Hey, everybody. Welcome to our teacher council meeting for parents.

I’m excited to counsel with all of you and to hear your thoughts and...

Teacher council meetings for parents are are meant to help parents come together in an environment where they can counsel together to share.

First section is Counsel Together. That’s where we’re sharing, sharing ideas, sharing what’s going well, what the challenges are, some of the struggles, and maybe some good ideas that can help. What in your homes is going well concerning Come, Follow Me,

your scripture study with your children, with your families? And we probably ought to sprinkle a little bit of the truth in there and talk about some of the things that are challenging. I like object lessons. So sometimes when we studied about seeds and soil, we went out and sprinkled some seeds on rocks and in dirt. And one time when we were reading about the Rameumptom, I thought, “You know what? We’ve got a ladder in the garage.” We pulled it out and they just read a few verses on top of a ladder. We had to do baby steps to jump into it, to make gospel conversation just normal. We have kids ranging from 4 to 15, and it's hard to find anything that really works for all of them. My favorite section is this Counseling Together section. I just think it gives parents the opportunity to learn from each other and to pull ideas from each other. I’m a single dad, and so for me, I don’t have my kids all the time. And so they go back and forth between homes. And so I've got to really try to take advantage of the few nights that I get with them during the week and then on weekends. But if I can get Come, Follow Me in my mind and heart, like he was saying, and really just kind of get excited about it and be living it each day, then those little touch points make all the difference. So this conversation's been helpful to realize, like, it can look like different things for different people. And that, you know, being more organic is okay. I can let go of some of that more traditional way of thinking about it and just, you know, go with what makes sense for my kids. Now, our next section is going to be Learn Together. In this section we get to talk about teaching in the Savior's way. We open the scriptures together and look at examples of the way that the Savior taught the gospel and loved those He taught. So if we can, if you have Teaching in the Savior’s Way, turn with me to page 12. And if you’re there on page 12, right under Love Those You Teach, there’s just this short little paragraph. We’ll just take maybe thirty seconds. Read through it individually, but as you read through it,

just see if something jumps out at you.

I just love the section where it says, “Create a safe environment where all are respected and know their contributions are valued.” I think that’s so huge, especially for my teenagers, who I want them to be able to be vulnerable and say, “I don’t understand this” or “This doesn’t make sense to me” and not feel like there's a perfect answer that I'm looking for. Because when they feel safe and they feel like they can be vulnerable, I feel like that's where they really allow themselves to grow and to really experiment and understand what they’re really feeling.

When it talks about having the Savior’s love in our hearts, then we seek every possible way to help others... When we are doing better as a family about inviting Christ into our daily lives, I see this reflected in my kids’ attitudes. If we look at our kids and know their situation and teach them in a way that's appropriate to their situation with love,

I think we run a better chance of touching their hearts and getting that true change of heart that we’re looking for in our kids, you know?

So in the third section, we're now inviting them to act upon the impressions that they've received and some of the ideas that they've heard from counseling together. I felt inspired today listening to all of you sharing your challenges and all of the good things. I got some good ideas. What has come to your mind? What are some thoughts that you've had and what are some ways that maybe, you know, a nugget or two that you've learned today and you say, “You know what? I think I might be able to do that.” When I heard Nathan mentioned the story of his son, what I heard is listen to your kids. Just sit down and let them talk.

Don't try to feed them with anything. Just listen.

Let them tell their stories and just show your love by being there. I've been a little bit timid about trying to structure too much with my kids sometimes and trying to take advantage of moments, but I feel like after the discussion today, I need to sit down and ask them how much time would they be okay with if we just sat and talked for a minute and structured a little more time because that’s been a struggle for me. I was really impressed with the scripture that you shared how the Savior prayed for those Nephite children, but I think I heard today is how can I emulate the Lord in my own, efforts in prayer. And one of the takeaways I’m going to try is maybe opening our Come, Follow Me discussions and our scripture study with prayer that is specific for my children and allows them to feel the love of the Lord

and the love that I have for them. This has really been a joy and my testimony as we’ve done this today has increased. I have a testimony that the Lord, as He loves effort, will consecrate whatever effort we can put into it, especially when it’s done with sincerity and when we behold our kids, when we see them like God does, and we just try.

Teacher council meetings for parents has helped us in our home to be more motivated, to be more confident, to be more purposeful. It's really motivating. And so I would say to anybody that's thinking about it and thinking, “I don’t know if we can pull that off.” Yes you can, you really can. And it really does work.