Count Your Blessings

Friend November 2018 “Matt and Mandy” A regular meal turns into a Thanksgiving type meal when the family expresses things they are grateful for.

Friend November 2018 “Count Your Blessings” Jacy can’t sleep. Her father comes in when he hears her crying. He suggests that she sing a song and then count her blessings. Thinking about her blessings helps her relax and sleep.

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Friend June 2024 “Count Your Blessings” Arkin and his dad happily sang “Count Your Blessings” as they sold smoked fish so they would have enough money to pay for a ride to church on Sunday, a two hour walk away. They happily sang more hymns as they walked two hours to the church to clean it on Saturday. Arkin’s family didn’t have much, but his heart felt joyful and thankful as he thought of all his blessings.

Friend November 2017 “The Blessing Fish” A family learns the story of the disciples that caught a net full of fish after Jesus told them where to cast their nets. The children realize that the fish are a blessing to Peter’s family. They talk about the blessings their family has been given.

Friend November 2017 “Sincerely, Maisy: A Muddy Thanksgiving” Maisy feels she has a lot to be grateful for after helping a family at Thanksgiving whose house was being flooded.

Gratitude Jar

Friend November 2020 “The Thankful Jar” At school, the kids got to say one thing they were thankful for and put it in a jar. Henry couldn’t think of just one, so he wanted to make a thankful jar at home and fill it up.

Gratitude Journal

Friend November 2020 “Matt and Mandy Matt and Mandy wonder how the people in the Book of Mormon kept getting wicked again and again after they were blessed so much. They decided to write a gratitude journal so they wouldn’t forget all their blessings.

Friend November 2022 “Matt and Mandy” Mandy makes lists of all the things and people she is thankful for.

Gratitude for Nature

Friend March 2017 “Raining!” Rain makes the earth clean and beautiful. Water helps us in many ways.

Gratitude During Adversity (seeing blessings)

Friend November 2020 “120 Happy People” A family does a service project every year on the birthday of their baby who died because serving helps them feel thankful for what they have, and when they feel thankful, then happiness replaces the sad feelings. For this years project they decide to thank you notes to people every day and help 120 people feel happy.

Friend November 2019 “Matt and Mandy”  Matt broke his arm and had to have surgery. He keeps his sense of humor through the whole ordeal. At Thanksgiving he shares all the things he is grateful for in regards to what happened to his arm; he’s grateful for doctors, priesthood blessings, learning to do hard things, that his injury wasn’t worse, etc.

Friend November 2019 “Searching for Sir Crunch-a-Lot” Mackenzie’s family shop at the bishop’s storehouse for their food because they don’t have much money after her dad lost his job. Mackenzie wishes she didn’t have to eat boring food like granola instead of her favorite cereal brand, and sandwiches instead of pizza at school. But then she finds out that a friend sitting next to her isn’t eating lunch because she is fasting for a family member. Mackenzie realizes how hard it must be to fast, and she is grateful for all the people who fast and give fast offerings so she and her family don’t go hungry. (Refreshment Idea: Friend November 2019 “Family Night Fun: Gratitude Granola” Have family members say something they’re grateful for as they add each ingredient!

Friend November 2016 “Pie-crust Cabins” When Robbin’s great grandmother was young, her family didn’t have much at Thanksgiving, so they made pie crust cabins with what they had to remind them of their blessings. It became a family tradition.

Friend October 2017 “Bread and Gratitude” A man at a restaurant always find some fault in the meal no matter what the waiter provides.  “As disciples of Jesus Christ, we are commanded to “thank the Lord [our] God in all things” (D&C 59:7). If we focus on the blessings we think we are missing, it can make us unhappy.“

Friend October 2017 “Bread and Gratitude” Fill in the blank story about a boy who has a terrible day, but after a dream he realizes he is grateful for all those things that had been difficult the day before.

Friend March 1987 “Fruit for Hernando” Hernando and his family has very little, but he realizes they are blessed.

Friend Nov. 1985 “Something of Value” After her father loses his job, Janie learns that there are more important things than possessions and that she has many blessings.

Friend Nov. 2015 “Sweeter then Pie” Tally gets sick before her school party, but she has good friends that remember her.

Saying Thank You

Friend November 2020 “Thankful Thea” Thea says thank you whenever her mom and dad do something for her.

Friend May 2019 “The Gratitude Goal” Kate’s favorite scripture story was the story of the ten lepers. She couldn’t believe that out of the ten people Jesus healed, only one said thank you! She’d made it a goal ever since to always say thank you,  even when she was stressed and worried about such things as making the soccer team.

Friend July 2018 “Thank You!” Action rhyme about remembering to say thank you when someone helps you.

Friend June 2023 “The Kindness Coin” Nina gave her neighbor free lemonade at her stand as a thank you for all the help he had given to her family. Her neighbor was so kind though that he put it on the porch for her to find. Nina and her neighbor went back and forth finding places to put the coin at each other’s houses. It was a fun game. But then the neighbor had the coin made into a necklace for Nina.

Friend June 2023 “The Kindness Coin” Nina gave her neighbor free lemonade at her stand as a thank you for all the help he had given to her family. Her neighbor was so kind though that he put it on the porch for her to find. Nina and her neighbor went back and forth finding places to put the coin at each other’s houses. It was a fun game. But then the neighbor had the coin made into a necklace for Nina.

Friend February 2018 “Grateful Gifts”  A man in Alice’s ward gives her and her sister a flute as a thank you for playing the piano for Sacrament meetings. Alice loves the gift and learns a song to play for the man to show her appreciation.(Article includes photos of the people and of the special flute)

Friend November 1986 “My Thank-You Song” Poem about saying thank-you.

Blessing of Teachers

Friend September 2015 “Sister Pettigrew’s Lesson”  – link includes thank you note to write to teacher

Blessing of Freedom

Friend July 1988 “Grandpa Max’s Flag” Scott’s grandfather puts up a US flag everyday because he immigrated from a country where the people didn’t have freedom; they were taxed and imprisoned unfairly or forced to join the military.