An excellent FHE

We had LDS General Conference this weekend, which means 8 hours of church for the kiddos, though thankfully not all in a row. It's not easy to keep the kids paying attention for that long, but our kids are getting older, so we insist that they take notes. This actually works quite well. I reward them (with daddy dollars - good for wii time) for staying on task and not needing reprimands, but I also wanted to reward them for the quality of their notes. In the past I have given a candy bar, or a portion thereof, depending on the thoroughness of their notes (taking into account their ages and abilities.) This year, I wanted to avoid the candy thing, the direct connection between good behavior and sugar. Yesterday, I had an idea. I went through my own notes and also did some online searching and found quotes from many of the talks. I tried to find a quote that really represented the gist of each talk, or a very recognizable tagline. I also included some very simple questions for the little ones. Then we had an open-note quiz-show type contest for FHE, trying to guess who said each quote. It was so fun! The kids were searching their notes for the right talk, looking for either the direct quote or even a talk with the same subject matter. We had some basic ground rules to make things flow easier. The simple questions were for the little girls only, and they were allowed to answer in age order (i.e. Sarah got first crack, followed by Katie, then Liz.) The quotes were open to everyone. First hand up was called on first. If you answered once and got it wrong, you had to wait until everyone had made a guess before you were allowed to try again. When you got an answer correct, you got to choose a prize from the "prize bucket" that I keep in the house, filled with little items like erasers, pencils, balloons, stickers, and whatever little things I pick up during the year on clearance, etc. It was a blast! Definitely a keeper. The kids should have an easier time taking notes next time, now they know how to listen and what kinds of things to write down. I think this will become a fun family Conference tradition. Below are the quotes and questions I used this year.

• Let us be as quick to kneel as we are to text. -Ian S. Ardern
• The lord uses a scale very different from the world’s to weigh the worth of a soul. -Pres. Uchtdorf
• Was told by Pres. Monson, “It’s better to look up.” -Carl B. Cook
• I promise you that if you will respond to invitations to share your beliefs and feelings about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ a spirit of love and a spirit of courage, will be our constant companion for 'perfect love casteth out fear.' -L. Tom Perry
• Scriptures are like packets of light that illuminate our minds. -Richard G. Scott
• The devil could not have written it. It must be from God. -Tad R. Callister
• The most important thing a father can do for his daughter is to love her mother. -Elaine S. Dalton
• Be loyal to the royal within you. -Elaine S. Dalton
• It is extremely important that we have a spirit of gratitude in our hearts. -Quentin L. Cook
• Hello! -Thomas S. Monson
• First we have promised to become charitable. Second, we promised to become witnesses of God. And third we promised to endure. The Book of Mormon is the best guide to learn how well we are doing and how to do better. - Henry B. Eyring
• The name the Savior has given to His Church tells us exactly who we are and what we believe. We believe that Jesus Christ is the Savior and the Redeemer of all mankind. He atoned for all who would repent of their sins, and He broke the bands of death and provided resurrection from the dead. We follow Jesus Christ. - M. Russell Ballard
• Although the world has changed, the laws of God remain constant. They have not changed; they will not change. The ten commandments are just that -- commandments. They are not suggestions. They are every bit as requisite today as they were when God gave them to the children of Israel. - Thomas S. Monson
• Youth today are being raised in enemy territory with a declining standard of morality. But as a servant of the Lord, I promise that you will be protected and shielded from the attacks of the adversary if you will heed the promptings that come from the Holy Spirit. -Boyd K. Packer
• It may be true that man is nothing in comparison to the greatness of the universe. At times we may even feel insignificant, invisible, alone, or forgotten. But always remember -- you matter to Him! - Dieter F. Uchtdorf
• We believe in families, and we believe in children. -Niel L. Andersen
• We learned that in order to go to our son’s rescue, we did not need a planning meeting. We simply acted.- Jose L. Alonso
• Sister Biereictal, because of her love and her charitable nature, even in her own great need she willingly shared her food with a starving prisoner of war. Later, when asked how she was able to keep her testimony during all those trials, she replied, “I didn’t keep a testimony through those times. The testimony kept me.” -Barbara Thompson
  
  QUESTIONS FOR LITTLE KIDDOS
  
• Where does Conference take place?
• How often do we have Conference?
• Who did you sustain as prophet, seer, and revelator?
• How many members in The Quorum of the 12 Apostles?
• Name one group who sang during Conference.
• Who presides at Conference?
• Name one person who conducted Conference.