Youth Conference: Book of Mormon Live. And a couple of Young Women Activities.

We've been doing some pretty fun things with our youth at church, and I count myself pretty lucky that I get to tag along as a leader.

I just want to take a post and catch up on a couple of the fun things we've done with them, and touch on Youth Conference which was completely intense and amazing.  I've never done anything like it.

First of all, in preparation for Youth Conference, which was called Book of Mormon Live, the youth had to draw Book of Mormon stories out of hat and recreate them on a cake.  Then other leaders had to go around and see if they could guess which story it was.  I was a leader who got to supervise, but really, my group had a pretty good grasp on what they wanted to do.  Also, they had to answer trivia questions about the Book of Mormon to earn their candy to decorate with.

Caleb, Noah and Casidee

See if you can guess what Book of Mormon story these cakes are (if you're familiar with the book that is :)

Above: Christ visiting the Nephites at the temple

Above: Moroni burying the plates in the hill Cumorrah.

Above: King Benjamin teaching his people from the tower

Above: the Liahona

this was my group's cake

Above: The Title of Liberty

Our Young Women also got a chance to visit with a native Navajo Indian who taught us about the Navajo culture.

He and his wife helped the girls make Navajo Tacos.  I'll admit, I thought Navajo Tacos was an Anglo American thing, but come to find out they're authentic Navajo.  Who knew?

Not me.

And the Youth Conference to top all Youth Conferences, in my humble opinion.

Book of Mormon Live.

If you ever get the chance to go to Book of Mormon Live, do it.

We read the entire Book of Mormon (almost 600 pages) in three, long days.

But not only that, we brought it to life, we participated in it, we watched it, it became real.

And we might have had wheel barrow races.

With real wheel barrows.

That would be me chilling in that last wheel barrow :).

Can you guess which stories these are:

Above: The burning of Abinadi.  Imagine our surprise when  real fire was lit up.

Above: Alma at the Waters of Mormon.

Above: Ammon cutting off the arms of the robbers.

Which was probably the funniest thing I have ever seen.

Above: Captain Moroni and the Title of Liberty.

Above: The 2,000 Stripling Warriors (surrounded by angels of course).

And there was so much more.  I can't even tell you the impact of being a part of the Anti-Nephi-Lehi's had on all of us.  The burying of our swords and the refusing to pick them up again while the Lamanites came in...

And sitting in the darkness listening to the storm rage.  And then hearing the voice of Christ.  And then walking with everyone to the "temple".  And then seeing Christ come of the woods...

Samuel on the wall.

Every story played out in front of us.

I dare say I will never be the same for it, it touched me with so much goodness.

If you don't know what the Book of Mormon is, or if you've heard of it but never read it, or if you're curious to the stories I've just talked about it, whether in skepticism or genuine curiosity, feel free to look into it.  You can even get a free, no obligations copy HERE.

I, for one, love this book with all of my heart and soul, and feel it to be the true word of God.

How grateful I am to have spent three days with it.

And while I'm on the subject:

1 Nephi 1:20

I was sitting in our trailer in a campground at Joe's Valley (Utah) (more on that in the next day or two) when I found I had a minute to myself.

This never happens.

Never.

Jayme and Sean had been safely deposited with their mom and the girls had been whisked off on Harley's by their dad and his Harley gang (more on that in the next day or two) so it was just The Man and I on this little outing.

The Man had gone up to his uncle's campsite for something or other and so there I was.

Alone.

I pulled out my scriptures and opened The Book of Mormon to 1 Nephi.

I read chapter one.

And the last verse, verse 20 (here), just hit me.

Starting in the middle.

But behold, I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen,

Who has He chosen?

because of their faith,

He's chosen those who have faith.  Me?  You? 

You better believe it.

His tender mercies are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith for what?

to make them mighty

Wow.

even unto the power of deliverance.

That scripture has sat in my mind, and in my heart all weekend long.
It's beautiful.
I know I have faith.
And therefore His tender mercies are over me to make me mighty, even unto the power of deliverance.

I know this to be true.

The Circus tells you how it is

I should have posted this last week, but holy cow, it's amazing sometimes how busy life can get.  There wasn't a single day last week that I was in the same place with all six kids at once to corner them for answers.  I got four of the girls to answer these questions while Jay and Sean were at their mom's but as soon as Jay and Sean got back, I was headed to St. George.
So here's what we have, but I may have to update it as soon as I get a chance to sit down with Jay and Sean.

Where does the tooth fairy come from? Santa lives in the North Pole the Easter Bunny lives in a hole, but where is the tooth fairy's home?

Casidee: the tooth fairy lives in a rock in the magical land of teeth
Cali: she lives and comes from tooth world, which is on a different planet.
Tayler: in the sky.
Brynn: London.

Seriously, all you need to know about that crazy lady, the tooth fairy, can be found right here.
But for the record, she lives in a tooth castle in tooth fairy land, which is in the clouds.  Don't listen to Casidee, she doesn't know what she's talking about.
Living in a rock... come on now.

Also... she does not look like The Rock.

Just sayin'.

How do you incorporate God and spirituality into your home without practicing or committing your life to one specific religion?

Casidee: pray and read scriptures
Cali: by praying.
Tayler: praying and reading the scriptures.
Brynn: Well, you could pray and read the scriptures.

Firstly, I'm going to let you all know that I know the person who asked this up close and personal.  Therefore I know their situation, and their desires past this one question.  So if I seem to be making assumptions... I can.
Secondly, I must say that I am an active, devout member of  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  I take my kids to church.
That being said, I firmly believe that love is the answer to all things and if you choose to handle religion differently than I do, then by all means, that's your choice.  As my choice is mine.  And I still love you, and hope that you will still love me.
The Man is not a member of any church.  Nor are his kids.  So we know a thing or two about live and let live around our house.  And love.  Above all things, love.  And a good dose of mutual respect.
I also believe, and it is taught, that the church is a tool for teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ.  You can be active in the church, and not be actively living the gospel.  (If you're interested, there's a talk about that here).
And this can be said for any church.
I firmly believe that my kids need to know the gospel.  Not just what we do, but they need to understand why. (A good talk on that here, if you're interested).

If you want to know God and have those things in your home, by all means you must learn about them.  Take it straight to the universal source, The Bible (um, universal for Christians that is, since that's what this question is about :).  Read with your family.  Tell them stories and the lessons therein. Explain it to them.

What better way to know God than by reading His words?

My favorite is Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. As well as their companion, Daniel.  The first time I read that straight out the King James Bible as a teenager I got goose bumps.  I always knew that those guys came out of the fiery furnace alive, but when I read the verse where they say:

" If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.

 But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up." (Daniel 3 17:18)

They had no idea they would come out of that.  And they still stood up for what they felt was right. 

Powerful.

Don't have a Bible on hand?  You can find the King James version online here.
Or if you want to, you can also check out the Book of Mormon online here.  Or get a free copy here.  It has some pretty good stuff in it.


But that's up to you.

Not only can we hear His words to us through scripture, but we can speak with Him through prayer.  If it's something you want to establish in your home, pray together, and teach your children to pray on their own.

If it's one thing I know, it's that He hears us.  He is there.

He loves you.

This I know.

One more thing.  Service.  Not just for those around you, but teach your family to do service for each other inside your home.

Nothing brings you close to the spirit of God like serving one another.  Purposefully.

What is your favorite thing to do for the 4th of July?

Casidee: hang with family and put smoke bombs in water.
Cali: watch fireworks.
Tayler: watch fireworks.
Brynn: Have a big barbecue.
What's not to love about the 4th of July?  Except that it's not Halloween.  I have a full pinterest board of ideas that I'm just bursting to try out. :)

And according to Julie-Mom I need to carve something out of fruit...
(inside joke).

Also, have you ever put smoke bombs in water?  It's pretty cool, I would highly recommend it.  It makes color bubbles :).


How do you know when you've really forgiven someone after they've hurt you?

Casidee: when you aren't mad at them and you can be happy around them
Cali: I don't know.
Tayler: you can be nice to them.
Brynn: I'm not sure.  I guess when you know you're ready to forgive them.

My thought on that is you know you have forgiven them when the hurt no longer controls how you act or react towards them.

Hanging on to that bad stuff only affects our own selves.  It's so hard, sometimes, to let go, but the freedom and lightness you feel when you do is so much a happier place than when you carry around the bad feelings.  I've learned that the hard way.

Good questions.  Thank you.  I love seeing the wheels spin in the heads of The Circus when they think about these.  If you have a question you want to run pass them, please feel free to comment here or email us at circuscakes@gmail.com.

this i know

I love answers to prayers.

Life is meant to have its hard parts.  That's how we learn and grow.

It's how we get to be better people.

So I don't expect life to be easy all of the time.  I guess I knew it was coming, life has been so good for quite a stretch of time now.

Even though things get hard He, our Heavenly Father, is still there, and no matter what happens, we'll have the things that we need.

That's all that matters.

I was able to show the girls this over the weekend.


It was (and still is) at  the point where I was wondering,
"What next? What now? Can we really handle one more thing in this situation?"
And then one more thing happened, and I really had no idea how we were going to do it.  All I could do was pray and hang on to that.

And an answer came.  Not for all of it, but enough. It leaves me knowing that we will get through it and everything will be okay again. 

Actually, it will be better than it was.

This I know.


We've been trying to read the Book of Mormon by Easter. It's been hard, getting up a half hour early to read 4 or 5 chapters every day. We're a little bit behind, but we'll make it happen.

I love that Tayler seems to be completely absorbed by it. She follows along, every verse, even when her sisters sometimes just sit back and listen. Not Tayler. She's hanging on every word.

And just when I think Cali has fallen asleep, she'll ask a question.
"What does 'smite' mean?"
"What does 'persecute' mean?"
Those are the two that she can never seem to remember.

I appreciated that with our experience this weekend I could show Brynn and Cas how it was so much like what we've been reading.  Life will have its hard patches, but if we do all that we can to be good people, we won't be alone through it, and we'll come out better for it.

I know this to be true.

If you'd like to know what it is that we've been reading, click on the Book of Mormon link.  You can get a copy for free.  Or I'd be happy to send one to you myself.