Conference Talk: For more information on this topic read "Mothers and Daughters," by M. Russell Ballard, Ensign, May 2010, 18-21.
Thought: With all my heart I urge you not to look to contemporary culture for your role models and mentors. Please look to your faithful mothers for a pattern to follow. Model yourselves after them, not after celebrities whose standards are not the Lord's standards and whose values may not reflect an eternal perspective.
(M. Russell Ballard, "Mothers and Daughters," Ensign, May 2010, 18-21.)
Song: "The Lord Gave Me a Temple," Children's Songbook, p. 153.
Scripture: Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are. (1 Corinthians 3:16-17)
Story: A group of choir students from American Fork, Utah, were traveling in New York City. On Sunday morning many of the students walked through the hotel lobby to board the bus that would take them to a local ward for Church services. A young woman was sitting in the lobby wearing a modest dress. She approached the group.
"Are you LDS?" she asked. When the students responded that they were, she smiled. "Are you going to church?" Again they answered, "Yes." The young woman explained that she was from another state and was traveling with her school sports team. She was the only member of the Church on her team. That morning she had prayed she would be able to find some way to attend church. She had gone down to the lobby to wait. When the group of LDS youth walked in, she knew her prayer had been answered.
(Deborah Pace Rowley, Before They Turn Twelve: Helping Children Gain a Testimony of the Lord's Standards, [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2007], p.38.)
Object Lesson After you have shared the above story, discuss with your family the following questions:
How did this young woman know that the students she saw were members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? Was it how they were dressed? How do people throughout the world know that the young men and women they see are Mormon missionaries? What do our clothes say about us?
Have the family look through several contemporary magazines. Find pictures of models and try to describe what their clothes are saying about each one. Many of the models in these types of magazines are dressed immodestly. What messages are we sending when we dress immodestly? Possible messages include: "I don't respect my body as a sacred gift from Heavenly Father." "I don't know what the prophet has said about modesty or I don't care." "I want you to notice my body first before anything else."
Point out that the person dressing immodestly isn't bad; they just haven't been taught about the importance of modesty or don't understand what their clothes are saying about them. Dressing immodestly can also make other people feel uncomfortable and embarrassed. When someone dresses immodestly, it is hard to notice anything but the person's clothes.
(Deborah Pace Rowley, Before They Turn Twelve: Helping Children Gain a Testimony of the Lord's Standards, [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2007], p.38.)
Activity: Have the family imagine they are in a foreign country and want to meet other members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They can't speak the language, so how could they dress to let others know that they are Mormons? Send each family member to his or her bedroom to change clothes and then stage a fashion show.
The fashion show is even more fun if you hang a piece of fabric across the entrance into the family room and let each "model" enter the room by pushing aside the curtain. Try to guess what identifying articles of clothing family members are wearing. Is someone modeling a CTR ring or a Young Women medallion or an angel Moroni tie tack? Is everyone modest? Are we trying to represent the Church and the Savior as we get dressed every day?
(Deborah Pace Rowley, Before They Turn Twelve: Helping Children Gain a Testimony of the Lord's Standards, [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2007], p.39.)
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