Be Prepared - 2011-2012 School Year Theme

This year we rolled out our back to school theme a week before school started instead of the first day of school.  We started the night on Monday by talking about some concerns or fears we might have going into this new school year.  Then we talked about how we could take away some of those fears.  

In the Doctrine and Covenants there is a scripture that says

"...but if ye are prepared, ye shall not fear."

(Doctrine & Covenants Section 38, verse 30)

So this year we are taking that wise counsel to Be Prepared and made it our family theme.  There are lots of ways to be prepared, so we talked specifically about a few ways being prepared could help us with our back-to-school fears.  Then we talked about some more ways being prepared will help us succeed this school year. 

We sang one of our favorite songs, that we are learning the 3rd verse to which starts out, "We know his plan, and we will prepare, Increase our knowledge through study and prayer.  Daily we'll learn...". 

We finished the night with a treat, M&M Ice Cream Sandwiches...because if you are prepared, you won't be "sandwiched" into a bad situation! 

(I know, kinda a stretch...let me know if you have any good "Be Prepared" treat ideas.  It was hard to beat the weights for last years theme, "Be Strong and of a Good Courage.")

Be Strong & of a Good Courage

Back to school time is filled with family traditions. One of my favorites is kicking off the year with a special family night, introducing our family theme for the school year. We took down last year's theme off the fridge & put up our new theme.

This year we choose a scripture from the Old Testament. It is Joshua 1:9 which says:

"Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest."

There are so many amazing truths & applications within this scripture that we will have fun talking about during the next year. Monday we kicked off our new theme, talked about the scripture and what it means to be strong and to have good courage. Everyone wrote or drew a picture of someone/something that that was strong and showed courage.

Hayley's Drawing about Daniel being strong and having courage

We also talked about not being afraid when we are in new situtations, like school - that we are never alone. As Jake said, "You mean I can have a little bit of Jesus in my heart with me so I won't be scared." That's right buddy!

This is actually the 2010 youth theme for the church as well, so there are so many amazing things online to help reinforce this theme like this music video .

We ended with a fun treat to remind us to Be Strong!

Be True

The theme we picked for this school year for our family is "Be True". It comes from a quote from President Gordon B. Hinckley in a talk that he gave to the youth several years ago. He said:

Be true to your own convictions.
You know what is right, and you know what is wrong.

You know when you are doing the proper thing.

You know when you are giving strength to the right cause.
Be loyal. Be faithful. Be true.

-President Gordon B. Hinckley