The Gospel of Jesus Christ and Flowers

 My last companion, Sister Green, and I were asked to be in charge of a Young Women's activity a couple of months ago.   We tried to think of something that the girls would like that we could tie back to the gospel.  Then we remembered, "Oh ya!  Everything points back to the gospel!"  We decided that we would go with a hair flower.  They seem to be in these days, and I love them!  Here's the pattern we used for them.  They turned out cute!  At the bottom of the page you can find the gospel message, which you know you want to look at, and the website that I found this on!

These elegant fabric flowers are very simple to make . . . and only take a few basic supplies. The finished product is delightfully lovely, and at times can look like a real flower! Every flower will turn out differently and that is part of the beauty!

If you haven’t used those tea lights in a while, now’s the time! I hope you enjoy making these as much as we do . . . below are instructions with pictures on how to make your own.

Supplies:

· Synthetic Silky Fabric
· Scissors
· Candle (preferably a tea light)

Additional supplies:

· Needle and Thread, Glue Dots or Glue Gun
· Buttons and/or Beads

Directions:

1. Cut circle patterns out of card stock.

Make the largest one’s diameter about half an inch larger than you want the diameter of the flower, as the petals will end up shrinking a bit. Create a few of these, lessening the diameter bit by bit so that the end result has smaller petals in the center and larger ones around the outside. You can also use a pattern here, which works very nice!

2. Trace around the pattern onto the silk fabric (using a pen).

You can also cut around the pattern and skip the drawing part, it just might not be as uniform . . . but with these, uniform isn’t necessary. And if it’s not uniform, it adds character. And character is good.

3. Take the scissors and cut out the circle and petals.

Cut just inside the drawn lines to make a circle out of the fabric. Carefully cut only about a third of the way into the circles to create the petals. You can do as many or few petals as you would like, or even add some variety to them. I cut five times, making five medium-sized petals. You can also round the corners of the petals, if you so desire.

4. Use the lit candle to melt and crinkle the edges.

Be very careful (please have adult supervision, this is rather dangerous), as it is very easy to get burnt. Hold the cut petals about one to two inches above the flame, making sure to keep the circle rotating so that it does not overheat and catch fire. Continue to gently melt the edges of each petal until you have gone all the way around. Do this with each layer.

5. Sew (or glue) the petal layers together.

Using a needle and thread, create a beginning knot and then sew the layers together. You can come up through the top because the center  of the top layer can be covered by a button or  bead. To finish the flower, sew (or glue) the button or bead on top.

If you would like to add extra stability to the flower, you can sew or glue a piece of felt onto the back (make sure it is large enough to give good stability, but small enough so that it won’t be seen from the top).

For a hair accessory, you can sew or glue the back of the flower to the back of a bobby pin, ponytail holder, or snap-clip.

For a broach, you can sew or glue them onto a broach pin or even a safety pin.

This pattern is just like the gospel.  There's some steps, pretty simple steps at that.

Step 1: Cut out the pattern, and Trace it.
     We have a loving Heavenly Father that made a plan for us ( the pattern).  We chose to follow it. Making the decision to follow that pattern was like tracing it onto the fabric.  Is the process complete there?  Absolutely not!  We have to keep working at it!

Step 2: Cut the circles out!
     This step represents faith.  It takes faith to know that Heavenly Father's plan for us is the best plan and that we are actually going to follow it.  We must make an effort to follow it.  It doesn't magically happen unless we allow it.

Step 3:  Burn the edges.
     When we say burn you get nervous right?!?  I was leery about  this step when I first saw it, but it's necessary.  If you don't burn the edges the fabric will unravel and your flower won't be a flower anymore.  It will lose the look and effect of a cute little flower.  So, is it pleasant to go through some heat?  You can compare this to repentance.  Sometimes we do wrong things and if we don't take care of them we'll, in a sense unravel.  Repentance, the act of taking care of our wrong deed, is not always easy!  Sometimes it feels like we're being "burned" slightly when we repent.  The outcome of repentance is that we are back on track with Heavenly Father's plan and we can be free from unraveling.

Step 4:  Stack the petals together perfectly :)
      This process is like baptism.  At baptism we are perfectly aligned with God's will for us.  We are completely free from sin.  We are perfect.  We need the next step, or else we will fall apart.  There's not really anything holding us together perfectly yet!

Step 5:  Sew the petals together!
     This is much like receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, or the Spirit as others refer to him.  The spirit helps us to be able to continue doing right things.  He is with us to remind us that we shouldn't be doing that, or that we should be doing something else.  He helps us to stay on the right track and do what our Heavenly Father expects us to be doing.

Step 6:  Glue a hair clip, or broach to the back:
     Without adding the clip or broach to this flower it's kind of worthless.  We aren't going to get the use out of it that we will with this addition to our flower.  This is equal to enduring to the end.  That's a big phrase to basically say, "Keep doing these steps!"  Once we have faith, have repented, are baptized, and have received the gift of the Holy Ghost we are not done.  We must keep doing these things!  If we do we are right on track for what our Heavenly Father wants for us.

Heavenly Father loves us and wants us all to be a "pretty flower".  These 6 steps are the way that we can do this.  I know that sometimes these steps are hard and we want to do it "our own way", but Heavenly Father's plan is perfect for us.  We can become who he wants us to be!

I found this pattern on the website:
 http://www.simplyvintagegirl.com/blog/index.php/2010/05/29/tutorial-how-to-make-lovely-fabric-flowers/

I Will Go and Do

One of my heroes is Nephi from the Book of Mormon.  He is such a shining example of standing for what is right.  I want to share a story about Nephi with you.  It is in the Book of Mormon and I won't completely give everything away, but I want to talk about the very beginning of the Book of Mormon with you.  Lehi (the father) is commanded by the Lord to take his family and leave Jerusalem.  They leave all of the worldly possessions and take just what they need with them.They walk into the wilderness leaving everything behind.  They walk for about four days and then Lehi receives a commandment from Heavenly Father. The commandment is that his sons (Laman, Lemuel, Sam, and Nephi) are to return to Jerusalem and get the brass plates from Laban.
How excited would you be to head back to the place you just left after walking for four days?  It doesn't sound really fun to me, but the question is would you do it willingly because Heavenly father asked you to?  I hope that I would be like Nephi and not like his brothers Laman and Lemuel.  Nephi's brothers were not excited to go.  Nephi  showed great faith as he replied: 1 Nephi 3:7 " I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them."  Nephi understands that the Lord will never give us something that we cannot do.  He gathers up his brothers and they head back to Jerusalem.  The first time they go to Laban's house they fail.  Laban will not give up the plates and he sends men after them to kill them.  The second time they take all of their worldly items (their gold, silver, and riches) and try to trade him these for the plates.  He loves the things they bring and so he takes them and then sends men after them to kill them.  At this point his brothers don't want to go back.
Thankfully we have Nephi that says he will go back.  He gets there and is commanded to do something very hard. I'm going to leave this part a mystery and you can read it in the Book of Mormon. The account is in 1 Nephi 4.  I will tell you that he is able to obtain the plates.  The Lord provides a way that he can accomplish the commandment he had given to Nephi and his brothers.  Sometimes in our lives we are given commandments from Heavenly Father that seem impossible. If the Lord commands us to do something he will provide a way that we can fulfill that commandment.  Never forget this!  There is nothing that is impossible with the Lord.  I know that we can do anything the Lord asks us to do.  Let us go forth with faith, believing that our Heavenly Father will help us.  It wasn't easy for Nephi to accomplish what the Lord asked, but the Lord made it possible and this is how it is in our lives.  It may not be easy to accomplish, but it will be something we can do.  It will never be impossible if it is a commandment from Heavenly Father!

Walking on Water

I decided that I wanted to study the New Testament and focus more on the Savior and His life.  A story that I have heard many times struck me and has made me think about how soon I turn to my Savior to help me.  The story is found in Matthew 14: 24- 33.  The story goes that the apostles were out on a ship at night and the wind and the waves were terrible.  The apostles were scared and then they looked out and saw something walking on the water.  Naturally, they were more scared at this point.  They thought it was an evil spirit or a ghost.  Jesus called out to them not to be afraid and that it was Him.  Peter says to Jesus that if it truly is Him he should bid Peter to walk out to Him on the water.  Jesus tells Peter that he can get out of the boat and walk to Him.  I cannot imagine the faith that Peter shows by stepping out of the boat and into the water truly believing that he can walk on the water.  I am pretty sure that my faith would not have been that strong.
But, Peter is in the water, or should I say on the water at this point.  He is doing it! He is walking on the water!  Then he notices the wind and how HUGE the waves are.  He looses sight of the Savior and focuses on the water for a split second and he begins to sink. The part that stood out to me was the next verse:  30, But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.  And the very next words are And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, ...  How often in our life do we lose sight of our Savior and rather than immediately cry out for His help we wait until we're nearly "drowning"? I know that our Savior is always there for us and that He will immediately stretch forth His hand to help us.  Jesus loves us and is waiting for us to turn to him.  We don't need to wait until we can barely breath to turn to him and to cry out for help.  He loves you and wants to help!