We’re Broke! Why Do We Need a Financial Planner? Part 2

Once you have made the commitment to achieving financial independence and have selected your advisor, the next step is the discovery interview. It is at this point that your planner will be attempting to ascertain how you feel about money. While that may sound pretty straightforward, money is a highly charged matter for most of us; it has come to represent many of the key structures of our lives—like security, safety, power, prestige, independence, and even love. In American society, money—how much we have, how we earn it, and how we spend it—has become a stand-in for our moral character. … Continue reading

Family Home Evening: Strengthing Your Testimony

In continuing with the idea of using General Conference talks for family home evening lessons, I’ve pulled some ideas from “Do It Now” and “Three Goals to Guide You.” This lesson will focus on the things that each individual and family needs to be doing to grow spiritually. Then it will focus on the importance of doing those things now, and removing the things that may be standing in your way. This lesson can also be used in conjunction with the Building Your Testimony lesson. You can open your lesson by reviewing the scripture Alma 32:28. This scripture focuses on … Continue reading

RS/EQ: “Selfless Service”

Lesson 8 of the Spencer W. Kimball manual for this year’s course of study is entitled “Selfless Service.” We begin, as always, with a short story from President Kimball’s life that illustrates the point. He was flying out of Chicago and noticed a young mother, heavily pregnant, struggling with her two-year-old child. The plane was late, the toddler was tired and cranky, and because she was threatening miscarriage, the mother was not able to pick the child up. President Kimball stepped in and offered to hold the child, giving her a piece of gum. President Kimball later received a letter … Continue reading

Relief Society: “Three Goals to Guide You”

In his talk “Three Goals to Guide You” President Thomas S Monson spoke specifically to the sisters in Relief Society. He opens his talk by explaining that as he prayed about what to talk about he felt prompted to share these three goals that the women of the church should be working on. The first goal is to study diligently. President Monson stresses the importance of studying the scriptures. He points out that this will keep our testimonies strong. He also emphasizes the importance of teaching your children from the scriptures so that their testimonies might be made stronger. He … Continue reading