Come Follow Me 2021

If you are new here and unfamiliar with my faith, we are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We use a curriculum called Come, Follow Me (CFM) to study the scriptures as an entire world-wide congregation each year. In 2018, our prophet counseled us that it was time for a “home-centered church" supported by what takes place in our church buildings and with our leaders. Putting the emphasis back on the home as the best place to learn the gospel largely influenced our decision to homeschool. Through homeschooling we can integrate Christ into all of our subjects. We can teach by and with the Spirit. And, this has created a powerful learning experience, not only for our children, but for both my husband and I. I have grown so much closer to our Savior over these last few years.

This year we are studying the Doctrine and Covenants. Beginning in January of 2022 we will be moving into the Old Testament. If you’re most interested in the resources we’re using skip down below.

(UPDATE 6/2021) There is a large portion of people who began following me when I wrote the Come, Follow Me weekly children’s guides and since I still often get asked about these I felt I better provide a bit of perspective here. When I started the guides I was just looking for a few friends to have support with while teaching the gospel in our home. I had found that since the prophet’s adjustment - I was on again off again in my personal scripture study and teaching my children. I posted the guides on social media and the resource eventually reached thousands - which is something I had never anticipated. It was amazing too see so many families come together to offer support and teach their little ones the gospel. Near the end of 2020 I felt such a strong prompting to begin using materials from the Red Headed Hostess in addition to the CFM manual. I kept writing the guides because there were so many people who used them and each time I prayed about it I always felt prompted to continue writing them. But, one night, I was studying in the CFM manual and came across this quote, "Let the Spirit guide your study. Be sensitive to His whisperings as He guides you toward the things you need to learn each day, even if His whisperings suggest that you read or study a different topic than you usually would or in a different way." When I read over that, for whatever reason, I felt so strongly that my time writing the guides had come to a finish. The work I had needed to do there was complete - I am not sure if it was because He needed to work through me to touch someone out there or because I had learned what I needed to - probably both. But, I felt an overwhelming sense of peace that He would lead the people who had used my guides where they needed to go and He had other areas He needed me to work on.

The more I have pondered on why the Spirit spoke to my heart with these words - I believe it was because it was time for me to focus more on our homeschool. I was in a very different place than I had been 18 months before and where I could hardly get in 5 minutes of study a day - and I was okay teaching my kids, but certainly not in a solid habit….over time and without really noticing it, our family had changed. Studying the scriptures and learning about Christ had become apart of who we were every day…in every subject…in all areas. And what gospel learning once was challenging for us to fit in - had become second nature.

The more I shared in the homeschooling community, the more I feel the peace that this is where my focus needed to be. So while, of course, Come Follow Me and our weekly church study is extremely important and still a priority for us - I feel so strongly to continue to include Him in everything. Home-centered learning encompasses ALL of the gospel and it is my hope I can continue to learn more and teach my children more and share what we learn with others - which is a huge part of home-centered gospel learning. It is no longer what we learn at “school” or what we learn at “church.” They are one in the same at home.

CFM will always hold a special place in my heart. I feel like it is what started so many wonderful ripple effects for us. This promise made by President Russell M. Nelson has held so true for us. We have felt this power and I have no doubt in my mind it has come from the CFM curriculum. Especially as we’ve navigated a particularly challenging year in multiple global crises.

“The new home-centered, Church-supported integrated curriculum has the potential to unleash the power of families, as each family follows through conscientiously and carefully to transform their home into a sanctuary of faith. I promise that as you diligently work to remodel your home into a center of gospel learning, over time your Sabbath days will truly be a delight. Your children will be excited to learn and to live the Savior’s teachings, and the influence of the adversary in your life and in your home will decrease. Changes in your family will be dramatic and sustaining.”

I am making all of the Doctrine Covenant Guides available for download up through June of 2021 below. And, like I mentioned, I won’t be completing the rest of the year but I hope these can serve as some inspiration to aid in your gospel study with your kids.

And back to what we’re doing now - I review the CFM for Individuals and Families each week. I use it for my personal study and often review the primary curriculum for my kids. I often get asked, I haven’t done scripture study in so long, WHERE DO I EVEN START? This is where you start. CFM for Individuals and Families is an inspired tool and if you want simpler resources for your children I’d highly recommend CFM for Primary. Never ever worry about repetition in church meetings with the materials you’re studying - repetition is powerful and often a sign of the Spirit working. Even if it’s just 5 intentional minutes a day for your young children, you will begin to see that power unfold. And, the more you do it, the more power you’ll begin to see unfolding around you.

As I mentioned, materials from Red Headed Hostess have become a weekly routine to pull from for us. We use so many tools in her subscription. If there was only one subscription we could have - THIS would be it! I love love love how she includes notes for adults, teens, children, and young children so we can all learn together on different levels. There are so many wonderful ideas and resources for children and it’s made teaching the gospel easy and prompted so many spiritual moments that have really brought a light into our home. If you follow me on IG I have a recent story highlight saved with a detailed look into her subscription.

Here are a few other resources we pull from:

Doctrine and Covenants Handwriting - I made these and they are in my little Etsy shop (an unexpected ripple of our journey here on this space). I always appreciate your support - thank you so much. These align with Don’t Miss This Words and the scriptures listed in our morning booklets (or morning menus).

Don’t Miss This Words - The posters are from Deseret Book and the frame I have in my picture above can be found here.

Don’t Miss This on YouTube and Study Journal - My husband and I are utilizing this together. 3/4 way through the year and I haven’t used the journal, but I still utilize their YouTube videos/podcast and LOVE them.

Morning Menus for organizing D&C scriptures, music, AOF, and the children and youth program (alongside our family economy and daily schedule).

Line Upon Line Scriptures - these are absolutely my favorite for myself and my kids. I’d recommend primary edition for kids 7+. We use the cheap blue soft cover scriptures for my younger kids.

Scripture Study: I have a few items and books and scripture marking favorites on my Amazon list you can also look over.

I also have an IG highlight from January that went over a bunch of resources/books if you want to go back and search for it. Or, shoot me a message on IG and I’ll send it to you. :)