself.
• I will use the names of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ reverently. I will not swear or use crude words.
• I will do those things on the Sabbath that will help me feel close to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.
• I will honor my parents and do my part to strengthen my family.
• I will keep my mind and body sacred and pure, and I will not partake of things that are harmful to me.
• I will dress modestly to show respect for Heavenly Father and myself.
• I will only read and watch things that are pleasing to Heavenly Father.
• I will only listen to music that is pleasing to Heavenly Father.
• I will seek good friends and treat others kindly.
• I will live now to be worthy to go to the temple and do my part to have an eternal family.

 
This has to be an active part of the family.  If we talk about a movie what are we going to evaluate it against….Gospel Standards & For Strength of Youth (FSOY).
 
My son was teaching early morning seminary.  There was a movie that came out that was very popular movie as well as the book.  Mothers and daughters were doing it together, reading the books & then watching the movies.  FSOY says, “Do not attend, view, or participate in anything that is vulgar, immoral, violent, or pornographic in any way. Do not participate in anything that presents immorality or violence as acceptable.” Read the review of Twightlight. 
 
If you read the book does it make it right?  Just because everyone is reading it doesn’t mean that it is acceptable to the Lord. 
 
I have a son who is a bishop in a very active place.  He said 100% of his youth have been involved with pornography.  That doesn’t mean they are all addicted.  They have been involved and seen it.  Those that are strong turn away from it.  Those that are curious or haven’t been taught get sucked in more.  The age it starts is about 9. 
 
We can’t live in a bubble and think our kids aren’t being exposed. 
 
What is a definition of morality?  We think it is being chaste, pornography, etc.  We need to teach on the positive.  Morality is a feeling of reverence and respect for sacred things.  That includes the body, the temple, the church house, sacred moments in sacrament meeting.  Morality is a feeling of reverence and respect.  That is lacking in a lot of our homes and families where we are. 
 
LDS.orgàOvercoming pornography.orgàClick on resourcesàFHE.  There are 5 FHE lessons created by the church as a preventative beginning to help teach our children.  FHE Lessons
 
Class member:  Our Stake President just got up and told us about these resources. 
 
FHE is a good place to teach the family.  You must have specific questions as your children get older at PPI’s.  The bishop shouldn’t be the one that says, “Are you in pornography?”  The parents should be doing it. 
 
You feel like you are invading your children’s privacy.  Your kids will say, “Don’t you trust me?”  No, I don’t trust the world.  You have the right to declare before your Father in Heaven to declare that they are clean.  This process will go on until they die.  You declare your worthiness in your temple recommend interview. 
 
I want you to know and remember in my era it was ‘Have you had “the talk” with your kids?’  It can’t be a one time thing.  You need to have a one time thing, but then you need to have these talks often. 
 
Electronics (Andrea Hansen)
 
Sister Tanner has talked a lot about “Intentional Parenting”.  My question to you is this… “What is your reason behind putting a filter on your kid’s phone and/or internet?” I have had people close to me tell me that I am WAY too strict and shelter my children too much.  I started to question myself.  Maybe I was too strict in what we allowed and didn’t allow.  Maybe I was too strict with the limited time we allowed them screen time.  Maybe I should ‘trust’ my kids more.  I drove myself crazy for awhile going back and forth.  I finally decided after a lot of prayer and time in the temple and thinking and talking with my husband that what some people consider ‘too strict’ was ok with me.  What we do in our home is what we feel necessary to protect our children. 
 
If you lived right next to a busy road would you leave your front door unlocked and allow your 4 year old child to run around in the front yard by the road  without being right there?  For me the answer is absolutely not!  You would first sit down with them and explain the dangers that were there (the cars go too fast, you are too little they can’t see you, you could get hurt).  Then you would talk about safety precautions that they should take (never go out front by the road without an adult, never chase a ball in the road, watch for danger, listen for cars, pay attention to everything around you).  Then you would make sure your front door was locked and the gate to your yard was closed.  You would be sure that you were in the front yard with them watching them very carefully the entire time they were out there.  You wouldn’t turn your back on them or talk on the phone or be distracted by other things.  But, you also wouldn’t keep them locked in the house and never allow them outside.  There are too many things they would miss. 
 
I think we should treat the internet the very same way. 
 
President Hinckley said this, “You are the guardians of the hearth. You are the bearers of the children. You are they who nurture them and establish within them the habits of their lives. No other work reaches so close to divinity as does the nurturing of the sons and daughters of God. May you be strengthened for the challenges of the day. May you be endowed with wisdom beyond your own in dealing with the problems you constantly face. May your prayers and your pleadings be answered with blessings upon your heads and upon the heads of your loved ones.”  (Given at the same time he read the Family Proclamation)
 
So the first thing to do is to teach your children about the internet.  What they can and can’t do.  What they should and shouldn’t do.  Some things we have done….

• Teach them how to search online for relevant information..  How to look at the search results that pop up and decide which ones would be good ones to look at that are reliable sources.  Teach them to read 2 or 3 different sites to see if the information sounds the same from the different results. 
• Teach them how to search for images online to add to reports or power point presentations.  Make sure that they know all the pictures that show up in the results are not good ones.  Never go past the 2nd page when you are scrolling through picture results.  The images get worse the farther down the page you go. 
• Teach them to look up reviews on books they are wanting to read before they read them.  I use www.goodreads.com.  This allows you to see the books you have read and rate them.  It allows you to track the books that you own.  After you have rated 20 books it will give you suggestions of other books you might like based on things you have already read.  There is a synopsis, review and comments for most books listed.
• Teach them to look up review on movies they want to see.  I use www.commonsensemedia.org.  This website shows what ages the movie would be good for.  It has a section called “What Parents Need To Know” It lists things like “Educational Value”, “Positive Messages”, “Positive Role Models”, “Violence and Scariness”, “Sexy Stuff”, “Language”, “Consumerism”, and “Drugs, drinking, and Smoking”.  It rates the movie in each category and give very specific details about what kinds of words are contained in the movies, is there kissing, how scary is the movie.  It also has a “What families can talk about” section.  It gives you lots of suggestions of things to discuss with your kids.  Lots of questions to ask to get a conversation going about a movie.
  • This website also has the same type of thing for books, TV, games, apps, and websites.  I haven’t used it for any of those. 
  • If you want to see how your values stack up against what “Commonsensemedia” says go look at the reviews for several movies that you have seen recently.  Do some of the Disney cartoons, do some of the other and see if their opinions closely match yours.  I did this with about 10 shows before I would really trust that ‘most’ of what they say in the review I agree with.  I still don’t always agree with what they consider ‘age appropriate’, but otherwise they have been pretty right on with everything.
• Use the Boy Scouts “Cyber Chip” program.  It walks the boys through what is appropriate at different ages.  Really good information there.  http://www.scouting.org/cyberchip.aspx
• Order the “Protecteens” Program from the Idaho Attorney General’s Office.  Lots of links to videos, things to talk about, safety, cyber bullying, sexting, etc.  They sent me a CD and a packet of info.  http://www.ag.idaho.gov/internetSafety/protecTeens.html
  • Teach your children not to post pictures on Facebook with the Location “On”.  Most pictures that you take on your phone or any digital picture saves the ‘GPS’ of where the photo was taken right down to the room in your home.
  • Don’t post about traveling while you are on your trip.  It leaves your home vulnerable to theft.  Post pictures and things about your trip after you return home.
  • Don’t use full names of your kids in your posts online.  Use the first initial of their name instead.
  • Don’t post pictures that have ‘identifiable’ things like school mascots, or school names
  • Don’t answer ‘all about me’ quizzes
  • Ask permission before you post and/or tag others in photos
  • Never give out personal information
  • Never enter a chat room that parents don’t approve of.
  • If you wouldn’t put your real name on a comment you don’t post the comment.
  • Never plan to meet up with anyone you have met and are ‘friends’ with online.
• If you don’t understand the abbreviations that kids are using in texts and online look them up at http://www.urbandictionary.com/
• Www.lyrics.com for the lyrics to songs.

 
Cell Phones/Electronic Devices:

• Search on Google for “Worst Apps for Teens” or “Apps Parents Should Know About”.  Check these often.  Check your kids tablets and phones for them.—SnapChat, Audio Manager (hides photos), Calculator% (hides photos & files), Vaulty (online storage, password protected, takes photo of anyone that puts a wrong password in), Burn Note (deletes messages after a period of time), Omegle (chat with random strangers), Tinder (app for hooking up), Blendr (meet new people through GPS), Kik Messenger (videos, photos, messages, etc used for sexting and hooking up), Yik Yak (posts messages to the closest 500 Yankees based on GPS), Ask.fm. (Ask anonymous questions, used for cyberbullying), Whisper (communicate with strangers), Vine (posts & watches 6 second videos), ChatRoulette (random chat online with strangers), Poof (app that ‘hides’ other apps)
• Know what apps are on your kid’s phones and tablets.  If you don’t know what apps are on there or what they do ask them!  Have them show you what they use them for. 
• Go through your kid’s phones/tablets with them occasionally and have them show you all the apps that you have never seen.  If it’s something they aren’t using or don’t need have them delete it and clean it off their phone.  If they can’t tell you what they are using it for have them delete it off their phone.
• Have a Cell Phone/Electronic Device contract with your child. (Example…copy of ours)
  • Dock them on the microwave downstairs…it’s our charging station
  • No electronics in bathrooms or bedrooms.  Public areas of the home only!
  • No electronics during family time
  • No electronics at the dinner table
  • Electronics only allowed in public spaces in our home
  • Parent checks at any time with or without the child’s knowledge…no matter what age if it is in your home.
  • Pay for their own phone and cell phone plan.  We have one son that is paying for his phone and his plan, but it is on our cell phone contract.  We have more control over it that way.  If he doesn’t pay his bill on time his phone gets ‘repossessed’.  He pays a late fee to get it back.  Pay one month ahead of time. 
  • No deleting messages or browsing history without permission.  Do parent checks on these often.
  • You can always go in and change the security code on the phone.  They have to come to you to ask to log into their phone.  Good way to get them to come talk to you without you saying a word.
• Using cell phones for alarm clocks and music---Nope!  Alarm clocks are cheap, MP3 player cheap, CDs
• TV’s in bedrooms, hotels, and rental houses on vacation.
  • Used zip ties through the plug.  If the zip tie was cut or taken off they lost privileges.
• Set the amount of screen time you will allow for your children.  Go to http://www.aappublications.org/news/2016/10/21/MediaSchool102116. They had LOTS of good information there. 
  • No screen time 1 hour before bed
  • No sleeping with electronic devices in bedrooms
  • Set media free time like driving, family time, and dinners
  • Prioritize health, homework, sports, time with friends, and then screen time.
• We watched grades drop almost a full letter grade in one quarter after he got his phone.  They have never returned back to what they were before because his time is spent on the phone instead of studying.
• We have a Kid’s phone---It is for my convenience not for theirs!  I send it with them when I need to get in touch with them.  Not just if they think they ‘might’ need it for something.  If we have more than one child going different directions we send it with the one with the highest priority (like the child driving) or the child going somewhere alone where they can’t ask someone else to borrow their phone.
• Babysitters bringing cell phones into my home…NO Way!!  I have a home phone.  They can give that number to their parents.  They can call me in an emergency on that phone.  They are there to watch my children, not be texting or talking to others.  That’s what I’m paying them for.  I have no idea what is on their phone and I don’t want it in my home.  I turn off the Wifi when we leave as well as all computers.  After the kids are in bed they can watch movies that I have here, but they don’t have access to Netflix or Cable or regular TV.  Tell the babysitter that up front.  Be sure their parents know it as well.  If they don’t like it get a different babysitter.
• Filters or Key loggers on every phone (including yours and your spouse’s)  and every electronic device in the home!
• Watch for warning signs of something being wrong.  Their behavior changes.
  • Making excuses to be alone in their room for long periods of time
  • Going to bed early
  • Bad attitudes…different than normal
  • Being on edge
  • Changing the screen or exiting out of something quickly if you walk by
  • Being extra rude, talking back, etc…different than normal
  • Moodiness, restlessness
• One of my children got a phone from a friend at school that they were getting rid of.  Didn’t have phone service, but did have internet access over the Wifi.  Downloaded a texting app.  No filters.
• MP3 players can have MP4 (movie files) downloaded on them
  • Only 1 headphone in.

 
 
Internet Filters:
Having an electronic device is a privilege not a ‘right’ in my home.  It is also an issue of trust.  If you show you are responsible and I can trust you, you will have much more freedom.  If you break that trust you lose your freedom and it takes a long time to rebuild trust.
 
Each child is different and has different temptations.  Sometimes it’s the amount of time they spend on in the internet.  Sometimes it’s what they are looking at or doing on the internet.  Sometimes it’s the ‘friends’ they choose to have on the internet.  Know your child and their weaknesses as well as their strengths.
 
I would rather be ‘too strict’ or ‘too sheltered’ or have my children ‘too protected’ than not enough when it comes to internet safety and filtering.  This is one thing that I would choose to err on the ‘too strict’ side rather than have to deal with the consequences otherwise. 
 
Put passwords on everything!!!
 
Make sure the Wifi has the security on it and that you require a password to log into your home Wifi.  If you don’t know how to do that ask someone who does or look it up online!!
 
We have the right and the duty as a parent to protect our home and what comes into it!!
 
If something feels wrong trust your gut!!  It’s usually not your gut but the Spirit telling you something isn’t right.
 
I have spent hours and hours looking for and trying out different programs and I’ll share with you what has worked in our home. 
 
We started out with Net Nanny (www.Netnanny.com)  This is what I would use if you have younger children at home, but it works well for teenagers too, but for different reasons.  We started out with this on our home computer.  Family Plan (10 seats) $89.99/yr
 
Things I like: 

• It was easy to install & set up
• Once the parental password is on it they can’t remove it without having you put in the password.  (Make sure this password is different from any of the others you use normally)
• Set different profiles for different children based on age
• Set different levels of filtering based on those ages. 
• Can add/remove privileges individually per child
• Can access the account remotely (on a website online) to make changes that are immediately in effect. 
• If website is blocked…child can click a button that says “Request this website be allowed”.  You receive a notification and can allow that website so they can get through next time they try.
• You can override any ‘warning’ with the parental password physically anytime
• You can set times of day that they are not allowed on the internet. 
  • We set ours to not allow internet access between 8pm and 8am. 
  • We blocked all internet access on Sunday. (You can override it if they want to do Family Search or go on LDS.org or some other online thing that you allow)

• Works on computers (Windows or Mac), cell phones (Android or Apple)
• Family plan with 10 seats—you can put it on 10 devices for an annual fee.  They have plans with fewer seats or additional seats too.
• Can set it to ‘block’, ‘warn’, or ‘allow’.  ‘Block’ will not allow you on the website you are trying to visit at all.  ‘Warn’ will pull up a warning on the screen that says ‘this site may contain….do you want to continue’.  They have to click to continue.  ‘Allow’ let them through.
• Can set it to block all ‘new’ apps.  If they download and install a new app they have to ask you to ‘allow’ the app before they can use it. 
• The online reports were good.  You could see the graph of what it blocked and click on them to go deeper…clear down to the website they were trying to see.  It breaks them out by user so you can see who is looking at what based on categories. (Pornography, nudity, drugs, alcohol, violence, weapons, etc)
• It will ‘mask’ swear words (!@##$% instead of seeing the word)

 
Things I don’t like (or they don’t like):

• There is a lot of work that goes into setting it up to begin with.  To make sure that they have access to everything they need and no access to the things they don’t need.   We just explained up front what we were doing and told them that if something wasn’t working right or they couldn’t do what they needed to do to just ask and we would check into it immediately if we were able to. 
• Setting the ‘restricted’ time still allowed them to play games on the phone or computer or Ipad.  They just couldn’t get online
• Sometimes it was a pain in the neck to have to constantly allow access to websites as they got older.  If they were going to Walmart to look something up it would block access because of ‘lingerie or swimwear’. 
• Sometimes when new apps are installed on their phones it takes awhile for them to show up in the list of apps so you can allow access. 
• Occasionally new apps will never show up so you can’t allow access all the time, but you can override manually if they are in the same room with you.
• Occasionally some apps (like texting apps) didn’t show up and didn’t block them.
• Many times they couldn’t access YouTube videos. 
• Facebook was flagged many times because of the ‘ads’ that pop up on the side of the screen.  It showed LOTS of errors with that.
• On the cell phone you have to use the Net Nanny browser only.  There are several flaws with it.  It crashes often.
• They don’t like their friends to see that they have Net Nanny on their phone.

 
I think this works best with little children that you really want to restrict what they are getting into online.  This keeps them from clicking on a link that will take them off the page onto another website.  They learn to use the ‘back’ button on the internet really quickly when they can’t do anything else.  It takes them back to where they can be.  It works great for teens if you want to see what is on their phone and you want to be able to restrict access to apps or completely lock them out of things on their phone.  They won’t like the Net Nanny Browser or the fact that they will have trouble watching YouTube Videos. 
 
As my kids got older and as it got frustrating to keep having the Net Nanny browser crash.  We looked for another option. 
 
Ever Accountable: (www.everaccountable.com)  $9.99/month (pay for the whole year at one time) after 14 day free trial
 
This is more of an ‘accountability’ software.  You pay an annual fee.  You set it up on your computer, tablet, phone, etc.  You set up email addresses for those you want to be ‘accountable’ to.  Once a week it emails a report to that person with items flagged that ‘could be pornographic’. 
 
Things I like:

• Super easy and fast to set up
• If they disable the software you receive an immediate email that says they have disabled Ever Accountable and a report with all activity until they disabled it.
• It logs a lot of information! This will show you pieces of text messages that don’t always get logged any other way (even if they delete the message)
• It tells how much time they spend in each app for the week.  It makes that conversation much easier with the child about how they are spending their time because you have data to back you up.
• It logs…Facebook, Instagram (kind of), Text Messages, YouTube videos, Google searches, Gospel Library, etc)
• The log time & date stamps everything it logs.

 
 
Things I dislike:

• Sometimes it stops logging and you don’t know it (if you aren’t checking the report online) until it has been a week and you don’t get a report or you get an email that says, “this device is no longer logging information”.
• It logs lots of information.  There is a lot to sort through.  Some of it is confusing.  You have to be willing to put in the time to review what is there or there’s no use having it.
• It’s hard to tell if your child is sending or receiving the information.
• Some apps it doesn’t log any information in except how much time they are spending on that app.
• It is not a filter!  This does not filter anything on their device.  They can use any browser they want.  They can view anything they want. 
• You cannot set time restrictions
• You cannot set apps to allow or disable
• It doesn’t log anything on Pinterest
• You don’t always see the whole message or it’s split between 2 or 3 logged lines.
• Sometimes you will get a message saying Ever Accountable was turned off.  When you check with them the app logged itself off and usually logs itself back in after just a few minutes. 
• The report does not flag everything.  There is a lot that it doesn’t flag. Be vigilant!

 
This app is a great app for your older kids and spouse as well as yourself when you are wanting to give them more freedom to make a mistake.  They can make a mistake on Ever Accountable.  You have to be ok with that.  Be prepared to spend some time going through reports.  Sometimes you will find nothing and sometimes you will find more than you ever wanted to know.  Be committed to doing that.  This is also a good tool for you to tell them what a great job they are doing and what good choices they are making. 
 
You can use Net Nanny and Ever Accountable together on the same device. 
 
We started out with just Net Nanny on the cell phones.  Then went to Net Nanny with fewer restrictions, but added Ever Accountable to watch what they were doing with the ‘new’ freedoms they were given.  Then we dropped Net Nanny and went to just Ever Accountable.  There have been times when they have made a mistake that we have talked to them and then put Net Nanny back on their phone for awhile while we are rebuilding trust. 
 
Once you have installed a filter or keylogger I suggest you try it out.  Try to search for something inappropriate.  Click on links you shouldn’t just to see what happens and how it logs in the reports.  Knowledge is power.
 
YouTube Safe Browsing   

• There are filters and ‘safe browsing’ that you can use, but you have to be logged into YouTube for it to work.  Kids just don’t log in. 

 
One thing I have tried to impress upon my kids is that trust is absolutely vital in a marriage.  I told them that after they left our home if they would like to leave me on their devices as an “Accountability Partner” I would be happy to be on there to help keep them choosing the right.  I told them that when they got married I would hope that they would add their spouse as an “Accountability Partner” and explain to them that this is a gift they were giving.  It is the gift of trust.  I want you to know you can trust me and this is one way you can know that I am making good choices. 
 
If we go back to the analogy of the child and the busy road…as that child gets older and wiser and better able to make good choices then you can relax some of the restrictions on them (they can go out front on their own, etc).  Eventually they have to take Driver’s Ed and learn to drive.  They have to practice a lot.  They will make mistakes.  You have to help them figure out how to fix the mistake and make it right.  You have to give them the courage to keep trying and to make better choices.  As you can see that they are doing well you allow more and more freedom.  Then you eventually only help them when they ask or when you see warning signs and feel prompted to. 
 
Remember that they always have their agency.  They have to be accountable for the choices they make and pay the consequences good or bad.  BUT you still have to parent.  You have the right and the obligation to teach them correct principles and then let them govern themselves.  You have the duty to protect your home and be the “Guardian of the Hearth” as President Hinckley has said.   In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

This is a copy of the Electronic Device Contract we have with our kids.  It was compiled from LOTS of different sources.  I used what I liked and changed whatever I needed to so it fit our circumstances.

Cell phone/Smart phone Contract
 Kyle:

• I acknowledge that having and using a cell phone is a privilege.
• I will only use my phone in public places in our home. 
• I will not isolate myself while using my phone.
• I will not take my phone in my room.
• If asked, I will hand over my phone immediately to my parents so that it can be randomly checked at any time.
• I understand that my parents can go through the contents of my phone at any time with or without my knowledge. 
• If asked, I will fully cooperate in showing my parents the contents of my cell phone, including contacts, pictures, videos, text messages, etc.
• I will only download new apps if I have asked permission first.
• I will always have my cell phone turned on when I’m out with friends, so my parents can reach me if needed.
• If my parents call and/or text me I will answer the phone/text immediately if I am able to.  If I cannot I will return the call/text as soon as possible with an explanation.
• I agree to have Net Nanny or Ever Accountable installed and running at all times on my phone.  If I bypass these monitoring devices I agree to give up my phone.
• I agree to ALWAYS give my parents my login to my phone.  I will never lock them out of it.
• I will not use my cell phone during meal times or during family time.
• I will not use my phone to talk or text while I am driving.
• I will not use my phone when people are talking to me in person.
• If I’m asked to turn off/stop playing/get off cell phone, I will do so immediately with a respectful attitude
• I agree to “dock” my phone on the microwave by 9:00pm before ‘school days’ and 10:00pm before ‘non-school days’.  I also agree to “dock” my phone if asked at any other time as well.
• I agree to give my parents passwords to all my accounts.
• I will honor the school rules with my cell phone.
• I will never buy anything online without my parents’ permission.
• I will never share personal information such as name, address, phone number, school, teams, age, etc with anyone online without permission from my parent.
• I will never engage in any form of cyber-bullying.
• I will never send, forward, or respond to any sexual content and/or threatening messages.
• I will not say or text anything that I wouldn’t say in person with my parents listening.
• I will tell my parents if I receive any text messages, phones calls, and/or emails that are inappropriate.
• I understand that my cell phone may be taken away for disrespectful or disobedient behavior including, but not limited to…back talking, inappropriate sibling interactions like fighting, hitting, name calling, etc and failure to complete responsibilities at home when asked or required…such as band practice, kitchen job, and job points.
• I understand that my cell phone may be taken away for failing to complete school assignments or homework.
• I understand that I might make a mistake with one of these items in my contract.  If I do I will immediately talk to my parents and explain the situation.

 
 
 
Mom & Dad:

• We will respect Kyle’s privacy when he is talking or texting on the phone.
• If we have concerns, we have the right to read text messages, review call logs, block all access to his phone, and review any content on the phone without telling Kyle first.
• We acknowledge that Kyle might make a mistake with one of the items in this contract.  If he comes to us to explain that he made a mistake we agree to try to listen carefully and communicate clearly to rectify the situation. 

 
__________________________________
Kyle Hansen                                     (Date)
 
__________________________________
Darrin Hansen                                 (Date)
 
__________________________________
Andrea Hansen                               (Date)
 
 

​3-14-17  Follow up: Communication
 
Class member:  I read “Lord is it I?”  That was from the Priesthood session.  It was good to read and study that and recognize it in myself.  I think it’s taking responsibility for yourself.
 
Do you remember President Benson’s talk on Pride?  It’s the universal sin we see in others, but not ourselves. 
 
Class member:  It reminds me that I call the kids the wrong names.  I say, “You are supposed to listen to what I mean not what I say.”  That’s what we expect.
 
Class member:  I was listening to a devotional and it was all about “Lord Is It I?”.  IT’s the law of witnesses. 
 
Class member:  I did the one that was on the blog…“Marriage Miracle”.   The direction is to change a criticism to a compliment.  I need to do that with my husband, but I really need to do it with my children too.  It’s going to be hard to remember to stop and turn. 
 
So many of the things don’t matter, does it matter if the stroller is put down or up right now?  Does it really matter? 
 
Class member:  I am a fill in the blank interrupter.  My 5 yr old will say you interrupted me again.  So this week my goal was to ask questions instead of filling in the blank.  The assignment was to ask 3 questions, but I got to 1 or maybe 2.  That has come to my center stage right now for me.  I am a really bad communicator and it’s all my husband’s fault and my kid’s fault.  
 
If that’s the only thing you take out of this 10 weeks that would be awesome.  It would affect your relationships forever.  This is a hard habit to develop.  It’s a habit and once you get it it’s a habit.
 
Class member:  My hubby and I have been listening to the CD’s by John Lund “For All Eternity”.  He talks about content communication.  He says mean what you say and say what you mean.  It has nothing to do with your body language and your tone of voice.  Most times we only base answer on the body language.  The body language says one thing and her words say something else.  You have to base it on the words. 
 
Class member:  I missed last week, but I have been sharing everything with my husband when I come home.  He bought something called “Table Topics”.  They pick out a topic and we discuss it.  You think you know what your children are thinking, but it always surprises me.  Example: “What do you think your parents are good at?” 
 
What ever their answer is you have to be safe. 
 
When you solicit your husband’s help for the day you tell them that you need their help for 2 hours and then you let them have the rest of the day to themselves and stick to it.  Men need a start and a finish, or one thing/one job.  They will help in that way.  If you leave it wide open they think you are going to keep them all day.
 
Class member:  My husband and I communicate very differently.  My husband would think I should stop right now and do what I asked.  He told me to say, “Some time today, would you….”.  He always gets it done. 
 
We need to check and see what they are hearing from what I’m saying.
 
Class member:  If you have a problem that you need to talk to your spouse about, ask if there is 10 minutes that we can talk.  Then they can prepare themselves.  I don’t remember that very often. 
 
Another thing on that CD with Dr. Lund, men are fixers and sometimes we don’t want things fixed we just need them to listen.  So my wife has gotten to the point where she will just say, “I just need you to listen”.  Sometimes you need say, “I need help fixing this.”  It’s part of saying what we want. 

As we move into the last days, this topic will have greater discrepancies in it.  The church is not changing.  The gospel is not changing.  Until the Lord changes it the brethren can’t change it because public opinion changes.  The world and the church used to be pretty close in the morals and beliefs.  The world is going to start pulling away from the church.  We used to say, “We used to get along.  Can’t we still get along?”  The church is remaining the same, but the world is moving so the distance between them are much further apart.
 
The truth is, Satan is doing his job and the Lord is doing his job.  As those things happen it will feel like we are splitting.
 
Elder David A Bednar,   “Marriage Is Essential To His Eternal Plan”
“The adversary’s attacks upon eternal marriage will continue to increase in intensity, frequency, and sophistication.  Because today we are engaged in a war for the welfare of marriage and the home…”
 
There is a great weeding out that will come in the church.  That’s the parable of the virgins.  They were all ‘card carrying’ virgins, but 5 of them weren’t prepared.  They were all invited, but not prepared.  We have to be careful in our own testimonies.  Satan is smart.  We’ve heard the prophecy that the Lord will hasten his day because even the very elect will be deceived. 
 
I want to talk about the difference the Lord has in the plan between men and women.  If we understand the plan then maybe this won’t be as big an obstacle if we have this understanding.
 
In the Proclamation of the Family…gender was ordained before this mortal world. 
 
President Faust  “How Near To The Angels”
“We made certain commitments and that we agreed to come to this earth with great, rich, but different gifts. We were called, male and female, to do great works with separate approaches and separate assignments.”
 
Maxwell  “The Women of God”
“We men know the women of God as wives, mothers, sisters, daughters, associates, and friends. You seem to tame us and to gentle us, and, yes, to teach us and to inspire us. For you, we have admiration as well as affection, because righteousness is not a matter of role, nor goodness a matter of gender. In the work of the Kingdom, men and women are not without each other, but do not envy each other, lest by reversals and renunciations of role we make a wasteland of both womanhood and manhood.”
 
Spencer W Kimball  “Women of the Church”
“We had full equality as his spirit children. We have equality as recipients of God’s perfected love for each of us.”
 
 
An eternal marriage and Godhood are both parts…the crust and the filling of a pie.  Both parts are different and bring different things to the pie.  We cannot become a God without a man and a woman.  Godhood is both.  It’s 2 parts different from each other, but both parts are necessary. 
 
It’s not ‘why don’t women get the priesthood?’  We each have our own part to play.  We need to have thanksgiving for what we have and magnify what we have.  We need to learn to honor and magnify their part. 
 
Men need women to magnify their part.  That is part of the gifts Heavenly Father has given to women.  It’s equal, but different.  It’s supposed to be different.
 
 “The Keys & Authority of The Priesthood”  Dallin H. Oaks
The greatest power God has given to His sons cannot be exercised without the companionship of one of His daughters, because only to His daughters has God given the power “to be a creator of bodies … so that God’s design and the Great Plan might meet fruition.” Those are the words of President J. Reuben Clark.
 
He continued: “This is the place of our wives and of our mothers in the Eternal Plan. They are not bearers of the Priesthood; they are not charged with carrying out the duties and functions of the Priesthood; nor are they laden with its responsibilities; they are builders and organizers under its power, and partakers of its blessings, possessing the complement of the Priesthood powers and possessing a function as divinely called, as eternally important in its place as the Priesthood itself.”
 
Satan wants to destroy that process of coming together in unity.  He wants to make us unhappy and dissatisfied. 
 
Do you remember when Laman & Lemuel and they were talking about the Tree of Life.  The brothers came to him and said why don’t we understand it.  He said, “Did you enquire of the Lord?”  If we have a problem with it and don’t understand it have you enquired of the Lord? 
 
It takes humility because you have to be willing to hear what the Lord is saying.  If I say, “Teach me the plan” with an open mind you can get an interpretation of the vision.  If this is a struggle with you, the answer is the same, “Enquire of the Lord” without a predetermined answer.  He wants to share it with you.  If you ask him in a way that you think you know and you are going to give the answer first He will not be mocked.  You can find out if you have real intent.  You can find out from him and not some group at Temple Square protesting about not having the Priesthood.
 
Eternal Marriage Student Manual
“You [women] were not created to be the same as men. Your natural attributes, affections, and personalities are entirely different from a man’s. They consist of faithfulness, benevolence, kindness, and charity. They give you the personality of a woman. They also balance the more aggressive and competitive nature of a man.
 
“The business world is competitive and sometimes ruthless. We do not doubt that women have both the brainpower and skills—and in some instances superior abilities—to compete with men. But by competing they must, of necessity, become aggressive and competitive. Thus their godly attributes are diminished and they acquire a quality of sameness with man” (Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, 547–48).
 
The world says, “Let’s fight for the rights of women so they can be just like a man.”  You can go to war and be a soldier.  In the Book of Mormon the men went to war to protect the lives of women and children.  As we create that equality we lose the attributes of femininity. 
 
Divine Role Between Men & Women
 
We are doing this so you have understanding, but not so you can criticize and complain.  This is not to give you self righteousness.  You can become self righteous after you have all the things learned that I give you. 
 
Heavenly Father has given us a hand book.  It’s tough, but he’s given it to us. 
 
Proclamation on the Family
Men---Preside, Provide, Protect
 
1 Nephi 3:7---I won’t give you any commandments without a way to accomplish them.  Heavenly Father gave us gifts to be able to do this.
 
To Preside—men were given the gift of the priesthood.  They need that authority.
 
To Protect—strong bodies.  1 Peter 3:7    Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.
 
To Provide—they are logical & competitive & aggressive. 
 
Class member:  Many years ago I saw a documentary.  Men’s brains are linear.  It goes in a straight pattern.  Women pull from all different parts of their brain.  Even science has proved it. 
 
We have to understand that it is a gift.  With these gifts Satan works hard to tweak them and disrupt them so that they will destroy a man.  The same thing happens with a woman.  That is how Satan can most effectively tempt men and women differently. 
 
Women---Nurture
 
Men preside in a mental/physical world.  Women nurture in an emotional world. 
 
The attributes that we have are related to feelings.  Women look at life in feelings.  Men look at life in facts.  These are good things, but it creates major differences in us.
 
Gifts given…charity, sensitivity, kind, compassionate, see the big picture, feel spiritual things.
 
If a man is stressed typically he likes to withdraw.  If he has a problem at work or something he is thinking about, he withdraws and figures it out then will present the solution to you.  He likes to have it fixed in his head before he presents it to you. 
 
Example:  Your husband comes home from work.  What happened today?  You can sense that something was wrong.  He says everything is fine.  When you go to bed you keep asking ‘what’s wrong’.  He’s not ready to share yet because he hasn’t worked it out.  You think “He’s mad at me.”  He comes home and now he has been thinking about it and resolved it, but where are you?  You are ticked…”Now you want to talk about it.” 
 
Because we don’t allow each other to be different we tend to overreact.
 
A woman in stress wants to talk, but we don’t want to be fixed.  Because they can see we are stressed they say, “Let me tell you what to do.”  We don’t want them to fix us, but they want to fix us because they can see it’s hard for us and they don’t like us to hurt.
 
Often women think they are just helping them be better.  They say if I want your help I will ask you for it. 
 
Men are logical thinkers.  When you are talking to a man he will talk facts.  If you want to start a conversation with a man you say, “What do you think about th?” If you want to start a conversation with a woman you say, “How do you feel about that?”  Different things excite us.  The fact that it’s different doesn’t mean it’s wrong or bad. 
 
Example:  You are sitting home at night.  You will ask them about the game and he will give you all the facts about the players.  They ask you something, you go on this long tirade of emotionalism. 
 
It’s like talking 2 different languages.  If your husband is talking to you in facts he is talking to you.  Men can be thinking “nothing”.  They are in their “nothing” box. 
 
Men are problem solvers.  Women give unsolicited advice because we want to make things better.  Men call that nagging.  Ask them when they want your help. 
 
Women tend to use superlatives.  “You never take the garbage out.”  “You always sleep late.”  Men get hung up on those superlatives. 
 
These are the things that Satan uses to drive wedges between our differences.  These are the things we need to work on. 
 
Men live segmented lives.  They think about one thing.  If they are at work they are thinking about work.  Women live integrated lives.  Everything flows into one big river.  A woman knows where the children are, where the dog is, and is planning her Relief Society lesson all at once.  This can have problems when a child comes home and we let loose on them because of something else that is happening in our lives.
 
The goal is to learn how to celebrate & magnify their difference without you becoming a victim of Satan in the gifts you have been given.
 
One of the things men are to protect, is their home from Satan.  This means movies, internet, music.  Men need to be involved in this, but so do women.  Men need to protect on ALL levels not just to provide a shelter. 
 
Ephesians 5:23 (preside)
D&C 42
Genesis
Corinthians
Moses—cleave unto his wife
Abraham—cleave unto his wife
(I think these references are all listed in the syllabus.  She didn't read all the references just the book they were in.)
 
A man is supposed to cleave unto his wife.  What is cleave?  This is to hold on tight to. Think about a man who lives a segmented life.  Where does his mind go if he has a wife who is very efficient in taking care of their home?  To other areas…work, hobbies, etc.  It is hard for a man to remember to come back and take care of this. 
Man’s commandment is to “cleave”
 
D&C 121—priesthood…aspire to the honors of men and do not learn this one lesson.  They get tempted to focus on the honors of the world.  They want to have more money and a bigger car.
 
Exercise unrighteous dominion…they use the power and authority to preside with love, kindness. 
 
Your responsibility as a wife is to help them magnify their gifts and responsibilities.   Their responsibility is to help you magnify your gifts and responsibilities. 
 
If you complain about what you aren’t getting in a marriage you are focusing in.  Happiness in marriage comes as you are committed to doing loving things. 
 
Lynn Robbins “Marriage is a choice”
 
The more you work to magnify them the more they turn back to you.  When we seek it as a product we seldom find it.  When we magnify them it comes back to you as a byproduct.
 
Women—if you want to support them and magnify them you are responsible with the 3 A’s. 
 
To magnify “Provide”—we have to learn to “Appreciate”
To magnify “Preside”—we have to learn to “Admire”
To magnify “Protect”—we have to learn to give them “Affection”
 
As you master the Triple “A’s”.  They will magnify the “P’s”.  When you try to get them to do the “P’s” by nagging, it decreases their ability to provide for that.
 
Howard W Hunter
“I suppose you would say it is a man’s viewpoint to throw a burden upon a woman to maintain the stability and the sweetness of marriage, but this seems to be her divine nature. She has a superior spirituality in the marriage relationship, and the opportunity to encourage, uplift, teach, and be the one who sets the example in the family for righteous living. When women come to the point of realizing that it is more important to be superior than to be equal, they will find the real joy in living those principles that the Lord set out in his divine plan” (Teachings of Howard W. Hunter, 139
 
1 Peter 3:1-7
 1 Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives;
 2 While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear.
 3 Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel;
 4 But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.
 5 For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands:
 6 Even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement.
 7 Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.
 
Women—commandment is to ‘submit’. 
 
To submit doesn’t mean you are a doormat.  The Savior submitted to the Father.  They came to the agreement, but the Father presided.  The Savior was not a doormat.  They had the same agenda.  They worked together to achieve it, but the Father presided.  That is how we become submissive in our marriage.
 
Satan tempts us with being self righteous. 
 
“Conversation” means “by the conduct” of the wife…Joseph Smith Translation 1 Peter 3:1.
 
We need to examine how we are handling the situation if the husband isn’t making changes.
 
We need to have respect rather than condemnation for him.  We are speaking with a pure clean language.  You adorn yourself with a meek and quiet spirit.  That is not criticizing and complaining.  Then go to D&C 25.
 
HOMEWORK:  Read D&C 25  Write down everything that is a counsel to you.  Look at the things that you need to work on.
 
This section is full of great counsel to women today. 
 
D&C 25: 16 And verily, verily, I say unto you, that this is my voice unto all.---This is for all of us.
 
Vs. 4—murmur not—this is my commandment.  This says to stop complaining. 
 
How do you stop complaining.  You change your focus from ‘why don’t you…’ to ‘how can I help’.  ‘What can I do for you?’  The whole purpose is ‘how can I help you?’  When you were engaged you spent the whole time trying to stay a step ahold of them. The more you reach out and help them the byproduct is that they feel loved and they want to help you.
 
What does that mean to you in your marriage and your relationship?
 
Vs 5—your responsibility is to comfort your spouse—with consoling words.
 
How many of you want to say, “I told you so.”?  When they get into a predicament. In meekness it is, “I’m so sorry.  How can I help?”  When you get in a bind do you want him to say, “I saw that one coming.”
 
Vs 13—lift up thy heart and rejoice
 
Do you know how many homes Emma actually had?  None until she went to Nauvoo.  This means begin grateful with what you have.  Are you thankful for the home you live in? Or do you want new furniture?  Are you thankful for the clothes you wear or do you always look for more?  Count your blessings and be grateful.  When all we want is something else that is defeating.  When your husband comes home your face acknowledges that you are glad to have them there.  Smile!  Let him know that you appreciate what he is doing and you are glad to have him home.  Your kids need to see you happy.  That’s part of living in gratitude.
 
Vs 15—beware of pride
 
We have a hard time with that.  We tend to get self righteous.  We need to stay out of pride. 
 
I invite you to begin the study of D&C 25 that you may see the counsel that is meant for you.
 
Celebrating Celestial Marriage by Richard K. Scott
“It is interesting to know how man is put together—how incomplete he is.  His whole physical and emotional, and for that matter, spiritual nature, is formed in such a way that it depends upon a source of encouragement and power that is found in a woman.  When man has found his wife and companion, he has in a sense found the other half of himself.  He will return to her again and again for that regeneration that exalts his manhood and strengthens him for the testing that life will give him.  A woman has the privilege and influence to transform a man into an able and effective LDS priesthood leader.  However, for this there are two prerequisites.  First, she must want to, and second, she must know how.  Part of knowing how includes the genius of encouraging him to meet his obligations without replacing him in his role, without presiding over him.”
(Church Relief Society Conference, Salt Lake Tribune, October 2, 1971, B-1)
 
This is not an event.  This is a process overtime.  We need to ask for priesthood blessings.  We need to have our children ask him for blessings. 
 
HOMEWORK: 

• Ponder question---What can I do to better support my husband in the 3 P’s?  This needs to be specific and a point to begin.
• Read “The Keys & Authority of The Priesthood”  Dallin H. Oaks
• Read D&C 25—Make a list of what you can do to become a better wife
• Pray for your spouse in your personal prayers each night this week
• Have a conversation down memory lane… “Do you remember the time we…?”  Happy memories.

 
“How Near To the Angels”   President Faust
“All of you will have to sometime answer to your natural womanly instincts, which the Prophet Joseph said are according to your natures. He said, “If you live up to your privileges, the angels cannot be restrained from being your associates.”16 You should respond generously to those instincts and promptings to do good. Hold your soul very still, and listen to the whisperings of the Holy Spirit. Follow the noble, intuitive feelings planted deep within your souls by Deity in the previous world. In this way you will be responding to the Holy Spirit of God and will be sanctified by truth. By so doing, you will be eternally honored and loved. Much of your work is to enrich mankind with your great capacity for care and mercy.”
 
This is the glory and purpose.  The Lord has endowed you to do it. 

You know the scripture that says “All things testify of Christ”.  I believe that is true.  So in the middle of the night I realized that true communication teaches us eternal principles of how to become Christlike.  If we really learn to communicate it becomes an outward process.  The whole purpose and journey to become Christlike is to think about others.  We are learning how to overcome the natural man. 
 
The ability to dispense information through technology has skyrocketed.  We can find knowledge and get it out there so quickly. Sometimes it’s mistakenly labeled as communication.  Real communication as technology increases real communication decreases.  We don’t interact with people face to face and learn to read body language and eyes.  This is one of the biggest problems we have with our missionaries.  They do not know how to communicate.  They sit across the room from someone and text them. 
 
We have to create a school for communication.  We have to teach how to communicate in our home.
 
President Monson said, “We are not born with the ability to communicate.  Communication not verbalization is learned.  It’s learned over time and it’s hard.” 
 
Many of us don’t learn it.
 
Elder W Eugene Hansen 1998 Ensign April “Children and the Family”
“So crucial in strengthening families is the realization that strong family relationships don’t just happen. It takes time. It takes commitment, it takes prayer, and it takes work.”
 
Too many of us buy into the ‘selfie’ mentality.  As adults we are still focused on self.  We tend to impose Satan’s plan in helping them learn what we want them to do.  We want them to have no feelings.  They are quiet when we want them to be quiet.  It doesn’t work that way.  We have to teach them how to think.  They have to be able to express a thought that may not be ours.  They have to learn it is safe to be themselves.  Our goal is that we need to teach them how to learn to get out of self.  We teach that by us getting out of self.  We can only role model it.  This is not out there.  You have to become the role model if you want to prepare them both for missions and for marriage.  This is one of the greatest tools we can teach our children and prepare them.
 
There are basic emotional needs that every child needs to have.
 1.  Sense of belonging
2.  What they have to contribute is important.
3.  Individuality respected.
 
How do we make ‘belonging’ not happen? 
 
Class member:  I’m making sure that I’m discipling the child I pull them aside so they don’t feel like the black sheet.
 
Treating them as the ‘masses’…”come on kids”.  When we tell them that their ideas are not right. 
 
If you have a child that is scared and we say ‘there is nothing to be scared of’.  You have discredited their fear.
 
When you are talking at or to them it tells them that their words are not important.
 
Good communication doesn’t mean you agree with everything they say.  You parent!  They have the right to express a different opinion without being judged or criticized for it. 
 
The teenager says I want this and the Mom that says I want that.  Both are talking, but neither stop to understand.  You feel like if you get the person to change their mind then you have communicated.  You don’t get to give in, but they understand that their feelings have heard.
 
You listen to your teenagers and listen and listen, then say, ‘Nevertheless I don’t feel good about that.’
 
How many of you after 10 years feel like your spouse doesn’t listen to you.  They are talking things and you are talking feelings.  You don’t feel like there is understanding.  If we learned how to communicate the feeling would be back.
 
Communication is more than talking it’s understanding, listening, lifting and it’s similar to a contract that come together to bring blessings to both. 
 
We can listen 5x faster than someone can speak.  Your brain has such capacity that as we are talking in this class you can think what are you having for dinner, when am I picking up the kids, did I get my visiting teaching done. 
 
Class member:  I always get in trouble because I think I know what they are going to say. 
 
What we tend to do with that extra time is format our rebuttal or comments or lecture.  You have to know that your brain works that way and it’s normal.  You also have to know that when you are in a conversation you need to control that.  Take that brain power time and focus on what is that person saying.  What is body language telling me? 
 
Have you ever had this experience….they are on their phone or watching TV and you say you are not listening, but they repeat back everything you say. 
 
When we try to mentally multitask
 
Robert D. Hales “Our Duty to God: The Mission of Parents and Leaders to the Rising Generation”
“For our interactions with youth to truly touch their hearts, we have to pay attention to them just as we would pay attention to a trusted adult colleague or close friend. Most important is asking them questions, letting them talk, and then being willing to listen—yes, listen and listen some more—even hearken with spiritual ears! Several years ago I was reading the newspaper when one of my young grandsons snuggled up to me. As I read, I was delighted to hear his sweet voice chattering on in the background. Imagine my surprise when, a few moments later, he pushed himself between me and the paper. Taking my face in his hands and pressing his nose up to mine, he asked, “Grandpa! Are you in there?” 
 
You need to ask questions to find out the understanding of what they are talking about.  This is what understanding is.  I hear your words.  I understand the intent of your heart.  You give me and then I give you understanding and listening.  That’s why it’s a contract.  Both are involved in it. 
 
When we did ‘Taking Time to Teach’ we talked about how to create an environment.  Those have to be in place.  The home needs to have that environment of safety.  It is created mostly by the mother and the father as they make it safe.
 
1.  Stop other things you are doing.
2.  Listen with your eyes.
3.  Close physical contact
4.  Summarize and ask for clarification
5.  Don’t judge.
6.  Let the experience go unresolved.
 
Read the 12 Commandments of Communication (in the syllabus—pg 4).  This is part of creating the environment and making it safe.
 
5 Keys to Good Communication:
 
1.  Don’t assume you know what they are talking about. 
Example:  There was a husband and wife in counseling, but they just had a really hard time.  They just couldn’t communicate.  The wife says give me an example.  The wife says “The other day we were driving along and I said, I’m really hot.”  It was summer and he just sat there.  The counselor turned to the husband and he said, “I heard that she was hot.”  To the wife he said, “I thought he should turn on the air conditioner.” 
 
When we say something we don’t always say what I mean. 
 
Example:  Wife said, “I am really thirsty.”  The husband said, “I heard she was really thirsty and so I put on the gas to get her home because we were only 3 blocks from home.”  The wife said, “There was a 7-eleven and I wanted a drink.”
 
The Sunbeams
Doctor: "Well, Mrs. Olsen, we've talked about your high blood pressure and your medications. Are you experiencing any paticular stress in your life?"
Patient: "Oh, yes! It's the Sunbeams. They're driving me crazy.."
Doctor: (very surprised) "The sunbeams..."
Patient: "Yes. I've never had trouble with them before, but this group won't sit still. They bounce all over the room, and run out the door and down the hall."
Doctor: (Reaching for his pen) "Have you told anyone about this?"
Patient: "Of course. I told the president."
Doctor: "Really! What did the president say?"
Patient: "He said Sunbeams are like that and just to have patience."
Doctor: (Concerned that he may be missing something) "I know people who are sensitive to sunbeams. Do they cause a rash or anything?"
Patient: (Confused) "A rash? No."
Doctor: "What's the biggest problem they're creating?"
Patient: "It's the noise. They just won't quit talking."
Doctor: (Astonished) "The sunbeams are talking to you?"
Patient: "Well, yes. But mostly to each other."
Doctor: (Scribbling furiously in the chart) "I see. Can anyone else hear them talking?"
Patient: (After a moment of stunned silence) "You're not LDS, are you?"
How do we treat our children how to work?  We assume they know how to do it.  Some of them don’t. 
 
Example:  Class member comment from several years ago….
I wanted to share that actually happened a couple of weeks ago after several nights of difficult bedtime hours. I lay down by a couple of my girls that had contributed to the difficulties and said to them, "Tell me what your perfect bedtime would look like." They really weren't sure and didn't have much to say so I said, "Well for me this is what I would love bedtime to look like..." and I started earlier in the day with everyone doing their chores so we could go to bed and wake up in a nice clean house, then everyone would get ready for bed quickly so I had time to lay by each one of them and read them a book... and so on" in a fairy tale sort of way. 
The next day I'd kind of forgotten about it but at bedtime when I went to lay by one of the ones I'd talked to the night before she said, "So how did you like bedtime tonight? Did we do a good job?" Oh it was awesome too! I think they had just been doing what came naturally without realizing that there was a better way until we talked about it and I was able to give them a new vision of how it could be. There you go, communication does it again!
 
Ask questions back ALWAYS!!!
 
HOMEWORK:  Read this article….The Marriage Miracle Few Will Try
 
2.  You think you know what is right. 
We do this with adults.  Someone brings up the topic of going to Europe next week.  You say, “Oh man I went on a trip last year to Europe and we did this and this and this.” We think if we are talking we are communicating.  Once I have validated them, sought information, and found out their emotional level then you can share what you have to say.
 
HOMEWORK:  Read…President Uchtdorf “Lord Is It I?”
 
Class member:  This was an eye opener last year.  I kept thinking he must not be understanding so I just kept telling him.  So I have used, “How does that make you feel?”  He will tell me the things he is uncomfortable about.  That has opened up a communication line with someone I have struggled with.  I am not getting how he is understood.  I have learned to ask those questions and learned to listen. 
 
They tell you facts, but you need to figure out their feelings.  What are the feelings behind the stories?
 
3.  You have to learn to listen.
 
We tend to listen on levels.  This is in the syllabus.

• Mimic—you repeat back exactly what they say.  “I am really frustrated.”  “Oh, you are really frustrated?”  It shows that you are hearing words, but there is no understanding in it. 
• Attentive Listening—Like when they were going to Europe.  I listen until I can divert the conversation to my experience.  I’m listening, from my personal frame of reference. 
• Selective Listening—listen long enough to figure out which lecture series to give.  You are expounding all of your wisdom.  He who talks benefits the most. 
• Empathetic listening—you hear the words.  You are focused.  Your brain is focused on is this a good thing, bad thing, are you nervous.  You watch body language.  We try to understand feelings.  It’s a deeper level than just hearing words.  You have to be intentionally listen.  You have to be invested in this…totally out. 

 
“Mom I quit trying to get them to understand my Spanish.  Instead I’m focused on understanding them.  Once I did that Spanish is coming really easy now.”  Missionary son without anyone to speak English to.
 
Listen on the empathy level and then ask questions before you give any answers or say anything about it.  You have to ask a minimum of 3 questions.  These are not ‘yes/no’ questions. 
 
How do you feel about that?
What was your understanding of that?
What do you believe the meaning of that is?  (great to ask in scripture time)
Why do you think they did that?
 
Class member:  This makes me think about “Teaching In the Savior’s Way.
 
The Savior will always show us the way, but we just don’t plug it.
 
Example:  Johnny got his tongue pierced.  You say, “You aren’t going to do that.  We don’t do that in our family.”  Instead say, “What do you think about that?”
 
Always ask questions first.
 
4.  Time.
 
We need to have unstructured “Happy Talk”.  You still ask questions.  You need to have conversations with them that aren’t teaching.  Sometimes it’s easier to create an area or experience.  Go out and shoot hoops with them.  Go on a walk.  Do an activity with them.  Talk Happy Talk.  It can be really good for Dad and son to watch a ball game together.  We need to be careful if Mom/Dad are too intense. 
 
Table time. Car time. Good happy times to talk. 
 
Example: (Comment from class posted on the blog from previous years)  “My brother had my family for Christmas and gave us each our own bowl with a message from him inside. My girls have loved these and they are used nearly everyday. About two weeks ago I grabbed them out of the cupboard and decided to use them as a communication tool at dinner time. I excitedly told my girls we were going to play a little game. I think we were having soup or chili... Something that concealed the name of whom each bowl belonged to. I told them they had to pick a bowl and when they could see who the bowl belonged to then they had to say 3 positive things about that person. If they happen to pick their own bowl then they had to say 3 things about Aunt Dana. It opened up our talk time at dinner in a different way. The next night the same rules applied except you couldn't do a repeat from the previous night... And instead of Aunt Dana we picked another aunt. It's made an impact on our communication in a positive way. I didn't realize how important it was for my girls till last night when we were about to have dinner and my girls were very disappointed when I didn't pull out the bowls. We played our game anyway and I love hearing what they each have to say.”
 
Daughters of God Elder M. Russell Ballard
 “The joy of motherhood comes in moments.  Author Anna Quindlen reminds us not to rush past the fleeting moments. She said: “The biggest mistake I made [as a parent] is the one that most of us make. … I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. There is one picture of [my three children] sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages six, four, and one. And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less” (Loud and Clear [2004], 10–11).”
 
Example:  Mom listened to son who talked about himself all the time.  She would then stop him and say, “Now ask me how my day was.” 
 
You have to model that behavior. 
 
Class member:  I’m not great at asking questions.  Instead of having them go first, model that and tell them about your day first. 
 
How was recess?  What did you do at recess?  What classes did you have today?  Did you have PE today? 
 
Class member:  I was noticing that I don’t know my kids as well as I should.  I ask them the same 4 questions.  What was the best part of your day?  What was the worst part of your day?  What was your biggest challenge?  Who did you serve?  My son cuddled with me, but only if he talked about the details of your day.  At the end of the day it’s a better time for them talk.
 
5.  Pray
 
Pray to know how to improve your communication.  Pray to know, “Is it I?”  Pray to know the hearts of your children.  Pray to know how to ask good questions.  Pray to know if there is a child that really needs you especially if communication hasn’t been safe.  Pray to know how to express love to your spouse in a more expressive way.
 
HOMEWORK:
1.  Answer this question….I can strengthen my ability to communicate by…..What are you going to focus on this week?  Where is your first starting place?
 
2.  Begin the practice of asking 3 questions. 
 
3.  Read…President Uchtdorf “Lord Is It I?”
 
4.  Read Article…The Marriage Miracle Few Will Try
 
 
May 1994 Richard P. Lindsay “Feed My Sheep”
I grew up in rural Salt Lake County when it was an economic necessity to care for a variety of barnyard animals. My favorite animals were sheep—prompted perhaps by the fact that sheep do not require being milked twice a day, seven days a week.
I wanted our own sons to have the blessing of being shepherds to such farm animals. Our older sons were each provided with a ewe to teach them the responsibility of caring for these sheep and the lambs that would hopefully follow.
 
Our second son, newly turned six years of age, called me excitedly at my office one cold March morning on the phone and said, “Daddy, guess what? Esther [Esther was his mother ewe]—Esther has just had two baby lambs. Please come home and help me take care of them.” I instructed Gordon to watch the lambs carefully and make sure they received the mother’s milk and they would be fine. I was interrupted by a second phone call later in the morning with the same little voice on the other end saying, “Daddy, these lambs aren’t doing very well. They haven’t been able to get milk from the mother, and they are very cold. Please come home.”
 
My response likely reflected some of the distress I felt by being distracted from my busy work schedule. I responded, “Gordon, the lambs will be all right. You just watch them, and when Daddy comes home we will make sure they get mother’s milk and everything will be fine.” Again, later in the afternoon I received a third, more urgent call. Now the voice on the other end was pleading. “Daddy, you’ve got to come home now. Those lambs are lying down, and one of them looks very cold.” Despite work pressures, I now felt some real concern and tried to reassure the six-year-old owner of the mother sheep by saying, “Gordon, bring the lambs into the house. Rub them with a gunnysack to make them warm. When Daddy comes home in a little while, we will milk the mother, feed the lambs, and they will be fine.”
 
Two hours later I drove into the driveway of our home and was met by a boy with tear-stained eyes, carrying a dead lamb in his arms. His grief was overwhelming. Now I tried to make amends by quickly milking the mother sheep and trying to force the milk from a bottle down the throat of the now weak, surviving lamb. At this point, Gordon walked out of the room and came back with a hopeful look in his eyes. He said, “Daddy, I’ve prayed that we will be able to save this lamb, and I feel it will be all right.”
 
The sad note to this story, brethren, is that within a few minutes the second lamb was dead. Then with a look that I will remember forever, this little six-year-old boy who had lost both of his lambs looked up into his father’s face and with tears running down his cheeks said, “Daddy, if you had come home when I first called you, we could have saved them both.”
 
 
Your children are calling.  Are you listening to them 

​How did your week go?
 
Class member:  This morning was interesting.  I had the ‘leave the kids behind’ experience again this morning.  I left some kids.  2 of them did not have jackets on, but they stood there pouting, but in the mean time 7:30am the car pulls out.  Both of those kids went inside.  I had one of my older girls just crying.  She wanted me to take her back home to walk with them.  I went back home and the bus had left the boys were standing there.  On the way home my compassion side kicked in.  I get home they were pouting and had attitudes.  I went down to the school entrance and had breakfast.  I said I’m here to collect your breakfast trash.  Have a good day. 
 
The next thing I would suggest/invite you to do is to hold a FHE lesson, not specifically on that experience.  Tell them you want them to know that when you say something I mean it.  Use the Garden of Eden.  It’s a teaching not just for those that didn’t get their coats, but for the rescuer siblings.  This is part of teaching them to be resilient.  I am SO proud of you.  We have to have those hard experiences.  Those are what teach and train.  It’s the failures that are the teaching moments.  It’s not when they always do it right. 
 
Class member:  Sometimes I feel like I talk too much so I decided to try the non-verbal.  I have 3 teenagers and my oldest is 18.  I give them their down time after school.  We have a chore chart that has worked for the last 10 years.  It was his job to unload the dishwasher.  He didn’t do it.  I nodded my head toward the dishwasher and he got up and went and did it. 
 
Particularly with teenagers non-verbal works well.  Humor is a fabulous way.
 
Class member:  This probably combines a lot of things.  My baby turns 3 and Saturday he flushes his binky down the toilet.  He cried and he cried.  He knew what happened to it.  I took it as an opportunity for him to lose his binky.  My husband and the other boys wanted to go find another one.  He really mourned his loss.  I had some personal revelation.  We laid in bed and I thought I needed to distract him.  So we drew a picture of a binky.  We drew 6 pictures and he cut them out.  He folded them up and put them in his pocket so he had his binky.  It was what he needed to overcome his loss.  He is sleeping fine and is doing great.  He put his last picture on the fridge.  That’s where his binky goes. 
 
You need to keep that picture. 
 
Class member:  I had a pay day.  I have a son that is a junior this year.   I have a hard time with the books they are reading in school.  I went through and put post it notes over all the bad words.  My son said in his class that “My Mom took all the bad words out for me.”  It made me feel good that he recognized something good to help him. 
 
It takes work on the part of the mother.  Just know that it does.  If you want your children to be raised in purity it takes work on the part of the mother. 
 
Class member:  My 13 yr old white girl, just rolls with it.  I have been telling her for all these years to set her alarm clock at night.  I went up and told her that it was her responsibility from here on out to get up with her alarm.  She said I’m never going to remember.  We talked about consequences that could happen…no breakfast, hair not done.  Two days later she forgot, but she heard her brother and woke up 15 minutes late.  Today she did it again.  She had a total of 15 minutes to get ready and her hair was a rats nest.  She went to school that way.
 
Helping our children learn to be responsible is hard.  You have to give them their live..
 
Class member:  My 5 year old daughter has been on probation.  She is super smart.  She has lost certain privileges.  During that time she was cleaning out her room and I was putting her laundry in the washing machine and there were toys that didn’t belong to us.  She has been struggling with honesty.  I told her to tell me the truth the first time.  She said she took them from a friends house.  She couldn’t find one of her toys that she had taken.  She had to take all her money and put it in a bag.  She wrote an “I’m sorry” note.  We drove for 30 minutes to get back there.  She was a nervous wreck.  They weren’t there.  I said I have her number I’ll give her a call.  She is all panicky.  They didn’t answer the phone.  We left them a message.  We went through the 4 step apology that talked about.  After she was done I asked how she felt now she made it right.  She felt good.  It was hard to do, but I’m glad we did it. 
 
If you can do that at level zero that is the best teaching you could have done.  The lecture isn’t going to work.  There is one more step I would have added.  After the experience I would add kneeling down and asking Heavenly Father to forgive her because then she had the whole forgiveness process.  Then when taking the sacrament you can be washed clean again just like you were baptized.  She is free from it and you are not allowed to bring it back up. 
 
Class member:  One thing I felt like my parents struggled with is that my parents never let it go after I had repented.  I want to teach my kids that it’s ok to forgive their selves and move on. 
 
This is the Atonement.  If you have done your part and repent then it is gone.  We tend to help confess our children’s sins over and over so that they remember how awful that is.
 
Class member:  If you are frustrated with a child and give them a consequence, and then decide later can I say, ‘we need to do something different.’ When do you stick to your guns no matter what?
 
You don’t want to go back to them groveling.  It’s ok to make a mistake and then go back.  “I may have been a little quick to make that consequence.  Do you have some ideas of what we can do to change the consequence and pick a better one?”  You can change the consequence, but don’t let them go scott free.  It’s very appropriate.  That is how the Spirit guides us.  For you to listen to it and feel it says you are listening to the Spirit for each child.  You have to parent! 
 
Class member:  I have a son with a heart defect and on the spectrum, but he’s very capable to take his meds every day.  He needs to take it, but how do I teach him to be more motivated? 
 
He needs to take it when there is no payoff.  That is bribery. This is a situation of health and safety and need.  If he has a little bit of autism there is still a level of giving them more leeway.  You may have to help them a longer period of time.  He is going to leave you some day and he needs to learn to do it.  I would sit down with him.  Talk about your faith in him and how proud you are in him and what he has accomplished through his unique struggles.  You know that as he learns these independent living skills.  You preface it with “I believe in you.”  This is one of those life skills that you need to do because it’s a safety.  Then help him problem solve.  What can we do to be sure you remember?  Let’s talk about it tomorrow.  No breakfast until you’ve taken your medicine.  You can come up with the non-verbal things you need.  Figure out some kind of consequence that relates to the behavior.  He is in charge, but you are not out of the loop.  This may take longer to form those habits than someone that isn’t struggling with those challenges. 
 
Class member:  I want to thank you for “The proper way to say I’m sorry”.  We added repentance to it.  We did it for FHE.  My 5 year old this morning was holding the poster up for her siblings at breakfast.
Class member:  We did this with one of my children.  She is very intense.  It’s hard to believe her and hard to feel sorry.  Before you can do that you need to do these steps.  I wrote down the steps with blanks.  She went to her Dad to apologize.  He melted when she came to him with that sincerity.  The next day she went to her sister and did the same thing.  Her sister is very receptive.  In our family counsel on Sunday night we were talking about what we want to do.  We talked about this new tool for FHE and we are going to have a FHE lesson on it. 
 
It holds the person who has offended to be accountable.