FHE 5/21: Keeping our Covenants

We've got another parable-based talk this week, this time from Elder Robert D. Hales--"Coming to Ourselves: The Sacrament, The Temple, and Sacrifice in Service."  It's interesting, when I first heard it I was focused on the parable aspect, probably because we had just heard Elder Holland's.  But re-reading it, it's really all about making and keeping our covenants.  But, of course, "covenants" seems so BIG!  You can focus on what a covenant is, or specifics from his talk like what the sacrament means or how to prepare your families for the temple...or even what it means to "come to yourself" as the prodigal son did and "act on our desires" to come to the Lord.  SO MANY THINGS to talk about.  So prayerfully decide what your little family needs and go from there.  I'm putting a little bit of ALL of that here for you this week.  :)

 

POINTS TO PONDER BEFORE YOU BEGIN:

• Do I understand what the sacrament really means?  Do I prepare my family well for such a sacred ordinance each week?
• What covenants have I made already with the Lord?  Where might I be falling short?
• How are coming to yourself and coming to the Lord connected?

QUOTES:

• "Throughout our lives, whether in times of darkness, challenge, sorrow, or sin, we may feel the Holy Ghost reminding us that we are truly sons and daughters of a caring Heavenly Father, who loves us, and we may hunger for the sacred blessings that only He can provide. At these times we should strive to come to ourselves and come back into the light of our Savior’s love."
• On the sacrament: "I testify that the sacrament gives us an opportunity to come to ourselves and experience “a mighty change” of heart—to remember who we are and what we most desire. As we renew the covenant to keep the commandments, we obtain the companionship of the Holy Ghost to lead us back into our Heavenly Father’s presence. No wonder we are commanded to “meet together oft to partake of [the] bread and [water]” and to partake of the sacrament to our souls.^"
• On temple recommends: "Worthiness to hold a temple recommend gives us the strength to keep our temple covenants. How do we personally gain that strength? We strive to obtain a testimony of Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, the Holy Ghost, the reality of the Atonement, and the truthfulness of the Prophet Joseph Smith and the Restoration. We sustain our leaders, treat our families with kindness, stand as a witness of the Lord’s true Church, attend our Church meetings, honor our covenants, fulfill parental obligations, and live a virtuous life. You may say that sounds like just being a faithful Latter-day Saint! You are right. The standard for temple recommend holders is not too high for us to achieve. It is simply to faithfully live the gospel and follow the prophets."
• On service in God's kingdom: "Whether we are young or old, what we do today determines the service we will be able to render and enjoy tomorrow. As the poet reminds us, 'Of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these: It might have been!"' Let us not live our lives in regret of what we did or did not do!"

SONGS (all from the Children's Songbook):
About baptism/baptismal covenants:

• "Baptism"
• "When I Am Baptized"

About reverence in sacrament meeting:

• "Father, I Will Reverent Be"
• "The Chapel Doors"
• "Reverence is More than Just Quietly Sitting"
• "To Think About Jesus"
• "Before I Take the Sacrament"
• "The Sacrament"

About temples/worthiness:

• "I Love to See the Temple"
• "Choose the Right Way"
• "Keep the Commandments"
• "Seek the Lord Early"

About service:

• "'Give,' Said the Little Stream"
• "Fun to Do"
• "When We're Helping (We're Happy)"
• "I Have Two Little Hands"

OBJECT LESSONS:

• Baptismal covenants are one of the "keys" to eternal life.  Check out the full object lesson HERE.
• There's a cool idea HERE where you use a hard-boiled egg to represent us, and you draw all over the shell with crayon to represent different sins or weaknesses.  Then, because of baptism, or later repentance and renewing our baptismal covenants through the sacrament, we can shed our outer layers of skin and become clean/whole again (you peel the egg). 
• I love this one: teaching kids that ordinances and covenants are inseparable, show them both sides of the coin and ask which is more important or if they can separate it.  Just as these are inseparably connected, ordinances and covenants are BOTH important and they both go hand-in-hand.  (Here I would have family brainstorm a list of ordinances--like baptism, confirmation, the sacrament, endowments, sealings, etc.--and then talk about the covenants that go along with them--or, for REALLY young children, define these things and show pictures from the Gospel Art Kit.) (Came from "Teaching, No Greater Call.")
• Covenants protect us from the "filth" of the world: In a shallow dish/pie pan, pour in water and have it settle a little before you teach.  As you talk about some of the bad things in the world, or the temptations we might have, sprinkle pepper across the top of the water.  Have kids look at how "dirty" it could be.  BUT, if we keep our covenants, we are strong enough to repel those unclean thoughts and stand up to the world's filth--place the tip of the soap into the peppered water and watch the pepper flakes run away!
• There's a fun, quick idea HERE about helping children to understand that covenants are really just promises.
• Decisions are like dominoes: Set up a short domino course and talk about cause and effect (AKA Choices and Consequences) as you knock it down.  (You could relate it to the parable here--how the prodigal son was greedy, so he left, and because he left, he didn't have any money or support system, and because of that, when famine hit he got REALLY hungry...etc.)  Talk about how the Lord can help us set the course back up and inspire us how the path of our lives should go as we repent and come to Him.  And we can have multiple paths open up to us because of His promises!

 

GAMES & LEARNING ACTIVITIES:

• If you're lucky enough to live close to a temple, take your kids on an evening walk around the grounds...talk about how they feel there and what they can do to prepare to go inside someday. You can even hold mock-interviews so they understand, as Elder Hales said, that temple worthiness is really just living the gospel and following the prophets. 
• Pick one of the Primary songs listed above that you don't know all that well (or that your family doesn't) and learn it.  Find a way to teach it to your kiddos/family--through objects, pictures, or just listening to it and going through line-by-line.  Music has a way of teaching pure doctrine and helping people *absorb* gospel truths in a lasting way.  :)
• Act out the parable of the prodigal son!  (Or you can show a video clip...LDS.org has one HERE.)  Make sure you draw parallels between the father in this story and our Heavenly Father's love for us!
• There is a GREAT lesson idea about the sacrament that uses Gospel Art Kit pictures (and she has some printables, too, including a coloring page!) HERE.
• From the same site as above, there's a lesson about preparing for baptism HERE.
• To illustrate the value of making covenants with the Lord, invite the strongest and smallest members of your family to stand. Ask the person to imagine that the strongest family member represents Christ while the smallest represents each of us. Using a rope, handcuffs, or other material, tie the hands of these two people together. Ask them how the weaker person would be helped by uniting with the strongest. How is a covenant with Christ similar to being tied to or bound to Him? (Dennis H. Leavitt and Richard O. Christensen, Scripture Study for Latter-day Saint Families: Book of Mormon, [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2003], p. 121.)
• The son in the parable misstepped a lot in the beginning, but in the end he returned to his father's house.  We can walk by faith down the right path, too.  Cut out six footprints and attach one of the six pictures found HERE (go down to the middle-end of the lesson) to each footprint.  Have these footprints lead to a picture of a baptism--maybe even yours, if you have one--and discuss each step.  (Full instructions can be found at that link.)
• Reverence in sacrament meeting activity idea from the Primary 2 manual: "Ask the children to listen carefully as you read some statements about things they could do or think about during the sacrament. Tell the children that if the statement describes something they should do or think about during the sacrament, they should stand up. If the statement describes something they should not do or think about during the sacrament, they should sit down. Use the following statements or create some of your own: Remember that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love us. Think about going out to play. Think about Jesus making sick people well. Whisper and talk to your neighbor. Wiggle in your seat. Think about the sacrament song or another song about Jesus. Say a prayer to Heavenly Father. Draw pictures or play with a toy. Remember stories about Jesus."
• A big part of keeping covenants is choosing the right!  There's a free CTR gameboard and questions HERE.
• Play BAPTISM BINGO!  I made you a print-and-play game, which you can download HERE, that has a bunch of questions about baptism and the covenants we make there in a BINGO-format.  There are pictures in the boxes, and directions and answers are included.  :)

HANDOUTS & FREEBIES:

• COLORING: There are two coloring pages about baptism HERE.  There are images on THIS PAGE that you could easily put into a word document and make into a coloring page about baptism. There are some about sacrament, temples, AND service on THIS PAGE.  HERE are some temple images for coloring.  There's a coloring page of children being reverent HERE. 
• Pass out a copy of "My Gospel Standards" (you can buy it from the distribution center online)--it reviews ways children can keep their covenants.
• There's a great subway art about baptism available for free HERE.  There's another one for $6 on Etsy HERE.
• There are beautiful, antiqued temple pictures HERE.  :)
• You can buy this BEAUTIFUL print about temple prep for super-cheap HERE.

 

CRAFTS & MORE:

• Make a Sunday Binder filled with file folder games, LDS-themed coloring sheets, etc. (or just print off that quiet book you've been wanting to for a while now) to keep the little ones focused on the gospel during sacrament meeting!  If you can find pictures of ordinances, especially, it will remind them of the covenants they will be making one day!
• There's a neat spinny wheel kids' craft at the bottom of the page HERE that you cut, color, and use a brass fastener--it helps your kids focus on the Savior more during Sacrament especially.
• You could make these super-cute white dress hankies to give out as reminders. :)

 

TREATS:

• Hardboiled Eggs (especially if you did the object lesson above!)
• Homemade bread and flavored water
• Something/anything "white" to represent purity/worthiness
• Anything pig-shaped (for the pig food in the parable)--you can cut a small watermelon INTO a pig (instructions HERE) and have melon balls!
• Baptism KIT KATS! (Idea from HERE)

I love the challenge Elder Hales gives us: "I challenge each of us to follow our spiritual desires and come to ourselves. Let’s have a talk with ourselves in the mirror and ask, “Where do I stand on living my covenants?” We are on the right path when we can say, “I worthily partake of the sacrament each week, I am worthy to hold a temple recommend and go to the temple, and I sacrifice to serve and bless others.”  I know I have some things to work on after reading this talk; I could be better, much better, about keeping my covenants and understanding the Sacrament.  But I will work on it, because I want to be able to look myself in the mirror and answer well.

FHE 4/9: FAMILIES ARE FOREVER

More to come, I just wanted to put this out there now so you can start looking through it all...there's a LOT this week!

This week, I'm combining the first two talks of Conference (minus President Monson's opening remarks--the ones by President Boyd K. Packer as well as Sister Cheryl A. Esplin) because they are both GREAT talks about eternal families.  I felt like they both spoke more to parents and all leaders than to children, and they are great resources for YOU when you're trying to capture the vision of WHY you're doing FHE, family prayer, family scripture study, etc.  But to make this applicable to your children, too, I'm going to focus more on the aspect touched on in both talks that families are where we learn and grow, find joy, and hope to be together in the eternities. 

As such, there are a WIDE range of activities you can do--anything related to families, temples, etc.  So I have a MUCH *broader* list than I probably will in the future.  Pick and choose in the direction that you feel YOUR family needs to go this week!

SO.  Without further ado:

POINTS TO PONDER AS YOU READ THE TALKS/PREPARE/BEFORE YOU BEGIN:

• What does it mean to "become as a little child?"  What lessons do my children teach me?
• What do we do WELL together as a family/when are we happiest?  When are the toughest parts of our day?
• Forever families don't just happen.  What can we do to strengthen our family?

SONGS:

• Families Can Be Together Forever
• I Love to See the Temple
• We Are a Happy Family
• The Family Is of God
• My Eternal Family
• Family Night

OBJECT LESSONS:

• Family Unity: the timeless "stick" example.  You know the one.  You hold up a small twig and have one of the kids break it, easily.  But then you show how much stronger it is when there are multiple sticks together--MUCH harder to break.  We gotta STICK together as a family! :)
• Family Unity/Cooperation: candy bar challenge.  Have a candy bar (or other small treat) on either side of the room.  Have children link arms behind their backs.  Tell them they have 10 seconds to get their candy bar (the one they're facing).  Most likely your children will struggle against each other the whole time and neither will get the candy--unless one is much stronger, and then they will "win."  But point out (maybe Mom and Dad should do the same challenge) that if you work together and take turns, you BOTH get your candy with time to spare and everyone is happy!  Talk about how this is true in your family life.
• Family Unity: knit together.  If someone knits or crochets, "knit" together multiple colorful strands of yarn into a small square while your family reads and discusses the scripture Mosiah 18:21 together.  Show how much stronger, prettier, and more useful all the yarns are when they are knit together than just one lonely strand.
• Family Unity: drawing near.  Put a picture of Christ down on the floor and have everyone stand away from it in a circle around it.  Then have everyone take a step or two closer to the picture.  Point out that when we draw near to Christ, we also draw near to each other.  The converse is also true--when we work together as families and draw near to each other, we draw closer to the Savior.
• Family Environment: bucket fillers. This is a popular one in education--there are even picture books about it and a website here.  Basically the idea is that we all carry an invisible bucket that contains our feelings. When our bucket is full, we feel great. When our bucket is empty, we feel sad. A bucket filler is someone who says or does nice things for other people. By doing this, they are filling other people's buckets and filling their own bucket at the same time.  If we do or say mean things, however, we are a bucket dipper.  You could have small buckets/pails (or even mailboxes from dollar store) and have kids think of ways to fill each others' buckets, putting a marble in for each idea.
• Family Environment: food coloring and bleach.  Have two glasses about a quarter full of clear "water"--one with water, one with a small bleach.  Talk about all the things we do that make our home not a happy place to be--not sharing, not being polite or grateful, grumbling, disobeying--and each time add a drop of food coloring.  Show how murky and muddy our home can be.  Then, using an eye dropper, draw clear "water" from the bleach and add drops of GOOD things we can do--cleaning up, helping each other, being kind, using our words instead of our hands when we're mad, etc.  Show how those good choices can disperse the gloom and make our home clean and bright and happy.
• Family Environment: crayons.  We did a variation of this one in primary.  We gave each of the kids a crayon--only one--and then told them to draw a beautiful rainbow.  Most of them were not happy that they couldn't trade or share crayons.  We then told them to think about what the world would be like if EVERYTHING were only that color and they could only ever use that one crayon for the rest of their whole lives.  Not too fun, huh?  Then we brought them together to draw a big rainbow with all the colors and admired how much prettier it was.  We likened this to the differences we all have in our talents and interests and strengths and talked about how this made the world a more colorful, interesting, and beautiful place!  This is especially true in families.

GAMES & LEARNING ACTIVITIES:

• Forever Family: Take a picture of your family (print one off, include extended family if possible) and cut it into a few puzzle pieces.  Hide the pieces around the room/house and have kids find them and put them together.  Discuss how it would feel if any piece of that puzzle of a family were missing.
• Forever Family: Have children, and then parents, take turns leaving the room.  The rest of the family looks around and sees what it would be like if that child or parent weren't in their family.  List a few things you would definitely miss about each one.  Come together and talk about how EVERY family member is important and you want to be together FOREVER.  Show them a picture of the temple and talk about how temples make it possible.
• Forever Family: After discussing what temples look like and what they have in common, have children build little temples with sugar cubes, blocks, LEGOs, or whatever else is on hand. 
• Forever Family: Cut out pictures of each member of your family (or just draw stick figures) and lay each picture down on a picture of the temple.  Then put a blanket over it, and take one family member away.  Have the kids identify who is missing.  Tell them you don't want ANYONE missing in your forever family, and only by following Jesus' teachings AND being sealed in the temple is it possible!
• What do the prophets say about families?  HERE is a cute matching game, best suited for children between 4 and 10, to help you find out!
• Importance of Families in the Plan: show a picture of baby birds in a nest (there are some good ones on THIS PAGE) and ask them questions about who feeds the babies, why they need parents, etc.  Then show a picture of the Nativity and talk about why even Jesus Christ needed parents and a family on this earth.  Finally, show a picture of YOUR family and discuss what we each do for each other.
• Importance of Parents: play Simon Says for a few rounds, with the parents taking turns as the leaders.  Talk about why it's important to listen to your parents ALWAYS and how you are trying to help them grow up healthy, strong, powerful, and loved, which is why you teach them what to do.
• Importance of Family Time: The Family Proclamation says that wholesome family recreation is an important part of an eternal family!  Have each child name one fun thing the whole family could do together this month and calendar it, right then and there!  Showing that you're listening to what THEY want to do will help them feel of your love.
• Family Proclamation Go Fish: This adorable idea found HERE from Being LDS has your children drawing important family-related principles and objects on cards you make and label.  Then you could play Go Fish with them!  Click the link for more details!

CRAFTS:

• Make a crafty family tree--use each person's handprint as a colorful leaf, or thumbprint if you want to go smaller. I have a whole BOARD of family tree craft ideas on Pinterest, HERE.
• Get a copy of the Proclamation on the Family and read pieces of it together.  Highlight favorite parts or important words.  Then, take pictures of your own family and put them around it--you can frame it, or just tape the pictures to the back of it and hang it up on the fridge!
• With teenage girls, there's a cute idea for a lesson and banner craft HERE.
• Make family puppets!  You can make this easy and just tape/glue a picture of each family member to a popsicle stick, or you can have kids make rectangular finger puppets out of self-portraits, etc.  Use these in your FHE lessons now or in the future, or use them to spice up some family routines (like drawing who says a prayer or who gets to pick dessert first, etc.)  You could also do this in felt for a flannel board--make "paper dolls" out of felt for each family member.
• Temple crafts!  There are SO MANY temple crafts out there, I'm going to let you have at it.  Any of them could reinforce the idea that you want a forever family!
• Also from Being LDS, a whole list of 30 activities/crafts based on lines from the Family Proclamation can be found HERE!  Any or all of them would definitely fit the theme.  I think you could EASILY spend a whole year studying the Family Proclamation in FHE.  Maybe I'll think on that later.  :)

HANDOUTS, FREEBIES, AND MORE:

• Melonheadz LDS Illustrating has some cute, simple coloring pages available for free HERE, HERE, and HERE.
• There's a great Proclamation on the Family subway art for $10, if that's your thing, HERE.
• If your FHE focused more on the temple aspect of a forever family, consider making/handing out something like these mirrors HERE--they say "See Yourself in the Temple."  You could easily write/draw on little mirrors with permanent markers if you don't have etching paste or vinyl on hand!
• I've got some temple handouts for you.  They're meant to be printed as 4"x6" and then cut down to 3"x4".  Let me know if you have a specific temple in mind and want one.  :)

DC temple download

Provo temple download

SLC temple download

Rexburg temple download

QUOTES:
From President Packer:

• (Speaking of holding a hungry child): "You were holding a nation on your lap."
• "The ultimate end of all activity in the Church is to see a husband and his wife and their children happy at home, protected by the principles and laws of the gospel, sealed safely in the covenants of the everlasting priesthood. Husbands and wives should understand that their first calling—from which they will never be released—is to one another and then to their children."
• "There are many things about living the gospel of Jesus Christ that cannot be measured by that which is counted or charted in records of attendance."
• "Fathers and mothers, next time you cradle a newborn child in your arms, you can have an inner vision of the mysteries and purpose of life. You will better understand why the Church is as it is and why the family is the basic organization in time and in eternity. I bear witness that the gospel of Jesus Christ is true, that the plan of redemption, which has been called the plan of happiness, is a plan for families."

From Sister Esplin:

• "Sometimes the most powerful way to teach our children to understand a doctrine is to teach in the context of what they are experiencing right at that moment. These moments are spontaneous and unplanned and happen in the normal flow of family life. They come and go quickly, so we need to be alert and recognize a teaching moment when our children come to us with a question or worry, when they have problems getting along with siblings or friends, when they need to control their anger, when they make a mistake, or when they need to make a decision."
• "Learning to fully understand the doctrines of the gospel is a process of a lifetime and comes “line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little” (2 Nephi 28:30). As children learn and act upon what they learn, their understanding is expanded, which leads to more learning, more action, and an even greater and more enduring understanding.
  We can know our children are beginning to understand the doctrine when we see it revealed in their attitudes and actions without external threats or rewards. As our children learn to understand gospel doctrines, they become more self-reliant and more responsible. They become part of the solution to our family challenges and make a positive contribution to the environment of our home and the success of our family."

SNACKS:

• Gingerbread men and women--paired and clothed in white, of course!  You could even make a Gingerbread house/temple if you are REALLY inspired.
• If you don't have time for that, just use gingerbread men cookie cutters to cut people shapes out of slices of fruit--melons and apples are especially sturdy--and serve.
• Does your family have a recipe or treat that is special to you?  Is there a secret family recipe?  Enjoy those as a treat and discuss how even traditions and treats preserve family history and bring us closer together!

WHEW!  I hope you find a few things on this list to try out for your FHE.  I know family is SO SO SO important to the Plan of Happiness.  As President Packer said, the Plan is all ABOUT the family!  I'm grateful that we get to be together on this earth with special people who just bring JOY to our lives.  We are so richly blessed to know that we get to be with these people FOREVER if we work for it.  Some days it really IS work, but it is always worth it when we keep our end in sight.  :)