I am not a perfect parent by any means, I will be the first person to admit that.  I struggle from day to day to make sure my kids are doing everything they should including eating the right things, not watching to much TV, or playing to many video games and so on.  The one thing I have made sure my kids have always done every single night is reading the scriptures.

I find that the cartoon ones work really well.  You can explain them to your kids (because of the pictures) in a way that you couldn’t with normal scriptures, and it captivates them.  At first I was wondering if the kids were even paying attention, but as time goes on I find they get into the stories, and when we ask them what happened the night before, they tell us and are excited about whats going to happen tonight!

I have been blogging a lot lately about the power of example, and that is the main reason you need to be having daily scripture study with your kids.  How do you expect them to read like they should in college when they go, or be prepared for their mission.  Remember the standards are much higher nowadays, then they were when I went on a mission.  I am sad to say that I never read the Book Of Mormon from front to back before my mission.  I read it in the MTC (Missionary Training Center) and that really helped, but I wonder how much quicker my strong testimony would have came if I had it when I was 12 or 13 having read the BOM 4 or 5 times (probably) by then (at the pace I am going with my kids).

You need to make daily scripture study fun.  My kids look forward to their day of saying prayers, as well as picking a song each to sing.  You can set certain personal goals with your kids, and reward them with a CTR ring if you read it all in a certain time etc.  This is a normal tradition in our house, and its now a habit because we just do it no matter what, and the kids know that and look forward to it.  Now maybe I can start figuring out a way to get us all to kneel when we pray no matter how tired we are.  One thing at a time!

I have had some time to think the last few days about what the Church is worth to me based on some conversations I have had with my brother-in-law while I was down visiting him for his daughters baptism.  My brother-in-law was born and raised Catholic, then married a Mormon girl (my sister) and there is where this story really begins.

You know in the Church we always say to date those who have the same faith, and share the same beliefs.  It is not because we are stuck up, or do not believe anyone else out there is worthy of us, it is because of major problems that could be faced down the road if you want to be staying faithful to the LDS Church.

For example, the family members (and their faith) of the other person, what faith the kids will be raised, how the family interactions will be, which church functions will family members go to (like baptisms) etc.  Let me throw in another huge twist for you; what if your FIL (Father-in-law) was a Deacon at the Catholic Church, and was well known and respected.  Also one who had been serving for many many years.  These were some of the issues that my sister has faced over the years, and I mean just some of them.

I do not want to get into the specifics of what both her and my brother-in-law have had to go through, but it was pretty rough until recently, but I will share one thing.  My sister knew that she wanted to raise her kids Mormon, and get married in the Temple.  She got to the point (even though she loved her husband dearly, and I mean dearly) where she was ready to get a divorce because she feared that she would never get to enjoy all the blessings of the Church.  Because of this, my brother-in-law figured out how important her faith was to her, and took it upon himself to learn more about this “Church” that was about to end his marriage.

Many sets of missionaries later, prayer, fasting and many many trials he learned of the truthfulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the LDS Church and got baptized.  I am giving you the cliff-notes as to what happened, but there were so many trials he and my sister faced together during those first few years of marriage.  My brother-in-law was pretty much dis-owned by his family at first.

They have come a long way since then, and that is the point in this post.  My sister, who was willing to give up the one she loved because of her faith was an example to her husband (a Catholic) who joined the Mormon Church, and (who probably could never see it happening at the time) last week saw his father (Catholic Deacon) step into a Mormon Church and watch his grandchild (my niece) get baptized (along with about 20 other of his family members - all Catholic).

My brother-in-law is such a powerful example to me in so many ways when it comes to sacrifices and the Church.  My sister as well, and what she almost had to give up because of her convictions.  Anything is possible with Jesus Chris, and this is proof as to his love for us, and awareness of our needs!

Safford Arizona Temple Announcement in the next Church News issue!

Yes, thats right all you Gila Valley-ers I said Safford Arizona Temple! As a person who lived in Safford for almost 10 years, attended EA, worked at Kat Kountry, Safford Unified School District, and held other various positions of service for the Church and valley I, (Matt Siltala) am so proud to be announcing on this blog that Safford Arizona is finally getting a Temple!

I am pretty dang excited to be able to blog about this, as most people probably don’t even know about it inside the Church right now. Over the weekend I attended a baptism for a niece of mine down in Safford Arizona and was told about it then! I was with my Mom who makes the dedicated trip to the Mesa Arizona temple 2 sometimes 3 times a month. I think she enjoys seeing her grandkids as well, but she is an avid Temple attender whose life will be fully benefited from this new Safford Arizona Temple!

I have never heard my Mom so excited about something in my life (since my mission call to Fiji) and she comes running in the room pretty much singing praises and jumping and exclaimed “Safford Is Getting A Temple, We Are Finally Getting A Temple!”

My heart is pretty full right now, and I am so excited for the people of the Gila Valley. I also received some good Temple news about where I live too! I live in the Queen Creek area of Phoenix Arizona and heard that Gilbert is going to be getting a Temple too. I am excited that there will be a Gilbert Arizona Temple that will be closer for my family to be able to attend! It will be nice to trade off baby sitting with my family, and have my parents watch the kids when I am visiting them (or when they are visiting us) to be able to attend the Temple!

Anyway this is pretty cool news, and gives all of us in Arizona reason to be joyful - especially for those in the Safford/Thatcher/Pima and Gilbert areas! I can’t wait to see pictures of what the Temples are going to look like!!

My heart has been pretty full as a Dad lately, and my kids have been doing an amazing job at teaching me about the power of example.  There are times when I am at Church, roaming the halls because of a screaming kid in sacrament, or because of my 20 month old refusing to go to nursery, and I wonder what the heck am I doing here?  It is probably one of the most frustrating feelings I have experienced Church wise (not wanting to be at Church because I know I am going to be roaming the halls).

So whats the point of even going?  Ok now, before I get hit with an onslaught of comments, I know the reasons, and importance of going (just take a look at the title).  Just by being there in Church, setting that example, feeling the spirit, and hopefully the kids feeling the spirit too, is the reason we go!  I do get frustrated with the little 20 month old, but he did something this week that made me realize its all worth it.

I recently shared a story about my 5 year old helping me realize the power of prayer and example, so I am pretty lucky to experience all this in the same week! Well this week my 20 month old has started to calm down during prayers, and has even folded his arm on a few occasions for the WHOLE prayer.  Any of you that have a 20 month old knows how big if a deal this really is!  So he is paying attention to what we are doing, and he is learning by example.  Even if he does not understand what prayer is, or why we do it - he knows we do it, and I hope that stays with him for the rest of his life because of how we raised him.

I have been setting a lot of personal goals lately, and one of the main ones is to start doing a better job showing my excitement for Church, and testimony with my kids.  Church has seemed like a “have to do” thing lately, and let me tell you, I have 3 kids ages 20 months to almost 8 years, so yea, I have been doing this hall walking for a while now.  It started to feel like the last 7 years my calling in Church has been “hall walker”.  I do not know how the typical Mormon family with 10 kids does it (ok that may not be typical anymore).  That has never been a want of mine, I am just fine with the number of kids I have thank you, but my hat does go off to you!

Do the right thing, set a good example, and your kids will follow you, and that is my point here!

Just had an interesting thought I wanted to pass along as I was reading a story in the Wall Street Journal about food storage.  Is anyone else as amazed as I am when it comes to the current food “scare” buzzing around in the new and on the Internet right now?  The talk about it like its amazing news, and that people should start to consider a food storage plan.

HELLO??  This is the prophet of the world talking … is anyone listening?

Our Prophets have been telling us for ages to be prepared and have a food storage.  I don’t even need to point out the current credit crisis in America and point out it is our Prophets who are encouraging everyone to get out of debt and stay out of debt.

It is recommended by our Church that we have at least a year food storage, and you can learn more about food storage by visiting the LDS website talking about food storage.  I can’t help you with your debt problems, but I can offer an amazing site I found that may be able to help you with your credit card debt.  Plastic Rewards website is a credit card comparison website that can help you put certain cards side by side and help you pick the best one for your current situation.  If you need a lower interest rate, balance transfer or 0% interest for a year, you will be able to find a card that can help you work on your debt.

The point here is to listen, and do the things the Prophets have been telling us to do for many many years now.  Get out of debt and food storage.  The world should not be so amazed that this information is all over the news right now about this topic.  LDS members are not alarmed, and I hope we are the most prepared!

I really am excited to share this little powerful moment I shared with my family the other day.  It taught me how powerful example is, and that your kids really are paying attention and listening, even if you think they are not.

For family home evening the other day we talked about a prayer structure in our home.  I explained to my kids that growing up we always had set days to say prayers.  Everyday we knew exactly who would be saying the prayer etc.  I found this method to work really well growing up, and I wanted to pass this tradition along to my kids.  One of the main reasons I wanted to do so, was because I found myself (as the Dad) always the one saying all the prayers every day.  I want all the kids to experience the joy and blessings of prayer, and just get into a better habit.

My kids say their nightly prayers, and I know my daughter has said prayers before tests during school (as I have encouraged her to do so) so saying prayers is nothing new to them.  The thing that struck a cord with me (and the reason I write this post) is because of what happened the morning after we set the new “prayer days”.

I was slow in getting up early in the morning, and just getting ready to face the day and start taking care of the kids and my 5 year old son comes into the room and with a very sweet voice tells me that they can’t start eating until I go downstairs and say the prayer.

WOW.

I had no idea they even said prayers on their own when they went down and fixed their own breakfast.  This was powerful to me.  I learned that they do say their prayers every morning when they eat, and were waiting to eat until a prayer was said from the person assigned for the day (because of the previous nights FHE).  I explained to them in a situation like this, they could just say a private prayer, but what a powerful testimony of prayer!

To date (April 21, 2008) MyLDSDirect has received two inquiries from individuals interested in blogging. This is a great start but not nearly what we had in mind. We would literally like to have dozens of talented LDS Bloggers utilizing our top Google rankings on a regular basis. By the way, we have moved up in rank for the term “LDS Bloggers” at Google and are now on the first page at number 9. We are still a solid number 6 for the term “LDS Blog” at Google. The bottom line is that people using the Internet to find good “LDS Blogs” and talented “LDS Bloggers” are going to be visiting this Blog and we are under-utilizing these rankings.

So once again, if you have an interest in posting to the LDS community on a regular basis please contact us at info@myldsmissionary.com. All we ask is that you send an email spelling out your desire to blog to the LDS community. We will then ask you for a sample of your work, namely three unique articles written by you. Once we have reviewed your work we will most likely provide you with access to the blog. You will not be paid, but you will have a chance to create a name for yourself as an LDS Blogger and if you have websites you would like to promote we will allow a reasonable amount of linking to occur ;).
So, what are you waiting for? Contact us today and be heard!

It’s been a little over a week since the last session of LDS General Conference was held in Salt Lake City Utah.  Last night my wife and I talked at length about a few different talks that were given at the the conference and how they have been on our minds lately.  One of the talks we spoke about was the one given by Elder Ballard on the roles of Fathers and Mothers.  I guess this made me think…who else is still thinking about General Conference?

So, that is my question to you…are you still thinking about it?  If so, what talks are you thinking of?  How are they effecting your life currently?  Please post comments to share.

Thanks!

OPPORTUNITY
So here is the opportunity - we have an LDS blog with pretty incredible rankings and we are looking for a few good LDS Bloggers to make use of the DAILY traffic.

As of today, for the very relevant term “lds blog”, www.myldsdirect.com/blog has a #6 ranking with Google and a #5 ranking with MSN.

This past weekend I decided to take a look at the other top-ranked LDS blog sites and found that there are literally dozens of authors posting on these other blogs.  I thought to myself…”I wonder if there are a few LDS voices out there that would like the opportunity to take advantage of our rankings?”

HOW YOU CAN TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS OPPORTUNITY

If you think you might enjoy authoring blog posts which WILL BE READ by the LDS community please do the following:

1. Send an email to info@myldsmissionary.com

2. In the subject line please type lds blog author

3. In the email please provide a short “resume” or at least a short “cover letter” which explains your qualifications and your reasons for wanting to author.

WHAT WE WILL DO

After reviewing your email, if you are chosen as a community blogger, we will send to you instructions for accessing and using the blog.

THE RULES

If chosen as an author here are the rules regarding your MyLDSDirect authorship:

1. You can post on any topic you like provided it is “tasteful” and quasi-related to the LDS community.
2. You can voice your opinion. We are not looking for diplomats.
3. You can recommend products, sites, books, music, and anything else you feel your fellow LDS community member would be interested in learning about.  And yes, it is fine if you refer people to one of our “competitors.”
4. You must post an article at least once a month.

THE GOAL
I hope that together we can create one more excellent resource for the LDS community.  A blog which will stimulate those who read it by providing that little bit of controversy we all love in life, useful tips, insightful messages, and great information and product resources.

We hope to help many of you become MyLDSDirect bloggers and thereby have a real voice in the online LDS community!

This year our company would like to make a significant improvement to our product offering. I have always felt that business is simply giving people an opportunity to get what they want how they want it.

Therefore, I am soliciting your suggestions as to what products or services you would like to see offered on www.myldsdirect.com and www.myldsmissionary.com. So, what would you like to have?

There are so many unique products out there. And, so many ideas not yet explored. For example, I recently heard of a company which will take your patriarchal blessing and have it formatted to look like your scriptures. You can then simply insert the blessing right into your Standard Works. At first, I was a little skeptical of this service. My questions were:

What about individual privacy? They state that every precaution is taken to make sure the blessing information is secure.
What do Church authorities think about this service?

What does the average Church member think about this service?

I am really interested in hearing your feedback. Please let us know about any product, service, or idea that you have an opinion on.