Families Are Forever
Gettysburg Ward Primary Newsletter
John 15:11
"These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full"
Don't leave for tomorrow what you can do today ...
The Lord instructed us how to take care of our families when He told us through His prophets in the proclamation to the world, “Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, to teach them to love and serve one another, to observe the commandments of God and to be law-abiding citizens wherever they live.”
President James E. Faust gave us three key things we can do to protect and strengthen our families:
- Family prayer. Parents must teach their children that they are God’s children and therefore need to pray to Him daily.
- Family home evening. As President Faust taught us, family home evening is for all of us no matter what stage of life we are in. We must have Monday nights free of all other activities that might keep us from gathering as a family.
- Personal and family scripture study. We need to help our children strengthen their faith and testimony through this basic habit.
As we follow President Faust’s wise counsel, we will be protecting family members against Satan’s attacks as well as strengthening their faith and testimony in the Lord Jesus Christ.
The family proclamation helps us understand much of the love the Savior referred to when He told us we must “love one another.” He gave us the supreme example of love when He declared, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” He later atoned for all our sins and finally gave His life for all of us.
"Don't leave for tomorrow what you can do today" Claudio M Cost, October 2007 General Conference
October Lessons & Assignments
Mark Your Calendar
Tuesday Nights - 11 year old Scouts
Oct 2nd - RS Enrichment - 7 pm "The Perfect Pie Crust" - several different ways
Oct 4-5th - General Conference
Oct 14th - Girls Activity Days - Recognition Night - Parents & families invited
Oct 21st - Girls Activity Days - activity under the direction of the Stake Primary Leaders
Oct 28th - Ward Harvest Festival 6:30 pm - Chili or Salad to share, Costumes encouraged, Bring in your carved or painted pumpkin for judging! Games & Fun for everyone!
Save your toilet paper rolls and bring them into Primary before October 19th!
Bring in candy for Harvest Fest on/before October 19th!
Special Occasions
October Birthdays
3rd - Iysis R
6th - Sister McLaughlin
8th - Aaron C
11th - Trevor B
16th - Gage S.
26th - Tanner R
27th - Hunter G
Graduating from Primary
Trevor B & Gage S
Primary Mail Time
Write a note to someone in Primary and put it in the mail box for delivery during "Sharing Time". Everyone LOVES MAIL!
Let's All Sing
"The Family Is of God" (2014 Sharing Time)
"Seek The Lord Early" (CS pg 108)
"Baptism" (CS pg 100)
"I Will Follow Gods Plan" (CS pg 164)
"He Sent His Son" (CS pg 34)
CS = Children's Songbook
CLICK to LINK feature:
For ease in learning & reading, click on the blue lettering to link directly with the song or scripture.
Scripture Study
Marriage: Genesis 3:20, Genesis 1:28
Follow the Commandments: John 14:15
Help Others: Mosiah 2:17
Show Love to Everyone: John 13:34
Old Testament Scripture Challenge:
Prophesies of Isaiah: Isaiah 1:17-19; 2:2-4, 11:6-10; 53:3-5; 55:8-9, 58:6-14
Josiah & Ezra Read Scriptures: 2 Kings 22:1-4, 8-13; 23:1-4, 24-25; Nehemiah 8:1-8
Psalms & Proverbs: Psalms 1:1-3; 19:1-3; 24:1-4; Proverbs 3:5-6
Teacher Features
Sister Yager - CTR 5's
I was born in Rocky Ford, CO, lived in Gladstone, NM, Springdale, AR and spent most of my youth growing up in Erie, PA until my parents purchased a 70 acre farm near Findley Lake, New York. I attended BYU, married and became a homemaker & PA State Fruit Inspector. I enjoy singing, playing the piano and organ, painting portraits, arts and crafts of all sorts along with sewing and pulling weeds!
I was raised in the Seventh-day Adventist Church until the age of 15 when I began to question and pray to know which church was true. As providence would have it, I lived three doors from the LDS church building and on March 24, 1945 was baptized a member.
I have been blessed to have worked with some fun and inspiring sisters in Primary over the years and have enjoyed being the pianist and organist for many of those years. Now, teaching the CTR5’s brings new blessings as I truly love them and try to help them have a fun remembrance each week.
My testimony began in Heaven, as I recognized the truthfulness of it the moment I began to hear it. I loved sitting at the feet of Elder Miller as he would leaf through the Bible to make every point clear to my understanding, and receive the witness of the Holy Ghost as confirmation.
Brother Yager - CTR 5's
I was born in Greenfield Township, PA and lived in Ashville and Panama, NY until my parents purchased a farm in 1955 near the very farm where Betty’s family lived. As you might have guessed, we met shortly thereafter. I served in the Air Force and received a BS from Cornell University and Master’s Degree in Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology from Penn State University. Betty and I have lived in Ithaca, NY; State College & Gettysburg, PA; Andros Island, Bahamas; Mebane, Swaziland; Novy Sacz, Poland and Yerevan, Armenia. We have five children and six grandchildren.
I worked as a Regional Penn State Extension Agricultural Marketing Specialist in the Capitol Region of PA. Retired in 2000 as Professor Emeritus at Penn State University after a 38 year career, but continued working another four years directly for the US Agency for International Development in Armenia to complete the USDA Agricultural Marketing Assistance Project. Currently I’m serving as an agricultural marketing and rural development consultant.
Betty and I spent our honeymoon at the Hill Cumorah Pageant. The influence of her sweet spirit and her impressive knowledge of the gospel along with the deep spiritual feelings I felt during the Pageant and visiting the Sacred Grove inspired me to begin meeting with the missionaries. Just 35 days after our wedding I was baptism in the Erie, PA chapel at age 25 on August 1, 1957. Together, Betty and I teach the CTR 5 year olds and although it is a mystery to us as to who will be there each week, we truly love them and enjoy watching their testimonies grow.
Words of Wisdom
“The Lord’s instruction to teach by the Spirit does not relieve us in the slightest degree from the necessity of making personal preparation. … Preparation is a prerequisite to teaching by the Spirit.” Dallin H. Oaks, “Teaching and Learning by the Spirit,” Ensign, Mar. 1997, 10
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
Recent Baptisms
Baptism by immersion in water by one having authority is the first saving ordinance of the gospel and is necessary for an individual to become a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and to receive eternal salvation. All who seek eternal life must follow the example of the Savior by being baptized and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost.
It's Great to be 8 ...
Katelyn Gilbert was Baptized on September 21st!
Message for Teachers
How do I prepare an effective lesson?
Preparation of a lesson is an important part of teaching. Take time to prepare in advance. The earlier you begin, the more time you will have to be guided by the Spirit, to identify helpful resources, and to make assignments. As you prepare a lesson, prayerfully review the material, remembering that Church-produced lesson manuals help to ensure that Church doctrines are kept pure and that there is a consistent approach to gospel teaching. If you feel the need to adapt the lesson, you can use material from the scriptures and recent Church magazines or develop your own learning activities. When you are creating a lesson from a general conference address, choose the main principles you will teach from the address and then select several scriptures and teaching methods to use in presenting the principles. After teaching a lesson, it is helpful to evaluate your teaching. Ask yourself questions such as, “When did learners feel the Spirit most strongly? When did they seem most willing to participate? When did they best understand how the principle applies to their lives?”
Scriptures to study: Doctrine and Covenants 11:21; 88:119.
Things you can do:
- As you prepare, ask yourself: What should happen in the lives of the learners as a result of this lesson? Which principles should be taught, and how should I teach them?
- In general, teach just one or two main principles in each lesson.
- During the week, think of those you teach and how the upcoming lesson can be applied to their lives.
- Use your meetinghouse library to find Church resources to use in teaching the gospel.
Keeping Track of Impressions That Come
As you become more aware of teaching ideas around you, it will be helpful for you to keep track of impressions you receive. Carry a small notebook with you, and write about things that strike you as potential teaching ideas. Record insights from talks you hear or lessons in which you participate. Write about faith-promoting experiences. As you develop the habit of noting these things, you will become more and more aware of the rich teaching resources that are all around you. Do not worry about how you might use the ideas. Just write them down. Sometimes your observations will apply to a lesson that you will soon teach, but other times you will see wonderful examples or illustrations of principles that you will not teach for weeks or even years. You may forget them if you do not record them. You may also want to make a folder for each of the lessons you will teach in the next few months. As object lessons, comparisons, and other ideas occur to you, put a note in the appropriate folder. When the time comes to prepare a specific lesson, you may find that you have collected a treasure chest of ideas and activities to enrich the lesson. (Taken from “Teaching, No Greater Call”)