I have a new calling a church, I’m teaching the 12 + 13 year old Sunday School. I’m really excited b/c they talk a lot more than the elders quorum. To go along with this new calling, I’m going to post every Sunday the lesson. This will allow my class to look up the parts they weren’t paying attention to, and helps me figure out what I’m going to say. Also, it allows you to get a lil gospel during your internet surfing. Feel free to comment, or cry, or correct (with references). Enjoy:
Today we are talking about Peer Pressure and the positive and negative influences. Also, if anyone asks you why you go to church, this lesson applies to part of the answer. First, grab a pen and paper. Number 1 -10. List as many things that influence your life, with number one being the biggest influence, and ten being the weakest influence. Ok so what do we have on our lists? Parents, television, teachers, internet, movies, Gap, friends… Look at your list for a minute, put a lil plus sign by the people or things who care about your life. Now put a minus sign by the people or things that care about themselves more than you.
I’m not a fisherman, but I’ve heard this multiple times. Put one crab in a bucket and it will climb out with no problems. Put a couple of crabs in a bucket and they will all be there for good. The reason being that when one crab starts to make it higher than the others, the crabs on the bottom get angry and pull the higher crab back down. The crabs continue this cycle, making sure one crab never rises above the group.
In addition, Elder Robert D Hales tells a story his uncle relayed to him, “Mother and Father coyote would send their coyote pups to play near a flock of sheep. The little lambs would see the pups having a good time and wander off to play with the harmless coyote pups. Then the adult coyotes come down and kill them”
What type of friends are you choosing to be with?
What is a friend? “Friends are people who make it easier to live the gospel of Jesus Christ”, “A friend in the true sense is not a person who passively nods approval of our conduct or ignores improper behavior. A friend is a person who cares.” Go back to your list, which of your friends could be crabs or coyotes? Are you being one?
If you have crabs or coyotes around you, what can you do about it? Find new friends. Surround yourself with people who uplift and give respect. Mosiah 18:7-10 has a list of qualities you might want to look for in the people you hangout with.
I know from personal experience that who we let influence us can change our lives. I testify that Jesus Christ should be the person in the number one position on our lists. If we can get him there, we will find happiness and peace in life.
Chase has a new funny face he likes to make (click on the image to enlarge it… and ignore his scraped up nose from falling on his face.) We call this facial expression the “crazy clown face” because that’s what it resembles. He raises his eyebrows, squints his eyes, and opens his mouth. He does it when he thinks he’s being funny or when someone else is being funny. Sometimes he imitates a sound that one of us makes, and then he does this crazy smile. It’s rather entertaining. Chase has also gone to one nap instead of two, which was a surprise all of a sudden for me! He goes down between 12 and 1, and sleeps for 1-2 hours. He loves drinking juice, and gets all giddy when I give him juice instead of water. His favorite foods are popcorn, cheese, scrambled eggs, and anything sweet– he eats all day, and it amounts to almost as much as I eat! Usually he has a snack and then about 20 minutes later he does the sign for “more.” I guess it’s because he’s so mobile on his feet these days! He is clingy to Mama lately, but he’ll give other people kisses on the cheek if they’re lucky (Boston, a kid Rachel babysits, taught him that one). Chase has also been saying a few new words, one of which is hello (“heh-whoa”) which he says only on pretend phones, not real ones.
