FHE: Merry Smith's-mas

I jest with the title...

NO, we do not worship Joseph Smith!  BUT, we do like to talk about him, especially when FHE perfectly falls on his birthday!  (December 23). We watched this movie about Joseph Smith's life.  There were a couple of parts that were too scary for our 5 and 3 year old. (our 3-year-old started to cry... :( ) But I think it would be a great tradition when they're a bit older, maybe.

We talked a bit about Joseph Smith after as well, and asked them questions about the movie.  I think it was mostly over their head.

Maybe in the future, just show the kids snippets (like the sacred grove) until their older.

FHE: Let Your Light So Shine...

I read them this scripture:
Matthew 5:16
and we talked about what it meant.  And then we went to look at Christmas lights!!

Very fun :)

In the future, it would probably be a good idea to do some service before seeing lights.  (maybe when our kids don't have 7pm bedtime...)

FHE: Gifts for the Savior

I acted out the story of Jesus with our Little People nativity set (any nativity would probably work though...) and then I talked about how Christmas is really a birthday party for Jesus and we should all think of something to give Jesus this year.  We all wrote down on a paper what we would give him (some kids needed help) and put it in a box and wrapped it to put under the tree.  On Christmas, someone will open it and we'll review our gifts.  Mine was to only use kind words this year.

FHE: Spencer W. Kimball

We just sang the "Latter-day Prophets" song, while flipping through all the Friend magazine back covers from the year and then read the page on "Spencer W. Kimball".  I also mentioned a few other things I learned here.

These would probably be a lot more memorable if I tried to make up a game of some kind that had to do with their lives...

FHE: Gratitude

I just repeated what we did last year, because the kids loved it so much.  They still loved it :)

FHE: Harold B. Lee

Kind of a lame one.  It was hard to find very much about Harold B. Lee, since he was only prophet for a whopping 18 months...  I basically read what was on the back inside cover of the November Friend, after singing through the "Latter-day Prophets" song and pointing to the pictures of each one in the Gospel Art Book.

Here are some links about him, if you want to try doing a better job...  Let me know how it goes. :)

FHE: Struggle is Good

I read this story to the kids and talked about it with them... Then I compared it to why they have to have chores and why they have to sometimes do hard things.

Jay thought it was kind of a harsh story for such younguns...  In retrospect, I'm not sure they really understood it.  I may do this again when they're older.

FHE: Lehi's Dream

We've been reading in the Book of Mormon all year (1 verse a day) and we just finished reading about Lehi's vision in 1 Nephi 8, and I thought it would be good to go over what we just read.

I got some free printables for the kids to color during the day here so I could cut them out and laminate them for that night, though we didn't get enough time to color all of them with a doctor appt in the afternoon, so I probably should have just printed out the colored versions.

I went over the story with them and taped up the corresponding pictures as they were mentioned.  Then after we went through and talked about what the symbols all meant by asking the kids what they thought first.  I was surprised by how much my 5-year-old was able to figure out!

After that, I had set up some yarn all around the back yard (and it was night time, so it was authentically dark, like the mist), ending at a tree we have by our front door that has Christmas lights in it, and I turned it on and put a plate of brownies next to it so we could have some of the "fruit" of the tree of life too.  They really loved that!  This was super fun :)

FHE: ...

the plan was to do the pumpkin carving activity from last year, but uncooperative kids during the day made it so i didn't have time to clean out the insides beforehand, and I really just carved a couple pumpkins with the kids.  we didn't really tie in a spiritual message, as I had wanted.  (also, the hubby is going through a lot at work right now and he got home later than usual, so we started late and i felt rushed.)

oh well- you can't win them all!

FHE: Peer Pressure

I basically used the lesson idea from 52 Weeks, but sort of told the story of the pre-existence quickly and we focused most of our time and attention on the daily choices sign game.  Although, I changed some of them a bit, and added a few extras.  They really liked the choices game (it's amazing what having a sign can do to help foster the conversation) and I really enjoyed asking them why they would say what they would say, and helped them think of nice ways of saying "no" in each situation, or why it would be a good idea to say "yes".

This was very successful, I thought, and I was amazed at how long their attention span was for this!  I think I'll try to use this same "Yes or No" answering format for other topics.  I feel like we had a great discussion!  My husband and I decided to move to eating our treat for the last few questions, since we didn't realize how long we would end up spending on this (and the kids needed to get ready for bed.)

Here are the questions we used:

1. You and your friends are playing in your neighborhood. One of your friends 

says, "I see flower pots on your neighbor's porch. Let’s go and pick 

them for our magic potion!" 

2. Before church your friend says, "Let's both tell our parents we need to use 

the bathroom and we’ll meet in the hall and play during sacrament meeting! I 

brought my DS with me." 

3. Your little sister asks if she can share your new toy. 

4. A new girl comes into Primary and is sitting all alone. She gets up and asks 

"Can I sit next to you?" 

5. You and your friend find a dollar in your neighbor’s driveway. He says, 

"Let's keep this and buy candy with it!" 

6. Your friend forgot her snack for school. You're really hungry. She asks if she 

can share yours. 

7. You are playing at your neighbor's house and they offer you coffee (we also discussed tea and what kinds of teas are "ok") to drink. 

Your friend says, "Just drink it this once. It's so good. You're Mom will never 

know." 

8. Your friends are sitting with you on the school bus and see a shy girl sitting 

alone. They tell you to make a mean face at her. 

9. Your teacher asks if you will miss some recess to help a student in class that 

you don't like very much with her homework. 

10. Your sibling tells you to throw food at the dinner table. 

11. Mom asks you for help clearing the dinner table. 

12. Your sibling asks you to sing songs with them to help cheer up the baby.

FHE: Love God with All Your Heart, Might, Mind & Strength

I got this lesson from The October Friend.  You can find it here.

Prep:
I printed off a picture of a strong arm and a lightbulb and then cut out a heart from red paper.  Then I cut out the pictures provided in the Friend and taped them all around the room.

I started out by having my 5-year-old "read" a scripture (i.e. copy what I say while reading...) D&C 59:5 and talked about what it meant.

Then I had the kids find the little pictures taped all around and had them bring them back and tape them onto the corresponding picture (which was an easy task since there were little arm/lightbulb/heart next to the picture descriptions).  Then we went through and talked about all of them and also asked if they could think of other ways they can serve using our minds, our hearts, and our strength.

My 5-year-old and 3-year-old loved finding the pictures and putting them in the right place, but they were quite rowdy and I'm not sure how much they heard... Although after reading the one about telling your family you love them, my 3-year-old said she loved me :) <3

FHE- Joseph Fielding Smith

I really really failed this week.  We just whipped out the picture of Joseph Fielding Smith from the back inside cover of the October Friend magazine and I read what was there.  (after singing the latter-day prophet song and showing all the old inside back covers...)

I should have read and referenced some things from here.

FHE- Honesty (Take 2)

After the failed ice cream analogy, I thought I'd try this "Lie Monster" lesson on for size.

I think it went over much better.  It's amazing how much more engaging a story is for young kids when you have a visual aid!  I laminated it to save for future use.

FHE: 10 Commandments

We talked about Moses and the 10 commandments.  I found this cute way to remember the 10 commandments and this other way linked to in the comments.  I sort of picked my favorites from each and taught them this:

1- Hold up 1 finger.  This means God comes first so
"Thou shalt have no other gods before me"
2- Hold up 2 fingers together and have them "bow down" like they're worshipping idols
"Thou shalt have not make unto thee any graven image" (not to worship idols)
3- Hold up 3 fingers, like a 'W'.  "W" is for "Watch your Words", i.e.
"Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain."
4- Hold up 4 fingers.  The thumb is resting so
"Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy"
5- Hold up 5 fingers and give your mom or dad a high five!
"Honor thy father and thy mother"
6- Hold up 6 fingers (5 + 1) so that the one looks like it's shooting at the other hand.
"Thou shalt not kill"
7- Hold up 7 fingers (5 + 2) with the 2 walking on the palm of the 5 like they're getting married.  We should be loyal when we get married.
"Thou shalt not commit adultery"
8- Hold up 8 fingers (5 + 3) and hit your hands together so that now there are 4 + 4 fingers and say, "Hey! This hand stole one finger!"
"Thou shalt not steal"
9- Hold up 9 fingers and say, "Here are 9 fingers, but 9 is alllmost ten, right?  Should we just tell everyone we're holding up 10 fingers? NO, that would be a lie!"
"Thou shalt not bear false witness" (lie)
10- Hold up 10 fingers and act like your trying to grab things and say "gimme gimme" like you want to take everything from other people and be selfish
"Thou shalt not covet" (want things of others that aren't yours).

When the kids are older, I'd like to talk more about how each commandment helps us to be happy, but this was long enough for one lesson this time.  I think it went over really well!  After teaching them once, we went through them again quickly, and I could tell my 5-year old remembered some of them! :)

FHE: 7th Article of Faith

I reminded them of all the past articles of faith (I quickly recited them) and then I recited the 7th and broke it down, explaining what all of the gifts were.  Then we watched this movie while eating our treat.  I like the gifts activity idea listed after that movie too, though we didn't have time to do it.

The kids love watching movies, but I can't tell how much really sinks in.  I have all the rest of the articles of faith scheduled, but I'm wondering if it's worth it.  They kind of seem over their heads.  (My kids are now 5, 3 and 0).  I just hate to stop before doing all 13...

FHE: Honesty

I saw this "cute" object lesson meant to teach the principle of honesty, or rather that you can't "cover up" a lie by letting ice cream represent you or your life, and then you sprinkle salt on top of it (that's the lie) and then you pour chocolate syrup over that to "cover" the lie.  You ask the kids if they think it will taste good, and then get them to eat the ice cream with the "lie" still there and they're supposed to think it tastes salty and gross, etc. etc.  WELL, we did it and everyone agreed it was really good.

hahaha.

I guess I should have used more salt...

FHE: David O. McKay

Tonight was not very well prepared.  We sang the "Latter-Day Prophets" song, pointing to the pictures in the Gospel Art Book.  Then I sort of summarized the information I found here.  I had intended to use the inside back cover of the Friend for this month, but we cut it out and now we can't find it...

Not sure how much they really heard...

FHE: 6th Article of Faith

I reminded them of what the articles of faith are, and then we watched this video and talked about it.  The kids wanted to watch it again while we ate treats :)

FHE: Marriage & Family

The vision was to take a picnic dinner to the temple and talk about the importance of temple marriage.  The reality was pizza on a blanket with the kids running back and forth to take bites and look at the fountain while we tried to sneak in quick questions about the temple.  After the food was gone, we cleaned up and took a walk around the temple, smelling the flowers, and trying out all the drinking fountains.

Despite it not being my vision, it was actually really fun and my almost 5-year-old son, afterward, asked if we could eat at the temple every week! We probably won't, but we will for sure do it again. :)

FHE: George Albert Smith

We used the back cover of the August friend for our topic this week.  It was super rushed because Jay took the kids mini golfing and got back late, causing late dinner AND I was taking dinner to a family, which also cut into FHE time...  Note to self, maybe don't choose Mondays for that in the future? 

The kids were pretty hyper and not very attentive.  We didn't do any fun activity or treat, just read some quick tidbits...  I also sang the Latter-Day Prophet song and showed a picture of each of the past ones (from the Friend back covers...) as I sang it.  It felt like nothing got through, but after I sang that song, my son asked me, "Mom, which one was the one who wrote in his journal all the time?"  Maybe he does listen sometimes?

Here's a link to more info about George Albert Smith.

No FHE...

We had a family over for dinner- a new family in my husband's department, so we didn't have a formal lesson....

FHE: Pause for Prayer

We've been having issues with our kids not pausing during the prayer, whether it be coloring during the sacrament prayer or sneaking bites during the quick dinner prayer, so I thought I would just point out that this isn't reverent and we talked about what is reverent: fold arms, close mouth, close eyes, bow head, open ears.  I made up a "game" called "Pause for Prayer" so that we could practice.  We would pretend to be in certain situations (Okay, we're all in church coloring.  Oh look!  They're about to bless the sacrament! Pause for prayer!  ... Amen!  Okay, we can color again.  Now we're all sitting at the table, about ready for dinner... Now we're getting ready for bed...)

They did a good job AND i've been using that catch phrase "Pause for Prayer" before all our prayers and they seem to be responding!!  Score!

Scripture Spotlight- Alma 24:30

This scripture kind of scares me... It makes me fear for friends and family who have fallen away, and it makes me weary of sharing the gospel with others...  At the same time, it makes sense- like children who cannot sin because they do not know any better, one who has never heard of the gospel is not culpable in the same way as one who has.

"And thus we can plainly discern, that after a people have been once enlightened by the Spirit of God, and have had great knowledge of things pertaining to righteousness, and then have fallen away into sin and transgression, they become more hardened, and thus their state becomes worse than thought they had never known these things."

Scripture Spotlight - Alma 22:18

I just love this verse, for some reason.  I admire King Lamoni's faith and humility and I love the idea of trading sins for knowing God.  It seems like an obvious trade...

"O God, Aaron hath told me that there is a God; and if there is a God, and if thou art God, wilt thou make thyself known unto me, and I will give away all my sins to know thee, and that I may be raised from the dead, and be saved at the last day."

FHE: 5th Article of Faith

I had us all sit in a circle so we'd be ready for the activity portion of the lesson.  (which was a huge challenge for some reason.  The kids were super hyper tonight!)

I started off by reviewing the first four articles of faith.  (I quickly recited them from memory) and then while I recited the 5th article of faith, I had them repeat after me.  Then I went through the words slowly and tried to explain each phrase, or words that they wouldn't know.   We talked a bit about the priesthood, and if they knew any ordinances- giving hints to get them to think of baptism and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost (as mentioned in the 4th article of faith).

I asked them if they knew of anyone who was "called of God" i.e. was God's helper.  My 4-year old said Jesus, and then sort of led him to think of the prophet.  Finally, I said we can all be His helpers and every adult usually has some sort of calling at church, and we told our kids what our callings were.

Then I said, we don't get to choose who is called or what we are called for, God does that, and I taught them how to play "duck, duck, goose" because we take turns getting chosen.

Not sure how much they got out of it- as I mentioned earlier, they were sooooo hyper.  They loved playing duck, duck, goose though :)

Scripture Spotlight- Alma 18:35

Before I spotlight, I just want to say how much I've enjoyed reading The Book of Mormon in larger chunks.  It just reads much more smoothly and the story is more cohesive and memorable when you don't end it at a mere chapter.  Try it!

This is Ammon teaching King Lamoni about where his strength comes from, and about God and Christ...

And a portion of that Spirit dwelleth in me, which giveth me knowledge, and also power according to my faith and desires which are in God.

FHE: Heber J. Grant

We've been out of town for 2 Mondays... Though I had the best of intentions of doing FHE while we were away, it just didn't happen.

So to catch up, we did the Portrait of a Prophet from the back of the July Friend and also used information from this lesson- mostly just what was in the Friend though.  It was chaotic because my husband was out of town, so I made it quick.

For those of you looking to do a family home evening on Heber J. Grant, I mentioned at an earlier lesson about charity that the movie I showed there would have also been great for this lesson, since it's a story from his childhood.

FHE: 4th Article of Faith

I loosely used the lesson from here.  I had my 4-year old and 2-year old put on boots, a coat, a hat and mittens as suggested, but it totally went over their heads.  They were much too concerned with what they were wearing to listen to me.  I completely thought it would have been a great idea, but I guess they need to be older.  They loved the video, though (and I do too...) and they watched it 4 times while eating their treat.

FHE: Fathers

This would have been a better FHE last week, and we could have talked about the upcoming father's day and about appreciating our father.

It ended up being pretty bad... We watched a movie from the mormon channel about fathers (that I hadn't made time to see yet) and it was a good movie, but not at all interesting to my 4-year old, and though my 2-year old claimed to have liked it, I know it was waaaay over her head.  My husband was not here tonight and things were quite chaotic and my 4-year old was evidently exhausted and grumpy and I just called it quits, though I would have liked to have talked about fathers and what our daddy does for us and how we can show him we appreciate him.  In the future, maybe write letters or write on hearts or something things we love about our daddy.  I bed that would have gone over much better.

Scripture Spotlight- Jacob 4:6-7

6.  "Wherefore, we search the prophets, and we have many revelations and the spirit of prophecy; and having all these witnesses we obtain a hope, and our faith becometh unshaken, insomuch that we truly can command in the name of Jesus and the very trees obey us, or the mountains, or the waves of the sea."
7. "Nevertheless, the Lord God showeth us our weakness that we may know that it is by his grace, and his great condescensions unto the children of men, that we have power to do these things."

The power of faith is incredible!  Yet, we must humble ourselves or we will have the unfortunate experience of being reminded of why we should be humble.

FHE: Joseph F. Smith

I confess, last Monday we skipped FHE for our yearly neighborhood BBQ....  which is really throwing a wrench in my topic plans (I planned them out for the whole year...) I'm not sure which topic to drop!

Anyway, this month, the inside back cover of the friend's "Portrait of a Prophet" is about Joseph F. Smith.  I used that for the visual, but I didn't really read much from it.  Instead, I read a few blurbs from this, making sure to point out President Smith's relationship to Joseph Smith, talked about his father dying at the same age of my son (4), driving the oxen at age 7, serving several missions- his first at 16, and that he is the first prophet to encourage Family Home Evening!

It was short, but the kids seemed to be listening.

Scripture Spotlight- 2 Nephi 10:16

There are always a lot of questions about who "the great and abominable church" that is "the whore of all the Earth" might be.  In this verse it says that anyone who "fighteth against Zion"... "are the whore of all the earth; for they who are not for me are against me"

Perhaps it's not a particular church/religion, just anyone against God.  I always hate specific accusations.  Next time I hear one, I'll bring up this verse.

Scripture Spotlight- 2 Ne 9:28-29

This happens to be a scripture mastery.  I know myself and my tendencies, and this is a good one for me to keep in the forefront of my thoughts:
28. "O the vainness, and the frailties, and the foolishness of men!  When they are learned they think they are wise, and they hearken not unto the counsel of God, for they set it aside, supposing they know of themselves, wherefore, their wisdom is foolishness and it profiteth them not.  And they shall perish."
29. "But to be learned is good if they hearken unto the counsels fo God."

Scripture Spotlight- 2 Ne 9:23-24

To be saved all men must:
1) repent
2) be baptized in his name,
3) have perfect faith in the Holy One of Israel (Christ)
4) endure to the end

Scripture Spotlight- 2 Nephi 9

I just want to remember for myself, that for information about the Plan of Salvation (why we're here, where we came from, where we're going...) it's all in 2 Nephi, chapter 9.

Scripture Spotlight: 1 Ne 15:8-9

I'm noticing a pattern in 1 Ne (and I know I'm not the first).  Something hard happens, Lamen and Lemuel murmur/become stiff-necked/try to kill Nephi, but then are compelled to be humble by a long sermon from Nephi or some kind of miracle (angel visits, the power of God manifest through Nephi).

You'd think after witnessing miracles, there would be no doubting, but that is not enough.  They had not developed the habit of gaining a testimony through "Inquiring of the Lord" and perhaps had not tried to gain personal testimonies, but are riding on those of their father and brother.

We know, eventually, they fall away.

Note to self: help my children and others in my stewardship gain a desire to have a  personal testimony.

Scripture Spotlight 1 Ne 15:3

About Lehi telling of his visions to Laman and Lemuel:

For he truly spake many great things unto them, which were hard to be understood, save a man should inquire of the Lord;

I think this can be generally true, but isn't it so great that we can personally inquire of the Lord and get answers for ourselves?  (As Nephi did concerning the teachings of his father)

Scripture Spotlight: 1 Ne 10:21

"Wherefore, if ye have sought to do wickedly in the days of your probation, then ye are found unclean before the judgment-seat of God; and no unclean thing can dwell with God; wherefore, ye must be cast off forever."

I'm hoping this means that even if you only "sought" to do righteously, you've got a chance :)

Scripture Spotlight: 1 Ne 10:19

For He that diligently seeketh shall find; and the mysteries of God shall be unfolded unto them, by the power of the Holy Ghost....

I will share this scripture on Sunday for our first "Scripture Spotlight" and encouraged the girls in Young Women to read with a question they desire to have answered, because I know the scriptures can answer any life question.

Scripture Spotlight 1 Ne 9:6

But the Lord knoweth all things from the beginning; wherefore, he prepareth a way to accomplish all his works among the children of men; for behold, he hath all power unto the fulfilling of all his words.

7-11 Summer Scripture Challenge

Since December, I've been the secretary of the Young Women's organization of my church.  We decided to try to challenge the girls (and ourselves) to read the whole Book of Mormon during their summer break- that is, reading about 7 pages a day for 11 weeks.  (starting Sunday)  I'm calling it the "7-11 Summer Scripture Challenge".

I remember when I was in seminary (in High School) and they always had "March Madness", where they would challenge you to read the entire Book of Mormon in 1 month.  (which I am ashamed to say, I never attempted)  I think this seems a lot more manageable (particularly since the girls have no homework now).

If you want to follow along, here's the schedule (though I'm starting today so I can share my in progress experience with the girls on Sunday when we issue the challenge) I made and printed out for everyone to use as a bookmark.  I just finished reading the Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price again, so I'm glad to have a new scripture reading goal.

Each Sunday, during opening exercises, we are having "Scripture Spotlight" time where if any of the girls (or leaders, I suppose) have any scriptures that particularly stuck out to them or that they really liked, they can share them with each other. I'd like to keep track of my "Scripture Spotlights" here.

FHE: 3rd Article of Faith

First I reminded them of what the articles of faith are and then I quickly recited the 1st and 2nd (the ones we had already talked about) pausing before some key parts to see if my kids could fill in the blanks.  Surprisingly, my 4-year old could!

Then I told them we were going to talk about the 3rd article of faith and recited it to them from memory.

I had them watch this movie while we ate our treat and then I asked them questions about it such as "What is spiritual death?", "What is physical death?", "Who paid for our sins? and how?"

Even though they looked riveted watching the movie, they were unable to answer any questions, so we watched it again and I paused the movie after something important was said and would ask them what it just said and maybe explain it a bit more.  This seemed to be more effective than just watching the movie through.  Perhaps I should have asked them the questions before they watched it the first time to give them something to look for?

At the end, I had them repeat after me and recite the 3rd article of faith.

They requested watching another movie.... haha.

FHE: Revelation

We talked about revelation by asking these questions:

What is revelation?
Why do we need it?
How do we get it?
-prayer
-Holy Ghost
-dreams/visions (Lehi & Joseph Smith)
or our minds are enlightened when we read or listen to
-the scriptures
-conference
-church talks/lessons

I got my next idea from watching this lds.org video.  (though I didn't show it to my 4 & 2-year olds.  I knew it would be over their heads...)

I gave the analogy of revelation coming like a light switch (big and booming- rare), a dimmer switch (like the sunrise in the video), or like a flashlight (seeing only a few steps ahead or a small space)

Finally, we talked about listening to revelation.  I had my kids sing ABCs while I whispered where I hid our treats and asked them where they were.  They didn't know.  Then I had them be quiet and said the same thing.  I pointed out that the answer was there the whole time, but they only got it when they were listening.

I think this lesson was above my kids' heads. They really really liked the last part where they had to listen to know where to find the treat.  My son even said, "This time, I'll just sing quieter, ok?" but then he realized he had to stop singing completely to hear what I said.  Maybe I should have started with that part, and then talked more about revelation while we ate our dessert?

FHE: Lorenzo Snow

This week, we used the back inside cover of the Friend magazine to decide the topic- President Lorenzo Snow, but I really only used it for a picture and took most of my lesson from here.  (keep singing the Latter-day Prophet's song for opening hymn!)

I just read the highlights and the 2 little stories and stopped after each to talk about what we can learn from/about him.  I was sick and the hubby couldn't be home until late that day, so it was very low-key.  The game they suggest sounds fun, if you had more people....

FHE: 2nd Article of Faith

BTW, I found some cute, free Article of Faith Printables I don't want to forget about!  I won't bother with them now, since my kids can't read, but might be cute much later...

We sang the 2nd Article of Faith (Children's Songbook p. 122) for an opening song.

We read this story (while the kids ate their treat) from a past Friend article and then I asked the kids questions about the story, to be sure they understood what happened.  (mostly just my 4-year old son answered)  Then I gave made up scenarios asking things like, "what if your little sister hit the baby, and then I punished you (my son) by sending you to your room?"  etc.  And we talked about how that isn't right, and we are all responsible for taking the consequences of our own actions and nobody elses.

Then I asked if anyone knew the story about Adam, and my son told me as much as he knew, and I filled in the gaps.  I told him that some people believe that because Adam, the first man sinned, we are born sinners, but that we do not believe that.  We believe that we are only responsible for our own sins, and if we repent, then Jesus will suffer for them for us.

I also repeated the 2nd article of faith one more time.

FHE: First Article of Faith

I'm going to start talking about the articles of faith when I don't have something else already planned.  I debated having one lesson just talking about where they come from, but I think that will not be interesting or memorable at such a young age, so I'll probably hold off on that until they're older.

We sang the song for the opening hymn, and watched this awesome movie while eating our treat (in our pjs) and then I basically quizzed them about it.  I was impressed that my 4-year-old son remembered who the 3 members of the Godhead were!  They then colored a picture I happened to have on hand (my son asked if I had anything to color) of the first vision- which is kinda related to the Godhead, since one of the things it taught us is that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are separate and have bodies, right?

Maybe I'll try having them repeat the 1st article of faith at dinner every night this week or something...  Perhaps if they memorize it, I'll have a treat reward?

FHE: Temples

Tonight we had FHE in the car.  We went for a drive to see the new Provo temple being built and we had an opening song and prayer in the car on the road.  We talked about the difference between a temple and a church, what happens in a temple, how old you have to be to go to one, etc.  We also told them about temple open houses and dedications.  We stopped at a Kneader's drive-through for a cookie on the way home :)  I think it went pretty well.  It was nice having them strapped down with nothing to do but listen.  I may try to do more FHE field trips in the future, because of this. :)

FHE: Charity

We watched this movie from the Mormon Channel called "The Red Coat".  It's a story from Heber J. Grant's childhood.  I didn't realize that, and wished I would have saved this movie for when we talk about Heber J. Grant.

After the movie was over, we talked about it.  "How did it make you feel?"  and talked about ways we could show charity and kindness in our family.

After you watch the movie, thumbnails for other Mormon Channel movies show up.  My son really wanted to watch another, and we did.  I will look more into these for future FHE lessons.  There's a lot of great stuff in there!

FHE: Wilford Woodruff

This month, the back cover of the Friend magazine highlights the 4th latter-day prophet, Wilford Woodruff.

We opened with the "Latter-Day Prophets" song in the Children's Song Book.

I read the tidbits mentioned in the Friend about WW, we played a recording of his voice you can find here and summarized for them why it is significant (the 1st prophet who was able to record his voice).

I found another FHE lesson highlighting journal writing and so we decided to take that route and start a journal for our 4-year old and 2-year old in which we will write in every Monday, asking them about anything memorable from that week.  I'm excited about this!  They think the funniest things are significant.

Scripture to Remember- DnC 123:17

Let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed.

FHE: General Conference Scavenger Hunt

This year I thought we'd have a scavenger hunt that revealed some fun facts about General Conference to remind the kids of it, and get them thinking about it.  Here are the questions and hint for the next question I used.  I also, of course, made it a convenient progression for getting ready for bed.  They had fun looking for te clues and got ready for bed really fast! :)

(The first clue will be at the piano for the kids to find when we sing our opening song.)

#1)  What is general conference?

Next Clue:  What we use to make a fort.  

(Do Hi-Lows & weekly calendar overview while there)

#2)  How many sessions per conference are there?

Next clue: Have a treat!

#3)  Who are the Apostles?

Next Clue:  Clear your plates and wash hands 

#4) Who is the current Prophet?

Next Clue:  Use the toilet 

#5) How many apostles are there?

Next Clue:  Go upstairs

#6) Who is singing this song?

Next Clue:  Put on pajamas

#7)  Where does conference take place?

Next Clue:  Where dirty clothes go

#8)  Who else may we hear from in General Conference?  

Next Clue:  Brush teeth

#9)  Which prophet started holding General Conference?

Next Clue:  Read scriptures

#10)  How many Annual General Conferences have there been?

Next Clue:  Say Prayers

#11)  Who are the RS and YW general presidents?

Next Clue:  Read a story

#12)  When is the next general conference this year?

Answers:

#1) A meeting that happens twice a year (April & October) where the prophet, apostles and other general authorities talk to all the Mormons on the planet!

Between the sofa cushions

#2) 5: 2 general sessions on Saturday, 1 Priesthood session on Saturday, 2 general sessions on Sunday. 

Kitchen table, under a treat plate

#3) watch the apostle song http://becominglds.blogspot.com/2009/03/new-apostle-song.html

In the Dishwasher

#4) President Thomas S. Monson (watch the apostle song again, if they don't know, and pause it after they say the prophet's name)

On the back of the toilet

#5) 12 apostles  (count them in the apostle song, if they don't know)

On the iPad at the bottom of the stairs, set up to watch a youtube video of the MOrmon Tabernacle Choir

#6) Mormon Tabernacle Choir

In PJ drawer

#7)  The Conference Center in Down Town Salt Lake City.  (Across the street from the Salt Lake temple)

On Washing Machine

#8) 70s, Sunday School Presidency, Primary Presidency, YM Presidency, YW Presidency, RS Presidency, Presiding Bishopric

On the Mirror

#9) Brigham Young

In Scriptures

#10) 182 

Under pillow

#11) RS: Linda K. Burton ;  YW: Elaine S. Dalton

In an obvious story

#12)  Saturday and Sunday!

FHE: Easter

I did what we did last year.  Holding off on the scriptures again.  It went over very well, and I was impressed how much more knowledgeable my 4-year old was this year, compared to last year.

It's working! :)

FHE: The Atonement of Jesus Christ

This month, the Youth's topic is The Atonement of Jesus Christ.  We had a great lesson on fast Sunday where the leader had a couple of volunteers come up and she poured something on their hands, had them rub it in, comparing it to sin, and then wash it off.  The first person had molasses.  It was dark and sticky and looked bad, but it came off in just cold water.  The second person got soy lecithin, and she had to wash several times in hot water, with soap to get it off.  She talked about little sins we can take care of ourselves, and bigger sins we might need to go to the bishop for- it has more steps for full repentance (soap, etc.)

This gave me the idea to do a more simple version for my two kids.  This is how the night sort of went
What is the atonement?  (I don't know)
What did Jesus do for us? (he died)
That's right, He died for us and paid for our sins.  Do you know what sins are? (no)
Sins are naughty things that people do.  What do we do when we do something naughty?  (say sorry)
That's right!  We say sorry and try to make it better.  That is called repentance.  We repent through the atonement of Jesus Christ.  He suffered for our sins, so that we don't have to if we repent.

Then I had the kids follow me to the kitchen sink where I already had a chair for both kids.  I had them roll up their sleeves and then I showed them our bottle of pancake syrup.  I told them the syrup represents our sins.  Then I gave examples of sins and dropped little drops of syrup on their hands.  "hitting", "not obeying mommy and daddy", "taking a pee pee treat when you didn't really use the potty", etc.  Then I told them the atonement is like the soap and water.  When we use the atonement, our sins (the syrup) gets washed clean.

It was a nice idea, BUT I think the kids were too preoccupied with the fact that I was doing something so crazy as pouring syrup on their hands... The whole time, my 2-year old kept saying things like, "mommy, is that pancake syrup?  are you pouring it on my hands?"  and my 4-year old, as soon as I put syrup on his hands, wanted to wash it off and I think had a hard time paying attention because the syrup was bothering him.  hahaha.  I suppose it's good that sin bothered him... :)

I also toyed with having them take a bath and doing something like that in the bathtub...

I'm not sure if anything sunk in. I'll try to bring it up all week and see what happens.

FHE: Speak Kindly

Our whole house is super sick, so I did very easy...

In the February Ensign on pg. 7, there is a little grid with either something kind or not kind written in each square.  I read them out loud and asked if it was kind or unkind.  If it was unkind, my 4 year old would color it in.  He felt very important and took his job very seriously.  My 2-year old wasnt paying much attention- mostly because she was feverish and tired...  When we were finished I asked how it makes us and others feel when we speak kindly and asked them if they could see the secret answer in the grid.  (it was a smiley face)

This would be really easy to make your own too.

I also found this great lesson and would like to do it next time we talk about speaking kindly- maybe in a few months.

FHE: John Taylor

This week's topic is inspired by the "Portrait of a Prophet" in the back cover of the friend magazine.  I read through this summary of his life to prep, and then I gave a brief sketch of his life, highlighting the cool story about his watch.

FHE: Emergency Preparedness

I decided to talk about Emergency Preparedness stuff (mostly food storage) on my family blog this month, and thought maybe I should have a lesson on it for the kids too.

I pretty much followed this lesson exactly.

Our practice phone conversations with the "911 operator" (me) were hilarious, yet have convinced me that maybe just telling them to go to a neighbor's is the way to go...

FHE: Plan of Salvation, Revisited

I decided this year that the 3rd Monday of the month would be a lesson on the same things we have been talking about in Young Women's that month.  This month's topic is "The Plan of Salvation".

I remembered our lesson being very successful last year, so I'm just doing the same thing again with minor changes.  My son loves to color now, so he and I (and my 2-year old daughter "helped") colored the pages after lunch as preparation.  Also, this time, I made the destinations be a progression to getting ready for bed as well.  We started in the family room with Pre-existence, went to the kitchen for treats for Earth (our bodies allow us to experience physical things like eating).  Then we went to the bottom of the stairs to talk about Spirit Prison/Paradise.  At the top of the stairs was judgement and they changed into their pajamas (they got new bodies like the resurrection).  Then I had 3 different rooms represent the 3 degrees of glory.  We brushed teeth in the "Telestial Kingdom" which was lit only with a nightlight.  Then we went into the "Terrestrial Kingdom", my son's room, which was lit with a small lamp, and read our scriptures.  Then we finally went to the "Celestial Kingdom", my daughter's room, which was fully lit and the sun was coming in through the window.  There we had a closing song, and read several stories for bed.

They both really liked it- probably the first FHE I can remember my 2-year-old daughter wanting more (she asked if we could go to the next picture a few times before she realized we were done.)  Travelling around the house is a big hit :)

FHE: Love At Home

Because of Valentine's this week, we obviously had to talk about love :)

I talked about how I want our home to be a place where we all feel love.  We talked about how we can show love for each other (kindness, following the rules, not hurting, saying sorry) and things we should avoid so that everyone feels safe and loved at home (no yelling, no hitting, no unkind names)

Then we did the same activity from last year, but I was wiser and had all the hearts cut out and they had already written on them: "I love daddy because..." etc.  We just all brainstormed and wrote a list of things for each person on one heart, rather than listing one on a bunch of hearts, for ease. Then we hung them (and some blank hearts) on our wall and had red velvet cupcakes.

I have a hard time getting my kids to calm down before the lesson starts.

Anyone have ideas?

I think I may start opening each lesson with 1 silly song and 1 reverent song and see how that goes over.

FHE: Brigham Young

Now that I'm on year 2 for regular FHE, I'm starting to look for ways to help me with ideas for FHE topics.  This year, The Friend magazine has "A Portrait of a Prophet" on the inside back cover every month, and I decided to let that be our topic every 1st Monday of the month.  January was Joseph Smith, who we recently talked about in December, near his birthday, so we didn't do it last month, but this month is Brigham Young.

There are a lot of FHE lessons on Brigham Young out there.  I printed out a coloring page from this one.  They also have a link to a fun butter-churning activity, but I think my kids are still too young for that.  I might also save it for a pioneer FHE lesson.  I'm so doing this one when my kids are older.  I like this one as well.  As written, it's best for older kids, but could be adapted for younger ones.

Being in Utah, I think it would be fun to talk about Brigham Young at Ensign Peak in Salt Lake, but that will be when my kids are at least old enough to hike it.  (it's pretty easy.  Maybe everyone is at least 4?) We could also take a tour of the Lion House in downtown Salt Lake City.

Anyway, what I actually did was just read some of the facts about Brigham Young from this Deseret Book lesson while my kids colored this. We made sure to mention that the university where my husband works is named after Brigham Young and that we probably wouldn't even live in Utah if it weren't for him guiding the saints here.

FHE: Temples

I've been reading through the new Young Women's personal progress booklet and I set it down and my 2-year-old daughter started flipping through it and pointing to pictures she knew- "It's Jesus!",  "The Temple!" etc.  I asked her if she knew what the temple was for, and she said, "no," so I decided to change my FHE topic to be on temples this week.

We have a big picture of the Salt Lake Temple in our family room, and I have the special Temple Ensign issue that has lots of pictures in it that I let the kids flip through while we talked about temples- what they are for.  We just talked about how we go there to make covenants and the perform ordinances for ourselves and people who didn't get to have them while on Earth.  We talked about how you have to be 12 to go in, and you have to have a temple recommend, which we showed them.

We did all these while looking through that Temple magazine and pointing out all the temples, but that was too long.  I should have gone through and marked particular pages- a couple temples from around the world, the baptismal font, celestial room, and the page for kids that talks about what you need to do to prepare to go to the temple.  (Though I can see that being a whole FHE on its own.)

After, I had planned to look through our wedding photo album all together, but the kids were done, so we just had treats.

FHE: Tithing

At the prodding of my younger sister, I decided to do a lesson on tithing.  We called it "The Parable of the M&Ms".  (you could also use jelly beans or skittles, etc)

(I copied their idea here minus the banks because my kids are so young we still don't give them money, but maybe when they're older I'd do that)

I brought out the mega Costco bag of M&Ms that we use to refill the "potty treat" cup in the bathroom and started throwing my head back and eating them very deliberately.  Of course the kids were immediately on top of me, trying to stick their hands in the bag too.  "oh, you want some of these?"  (yesssss) "ok, well (pulling out two ziploc bags with 100 M&Ms inside) I will give you these, if you only give me 10 back"  It was an easy decision for them to make and my 4-year-old enjoyed showing off his ability to count to 10 :)  While they ate some M&Ms I told them about how everything we have we owe to our Heavenly Father- bodies, Earth, abilities, everything, and in return, he just wants us to keep his commandments.  One of his commandments is to pay our tithing.  I explained what it meant and then we talked about what tithing money is used for- churches, temples, supplies, etc. and daddy's salary (he works at BYU).  We also talked about how we get even more blessings for paying our salary- so it's more like trading in 10 measly M&Ms and getting back a giant Snickers bar.

I thought it went over very well.  And it was convenient to have the treat built in.

FHE: Remembering our Ancestors

My Grandma passed away last year and her birthday was yesterday.  It makes me sad that my kids will never get to know their "gi-gi" like I did and so I thought it would be fun to spotlight her.

I set my computer up to play a slideshow of all the pictures of her I have and I just told them about some of my memories of her and things I love about her.  We had a treat that reminded me of her too :)

The kids weren't honestly that interested, but I think they might be when they're a bit older.  Still, I liked celebrating her in my own way.

FHE: Godhead

I've recently been called to the YW presidency and the new curriculum that started this year has a gospel topic each month.  I thought I would plan at least one Family Home Evening lesson each month using this topic, even though my kids are much much too young for the Youth Program, just to get me thinking about it.

I got a triangle and said it represented the Godhead, and asked if they knew what it was.  They guessed a member and I taped Jesus' picture to a corners as they guessed, and gave clues to the members they didn't know.  I used the pictures of Jesus and Heavenly Father from the picture of Joseph's 1st Vision and then wrote "Holy Ghost" on a piece of paper.

We talked about how they were all related and that they are one in purpose and which ones have bodies or not.  I also told them that this is one of the distinguishing differences between our religion and some others, in that we believe Heavenly Father has a body because Joseph Smith and Stephen (in the Bible) among others have seen it.  We also believe they are three separate beings.  Whereas some other religions do not think Heavenly Father has a body and think He, Jesus and the Holy Ghost are all one person.

I thought about playing some kind of game where you say a characteristic of one of them and get the kids to answer who it goes to, but they were quite cranky tonight and we opted to end so we could put them to bed.

FHE: Answers to Prayer

FHE was a day late this week...

I based this lesson off something in the January 2013 Ensign right after the First Presidency message which is about getting answers to prayer.  There was a little scripture chase for Primary aged children and I used 4 of those 5 scriptures.  I printed them out (double-sided) with a corresponding picture on the back and hid them around the room for the kids to find.  When someone found one, we would all stop and read the scripture and talk about it.

We reviewed while we ate our treat.

I'm glad I only did 4 out of the 5 recommended scriptures because though my 4-year-old was very attentive for the first 2, by the 4th he was having a harder time listening.