Purpose: to grow closer as a family over the Valentines Day holiday.
Possible scriptures: Malachi 4:6 (see also Doctrine and Covenants 110:15); Matthew 5:43-48 (see also 3 Nephi 12:43-48); Matthew7:12 (see also 3 Nephi14:12); John 13:34 (see also 1 John 3:23); 1 John 2:10; 1 John 4:7; 1 John 4:20-21; Galatians 5:13-14; Ephesians 4:32; Mosiah 4:13-15; Moroni 7:47-48 (see also 1 Corinthians 13:4-8); Doctrine and Covenants 121:41-43;
Possible Songs: Love at Home, Hymn 294; Home Can Be a Heaven on Earth, Hymn 298; Love One Another, Hymn 308, Children’s Songbook page 136; Families Can Be Together Forever, Children’s Songbook page 188; A Happy Family, Children’s Songbook page 198; Here We Are Together, Children’s Songbook page 261; Home, Children’s Songbook page 192; Love Is Spoken Here, Children’s Songbook page 190; The World is So Lovely, Children’s Songbook page 198
Possible Materials: Figures of Joseph Smith’s family; a picture of the Wright brothers’ plane.
Preparation: Begin with prayer. Read the suggested scriptures, Doctrine and Covenants 135, as well as Genesis 37, 39-45. Read through the lesson, including any links, and carefully select the most relevant material for your family. Cut strips of paper to make hearts (probably in pink and red). Children: Watch the Video about Joseph of Egypt and the Famine.
Lesson:
Discuss how last week’s challenge went.
Introduction: Hand each member of your family a piece of paper and have them write a way that they felt love from a family member this week. If they are struggling, help them remember that someone cooked them dinner or cleaned the bathroom or gave them a hug or shared. Once everyone has written something, have them take turns sharing what was written, then have them fold their paper in half and then curl both ends over to make a heart. Staple the first one together inside the curled ends so it keeps its shape. For the second one, loop it through the first heart and then staple it to make a chain (if you need a visual, you can look at the September 2020 friend. There are a couple of different ways to make a heart chain and none of them are wrong. I picked this way because I liked the idea of them linking together, but if you’re drawn to another way, go for it). If you have a small family, you could give each family member 2 hearts. Tell your family that as they do acts of love for their family, the chain grows longer, just as we can grow closer together as a family.
From World History: Being a good brother or sister could even change history! Hold up a picture of the Wright brothers’ plane. Tell your family that Wilbur and Orville were two of 5 siblings. They really liked to play and explore together. Their mother liked to build and create and their father traveled and told them stories about the world. The Wright brothers were especially interested in flying and watched birds to see how they did it. People didn’t believe they would be able to reach their goal, but because they worked together and because they believed in each other and their own talents, they kept going. Eventually, their ideas worked! On December 17, 1903, Orville flew the first plane! And the rest… was history. Because two brothers worked together and talked about their ideas together, we can fly all over the world and even into space! Add a link to your chain and say, “when we work together, we are showing love for our family members.”
From Church History: Hold up the figures of Joseph Smith’s family. First, hold up Joseph Smith. Ask your family if they remember the story about Joseph praying to know which church is true and God came to talk to him. Then hold up the figure of his parents and say, “this is Joseph’s parents. This is his mother. Her name was Lucy. This is his father. His name was Joseph, too! they were good parents that wanted to serve God. When Joseph told them about what happened to him in the grove, they believed him and helped him the rest of his life.” Then hold up the picture of his siblings, and say, “Joseph had 8 brothers and sisters! This brother on the end {point to Hyrum} was Hyrum Smith. He was Joseph’s best friend. When some bad men wanted to throw Joseph in jail for teaching the truth, he asked Hyrum to go hide so that he would not be captured, too. Hyrum did not want to leave Joseph’s side.” Read Doctrine and Covenants 135:3. Add another link to your heart chain and say, “We can show love like Hyrum when we enjoy spending time together and help our family do what God wants us to do.”
From the Scriptures: Hold up the picture of Joseph being sold into Egypt. For younger kids, I prefer the figurines. Tell your family that there was another Joseph, but his brothers weren’t as nice to him. In fact, they were so mean to him that they captured him and sold him for money to some slave drivers. Slave drivers are people that take other people and make them do hard work for no money. These slave drivers took Joseph to Egypt. Joseph worked as a slave for many years, and even spent some time in prison! He did not have a happy time. But he worked hard and trusted Heavenly Father, and eventually became a king’s helper in Egypt. God had sent a famine to Egypt and to all the places around, including to Joseph’s family. A famine is when food doesn’t grow well and people get pretty hungry. Egypt had plenty of food because Joseph listened to Heavenly Father and helped the king store extra food. Joseph’s family was hungry and went to Egypt to ask for food. Hold up the picture of Joseph greeting his brothers. For older families, read Genesis 42-45. For younger families, say that Joseph could have been mad at his family. He could have sent them away without food. But he loved his family and forgave them. His whole family moved to Egypt and had enough food to survive the famine. Add another link to your heart chain and say, “when we forgive our family, we are growing our love for our family.”
Further Discussion:
Talk to your family about how God loves us, His children, with unconditional love. read Matthew 5:43-48 (see also 3 Nephi 12::43-45) and ask what conditional love means. Then open up to Charity in the Guide to the Scriptures. As a family, read the first paragraph, then pick a few verses to read. How can we show more love to our family? Why is it important? Explain to your family that because God loves each of us with His pure love, he wants us to love each other with his pure love.
Recent Conference talks to consider in your discussion: “The Finest Homes,” by L. Whitney Clayton; “God Loves His Children,” by Taniela B. Wakolo; “The Personal Journey of a Child of God,” by Neil L. Andersen; “I Love to See the Temple,” by Henry B. Eyering; “Personal Peace in Challenging Times,” by Quentin L. Cook
Challenge:
Set the heart chain in a prominent spot for your family and challenge them to look for ways this week that others are showing love to them and have them try extra hard this week to do things out of love for one another. See how long you can get your chain to grow this week.
Giving due credit: as usual, I read and learned from the Sunbeams Manual Lesson 25 (Nursery Manual lesson 11), the Family Home Evening Resource Manual Lesson 17. To read more about Hyrum and Joseph, read Heros [sic] and Heroines: A Brother Like Hyrum By Sharon Bigelow, The Legacy of Hyrum by M. Russell Ballard, and Joseph’s Family by M. Russell Ballard. To read more about the Wright brothers, check out Wright-brothers.org, National Park Service’s guide to Dayton’s flight historical sites, and the History Chanel’s story on the Wright brothers.