Sacrament Meeting

Today I read and listened to:
Sacrament Meeting and the Sacrament
Elder Dallin H. Oaks Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

This talk had a lot in it that I need to work on. I used to really enjoy Sacrament Meeting. Now that I have four young children, and even with the help of my super nice neighbors, and DH, I find it a very difficult hour and half, not the wonderful spiritual experience that it is supposed to be.

Frequently someone will mention some talk, and I honestly didn't hear it at all- even if I was in the room the entire time. Instead my mind was thinking.

"DH, get S2!!! don't let him go there!!! S2 is touching the man in
front of us!!! S1, sit on your BUM! stop moving around!!! D2-
this is not STORY HOUR!! No one can read out loud to you!!! Don't
talk out loud!!! S1- only take ONE piece of bread!! Where is S2? Why can't we sing one of the "good 'old songs" why do they always feel like they need to teach us new ones? The "new ones" have no melody, that is why they will never become one of the "good 'ol songs." Where did S2 go? I should just take him out.
But will DH make S1 be quiet? D1, D2, we did not have this standing hymn
so you could spread out and lay down on the pew!!! Get up! (all of this I
am motioning with my mommy sign language) D2- I whisper to her"no- I did
not bring snacks!!!- you just had lunch, go sit down! Well- if you are
hungry- remember next week to eat more lunch!!- go sit down!" She sulks
away. She can hang her head incredibly low. She has a good neck that
way. Oh no, where is S2??? he is making a run for it, I'd better go
get him-- - and I'm off, to hang out in the lobby for a while with a run away 14
month old. "

I am sure this is a poor reflection on my parenting. - but I'm just calling it how it is. Four more months and S2 will be in nursery- then I can listen to the other lessons anyway. Any advice for me???? I certainly don't find it a time to "rest from my labors"- quite the opposite.

Elder Oaks quotes

By participating weekly and appropriately in the ordinance of the sacrament we
qualify for the promise that we will “always have his Spirit to be with [us]”
(D&C 20:77). That Spirit is the foundation of our
testimony. It testifies of the Father and the Son, brings all things to our
remembrance, and leads us into truth. It is the compass to guide us on our path.
This gift of the Holy Ghost, President Wilford Woodruff taught, “is the greatest
gift that can be bestowed upon man”

This I know that I desperately need.

We are seated well before the meeting begins. “During that quiet interval,
prelude music is subdued. This is not a time for conversation or transmission of
messages but a period of prayerful meditation as leaders and members prepare
spiritually for the sacrament” (Liahona, Aug. 2004, 13; Ensign, Aug. 2004, 27).

Ohhh- this I have struggled and struggled with. "well before the meeting begins." I never used to be late for things before children- now, no matter how hard I try- two or three things happen- and --I fail. (by that I mean that S2 needs to go "potty" even though he just did, and I need to remove him from his car seat, and- good thing that I did, because I notice that S2 has REMOVED her shoes, and gotten into the car without them. Then I smell something coming from S1... then I cannot FIND S2's shoes!!! I need to try harder. )I just need to plan on being there thirty minutes early. It would not be the worst thing in the world to actually be totally early, and I guess that would be the worst case scenario, right?

In his writings on the doctrines of salvation, President Joseph Fielding Smith
teaches that we partake of the sacrament as our part of commemorating the
Savior’s death and sufferings for the redemption of the world. This ordinance
was introduced so that we can renew our covenants to serve Him, to obey Him, and
to always remember Him. President Smith adds: “We cannot retain the Spirit of
the Lord if we do not consistently comply with this commandment” (Doctrines of
Salvation, comp. Bruce R. McConkie, 3 vols. [1954–56], 2:341).

I like the way he puts that "retain the spirit of the Lord."

I know this post wasn't much of a "spiritual message." But- it is my study- however it went for the day. :) Have a good one! Feel free to give me advice!