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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Reviewing in Homeschooling

The Stripling Warriors reviewed all that their mothers taught them to Helaman. “They rehearsed unto me the words of their mothers,.. that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them.” (Alma 56:47-48.) Reviewing helped them to remember their reason for helping with the battles. None of them were killed in battle, even though they had no previous battle experience.
Reviewing helps to retain learning so you can easily recall it. Joseph Smith experienced this repetition when the Angel Moroni came to him 4 times and told him the same things with little variation. “But what was my surprise when again I beheld the same messenger at my bedside, and heard him rehearse or repeat over again to me the same things as before;” (JS-H 1:46) Remember he was able to retain and write it all down word for word after he heard it the fourth time.

Your attitude toward repetition and review is key to learning. When you hear the typical topic of a lesson or presentation think not, “I already know this” or “I’ve heard this before.” This type of attitude stops our learning. Be open to repetition and know that it facilitates revelation!

Think about when your spouse repeats the words, “I love you,” do you shun it away? or accept it and enjoy the words over and over again? Think about repeating as receiving new learning, a way to retain what you have learned and a gateway to more revelation.
Remember that repetition should be of relevant things. Things that will bring you closer to God, strengthen you or help you fulfill your personal mission. One of Satan’s greatest tools is to get you to forget the virtuous, lovely and things of good report. Focus on the praiseworthy and the relevant in your learning.

Happy Reviewing in your Homeschooling! 🙂

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Different Ways to Teach the Plan of Happiness

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On the thirteenth day of Christmas?

On the thirteenth day of Christmas my true love gave to me . . . 
what? there is not a thirteenth day of Christmas? Oh, ok, may I share with you my discovery of the number thirteen? Many consider it to be the “unlucky” number and I want to show you its power!

When the founding fathers began designing the United States Seal they wanted to use the Exodus from Egypt as their design as they were leaving their mother country, England. After much discussion they changed it for a design that portrayed the purpose of the Exodus, leaving world Egypt to Mt. Sinai to make covenant with God. They used a pyramid as the mountain where God above and the world below.

The square base of the pyramid represented physical life or mortality (see number 4). It represented strength and duration. The thick foundation below represents our “outward expressions, our energetic psyche and denser body.”

The triangle, all seeing eye floats above representing the spiritual life or heaven (see number 3). The eye represents our “ever-awake, deep divine spiritual self.” Three above and four below is a symbol of the Sphinx trapezoidal head dress, which implies an unseen trinity or spiritual life above it. The three above and the four below implies our divine nature, inward (spiritual, unseen) and outward (physical, seen) expression. As a bigger picture, all on earth (4), physical life is growing upward, striving to become complete with Christ (3) becoming equal (equilateral triangle – equal, same in all areas of life) with God.

The ribbon at the bottom is in the shape of an open circle meaning birth. The words within the ribbon read, “Novus Ordo Seclorum” Latin for, “a new order of the ages (is born),” referring to the new American era. At the base of the pyramid are Roman numerals,MDCCLXXVI, for the year 1776, the year of the birth of our Nation.

How many 13’s can you find on the Seal?
To the founding fathers the number thirteen represented “progress, perpetuity and perfection.” They designed the seal with twelve surrounding the one. Example of this idea are: the twelve tribes surrounding Moses or twelve apostles surrounding Jesus or the twelve zodiac surrounding the sun.

On the “Reverse” side, the pyramid is the most prominent object:

1. There are 13 steps on the unfinished pyramid meaning there was still room for growth as a nation. It is said the steps represent the thirteen cycles of the First-Sun Age in Mesoamerican pyramids.  An obligation was assigned to each step. 1) treat others as you would be treated, 2) “Seek the whole truth”, 3) “Do your own share of the work.  You cannot enter heaven on the back of servants.” and 4 – 10) identical to those of the ten commandments.  The last three steps “cannot be disclosed.”
2. There are 13 letters in the title, “Annuit Coeptis” which is Latin for “He (God) has favored (smiled upon) our undertakings.” The founding fathers believed that  God  provided providentially for the success during the struggle for freedom.
3.  There are 26 (2×13) letters in “MDCCLXXVI” plus “Novus ordo seclorum” at the base of the pyramid. On the obverse side (the US was the first to have a two sides) of the seal: “Obverse” means the object has a counterpart, an indication there two things about the object. This is the side used on all the official documents. Both sides can be seen on the one dollar bill.
4. The eagle is the most prominent feature. Across the breast of the eagle is a shield with 13 alternating red and white stripes (the pales) representing the 13 original States.  The stripes on the seal begin and end with the white stripe unlike the flag the begins and ends with red. This represents the desire for peace. Across the top of the shield is a blue field (chief) that unites all the stripes into one. It represented the United States Congress. Charles Thompson, Secretary of the Continental congress, introduced the design for the new Seal and said, “The colors of the pales are those used in the flag of the United States of america; White signifies purity and innocence, Red, hardiness and valor, and Blue, the color of the Chief signifies vigilance, perseverance and justice.” The eagle became our national “Coat of Arms.”
5. In his right talons the eagle grasps an olive branch with 13 berries representing peace. He is looking to the right saying he prefers peace.
6.  In his left talon the eagle grasps 13 arrows representing war meaning our willingness to defend our nation.
7. Above the eagle are 13 stars inside a circular design, representing a “New Constellation”, the same constellation referred to in the blue union of the United States Flag. This constellation is in the form of the Star of David or two triangles, one pointing up and the other pointing down. It is also 12 surrounding one. The surrounding circle is both a cloud and fire representing the pillar of fire by day and cloud by night that God used to guide the Israelite back to their promised land. Here it represents the guidance God is still giving those who choose to follow Him.
8. In his beak the eagle grasps a flowing ribbon bearing the first Motto of the United States, “E Pluribus Unum.” There are 13 letters in this motto which is Latin for, “Out of many, One,” reminding us that out of many States is born One New Nation. It can also be viewed on a spiritual level out of many (all of us) we will return to and be One with God. On June 30, 1956 the words, “In God we Trust” were designated as our National Motto.

There are eight thirteens found on the Seal representing the “rebirth” (see number 8) of a great Nation. Twelve surround one, one (God) supporting the other TWELVE (us). We are the New Constellation being formed and He is our Bright Star. Thirteen has great power! 🙂

If thirteen was so often used by the founding fathers isn’t it good enough for us! Thirteen is a number is TWELVE around ONE. Twelve apostles supported by the prophet. Us, as TWELVE tribes supported by GOD. What is supporting you? What is your center? Your support?

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On the Twelfth Day of Christmas

​On the twelve day of Christmas my true love gave to me . . . 
“twelve drummers drumming.” They were keeping the rhythm so the saints could march in beat while walking on the path back to God. The number twelve was to help the children remember the twelve apostles.

During this time period when the Catholic Church  was not accepted in England they would repeat ‘The Apostle’s Creed” every day to help them remember Christ. It contains 12 points of doctrine.

The twelfth article of faith is about government. “We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.”

Twelve can be found in 187 places in God’s word. The meaning of 12, which is considered a perfect number, is that it symbolizes God’s power and authority, as well as serving as a perfect governmental foundation. It can also symbolize completeness or wholeness. For example, Jacob (Israel) had twelve sons, each of which represented a tribe begun by one of his sons or a princes.

The twelfth and final zodiac constellation is Leo, the Lion, the King of Kings. He is crushing the head of the serpent. Christ is referred to as the “Lion of the tribe of Judah” (Rev 5:5) Leo is the symbol of Christ conquering Satan and then reigning as King of Kings.

​‘Lamed’ is the twelfth letter in the Hebrew Alphabet and the tallest. It is known as the majestic letter, the King of all other letters.  Anciently it was written as a shepherd’s staff. Symbolically it represents Christ as the leader of the flock.

Twelve in His Story:

• twelve signs of the zodiac
• twelve months in the year
• twelve tribes of Israel
• twelve stones on the High Priest breastplate 
• twelve statues of oxen helped up the water basin in Solomon’s Temple (1 Kings 7:25)
• twelve apostles
• twelve gates to the New Jerusalem (Rev 21:12)
• twelve kinds of fruits on the trees of life in the new creation (Rev. 22:2)

The eagle has twelve tail feathers. These are the most powerful of all its feathers. These are the white feathers with the black tips, the steering, landing feathers. The native americans illustrated these feathers as lightning. Lightning produces chemical changes by uniting nitrogen and oxygen, thereby bringing nitrates to the soil of the earth with the rain. This helped the plants to grow. This symbolized the white surge of enlightenment that expands the mind. Can you see why they did rain dances?They believed that “rain is the liquid spirit – or essence or soul – of clouds.” (see my next series on eagles for more)

The traditional sweat lodge and tepee structures are still ritually constructed to look like the zodiac pattern of a calendar resting on twelve poles. Each section had an object or symbol representing a month and a constellation.

Twelve is double six and called the dodekad or “two ten” in Greek. The wonder of twelve is that it has so many divisors (one, two, three, four, and six), making it the supreme number. This is one of the reasons why our founding fathers chose it to be our system of measure. Other reasons was to remember its symbolic connection to God and Christ.
Three of these divisors shape (triangle, square, hexagon) tesselate, covers a flat surface without leaving gaps.

How do you choose what to write about with the number twelve, it is so rich! 
The theme of twelve is power (tail feathers), order (months), government  On the twelfth day of Christmas My Father gave to me 
twelve 
eleven faithful disciples,
ten commandments,
nine spiritual gifts,
eight new levels,
seven complete cycles,
​six celebrations,
five things of power,
four family members,
three great desires, 
​two directions …

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On the Eleventh Day of Christmas

On the eleventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me . . . 
“eleven pipers piping” the message of the gospel to the world. Those who are blowing their horns in preparation for the second coming are faithful disciples of Christ. Traditionally eleven reminds the church members of the eleven faithful apostles of Jesus. We are each disciples of Christ.

The eleventh letter in Hebrew is Kaf. KAF literally means ‘the palm of the hand’, implying productivity and potentiality. The words that describe kaf are crowning, accomplishment, receiving, selflessness and hard work. The Hebrew number eleven is Yod (10, power to act) and Aleph (1, heaven). Eleven embraces all the attributes of both these numbers.

The eleventh constellation is Cancer, the Crab. It is an animal which can descend into the sea and come back out onto dry land with its treasure securely held in its strong claws. The crab represents the descent of Christ into the Spirit Prison, to bring forth the captives from that prison in his tenacious grasp. He is our Deliverer! This is different than our Savior (see #8). To save is to preserve or guard against and deliver is to carry from one place to an intended destination.

​Eleven is found in the scriptures. The last two Kings of Judah each reigned eleven years before the Babylonian conquest of Judah: Jehiakim and Zedekiah. Joseph was the eleventh son of Jacob, he dreamed of eleven stars bowing down to him (Gen 37:9)

November 11th is Remembrance Day. My grandma called it, Poppy Day and it is also Veterans Day. It was to commemorate those who were killed in times of war. We wore artificial poppies to commemorate the veterans. Poppies have been the symbol of eternal sleep and death.

Some say (look it up on google or most symbolism books) that eleven means disorder, disorganization, lack of fulfillment, imperfection. I believe that all numbers were created of God and that he doesn’t create junk! But, like the constellations, I know there is an opposite to all things too. So, if all numbers are positive then there must be a negative side too and vise versa. What side will you focus on or feed?

On the eleventh day of Christmas My Father gave to me  ​eleven faithful disciples, ten commandments, nine spiritual gifts, eight new levels, seven complete cycles, ​six celebrations, five things of power, four family members, three great desires,  ​two directions …

Just for FUN: 

• Martin Luther was baptized on Nov. 11
• Fort Wood on Liberty Island has the shape of an eleven-pointed star and is the base for the Statue of Liberty (New York).
• New York was the eleventh state
• The first plane to hit the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, was American Airlines Flight 11
• September is the 254th day of the year. 2+5+4=11
• Apollo 11 was the first manned spacecraft to land on the moon
• There are eleven players on a soccer team, on an American football team, on a cricket team, as well as on a field hockey team.
• The First World War ended on the eleventh hour on the eleventh day of the eleventh month.
• “The eleventh hour” suggests urgency. Because the clock runs to twelve, this is the last hour to get things done.
• In Numerology number 11 is a Master number. A Master number is a double-digit number like 22 and 33. It contains double the amount of attributes of that number.

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On the tenth day of Christmas

On the tenth day of Christmas my true love gave to me . . . 
​“ten lords a leaping” Traditionally ten was the used to remind us of the Ten Commandments. While the missionaries taught a young lady in our home they shared with us an easy finger play of how to remember the ten commandments and their order. I recommend you ask a missionary the next time you have one over.

God enjoys using the number ten also. There are the TEN commandments, the TEN plagues, and the TEN tribes. There are TEN generations between Adam and Noah and another TEN before Abraham. The tabernacle and Solomon’s temple were each TEN-part structured and measured. Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, the holiest of Jewish holy days marks the end of the TEN Days of Awe. The Levites received 1 /TENth of all income as their inheritance (Num. 18:22) and the Lord asked us to give tithing of 1 / TENth our income. Oh, don’t forget the TEN virgins, they are still waiting for their bridegroom. 🙂

​The etymology of the word ‘ten’
The word “ten” is derived from the Indo-Eurpean word dekm, signifying “two hands” a reference to our ten fingers. From Sanskrit dasa, Greek deka and Latin decem.  The Germanic branch changed the “d” to a “tz” in “zehn” and from this came “ten.” In Hebrew and Arabic the word for “ten” is ‘kinsman’ or ‘tribe.’ ​‘Yod’ is the tenth letter and number in the Hebrew Alphabet. It is the smallest of all the letters, but the most powerful. Anciently it was written as an arm and a hand reprinting work and worship, wholeness and oneness, and the power to act. Yod’ is suspended in midair and has two right angles implying the covenants that we make with our right hand. 
‘Yod’ is small and seemingly insignificant just as our hand are small, but do the more work than any other member of our body. Just as one drop of oil hold the whole essence of the plant from which it come. Our cells hold the whole essence of the entire body. 

Hands are the simplest examples which show the law of number.  Both are alike and each is  opposite from the other. Hands are the most versatile parts of our body and the only ones capable of reaching any other part.

​The number ten is unity at another level. We are back at ONE with another value, in this case a place marker, or zero. The root of TEN is ONE. TEN has all the values of ONE, unity, oneness, heaven, father, cycles, etc. Ten is ONE powered by TEN. ​TEN represents the Power to Act. Multiplying by ten doesn’t change the number but only act to expand its power! 50 is an expression of 5. It is expanded power. 

Our currency is a base 10 system. The coins equal to one dollar and the bills can equal to the hundred dollar bill. I remember reading a book about a man who immigrated to America. Years later he was mentoring another young man and telling him all the things he could be grateful for and one of them was our currency based ten system. It is so easy to learn and grasp an understanding.

​In our school we use the AL Abacus to teach math. This is a base ten manipulative with ten beads on each wire, five of one color and five of another. This is just like our hands, five and five. It makes counting visual for children and they don’t have to count on their fingers. The picture shows 38, easily seen and understood.

Gemini, the twins are the tenth constellation. They are identical twins, one dressed in red and the other in white, holding a harp and a bow and arrows, holding a club. The twins represent that Christ is both the Father and the Son. We take upon us His name when we are baptized and He becomes our Father. He is the only begotten son of the Father and our brother. The twins also depict the first and second coming of Christ.

On the tenth day of Christmas My Father gave to me  ten commandments, nine spiritual gifts, eight new levels, seven complete cycles, ​six celebrations, five things of power, four family members, three great desires,  ​two directions …

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On the Ninth Day of Christmas

​On the ninth day of Christmas my true love gave to me . . .

ladies dancing. What are they dancing about? Are they celebrating the coming home of  their missionary? I know I am. 🙂 The ninth day is to help us remember the nine fruits of the spirit found in Galatians 5:22-23. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.” The gifts of the spirit are tools used to make the tree more fruitful. The purpose of a tool is to bring forth the fruits. For example these tools/value can help change a mans heart causing him to repent.

The ninth constellation is Taurus, the Bull. He is a white wild ox with two large, golden horns. He is charging forward. He symbolizes the tribe of Joseph and his two sons as the horns. The Bull also represents Christ as the Lord of Hosts making ready the Second Coming.

The Family, a proclamation to the world contains nine paragraphs and lists nine principles to help make families successful. Nines are associated with growth and procreation. Mitosis, cell division, takes place with centriole which are made of nine parallel tubes in a circle. Sperm is made of nine twisted threads. It take nine months to develop a baby in a womb. Tet is the number nine in Hebrew. It was anciently written as a closed baskets representing boundaries, keeping the good within and the bad out. It also reminds us of the walls of a home, where we allow goodness to come in and evil to stay at bay.

Nine is a square number created by three rows of three. It is also a triangle number.

On the ninth day of Christmas, My Father gave to me 
nine spiritual gifts,
eight new levels,
seven complete cycles,
​six celebrations,
five things of power,
four family members,
three great desires, 
​two directions …

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On the Eighth Day of Christmas

On the eighth day of Christmas my true love gave to me . . .
eight maids a milking. The number eight in tradition was to help remember the eight beatitudes. They are eight consecutive steps to perfection. Each step represents a new level. Just like the octave. There are seven different keys with eighth being the first again only higher, repeating at a new level.

The eighth constellation is Aries, the Ram. The Ram’s leg is extended to the bands holding the fishes and represents breaking the bands of death. He also has one foot on the head of the Sea Monster meaning he is defeating the enemy. He is an adult ram with a gold fleece that represents Christ’s resurrected glory.  Joseph Smith describe it as, “whose brightness and glory defy all description.”

Chet is the number eight in Hebrew. The number eight represents rebirth, a new beginning and resurrection.  Anciently chet was written as a fence. a barrier between our old life and our new life.

There are many examples of eight in the scriptures, but I’m only going to show you my favorites. First, there were eight survivors in the Ark, The brother of Jared created eight barges to ride to the promised land and it took eight days for Alma to take his people from King Noah’s reach. Notice that each of these examples have the number eight, a new change and water. Baptism is a change and takes us to a new level through immersion in water at the age of eight. Baptism is the symbol for the death and resurrection of Christ. Cool?

In architecture a square (4) base and octagon (8) center leads to a spherical (1) dome and point symbolizing the transition (8) between earth (4) and heaven (1). Check out the steeples around you, most of them follow this same pattern

The number eight, beatitudes and the constellation of the ram all celebrate the resurrection of Christ. They each represent reaching a new level, a change, transcendence. What will you change today? ​ On the eight day of Christmas My Father gave to me  eight new levels, seven complete cycles, ​six celebrations, five things of power, four family members, three great desires,  ​two directions …

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