Seventh Witness – Shepherds

At the birth of Him who is called the “good shepherd” (John 10;14), shepherds were the first to receive the announcement of His holy birth. (Like 2: 8-16) These were not ordinary shepherds, for it had been prophesied among the Nephites that angels would declare the glad tidings of the Messiah’s birth to “just and holy men.” (Alma 13:26.) These were probably the priesthood holders acting as shepherds in the temple fields.

Their job that night and other nights was to witness the birth of the lambs!  Many gave birth to two lambs and they needed to know the first born so they could become sacrifical lambs. They would mark the first born male with a red cord around the neck. This special night they got to witness the first born son of God – the Lamb of God.
Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd who leads and watches over his followers. Many prophets compared him to a shepherd. “The Lord is my shepherd.” (Ps. 23:1) “He shall feed his flock like a shepherd.” (Isa. 40:11) “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep…I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.” (John 10:11,14)​
​The special witnesses borne by these shepherds were to be told to family, friends, and neighbors. They were to be told in the courts of the temple, and from there to be told among all nations of the earth. Luke tells us that after the shepherds had seen the “babe lying in a manger, … they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.” (Luke 2:16–17.) Such was the declaration of the angel who stood before them that holy night, that these “good tidings of great joy” should “be to all people.” (Luke 2:10.)
Jesus was witnessed and visited by shepherds – symbolic of him becoming our “Good Shepherd” keeping us safe as he leads us back home!  ☺️

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Sixth Witness – Joseph

Joseph was a patriarch of a man.  He was the one that had family home evenings with Jesus, he taught him a trade, told him stories, encouraged him to walk, talk, read and sing.
Angel Gabriel helped him whenever he needed it. Gabriel first comforted Joseph, “Fear not to take Mary as thy wife… for she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:20-21) Fulfilling the prophesy, “The Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Emmanuel” (Isaiah 7:14.)

The angel giving Joseph the name of the baby was very significant.  In that culture when a man names the child he is legally claiming him as his own.  Joseph named him “Jesus” which means save his people just as the angel told him. He loved Jesus as his own.
We know that he was righteous and faithful in keeping the law of Moses. He was strickly obedient and rose immediately when warned to flee Bethlehem.
​There are no scriptural record of any words spoken by Joseph, yet his righteousness and reactions to Mary’s condition bear testimony to his belief in Christ’s divine sonship. 

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Fifth Witness – Mary

Jesus was born the son of God to a virgin mother as foretold by Isaiah (Isa. 7:14) and other prophets (1 Nephi 11:13-21; Alma 7:9-10.) Gabriel called her, “highly favoured” and “blessed… among women” (Luke 1:28.)

From the Book of Mormon we learn what the mother of the Savior looked like. Nephi “beheld a virgin, and she was exceedingly fair and white.” (1 Nephi 11:13)

​Mary was a perfect mortal witness. Gabriel told her she would conceive “the Son of the Highest.” (Luke 1:32.) 

Christ’s mother was very special and the Nephites understood how special she was because her name was announced. It was their culture to not write the name of women except in very special circumstances. There are only 4 women names in the whole Book of Mormon.

“He shall be called Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of heaven and earth, the Creator of all things from the beginning; and his mother shall be called Mary.” (Mosiah ​3:7-8)

Nephi understood the symbolism of the fruit of the tree when he witnessed the love Mary had for Jesus. 

“I looked and beheld the virgin again, bearing a child in her arms. And the angel said unto me: Behold the Lamb of God, yea, even the Son of the Eternal Father! Knowest thou the meaning of the tree which thy father saw? And I answered him, saying: Yea, it is the love of God, which sheddeth itself abroad in the hearts of the children of men; wherefore, it is the most desirableabove all things. And he spake unto me, saying: Yea, and themost joyous to the soul.” (1 Ne. 11:19–23.)

Nephi knew the meaning of the tree was love because he could feel their love for each other.  Love is the MOST desirable, the MOST joyous.
How did you feel when your children were born? or when you held a newborn baby? It is that love that God desires us all to feel and have and experience. When is the last time you felt the love of God?
​Following that marvelous event, she testified, saying, “He that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name.” (Luke 1:49.)

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Fourth Witness – John the Baptist

What a marvelous event it must have been when Elisabeth greeted her cousin Mary in the spirit of prophecy and Mary responding by that same spirit, then John leaping for joy. The testimonies of two women—the aged Elisabeth and the young Mary—each bearing a child conceived under miraculous circumstances. They, and the unborn John, all rejoice in the great event about to take place.
Christ was the rightful heir to David’s kingdom and John was rightful heir of the office of Elias. He began his ministry, to “go before the face of the Lord to prepare his [Christ’s] ways,” by leaping for joy while still within his mother’s womb. (Luke 1:41, 76; see also Luke 1:15.)

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Third Witness – Elisabeth

Elizabeth is a type of Alishiba, the wife of Aaron. Her name means ALL sons are priests. Elizabeth’s line was to bare the priests! She and Zachariah were not able to bare children. He being a Priest was at the prayer alter praying for Salvation (Jesus) and he received salvation for his family! 

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Second Witness – Zacharias

Zacharias was a “just and holy” man (Alma 13:26) and a priest. He and his wife Elisabeth were descendants in the Priest’s line (Luke 1:5) In Hebrew his name meant Lord has Remembered  and her name meant consecrated to God.
This noble couple were promised a child who would be the forerunner of the Messiah. Zacharias did not believe this could happen as they were “sticken in years” so Gabriel told him he would “not be able to speak, unto the day that these things shall be performed” (Luke 1:20.)

He remained mute until “Elisabeth’s full time came that she should be delivered.” (Luke 1:57) It was then that Zacharias’s “mouth was opened” (Luke 1:64) and he bore witness of the divine mission of his newborn son, testifying that he would “go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways.” (Luke 1:65) News of these miraculous occurrences “were noised abroad throughout Judea.” (Luke 1:76.)

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First Witness – Gabriel

Angel Gabriel is the first witness, he was a righteous messenger from the King or God who brought messages and helped prepared for the birth of the Christ. In Hebrew the word “angel” is Malak which means messenger from the King. Gabriel means God is my strong man.  He “stands next in authority to Adam in the Priesthood” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 157), and that he holds the keys of the “restoration of all things” (D&C 27:6–7.)
Gabriel made his initial appearance in the temple to Zacharias, a faithful priest, who performed a ritual for his nation—burning incense on the altar within the Holy Place.

In response to his prayer, an “angel of the Lord” appeared before Zacharias, standing on the right side of the altar of incense and identified himself as Gabriel, one who stood “in the presence of God.” (Luke 1:11, 19.) Gabriel tells him of the good news and gives him instructions.
Gabriel also visits Mary and Joseph to help prepare the way for the birth of Christ. ​

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The Twelve Witnesses of Christmas

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General Conference History

Preparing for General Conference

Recently I interviewed a leader in the community and we got talking about traditions she said something profound, she said, “My son said to me, “I don’t know which I like more Christmas or General Conference.”” Wow! My children never said that about General Conference. What could I do to help my children see the beauty of Conference and to have a desire to learn?

History of General Conference
Have you ever thought about the history of General Conference? One of my institute teachers taught me a great lesson that has stuck with me for many years. We were studying the Old Testament and we read from Exodus chapter 12. 
Exodus 12:17 And ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this selfsame day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore shall ye observe this day in your generations by an ordinance for ever.
 42 It is a night to be much observed unto the Lord for bringing them out from the land of Egypt: this is that night of the Lord to be observed of all the children of Israel in their generations. And the Lord said unto Moses and Aaron, This is the ordinance of the passover:
He then set up the question, “This was an ordinance to be observed forever!! throughout generations!! Are we still observing this today?” After twenty minutes of discussion – he could really get us thinking, I loved that about Brother Young. The answer finally came out. YES, we are observing this ordinance by attending General Conference twice a year. The place where we receive “further instructions” (D&C 124:88)

Hebrew Feasts
God gave the Hebrews seven Feasts. These feasts teach us about the Plan of Happiness. The first Feast is at their first month, Passover, it is usually observed the first week in April. The last Feast is the Feast of the Tabernacles which usually takes place the beginning of October. The same weeks that our General Conference takes place.
with the Feast of the Tabernacle (beginning of October) and the 6 months later is Passover (beginning of April) just as our General Conference is!!

Why did God want these rituals to be forever? The answer is found in the same chapter of Exodus 12:26 and 27 – To create questions in the children. To give the parents a chance to teach. Basically it is to help us learn how to think! 🙂 
We ought to be wonders – curious about all things, we’ve become a distracted people. Latter Day Saints should be seekers, learners, and teachers of truths & understandings.

                          6 Reasons for General Conference?

1 To Help Us Become as God
God said about Adam and Eve taking the fruit, “… man is become as one of us, to know good and evil.” (Gen. 3:22.)
Sterling W. Sill said, “I would just like to point out in passing that the right kind of knowledge still tends to have that effect upon people. It still tends to make men and women become as God. A flaming sword was placed in the Garden of Eden to guard the tree of life, but fortunately for us there is no flaming sword guarding the tree of knowledge, and each one of us may eat to his heart’s content. And maybe you can think of something more exciting than that, but I don’t know what it would be. In this great age of restoration and enlightenment we can know about as much as we want to know about any subject, including God and his program for our eternal exaltation.”
How do we partake of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil?
It is no just by experience Adam learned by reflecting on his and others experiences, relationships, thoughts we think – the talks we hear from general conference.

2 To Receive a Constant Flow of Living Water
President Romney said, “Another reason why we should read [the Book of Mormon and attend General conference.] By doing so we will fill and refresh our minds with the constant flow of that ‘water’ which Jesus said would be in us—‘a well of water springing up into everlasting life.’ (John 4:14.) We must obtain a continuing supply of this water if we are to resist evil and retain the blessings of being born again.” …Cleansing the Inner Vessel Ezra Taft Benson, Ensign, May 1986, 4
Water gives us life and energy. recently I called 911 to help my husband. He said to me, “somethings wrong” he was looking through me, his eyes dilated and weak. I took his blood pressure and couldn’t find it. We immediately forced him to drink. The emergency team gave him fluids and anther receiving 3 litters he was back to himself. Water is essential for life. Just as “Living Water” is essential for our spiritual life. Drink continually from the the General Conference talks.

3 To Receive Personal Revelation and LIGHT
In the July 2016 Ensign was a story of a lady named Margarida. She spoke of how the story of the Brother of Jared helped her appreciate the sacrament more. She likened her need for spiritual light to the Jaredites’ need for physical light as they prepared to cross the “great deep” to the promised land (Ether 2:25;3:1-6)
“The sacrament prayers have the promise that we will have the Spirit to be with us, and the Spirit provides the light we need to make our life’s journey. But was I getting the light I needed from the sacrament? And if not, how could I get it? What could be the stones that I, like the brother of Jared, should bring with me to sacrament meeting? The Lord said that He wants from us a broken heart and a contrite spirit. So it would not be enough to come to the sacrament; I would need to bring my own stones—my broken heart and contrite spirit. I learned that when I approach the sacrament seeking for the Lord as the brother of Jared did, and bring my stones of a broken [repentant] heart and a contrite [obedient] spirit, I leave the sacrament meeting with light.”
We can bring our stones of a broken heart and a contrite spirit to general conference and receive personal revelation or light. The symbolic nature of the scriptures and words of the prophets is LIGHT.
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4 To provide us with Guidance in the coming months
President Uchdorft said, “If we listen to and follow the promptings of the Spirit, they will serve as a Liahona, guiding us through the unknown, challenging valleys and mountains that are ahead (see 1 Nephi 16)”

5 To bring us closer to Christ
Do you remember your First Love? (Rev. 2:4) we will never get over or forget, right? this is just like the AWE we have of knowing Christ. We can never forget him. 
In General Conference we learn that his yolk is easy.  Without him it is impossible, with him it is easy.  There is Joy and pleasure in working with the Lord. We only have to give up our will and say as Jesus did to his father, “Thy will, not my will be done.”

6 To give us strength and confidence to share the gospel message
Remember how Christ healed and fed the 5000 (John 6) He asked the apostles to pass the five loaves and 2 fishes to the audience. Afterwards there were 12 baskets of food left over. After sharing with the five thousand their baskets were still full.  If we share the “Bread of Life” with others we shall never loose it or run out of what we’ve shared or taught, we are always given more.

By keeping the ordinance of General Conference and helping our children learn to think I hope all of our children will say, “I don’t know which I like more Christmas or General Conference.” or “I love celebrating Christ at Christmas and at General Conference.”

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The Importance of Reflecting

and types of questions to ask while conducting a reflection

If we spent time at the end of the day to reflect on one thing that we’ve learned or observed it will help us become a better person. This is a practice of most successful parents and homeschoolers. John sums it up beautifully, “Reflection turns experience into insight.”

If we spent time at the end of the day to reflect on one thing that we’ve learned or observed it will help us become a better person. This is a practice of most successful parents and homeschoolers. John sums it up beautifully, “Reflection turns experience into insight.” When we conduct a reflection with our children we are teaching them the importance of reflecting and how to do it. Let’s have a reflection together by experiencing a lesson. I like following the EDGE method of teaching. Pretend with me you are sitting down with a teacher, ready to learn. While you are experiencing this moment (reading the next section) please pay attention to how you are reacting to this lesson and method. The teacher begins:

Explain – “I’m going to teach you a math lesson on how to create geometric shapes in a sequential order in the first two dimensions. You will will be the creator of these shapes and when you are finished you will have the three pillars of the plan!” [how are you feeling?] “What are we going to experience?”… “Yes, we are going to be drawing shapes for the numbers one, two, and three. Then I’ll tell you how they also tell the story of the Plan of Happiness.”
    Demonstrate – She draws a point, a circle, a line and another circle on the board. As she is drawing them she is explaining each shape and calls the two circles a “vesica pisces.” She then connects the upper point with the line and creates an equilateral triangle talking about the strength of a triangle. [are you getting it?]
    Guide – She then asks you to take out your paper, pencil, compass and straight edge. “Now follow after me, in the same manner that I drew these shapes you now draw them. Start with a point, open your compass and create a circle around that point. The point represents God, he opened up his compass and creates the Universe, meaning “one turn.” Now he has a place for all his children. The first thing he does is create a plan (line) for them all to return back to him. Draw the line from the center point to the circle using your straight edge. This new point represents you. Keeping your compass the same as before (same distance as the radius), draw a circle around the new point. This is your influence. Because the two circles share the same radius God’s influence will always be with you. With your straight edge connect the new upper point to the two on the line, creating an equilateral triangle. This represents Christ, who was lifted up and now shines light onto our path back to God. [did you do it? how are you feeling?] The circle represents the number one, God and the CREATION, the second point away from God represents the number two, you and the FALL. The third point is Christ, the number three and the ATONEMENT. These are the first three pillars of the of Plan of Happiness.” [Did she teach all of the explanation? What have you learned so far? How are you feeling now?]
    Enable – She asks you to draw them again, to practice using the compass and invites you to write down the numbers and their representations next to the drawings and to have you write down your thoughts about the Plan of Happiness.

Now let’s reflect on your experience with this lesson. When having a reflection you must first have a leader. The leader can be you or your child. They must know ahead of time that they will lead the discussion so they can be thinking of leading questions while going through the experience. Make sure you create a safe environment where all can feel comfortable to share their answers without judgment or snickering.

There are six types of questions to ask while conducting a Reflection, after an experience:

1. General Questions about the experience

• What did you experience?
• Have you learned this before? How was it similar?
• Did you learn something new? How was it different from what you knew before?
• What equipment or tools did you need?
• Did they help with this experience? Could you have created this project without them?

2. Reaction Questions 

• How did you react when she said, “Math lesson?”
• What questions came up for you when I drew the shapes?
• How did you react?
• How did you respond inside?
• What happened when you did it yourself? Did you gain understanding when you created this project yourself?

3. Personal Application Questions

• What did you learn about your teaching style?
• What did you learn about YOU?
• What did you learn about learning styles?
• What did you learn about your children?
• How can you take what you learn here into your life? brother? sister? friends? family work? 

4. Action Questions. These can be rhetorical questions. What will you do differently? What will you continue to do?How will your teaching will improve?How you responded to this lesson is how you respond to all new learning.

5. Recording Questions

• What will you write down? or journal about?
• Who will you brainstorm with?
• How will you remember your experience? (Draw out lesson plans, paint, write music)

6. Rejoicing Questions

• How will you memorialize (make permanent) your experience?
• How will you show God your gratitude for this moment of enlightenment or inspiration?
• Who will you report to when you act on your new thoughts?
• How do you rejoice?

Become the best person you can by reflecting on your learning, homeschool teachings, the people you meet, the thoughts you are having in your head. Reflect back on what you just read. Make reflection a daily practice. 

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