Category: Spiritual

Sharing my testimony or a spiritual thought.

FHE

I Can Use My Body for Good FHE

Keira

Purpose: To celebrate with your family about all the amazing things our bodies can do! Heavenly Father gave us our bodies and we can use them for good.

***We understand and admire that all bodies are different. Heavenly Father is so gracious and amazing that each of us may have differences but we are all loved and worthy of respect. If something is a tender subject in this lesson, accommodations are appropriate. You may also skip this lesson if you feel it is what is best for your family.***


Possible scriptures: Proverbs 1:5; Proverbs 25:28; Matthew 5:16; Matthew 16:27; John 13:34; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; Philippians 4:13; 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12; Hebrews 12:12-13; James 1:19; James 2:14-17; 2 Nephi 9:31-32; 2 Nephi 26:33; Alma 1:30; 3 Nephi 17:7; Doctrine and Covenants 19:3; Doctrine and Covenants 38:24-27; Doctrine and Covenants 58:27;

Possible Songs: Do What is Right, Hymn 237; In Our Lovely Deseret, Hymn 307; A Smile is like Sunshine, Children’s Songbook page 267; Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes, Children’s Songbook page 275a; I Have Two Ears, Children’s Songbook page 269; My Heavenly Father Loves Me, Children’s Songbook page 228; My Two Little Eyes, Children’s Songbook 228; Hinges, Children’s Songbook page 277; Do As I’m Doing, Children’s Songbook page 276; A Song of Thanks, Children’s Songbook page 20a; Thanks to Our Fathers, Children’s Songbook page 20b; Fun to do, Children’s Songbook page 253; (seriously, there are sooo many songs in the children’s songbook! This list is not extensive)

Possible Materials: A mirror. This handout on using our hands at church. A picture of Christ appearing to the Nephites and a picture of Him Healing the sick. A picture of young David (I wish I could find one of him with his brothers, but I feel this is the closest). A picture of Spencer W. Kimball. A picture of Annie Oakley.


Preparation: Begin with prayer. Watch this video from President Nelson on our bodies. Ask yourself how you feel about your body. Are there negative thoughts that go through your mind about your body? Heavenly Father gave you a body to help you while here on Earth. It can do many great things. By thinking negatively about your body, you are thinking negatively about one of Heavenly Father’s best creations! Read the suggested scriptures, 3 Nephi 11:1-17. Read through the lesson, including any links, and carefully select the most relevant material for your family. Children: Watch both this and this video about Jesus appearing to the Nephites, this video about David as a boy. Have a grownup read these 2 accounts of Spencer W. Kimball milking cows (1, 2).

Lesson:

Discuss how last week’s challenge went.

Introduction: Read Doctrine and Covenants 42:42. Ask your family what it means to be idle. Why doesn’t Heavenly Father want us to be idle? Tell your family that coming to Earth and getting a body was part of the Plan of Salvation! With our bodies, we can learn to be more like Heavenly Father. If we are not using our bodies to progress, we are not taking advantage of the plan or becoming like Heavenly Father. Read Doctrine and Covenants 59:18-19. Heavenly Father wants us to use our bodies to enjoy the world around us. We can use our bodies to:

  • We can use our mouth and nose to taste and smell! Have your family stick out their tongue and look at the white dots on our tongues. Those dots are called taste buds! Because of taste buds, we can taste food. Sour, salty, sweet. We can tell if something is wet or cold. We can smell. What are some things we have smelled this week? Can our nose warn us of danger? Should we eat things we do not know are safe? Can our taste buds help us know the differences between some things that look the same? What about salt and sugar? We can also use our mouth to talk and to sing! Some voices sing high and some sing low. Ask your family: Can you sing high? Can you sing low?
  • We can use our eyes to see! We can read! We can find our way around our house! We can use our eyes to help our hands. Work is easier because we can see. We can also enjoy beautiful things and pretty colors. You can look for things that are lost! Hand the mirror around again and have the class look at their eyes. What do they see? Are all eyes the same color? Are our eyes always open? When do we close our eyes? Some people have eyes that do not see as well. They can have special dogs to help them see, or they walk with a cane that feels for bumps when they walk. They can read special books with raised bumps that make letters using Braille. Even though their bodies are different, they can do the same things, in a different way.
  • We can use our ears to hear! We can listen to instructions and know what to do. We can hear and enjoy music. We can know if something is close even if we cannot see, like an animal making animal sounds, or which person in our family is talking. We can be warned about danger with smoke detectors or horns honking. We can listen at church and during conference and learn and listen to stories about Jesus! Have your family look at their ears in the mirror. Tell your family that there is part of their ear that they cannot see. It is inside the holes. We need to be careful not to listen to too loud of sounds or to stick anything into our ears because we could really hurt them! Some people have ears that do not work well. Sometimes they can use a hearing aide. People that cannot hear well often cannot talk well, either, because we learn to talk from listening to those around us. They often use sign language to talk and understand others. There are lots of different languages, and sign language is one way we can talk and understand each other. Tell your family you are so glad that we can communicate with people even when our ears are different or we speak different languages.
  • We can use our hands for so many things! We can feel if something is soft or sticky. What other things can we feel? We can use our right hand to take the sacrament. We learn to crawl on our hands and knees when we are little. We learn to count by holding up our fingers. We can pick things up and hold things. We can wave to our friends or shake hands with others. We can clap and snap. Our hands can help us get ready for the day or play with our toys. We can bounce a ball or pet an animal. We can draw and write. We can even trace our hands! We can help others with our hands. When we are sick or need a blessing, a Priesthood holder can lay their hands on our heads and give us a blessing. Remind your family that we should never use our hands to hurt one another. You may wish to use this handout from the June 1991 to talk about using our hands at church. Explain that we need to help our hands do the right thing. Some people are born without hands! Often they learn to use their feet to help them. Our bodies are great at learning how to help us, even if we need to learn things differently.
  • We can use our feet to walk and to run. We can play sports and dance. Our toes can tap and keep the beat. We can stomp and climb. We can stand on tiptoes to reach taller. What are some other ways we can use our feet? Compare feet among your family. Are some feet bigger? Does everyone have the same shape of toes? Tell your family that some people cannot feel their feet or their legs. Some people are born without or lose their feet and/or legs. These people often use wheelchairs to help them move around. They even have cars that put all the pedals by their hands so they can drive.

All of our bodies are amazing, and they are all different. Would it be a good thing if all of our bodies looked the same? What if we all sounded the same? What if our bodies were all good at the exact same thing? We would miss out on many amazing things if we weren’t different. And it would be harder to tell each other apart.


From the Scriptures: Hold up the picture of Christ coming to the Nephites. Tell your family that after Jesus died, he came to visit the Nephites. There were lots of natural disasters and the people were all trying to recover. They were scared and unsure, but Jesus comforted them. He spoke peace and he let them all touch his body, one by one. Read 3 Nephi 11:1-17 and make note of how the Nephites used their bodies to learn and understand more about Christ. First they heard with their ears. Then they saw with their eyes. Then they came closer on their feet. And then they touched his wounds with their hands. While He was there, He taught them many things. Hold up the picture of Jesus healing the Nephites. Tell your family that Jesus then asked for all the sick to be brought to him. Read 3 Nephi 17:6-10. After he healed the sick, all were in awe of his love for them. After he blessed the sick, he met with all the children. Jesus cared for and healed everyone. He didn’t only see people with flawless skin. He didn’t see people who were in perfect health. In fact, he did just the opposite. He asked to see the sick and the hurt and the blind and the different.

From the Scriptures: Read 1 Peter 3:3-4. Ask your family what they think this scripture means. Hold up the picture of David. Ask your family if they know who this is. Tell your family that Samuel the prophet was looking for someone specific the Lord wanted. He was looking for a new king! Samuel was told to go to the house of Jesse and meet with Jesse’s sons. He met with all the older boys and none felt right. He asked Jesse if there were any other sons. Jesse told him that his youngest son was caring for the sheep, but that he was just little. Samuel asked to meet with him. God told Samuel that David was the person he was sent to find! Read 1 Samuel 16:7. Ask your family what Heavenly Father cares about? Does he expect us to all be big and strong? Can we only serve the Lord if we have muscles or good looks? He reminded Samuel that how we look on the outside is not as important as what is inside.

From World History: Hold up a picture of Annie Oakley. Tell your family that Annie Oakley, whose real name was Phoebe Ann Moses, was born at a time when women were only supposed to look good and be quiet. Her father died when Annie was just a child, and her mother was a hard worker but since women didn’t make much money, she struggled to care for her children. Annie learned how to hunt and trap and sold the meat to local stores. She helped her mom make enough money. Annie was so good at shooting it caught attention! Shooting was not something women usually did. But Annie was proud of her body and her skills. She was also proud of who she was. Annie used her body for good by helping her mother.

From Church History: Spencer W. Kimball understood that he needed to use his body for good while he focused on what was inside. Hold up a picture of Spencer W. Kimball and tell your family that when he was a boy, he spent lots of hours doing chores for his family. His job was milking the cows. He decided to use his time milking to memorize scriptures and sing hymns. He also practiced his aim to squirt milk right into the kitties’ mouths. He learned and worked hard! He learned to enjoy work and always enjoyed learning. He was our 12th president of the Church.

Further Discussion:

Read about the Kite sisters and then read their article in the New Era. I’ve loved their perspective on body image. It has shaped who I am as a person. Ask your family if it changes their perspective at all. Then read Our Sacred Bodies and Rethinking Beauty from the August 2019 Ensign (this whole issue is filled with positive body image articles).

Recent Conference talks to consider in your discussion: But We Headed Them Not, by David A Bednar; We Are The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, by Reyna I. Aburto; Your Divine Nature and Eternal Destiny, by Dale G Renlund; Christ Heals That Which Is Broken, by Amy A. Wright; Teaching Self Reliance to Children and Youth, by Hugo E. Martinez; Divine Love in the Father’s Plan, by Dallin H. Oaks; Our Heartfelt All, by Dieter F. Uchtdorf; Hope in Christ, by M Russell Ballard; Room in the Inn, by Gerrit W. Gong; Come and Belong, by Dieter F. Uchtdorf.

Challenge:

Challenge your family to listen to how they talk about their bodies this week. Ask them to only speak of their bodies with gratitude and reverence because Heavenly Father gave it to them. At next Family Home Evening, ask if anyone would like to talk about the blessings that came from changing how they talked and thought about their body.


Giving due credit: as usual, I read and learned from the Sunbeams Manual Lessons 17, 18, 19, 20, Gospel Principles Chapter 34, and the Family Home Evening Resource Manual mini-lessons on Listening, Work, and self-control, and Gospel Topics from Gospel Library on Diversity and Unity and Consecration.

FHE

I Can Care for My Body FHE

Keira

Purpose: Talking with your family about all the ways we care for our bodies. Our bodies are gifts from Heavenly Father and caring for for them shows we are grateful.

***We understand and admire that all bodies are different. Heavenly Father is so gracious and amazing that each of us may have differences but we are all loved and worthy of respect. If something is a tender subject in this lesson, accommodations are appropriate. You may also skip this lesson if you feel it is what is best for your family.***


Possible scriptures: Proverbs 20:1; Isaiah 5:11-12; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; 1 Corinthians 3:16-17; Hebrews 12:12-13; 2 Nephi 2:27; Helaman 3:35; Doctrine and Covenants 29:35; Doctrine and Covenants 49:18-19 (but maybe tie in the Word of Wisdom use of “Sparingly”); Doctrine and Covenants 59:16-20; Doctrine and Covenants 136:24;

Possible Songs: In Our Lovely Deseret, Hymn 307; For Health and Strength, Children’s Songbook page 21; The Lord Gave Me a Temple, Children’s Songbook page 153; The Word of Wisdom, Children’s Songbook page 154; Healthy, Wealthy and Wise, Children’s Songbook page 280; The Prophet Said to Plant a Garden, Children’s Songbook page 237;

Possible Materials: This puzzle of the body. The story figures for the Word of Wisdom (I wish they had included Emma. If you do, too, this is a similar enough set of figures to borrow her from). The picture of Daniel and his friends and the figures to go with the same story (I like this one better. It includes Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. But it requires coloring). A picture of Florence Nightingale.


Preparation: Begin with prayer. Read the suggested scriptures, along with Doctrine and Covenants 89 and Daniel 1. Read through the lesson, including any links, and carefully select the most relevant material for your family. Children: Watch this video on the 4 Hebrew boys keeping their belief and on receiving the Word of Wisdom. Also watch this video about Florence Nightingale.

Lesson:

Discuss how last week’s challenge went.

Introduction: Have your family stand up and sing Head, Shoulders, Knees, and toes. Ask them how we can touch our shoulders or our toes? Heavenly Father gave us bodies! He gave us bodies so that we could learn and progress. When we get gifts from Heavenly Father, we can show Him we are grateful by taking care of what He gave us. Tell your family that we will talk about ways we can care for our bodies by putting a puzzle together.

  • First, hold up the pair of pants. Read Genesis 3:21. Tell your family we can care for our bodies by wearing appropriate clothing. For little kids, talk about clothing appropriate for the weather. Clothing keeps us safe from the elements. It keeps dirt at bay, helps our body stay the correct temperature, and provides protection for our skin. If you have potty-training age children, talk about how underwear is better than diapers (any tie-in you can make, am I right?). For older children talk about how modesty is a protection, as well. We cannot prevent all evil, and we are not responsible for others’ thoughts, but we can do our part in protecting ourselves. Furthermore, Heavenly Father asks us to use moderation in our attire, avoiding trends and overly flashy clothing. Read Philippians 4:5. When we wear fancy clothing, we forget to treat our bodies as Heavenly Father intended: as instruments and not as objects or ornaments.
  • Next, hold up the torso. For younger family members, talk about how our stomach is in our torso and our stomach is where our food goes after we chew and swallow. All throughout history, we have been given rules about food to help us be healthy and strong. Read Deuteronomy 14:2-3 and Proverbs 23:20-21. Talk about which food is healthful and which food should be eaten in moderation. Are there any foods we should avoid? There are too many foods to make a complete list. Also remember to eat all types of foods (fruits, vegetables, grains, proteins), and that those foods are clean and safe. We are also asked to fast occasionally. Read Isaiah 58:6,8-9. In modern revelation, we are told to fast once a month. When we use our will over our physical appetites, we are reminding ourselves that we are in charge of our bodies. We should also remember to drink enough water.
  • Connect the mouth to the torso. Brushing and flossing teeth keeps our bodies healthy and strong. With good teeth, we can eat healthful foods. Furthermore, sick teeth make bodies sick.
  • Place one arm onto the torso. Have everyone flex their muscles and praise them for how strong they are! Ask the family how we get to be so strong? We exercise! We use our muscles. Heavenly Father wants us to use our bodies to become strong. There are many types of exercises; some help us improve flexibility, some help balance, and some give us more strength in our muscles and our organs. Read 1 Corinthians 9:24-27. We will be blessed by having a strong and healthy body. Having a strong body means having control over our bodies.
  • Now add the ears. Tell your family that sometimes our bodies need specific things. We need to listen to our body and know what it needs. Read Mosiah 4:27 and Doctrine and Covenants 10:4. Ask your family what it means to not run faster than you have strength. Sometimes we should listen to our bodies when they tell us to rest. Sometimes they need extra vitamins. Sometimes they need to see a doctor. If we listen to our bodies, they will help us know how to help them.
  • Add the eyes. Tell your family that Heavenly Father wants us to get adequate sleep. Read Doctrine and Covenants 88:124. Our bodies are soo blessed by sleep! It gives our bodies time to heal. It helps the chemistry of our bodies to regulate. It prevents diseases. Think about how you feel when you are tired. How can being well-rested help your day be better?
  • Add a foot. Sometimes we need to get extra help for our bodies. Sometime we need to take ourselves to a doctor! They can help us when we are sick and they can make sure we stay healthy by checking our heart and our ears and eyes.
  • Add the other foot and say that to take care of our bodies, we also have to run away from things that will trap us. These aren’t real traps, but they make us stuck like traps. These things are called addictions. Read 3 Nephi 18:15 and Jeremiah 5:26. Some addictions are bad for our bodies, like drugs or alcohol. Some are bad because they keep us stuck in our own thoughts. And some are bad because they keep us from doing the things we should be doing. They mess with our brain and thoughts and we do things we would never do just because our bodies are dependent on something and we can’t think of anything else. They take away our agency.
  • Place a hand on the arm. Tell your family that one way we can avoid the traps of addiction is to use our time wisely. We are making unhealthy choices when we sit in front of a TV all day. We aren’t exercising or using our body for good that way. How can we use our time wisely? How is that taking care of our bodies?
  • Add the second arm. Heavenly Father has asked us to not mark our bodies with tattoos or scars. Read Leviticus 19:28.
  • Now put the second hand on the other arm. Tell your family that we can control germs and avoid sicknesses by washing our hands. We can wash our whole bodies! When our bodies are clean, we are more comfortable. We avoid irritating our skin and making it itchy. When we are clean, it is easier to be happy. Read Doctrine and Covenants 42:40-41
  • Hold up the hair and ask your family how we care for our hair. Answers should including brushing, washing, and cutting it regularly. Why is caring for our hair important? Caring for our hair helps us be comfortable and not itchy. It keeps lice and other bugs away. Bushing our hair keeps it tidy. Read Luke 12:6-7. Heavenly Father is aware of us, even our hair! Our hair breaks and falls out sometimes, naturally. It doesn’t hurt when it falls out, and yet Heavenly Father loves us enough that he cares for something as little as the hairs on our head. He asks us to keep our hair clean and tidy so that we can show modesty and love for ourselves.
  • Finally, put on the hat. How is the sun good for us? It provides vitamins that keep us feeling happy and healthy. The sun is good for our bodies, but too much sun can cause sunburns and cancer. Talk to your family about protecting our skin from the sun. Remind them that we wear proper attire for the weather, and this includes protecting our body from the sun! Sometimes protecting our bodies from the weather means more than wearing the right clothing. It also means avoiding weather that is dangerous, wearing sunscreen, and seeking shade where necessary.
  • Ask your family if there are any other ways that they can think of to care for our bodies.


From Church History: Tell your family that when the saints lived in Kirtland, they started a school for men to learn more about Heavenly Father’s plan. It was called the School of the Prophets. Hold up the figures of the men learning from Joseph. These men didn’t know as much about their bodies as we know. They had some bad habits. Some of them smoked and some of them chewed tobacco. They made the room stinky and dirty after they left. Emma complained about the mess. This made Joseph think about healthy habits and what we should do for our bodies, so he talked to Heavenly Father about it. Heavenly Father told Joseph that we should care for our bodies. Read Doctrine and Covenants 89:1-4. He gave us some rules to follow! Ask your family if they know any of those rules. Are they on our list of ways to care for our bodies? At the end of the revelation, Heavenly Father gives us a promise for keeping His Health rules. Read verses 18-21.

From the Scriptures: Hold up a picture of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Tell your family that there was a time that the Hebrews were captured by the Babylonians. They took all the smart and healthy boys to live in the palace to work for the king. Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were some of those boys. When they were there, the king told his guards to feed the boys plenty of food and drinks. Some of that food and drink was stuff that the Hebrews were commanded not to eat. When Daniel asked to have healthful food and not the food they were commanded to avoid, the guards were worried that the king would be mad. Daniel asked to test their diets for 10 days and see what happened, and the guards agreed! After the 10 days, the boys that had eaten the food like Heavenly Father commanded were healthier and stronger than those that had eaten all of the other stuff. Because Daniel followed what he knew was right, Heavenly Father blessed them. Would it have been easy to tell the king’s guard that you could not eat what he had brought you? The boys had decided long before they were ever captured that they would obey Heavenly Father’s rules. When we decide early to keep Heavenly Father’s rules, it is easier to tell someone no when they us to break those rules. Heavenly Father will help us keep our promises and we will be healthier and happier because of them!

From World History: Respecting our bodies is more than what we put inside them. It is also about remembering to keep our bodies clean! We know lots of ways to keep our bodies clean, but there was a time when people didn’t know as much as we did. Florence Nightingale lived during that time. Hold up a picture of her for your family. Tell your family that she wanted to grow up to be a nurse, but at the time that was not a good job for a wealthy lady! Hospitals were dirty and scary places. But Florence wanted to change that! She made all the people in the hospital wash their hands regularly, only used clean bandages and supplies, and washed the hospital often. She knew that people needed cleanliness in order to get better! Because of her, people stopped getting sicker when they came to a hospital. She changed the way that people thought about being clean. When we keep ourselves and the area in which we live clean and free from germs, we can improve our health and avoid sicknesses.

Further Discussion:

Read Gospel Principles chapter 29:The Lord’s Law of Health and Doctrine and Covenants 89. Talk in further detail about the Word of Wisdom and how it applies to our lives. Discuss what it means to be a principle with a promise. Furthermore, is everything that we need to avoid listed in the Word of Wisdom? Surely, as soon as Satan thought that we intended the list to be complete, he would create more evil in order to lead people astray.

Recent Conference talks to consider in your discussion: Teaching Self-Reliance to Children and Youth, by Hugo E. Martinez; Worthiness is not Flawlessness, by Bradley R. Wilcox; One Percent Better, by Michael A Dunn; Why the Covenant Path, by D Todd Christofferson; Giving Our Spirits Control over Our Bodies, by M. Russell Ballard; Principles and Promises, by Thomas S. Monson (clearly I had to go back a way to find enough talks).

Challenge:

Challenge your family to pick one aspect of caring for their body to improve. This can either be done on an individual or family basis. The Family Home Evening Resource manual lists a few activities for inspiration, including starting an exercise goal, creating a workout routine, and building an exercise space. Or, as the March 2012 Friend suggests, keep track of how much time you spend on various activities and evaluate your use of time. The June 2015 Friend has some outside activities to do, as well.


Giving due credit: as usual, I read and learned from the Sunbeams Manual Lesson 18, 20 (Nursery Manual lesson 10), Gospel Principles Chapters 20, 25 and 29, and the Family Home Evening Resource Manual Lesson 3 and the mini-lesson on the Word of Wisdom, and Gospel Topics from Gospel Library on Health, Modesty, Tattooing and Body Piercing. I also enjoyed the 2010 talk O That Cunning Plan of the Evil One, by Elder M. Russell Ballard. Also, did you know that the church has a whole site dedicated to provident living? This includes caring for our physical health.

FHE

Adversity FHE

Keira

Purpose: To prepare the family for trials, afflictions, or adversity. Help them understand that they cannot always choose whether they will go through hard times or not, but they can choose how they will respond, and that can make all the difference.


Possible scriptures: Matthew 25:23; John 9:2-3; Romans 8:16-17; Hebrews 4:16; James 5:11; 1 Peter 3:17; Mosiah 23:21-22; Alma 7:11-12; Alma 36:3; Ether 12:6; Doctrine and Covenants 14:7; Doctrine and Covenants 50:5; Doctrine and Covenants 58:2-4; Doctrine and Covenants 98:3; Doctrine and Covenants 126:31; Abraham 3:25;

Possible Songs: Come, Come Ye Saints, Hymn 30; How Firm of Foundation, Hymn 85; Be Still, My Soul, Hymn 124; Where Can I Turn for Peace?, Hymn 129; God Speed the Right, Hymn 106; Cast Thy Burden upon the Lord, Hymn 110; Count Your Blessings, Hymn 241; Does the Journey Seem Long?, Hymn 127; I Am Like a Star, Children’s Songbook page 163; Can a Little Child like Me?, Children’s Songbook page 9; Smiles, Children’s Songbook page 267b; If you’re Happy, Children’s Songbook page 266;

Possible Materials: a fresh carrot, a raw egg, and a boiled carrot and egg, along with a pan and some water. These figurines of Liberty Jail and this story to go with it, along with this photo of the jail; A picture of Job (I dug and dug and there just isn’t a better one); a picture of Franklin D Roosevelt.


Preparation: Begin with prayer. Watch this video called “Men’s Hearts Shall Fail Them.” How would you have responded in that situation? How do you respond to your own trials? Is there improvement necessary? There will be times when we are really struggling. Watch “Mountains to Climb” and look for ways to survive hard times and hold on to any faith that we have. Read the suggested scriptures, including Doctrine and Covenants chapter 121-122 (click the arrow on the right to access 122). Also familiarize yourself with the story of Job. Read through the lesson, including any links, and carefully select the most relevant material for your family. Children: Watch this video about Job (or this one. The stories have 2 different vibes. This one will raise less questioning) and this video about Joseph in Liberty Jail. Then have a grownup help you collect 1 fresh carrot, some boiled carrots, 1 fresh egg (be careful with it) and one hard-boiled egg.

Lesson:

Discuss how last week’s challenge went.

Introduction: Hold up the fresh carrot. talk about it with your family. Ask them to describe the carrot to you. What color is it? is it hard or soft? What happens if we cook this carrot? Place the carrot in a pot with some water and pretend to boil it with your family. Bring out the cooked carrot. Ask your family what has changed about the carrot? It is soft, now! Now bring out the egg. If you can do it without making a mess or spreading bacteria, crack it. Ask your family if the insides are hard or gooey soft? What happens if we place the egg in the boiling water? Place the boiled egg in the pot and pretend to boil it. Use tongs to remove your egg from the water (we know it’s not going to burn you but you might as well teach that we don’t stick our fingers into boiling pots, right?). Peel it and ask your family what happened to the inside of the boiled egg? How did it become hard? We used the same water to boil the carrot and the egg, and yet the carrot became soft and the egg became hard! Tell your family that in Alma, the Nephites and the Lamanites had had a long war and were exhausted. Then read Alma 62:41. Explain that just like the same water can harden or soften some foods, the same trial can make or hearts hard or soft. All the Lamanites and Nephites had been part of the same war, but some hardened their hearts and some softened their hearts. Ask your family what that means. We cannot always choose whether we go through hard times or not, but we can choose how we will respond!


From the Scriptures: Hold up the picture of Job. Tell your family that Job was a righteous and happy man. But one day he lost all of his animals, all 10 of his children, his house and everything he had and loved. He was sad but he did not stop being happy. Then he got sick! His friends told him that God must be mad at him and that he deserved to be mad at God! But Job would not be mad at God. Read Job 13:15, 18. He knew that no matter what happened, if he lived righteously, he would return to Heavenly Father. He had an “eternal perspective.” Read Job 19:25-27. Heavenly Father was proud of Job for keeping his integrity and his faith. He could have chosen to be mad and grumpy, but instead, he let Heavenly Father teach him. Heavenly Father blessed Job with even more than he had and Job was happy. Read Job 42:12.

From Church History: Hold up the picture of Liberty Jail. Tell your family that this is liberty Jail. Some angry people did not like the early members of the church. They thought that if they threw Joseph Smith and some other leaders of the church into jail, they could hurt the church and its members. Hold up the figure of Joseph and the other leaders in chains. Say that some guards were mean. They said mean things about the saints and about Joseph. The food was rotten and it made the leaders sick. It was cold and dark. Joseph was really sad. He was worried about the people he loved and about the church. He felt so alone! One night, he prayed to Heavenly Father and told Him how he felt. Read Doctrine and Covenants 121:1-6 (For younger families it may suffice to read verses 1-3 and explain that Joseph is saying, “Heavenly Father, where are you? Why are you hiding? Why are you letting people hurt us? How long will we need to be in this hard place?”). Heavenly Father called Joseph his son, and told him that he would get through his struggles quickly. He was told that if he “endured well,” meaning if he didn’t give in and stayed strong, he would be blessed and honored. Read verses 7-9. Did Heavenly Father really hide from Joseph? Was He mad or upset with Joseph for feeling lonely? Heavenly Father knows how we feel and he can help us, even when we feel alone. He can help us get through our hard times and can teach us how to be stronger.

From World History: Now hold up this picture of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Tell your family that Franklin Roosevelt was the 32nd President of the United States. When he was 39 years old, he went on vacation with his family. When it was dinnertime, Franklin didn’t feel well, so he went to bed. When he woke up, he couldn’t feel his legs. In fact, that vacation was the last time he would walk without help ever again. He was diagnosed with Polio. Polio rarely affects grown adults, but it changed Franklin’s life in a day! He had many political aspirations and didn’t think people would ever look at him the same again. He could have just mourned his fate and slipped out of history. For a time, he even considered it. Instead, he decided to work diligently to still reach his goals, even in spite of his setbacks. He ran for president at a time that the country was hurting – the Great Depression was a very devastating time for our country. He was victorious in his presidential campaign and sought to bring strength and stability back to our country. Some say that his Polio actually made him a better president: more capable of compassion, slower to make rash decisions, and exercising diligence in improving himself and his health every day. We can choose to overcome our adversity like President Roosevelt. We can choose to work toward a goal no matter what setbacks we may face.

Further Discussion:

Pass out paper and pencils. Read the 6th and 7th paragraph of Adversity in True to the Faith. Ask your family to think of the struggles in their own lives, writing them on the provided papers. They can share if they’d like to, but is more of a personal reflection question. Ask them to contemplate what the proper response to their adversity might be. Then read the 8th paragraph. List as a family the ways we trust the Lord that are given in the paragraph.

Recent Conference talks to consider in your discussion: Click here for a list of talks on adversity.

Challenge:

Remind your family about the eggs and carrots. Ask them to pay special attention to their attitude this week when things don’t go as they want. As they see themselves struggling to keep a positive attitude, have them write down their feelings and ask them to shift their focus to the Savior. Have any who are willing share their experiences next week.


Giving due credit: as usual, I read and learned from the Nursery Manual lesson 19, Gospel Principles Chapters 2 and 47, and the Family Home Evening Resource Manual Lesson 17 and lesson 34, and Gospel Topics from Gospel Library on Adversity. I also gained quite a bit of insight from Job: The Man and His Message, from the March 1982 Ensign.

FHE

Adam’s Choice FHE

Keira

Purpose: To teach the family about the importance of the Fall in Heavenly Father’s plan and how we are never too far from Heavenly Father that there isn’t a way back to Him.


Possible scriptures: Daniel 7:9-14; Romans 5:12-21; Galatians 6:7; 1 Corinthians 11:11; 1 Corinthians 15:20-22; Revelations 12:7-9; Revelations 22:12; 2 Nephi 9:6; 2 Nephi 10:23; Mosiah 3:19; Alma 41:3; Helaman 14:30-31; 3 Nephi 18:15; Moroni 7:16-17; Doctrine and Covenants 29:34-44; Doctrine and Covenants 107:54-56; Doctrine and Covenants 58:26-28; Doctrine and Covenants 130:20-21; Moses 1:34; Moses 6:33; Moses 6:48-68; Abraham 3:25-26

Possible Songs: Choose the Right, Hymn 239; Do What is Right, Hymn 237; Who’s on the Lord’s Side?, Hymn 260; Teach Me to Walk in the Light, Hymn 304 or Children’s Songbook page 177; Follow the Prophet, Children’s Songbook page 110; Dare to Do Right, Children’s Songbook page 158; Choose the Right Way, Children’s Songbook page 160; I Will Follow God’s Plan, Children’s Songbook page 164.

Possible Materials: the maze from this sharing time activity; scripture figures from the story of the Fall (the easy way is to just print out this one, but I don’t like it… I like to keep continuity and use the figures of Adam and Eve from the creation, then I use the trees from the story of the fall above, and then, because I feel it’s important to not forget Heavenly Father and Jesus in the story, I also print use the figures from the first vision); the first page of this article, a picture of Martin Harris.


Preparation: Begin with prayer. Read the suggested scriptures, along with Genesis 2-3 (click the arrow on the right of the text to read the next chapter), Moses 3-5:12, and Abraham 5, as well as 2 Nephi 2 and Doctrine and Covenants chapters 3 and 10. Read through the lesson, including any links, and carefully select the most relevant material for your family. Children: Watch this video on Adam and Eve and the video on the lost manuscript.

Lesson:

Discuss how last week’s challenge went.

Introduction: Ask your family what choices they’ve made today? Did they pick what they were going to wear? Did they choose how to spend their own free time? Did they choose to be obedient to their mom or dad? We make choices all the time and sometimes we don’t even think about them! Sometimes those choices are just what we like, but sometimes choices are important, and we must choose between right and wrong. How do we feel when we make bad choices? And good ones? Hold up the maze. Point to Jesus in the middle and remind your family that we will be happiest if we can return to Heavenly Father and Jesus again. Our choices will either bring us closer to or further from Jesus. Ask your family some choices we might make that will bring us closer to Him?


From the Scriptures: Hold up the figures of Adam and Eve. Ask your family who they are and what they remember about them. Tell your family that When Heavenly Father brought Adam and Eve to Earth, he placed them in a garden called Eden. It had lots of flowers and plenty of food and was very beautiful. Adam and Eve were married by Heavenly Father. They did not know the difference between good and bad. Heavenly Father told them that they could eat the fruit from any tree that they wanted, except 1 tree: the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Satan wanted to mess up Heavenly Father’s plan! He thought he was being clever. He used a snake to trick Eve by telling her that Heavenly Father lied to her and that she wouldn’t die. He also told her that eating the fruit would make her wise, and she would know good and evil like Heavenly Father. This was the only way that Adam and Eve could progress, and Eve began to understand that. When Eve chose to eat, Satan told her to go and get Adam to eat it, too. Then they heard Heavenly Father say that he was coming to the garden. Adam and Eve were scared and hid themselves. When Heavenly Father asked them why they had hidden from Him, he asked them if they ate the fruit. Adam had said that Eve had given him the fruit and Eve said that Satan tricked her. Heavenly Father told them that because they had eaten the fruit when he had told them not to, they had to leave the garden. This meant that they could no longer walk and talk with God! This is called Spiritual death. It is also called the Fall of Adam. They were kicked out of the garden and Heavenly Father placed a flaming sword in front of the Tree of life. He said that if they were to partake of the tree of Eternal life, they would be stuck in their sins and could never come back to Heavenly Father, but because Jesus volunteered to be our Savior, we could return to His presence through the Atonement. He asked Jesus to make clothes out of hide to symbolize the Atonement. Because of the Fall, Adam and Eve were given physical bodies – bodes that would eventually die. Because of the Atonement, we are given the chance to have Eternal Life and be resurrected. We would still be waiting to come to earth if Adam and Eve had never partaken of the fruit; in the garden, Adam and Eve could not have children. After the Fall, plants and animals grew wild and Adam and Eve had to work for their food. Because they had to work for it, they understood better what they had. Read Moses 5:10-12 with your family. Adam and Eve made a hard decision, but because they wanted to love Heavenly Father and return to Him, they could. This made them very happy.

From Church History: Hold up the picture of Martin Harris. Tell your family that this is Martin Harris. He was a good friend and a big help to Joseph Smith while he was trying to translate the Book of Mormon. There was a lot of pressure on Martin Harris and his family wasn’t always helpful. He asked Joseph if he could take the 116 pages that they had already translated home so that he could show his wife. Joseph asked Heavenly Father and Heavenly Father said no. Martin asked him to ask again, and Heavenly Father still said no. But Martin was really struggling, so he asked Joseph to ask one more time. This time Heavenly Father said yes. He was told to only show them to relatives. Martin Harris promised and he took the pages. But Martin did not keep his promise. Martin showed the pages to others, and he lost them. Joseph was sad! He prayed to Heavenly Father to know what to do. Heavenly Father told Joseph that there would be consequences for disobeying him, but that he had already taken care of it. After Joseph had taken time to repent, the work continued and he was able to translate the rest of the Book of Mormon, including a brief description of what was in the 116 pages. Martin used his agency to keep asking something when he already knew the answer. He used his agency to disobey God, but when he was sorry for his actions, Heavenly Father helped the problem. We are never too far in wrong decisions that Jesus and Heavenly Father can’t make it okay. We will still have consequences, but Jesus will help us.

Further Discussion:

Talk to your older family members that because of our agency, we have control over our future. There is no reason to stay stuck because of our circumstances. Ask them to inwardly reflect if there are any choices that are keeping them from where they want to be in the future and how they can begin to change those choices. Also ask if there are some choices that will be made in the future that will change their future. Like if they will chose to get married in the temple. Or live worthily to do so.

Read 2 Nephi 2:11-30 as a family. Talk about what it takes to make a choice. In order to make choices, knowledge is required. There must be options. Also, there must be the freedom to “choose for thyself (see Moses 3:17).”

Recent Conference talks to consider in your discussion: Your Divine Nature and Eternal Destiny, by Dale G Renlund; Following Jesus: Being a Peacemaker, by Neil L Andersen; Personal Peace in Challenging Times, by Quentin L Cook; Room in the Inn, by Gerrit W. Gong; Defending Our Divinely Inspired Constitution, by Dallin H Oaks; Deep in Our Heart, by Douglas D. Holmes

Challenge:

Read the 2nd Article of Faith to your family. Explain any words your family is unfamiliar with. Challenge them to memorize the 2nd Article of Faith. If they have already memorized it, memorize 2 Nephi 2:27 or 2 Nephi 10:23.


Giving due credit: as usual, I read and learned from the Sunbeams Manual Lesson 14, Gospel Principles Chapters 4 and 6, and the Family Home Evening Resource Manual Lesson 8 with the note on Agency, and Gospel Topics from Gospel Library on The Fall of Adam and Eve and on Agency. I also strongly suggest for anyone struggling with the concept of the Fall to read the talk by Elder Holland, entitled “Where Justice, Love, and Mercy Meet.”

FHE

Honor our Mothers FHE

Keira

Purpose: To remind our families that listening, obeying and respecting our mothers is really what they want on Mother’s day.

**Special note: we understand and appreciate that not all families are the same! God loves all families that are trying their best. We have spent our own time as “not the typical family,” and want you to know we love and support you! If you don’t want to do this lesson, feel free to pick another one! You know what you need! **


Possible scriptures: ask your mother what her favorite scripture is!

Possible Songs: Home Can Be a Heaven on Earth, Hymn 298; Love at Home, Hymn 294 or 318; Love One Another, Hymn 308, Children’s Songbook page 136; Families Can Be Together Forever, Children’s Songbook page 188; Mother, I Love You, Children’s Songbook page 207; I Often Go walking, Children’s Songbook page 202; A Happy Family, Children’s Songbook page 198a; Quickly I’ll Obey, Children’s Songbook page 197b; When We’re Helping, 198b; Dearest Mother, I Love You, Children’s Songbook page 206b; Mother Dear, page 206a; My Mother Dear, Children’s Songbook 203; Mother, Tell Me the Story, Children’s songbook page 204; The Dearest Names, Children’s Songbook page 208

Possible Materials: the poem from the May 2010 Friend; colored paper, a pencil, straws, and a jar or vase; A picture of the 2000 stripling warriors; maps of Germany and Czechoslovakia during WWII (see below); A picture of Abigail Adams.


Preparation: If you are the mother and it is your time to teach, watch this video, and then tell your husband or oldest child that they get to teach instead! Begin with prayer. If you are the father, watch this video and consider if there is a way you can set the example and tone for your family. Read the suggested scriptures, Alma 53-57 (use the arrow on the right to go to the next chapter). Read through the lesson, including any links, and carefully select the most relevant material for your family. Children: Watch the video of the 2000 stripling warriors (I really like this one for younger kids, but it doesn’t tell as much of the story), and these 2 stories (one, two) about Elder Uchtdorf’s family fleeing German control. Then gather colored paper, a pencil, straws, and a jar or vase for the lesson.

Lesson:

Discuss how last week’s challenge went.

Introduction: read the poem from the May 2010 Friend to your family. Then trace each family member’s hands and cut them out (help little ones!). Glue or tape them to a straw like a flower and place them in a jar or vase for your mother. You could consider making other flowers, as well, but for younger families, a handprint will be plenty!


From the Scriptures: Hold up the picture of the 2000 Stripling warriors. Ask your family if they know who these young men are. Tell them that when the people that had believed Ammon were baptized they decided to bury their weapons so they could show Heavenly Father that they were ready to keep his commandments. They moved to live closer to the Nephites. Then, the Nephites were being attacked and the people of Ammon (called Anti-Nephi-Lehites) felt bad that they could not help protect the people. They were ready to break their promise in order to keep their friends safe. The Nephites did not want them to break their promise! But then their young sons stood and said that they had not made the same promise as their parents and that they would help protect their parents and their friends, the Nephites. They were very valiant and fought bravely. Heavenly Father protected them. Read Alma 56:45-48. Tell your family that they honored their mothers by remembering Heavenly Father and His promises, like their mothers had taught them. We honor our mother by doing as she teaches us, too.

From Church History: Hold up a map of Europe during WWII (older families might find this video map cool, but it’s way too long for younger families. Otherwise this is a good one showing Czechoslovakia, and showing the difference between East and West Germany. Tell your family that Dieter F. Uchtdorf, one of our twelve Apostles used to live in Germany, and was a little child during the time of the war. He and his family had to flee to different countries 2 different times! Point to the map and show were Czechoslovakia is. Then point to West Germany, and again to East Germany. Elder Uchtdorf often reflects on his mother and how she handled these hard times. Read the beginning of the talk “The Infinite Power of Hope,” and think about how life would have been like for this family. If Elder Uchtdorf’s mother was still alive, how do you think she would appreciate the lessons that her son shares with us each and every conference. Knowing what we know about his family history makes his message of hope and guidance all the more potent. We can honor our mothers by knowing and sharing her stories.

From World History: Hold up a picture of Abigail Adams. Tell your family that Abigail Adams was an important figure in the Early United States. She was the wife of the second president and the mother of the 5th president. Upon her death, John Quincy Adams proclaimed (paraphrasing scripture) that he hoped he could live just as good of a life as she did in his diary. He said, “There is not a virtue that can abide in the female heart, but it was the ornament of hers.” He later became president of the united states. We can show love and respect to our mother by recognizing all she does for us!

Further Discussion:

What are some other ways we can honor our mother? Discuss this topic among your family.

Recent Conference talks to consider in your discussion: Click here for talks on motherhood.

Challenge:

Ask your mother to place the vase in a spot that the family can see it throughout the week and remember that the best gift they can give her isn’t a handprint, but to listen, obey, and love her.


Giving due credit: as usual, I read and learned from the Sunbeams Manual Lesson 23 (Nursery Manual lesson 11), Gospel Principles Chapter 37, and the Family Home Evening Resource Manual Lesson 17 and lesson 21 (though I kinda hated both of them… they’re way too preachy for me and reminded me of why I hated FHE as a kid).

FHE

Heavenly Father Provided a Savior FHE

Keira

Purpose: To teach your family that no matter what happens in our life, Heavenly Father and Jesus have prepared a way for us to return to them.


Possible scriptures: Isaiah 1:18; Isaiah 53:3-12; Matthew 26:28; John 5:26; John 15:13; 1 Peter 3:18; 1 Nephi 11:32-33; 2 Nephi 2:8 (really the whole chapter); 2 Nephi 9:4-9 (once again, the whole chapter is good); 2 Nephi 25:26; Jacob 4:11; Mosiah 3:7-11; Mosiah 3:19; Mosiah 4:2; Mosiah 15:1-9; Mosiah 16:6-8; Alma 7:14; Alma 12:24; Alma 34:8-16; Alma 42:11-30; Helaman 14:15-19; 3 Nephi 11:14; Ether 3:14; Moroni 7:41; Doctrine and Covenants 20:22-27;

Possible Songs: God Loved Us, So He Sent His Son, Hymn 187; I Stand All Amazed, Hymn 193; Behold the Great Redeemer Die, Hymn 191; He Died! The Great Redeemer Died, hymn 192; How Great the wisdom and the Love, Hymn 195; Upon the Cross of Calvary, Hymn 184; He Sent His Son, Children’s Songbook page 34; I Lived in Heaven, Children’s Songbook page 4; The Third Article of Faith, Children’s Songbook page 123; To Think About Jesus, Children’s Songbook page 71; I Thank Thee, Dear Father, Children’s Songbook page 7.

Possible Materials: My stepping stones and puzzle pieces (you may have to trick your printer on orientation. Someday I’ll fix the document itself…); a blanket, blue if you have one; a picture of Alma the Younger; any picture you have of Jesus in Gethsemane; Scripture figures of the story of Lazarus.


Preparation: Begin with prayer. Ask yourself when the last time was that you thought about the Atonement. Is there some way you need to apply it to your life? Read the suggested scriptures, Mosiah 26-28 and Alma 36-38, 40-43, as well as Matthew 26:36-4; Mark 14:33-41; Luke 22:41-44. Read through the lesson, including any links, and carefully select the most relevant material for your family. Children: Watch the videos on Alma the Younger, Lazarus, and Jesus in Gethsemane. Ask a grownup to help you print and cut the stepping stones and puzzle and to find a blanket to be like a river.

Lesson:

Discuss how last week’s challenge went.

Introduction: Ask your family to recall what they know about the Plan of Salvation. When we were with Heavenly Father, we were so excited to come to earth and gain bodies and experiences. Lay out a blanket across the ground (blue for a river, if you can). Tell your family that in order to make it back to Heavenly Father we needed a way to overcome some problems: we needed to overcome death and we needed a way to repent of our sins. Those problems are like a big river we needed to cross. We want to get to the other side so that we can return to Heavenly Father. We can’t jump the river, it’s to big. Hold up a picture of Jesus and tell your family that Jesus our Older Brother agreed to make stepping stones so that we could cross. Pull out your pile of stepping stones with the puzzle pieces on the bottom. (If your family is older you could skip the “river” and just tell your family you are going to find the answer on how to get back to Heavenly Father by solving the puzzle. Have the puzzle pieces covering a picture of the Savior).

  1. Overcoming the Fall: 1 Corinthians 15:22. When Adam fell, our bodies became corruptible. In order to return to live with Heavenly Father again, we needed to have bodies that could be perfected like His. We also know that mercy requires that we aren’t trapped in the sins of our ancestors (see the 2nd Article of Faith)
  2. Breaking the Bands of Death: John 5:25-29. Because Jesus was the Only Begotten, He had the power to overcome death and be resurrected. He also suffered greater than any mortal man could withstand (see Mosiah 3:7). From the Scriptures: Jesus had this power long before he was hanging on the cross. Hold up he figures of Jesus, Lazarus, and his sisters. Read or summarize the story in John 11 about Lazarus being raised from the dead. Christ testified that he was the resurrection and the life. Martha knew this was because he was the Son of God.
  3. Changing our Hearts: From the Scriptures: Hold up a picture of Alma the Younger. Summarize the story of his conversion. For older families read Alma 36:12-21 aloud. For younger families, just read verse 21. Talk about how Alma’s heart had changed. Once he understood the power of the atonement, his life was focused on being worthy of that atonement.
  4. Applying our Repentance: Doctrine and Covenants 19:16-19. Because of the atonement, when we are sorry for what we did, there is a way to wipe it away like it never happened. That way is called repentance. We have to do our part to make it right; but once we do our part, Jesus makes up the rest. We must do all that we can in order to meet the demands of justice and to learn from our mistakes.
  5. Fulfilling the Demands of Justice: Doctrine and Covenants 45:3-5. Christ lived the perfect life, and yet he paid for all of the sins of not only you and I but everyone that has or will ever live.
  6. Validating the Law of Mercy: Alma 7:11-13. Because Christ knows what we have gone, are going, and will go through, He knows what is in our hearts. He also knows how to help us! When we are to stand before God and be judged, Jesus will be there. He will reason with Heavenly Father and explain our case for us. He will know what the circumstances of each choice was and how we acted and felt.
  7. Offering His Help and Love: 2 Nephi 9:20-21. Christ knows everything we are going through. No one else will ever completely understand. If we ever feel alone or misunderstood, we can remember that the atonement applies to those feelings, too. He is there for us. He will help us. By giving all of our sins and sorrows to Jesus, our burdens may become light. See Matthew 11:28-30.


From Church History: Elder Orson F. Whitney relates how we are all like the Apostles of Jesus, and how by not applying the atonement into our lives, we are essentially “asleep.” Read the highlighted section of an address given in 1926. Ask your family how Elder Whitney felt. How would you have felt to see the Savior suffering and knowing it was for you?

Further Discussion:

Watch this video or read the parable given in the talk entitled The Mediator, by Boyd K. Packer (1977). Discuss the feelings you felt as a family. Ask them what we buy and to whom we owe the debt? How does the Savior qualify as our mediator? (He was perfect and willing. What are Christ’s terms to qualify for his mediation? (He asks us to repent and serve Him).

Read Doctrine and Covenants 29:39-44 and talk about how the Fall was a necessary step and how because of the Fall, we needed an Atonement. If we did not have the fall, the atonement would not have been necessary, because we would not have had agency; however, we also would not have made any progress or gained any knowledge.

Recent Conference talks to consider in your discussion: Click here to see a list of talks on the atonement.

Challenge:

Read Article of Faith #3 to your family. Explain any words your family may not know. Challenge them to memorize the article of faith. If they have already memorized the article of faith, memorize Doctrine and Covenants 19:16.


Giving due credit: as usual, I read and learned from Gospel Principles Chapter 12, and the Family Home Evening Resource Manual Lesson 9, and Gospel Topics on the Atonement.

FHE

Sunday Is a Special Day

Keira

Purpose: To reinforce among family members the reasons we keep the Sabbath Day holy.


Possible scriptures: Exodus 20:8-11 (Deuteronomy 5:12-15, Mosiah 13: 16-19); Exodus 23:12 (Leviticus 23:3); Isaiah 56:2; Isaiah 58:13-14; Mosiah 18:23; Doctrine and Covenants 68:29;

Possible Songs: Welcome, Welcome, Sabbath Morning, Hymn 280; We Meet, Dear Lord, Hymn 151; Gently Raise the Sacred Strain, Hymn 146; Sabbath Day, Hymn 148; Oh May My Soul Commune with Thee, Hymn 123; Saturday, Children’s Songbook page 196; Remember the Sabbath Day, Children’s Songbook page 155; Heavenly Father, While I Pray, Children’s Songbook page 23b; I Want to Be Reverent, Children’s Songbook page 28b; Reverence, Children’s Songbook page 27a; Reverence is Love, Children’s Songbook page 31;

Possible Materials: Ice cream! A picture of Christ (pick one that closest fits the story you choose below); A picture of the pioneers resting and worshiping on Sunday.


Preparation: Begin with prayer. Read the suggested scriptures, as well as the stories contained in: Matthew 12:1-8, Mark 2:23-28, and Luke 6:1-5 (Picking corn on the Sabbath); Matthew 12:9-13, Mark 3:1-5, and Luke 6:6-11 (healing a withered hand); Luke13:11-17 (healing the hunched woman); Luke 14:1-5 (healing dropsy), John 5:1-18 (Healing at the pool of Bethesda), and John 9:6-33 (Healing the man born blind). Pick your favorite story to share with your family. Read through the lesson, including any more links, and carefully select the most relevant material for your family. Children: Watch this story about Jesus healing on the Sabbath and this video about Why the Sabbath Is Needed (from KnowWhy on Book of Mormon Central).

Lesson:

Discuss how last week’s challenge went.

Introduction: Read Genesis 2:3. Tell your family that Heavenly Father made the 7th day special. Then read Mark 2:27. Have your family say the word, “Sabbath.” Tell them that Sabbath means rest in Hebrew, the language that Jesus spoke while he was on the earth. Tell your family that Jesus says that Heavenly Father gave us Sundays as a gift. Ask if they feel like Sunday is a gift? Why or why not? Now read Isaiah 58:13. Ask your family what it means that the Sabbath is a delight? Explain that it’s like a special treat. Like ice cream! How do you think that Sundays are a treat like Ice cream? For every way that the Sabbath is a delight, add a scoop of ice cream (or these paper scoops) to the bowl. Some possible ideas include:

  • It is a day to remember Heavenly Father and Jesus. When we are rushing around all week, sometimes we are just too busy to think about all that Heavenly Father has done for us because we are busy getting everything else done. Dedicating one day a week to thinking about Jesus helps us remember how great we feel with Him as the center of our lives. It puts our daily tasks back in focus.
  • It is a day that we can renew our covenants with Heavenly Father. We get to take the sacrament. Read Doctrine and Covenants 59:9-12 (you may want to keep it marked for later). Tell your family that the footnote says, “oblations,” means, “offerings, whether of time, talents, or means, in service of God and fellowman.”
  • It is a day we can go to church meetings. We can visit with others, interact, and learn from them. We can worship together and sing hymns that help us feel the spirit.
  • It is an easy way to tell Heavenly Father we love Him and want to be “His.” Heavenly Father says it is a sign. Read Exodus 31:13. What is it a sign of? Now read verses 16-17. Perpetual means it is always there and always renewing. What covenant are we renewing when we keep the Sabbath day?
  • We are promised that if we keep the Sabbath day holy, we will be blessed with the things of the earth. Read Doctrine and Covenants 59:13-20 and Leviticus 26:2-12. How will keeping the Sabbath day bless us? These are some pretty great blessings!
  • The sabbath is a delight because it lets us rest our bodies. Our bodies need rest!
  • It is a day that we can serve others. When we aren’t busy doing our own thing, we can look around and see what others need, and give it!
  • It is a day we can play and learn and have fun with our families! Heavenly Father gave us families because they’re the best way to learn and be happy, but if we don’t spend time together and get to know one another, families can get hard. By spending time as a family, we learn how to be together.
  • It is a quieter day. It gives us time to hear our own thoughts and check in with ourselves. If Heavenly Father and Jesus rested on the 7th day, we can be sure that it is an important principle. I think Heavenly Father and Jesus wanted to show us exactly how important it is to rest. Heavenly Father has a perfected body and Jesus did not yet have a body and yet they rested from their labors.
  • Sunday is a gift to us because its a day that we can stop and think about how we are doing, if there is anything we need or need to improve on, and make a game plan for how to do better next week.
  • Sunday is a day to share God’s work! We can share the gospel with our friends, invite them to church, do family history work, talk with family members about gospel questions or concerns, serve others, and share God’s love with them.
  • It is one less day per week to spend money! If we avoid restaurants, we spend less money. If we set a rule to not buy things on Sunday, we control that urge to spend money, and thereby spend less. If we don’t partake of paid-for entertainments on Sunday, we save that money for other things.


From World History: Have you ever actually thought about why we have a 7-day week? We are told in the scriptures that Heavenly Father created the world in 7 days and rested for 1. It is interesting that this pattern can be seen in ancient civilizations like the Babylonians, Chinese, and Japanese. To the Babylonians (and the Jews), the number 7 had particular divine significance, as it did with the early Jewish people. The Babylonians were so powerful that they influenced all of the cultures around them. Then, even the Greeks and Romans adopted the 7-day week. It became “official,” when Emperor Constantine and the Nicaean Creed solidified the calendar for his people, designating Sunday as a holiday.

From the Scriptures: At the time that Jesus lived on the earth, the leaders of his people had become very strict on what people could do on the Sabbath. They made rules about how far people could walk and what knots people could tie and how to make bread on Sunday. When Jesus healed people on Sunday, the people that made all the rules were Angry. He tried to teach them that Sunday isn’t about rules, but on doing Heavenly Father’s work and growing closer to Him. Share your favorite story from the preparation section on Christ’s teachings and miracles on the Sabbath.

From Church History: Hold up a picture of the Pioneers studying the scriptures. Read the following paragraph to your family:

The main company of pioneers had arrived and begun planting on a Saturday. The next day was Sunday, and even though there was much work to do, the pioneers rested from their labors and held worship services to thank Heavenly Father for bringing them safely to the valley. They were grateful to finally have a place where they could live in peace. That Sunday Brigham Young preached to the Saints and reminded them of the importance of keeping the Sabbath day holy. Wilford Woodruff recorded: “He told the brethren that they must not work on Sunday, [and if they did,] they would lose five times as much as they would gain by it” (quoted in Carter E. Grant, The Kingdom of God Restored, p. 430).

See Lesson 41 of Primary book 5

Tell your families that the saints were very eager to get settled and make sure to get some crops and plants in the ground to make sure there would be enough food to keep everyone healthy and fed all winter. When you need time to grow crops, it is easy to conclude that each and every day counts. This was a new place, they didn’t know when it would snow or how long they would have to harvest! And it wasn’t spring anymore, but summertime! Plus, they needed to find a way to get water to their plants, and to till the ground (that was very hard because it had never been tilled before). It would have been a strong act of faith to even wait that one more day to plant! Sometimes something as simple as keeping the sabbath day can seem really hard, but Heavenly Father helped them get their harvest in, and He can help us when we struggle to keep his commandments, too.

Further Discussion:

One way that it can become easier to keep the sabbath day holy is to prepare in advance, or get ready on Saturday. Discuss with your family some suggestions that they can do to prepare for Sunday. The list may include: clean the house, prepare clothing, fuel the car, get things ready for Sunday dinner, go to bed early enough that you do not struggle to get up and get ready for church.

Recent Conference talks to consider in your discussion: Click Here for talks on the Sabbath Day. [I really enjoyed Elder Bednar’s talk from April 2021].

Challenge:

Ask your family to pay particular attention to their coming Sabbath day activities and take a personal evaluation on if there is a way that they need to improve. Tell them that they can decide if they would like to share anything next week.


Giving due credit: as usual, I read and learned from the Sunbeams Manual Lesson 15 (Nursery Manual lesson 8), Gospel Principles Chapter 24, and the Family Home Evening Resource Manual Lesson on the Sabbath, and “Sabbath” from both the bible dictionary and Gospel Topics. A few talks and articles were exceptionally helpful, including Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy from the February 2000 Ensign, and the talk by President Russell M. Nelson entitled The Sabbath is a Delight from the April 2015 conference, Lord of the Sabbath from Jesus the Christ by Elder James E. Talmage.

FHE

The 10 Commandments mini-FHE

Keira

Here is a quick lesson on the 10 commandments based on the needs of our family. Sometimes it’s important to teach what your family needs, not what is scheduled.

Print off and color this picture of Moses with the commandments. It has an age-appropriate telling of Moses receiving them as well. Then print off these 10 commandment “finger puppets.” and cut and tape the sides so that fingers can still fit inside the bottom of each commandment like a mini glove for your finger. You may consider 1 copy per family member (it’ll give the little family members something to touch).

Children: Watch this video on Moses getting the commandments. Older children may watch this one as well, but it’s too much story for younger families.

Hold up this picture of Moses. Tell your family that Moses wanted to help his people make good choices so that they could go back to live with Heavenly Father again. Heavenly Father gave Moses 2 big flat rocks cut out of the side of the mountain. On the rocks, He wrote 10 commandments, or rules, that he wanted the people to remember. Say this fingerplay with your family. Then say that we are going to learn what Heavenly Father wanted us to remember. For each puppet, talk about what the commandment is as found in Exodus 20:3-17.

  1. Always put Heavenly Father first. He is the only God.
  2. Do not worship anything except Heavenly Father. That means don’t pray to or make something more important than Heavenly Father.
  3. Don’t say Heavenly Father’s name without respect. Every time we say Heavenly Father or God, we should do it with love and thinking about who He is.
  4. Remember that Sunday is for Remembering Heavenly Father, and keep it Holy. Work 6 days and rest on the 7th.
  5. We need to listen to and obey our father and mother.
  6. Do not kill.
  7. Keep wedding promises.
  8. Do not steal.
  9. Do not tell lies or gossip.
  10. Don’t be jealous of what someone else has.

At the end of the lesson, say the fingerplay one more time. Challenge your family to memorize the 10 commandments in order and what they are about.

For complete FHE lessons, or to learn more, click here.

FHE

He Lives! Easter FHE

Keira

Purpose: To help each member of the family focus on the Savior this Easter and remember that through the resurrection, we can return to our bodies and live forever.


Possible scriptures: Any in Matthew 21-28, Mark 11, 14-16, Luke 19-20, 22-24, or John 12-13, 18-20 (the triangles on the right will allow you to go to the next chapter); Guide to the scriptures on the Atonement; 1 Ne. 11:32–33; 2 Ne. 2:7; 2 Nephi 9:6–26;  Alma 7:11–13; Alma 11:41–45; any verse or verses from Alma 40 or 41; Doctrine & Covenants 19:16–19; any verse or verses from 1 Corinthians 15 (there are quite a few well-known verses in this chapter); Article of Faith #3 

Possible Songs: All Creatures of Our God and King, Hymn 62; Christ the Lord is Risen Today, Hymn 200; He is Risen!, Hymn 199; I Believe in Christ, Hymn 134; I know That My Redeemer Lives, Hymn 136; My Redeemer Lives, Hymn 135; He Sent His Son, Children’s Songbook page 34; On a Golden Springtime, Children’s Songbook page 88; Jesus Has Risen, Children’s Songbook page 70; Easter Hosanna, Children’s Songbook page 68; To Think about Jesus, Children’s Songbook page 71

Possible Materials: Empty plastic eggs. The rest will vary depending on what works for your family.

Preparation: Begin with prayer. Address this lesson with enthusiasm and gratitude. Think about what you want to get out of the Easter season this year. Read the suggested scriptures. Read through the lesson, including any links, and carefully select the most relevant material for your family. Children: Think about what Easter is all about. Fill an Easter basket with your favorite things about Easter, then gather enough empty eggs for each member of your family. Then watch the videos about the week of Jesus’ death, including the triumphal entry, the Last Supper, Christ in Gethsemane, Christ on trial, Christ being crucified, and Christ risen again [Note to parents: for younger attention spans, pick the videos you deem most appropriate for your child or have them watch this very summarized version].

Lesson:

Discuss how last week’s challenge went.

Introduction: Pull out an Easter basket filled with commercial Easter items. Hand the family each an empty egg and ask them to find something that fits in the egg that makes them think about Easter. Make suggestions throughout about new birth and spring flowers starting to grow, or anything related to the Savior. The idea is to understand that each of these things has a place. When the family has regrouped, start with the youngest member of your family and ask each person what they found. Each selection is good, because it brings happy memories, even if it doesn’t focus on the Savior. Tell your family that Easter is all about Jesus! We celebrate the day that Jesus was resurrected. The last week of Jesus’ life, he did a lot to get ready to return to His Heavenly Father and to make it so that we could return, too. Tell your family that we are going to

From the Scriptures: Click here and pick the best Easter-themed activity for your family (sorry, I just didn’t want to clog up this whole post with options. I figure it’s hard enough to stay focused on so many words already!)

Further Discussion:

Ask the family why we celebrate at Easter time. The responses will turn towards focusing on Jesus, but get the family to think even deeper. Emphasize the word Celebrate. Easter is about Jesus’ death and all of the pain and agony he felt. Why, then, do we celebrate?  We celebrate Easter because Easter is about Jesus’ final triumph in that he overcame death, both spiritual and physical. Easter is Christ’s final victory! We celebrate Easter because of the Atonement! Explain to the family that the Atonement has two parts: the first part is when Christ suffered for the sins of the world in the Garden of Gethsemane. The second part came when he was resurrected after he died on the cross. Both sin and death are part of the mortal experiences we came to earth for; both were part of the plan for us to learn and progress. But both, without the atonement, would keep us stuck and unable to return back to Heavenly Father. 

Recent Conference talks to consider in your discussion:

Challenge:

Ask your family to think about the true reason we celebrate Easter this year by focusing on the events of the last week of his life. Give each family member back their egg and a picture of the Savior to set somewhere they will see it this week.


Giving due credit: as usual, I read and learned from the Sunbeams Manual Lesson 45 (Nursery Manual lesson 29), Gospel Principles Chapter 12, and the Family Home Evening Resource Manual Lesson 36.

FHE, Spiritual

Bringing Christ Back to Easter

Keira

Okay, okay. I Couldn’t pick one favorite Easter activity that fit every year, so I made a list of my favorites.

If you’re looking to focus on Holy Week, or more chronologically focused:

If you’re looking to focus on more of the symbols of Easter:

If you want a very thorough plan to focus on the Savior:

Scripture figures to tell the story of the Resurection: