Teaching Primary to Teaching Relief Society

I have taught in primary for the last three and a half years.  I love teaching children and watching them learn and grow.  It is so amazing how much knowledge they have.  I have learned a lot about teaching children.  From using play dough and coloring pictures to singing a primary song.  I know that sometimes it would get frustrating but I loved teaching them and I loved learning from these children of Heavenly Father.

I was released from primary teaching about seven months ago.  Now I have been called to be a Relief Society Instructor.  Exciting?  Yes.  Scary?  Yes.  Nervous?  Yes.  So far I have taught three lessons, and I feel a little more comfortable.  I have been teaching the Teaching For Our Times lessons and it has been quite the challenge.  I find myself reading the assigned talks over and over until I have it memorized.  Currently I am preparing to teach this Sunday.  The talk I am teaching from is Elder David A. Bednar's talk entitled More Diligent and Concerned at Home, found in the November 2009 Ensign..  I love this talk and some of the reasons are that he has the key points highlighted for me.  I have just gone through and highlighted all of the parts that I want to focus on. 

I wanted to share some of my favorite thoughts from this talk.
Express Love and Show it:  President Thomas S. Monson recently counseled "Often we assume that [the people around us] must know how much we love them.  But we should never assume; we should let them know....We will never regret the kind words spoken or the affection shown.  Rather, our regrets will come if such things are omitted from our relationships with those who mean the most to us."  ("Finding Joy in the Journey,"  Liahona and Ensign, Nov. 2008, 86)

I had never thought about that before, but it is so true.  The relationships we make here on earth, especially those with our spouse and children, will be the ones we carry with us into the next life.  We are going to have the same love and same relationship there.

Feeling the security and constancy of love from a spouse, a parent, or a child is a rich blessing....Such love is the desire of every human soul.

Bear Testimony--and Live it:  Within the walls of our own homes, we can and should bear pure testimony of the divinity and reality of the Father and the Son, of the great plan of happiness, and of the Restoration.

Bearing testimony is not only good for our own spiritual growth but it is also good for our loved ones to know and be reminded of the things we believe.

We should remember that bearing a heartfelt testimony is only a beginning .  We need to bear testimony, we need to mean it, and most importantly we need consistently to live it.  We need to both declare and live our testimonies.

By living what we know to be true we can strengthen our testimonies further.  We will be allowing the Holy Ghost to be with us all the time.  I have a two year old son and I know that he is learning both by word and example.  At bedtime he will say to me, "Pray".  It is so wonderful to know that I have already fostered in his little mind and heart that prayer is very important.  With that knowledge my testimony of the gospel increases.  I have affected my child in a good way and he has reminded me of the importance it is in our family.

I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints was restored to the earth.  I am grateful for Joseph Smith and his desire to know which church to join.  I am grateful for have modern day prophets and for being able to learn the things my Heavenly Father wants me to learn.  I know that as I bear testimony I will be sharing and living the gospel the way I should. 

Testimony of the Book of Mormon