Tell Me The Stories Jesus

Tell Me the Stories of Jesus

Tell Me the Stories of Jesus

O.k., so I’m a little behind, already and need to catch us up to speed! So on Sunday, we had a wonderful discussion lead by Debbie Adams. I just love hearing her school stories with her children and how she interprets them into her discussion. Tell me the Stories of Jesus…

“Tell me the stories of Jesus I love to hear, Things I would ask him to tell me if he were here. Scenes by the wayside, tales of the sea, Stories of Jesus, tell them to me.

Oh, let me hear how the children stood round his knee. I shall imagine his blessings resting on me; Words full of kindness, deeds full of grace, All in the love light of Jesus’ face.

Tell me, in accents of wonder, how rolled the sea, Tossing the boat in a tempest on Galilee! And how the master, ready and kind, Chided the billows and hushed the wind.”

Remember the primary song Tell Me the Stories of Jesus? I do! Tell me the Stories of Jesus is a talk given by Elder Neil L. Andersen. Debbie starts off the discussion by sharing an experience that she had when she was in college. Because her major was teaching, her class was on learning all about the importance of lesson plans. This one professor told the class that the important thing to teaching is to “Show – Discuss – Apply”. In relation to the talk, Tell Me the Stories of Jesus, this is what our Heavenly Father and Jesus did for us. Heavenly Father “Showed” us the plan; we liked it. He then “Discussed” the plan with us; we accepted it. Then he “Applied” the plan allowing us to come down to earth. Our Savior, Jesus Christ also do the same thing, he lead the way by “showing us” how to do it. With his examples and his teachings that he left behind, hence, The Stories of Jesus, we as parents are able to teach these stories to our children, hence, “Discuss” so that our children can “Apply” those principles in their lives…and so the healthy cycle begins. Let us look at the chart below:

Show Discuss Apply
“I do” “We do” “You do”
Our Savior Parents Children

While we are on our course of life, it’s very easy for us to get side tracked by all of the worldly things that we often times find ourselves trap. In our discussion, Debbie read a section of what President Thomas S. Monson said about our generation. I will just paraphrase as much as possible adding quotes here and there. President Monson said that we are in a rising generation and that is the best it has ever been. He said to our youth, “You have come to this earth at a glorious time. The opportunities before you are nearly limitless.” Children now days are born into a generation where everything is obtainable. Children are born into houses with computers, cell phones, unlimited amounts of channels on the T.V. where they can watch literally anything they want at any time… “The opportunities before you are nearly limitless.” So President Monson continues on by warning us “we [also] have been placed on earth in troubled times. It is a time of permissiveness, with society in general routinely disregarding and breaking the laws of God…The adversary is using every means possible to ensnare us in his web of deceit”, hence, we become side tracked by all of the goodies that we are surrounded by.

With this “rising generation” that we have among us, these spirits have “important responsibilities and great spiritual capacities” that we don’t have. We as parents “cannot be casual in how we prepare them. Our challenge as parents and teachers is not to create a spiritual core in their souls but rather to fan the flame of their spiritual core already aglow with the fire of their premortal faith.” Go ahead and reread that phrase if you need too. (pg. 108)

Each of our children must survive on their own accord, their own faith. This is not an easy task for us parents today especially with all of the diversion in our paths. Parenting today is so hard and very demanding. And living in a world where so many parents, both, having to work just to make ends meats, makes the job even harder. Our children MUST “own [their own] conversions to the truth.” They must “own [their own] light, [their] own ‘steadfast and immovable’ faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, independent of parents, youth leaders, and supportive friends.” They must rely on their own belief, their own faith in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. So, what are the answers to making sure that happens? Where, all we can do as parents is give our children the tools, the knowledge, the prayers, the faith and steadfastness and hope that they take those items with them and be successful.

One of those tools that we can give to our children as Elder Andersen says is the Telling of the Stories of Jesus. Elder Andersen says, “The stories of Jesus can be like a rushing wind across the embers of faith in the hearts of our children. Jesus said, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life.’ The stories of Jesus shared over and over bring faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and strength to the foundation of testimony.” That my sisters, is a valuable gift that we can give to our children. (pg. 108)

As we begin teaching our children the Stories of Jesus, they will have him in their thoughts while they are going through their trials, or when they are stuck between two paths, one leading to happiness the other leading to temptation. It’s helps them to have that in their minds, giving them courage to choose the right path. Knowing the Stories of Jesus, I think, give them/us a conscience, it makes us/them accountable’ for our/their wrongdoing. As parents, we don’t always know everything that our children do and knowing that, it allows our children to know that, yes, mom and dad may not know…but Heavenly Father knows and in the end, we can’t hide from him. Our children must feel “the power of the Savior’s miracles.” Jesus did so much during his short time here on earth and his stories are so wonderful to hear and read about. For example, “Jesus healed the leper, gave sight to the blind, he fed the 5,000, calmed the sea, and raised Lazarus from the dead.” Our children must believe and understand the importance of miracles and faith… “it is by faith that miracles are wrought.” Our children must learn to pray for miracles in their own lives, pray for the courage to do what is right, to “Be not afraid, [but] believe?” (pg. 109)

Our children must understand the signs of the times that are ahead of them. Do they fully understand their purpose of life for them, and the ending of time when the Savior will return? Do they understand that “all will be made right and [that] every knee will bow and every tongue [will] confess that Jesus is the Christ” (pg 109)? We as parents must open up our scriptures and read about our Savior. If we don’t teach them, no one else will. We can’t rely on anybody else to do it. I know that sometimes our situations may be harder than others to have those daily scripture reading times, or family dinners where we can talk about Jesus, but we need to find ways, even creative ways of reading these Stories of Jesus to our children. I know for me, not being able to have a lot of scripture reading in my house, I’ve had to be very creative in teaching my children the Stories of Jesus. And with the age gap between my daughter and my son and then when my son went to live with my parents for four years, that made it even harder. A couple of things I did was on Sundays when I was with my son and daughter at my mom’s house, we would read the scripture for about 30 to 40 minutes and/or watch the Living Scripture videos. Other times, when we would be driving to my parents house, which was often and about a 25 minute drive, I would have them pull out the scriptures and read them or we would listen to the scriptures tapes in my car. Granted it wasn’t daily, and both of my children weren’t always together for the scripture reading, but that was the only way that I could teach my children the Stories of Jesus. My scriptures live in my car. You will not find them in my house. It’s our responsibility as parents to teach our children. As Marietta commented, ‘if we don’t teach them, how will they know!’

So what happens if we have done all of that and we still end up losing a child who has chosen another path? Our children, such as us, have been given the blessing of ‘free agency’. We cannot make them believe. Yes, we can drag them to church when they are little but they do grow up and many times, are bigger than us, and we can’t drag them anymore. None of us want that. Our hope is that our children will adhere to the gospel word. Debbie shared with us her struggles with one of her sons who has chosen not to adhere to the gospel word. We love our children and we want the best for them. Here is what Debbie quoted from Elder Andersen talk, “Although there may be times when a child does not listen with a believing heart, your testimony of Jesus will remain in his or her mind and soul.” Read it again if you need too. Those are important words to remember. Continuing on… “If a child is not listening, don’t despair. Time and truth are on your side. At the right moment, your words will return as if from heaven itself. Your testimony will never leave your children. As you reverently speak about the Savior – in the car, on the bus, at the dinner table, as you kneel in prayer, during scripture study, or in late-night conversations – the Spirit of the Lord will accompany your words…As you do your best, the testimony of Jesus will gently distill upon your children’s hearts. They will go to their Heavenly Father in humble prayer and feel His influence through the power of the Holy Ghost. A stronger personal faith in Jesus Christ will prepare them for the challenges they will most surely face” (pg 110).

In Debbie closing remarks, she quoted this last phrase, “Remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, … [he] shall have no power over you to drag you down … because of the rock upon which ye are built… ‘Two men can do anything as long as one of them is the Lord’ and ‘The Savior must be our foundation’” (pg 111).

So to recap here is a list of what we discussed:

Purpose of the Stories of Jesus

Savior’s Life Us

Premotal Counsel ------------------------- Willingness to serve
Humble Birth ----------------------------- Proper place of material things
Prayers of thankfulness blessings -------- Prayers / concerns
Love for children ------------------------ Stands with open arms
Fasting ----------------------------------- Meaningful fast
Lonilness --------------------------------- Our loneliness
Courage ----------------------------------- Be not afraid
Miracles ---------------------------------- Pray in faith for miracles

I know from living in my situation that teaching the Stories of Jesus to my children have been a lifesaver for me. My children are exposed to so much opposition; they have lots of diversion in their wake, especially my daughter. My son, be blessed to live with my parents for those four years in his shaking years, missed a lot of the ciaos in my house, but my daughter, is very much in the ‘eye of the tornado’. Even though she struggles with coming to church every week, I am grateful that she is a strong spirit and has the courage to stand strong and is willing to come in most cases, even if she doesn’t attend her Sunday school classes and sits out in the foyer. At least she is there and I know that she is feeling the peace and spirit of our Heavenly Father. So even with all of the ciaos in our family, I have been able to create teaching moments and relate varies stories of Jesus into both of my children’s thought process. I am grateful for the fact that I have been able to be provide creative teaching moments for my children and teach them The Stories of Jesus.

With this blog, we have the opportunity to share our thoughts and comments and experiences so please, share your thoughts or struggles that you’ve had in your life and how worked it out. It really is a strength to all of us….just knowing that somebody else is or has gone though what we are ‘kind of’ going through if helpful. We can learn from other and even help by sharing our experiences with each other so please comment on our blog.

Our discussion is in the General Conference Ensign on page 108. Please take some time and read it. It’s very inspiring. Elder Andersen tells several stories that you surely make your heart swell and well yes, even shed a few tears, so make sure you have some tissues around along with your tall glass of water or your favorite drink and those yummy healthy snacks before you begin to read. And speaking of yummy snacks, at the Relief Society Broadcast dinner, I was forward a couple of recipes to share with you. The first one is…

Chicken Fettuccini

2 chicken breasts
½ cube butter
1 pkg. Dry Italian seasoning
1 can cream of chicken soup
8 oz. Cream cheese
½ cup water

Cook chicken, butter and Italian seasoning in crock-pot for 2 hours on high. Remove chicken and cut up. Return cut up chicken to crock-pot. Add soup, cream cheese and water. Cook for another 1 ½ hours.

Serve over cooked Fettuccini noodles (1 pound)

Note: Heat soup, cream cheese and water in microwave and stir until the sauce is smooth. Otherwise it takes a longtime for the cream cheese to melt in the crock pit.


Strawberry Freeze Desert

Crust & Topping:
½ cup melted butter
1-cup flour
¼ cup brown sugar
½ cup chopped walnuts or slivered almonds

Mix all ingredients and spread in the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Bake at 350* degrees for 10 minutes. Cool and stir until crumbly. Save 1/3 of the crumbs for the topping and spread the rest evenly on the bottom of the 9x13 pan.

Strawberry filling:
½ pint cream
2 egg whites
1 cup granulated sugar
2 Tbsp. Lemon juice
1 pound package frozen strawberries, softened

Put all filling ingredients (except the cream) in a bowl and beat and beat until it triples in volume. (Kitchen-aid takes about 5 minutes; small electric hand mixer can take up to 15 minutes). In separate bowl, whip the ½ pint cream. Fold into strawberry mixture the whipped cream. Top with saved crumbs and freeze several hours or overnight.

Cut and serve with ½ hour of removing dessert from freeze.

Enjoy, and until next time….


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