Values

What are some of the personal values that are very important to you? What have you done (and what are you doing now) to teach these values to your children?

I feel like I've done a lot of lists, but they just work so well with these questions. So here goes.

1. I value a sense of humor, and not just when life is easy. 2nd Nephi 2:25 very clearly states, "Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy." If you can't laugh, even when life is hard, that's just sad. No one wants to be sad all the time! I'm trying to teach Jasmine now that when someone is sad, the best thing to do is make them smile. I am also trying, in my own time of extreme trial, to keep smiling. I stopped smiling for a while, and it was a bummer. Now I feel like I'm back to my old self a little bit and laughing every day, and it makes life so much better!

2. I value hard work! I'm not going to lie, I don't love yard work or cleaning the house or doing the bills. It's not fun. But I also know that life isn't meant to just be fun all the time. If we never work, we never learn or grow or earn money to pay the bills. Without work we are static, no change, and that is literally the definition of "damned". For personal growth we have to work! Right now I'm teaching Jasmine to help me clean up, and let me tell you, there are plenty of her messes to clean up every day. I've taught her the clean-up song, which she sings a lot. It sounds like this, "Nean. Up. Nean. Up. Nean. Up." We'll work on the "cl" sound soon. Maybe. Jasmine also "helps" with the dishes, sweeping, feeding the dog, folding laundry, scrubbing the toilet, stirring cookie dough... she's my best little helper!

3. I value my testimony of the Gospel. My whole life, I have known that living by the standards of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has brought me happiness. I have awesome parents who taught me to pay my tithing, go to church every Sunday, dress modestly, read my scriptures, etc. There have been a few times that I wasn't quite sure in my testimony, and I relied on my mom or dad's, but I always knew that there was more to this life than what I could see or learn in school. Since going through the temple for the first time, receiving my patriarchal blessing, and especially since having Jasmine, my testimony has grown exponentially. There have been a lot of trials the last few years, enough to make me wonder what's really true. Something inside me though always knew that I needed to keep going to church, I needed to keep reading the scriptures, I needed the temple and the peace of the Spirit at least with me, if not within my home. And even though now sometimes it is so hard to be at church as a single mother, I know it's where I need to be every single week. I only hope I can teach Jasmine as well as my parents have taught me!