Where Liberty is Found

In this episode, Cydni and Sher dive into what the Founders believed it really takes to remain free: homes where the scriptures are opened, families who pay attention to current events, and schools that teach children how to think and govern themselves. Blending American history, scripture, and real-life parenting, they explore why freedom doesn’t sustain itself—it must be taught, practiced, and passed on. This episode is "Where Liberty is Found" and we are so glad you are here!

This Week's Challenge
We challenge you to increase your appreciation for the education available in our modern time, and above all, to connect yourself to God so you can have the spirit of discernment with you as you read and learn.

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Show Notes

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Transcript

Where Liberty is Found

Cydni: [00:00:00] Since we're talking about education in this podcast, I have been thinking about how my children are always so difficult to get to school every single day as if they don't know it's coming. And we do a hybrid program, so they're only at school half the day as it is, and it's still. Such a trial to get them to school.

Sher: I'm on that same program. I'm only there half a day.

Cydni: And you don't wanna go either? No. Well, here's where it's tricky is that they are turning it on me and they're asking me Why go to school? What did you get outta school, mom? What did you get out of it? And, I don't have an answer, so I've just been lying to my kids all of the time.

Every day I have to come up with like a new lie of why school is so important. And honestly, I just need them to go to school for a little while so I can get some laundry done. Welcome to the Cydni and Sher podcast.

Sher: Alright, Cydni. So last week we did talk about teaching our children, and this week, you know, we haven't done [00:01:00] some history for a little while, and I just miss it. So I thought maybe we should go back to talking about some American history for a tad.

Cydni: I'm glad you did. I was a little surprised because when we discussed an outline, I do not remember having anything that you wrote. And so I thought, okay, Sher just is missing history. And you know what? So am I. I'm excited to learn from you today.

Sher: Well, we'll see what happens. 'cause as you can tell, I have a slight cold, so. We'll see how long the voice lasts.

Cydni: It's the season. You're doing great. 

Sher: so Cydni. Our founders believe that teaching our children was absolutely vital and very, very necessary in order to preserve our freedom and this country.

And they believe that parents and churches and schools should all be on the same page teaching kids truth. Virtue and moral responsibility, and that is how they thought we could preserve freedom. I've mentioned this before, I think I even did last week, 

that 

John Adams wrote a letter to the officers of the [00:02:00] first brigade of the third division of the militia of Massachusetts. And this is what he said in it, our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people.

It is wholly inadequate for the government of any other. So if we wanna be free, The only way we can do it is if we have morals and we are religious people and throughout history and just actually in life in general, we can see it over and over again that if you can't control yourself, someone else is gonna do it for you.

In second Corinthians chapter three, verse 17. One of my favorite scriptures, it says, where the spirit of the Lord is there is liberty, and that is the secret ingredient of how to remain free as an individual and as a country.

if we can invite the spirit of the Lord into our souls and follow him, and this is how all of us can stay free. And it's important that we pass this knowledge on as a country so we can continue this vibe that we've got going on here.

Cydni: Your [00:03:00] scripture is now one of my new favorite scriptures too. Nice. That sentence has stuck out and I've really reflected on where the spirit of the Lord is. There is liberty and I recently was in the temple and I was reading the scriptures about Alma and Ek and they were thrown into a prison, then they are saved by the power of God.

They're released from prison and there is a few thoughts I had about this because I've been reflecting on where the spirit of the Lord is. There is liberty. So here Alma and Alek are in prison, but they're really not. Imprisoned because they have the spirit of God with them. And so man can put them in bondage, but really they're Gods. I also notice that after Alma's released, he immediately is sharing the word of God again. And serving, he actually heals a man is what happens next.

So in reflecting about when the spirit is with you, you're free. No man and no situation can ever imprison us. [00:04:00] If we actually carry with us the idea of let's say, Shadrach, Meshach, and ab Bindigo, that they would not worship neers. Golden images. . They're told you are going to burn this very hour. If you do not worship the gods we want you to worship.

And they say, then burn us. Basically they say, we know that God can save us, but if not, that's okay. And I really have reflected on that is where the freedom comes from because it feels like there's a lot of rules with being Christian. And it feels like with that many rules and guidelines, that doesn't sound very free.

But if you consider. That they have the spirit of the Lord with them because they do follow guidelines that bring the spirit into their life. They are in complete power. They're in God's power, and there is no better place to be.

And I was thinking about the different people in history, some that you've brought up who have been in bondage but are not imprisoned. And I thought of Frederick Douglass, who was born into slavery and in slavery, learned [00:05:00] how to read.

Sher: I'm so proud right now. Cydni, are you? Yes, I am.

Cydni: It's never too late to be a student. For me. It's decades after high school. And then also Gandhi. He was imprisoned, but when he was imprisoned, he spent his time writing and meditating and reflecting. And Victor Frankl, who was a Holocaust survivor.

He says, the one thing you can't take away from me is the way I choose to respond to what you did to me. The last of one's freedom is to choose one's attitude in any given circumstance. There's another Holocaust survivor who I adore, Dr. Edith Egger.

She says, you can't change what happened. You can't change what you did or what was done to you, but you can choose how to live now. You can choose to be free. It's the first time I see that I have a choice to pay attention to what we've lost or to pay attention to what we still have. And then one more. I love this quote from Nelson Mandela who spent over 27 years in prison. He [00:06:00] said, as I walk out of the door toward the gate, that would lead to my freedom. I knew if I didn't leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I'd still be in prison.

So I really appreciate your favorite scripture. It's just opened up this gateway for me to really study and reflect on, to understand from the scriptures and from people in history that it all ties together.

That these people are imprisoned by somebody else, but their attitude and their faith makes them free. And then once they are physically free, they all have chosen to turn around and help other people. Whether it was preaching the gospel , or just helping other people out of their own bondage that they're in

Sher: that was a really good summary of one of the reasons why I really love that scripture it is explaining to us that if we have the spirit of the Lord with us by following his commandments, it truly does lift us up and make our soul free. We are free. This is [00:07:00] how this whole thing works. Now our founders knew this and they all had different ways of wanting to. Invite the spirit of Christ into our country. Benjamin Franklin is known as one of the guys that is the least religious. But this is a quote from him. He said, A Bible and a newspaper in every house. A good school in every district all studied and appreciated as they merit are the principal support of virtue, morality, and civil liberty.

I wanna take this quote Cydni and talk about how Bibles and newspapers and schools should be teaching us how to remain free. So let's start with the Bible. The Bible in the home. Should be read, used, studied, and not just sitting on the shelf because it has some really good things in there.

Cydni: The Bible does. Yeah. Oh, the Bible. The Bible, yeah.

Sher: The Bible teaches us right versus wrong. It teaches accountability for. Choices, both good and bad. It teaches us self-control, humility, [00:08:00] repentance, loving your neighbor. It also teaches us the 10 commandments.

Cecil b Demil said, we cannot break the 10 commandments. We can only break ourselves against them. Cindy, these are eternal truths, even if you're not religious. The Bible is this collection of human wisdom explaining to us how to thrive as individuals and a society. And Demil said.

You can look at the 10 Commandments and try to smash 'em and take 'em out of every government office and every school. All we're doing is breaking ourselves against them. and that's it. Because the Bible is teaching us eternal truths. These are things that never change. It's consistent throughout history as well.

And these eternal truths when they're taught at home and with the schools and at churches, they're teaching morals. They're teaching us virtue. And all of this hopefully is starting at home before it goes anywhere else, before it goes out into the [00:09:00] community.

We're starting at home and then it's gonna branch out into our towns, our cities, our states, and eventually across the country. And what this should be doing is teaching children how to govern themselves. When children learn how to govern themselves, they don't need mom and dad to do it for them.

Then they don't need the city to do it, and they don't need the police. They don't need the government, they don't need the jails. They don't need the prisons because they're learning how to control themselves and to govern themselves without someone else doing it for them

and this is what creates free individuals. Free societies, and this is what Adams was talking about in his quote when he said that the constitution only works if people can control and govern themselves. The less we control ourselves, the closer we get to being controlled. And that is what our founders did not want. They wanted individuals to have all the control and power.

Cydni: . I was just talking to my friend whose son is diabetic and my son has celiac. So we [00:10:00] were just discussing this in a different way, that I have to teach Titus how to be able to eat on his own without me there.

So if he's at a friend's house or he's traveling with his soccer team, if I'm not there, he has to be able to learn how to. Find food that will not upset his stomach and cause him pain. And my friend was talking about how she's teaching her son to monitor all of his charts and numbers so that he can also keep himself safe.

I think this is the perfect illustration of this, that. If I did everything for Titus when he was out on his own, he would have no idea what to do. But we have from the beginning, thanks to advice from a friend we've chosen to just really empower him. And the first few months were exhausting because none of us knew what we were doing with the gluten-free life.

But together we have learned how to read the ingredients, which food actually feels good, which ones don't. And it's been a process, but he can confidently go out on his [00:11:00] own and make his decisions. He could go to a gas station with friends and he can know what he can have and what he shouldn't.

And he knows the consequences if he doesn't listen to it. And I see this same idea is what God hopes that we will do, that we'll understand the choices that we have and the benefit of choosing the right choice and the consequences are a lot more positive. Titus has been making good choices and he has been putting on weight again.

He's feeling healthier than ever and he's happy, but we have had times where he didn't, and he's been in miserable pain too.

Sher: That's a really good example and I was thinking about a podcast I heard years ago that was talking about how we should be okay giving children more responsibility because they're a lot smarter than we give them credit for. I mean, I'm talking just as me in a classroom even.

I should be giving them more work, more responsibility, rather than dumbing things down because they are capable of rising to the expectation. Just like you've done for Titus, you've given him the expectation that he can figure [00:12:00] out his diet and he can have control over it. And I think that's the key is to make it so kids understand that they. Are not just acted upon that they have the power to act and to take control, and that they can control what's going on in their lives as best as any of us can. I mean, time and chance happens to all of us, unfortunately. But they can act for themselves. They don't always have to be acted upon.

Yeah. Titus has celiac, but he's learning how to take action so it doesn't control him. He can control it. And that is very powerful and that's what God wants for all of us. And that's what our founders wanted for all of us. They wanted us to act as individuals because that is what, as we learned last year, is what brings happiness into our lives is when we have control and the power over our lives.

Cydni: Absolutely. And I can see this tying together so well because. When Titus follows the guidelines that he has, which are unfortunately very strict, but when he follows [00:13:00] them, he does have more freedom. He can go to his friend's house and parties, and he just went to a birthday party and brought his own pizza.

And a couple years ago, he wouldn't have gone. He would've been too afraid of. His stomach hurting or being upset, but because we understand and know the guidelines now and he strictly follows them, he has so much more freedom and he is so much more happy. Yeah, that's a great example. Thanks Titus. Thanks for having to say that. So we could have a great example. What a trooper you are buddy

Sher: Al for us. He's the best. Okay. So. Benjamin Franklin said that we all needed a Bible in the home, that we should be reading and studying it, but we also should have a newspaper in every home and be reading and studying it as well.

James Madison said, knowledge will forever govern ignorance, and the people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives. So what James Madison is teaching us is that knowledge is the key [00:14:00] here. It gives us the power to govern ourselves and it's the power to govern ignorance.

Now I feel that I sometimes fit into the, Ignorance category. But I try my best to get as much knowledge as I can to understand the situations, but it's difficult right now. 'cause I don't even know what's true anymore because there's so many different media sources and with ai. You gotta really, really be careful about what you're reading about, what you're seeing even. But the founders believed the more knowledge we had about history, science, literature, and current events, the better chance we had at remaining a free people. So to me what a newspaper represents is awareness of current events.

At home, like you're discussing it as a family. You're aware of current events in the United States, in your state, in the world, in whatever country you're from that you're looking at accountability to your leaders and understanding the consequences of when people break the [00:15:00] law and don't break the law, and just monitoring, so to speak, the founders wanted us to know what was going on so that in return we could help our community.

And the more we help each other, the less we need the government to do it. Now, it's not bad when the government steps in and helps. But me serving others is better for me than watching the government serve other people on tv. The Lord wants me to help and the Lord wants me to serve. And it also builds relationships with those that you serve, and it helps build a happier community.

Last year, we said this over and over again that the secret sauce to happiness was service. Don't miss out on this opportunity that when we see things or watching the news and you see something, if you can help, that's our responsibility to do that

Cydni: because then you get the helpers high, which was. Really the message last year don't microdose that helper's high macro dose it.

Sher: Advice from Cydni coming in hot. But our [00:16:00] founders did want us to know what was happening with their local, state and national leaders to hold them accountable, to keep an eye on them, and also paying attention to what was happening in the world.

And watching all of this. gives you a lot of teaching opportunities at home. Just as an example, one that has always stood out to me was when I was about 10 years old is when I ran, fell. With the Shah and there were all these riots going on in Iran with burning the American flag and burning our president and effigy it was really chaotic. Well, my dad would always come home from work and turn on the news and. I would just ignore it and do my thing. And this one day my dad said, Hey, come here. I want you to watch this. he had me sit down by him and I watched what was going on in Iran on the news with my dad. And it's still in my head, Cydni.

I can still see it just singed in my head forever. And after that segment was done, my dad said, do you know why? Had you watch this? And I didn't say anything, I just said, no. [00:17:00] When in reality what I was thinking was to scare the living crap outta me. That's why you had me watch it.

But my dad said, I want you to watch this because I want you to know what a follower looks like. A follower is somebody who burns and destroys and ruins things in a mob type atmosphere, and you're doing it just because you're following somebody else.

And he flat out told me, don't ever be that person. If you ever get yourself in that situation. Satan has got control over it, and you need to get out and you need to make sure you're the leader in that type of situation and move away from it. And because of that lesson, I've always prayed and hoped that I would be able to get myself out of that situation if I ever found myself in it. And I feel like it has helped me a few times because I don't wanna be that follower. And that was a lesson learned at home that my dad taught me by watching the news.

Cydni: She's not lying. I've been trying to get her to go riot with me for weeks, and she won't. I won't. I'm just like, no, [00:18:00] Cydni, I'm not doing it. I'm like, come on. I brought you a brick. We could throw it through your neighbor's window and we could steal her tv, and she won't do it yet. I've had to do it by myself. But it is crazy. Cydni's getting really good at it. Thank you. But I'm going alone, so I'm not a follower. So it's not entirely true what your dad said, but you also shared this with me and suggested maybe I try to put this in my own children's head and I'll just say, 'cause I wanted it to work.

Like how you are so passionate about being a leader and I wanted my kids to have that, so I tried and then they were just like, mom, we know this. Her kids were a lot smarter than me. I think they're just in the, I know everything stage, but actually they're smarter than I am too, so maybe not.

Then of course for myself, you have to know what I Googled with your heartfelt, sincere newspaper information. I'm so worried. I know. I immediately was like, I wonder if the newspaper is where they saw it. Like, that's so beautiful. [00:19:00] But the stuff you see in the news is. A little crazy. And like you said, you don't know what's true.

They can twist anything to be, this is a great person. This is a bad person. Here's a good picture of them. Here's an AI picture of them. We don't know what's real. Yeah, that is wild. It is. But these headlines are real, and I'm gonna share them with you. These are actual headlines found in real newspapers. Okay. Are you ready for this? I'm so ready. Hispanics Ace Spanish test. Native speakers pump up the AC scores. I laughed so hard at that one. Wow. And china may be using the sea to hide their submarines. Who would've thought of that? I loved this one city to build its first dog park archery range. Oh, no. Rudy, I will not take you there. Okay, bud. I was like, what's wrong with that one? I don't.

Oh my goodness. But to even that one out, husband and dog gone. Just wants. Dog back. That's good. Huh? And then one more, [00:20:00] even though I wrote down 19 of them, statistics show teen pregnancy drops off significantly after the age of 25. Okay. I was just thinking this is probably what they saw. They're like, this information needs to get out there. And my friend, he just texted me to make sure my children knew that the color purple wasn't real.

It was a Apple article last week that said, we don't actually see the color purple. It's a fake color. So he said to make sure my kids know that. Purple's not real. And also birds and of course the moon landing. That's a great friend. So

Sher: Cydni, thank you for bringing all of that up and ruining everything I just said. That was, you bet That was perfect. Just is to illustrate what a good education doesn't look like, does look like. Well it makes it so that, going back to James Madison when he was saying that knowledge gets rid of ignorance, I don't think that people who wrote those articles were part of that.

Cydni: No. I will say though, I sent my sister-in-law who's expecting her first baby, a great parenting book. And then I said, [00:21:00] actually, you know what the better advice is to not read it because then you don't know. And then when you are older and your kids are older, you won't have as much guilt. So scratch it. Don't read it. Always coming in hot with the good advice. Good job right off the press. Yep. Perfect.

Sher: But I will say Cydni, what this does teach us is that the dumber we are, the easier we are to manipulate.

Cydni: Unless Cher, you're a toddler. 'cause I don't know that toddlers are that intelligent and trying to manipulate them to do what you want is very difficult. So this is true. That's fair for sometimes. Mm-hmm. Based on my experience and family videos we have, I would say it might not always be true.

Sher: All right, but honestly, everything is so confusing right now that I really think the best advice is just to pray and pray more, and then pray some more that you'll be able to discern right from wrong because it is a big pile of doggy dooo that you gotta wade through.

And so I think , the key is you gotta pray and follow the prophet. And I think it's [00:22:00] okay if kids know. That this is something that we all need to work on our entire life and I think it's okay for them to see adults struggle with this as well. Because it's constant work to discern and to stay with God. And I think this is something that kids need to see and it's okay for them to see that in all of us. But the bottom line with all of this is that free societies need informed responsible citizens. And that will definitely help us to stay free.

Now, the other thing that Benjamin Franklin said is that we need a good school in every district. And remember last year we also talked about Noah Webster, and he was known as the School Master of America. He said The education is useless without the Bible. All the miseries and evils, which men suffer from vice crime, ambition, injustice, oppression, slavery, and war, proceed from their despising or neglecting the precepts contained in the [00:23:00] Bible.

I love this because this is the first school master and he's tying everything back to the Bible, our school used to use the Bible and biblical principles to teach children how to read. Teachers were constantly reinforcing what parents hopefully were teaching at home and they often partnered with churches.

I thought of something. This has nothing really to do with the Bible, but it explains kind of partnering with churches. When I first started teaching at my school the district decided that in the middle of the school year that they wanted to do some work in the gym, and the PE teachers would not be able to use the gym for something like a month. we had two PE classes with nowhere to go in the middle of winter, and they didn't know what to do. So do you know what they did? Cydni? They called the church that was nearby and asked if they could go over and use the gym.

And they walked over there and used the gym at the church for like a month. I can't even imagine the kids even stepping a toe in the church now. But they just [00:24:00] partnered with the school and they went from there.

Cydni: Why you were saying that? I did think to myself though that it really does start in the home. Just to be on the teacher side for a second. So I'm sure people are burned out that they've tried so hard to teach a certain way and to create a certain culture, but if it doesn't start at home they probably feel like they just have to make it through the freaking day.

And so you could see it both ways if it's being taught in the home, these good values, then it. Continues into the school and there's a expectation and a culture. But if it isn't, then it unravels and how we need it to start in the home. And it goes both ways really. I 100% agree with that. Thank goodness I was so scared to say it. Just kidding. I wasn't, I wasn't afraid.

Sher: You're right though. Schools should be teaching these important subjects, math, science, literature, and of course, they should teach the best subject, which is history where they can learn about the rise and fall of nations and governments.

Our Constitution and the [00:25:00] declaration and schools should teach that if as an individual and as a society, we want to be free. We need to learn how to govern ourselves. One of the things that I noticed while I was teaching is how many things started to be taken away from students because they don't govern themselves.

And , rather than insist, Hey, you need to get control over yourselves, we just took things away. For example, right before I went to the school, I, taught out forever Cydni. They used to have a gun club at the school.

Cydni: Well, they're canceled.

Sher: Yes, very canceled. But they went to all these competitions and they won all sorts of awards and then also while I was there, we had an archery class, which was also taken out of the school. But it was by the dog park. , Exactly. But now, like we can't even play Dodge Dodgeball anymore. There's no expectations for the kids to control themselves. So instead of saying like, if you throw the ball at somebody's face, you are the one that's gonna get in trouble. There's nothing. The expectations are [00:26:00] gone. So things get taken away when you can't control yourselves. So you're giving that power to somebody else, because the kids used to be able to do all of this, but they're not allowed to anymore. So homes, family, schools, churches were meant to be partners in raising the kids, and this was the idealistic plan the founders had.

Cydni: Can I tell you though, I have seen a little bit in the positive in this way in our home this last month because with Come follow me. We're reading Genesis right now and the creation of the world. But at school in science, IANA, in her class, the teacher introduced some Greek mythology and Iana loves it. She thinks it's so interesting and fascinating. And so because of that in the mornings now.

We've been reading about Greek mythology and it's been such an awesome experience because the foundation has been, our family gathers together and we're reading Genesis and the creation of the world. But at school, because this was introduced and she told me how much she loves it, we have now [00:27:00] added Greek mythology and it's been such a fascinating conversation to have with her and her brother, because you talk about.

How the Greeks saw the world was created and the similarities and the differences, and so I feel like that's what it was supposed to be like that the teacher introduced stuff that I wasn't going to, but because she did, IANA has a passion and excitement for it, and Titus is getting into it now, and I could see where it could work together really beautifully if you have the time and the means to be able to do it, which we're really blessed to be able to, but you could see.

The idea what it was meant to be, we need the teachers. I need the teachers. They have introduced my kids to stuff I never would've thought they'd be interested in or would've thought about, but they've instilled in them a passion for learning in some ways, so what I'm trying to say is I see the ideal vision of what it was supposed to be and what it could be Still,

Sher: you're exactly right. And I think you actually hit something that the founders were trying to instill in us. They're giving [00:28:00] us the idealistic grand plan of how they said a society could be. This is something we've never actually hit. We haven't obtained it yet.

Okay. I'm gonna go back to the quote by Benjamin Franklin. The quote again, said, A Bible in a newspaper in every house. A good school in every district, all studied and appreciated as they merit. So I wanted to focus on, all studied and appreciated as they merit for just a second. What exactly does that mean? And the definition is these things aren't just present in the home or community. They are actively learned, thoughtfully, considered, and properly valued according to their importance.

Studied means the Bible's not just sitting on the shelf. It's opened. It's not skimmed, but it's discussed, questioned, understood. I love that. It said questioned. And the same for the newspaper. It's not skimmed, it's discussed, it's questioned, it's understood. [00:29:00] Appreciated means when you have to work for something, you appreciate it more.

And I have to tell you, I love that idea because have you ever thought about this, about reading the scriptures you need to work at it because when you work at it and it's hard for you to understand and you have to dig in and really try to study it, you appreciate it more. And the same for current events and world events reading the constitution or whatever skill it is that you're learning.

Mass science, when you have to work at it, you do appreciate it more, and I think it's important that we help kids. Work for that understanding to help them gain an appreciation for it. In Enus, we learned about his wrestle with God and that he had this understanding and appreciation for God and his commandments.

Once he was done questioning and really wrestling with the scriptures and God's word, he had to do the work to get both the understanding and the appreciation. Something else is appreciation means gratitude. [00:30:00] Are we grateful for the scriptures? Are we grateful for the opportunities we have to learn and to get an education?

In both studied and appreciated. We are learning how to take ownership though, and making it our own. And I think that is what's important when we have to study and we have to work for it then we appreciate it. It becomes part of us. We have that ownership. And again, that goes back to. Are we acting or being acted upon . And then I wanna talk about as they merit as they merit means according to their true worth. This made me think of this Cydni. What price tag do we put on knowledge, our testimony agency, good choices, responsibility, a work ethic, gratitude, happiness, our liberty, freedom, how much are they worth?

Because it seems to me that they are worth the absolute very most because it's the only thing that we've been allowed to take with us into the [00:31:00] next life. And I think teaching children this is really important, that the truth is priceless. Having this knowledge is something that you get to have forever.

We can't take anything else, but we get to take that, and that I think is something that maybe we should think about just a little bit more. Then going back to our definition, I'm gonna put Benjamin Franklin's quote in today's language. This is what it means. Basically, a bible, a newspaper, and a good school only preserves freedom if people actually take them seriously. Study them, value them, and treat them as vital. And this is why teaching your kids matter. This is how we keep our society going and gives each individual the best chance of succeeding.

Cydni: I did listen to a TED talk where the gentleman said what education should be is the journey inside to discover one's gift, then the journey outside to contribute. And I thought that was a [00:32:00] really beautiful way of putting it. It is.

We challenge you to increase your appreciation for the education that is available in our modern time and above all to connect yourself to God, to have the spirit of discernment with you as you read.

Sher: This brings us to our final thoughts. Freedom doesn't sustain itself. It's taught in homes that open their scriptures in families and communities and in schools that teach kids how to think and govern themselves. When people learn truth, practice virtue and take responsibility, they don't need to be controlled.

That's how individuals stay free. That's how nations stay free, and that's why teaching our children might be the most important work we'll ever do. This is our prayer from Cydni and Sher

 .[00:33:00] I apologize for whatever you find in there. It's gonna bring up more feelings. I know. It's gonna be fine. You don't sound worse than normal. John Adams wrote a letter to the officers of the first brigade I was holding a coffin. I thought you were gonna throw up 'cause you hated my voice. as Cecil De as Cecil B as statistics show teen pregnancy drops off significant, I'll say it one more time. SI think we have like a, a blooper somewhere. I'm trying to say statistics. Statistics, okay. because we're learning in gen. One more time. Done. Hallelujah. Oh, in families and communities. Dang it. . Thanks for joining us. 

Cydni: We're so glad you're here.