Staying close to family when away from home.


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So, I'm not sure how many college students are on here. Or even people living away from home who have way younger siblings at home.

My sister, Sarah, is 12. Yesterday she went to her first young women broadcast-I always loved those things! My parents told me that she's not going to mutual and doesn't want to go to church ect. Which, to be honest is understandable because she doesn't have any real friends at church. I remember being just like her at 12 until a new family moved into the ward.

I've been really struggling with my testimony and while I'm still not quite sure where my beliefs lay I want my sister to enjoy mutual and church. Even if I'm not sure about the church, I want her at mutual. It's good for her leadership, character, social and spiritual devlopment.

So, today I skyped called her right before her bedtime and I read her "The Parable of the Princesses" By Jenny Philips (An amazing short story. Any younger sister or daughter would enjoy. I liked it. I read it to the girls I visit teach). To my surprise she listened and when I asked questions she understood instead of zoning me out.

I don't skype with my sister often. A few times a semester. I'm very excited to go home and see how she is. I didn't get along with her much when I was living at home. However, my goal for this summer when I'm home is to "Rebuild our relationship."

So, what do people do to stay close to younger siblings when your away.

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I engage each of my siblings in the areas where we have shared interests. When I interact with my older brother, it's usually to talk about movies, comics, or play video games. When I interact with my sister, its usually to talk about kids, job woes, health, and schooling. When I interact with my younger brothers, its to talk about ninjas and sports.

Right now most of my family is close- the only one who lives far away is my sister- but I've been through being apart from them and trying to maintain the bonds of family and friendship over distance. I would spend a little time with each one of them over the phone, discussing our shared interests and checking up with how they're doing with church, work, school, etc. When we could arrange visits where we could spend physical time together, we would plan activities where we could get engaged and maintain our bonds.

Just be there for her. Do things together. Your interest in her well-being will shine through as she sees that you care about her. I think 12 is a hard age for everybody- transitioning out of primary and dealing with all the nightmares of middle school... I know I struggled with fitting in and really having a desire to be in my church meetings. It's a time for social development more than anything else. When she discovers her "place" at church, she will start feeling more comfortable. You may not be able to be there for her for everything, but you can encourage and uplift her.

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  • 2 months later...

My sister gave me this plaque that is hanging on my bathroom wall:

I smile because you are my sister,

I laugh because there is nothing you can do about it.

I pass by it everytime I go to the bathroom so I get to think about her a lot. So yeah, we don't really have much in common but that plaque makes her closer. We call each other often, usually just to brag about our kids. Hah.

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