"Tap Tap" Journals

There are many journaling requirements sprinkled throughout the LDS youth and Scouting programs (see below), so why not pick up one of these “Tap Tap” journals and do some good while you’re at it?

I came across these adorable journals when I discovered Project HOPE Art yesterday. They’re only $14.99 and $5 benefits Project HOPE Art and their work with Haitian orphans. How can I help but spread the word?

Also available are the “Tap Tap” Journals in white and the Haiti Mural Journal composed of mural art created by Haiti children:

That’s the one I ordered and I chose the blank page option (you can also get lined, dots, or planner pages). I think I’m going to use it to try some of Kathy Barbro’s projects, which I’ve been wanting to do for a long time. She has some new projects at her website which look like fun.

LDS Youth and Scouting Program Requirements Involving Journaling:

Faith in God – Preparing for Young Women #3: “Write in your journal how you can serve the Lord as you stand for truth and righteousness.”

Bear Scout – Family Requirement #8f: “Start your own history: keep a journal for 2 weeks.”

Bear Scout – Jot It Down Requirement #18c: “Keep a daily record of your activities for 2 weeks.”

Webelos – Scholar #5: “List in writing some important things you can do now because of what you’ve learned in school.”

Cub Scouts – Communicating Pin #2: “Keep a journal of daily activities for at least seven days.”

Cub Scouts – Reading and Writing Belt Loop #3: “Keep a diary of your activities for one week. Read it to your den or family.”

Communications Merit Badge Requirements 1a or 1b: Keeping a log of communication activities for a day, or keeping a journal of “listening” experiences for three days.

Personal Management Merit Badge Requirement 8c: “Follow the one-week schedule you planned. Keep a daily diary or journal during each of the seven days of this week’s activities, writing down when you completed each of the tasks on your “to do” list compared to when you scheduled them.”

Duty to God requirements often encourage journaling, and a general requirement of the Personal Progress program is to keep a personal journal.

Venturing Religious Life Bronze Award requirement 4b: “Keep a personal journal of your experiences each time you worked as a volunteer.” (After three months of volunteer work, see requirement 4a.)

What kid doesn’t love McDonald’s? Chicken McNuggets, Happy Meal toys, indoor playgrounds, fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies. What’s not to like?

Of course, your kids DO know about the Ronald McDonald House, right?

Come to think of it, I’m not sure my kids know about it. Hang on a minute…  Okay. Now they know.

Anyway, there are lots of ways kids can help out their favorite clown and get in on the philanthropic action. Whether they want to serve from the security of their own home or make a trip to an actual House, there are lots of easy ways kids can get involved.

This is also a great way to fulfill service requirements (and a few extra requirements, depending on your chosen act of service) in the Faith in God, Personal Progress, Duty to God or Scouting programs. A handy list of links to those requirements is at the end of this post.

First, what can kids do to help?

* Collect or make greeting cards to donate to your local House. Homemade cards, new cards, or the fronts of used cards are all useful. Ronald McDonald House gives these to families, who can send them to their ill child or give them out as thank you notes.

* Collect pop tabs. Not all chapters participate in this program, so check first. Your local chapter will also be able to tell you if there are drop-off locations elsewhere in your community, or provide you with pop tab collection containers to place in new areas. This is a great way to help Houses raise much-needed funds.

* Provide service at the House. Contact your local House to see what they need. You can help serve meals, plant flowers or do some cleaning.

* Sponsor a food drive to help stock their pantry with non-perishable goods.

* Collect items for a community yard sale and donate the proceeds.

* Help prepare and serve dinner at the House.

* Plan an activity for the children living at the house, like a face-painting party or story hour.

* Bake homemade cookies, decorate them, and donate them to families staying at your local House.

* Wash the cars of the families staying at the House.

* Make quilts for the beds. Check with the House first to see what’s needed. Some Houses have nicely decorated, themed rooms (often donated to the House by individuals or groups) and so may not be in need of this.  Other Houses have worn bedding and would greatly appreciate something new and fresh!

The needs of these Houses is huge and varied. You’re bound to find something of interest to your son or daughter. For more information about Ronald McDonald House Charities or to find a local House, go to the official website right HERE.

Related LDS Youth Program and Scouting Program Requirements:

Faith in God – Serving Others requirement 1: “Read and discuss the parable of the good Samaritan (see Luke 10:30–37). Plan and complete a service project that helps a family member or neighbor. After completing the project, discuss how it helped your faith grow stronger.”

Faith in God – Serving Others requirement 4: “Plan, prepare, and serve a nutritious meal. ”

Faith in God – Serving Others requirement 7: “Plan and hold a parent-child activity, such as a dinner, picnic, hike, day trip, or service project.”

Faith in God – Serving Others requirement 8: “Read the twelfth article of faith. Discuss what it means to be a good citizen and how your actions can affect others. ”

Tiger cub scout elective 11: “Help collect food, clothing or toys for needy families with your den or pack.”

Tiger cub scout elective 12: “Make at least two cards or decorations and take them to a hospital or long-term care facility.”

Wolf cub scout elective 9b/c: “Make a gift or toy like one of these (examples shown in book) and give it to someone.”

Bear cub scout requirement 9a: “With an adult, bake cookies.”

Bear cub scout elective 21b: “Help with a garage sale or rummage sale. This can be with your family or a neighbor, or it can be a church, school, or pack event.”

Citizenship cub scout belt loop requirement 3:“Participate in a family, den, or school service project.”

Reading and Writing cub scout pin requirement 2: “Read a book to a child or group of children.”

Complete a 10-hour service project for the House to complete the Personal Progress Individual Worth Value Project or Good Works Value Project.

Personal Progress Good Works requirement 6: “Spend at least three hours giving service outside your family. Ask your ward or branch Relief Society president or a community leader for suggestions for service. For example, you might take care of children while parents attend the temple; collect, make, or recondition toys or games for a nursery; accept an assignment to clean the meetinghouse; or perform errands for or read to a homebound person or others in need. Record in your journal the reactions of the person you served and possible goals for future service opportunities.”

Second class boy scout rank requirement 5: “Participate in an approved (minimum of one hour) service project. ”

Star boy scout rank requirement 4: “While a First Class Scout, take part in service projects totaling at least 6 hours of work. These projects must be approved by your Scoutmaster.”

Life boy scout rank requirement 4: “While a Star Scout, take part in service projects totaling at least 6 hours of work. These projects must be approved by your Scoutmaster. ”

This is a good idea for the Eagle Scout Leadership Service Project if you turn it into something significant, perhaps raising funds in order to redecorate and update rooms at the Ronald McDonald House.

Citizenship in the Community merit badge requirement 7, which includes learning about a community service organization and donating at least 8 hours serving that organization.

Do service at the Ronald McDonald House as part of the requirements to earn the Boy Scout Special Award in honor of the late, great Jimmy Stewart, the James M. Stewart Good Citizenship award.

Venturing Religious Life Bronze Award requirement 3: “ Plan and lead a service project such as helping to build a Habitat for Humanity house, participating in a community cleanup project, or taking on a fix-up project for a nursing home or nursery.”

Choose Ronald McDonald House Charities as your organization to serve as part of the Venturing TRUST Award requirements.

Serve the Ronald McDonald House as part of the “Serve Others” requirements in the Duty to God program.

My heart has a special place for Greg Mortenson and his work in Afghanistan and Pakistan. His amazing journey from mountaineer to international philanthropist is outlined in the famous, inspiring book Three Cups of Tea.

From the website:

In 1993 Mortenson was descending from his failed attempt to reach the peak of K2. Exhausted and disoriented, he wandered away from his group into the most desolate reaches of northern Pakistan. Alone, without food, water, or shelter he stumbled into an impoverished Pakistani village where he was nursed back to health.

While recovering he observed the village’s 84 children sitting outdoors, scratching their lessons in the dirt with sticks. The village was so poor that it could not afford the $1-a-day salary to hire a teacher. When he left the village, he promised that he would return to build them a school. From that rash, heartfelt promise grew one of the most incredible humanitarian campaigns of our time.

If you haven’t read it, you must. It’ll make you want to do something to help.

If your kids haven’t read one of the youth editions, encourage them or make it a family event and read it to them yourself. It’ll make them want to do something to help.

Too often we read about something like this, wish we could help, and then do nothing because we don’t know what to do.

As you may have guessed, I have a suggestion.

The Pennies for Peace campaign is an excellent way for our youth to truly help some of God’s neediest children. It’s a way to raise awareness of the needs of others and encourage gratitude for the blessings we have here. It’s a way to empower kids to understand that they can make a difference in the lives of others. It’s something everyone can get in on, even those who only have pennies to give.

This idea is flexible and can be made to fit the kind of service project you’re looking for. Primary kids working on their Faith in God can run a small and simple campaign. Youth working on Personal Progress, Duty to God or Scouting awards can coordinate a campaign on a much larger scale.

The Pennies to Peace website has tips and everything you need to get started, from printable stickers to decorate your donation jars to letter templates for parents and Girls Education Fact Sheets. And it’s all free.

If your son or daughter decides to do this, please drop me a line and let me know how it went.

LDS and Scouting Service Project Requirements:

PLEASE NOTE: The Pennies for Peace program may NOT be used for the Eagle Scout award because fund-raising projects are not permitted for that award.

Faith in God – Serving Others requirement #7: “Plan and hold a parent-child activity, such as a dinner, picnic, hike, day trip, or service project.”  This idea may also be used for requirement #10: “Children may also plan and complete their own activity to serve others. ”

Personal Progress – Good Works Value requirement #7, which involves giving three hours of service outside your home. Also, this could be used for the Good Works Value Project which requires at least 10 hours of service and can additionally include involving other young women.

All three levels of the new Duty to God program (Deacon, Teacher, Priest) include requirements to plan and carry out service, both individually and with the quorum.

The Star and Life ranks of the Boy Scout program each require service projects totaling at least six hours of work. Again, please note you may NOT use fund-raising service projects for the Eagle Scout Award.

Venturing – Religious Life Bronze Award requirement #3: “Plan and lead a service project such as helping to build a Habitat for Humanity house, participating in a community cleanup project, or taking on a fix-up project for a nursing home or nursery.”

A Pennies for Peace campaign could be used to fulfill the service to others requirement for the Venturing Gold Award.

James M. (Jimmy) Stewart

Faith in God:

Learning and Living the Gospel requirement #4: “Read a recent conference address given by the prophet. Decide what you can do to follow the prophet, and do it.”

Duty to God:

Deacon Spiritual Development requirement #2: “Read “The Family: A Proclamation to the World” and “The Living Christ: The Testimony of the Apostles.” Review them with a parent or priesthood leader.”

Personal Progress:

Divine Nature requirement #2: “As a young woman you are blessed with divine feminine qualities. Increase your understanding of and appreciation for womanhood. Read Proverbs 31:10–31 and two talks on womanhood from a conference issue of the Church magazines. Review what “The Family: A Proclamation to the World”

Cub Scouts:

Webelos Family Member Activity Badge requirement #8: “Tell what your family does for fun. Make a list of fun things your family might do for little or no cost. Plan a family fun night.”

Boy Scouts:

Send away for the James M. Stewart Good Citizenship Award. This is a unique award that would be fun to work on, with some activities being appropriate for future Sundays. While not required, you could watch a Jimmy Stewart movie with your family. (Your kids do know who Jimmy Stewart is, right?)

Not only is this FHE Super-Charged, it’s largely child-led. So sit back and relax, Mom. Time to let your children teach you.

This can be one lesson or several, depending on how in-depth you get and what ideas your children might have for FHE as you discuss this with them ahead of time. Personally, I love it when my kids come up with so many ideas that I have to push what I had planned to next time. That gives my procrastinating self a whole week to feel ahead of the game.

Preparation:

If you have a child aged 8-11, he should read the story of the First Vision found in Joseph Smith – History 1:1-20 and be prepared to share the story in FHE. Invite him to think of other things that can be part of his lesson about this.

If you have a daughter aged 12-17, she can similarly lead the lesson below by reading the story of the First Vision. This lesson can either be the beginning of her challenge to pray regularly for three weeks or an opportunity to report on that experience once completed. (See the PP requirement below.)

If you have a Deacon-aged son, reading about the First Vision fulfills a Quorum requirement, so long as he discusses it with a priesthood leader afterward.

Opening and/or Closing prayer: offered by your Faith in God-aged child, if you have one.

Opening Song:

A Child’s Prayer (Children’s Songbook #12). Best children’s hymn ever. I love this song. (Link includes words and audio.)

Lesson:

Tell the story of the First Vision (led by the child/ren who prepared for this, if applicable).

Group Discussion: How does Heavenly Father answer our sincere prayers? Share experiences when prayers have been answered.

How does prayer protect us and help us stay close to Heavenly Father and the Savior? Share feelings about this.

Why is it important to pray regularly? What are some things that prevent us from praying regularly?

(If you have Wolf or Bear Cub Scouts, further discussion questions are in the Faith Character Connection below.)

Activity:

Make something tangible to help children remember to say morning and evening prayers. Challenge them to practice this for the next three to four weeks (or whatever length is appropriate for each child).

One  option is to make a paper chain out of strips of construction paper or scrapbook paper, with enough links for each morning and evening prayer. Each child hangs the chain by their bed and removes a link after each personal prayer is said.

Other options are to paint a prayer rock, make a prayer rug or create a prayer chart to hang by your child’s bed.

Treat:

Make these easy “Praying Arms” soft pretzels. (Or buy the soft SuperPretzels sold in Costco’s frozen food section.)

This lesson fulfills part or all of the following requirements:

Faith in God – Learning and Living the Gospel #2: “Read the Prophet Joseph Smith’s testimony in Joseph Smith—History 1:1–20, and discuss it with a priesthood leader.”

Faith in God – Learning and Living the Gospel #5: “Give an opening and a closing prayer in family home evening or at Primary. Share your feelings about how prayer protects us and helps us to stay close to Heavenly Father and the Savior.” Which also fulfills part of the Cub Scout Religious Square Knot patch.

Wolf Cub Scout requirement 11c: “Give two ideas on how you can practice or demonstrate your religious beliefs. Choose one and do it.”

Bear Cub Scout requirement 1b: “Make a list of things you can do this week to practice your religion as you are taught in your home, church, synagogue, mosque, or other religious community. Check them off your list as you complete them.”

Part of Webelos Cub Scout requirement 8e: “For at least a month, pray or meditate reverently each day as taught by your family, and by your church, temple, mosque, synagogue, or religious group.”

Wolf and Bear Cub Scouts also work on the Faith Character Connection (Wolf requirement 11a and Bear requirement 1a): “Know. What is “faith”? With your family, discuss some people who have shown their faith – who have shown an inner strength based on their trust in a higher power or cause. Discuss the good qualities of these people. Commit. Discuss these questions with your family: What problems did these faithful people overcome to follow or practice their beliefs? What challenges might you face in doing your duty to God? Who can help you with these challenges? Practice. Practice your faith while doing the requirements for “Duty to God.”

Personal Progress Faith requirement #1: “The first principle of the gospel is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Learn about faith from the scriptures and living prophets. Read Hebrews 11, Alma 32:17–43, Ether 12:6–22, and Joseph Smith—History 1:11–20. Read two general conference talks on faith. Exercise your own faith by establishing a habit of prayer in your life. Begin by saying your morning and evening prayers regularly. After three weeks of following this pattern, discuss with a parent or leader what you have learned about faith and how daily personal prayer has strengthened your faith. In your journal express your feelings about faith and prayer.”

Duty to God Deacon – Quorum Activities #1: “Read the Prophet Joseph Smith’s testimony in Joseph Smith—History 1:1–20, and discuss it with a priesthood leader.”

Part of the requirements for all LDS Youth programs is to strive to have regular personal prayer.

Related Requirements:

These first two are more in-depth and probably merit a FHE all their own:

If you have a Teacher-aged son, he can teach a FHE based on the chapter titled Prayer (found in the True to the Faith book). Fulfills half of Duty to God Teacher – Family Activities #3.

If you have a Priest-aged son, he can read the chapter titled Restoration of the Gospel (also found in the True to the Faith book) and teach it to the family. Fulfills half of Duty to God Priest – Family Activity #5.

Boy Scouts may want to work on the Personal Management merit badge and include morning and evening prayers as part of their larger to-do list (see requirement #8).

Don your gloves and grab your broom (I mean weapon!). Time to disintegrate the dust bunnies, power spray the dishes and unearth the floor in your children’s bedrooms.

They do have a floor, don’t they? It’s hard to tell in my house.

Like a lot of parents, we struggle to get any consistency going when it comes to chores. Our current system consists of me telling them what to do at random times and them doing it – sometimes right away but sometimes with a lot of stalling and whining.

It’s like a box of chocolates. I never know what I’m going to get.

Don’t forget the times when I just do things myself. Stuff they could or should be doing. That’s like getting the chocolate with the coconut filling.

Yuck.

Today I decided to gather together all the scouting and LDS youth program requirements that involve chores and the like. I decided to scout out (no pun intended) the best link to a free chore chart and maybe a handy list of age-appropriate chores. Once again, in all my searching I came across a little gem of a website.

Behold Painted Gold. Painted Gold doesn’t just have chore charts, she has advice on how to effectively use them. Apparently you can’t just hang up the chart and expect anything to happen.

Who knew?

Check out her five-step plan for getting kids to do chores. Five steps isn’t too bad, especially since the fifth step is celebrating your success!

Do you think it works? I don’t know, but we’ll be giving it a try. And (of course) passing off some requirements in the process.

Care to join us?

Related Requirements:

Faith in God – Developing Talents requirement 7: “List five things you can do to help around your home. Discuss the importance of obeying and honoring your parents and learning how to work.”

Tiger cub scout requirement 1F: “Think of one chore you can do with your adult partner. Complete it together. Complete the Character Connection for Responsibility.”

Wolf cub scout requirement 4e: “Talk with your family members. Agree on the household jobs you will be responsible for. Make a list of your jobs and mark off when you have finished them. Do this for one month.”

Wolf cub scout requirement 8c: “Help fix at least one meal for your family. Help set the table, cook the food, and wash the dishes.”

Wolf cub scout requirement 8d: “Fix your own breakfast. Wash and put away the dishes. ”

Webelos cub scout Family Member activity badge requirement 2: “Make a chart showing the jobs you and other family members have at home. Talk with your family about other jobs you can do for the next two months.”

Webelos cub scout Family Member activity badge requirement 9: “Learn how to clean your home properly. With adult supervision, help do it for one month.”

Webelos cub scout Family Member activity badge requirement 10: “Show that you know how to take care of your clothes. With adult supervision, help at least twice with the family laundry. ”

Webelos cub scout Family Member activity badge requirement 11: “With adult supervision, help plan the meals for your family for one week. Help buy the food and help prepare three meals for your family. ”

Citizenship belt loop requirement 1: “Develop a list of jobs you can do around the home. Chart your progress for one week.”

Personal Progress Good Works requirement 2: “Service is an essential principle of family living. Help plan your family’s menus, obtain the food, and prepare part of the meals for two weeks. During that time help your family gather to share mealtimes. Report to your class what you have learned.”

Duty to God – Deacon Family Activities requirement 5: “With the help and permission of a parent, prepare at least 2 meals for your family. Where possible, also wash and iron your clothes for 1 month.”

Family Life Merit Badge requirement 3: “Prepare a list of your regular home duties or chores (at least five) and do them for 90 days. Keep a record of how often you do each of them.”

George Washington Birthplace National Monument

Here you go. More things your children can do to keep the Sabbath day holy. Instead of a list of “don’t's” on Sunday, give them a list of “do’s”. These are great ideas for adult worship too.

Faith in God:

Preparing for the Priesthood (also Preparing for Young Women, with slightly different language) #4: “Read D&C 88:77–80, 118 and D&C 130:19. Discuss with a parent or Primary leader how important a good education is and how it can help strengthen you as a priesthood holder in your home and family and in the Church.”

Duty to God:

Priest Family Activities #8: “Read D&C 134, and discuss with your parents how it relates to your responsibilities as a citizen of your country.” (See note below.)

Personal Progress:

Integrity requirement #3: “The Savior is the perfect example of integrity; He did what He promised the Father He would do. Read 3 Nephi 11:10-11. Study the lives of other individuals in the scriptures who lived with integrity. Read Genesis 39; the book of Esther; Job 2:3; 27:3-6; Daniel 3 and 6; Acts 26; Doctrine and Covenants 124:15; and Joseph Smith—History 1:21–25. In your journal identify the ways these people demonstrated integrity. Think of a time when you had the courage to show integrity, especially when it was not easy or popular. Share your experience and your feelings about it in a testimony meeting or lesson or with a parent or Young Women leader.”

Cub Scouts:

Reading and Writing Pin requirement #5: “Create a bookmark that you can use, or design a book cover.”

Boy Scouts:

Citizenship in the Nation merit badge requirement 2d: “Choose a national monument that interests you. Using books, brochures, the Internet (with your parent’s permission), and other resources, find out more about the monument. Tell your counselor what you learned, and explain why the monument is important to this country’s citizens.” (Click here for a surprisingly long list of national monuments.)

*Note: if you’re also working on the Duty to God idea above, check out Citizenship in the Nation requirement #1, because the two are very similar.

The Good Samaritan, by Eugene Delacroix, 1849

More ideas… one from each program. Some of these are great spiritual enrichment activities for us grown-ups too. 

Faith in God:

Serving Others requirement 1: “Read and discuss the parable of the good Samaritan (see Luke 10:30–37). Plan and complete a service project that helps a family member or neighbor. After completing the project, discuss how it helped your faith grow stronger. ”

Duty to God:

Duty to God Teacher – Family Activities requirement 3: “Read about the following topics in True to the Faith or Gospel Principles, and teach 2 of them to your family: conversion, faith, forgiveness, the Holy Ghost, obedience, the plan of salvation, prayer, prophets, repentance, and revelation.” (Good way to get your FHE lesson planned ahead of time!)

Personal Progress:

Individual Worth requirement 4: “You are preparing to fulfill a unique mission on the earth. Read Doctrine and Covenants 88:119. In your journal make a list of your hopes and dreams for your future home, family, and education and some important things you would like to accomplish in your life, including becoming a wife and mother. Then write a plan that will help you achieve your goals. Share this plan with a family member, leader, or friend.”

Cub Scouts:

Heritages Belt Loop requirement 2: “Make a poster that shows the origins of your ancestors. Share it with your den or other group.”

Boy Scouts:

Family Life merit badge requirement 2: “List several reasons why you are important to your family and discuss this with your parents or guardians and with your merit badge counselor.”

Christ Blessing the Children by Nicolaes Maes, 1653, National Gallery, London

Here’s the next installment in my Sabbath Activities series. One idea from each program…

(I gotta say, there’s not much in the Boy Scout department. I’m guessing I’ll run out of stuff in that category first.)

Faith in God:

Developing Talents requirement 3: “Write a poem, story, or short play that teaches a principle of the gospel or is about Heavenly Father’s creations.”

Duty to God:

Duty to God Deacon – Spiritual Development requirement 4: “Read D&C 20:38–60, and talk with a parent or a priesthood leader about the duties of a deacon.”

Personal Progress:

Divine Nature requirement 1: “What are some of the divine qualities of a daughter of God? Read “The Family: A Proclamation to the World”, 2 Peter 1, Alma 7:23–24, and Doctrine and Covenants 121:45. In your own words, list the divine qualities discussed in your reading. Think about how you can discover and develop each of these qualities. Record your ideas in your journal.”

Cub Scouts:

Bear cub scout requirement 18c: “Keep a daily record of your activities for 2 weeks. ” Also known as a journal!

Boy Scouts:

Music merit badge requirement 3a: “Attend a live performance, or listen to three hours of recordings from any two of the following musical styles: blues, jazz, classical, country, bluegrass, ethnic, gospel, musical theater, opera. Describe the sound of the music and the instruments used. Identify the composers or songwriters, the performers, and the titles of the pieces you heard. If it was a live performance, describe the setting and the reaction of the audience. Discuss your thoughts about the music. ” (Another good reason to listen to hymns on Sunday.)

Early LDS Sunday School

If you’re like me, it can be challenging to find appropriate activities for your children to do on Sundays. Perhaps it gets easier as children get older… or perhaps not. (Please tell me it does.)

In any case, I thought it’d be a good idea to highlight some requirements from the various LDS and scouting programs which I think make for good Sunday activities.

The goal with most of these is not simply to be able to check them off our list, but to build faith and inspire spiritual growth. So take your time.

I’ll post a collection of these Sabbath activities (one from each program) every Sunday until I run out. When we’re all done, we should have a nice collection of ideas to draw on the next time our kids are bored on a Sunday and we’re wondering what to do with them.

Faith in God:

Learning and Living the Gospel requirement 3: “Mark these verses about the Holy Ghost in your scriptures: John 14:16–17, 2 Nephi 32:5, and Moroni 10:5. Discuss ways the Holy Ghost helps you.”

Duty to God:

The second requirement in the Family Activities section of all three Duty to God programs (Deacon, Teacher and Priest) involve reading For the Strength of Youth and discussing it with parents.

Personal Progress:

Faith requirement 1: “The first principle of the gospel is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Learn about faith from the scriptures and living prophets. Read Hebrews 11, Alma 32:17–43, Ether 12:6–22, and Joseph Smith—History 1:11–20. Read two general conference talks on faith. Exercise your own faith by establishing a habit of prayer in your life. Begin by saying your morning and evening prayers regularly. After three weeks of following this pattern, discuss with a parent or leader what you have learned about faith and how daily personal prayer has strengthened your faith. In your journal express your feelings about faith and prayer.

Cub Scouts:

Wolf cub scout requirement 11a; Bear cub scout requirement 1a and Webelos requirements 8a-8c: “Complete the Character Connection for Faith. Know: What is “faith”? With your family, discuss some people who have shown their faith – who have shown an inner strength based on their trust in a higher power or cause. Discuss the good qualities of these people. Commit: Discuss these questions with your family: What problems did these faithful people overcome to follow or practice their beliefs? What challenges might you face in doing your duty to God? Who can help you with these challenges? Practice: Practice your faith while doing the requirements for “Duty to God.”

Boy Scouts:

Genealogy merit badge requirement 2b: “Keep a journal for 6 weeks. You must write in it at least once a week.”