Counseling with our Counsels (family counsels)

Elder Ballard teaches a lot of great information on holding counsels. 

Holding counsels with our families can make a huge difference in the love and unity felt between family members.

Some notes from the powerpoint we read this week in class give some main points on holding a successful counsel.  This excerpt is from the section on learning from the brethren:

• Meet weekly, same day each week is a great idea.
• Everyone receives an agenda for the discussion the night before to prayerfully review.
• The brethren meet in the temple.  We strive to make our home as peaceful as the temple.  We could make sure we select a place to use each time that has a picture of Christ or the temple in it.
• Before discussing agenda items, dedicate time to expressing love, concern, and appreciation for one another.
• Start the meeting in prayer, seeking inspiration.
• When discussing matters, seek consensus regarding the Lord's will.
• End with prayer, dedicating your efforts to Him.
• Enjoy refreshments together before parting ways.

This format can really help bring the family closer because it doesn't just discuss problems or weekly appointments.  It also brings love for each member as one of the first things to do. 

I recommend buying the book that Elder Ballard put out on holding family counsels.

For those who have never tried a family counsel or don't know what it is, I will add some extra info here for you! :)

I found this  information on churchofjesuschrist.org:
(Underlining and bold added for my emphasis)

What Is a Family Council?

Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles adds this clarification of what a family council should be: "I think of the traditional definition that says a family council is a time when a father and mother sit down and go through a list of dos and don’ts with their children,” he says. “I was never able to make it work that way. I found that when the list came out, it turned the children off. So I tried bringing up a specific problem—such as the garden needs weeding—and then simply asked the family, ‘What can we do about it? What are your ideas?’”

“A council is when parents let their children help solve the problem. And when everyone agrees to a solution, everyone will have ownership of the problem. If I tell the family, ‘You go out and pull the weeds,’ there may be complaining or hurt feelings. But if I can help them to feel, ‘We all decided this,’ then the family council is truly working. Before you know it, family members will be organizing themselves, saying, ‘You do this and I’ll do that.’ That’s the power of a council.”

“Whenever there are two or more members of a family together and a discussion is going on, that is a council!” says Elder Ballard. “Family councils can be held in one-on-one talks between a parent and a child or among parents and several children. When a husband and wife talk to each other, they are holding a family council.”

You can find this and more at this link https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/prophets-and-apostles/unto-all-the-world/family-councils?lang=eng#:~:text='%E2%80%9D,children%20help%20solve%20the%20problem.&text=%E2%80%9CWhenever%20there%20are%20two%20or,among%20parents%20and%20several%20children.