8 ways to help younger siblings adjust after your missionary leaves

We recently sat down as a family to talk about how we want to honor the Lord’s day. We began the conversation by talking about Christmas. It is one of our favorite holidays. We begin preparing for it months in advance. We talked about the food that we love to eat, the traditions we participate in, and the reasons why we look forward to the gathering. We made a list of our traditions: new pajamas, ebelskivers for breakfast, fun games, and quiet moments gathered around burning candles when we remember the times we have seen the hand of the Lord in our lives. Those are just a few. It became clear that the reason we love Christmas isn’t because it is December 25; it is because we have set apart that day as a celebration focused on Christ with good food, fun, and time spent talking about what is important. Then I asked if we might be able to set apart the Sabbath as a holy celebration similar to Christmas. If the day were filled with family, good food, and fun and conversations centered on Christ, would it become a day we looked forward to, similar to the way we look forward to December 25? We decided to give it a try. We started establishing traditions that would intentionally set that day apart from every other day of the week. I call these our sweet Sabbath moments. In our home it is a family-only day. We spend time together playing games or making cookies. Grace loves to make and decorate sugar cookies; I like to make meringues. We trade off. For one hour each Sunday we gather in the family room with a journal and spend time talking about what matters most. This is a time for reading the scriptures, studying doctrines and principles, goal setting and family planning—a weekly time to center our life again, with God’s purposes in mind. The evenings are for large family gathering. Married kids, aunts and uncles, cousins, and grandma and grandpa usually gather to eat dinner and share stories and laugh. With deliberate planning, Sundays have become my most favorite day of the week.

A gathering of volunteers — all spouses and associates of U.S. governors — stood shoulder-to-shoulder on Thursday assembling hygiene kits at the Latter-day Saint Humanitarian Center in Salt Lake City.

The Bottle Cap Challenge. It's drawn the attention of celebrities like Jason Statham, Shaq, Justin Bieber, Mariah Carey, and Ryan Reynolds. Some have completed the challenge with dignity and grace.

“It can be well in this nation when we lock arms ... Not as black and white. Not as Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or Baptist. But as children of God who are about loving everybody and bringing hope, happiness and health to all of God’s children.”

This week’s readings: Acts 22–28

I remember how embarrassed I felt the day I shamed another coworker for not having the same standards I did.

Just three things.

Recently my youngest child, Koleson, was given some simple yard work responsibilities. (You're welcome, kiddo!)

The following article was originally published on LDS Living in October 2015.