Families Are Forever
Gettysburg Ward Primary Newsletter
The Family: A Proclamation to the World says...
"Successful . . . families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities"
Play Together, Stay Together
Families that play together stay together, especially when their play is uplifting and wholesome. Family vacations, holidays, birthday celebrations, and other activities build strong bonds and feelings of self-worth. The phrase “Remember when we…” is sure to bring love and laughter in the years to come.
"Wholesome recreation is part of our religion, and a change of pace is necessary, and even its anticipation can lift the spirit.” Ezra Taft Benson
"Create meaningful family bonds that give your children an identity stronger than what they can find with their peer group or at school or anyplace else. This can be done through family traditions for birthdays, for holidays, for dinnertime, and for Sundays.“
M. Russell Ballard
"Plan and carry out meaningful vacations together, considering our children’s needs, talents, and abilities. Help them create happy memories, improve their talents, and build their feelings of self-worth." Robert D Hales
"Music, literature, art, dance, drama, athletics—all can provide entertainment to enrich one’s life and further consecrate it. At the same time, it hardly needs to be said that much of what passes for entertainment today is coarse, degrading, violent, mind-numbing, and time wasting. Ironically, it sometimes takes hard work to find wholesome leisure. When entertainment turns from virtue to vice, it becomes a destroyer of the consecrated life.”
D. Todd Christofferson
August Lessons & Assignments
Mark Your Calendar
Aug 7th - RS Enrichment
Aug 9th - Stake Provident Living Activity - Chambersburg 10 am - Noon
Aug 12th - Girls Activity Days - Majestic Theater activity in Gettysburg
Aug 19th - Girls Activity Days - Family Proclamation activity
Aug 29th - LDS Family Night Camden Yards - Orioles vs Twins 7:05 pm; Sponsored by Baltimore Stake, invite your non-member friends
Cub Scout activities have been suspended until September
Remember - Activities are now on Tuesday evenings!
Save the Date:
Sept 19-20 - Stake RS Women's Retreat "Spa in the Woods II" at Camp Liahona - Fri 5 pm - Sat 12 pm. Relax, enjoy an evening of fun & pampering: Music, classes, food, campfire & uplifting fireside speaker!
Special Occasions
August Birthdays
9th - Braxson G
10th - Kaelyn E
11th - Katelyn G
19th - Marlie R
20th - Sister Mulleady
Primary Mail Time
Write a note to someone in Primary and put it in the mail box for delivery during "Sharing Time". Thank you notes, birthday cards, drawings, pictures and photos or just a note to say "I'm thinking of you" are always nice.
Stand Up and Sing
Click to Link to the songs!
"Seek the Lord Early (CS pg 108)
"Baptism" (CS pg 100)
"I Stand All Amazed" (Hymnal 193)
"I Will Follow Gods Plan" (CS pg 164)
"He Sent His Son" (CS pg 34)
CS = Children's Songbook
Scripture Study
Click to Link to the scriptures makes it easy to read a scripture on the go!
Family Prayer: 3 Nephi 18:21
Temptation: Matthew 4:1-11
Spiritual Strength: Luke 1:37, 1 Nephi 3:7, D&C 10:5
Sabbath Day of Rest: Exodus 20:8-11, Luke 23:56, Mosiah 18:23, D&C 68:29
Old Testament Scripture Challenge:
David & Jonathan: 1 Samuel 18:1-9, 19:1-10, 23:14-18, 24:9-10, 16-19, 2 Samuel 1:4, 11-12
David & Bathsheba: 2 Samuel 11:1-4, 14-17, 26-27, 12:1-7, 9, 13
King Solomon: 1 Kings 2:1-4, 12, 3:3-28, 6:1
Rehoboam: 1 Kings 11:43, 12:1-12
Elijah the Prophet: 1 Kings 17, 19:11-12
Jill Rider - Valiant 11
I’m a wonderer; I admit it, a professional traveler! Born in Salt Lake City, my love for travel began at a young age as my Dad’s job with United Airlines had us living in Utah, Colorado and California. College took me to University of Utah … Go Utes!! Traveling continued during married life, as an Air Force family we were fortunate to live in numerous US states such as California, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Florida, Virginia, Mississippi, Alabama and overseas in Japan, Saudi Arabia and South Africa. We have a son and daughter and seven delightful grandchildren. If you ask me what I like to do for fun, I’ll tell you – anything that has to do with water, especially shark cage diving. I also enjoy international travel, collecting jewelry from all over the world and exploring various cultures.
My calling in the primary over the past five or so years has given me the honor of seeing these beautiful young souls develop, grow and enter the youth program. As a lifelong member of the church I know the Gospel to be true! What more needs to be said?
A very special experience occurred when I, as a recent convert, served as a Primary teacher to the seven-year-olds. I knew this class was important because it was the year before these children would be baptized, so I was surprised to discover how many of my class members didn’t come to Primary. As I began working to help those little Primary children, I found a mistake on my roll. A boy’s name had been erased because leaders thought that the family had moved, but I learned that the family had not. I felt bad. This young man had not been contacted for a long time, so I sent him a postcard saying I was sorry he had not heard from me before, and I invited him to Primary. When he didn’t come, I went to his home and asked him if he needed a ride to Primary. His family was nice to me, but they said he didn’t need a ride. I continued to send him postcards telling him about the things we did in Primary and saying that we missed him. I always included my phone number. One day he called me. He told me he was moving to a ranch with a horse. We talked about many things for about 30 minutes, including the importance of being baptized. When it was time to end the conversation, the young boy seemed reluctant. Finally he said, “Primary teacher, I love you.” There were a few seconds of silence, and then I said, “I love you too,” because I did. He loved me—this little boy who had been forgotten the whole year, who had had one visit from me and a few postcards. I prayed that Heavenly Father would help him find another Primary teacher who would seek him out and encourage him to come to Primary and to be baptized.
Tips for Teachers
What are the most effective methods I can use as I teach?
No teacher should fall into a monotonous pattern of presenting the same kind of lesson week after week. When you teach with variety, learners tend to understand gospel principles better and retain more. As you strive to choose effective teaching methods, ask yourself:
- Will the method invite the Spirit?
- Will the method help learners better understand the gospel principle?
- Will the method invite students to participate in the lesson?
- Will the method make the best use of time?
It is important to begin your lesson in a way that prepares others to learn. You can do such things as present an object lesson, write questions on the board, or have someone read a story or scripture. It is also important to conclude your lesson in a way that invites learners to live what they have learned. You can review the main principles taught and ask learners how to apply them, ask an individual to summarize the main points of the lesson, and bear testimony of the principles.
Scriptures to study: 2 Nephi 33:1; Doctrine and Covenants 42:14; 63:64.
Things you can do:
-Teaching, No Greater Call provides a chart that will help you keep variety in your lessons: Teaching with Variety.
-Make sure that lesson introductions do more than get attention. They should relate directly to the lesson principles.
-Bring the lesson discussion to a close while there is still time to effectively conclude the lesson.
- Download this chart from LDS.org to help you plan which teaching methods you will use in coming weeks: http://tinyurl.com/kgw2te3
"Every teacher has the responsibility of determining how best to approach the members of the class in order to make appeals that will be lasting." David O. McKay, Gospel ideals (1953), 439
Who can teach by the Spirit?
The glass represents us as teachers of the gospel. The water in the glass represents our best use of our talents. We may think that we could be truly effective in our teaching if only we had more talents. However, this glass cannot be filled by our talents alone. To be truly effective teachers of the gospel, we must teach by the power of the Holy Ghost. The miracle is that no matter who we are and no matter how talented we seem to be, the best we can do will be enough when the influence of the Spirit is present. (From “Teaching, No Greater Call”)
Gettysburg Ward Primary Presidency:
President -
Sister McLaughlin
717) 642-5550
1st Counselor -
Sister Mulleady 717) 357-283
2nd Counselor -
Sister Shadle 717) 624-1165
shadle_crew@yahoo.com
Secretary -
Sister Howard 717) 677-4809
Words of Wisdom
“It is wise to fear that our own skills are inadequate to meet the charge we have to nourish the faith
of others. Our own abilities, however great, will not
be enough. But that realistic view of our limitations creates a humility which can lead
to dependence on the Spirit and thus to power.”
President Henry B. Eyring
in Conference Report, Oct. 1997, 114.