(Taken from Elder L. Tom Perry's talk)
Taught by Heidi Hulme
Sister Hulme started her lesson by talking about how happy she was to teach a lesson based on Elder Perry's talk. Elder Perry is her father's cousin--and since she had been sick she joked that she wanted to get him to come teach the lesson.
Sister Hulme talked about how Elder Perry pointed out that we all have good times and bad times in our life and how the gospel can be a foundation and how following the Savior can make all the difference.
She told a story about a friend of hers who recently loss her father. Sister Hulme grew up with this girl in the gospel, but when the girl was older she left the church. After the death of her father, Sister Hulme's friend was devastated by the feeling that she would never see him again. This was a woman who was raised in the church, but little by little fell away.
From Elder Perry's talk Sister Hulme shared:
The scriptures testify of Him and provide an example of perfect righteousness for us to follow. I have shared with the body of the Church at a previous conference that I have a number of notebooks in which my mother had recorded material she was using to prepare her Relief Society lessons. The notes are as timely today as they were then. One of these was a quote written in 1908 by Charles Edward Jefferson on the character of Jesus Christ. It reads:
“To be a Christian is to admire Jesus so sincerely and so fervently that the whole life goes out to him in an aspiration to be like him.
“… We may come to know him through the words he spoke, through the deeds he did, and also through his silences. We may know him also by the impression which he made first upon his friends and secondly upon his foes, and thirdly upon the general body of his contemporaries. …
“One of the notes of twentieth century life is discontent [and trouble]. …
“… The world is crying out for something, it scarce knows what. Wealth has come, … [and] the world is filled with … inventions of human skill and genius, but … we are [still] restless, unsatisfied, [and] bewildered. … [If we open] the New Testament [we are greeted by these words], ‘Come unto me and I will give you rest, I am the bread of life, I am the Light of the world, If any man thirst let him come unto me and drink, My peace I give unto you, You shall receive power, You shall rejoice’” (The Character of Jesus [1908], 7, 11, 15–16).
Sister Hulme then had a sister read Matthew 13:25-30:
25 But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.
27 So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?
She then asked, "How can we apply this parable today? How can we help the youth to know what is good?" It was then applied to the internet and television.
She talked about how we need to continue to be an example of righteous families.
Sister Hulme then shared how she had prayed as a mother to know the best thing to do for her career and her son. After praying she decided to quit her job, feeling she needed to be spending more time with her son. When she went to tell her boss he ended up offering her a job where she could be home more often. She has a sign made, that she brought to class, with the famous quote, "No success can compensate for failure in the home." She stressed that we need to make our home a safe harbor.
She talked about the need to talk about how we feel with our families, especially our children, so that they will know what the spirit feels like and how to recognize it.
From Elder Perry's talk she quoted:
We must carefully continue to evaluate our performance as parents. The most powerful teaching a child will ever receive will come from concerned and righteous fathers and mothers. Let us first look at the role of the mother. Listen to this quote from President Gordon B. Hinckley:
“Women who make a house a home make a far greater contribution to society than those who command large armies or stand at the head of impressive corporations. Who can put a price tag on the influence a mother has on her children, a grandmother on her posterity, or aunts and sisters on their extended family?
“We cannot begin to measure or calculate the influence of women who, in their own ways, build stable family life and nurture for everlasting good the generations of the future. The decisions made by the women of this generation will be eternal in their consequences. May I suggest that the mothers of today have no greater opportunity and no more serious challenge than to do all they can to strengthen the [home]” (Standing for Something: 10 Neglected Virtues That Will Heal Our Hearts and Homes [2000], 152).
On the board she put, "How can we as mother's 'Strengthen the home?'
Together the class came up with:
1. Teachable moments
2.Help self-esteem (Books recommended "The 5 Love Languages for Children" and "The Child Whisperer"
3. Have family dinners
4. Have children contribute--do chores
5. Make sure to speak in kind voices, "Love is spoken here."
Sister Hulme asked us all to find an action-item--something specific we could take and try harder on in our own lives.....What we could do to have the spirit stronger in our own lives.
She then put on the board, "How can we support fathers in the home?"
The class answered:
-Let them preside
-Respect his roll
-Demonstrate that we understand their responsibilities
-No man bashing
-Use men in the ward to be that example if a father is unavailable for certain things. Sister Hulme shared a beautiful story of Brother Collier coming and teaching her son all about the role of home teachers.
Sister Hulme then shared from Elder Perry's talk:
Many years ago at stake conferences, we would show a film clip to illustrate the theme of the message we were presenting. During the course of a year, as we traveled around the Church on our assigned stake conference visits, we became very familiar with the content of the film. We could almost quote it by heart. The message has remained in my mind over all these years. The film was narrated by President Harold B. Lee and gave an account of an occurrence in the home of his daughter. It goes something like this:
One evening the mother of the home was frantically trying to finish bottling some fruit. Finally the children were ready for bed and were settled down. It was now time to get to the fruit. As she began to peel and pit the fruit, two little boys appeared in the kitchen and announced that they were ready for their bedtime prayers.
Not wanting to be interrupted, the mother said very quickly to the boys, “Why don’t you just say your prayers alone tonight, and Mother will just keep working on the fruit?”
The older of the two sons firmly planted his feet and asked, “Which is the most important, prayers or fruit?” (See Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Harold B. Lee [2000], 143–44.)
Sister Hulme stressed that we need to look for these teachable moments. She talked again about her friend whose father had passed away and how that friend wanted to get some peace back--how Sister Hulme had talked with her about what she needed to do.
She finished her lesson by talking about the need we all have to be an example and help others to recognize those righteous feelings.
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