Show Notes for Episode 17 of the Teach Me to Walk in the Light Podcast. We are astonished to hear of slavery in the world today yet many willingly relinquish their freedom to the master of all lies whose only purpose is to make them miserable like unto himself. Many today become a slave to sin. Learn more along with how to teach your children about worry and anxiety. Also includes safety questions to ask at your next FHE. This episode goes along with the Come, Follow Me – for Individuals and Families for the week of April 29-May 5, 2019.

 

 

 

 

 

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**This Episode goes along with the Come, Follow Me – For Individuals and Families for the week of April 29-May 5, 2019. 

 

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PERSONAL STUDY [1:15]

1.What isn’t legal anywhere but happens almost everywhere – including Europe and the U.S.? And it isn’t drugs?
The answer is slavery.

2. According to freetheslaves.net:
There are tens of millions of people trapped in various forms of slavery. Slaves that are forced to work, without pay, under the threat of violence.
Researchers estimate that 40 million are enslaved worldwide, generating $150 billion each year in illicit profits for traffickers.
4 different types of slavery are:

• Labor Slavery. About 50 percent are forced to do manual labor in different industries such as farming, ranching, logging, mining, fishing, dishwashers, janitors, gardeners, and maids.
• Sex Slavery. About 12.5 percent are trapped in forced prostitution sex slavery.
• Forced Marriage Slavery. About 37.5 percent are trapped in forced marriages.
• Child Slavery. About 25 percent of today’s slaves are children.

3. Timothy Ballard, a member of the church, who is also the founder and CEO of Operation Underground Railroad, CEO of The Nazarene Fund and the author of several books. He organizes activities on the national and international level to stop child trafficking. It’s amazing what he has done and continues to do for children caught up in the horrible reality of sex trafficking. Just listening to him really opens up your eyes and makes you sick to think about what is really going on in the world.

4. Books by Timothy Ballard

Slave Stealers and The Washington Hypothesis are also available on Deseret Bookshelf Plus. Try it for FREE for 30 days. Click HERE.

5. Elder H. Ross Workman Of the Seventy once said:

We are astonished that men, women, and children could be a commodity bought, sold, and subjected to prolonged misery to further the interests of others. We recoil at descriptions of “man’s inhumanity to man” in these accounts, and we are horrified at reports of slavery existing in some parts of the world even today.

How is it, then, that many willingly relinquish their freedom and submit themselves and their loved ones to captivity by that master whose only purpose is to make them “miserable like unto himself”? (2 Ne. 2:27). (Click HERE for his full talk) 

6. What do you think David would have said if after he slew Goliath you told him that years from now he’d commit a serious sin with Bathsheba? Would he believe you?  Sin comes a little at a time. Like the old fable of the boiling frog. Put a frog suddenly into boiling water, it will jump out, but if the frog is put in room-temperature water which is then brought to a boil slowly, it will not realize the danger and it will die.

7. In the Old Testament Student Institute Manual, regarding David’s sin, it says:

“Things were getting too easy for David; he had leisure to stay at home while Joab (joe- ab) and his men were out fighting Ammonites and Syrians. In his leisure he looked from his rooftop at his neighbor’s wife. Leisure and lust led to adultery and then to murder, which sins had eternal repercussions, as well as tragic earthly results. It is one of the shocking and serious warnings of the Old Testament that a man may be ever so good and great and eminent and still have weaknesses which can lead to deeds that entirely overshadow and defeat the better self!” (Rasmussen, Introduction to the Old Testament, 1:185.)

8. In a talk by Gordon B. Hinckley entitled Overpowering the Goliaths in Our Lives, he said:

I have a friend who built a beautiful home and furnished it with the very best of carpets, furniture, appliances, and all that money can buy. Within its walls he kept his fine automobiles and his expensive jewelry. Then, fearful of intruders who might enter and rob him, he had installed expensive dead-bolt locks so that he had to use a key to get out as well as to get in. He put bars on the windows and doors, and was like a prisoner looking out of his own home, as one might do out of a jail. He installed costly electronic surveillance devices to turn on lights and set off sirens should any unwelcome individual enter. He landscaped largely without trees or shrubbery so there would be no place for a thief to hide. And he smugly said to himself, “Now I am secure.”

But what he did not realize is that neither bars nor dead-bolts, neither lights nor sirens nor anything of the kind would have the slightest effect on intruders of another variety who could destroy the lives of his children, despoil the marriage which had been the source of his happiness over many years, bind him with cords of meanness and bitterness and hate toward those he had once loved, and lock him in a dungeon cell of despair and misery.

…I spend much time listening to the tales of unhappy people. As a percentage of the entire membership of the Church, they constitute a relatively small number. But there are too many, and every case is a tragedy…Guard your homes. How foolish it seems to install bars and bolts and electronic devices against thieves and molesters while more insidious intruders come in as invited guests.

9. President David O. McKay has taught:

Trees that can stand in the midst of the hurricane often yield to the destroying pests that we can scarcely see with a microscope. Likewise the greatest foes of humanity today are the subtle and sometimes unseen influences at work in society that are undermining the manhood and womanhood of today.

10. Elder Workman said:

Spiritual captivity rarely results from a single choice or event. More often, freedom is surrendered one small step at a time until the way to regain that freedom is obscured.

11. As you know there are all different kinds of sins and we each have ones that are more tempting to us than others. There are the obvious sins such as pornography, drugs, and alcohol but you can also be enslaved to your phone, TV, video games, fame, social standing, and wealth. As Elder Workman once said:

“One can also be in captivity through obsessive preoccupation with activities such as sports, music, or entertainment.”

12. Elder Workman tells the story: 

…After recently purchasing a farm for their retirement, [a faithful couple] felt prompted to accept a mission call. They were called to serve in a village far from other Church units. They built their own housing, dug their own water well, attended to all their personal needs, and proselytized by bicycle. While the living conditions were extremely difficult, they enjoyed wonderful success in teaching, training members, and bringing converts to the gospel.

In the course of their mission this couple received a letter from a family member reporting that thieves had broken into their farm and stolen all their farm implements and machinery. They were urged to return home and seek to reclaim their much-needed property. The mission president gave them the option to do so. This couple considered their choice and decided to stay. They were not held captive by their worldly goods. They were free to choose the Lord’s service, and they so chose.

13. President McKay said:

“Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Court him, and you will soon have shackles, not on your wrists, but on your soul.”

14. Just as there are millions of people in slavery today around the world, there are millions of people in spiritual slavery as well. The slavery we see and hear of around the world is only temporary, spiritual slavery is eternal. If you fall short and find yourself a slave to sin, can Christ save you? Yes.

John 8:34-36 Jesus taught:

…Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

 

FHE [16:53]

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TEACHING TIP [18:35]

1. Importance of teaching our kids about worry and anxiety. These ideas are taken from Confident Counselors. For more great information on how to help children with worry and anxiety, click HERE

2. To help kids understand what worry is use this analogy:

Worry is like carrying a big stack of books. The stack is so tall that it blocks our eyes. We can’t see anything but the big stack of books. If we try to look around the stack, we might get a little glimpse of something else, but the stack might start to wobble so we have to give all of our focus to the books. Our muscles might start to get tense because the stack is heavy. Our backs might start to hurt after carrying the books for a while. We might start to feel frustrated or overwhelmed after giving all of our attention to the books for so long because we can’t enjoy anything else. Worry can feel the same way. It’s hard to focus on anything but our worries. Worries might block our view of what’s actually happening and take a toll on our whole bodies.

3. Discuss with your kids how if we let worry overtake our thoughts 24/7 that it can affect us in all aspects of our lives including spiritually as well. One of the first steps to taking control of our worries is to understand what we can and cannot control and then focus solely on the things you can control.

4. Give them a rock in one hand and playdough in the other. Talk about how the rock represents things we cannot control. The playdough represents things we can control. What happens when we squeeze a rock? Nothing. We can’t change the rock. What happens when we squeeze play dough? We can shape it, mold it, and change it. The same is true for worries. When we worry about things outside of our control, we do not change them. When we instead focus on things we can control, we can make positive changes to help ourselves feel better.

5. Let your kids know that worry and anxiety is a real thing and if they have a hard time controlling it, they should tell someone. Encourage them to talk to someone, especially to their Heavenly Father. Have faith that Heavenly Father knows what you’re going through and He will send you the help that you need.   

 

#taketimeforfamily [21:10]

1.350 Questions Parents Should Ask During Family Night

2. One chapter is on home and internet safety and some of the questions include:

If you are home alone and a stranger knocks at your door do you open it? If they say they have a package for your parents you need to sign for, do you open it? If they say they got a 911 call and need to check out the home, do you open it?

You come from school and your parents aren’t home but you see a broken window, a ripped screen, or an open door, what do you do? Do you go in and investigate?

Is it ok to put personal information online?

You get an email from a company wanting you to verify personal information, what do you do? You meet a guy or girl on the internet who wants to meet in person, what do you do?

3. We recently had an FHE on safety and I went through a bunch of these questions and to make it more fun I got a big bag of skittles. Every time someone would answer a question or be a part of the discussion, I’d give them a piece of candy.  As I’m throwing out different questions on different safety issues, you could tell which ones needed more discussion by some of my kids’ answers. A lot of times you never know what your kids might say or what they’ve been exposed to and this is a great way to learn more about what your kids do and do not know about safety. 

Don’t sidestep these talks with your kids and just assume they know how to stay safe. These talks with your kids are so important. 

 

If you have any fun family activities or dinner conversation starters that you’d like to share, I’d love to hear them. Simply email me at melanie@melanieslibrary.com.

Yours Truly,

 

 

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