21 Day Challenge
A friend recently suggested to read Wendy Watson Nelson's book "The Covenant Keepers." While reading it, the idea came for this month's newsletter "The 21 Day Challenge". The book expands on the talk Sister Nelson gave at the 2015 Women's Conference.
Read her talk here. Watch her talk here.
Excerpt from that talk:
"I received an email from Amy, who was in distress. She wrote, “I was asked to speak, last minute, at my ward Relief Society activity this Wednesday. The topic is stress. I sent out a survey last night to 75 of the women here in BYU married student housing to find out what is stressing them out. After receiving their responses, I realize that I NEED HELP!!!!”
"…. As I read through the survey responses, these young wives and mothers reported they were experiencing stress, depression, anxiety, and marital intimacy problems. They listed as the cause of their problems school, finances, lack of sleep, housework, homework, feelings of failing at everything, and an inability to balance all of their responsibilities. I wondered how I should respond. What would really make a difference for these women? And what could be offered, during a 22-minute Relief Society message, which could possibly reduce the real-life distress of these young mothers?
"As I thought about Amy’s difficult assignment, my experiences with family history and temple work filled my mind... I felt compelled, in a way I could not deny, to encourage Amy to offer a 21-day experiment to her Relief Society sisters. So I emailed back, “Invite the sisters to make a sacrifice of time to the Lord by increasing their time in family history and in temple work for the next 21 days.”
"Amy accepted this suggestion, and the results were remarkable. Here are just three examples of what happened.
"One young wife and mother wrote, “During the 21 days that I increased my temple attendance and my family history work, I not only felt happier, I felt a sense of relief... When I made time to do these things—which is hard because we all are busy—I found that somehow I had more time to get other things done that needed to be done.”
"Another woman was able to stop taking her medication for anxiety. Her positive changes in mood, energy, and inspiration were so dramatic that she wrote, “My husband started to pray in gratitude for the increased Spirit in our home since I have been making sacrifices of time to the Lord in temple and family history work.”
"And yet another sister reported, “I have a two-year-old and just had a baby last week. The 21-day experiment helped with the end of my pregnancy. The sacrifice of time to do family history was something I could do sitting down that was productive and brought the Spirit! It gave me more purpose...”
"Sisters, my suggestion to a group of overtaxed, exhausted young mothers may seem counterintuitive, and the results highly improbable. It may even seem cruel to ask a woman who feels as though she’s barely surviving to make a sacrifice of time to the Lord. But these young mothers proved that it works. It works for women who have made covenants with God. Why? Because when covenant women keep their covenants, they have greater access to the power of God. The power of God flows into them, and that power, His power, generates a decrease in stress, an increase in energy, more and clearer revelation for their lives, renewed focus, courage to make needed changes, an increase in patience, and more time for what matters."
This challenge was given to some young Relief Society sisters, but I believe the same blessings can come into anyone's life who chooses to accept this challenge. Especially with the hectic pace we sometimes find ourselves in during the upcoming holiday seasons, who doesn't want these powerful changes in their life.
Sister Nelson went on to challenge:
"Would you be willing to try an experiment? What would happen if between now and Christmas we each selected a 21-day period of time and then did whatever it took in order to make a sacrifice of time to the Lord by increasing the time we spend in temple work and in family history work during those 21 days? What blessings, miracles, and other positive changes would come to our lives?"
And that's our challenge to each of you… are you willing to give it a try?
What are you willing to sacrifice?
What blessings and miracles do you hope to see in your life?
Here's some videos, blogs, and other websites with some more ideas of what you can do in those 21 days, and about other benefits of doing family history.
The Family Connection Experiment - This Roots Tech Presentation is all about the official 21 day Family Connection experiment completed during the Covid shutdown.
Church News Blog about the Experiment
The Highland Ward's suggestions for the 21 Day Challenge.
Connections Experiment Suggested Plan
The Science of Family Connection - by Devin Ashby of FamilySearch
The Healing Power of Storyteller - Roots Tech presentation by Sydney Walker about telling those hard stories.
The Necessity of Connection to your Mental Health - Roots Tech presentation by Amy Nielsen inspired by The Family Connection Experiment.
The Necessity of Connection to your Physical Health - RootsTech presentation by Julianne Holt-Lunstad.
RootsTech and The Family Connection Experiment
Did you know? Center Happenings
- There are several new classes this month.
- Tookie is teaching "Be A Super Sleuth, Sources" on Nov. 13th.
- Tammy is teaching "Using Ordinances Ready as a Research Tool" on Nov. 14th.
- Marilyn is teaching "How Do I Begin? Short Stories and Memories" on Nov. 28th.
- Cameron is starting a new option of Lunch and Learning. Everyone is welcome to bring their lunch to eat at the center while learning a new skill. The same topic is repeated multiple times a week; so pick the day that works for you. "Map App and Goldie May on Mobile Devices" is on Nov. 6th, 8th, 9th and 12th. "Mastering the Gospel Library App" is on Nov. 12th, 13th, 15th, and 16th. "Mastering Account Recovery" is on Nov. 27th, 29th, 30th and Dec. 4th - this one would be good for consultants to attend.
- Ward Consultant Training will be changing! New name: Ward Consultant/Committee Training. New Focus: Training on a quarterly basis rotating between two topics geared for all members of the committee. November and May will focus on the organizational aspect of Wards and introduce the Consultant Planner. February and August will focus on the Ward plans and activity ideas. We encourage both newly called and more experienced Ward consultants, Ward leads and committee members to attend. The format will be a 30 minute instruction and then 30 minutes of sharing and Q&A. Come learn from and share with each other. These will continue to be offered once during the day and once in the evening to accommodate everyone's schedules. Watch the calendar for dates and times.
- Youth groups are welcome to make appointments for Wednesday night activities. We have a group of consultants who will come in on those evenings and teach the youth how to use ordinances ready and how to learn more about their family through activities on the computers, using the Discovery Screens and the Recording Studio. Call or text Heather at 208-312-2514 to make an appointment at least one week in advance.
- We have new upgrades to our Discovery Screens. Webcams have been installed and so two new activity options now appear. Compare a Face and Picture My Heritage. Come in and see yourself on the "big screen".
- The center has a book binding machine. It's available to you to use to bind your family history stories or booklets you might be creating. There is no charge for this on a limited basis. If you need more than 25 books done, we would encourage you to purchase your own combs for use in the machine. We can provide the information about which binding combs to purchase.
- Roots Tech Registration is open. Early bird pricing is in effect until November 19th of $99. Advanced pricing starts on November 20th.
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