Home Primary: D&C 6:33, Reap what you sow

Opening Hymn: Once there was a Snowman

Prayer:

Lesson: We read the book Seeds and Trees: A children's book about the power of words then read the scripture D&C 6:33 and had a short Q&A making sure the kids understood what it all meant.  Something like: 

What does Reap mean?

What does Sow mean?

Now, when I read it again, try to understand what the scripture means.

What is an example of something we can to do "sow good seeds"?  And what do we reap?  

What is an example of something we can to do "sow bad seeds"?  And what do we reap from that?

What can we do when people give us bad seeds?  What does it mean to throw them into the ocean?  (Forgive.  Don't reciprocate.  Try to be kind anyway.)

Think about the kind of forest you want to grow in your life, do you want to plant good seeds or bad seeds?

Short testimony

Closing Song: Love One Another

Prayer:

FHE: D&C 6:33-34 Fear not to do good

 Opening Song: the Wise Man and the Foolish Man

Prayer:

Scripture: D&C 6:33-34

Read 33 and discussed why someone might fear to do good with the olders (8+)

Read 34 and talked about how we are Jesus's flock with the littles and had them cut out this sheep mask. (with the littles 8 and under)

While cutting out, talk about what it means to be "built upon my rock".

Closing Song: Stand for the Right

Prayer

YW Activity: Personal Progress Scavenger Hunt

I promise we are still having FHE, I just haven't been writing them down...

I'm now the YW 2nd counsellor (yay Beehives!) and just finished planning our activity for Wednesday.  My presidency wanted to do a scavenger hunt, so I made one based on personal progress.  I'm too proud of it not to share, in case anyone else wants to copy it.

The girls will have been instructed to bring their journal and Personal Progress Manual.  We will start out in our Beehive room, and I'll explain that there will be one bold word that gives a clue to the location of the next scripture. ( I have put in ( ) where the next clue is hidden, but the girls won't see that.)  I want each of the girls to take turns reading them out loud.  I will have previously printed out several copies of the scripture and put it in a brightly colored origami box in all the locations, before the activity starts.  The last clue will be back where we started, but we'll turn out the lights in the room.  Maybe I'll bring my camping lantern or a flashlight or something.  I started out with only Virtue #2, but I added another one on just in case it didn't fill the entire hour.  I'll update how long it took them.

Here it is:

[Virtue #2]

Virtuous living “at all times and in all things, and in all places” qualifies you for the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. When you are baptized and confirmed, you are given the gift of the Holy Ghost to guide all aspects of your life. Since the Holy Ghost does not dwell in unclean tabernacles, living a virtuous life is a prerequisite to having the companionship of the Holy Ghost and receiving the blessings of temple ordinances. Read the following scripture references and identify the promised blessings:

(next clue- near baptismal font doors)

John 14:

26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

Don’t forget to identify the promised blessings!

(next clue- seminary room)

John 15:

26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me

Don’t forget to identify the promised blessings!

(next clue- pulpit)

2 Ne 32:

1 And now, behold, my beloved brethren, I suppose that ye ponder somewhat in your hearts concerning that which ye should do after ye have entered in by the way. But, behold, why do ye ponder these things in your hearts?

2 Do ye not remember that I said unto you that after ye had received the Holy Ghost ye could speak with the tongue of angels? And now, how could ye speak with the tongue of angels save it were by the Holy Ghost?

3 Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ. Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do.

4 Wherefore, now after I have spoken these words, if ye cannot understand them it will be because ye ask not, neither do ye knock; wherefore, ye are not brought into the light, but must perish in the dark.

Don’t forget to identify the promised blessings!

(next clue- kitchen)

D&C 45:

57 For they that are wise and have received the truth, and have taken the Holy Spirit for their guide, and have not been deceived—verily I say unto you, they shall not be hewn down and cast into the fire, but shall abide the day.

58 And the earth shall be given unto them for an inheritance; and they shall multiply and wax strong, and their children shall grow up without sin unto salvation.

59 For the Lord shall be in their midst, and his glory shall be upon them, and he will be their king and their lawgiver.

60 For behold, again I say unto you that if ye will enter in by the way, and receive the Holy Ghost, it will show unto you all things what ye should do.

Don’t forget to identify the promised blessings!

(next clue- entrance)

D&C 121:

45 Let thy bowels also be full of charity towards all men, and to the household of faith, and let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God; and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distil upon thy soul as the dews from heaven.

46 The Holy Ghost shall be thy constant companion, and thy scepter an unchanging scepter of righteousness and truth; and thy dominion shall be an everlasting dominion, and without compulsory means it shall flow unto thee forever and ever.

Don’t forget to identify the promised blessings!

(next clue- women’s Bathroom)

D&C 88:

3 Wherefore, I now send upon you another Comforter, even upon you my friends, that it may abide in your hearts, even the Holy Spirit of promise; which other Comforter is the same that I promised unto my disciples, as is recorded in the testimony of John.

4 This Comforter is the promise which I give unto you of eternal life, even the glory of the celestial kingdom;

In your journal record what you have learned, and write about a time when you felt the guidance of the Holy Ghost.  (Yay!  You just completed Virtue #2!)

Don’t forget to identify the promised blessings!

(next clue- mother’s room)

[Choice & Accountability #3]

Agency, or the ability to choose, is one of God’s greatest gifts to His children. Read about agency in

Joshua 24:

15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

(next clue- sacrament table)

2 Ne 2:

find a book of mormon with a book mark in it.  highlight children in vs 23.  

(next clue- nursery.)

D&C 82: 

2 Nevertheless, there are those among you who have sinned exceedingly; yea, even all of you have sinned; but verily I say unto you, beware from henceforth, and refrain from sin, lest sore judgments fall upon your heads.

3 For of him unto whom much is given much is required; and he who sins against the greater light shall receive the greater condemnation.

4 Ye call upon my name for revelations, and I give them unto you; and inasmuch as ye keep not my sayings, which I give unto you, ye become transgressors; and justice and judgment are the penalty which is affixed unto my law.

5 Therefore, what I say unto one I say unto all: Watch, for the adversary spreadeth his dominions, and darkness reigneth;

6 And the anger of God kindleth against the inhabitants of the earth; and none doeth good, for all have gone out of the way.

7 And now, verily I say unto you, I, the Lord, will not lay any sin to your charge; go your ways and sin no more; but unto that soul who sinneth shall the former sins return, saith the Lord your God.

8 And again, I say unto you, I give unto you a new commandment, that you may understand my will concerning you;

9 Or, in other words, I give unto you directions how you may act before me, that it may turn to you for your salvation.

10 I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise.

(next clue- dark room with a lantern in it)

With a parent or leader, discuss the blessings and responsibilities of agency. Record in your journal your understanding of agency and the consequences of choices and actions.  (while eating treats!)  Yay!  You just completed Choice & Accountability #3!!

FHE: Potter's Clay

I haven't been writing our FHE lessons down probably because I haven't been thinking as much about it.  My kids have started taking turns planning the lessons!  It's fabulous! But I should write down some of their more successful ones.

Tonight, my 4-year-old helped me plan this easy lesson.  We are reading

Isaiah 64:8

But now, O Lord, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.

Discuss what it means-
I expect we'll discuss creation, keeping the commandments, aligning our will to His, etc.
Update: it occurred to me during the lesson that the clay could also be used as a metaphor for trials- We are molded by our experiences, our trials are when clay is put in the fire, and the fire makes the clay steady and strong, like our trials do to us.

Then we are playing "sculptionary" (pictionary with playdough).

[note: variations of this game for different ages: everyone makes the item you pull out, one person makes it and everyone guesses (so no teams), or the traditional way with 2 teams]

These are the words we put in a bag:

Jesus

Sun

Moon

Stars

Earth

Lion

Angel Moroni

Boat

Ten Commandments 

Tree of Life

Iron Rod

Crown of Thorns

Cross

Jesus’s tomb

Bow and Arrow

Liahona

Tent

gold plates

scriptures

FHE: Time Management

I helped my 7 year old lead this lesson today.

We previously got 2 identical clear vases (jars would work fine) and filled it with large marshmallows and then poured white sugar over them to fill the jar.  Then you separate the sugar from the marshmallows.  Start the lesson with sugar in the jar/vase, and the marshmallows in the other.  Say that the container is like our time in one day, the marshmallows are all the most important things (have everyone list those- get dressed, chores, school, scripture reading, personal prayer, eating, spending time with family, etc.)

The sugar is all the other things we fill our life with- wasting time, distractions, watching tv and video games, and other fruitless fun.

Try to put the marshmallows on top of the sugar- they won't fit.

"When we fill our lives with fun, we can't fit in the most important things."

Now, move the marshmallows to the empty container

"But when we do the most important things first..."

pour the sugar on top (it should all fit)

"we will have time to do everything we want to do!"

We recommitted to doing our chores first and see if we still have time to do fun things.

Then we played "eat the marshmallow off a string".  We tied the marshmallows with a string and Daddy raised and lowered them while we took turns trying to eat it only using our mouth.  Activity and treat at once!  It was really fun.

update: All week it was great to be able to say "is this a marshmallow? or sugar?" really worked!
update: I realized that probably we should have an additional  because somethings are good to do, but not essential (sugar) and some things are just a complete waste of time- for example, when you are just doing anything so you don't have to do the tasks you must do, which you dread.  You're not really doing what you should be doing OR what you really want to be doing.  This could maybe be shown with mini marshmallows and large ones and sugar.

FHE: Problem Solving SODAS

I haven't posted in awhile, despite still doing family home evening regularly.  We had a particularly successful one recently and I thought I'd share.  I got the topic idea from reading this book*.  Nicholeen Peck talked about a problem solving technique she uses with her kids and I wanted to share it with mine.  It's an acrostic using the word SODAS.

Situation - what is the problem?
Options - brainstorm all the options.  don't discount any of them.
Disadvantages - list the disadvantages for each option
Advantages - list the advantages for each option
Solution - choose the solution that you think it best, now that you've compared advantages and disadvantages

I taught them what each step means and then we went through an example.  I had cupcakes for dessert that night so our example problem was:

Situation: Mom has a lot of cupcakes and I'd like to have one.

I had everyone volunteer information for the rest of the steps.  We came up with something like:

Options:  1) I could whine at her to get one
              2) I could ask politely to get one
              3) I could grab them all and run
              4) I could hope she'll give me one but not ask for one
Disadvantages:
              1a) mom probably won't like whining and I might get a negative consequence
              1b) I might not get a cupcake
              1c) Whining makes me and others grumpy
              2a) I might not get a cupcake
              3a) I might get in trouble for being greedy
              3b) I might trip and fall and ruin all the cupcakes
              3c) I might feel sick after eating too many cupcakes
              4a) Mom might not know I want a cupcake and I won't get one
Advantages:
              1a) Mom knows I want a cupcake, so she might give me one
              2a) Mom knows I want a cupcake, so she might give me one
              2b) Since I was so polite, I might get rewarded with 2 cupcakes
              3a) I will most likely get a cupcake
              3b) I will be in charge of the cupcakes and I could decide to share or eat as many as I want
              3c) I could probably use the cupcakes as leverage to get my siblings to do things for me
              4a) I won't be bothering anyone
Solution: I went around the table and asked everyone to show me the solution they chose with their actions.  Everyone had fun asking politely and getting a cupcake! (except daddy, who tried to take them all and run- the joker)

I have since used this technique with my kids when they have trouble following directions or making good choices.  The other night I did a verbal SODAS with my 6-year-old daughter about keeping the play room clean.  She is my hardest to get to follow directions but she really likes doing these with me - coming up with all the options and thinking about the advantages and disadvantages (and my 4-year old daughter likes chiming in too).  It was really great!

*That book had a lot of great information to offer, but I had big issues with the way it was written and organized.  I wish she would have let me proof read it for her first!

FHE: Memorize an Article of Faith

I was given a Starbucks gift card from someone for Christmas (someone who doesn't know I don't drink coffee ;D) and we thought it would be fun to go to a Starbucks drive-through to get cookies for FHE.  On the way there we played a game to help everyone learn the 1st Article of Faith.  We started by singing the 1st Article of Faith song and then we went around the car in a loop, where each person took turns saying the next word.  So, I would say "We", Jay would say, "believe", Hazel would say, "in", The Frog would say, "God", Peach would say, "the", and it would be back to me to say, "Eternal" etc.  If someone made a mistake, then we would all sing the song again and the person to make the mistake would get to start us off that time.  We ended up having enough time to learn the 1st and 2nd Articles of Faith!  I could see this working well to memorize other things like scripture mastery verses or hymns or something.

FHE: Fire Safety

Now that we have moved to a new house, we thought we should talk about our fire safety plan.  We reminded the kids about what they should do if they hear the smoke alarm - roll out of bed, crawl across the floor and feel the door. (not the handle)  If the door is warm, stay where they are, if not, open the door and stay low.  Then we talked about the nearest exits from each room and what to do if a throughway is obstructed and let everyone know where the emergency ladder is upstairs.  We also talked about stop, drop and roll and practiced that.  Then we had the older kids walk our 3-year old through all the things we had talked about.

FHE: Team Work

Today we talked about working together as a family and being a team and the benefits thereof.  We talked about how when we are all waiting for one person to be reverent before family prayer, that is not being a team.  We talked about when we clean up after ourselves, we are being a team.  My 5-year old got to play with a parachute in gym today and we talked about how everyone has to cooperate for it to be fun.  Also, it's not fun to play a board game unless everyone cooperates with the rules.  Then we all played Mario World 3D and practiced waiting for the slower people and playing as a team.

FHE: Nanie's Birthday

We made cards for Nanie's birthday this week.  We could have talked about kindness and giving the gift of making people feel loved and appreciated. (but we didn't) It was fun to do and it was fun to deliver them to Nanie after :)

FHE: Songs On the Go

Our foreign exchange student had a special dinner tonight to celebrate the end of her cross country season, so we had to drop her off at that, but it was a 20 minute drive each way, so that pretty much ate up all of our FHE time.  We decided to take turns choosing our favorite children's hymns to sing there and back. It was fun!  I think the kids sang better (i.e. tried to sing at all) than they normally do :)

Maybe I should have read them the verse about "a song of the heart is a prayer unto me", I think D&C 25:12

FHE: The Tower of Babel

I just read them the story of the tower of babel from the Old Testament Stories book while we ate dinner.  Then after dinner, we built our own towers out of toothpicks and marshmallows.  We divided into 2 groups and set a timer to see who could build the tallest one.  We ended up with a tie :)  The kids ate some marshmallows while they built for a treat, but some of us put them in a bowl and microwaved them and added chocolate sauce on top.

I asked my 5 year old to retell me the story while we had dessert to see if she remembered, she did!

Very fun!

FHE: Reverence

We did this one awhile ago, but I felt like it was pretty effective and the kids really liked it, so I want to remember it.

We had a talent show where everyone got to show-off a trick for everyone else.  (they LOVED that.  They were all silly tricks.)

After, we talked about how they would feel if when they were performing, people were talking or not watching.  Or, how they feel when they are trying to watch, and other people are talking and they can't hear.   Then we related that to their behavior during Sacrament meeting or Primary- trying to help them see why it's important to be reverent, even if they don't want to listen, other people may and it's rude to distract from the person who has prepared something to share with everyone.

FHE: Attitude of Gratitude

First we sang "We Thank Thee, O God, for a Prophet" and then I asked everyone if they could guess what we were going to talk about, based on those lyrics.  Eventually someone guessed being grateful :)

We then had a grateful race and we broke into 3 teams of 2 people and tried to think of as many things as we could that we are grateful for in 2 minutes.  Then we counted them up and the team with the least number went first.  If you had the same thing on your list, you crossed them off, etc. until everyone had read every unique thing they were grateful for.

We then talked about how a great way to feel better when  upset, frustrated or angry is to stop and think about our blessings.  We came up with a code word so that during this week, if anyone was upset or angry, we could use our code word to kindly remind them to say something they are grateful for in that moment, to help cheer them up!  We decided the code word would be "but at least..."  Then we all took turns practicing pretending to cry and then someone would remind them with the code word, and they'd stop crying and say, "but at least I... get to have a cupcake tonight!"

Hopefully it works!

FHE: Actions Speak Louder than Words

I just told them that phrase and we dissected it.

"What is an action?"
"Do actions say anything about us and our desires?"

And we went over some examples of when actions and desires don't line up.

My kids are notorious for not staying in their seats during dinner.  It is soo frustrating!! I can't tell you how many times I throw their food away and then they come back in crying and wondering where their food is...
"What if you leave the kitchen table during dinner... Do those actions say you are still wanting to eat?  What should you do to show you want to continue eating your food?"

"What does grabbing a toy away from someone else say about you and the way you like to play?"  (I don't care about others' feelings and I don't mind if people grab things away from me that I am using.)

"How do you show appreciation with actions?"  (You can clear your own plate at dinner-time to say thank you for making my food.  You can follow directions the first time when asked.  You can clean up your toys and take care of things you want to keep and use for a long time.  You can go to bed quickly to show appreciation for bed-time stories.  You can share with people who share with you...)

"What if you say you want to come with me on an errand, but you don't use the toilet, get on your shoes and coat, and buckle yourself into the car right away...  Do your actions say you want to come?  What kind of actions would say you want to come?"

Etc.

We all committed to trying to make our actions match what we intended to say that week.

Then we played 2 board games, which the kids loved!

FHE: Fire Safety

I basically just did this lesson again.  Thought it was a good idea since we have moved since then and my daughter would not have remembered last time.  Practice was key to making it fun :)  and it was :)

FHE: Trust

We have had issues with our kids telling the truth lately, and we wanted to demonstrate why it's important to always tell the truth so that you will gain a reputation of trustworthiness.

This was a simple exercise but also very effective.

Daddy put a piece of candy in one of his hands behind his back and showed me which hand had candy.  Then he put his hands out front and said that the kids had to guess, and that I knew where it was.  After the kids had decided on a hand, I incorrectly told them which hand had candy in it.  They trusted me and then didn't get the candy.  We did it again.  Again, I told them the wrong hand, and again they trusted me and didn't get the candy.  The third time, I told the kids the correct hand that really had candy in it, but the kids didn't believe me and chose the wrong hand again.

My son got very upset and said, "MOM!  I'm never trusting you again!!" and this was a great way for me to talk about some times during the week when the kids didn't tell the truth and how I feel like I can no longer trust them.  We talked a bit more about how we have to be honest for the world to function properly - there needs to be trust for everyday business transactions etc.

In the end, we all promised to tell the truth all the time.

FHE: Why Keep the Commandments

Tonight I used President Uchdorf's talk from the General Womens Meeting as inspiration.  He gave the analogy that the Lord is constantly showering down blessings and we block them with an umbrella of sin.

Tonight over dinner, I asked the kids about why Heavenly Father gives commandments.  (because he loves us and wants us to be happy)  Then I pointed out that some commandments have natural consequences that are blessings like keeping the Word of Wisdom keeps us healthier, or being kind to others helps them be kind to us.  Then I asked them about other commandments that may not have obvious, immediate blessings tied to them.  (Like tithing, fasting...)

I had 5 balloons blown up and I told the kids they are blessings we get from Heavenly Father.  I asked them to list 5 blessings and then wrote them down on the balloons.  (I think we did "Family Forever", "Inspiration from the Holy Ghost", "Knowledge and Truth", "Health", and "Financial and Temporal Security")  We gave each child an umbrella and then, Jay and I pretended to be Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother and said things like, "let's give our children inspiration from the Holly Ghost!" and in order to put their umbrella down to "get" the blessing, they had to say what commandment they would follow to get that blessing.

We sang "Keep the Commandments" at the beginning and "Count Your Blessings" at the end.

I think it went over really well!

FHE: Follow the Prophet

Yikes!  We moved over the summer!!  We've been having FHE, but I haven't been documenting it!!  (We didn't have internet for about 6 weeks)  I'll try my best to do a bit of remembering but....

September 8th, we took some chocolate zucchini muffins to all our new neighbors to introduce ourselves.  So glad we did.  I admit was terrified, but it was really a great idea.

September 15th, we talked to the kids about "We reap what we sow" over dinner and we just happened to have had a plumber and our landlord there at the time and it ended up in a lengthy discussion between our landlord and us about Mormonism and what we believe.  It was really awesome!  (and I think the plumber was eavesdropping :D)

September 22nd, I was feeling overwhelmed about a gigantic pile of laundry that needed folding, and decided to teach the kids (6, 4, and almost 2) how to fold laundry and we played a game where we put clothes on from the basket in a silly way and ran them over to the piles and fold them.  It got kind of crazy and only a little bit actually got folded, but I think the kids had fun and we spent time together as a family, right?

Tomorrow, I'm planning to talk about "Follow the Prophet" as a precursor to conference this weekend.  We are going to make sure everyone knows who the prophet is, what a prophet is, and we are going to play a game where one person is blindfolded and someone else helps them with instructions to put a puzzle or a toy together or something.  Then we will play "Follow the Leader" or "The Prophet (Simon) Says"  and the leader will have a picture of the prophet.

update: we did the puzzle thing and it occurred to me after that it probably would have been more effective to have someone try to put the puzzle together by themselves blind-folded and then have someone help them after so they could see how much easier it is when you follow the instructions.

FHE: Bible Stories

Today was super crazy, and last week was spent sick, so I'm quite behind on my planning.  We just whipped out this lift-the-flap bible stories book we have and read through some of the stories and talked about what we can learn from them.  Then we played "hide the sunglasses".  The object that you hide can be anything. Peach decided what we would hide today.

The kids had so much fun with the activity last week they asked what it was today, and I think it is important that we do them every week.  I wish I was better at thinking about activities that are relevant to our lesson.