PARENTING

In FAML100 this week we are studying the practices of parenting. Last week we studied the principles of parenting. In long term, ongoing studies, out of all the varied parenting styles, authoritative parenting  (note: this is different than authoritarian coercive parenting) consistently shows the best long term outcomes and health, mentally and physically. Spanking is not desirable. There are better ways.

Our teacher posted a link to an infographic showing details. I recommend it. Scroll down a way to see the infographic. We had a number of activity choices and questions to answer. I chose the following:

Q: Your older sibling calls you. “Since you’re the big expert in parenting and families, tell me what I’m supposed to do about my 6-year old son who throws a fit every time we...” How do you respond?

First I would laugh right out loud (didn't we recently have a conversation and I thought he was the expert?), then commiserate about my own child (grandchild), and reassure my sibling that his 6 year old son (or grandson) is going through a normal stage of childhood.

Prosocial values, like caring for close family, cooperating with other children, and not hurting anyone intentionally can be seen early in some children, but just as often they are not. I would tell my sibling that in my Child Development Class we learned that “many lines of research have shown that children develop their own morality, guided by peers, parents and culture” (The Developing Person, p. 402) and they do so on their own unique timetable. His 6 year old will be fine, mostly because of the examples of loving and kind parents, and grandparents, and even Aunts and Uncles. I pledge to be kind to that 6 year old, especially when I felt like sending him straight home!

During this age children typically become more systematic, objective, and their learning increases exponentially. Before age 5 children are eager to talk and think, but they do not always understand all that is said, and only gradually come to understand things from other viewpoints. Parents’ underlying attitudes and examples are crucial to model the types of behaviors they expect their children to learn. 

The Proclamation teaches: “Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, and to teach them to love and serve one another, observe the commandments of God, and be law-abiding citizens wherever they live.” Children from every ethnic group and every culture benefit if they believe that they are appreciated; children everywhere suffer if they feel rejected and unwanted.

As children’s thinking and reasoning processes develop, their brains are growing rapidly. They are developing a sense of who they are and their needs should be respected. They have learned “I am”—their existence as a distinct person, and they often think they are best at everything. The more we can validate their existence and the wonderful abilities they are developing the happier they become. At this age young children are only just beginning to apply new skills to things in their own experiences—to situations with visible, tangible, real things (not abstractions). They are not logical, sometimes confusing lies and wishes, and forgetting why they are punished.

We also learned in Child Development that at age 5 most children can count to 100, but not until about age 8 can they estimate where on a number line a particular two digit number would be placed. They are just starting to learn to arrange things into logical series and infer or transfer information as they figure out how one fact is linked to another, and how those facts affect them. If John is taller than Jim, and Jim is taller than David, who is taller John or David? Being able to understand and answer these types of thinking tests is part of normal development that can happen at different ages for each child (The Developing Person, p. 352, 356). 

My darling nephew (or grandson) is doing his best to correlate the massive amounts of information he is learning and make sense of it—and his dad (and mom) need to help.

Good caregiving is not achieved by following any one simple rule; children’s temperaments vary, and so do cultural patterns. All children need guidance [and] there are many ways to provide it. Because early childhood is a critical time for teaching moral behavior parents need to establish healthy boundaries and consequences.

Ideally, adults anticipate misbehavior and guide children toward patterns of behavior and standards of morality that develop from within the child’s self, taking into account the unique circumstances of the child, but misbehavior cannot always be prevented. 

 Nevertheless, children’s “brains are especially attuned to their own repeated social experiences . . . [as] the parts of the cortex dedicated to the senses develop,” and research demonstrates that this is a crucial time of brain growth that is heavily influenced by environment and interpersonal relationships (The Developing Person, p. 142). 

When they are engaged in positive activities, problems become less frequent as their minds and energies are directed and involved. Often simple awareness prevents incidents, especially among the young. Almost all children like to engage adults in conversation and activities, and are readily distracted or encouraged to other things if adults watch for warning signs and prevent critical situations from starting.

Elder Quentin L Cook teaches, “How we treat those closest to us is of fundamental importance. Violence, abuse, lack of civility, and disrespect in the home are not acceptable—not acceptable for adults and not acceptable for the rising generation. . . . Regardless of the culture in which we are raised, and whether our parents did or did not abuse us, we must not physically, emotionally, or verbally abuse anyone else. . . .The need for civility in society has never been more important. The foundation of kindness and civility begins in our homes” (Oct 2012, Can You Feel So Now?). 

 It is important to teach and model appropriate interpersonal interactions to children and youth. Hitting is not OK! Name calling is not OK! Unkind words and actions need to stop! What teachers and parents model, children follow.

My advice? "Take a deep breathe, and enjoy!" This is one of the most fun and amazing stages in a child's life.

MUSIC THAT ENDURES AND ENLIGHTENS

I have a new semester.
Naturally, I also have new classes.

I am loving my humanities class.
Homework so far means listening to music.

THIS I can do!!

We are asked to answer the following question, discuss it with our classmates, and ask at least two of them a question about their choices that is probing, challenging or a follow-up question. And it must be substantive.

Imagine that you are about to be shipwrecked on a desert island for the next thirty years. You are given an iPod—it has unlimited solar powered batteries, but only enough space for five pieces of music. What will you load on this iPod?

First let me state that although I love music that I seldom turn on any noise when I can be alone with simple quiet. I like to hear the world that surrounds me. And I almost never put in both earphones when I do listen privately to music. Besides when I really listen to music, that is ALL I do - I have to remember to breathe and not get so lost in the sounds that I never return. So I answered thus:

THIRTY years? You've got to be kidding! Pick only 5 that wouldn't become drivel after they were memorized? – because surely in that long I would know the pieces intimately note by note.

I would pick a great variety of the longest pieces that I could find, and take nothing that I already know and can sing to myself anytime I want, anyway I like it at the particular time. I keep a list of some of those on my everyday blog so that I can share them (without imposing the sounds of self on anyone’s ears), but I would not choose most of those. I know them very well and they would be with me anyway in my heart and mind.

Since this is a fantasy, I will impose a supposition that a small pocket sized hymnal is on my person and even if it gets wet I can dry out the pages. I know most of the hymns in my mind and this would provide music that I will never tire of and by the time 30 years is over I will know every hymn and have written new verses, versions and hymns. (Like when you sing the words of a hymn to the music of another with the same meter. It describes how to do that in the back of the hymn book at the first of the section titled 'Meters'– it is cool.)

Nevertheless, although I wouldn't select hymns, I think I would take some version of Handel’s Messiah. Perhaps I could find a full version performed by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square. Maybe I could improve my own voice by listening to what they do with their voices.

Also, I would pick songs that could perhaps be replicated by objects I might find. For sure I would want something with a heavy drum solo. Long before electronics could replicate consistent rhythms being able to do so was a significant talent (as was the ability to ‘jam’ like in jazz and the blues – I suppose my second pick would have to be something like Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue). Could I learn to make rhythms and sounds by making my own “drums” and other ‘instruments” and first mimicking and later expanding the rhythms and sounds from something like In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida by Iron Butterfly? Maybe I could experiment with other sounds the way this band did with electronic sounds . . .

But what else? ‘The Prayer’ seems so content limited and lacking in complexity despite that fabulous talents of Celine Dion and Andrea Botticelli. Pachelbel Canon in D Major; Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring; and Fur Elise are almost imprinted in my mind. Perhaps I should choose something less familiar. But then again, something familiar and loved might by nice – ah – perhaps Peter and the Wolf! YES. This is a story and love affair with music in its own right!

And last – hmmm — other classics? Tchaikovsky? Debussy? Hayden? Rachmaninov? Liszt? Wagner? Bach? or some classic rock like Rare Earth? I would need to put lots of options in a hat and ‘draw lots.’

Ha! Using this method it looks like Tchaikovsky will be going with me. I will need to research which of his compositions might be the most versatile. Maybe, again random, Waltz of the Flowers from The Nutcracker Suite. It is unique and nice and light, but wait, I could choose the whole “Nutcracker Suite” right? The length isn't specified. Can that qualify as ‘one’ piece of music? I pick it!

PALEOGRAPHY FHGEN 130

This semester I am studying handwriting -
especially old handwriting and scripts.

First we studied the whole idea of writing.
How it developed and some of the history.
Remember my clay tablet?
That was a bit of fun to start the semester.

We learned about things to write with, and things to write on, and even the mediums used such as impressing marks in clay or wax, painting on rice paper with different brushes and inks, or perhaps a reed pen on papyrus, and all the ways pens and inks have evolved. Some in the class even made their own quill pens and inks. Here is a how to link from Youtube with lots of fun pictures of real old stuff .

We began with some fairly modern 'hands,' or 'scripts' as they are known, and are working our way back in time. Week by week we study the many different ways people learn to write.

It was easy to recognize Palmer and Spencerian scripts. These hands are fairly familiar to us in our time, and even when we tell someone their writing looks like "chicken scratching" we can usually make out some sense of what they wrote.

Copperplate Roundhand

Famous examples of the flourished Spencerian Script are the Ford and CocaCola logos. Next we learned Copperplate-Roundhand. That was more intense and required some attention to detail. Most difficult is to be presented with images of various hands and need to identify them by only looking at them, and define them, and state the years they were used - yes, stressful but fun, nevertheless. I still must look very carefully to discern the difference between such hands.

Our lessons have many hints about how to write each script, provide alphabets, and lined practice sheets like I used in elementary school.

The hints are generally of the following nature: "A fast way to learn copperplate script is to write the capital and lower case letters one hundred times each with a ball-point pen. Once that is done, you should have each letter imprinted into your brain, hand and eye; then you may find it easier to use a quill or flexible steel nib when you begin emphasizing the downstrokes by slight pressure increase" (because the main way to tell Spencerain and Copperplate apart is the heavier, wider down stroke in Copperplate).

Did I write letters EACH 100 times?
Are you kidding me?
I did one line each, game over!

Secretary Hand

We moved on to a variety of scripts and I actually enjoyed Secretary Hand (above). Great-Grandpa Henry Bohne wrote in a similar hand and Aunt LuRay, his daughter, taught me how to read it.

The class as a whole complained a bit. It is a difficult script for many to learn. The National Archives Paleography website has wonderful and fun tutorials and we get to spend time 'playing' there. I thought it was great fun to read some of an English Queen's personal correspondence.

My best 'Court Hand' practice sheets - as submitted.

Then we moved on to Italic and Court Hands.  I swear half of the letters in Court Hand look like the letter b or B.  Random Latin had been fun but suddenly it was in every record along with Roman numerals, Regnal year dates, and Julian versus Gregorian calendars, not to mention Feast Day Calendars. Did you know that 1752 was the shortest year because it is missing 72 days? True fact!  1 Jan 1752 - 24 March 1752, and then 2 Sept - 13 Sept 1752 never existed!

Court Hand from the National Archives Tutorials. 

I didn't think anything could be more difficult than Court Hand. I wondered sometimes if I were reading English, but I did well on most of my work in Court Hand. It was doable.

This coming week we study Kurrent Hand.
It's German!

I don't speak German, but my teacher does!
Naturally!

So I began.

Then the fun started! 

If you laugh too hard I will not be blamed for consequences. 

I am having quite an experience with Kurrent Script. I went through and printed most of the scripts near the beginning of the semester so I pulled out those practice sheets and began reading the study material. After glancing through it last week I took a screen shot of an alphabet, enlarged it to be a full sheet and printed it, hoping to study the letters and compare them while traveling. I wasn't able to, however, I do have the printout to look at.

(And please understand that the process below was all happening in a matter of a few minutes and seconds.)

I started looking at the print out and couldn't understand it or see letters in it at all! I decided to be more methodical and read about the history etc first and then examine the script. When I started reading I was puzzled. I couldn't see the letters they were showing and thought maybe I hadn't been diligent in examining them, so got the sheet again and started looking very carefully at every single letter.

I scanned the letters across the top, and then went down the first row and then the second row in the left hand column trying in vain to see any similar or familiar letters. Why, I wondered, was this writing so very different and how could I possibly learn it.

Last week Court Hand was frightful, but when I got looking at documents I could figure it out in context. It was a relief to see lots of crossover letters between the Court, Italic, and Secretary hands - they almost seem mixed together on most documents, with some documents seeming to be more one way and some seeming more distinctly another. It even has a nice title - Mixed Hand.

In Kurrent, when I got to the 3rd row in the column, with English letters, I realized they were upside down! WAIT a minute!! The whole thing was upside down!! No wonder it seemed so difficult! Reading will likely be harder in really handwriting instead of idealized writing, but now this doesn't seem too bad, after I turned it right side up. DUH!! My husband laughed out loud when I showed him. 

Ironically I have picked up the script alphabet and practice sheets, upside down, several times even knowing I do that, and not realized it until I encounter an English letter upside down. And next week it gets worse - we start reading Scandinavian records.

Wish me luck - what an adventure!

P.S. Update 28 December

The final exam required us to have memorized many Norwegian terms that we had to match with English terms. I missed a few points because I had not memorized them. I thought I only needed to be familiar with them in context.

CLAY, MARBLES, AND MORE

New semester: new class

Paleography 130: The study of really old and funky writing. This class is really fun and interesting. The point of this assignment is to gain a greater appreciation for the scribes that preserved so many of the world's record.

This week we were assigned readings about historical writing and given a choice of several options to write with/about. Another assignment is to spend some time preserving records. The following activity completed the first, and gave me some of the required hours towards the other.

sample letters from 

Wikipedia reading

We were to do one of the following:

• Write a report; 
• Make a quill pen and ink;
• Make some paper; 
• Make a cuneiform clay tablet 

I chose:  "Read the “Cuneiform” article at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuneiform. Using modeling clay or salt dough, create a Sumerian clay tablet (does not need to exceed 3" x 5"). Using a stick, create your own cuneiform stylus."

left: cracking clay-after they start to dry you can't shape them; 

center: wet clay marble; 

As a child, my siblings and I sometimes made marbles from slippery mud left as puddles dried after heavy rain. It would crack in slabs and curl in the sun. The back side of the slabs made excellent marbles that we would sneak into the bottom of mother’s oven. Sometimes they would crumble. We never knew which would and which would not. She was very patient, except when they blew up!

Later I learned that clay must be completely dry or it explodes during baking.

As an adult, I decided to satisfy my curiosity about why some clay crumbles and other bakes well. I checked out a stack of books from the public library and read about clay: ancient pottery and people that made it, firing, kilns, types of clay and where it can be located, and colors, etc. I never thought about colors - isn't all clay gray?

View from Google Earth, Sept 2014, of coulee

Soil in our area was a clay "mixture." There was a ravine/coulee near my home where I remembered seeing layers and characteristics like the books described. I took a couple of buckets, a shovel, a cooperative spouse, and went for a short hike.

In the coulees there were several slide areas. I knew I was looking for the kind of “slick” feeling mud that dries to a brick-like hardness, but when wet is so sticky that it is almost impossible to wash off my hands. We found it, filled the buckets, and hiked back.

The books described a procedure for “washing” the clay to remove debris, dirt, sand, or other impurities. This involve mixing up a very watery slurry, straining it repeatedly, and letting the clay settle to the bottom (often over a period of days, with repeated stirring and straining). The dirt and most vegetation would float higher than the clay and could be poured or dipped off. The sand and small pebbles came out in the screens and sieves.

Eventually I had several small gallon containers of grayish white clay that resembled the clay I have seen in pottery shops. It was fun to play with the clay and mold it but I had no idea how to bake it, or what else to do – back to the library (pre-internet time period). The things I read about were interesting, but much more work than I wanted to attempt.

small container of dried out hard clay

One book described a process to “ripen” the clay by storing it in certain humid, temperature controlled conditions. Another detailed how some oriental artists bury it for 10 to 20 years to “cure” it, and yet another described how to harden it in large bonfires kept burning for days. Mine went into sealed buckets and was soon forgotten – but, even in long distance moves, never discarded. It had cost a bit of time and effort, and maybe someday I would use it for something.

Approximately 10 years later, while working as an ASL interpreter in a high school art class, I mentioned the clay to the teacher when the class did the unit on pottery. Mr. Brown was excited and curious. He asked if I would be willing to craft a little pot or figurine and let him experiment with baking it.

white spots on back of pig are impurities in the clay

 I made a tiny pig that fits in my hand. He fired it at about 1500° F and it turned a startling reddish-orange. He said that indicates a high iron content. He told me that even though the clay still had a few impurities that it was great, and provided 'firing' details.

before mixing and wedging

I was working 2 part time jobs, and raising a family, so the clay went back on my 'someday' priority list, and after another move took up residence in our garage. That was about 20 years ago. Last week when I read this assignment, I pulled out a small container of it, added some water to the rock-hard block, and Monday wedged it on a piece of old cotton dishtowel for the 'bat' I don't have (to help control the mess and improve consistency). A piece of heavy canvas would be better but this is what I had on hand.

Initially it was extremely soft and wet with harder drier areas but, as I kneaded, it soon became a pliable block of good clay again. I love clay! 

I couldn't resist trying a marble.

I cut a hand size lump and flattened it slightly, then folded the cloth over it and rolled it out. This helps to keep it from sticking to everything including my hands (although when clay is the correct consistency it almost cleans the hands as it sticks to itself, but I was impatient).

Yes that is my good rolling pin in the picture, but it has seen more clay than pies or cookies - a baker I am not. I cut a chunk and put the scraps back into the container.

clay sandwiched between cloth

I dug through my junk drawer and found a pair of abandoned chopsticks, and then went on the internet to learn about the writing and making a stylus. At the bottom of our Wikipedia cuneiform reading there is a helpful video about the writing. (Writing ancient Iranian cuneiform on YouTube by subject-matter expert Soheil Delshad.) I watched it several times and realized that the scribe was using one stick and it seemed to be just a simple rectangle on the end.

chopsticks left over from take out 

Cool!! I like easy. My chopsticks were almost the same shape.

wide end of chopsticks need to have sharper,
more defined corners and edges - not rounded

There were many suggestions for making a stylus, but I was gratified to see many of them suggested using wooden chopsticks. They just needed to be squared a little bit. I felt blessed! I knew I was keeping those chopsticks for something!

examples of practice writing strokes

When I went to school at age 5, we began to learn writing by making straight lines, angled lines, and last of all finally curved lines. We practiced pages and pages and pages of lines. It seemed like forever before we actually began to make actual letters, never mind words. With this in mind I did not attempt to make actual letters or words on my clay 'tablet.' I attempted to just practice the strokes and shapes I had seen and watched.

First I tried it on a scrap of clay.

I learned a lot about patience.

Clay takes a lot of patience. 

I knew that. 

I had forgotten.

Writing takes a lot of patience. I remember shedding buckets of tears when I learned to write with a pen. I kept finding mistakes in what I had already written. My father showed me how to “fix” many mistakes with some creative thinking. For example a 6 that should have been an 8 can just have the extra parts of the top half drawn in place. Whew! I didn't have to be perfect yet.

I still don’t. My tablet was a fun experiment. First I pressed a curved plastic lid along the edges to constrain the ‘text block’ and make it have a bit more eye-appeal. Then I pressed a metal set of leaves onto the lower left corner like a ‘seal,’ or stamped symbol. (When you work in clay you should always inscribe a mark that identifies your work.)

Next I drew along a straight edge with the stylus to divide the writing areas. In the top row I pressed the stylus into clay at many angles, sometimes lifting it higher and sometimes laying it almost flat. I also rotated the stylus so the wider edge was vertical and horizontal. It wasn't looking much like the triangular marks of cuneiform, so I watched the video again. I also reviewed some pictures from our Wikipedia reading.

Extract from the Cyrus Cylinder(lines 15–21),
giving the genealogy of Cyrus the Great and an
account of his capture of Babylon in 539 BC.

Phoenician alphabet

Sumerian inscription in monumental archaic style,
c. 26th century BC

I noted angles and direction of the imprints more carefully, and also noticed that for some of the broader marks the scribe pressed the stylus into the clay more than once at various different angles. I had better success when I tried again.

Then I tried to make ‘writing’ from different places and times on the second row. With my pocket knife, I shaped a smaller stylus with a longer narrower area to 'draw' or make longer marks.

trying other shapes and strokes with smaller stylus

The clay was a lot drier now and almost ideal to draw on and press marks into. It was somewhat stiff but still soft. On the third row I finally tried to mimic some of the letters/words pictured as cuneiform. Some were more pleasing than others; some were a mess. When I left it overnight to dry, it was the texture of leather and could be handled easily. 

This next morning I couldn't even tell it was drier, except that it was no longer like leather - it was stiff. It rained off and on today and my AC kept coming on – likely to remove humidity.

When making marbles it was important to keep them

similar in size to commercial marbles so that we weren't 

accused of cheating.

I got impatient, put the clay on a rack and turned my oven on low. I left the door ajar and set the rack above the open door. After a while, the top was getting fairly dry so I turned it over. The third time I did that it cracked along one of my dividing 'score' lines - maybe they were too deep.

I attempted to put ‘slip’ (a thin slurry of clay and water used to stick leathery unbaked clay to itself) on the back.

I wanted it to have the same texture as surrounding areas so I laid the cloth on it and pressed. DUH!! That was silly – and not patient. It broke in several places. That is when I remembered that a "slab" should have uniform thickness. To roll it to an even thickness you place it in between two matching slats of wood. You can also use a ‘form’ or ‘mold.'

I repaired the breaks using the slip and left it to dry. But I just couldn't seem to leave it alone. I moved it again and all my repairs came apart. Lucky for me I already had pictures. I had made it quite thin hoping it would dry quickly - maybe a bit too thin.

When clay is not baked, but has been shaped, it is called greenware. It is very, VERY fragile. I knew better than to move it around. My slab was in a very tender greenware stage, when just uneven finger pressure can cause damage. It was also not uniform in thickness, so even light pressure on the back caused it to crack. To handle a slab at that stage it would need to be moved lying on a flat surface. I didn't handle it properly.

Slip often becomes very 'creamy' but when dried
and baked only texture differences will be noticeable.

When clay is baked it is much stronger. If this slab was properly fired it could be handled like any pottery plate of the same thickness. When glaze is added it is adds strength to the clay as well as a finish. This clay appears a deceptive soft- white gray, but when fired will become the common rusty, orange-red of a clay pot.

On some web sites showing cuneiform the tablets look much thicker than mine and show a more rounded sloping edge. This might make them much less fragile. If it is not baked, clay can also be recycled. As soon as water is applied, the clay readily returns to a lump that can be reworked.

soaking to become blended with main lump again

This has been a fun experiment and my tablet is going back into the lump – and likely, until my semester is over, back out to my craft room.

Shake a couple times and this is all just 'dirt' again. 

To reuse as clay I would stir and then let some moisture 

evaporate.

LIVING AFTER THE MANNER OF HAPPINESS

If you haven't yet heard Elder Jeffery R Holland's BYU-I devotional, from September 2014, 'Living After the Manner of Happiness' please listen to his words.

Seriously - this half hour talk will be the source of profound change in your life. You may never be the same again.

We have been instructed by an apostle of the Lord - not to mention that he quotes 6 famous people about happiness, and Lynn G Robbins who should be famous for his recipe for [family] disaster! 

"Put tempers on medium heat, stir in a few choice words, and bring to a boil; continue stirring until thick; cool off; let feelings chill for several days; serve cold; lots of leftovers."

I looked up the quote by Elder Robbins.
He spoke in April 1998, General Conference.

I am left ashamed that I have ever been guilty in any way, EVER, of what is described in Robbin's 7 1/2 minute talk.

I am sure I can do better than I have done in the past. 

It will take effort, but it will bless me and others.

Elder Holland can change our lives.
Please listen.

INSTRUCTIONS FROM JESUS ABOUT THE HOLY GHOST

Choice 2: John 14:15–17, 26–27; 15:26–27; 16:7–8, 13–14.
      

1. As you study these following verses, make a list of what the Savior taught about
   
   

   What the Holy Ghost does,	Reference
   Abides with you forever	John 14:16
   Is the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive	John 14:17
   The world seeth him not, neither knoweth him	John 14:17
   He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you	John 14:17
   He shall teach you all things	John 14:26
   He shall . . . bring all things to your remembrance, what-soever I have said unto you.	John 14:26
   The Comforter . . . even the Spirit of truth . . . he shall testify of me:	John 15:26
   He will reprove the world of sin	John 16:8
   He will reprove the world. . . of righteousness	John 16:8
   He will reprove the world. . . of judgment	John 16:8
   He will guide you into all truth	John 16:13
   Whatsoever he shall hear [from the Father], that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.	John 16:13
   He shall glorify [Jesus].	John 16:14
   He shall receive of [Christ], and shall shew it unto you	John 16:14
   What disciples must do to receive the Holy Ghost.	Reference
   Keep the commandments	John 14:15
   Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.	John 14:27
   And ye also shall bear witness	John 15:27

   
   
   2. Add to your list above as you study the following resources:
   • Institute student manual Points to Ponder, “The Holy Ghost Brings Man to His Fullest Potential” (pg. 168)
   • Institute student manual Points to Ponder, “As a Messenger of the Godhead, the Holy Ghost Teaches Faithful Members” (pg. 168)
   • Bible Dictionary, “Holy Ghost” (pg. 704)-

   What the Holy Ghost does . . .	Reference
   “The gift of the Holy Ghost adapts itself to . . . [and] quickens all the intellectual faculties	Institute Manual p. 168 [167], Pratt, Key to the Science of Theology, p. 101.
   The gift of the Holy Ghost . . . increases, enlarges, expands and purifies all the natural passions and affections; and adapts them, by the gift of wisdom, to their lawful use.	Institute Manual p. 168 [167], Pratt, Key to the Science of Theology, p. 101.
   The gift of the Holy Ghost . . . inspires, develops, cultivates and matures all the fine-toned sympathies, joys, tastes, kindred feelings and affections of our nature.	Institute Manual p. 168 [167], Pratt, Key to the Science of Theology, p. 101.
   The gift of the Holy Ghost . . . inspires virtue, kindness, goodness, tenderness, gentleness and charity.	Institute Manual p. 168 [167], Pratt, Key to the Science of Theology, p. 101.
   The gift of the Holy Ghost . . . beauty of person, form and features.	Institute Manual p. 168 [167], Pratt, Key to the Science of Theology, p. 101.
   The gift of the Holy Ghost . . . tends to health, vigor, animation and social feeling.	Institute Manual p. 168 [167], Pratt, Key to the Science of Theology, p. 101
   The gift of the Holy Ghost . . . invigorates all the faculties of the physical and intellectual man.	Institute Manual p. 168 [167], Pratt, Key to the Science of Theology, p. 101.
   The gift of the Holy Ghost . . . strengthens, and gives tone to the nerves. In short, it is, as it were, marrow to the bone, joy to the heart, light to the eyes, music to the ears, and life to the whole being.	Institute Manual p. 168 [167], Pratt, Key to the Science of Theology, p. 101.
   His mission is to instruct and enlighten the minds of those who, through their faithfulness have obeyed the commandments of the Father and the Son.	Institute Manual p. 168-169 [167-168],Smith, Answers to Gospel Questions, 5:134
   The Holy Ghost  . . . is a special messenger from the Father and the Son and carries out their will. …”	Institute Manual p. 168-169 [167-168],Smith, Answers to Gospel Questions, 5:134
   By the power of the Holy Ghost a person receives a testimony of Jesus Christ and of His work and the work of His servants upon the earth.	Bible Dictionary, King James Version.
   The Holy Ghost acts as a cleansing agent to purify [us] and sanctify them from all sin.	Bible Dictionary, King James Version.
   The Holy Ghost . . .carries a conviction of the truth unto the heart of the hearer (2 Ne. 33:1).	Bible Dictionary, King James Version.
   The Holy Ghost knows all things (D&C 35:19) and can lead one to know of future events (2 Pet. 1:21).	Bible Dictionary, King James Version.
   What disciples must do to receive the Holy Ghost?	Reference
   In the presence of such persons [who have the Holy Ghost as a companion], one feels to enjoy the light of their countenances, as the genial rays of a sunbeam. Their very atmosphere diffuses a thrill, a warm glow of pure gladness and sympathy, to the heart and nerves of others who have kindred feelings, or sympathy of spirit.	Institute Manual p. 168 [167], Pratt, Key to the Science of Theology, p. 101

   
   
   3. Review your list of what the Holy Ghost does. Then write responses to the following tasks:
   • Describe how the Holy Ghost helped the Apostles fulfill their missions after the Savior’s death and resurrection.
     
     
   The Holy Ghost helped the apostles be “ready for their ministries to the world” by directing and helping them in knowing where to go and what to do. As they had the witnesses of truth that they received from the Holy Ghost then they could also follow the instruction in John: 15:21, (“And ye also shall bear witness,)” to share those truths.
   
   
   John 14:26 teaches, “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost . . . shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
   
   
   • Write a paragraph about a time when the Holy Ghost blessed you in one of the ways you listed above. Give an example of how the Holy Ghost has inspired you.
     
     
   The Holy Ghost has often borne direct and powerful witness to me about gospel principles. I have also received directions and inspiration in more secular areas of my life such as jobs, raising children, or finding things our family needed.
   
   
   For example: We were shopping for a new couch. One day, as I drove past a second-hand store I had a distinct thought to look there for a couch. There was one there that was almost like new. It was a perfect size and color for our needs, and it cost much less than anything we had seen and was within our budget. I know the thought I had was outside the realm of my own personal thoughts at the time. It was unique and distinct.
   
   
   I have worked as a seamstress for most of my life. Countless times, during complicated processes, I have had pure light and understanding come to help me. Sometimes, as I volunteer to ‘make-over’ prom dresses, or repair missionary clothes, I have learned new techniques and tricks that seem almost like magic. I love doing missionary clothes. My machines work better than normal and I always get great inspiration and gain knowledge. These miracles bless me and them; then I can even help other people that have similar needs because of the knowledge I have gained and can apply.
   
   These lists amazed me. The Holy Ghost does so much and then we have a tiny list, comparatively, of simple things we are asked to do. Even if we listed out all the commandments we would still have the shorter list.