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.

FHE: Holy Ghost

I based tonight's FHE on this lesson.

Talked about who the Holy Ghost is (Heavenly Father's helper.  He doesn't have a body)

Talked about the Holy Ghost's 3 main responsibilities:
-Comforts us when sad or scared (and how we can have him comfort us)
-Testifies of truth (and what it feels like)
-Guides us and helps us choose the right (when would we need guidance?)

Then we played the hot/cold game with a little marble.  The first time I did it, I played some music really really loudly and then I only whispered.  My 4-year old son, after asking me to repeat a couple of times, asked me to talk louder.  Then we turned the music down low and talked about how the music is like the world we live in and we have to be able to "turn down" the world so that we can hear the Holy Ghost.  Then we played again, all taking turns being the Holly Ghost and being the one finding the marble.

FHE: Liahona

There were a lot of great ideas online for young kids, like here, here, here, and here, but they all have one main similar element- let the kids find some kind of treat and then compare the Liahona to the Holy Ghost, meaning, it is our equivalent Liahona.

So, here is what we did:

I hid a treat somewhere in the family room, (or you could do outside for older kids), and told the kids that there is a treat hiding somewhere and they have to find it.  I made sure it was too hard to find.

Then when they gave up, I talked about Nephi and his family in the wilderness (we've been reading about it in the Book of Mormon Stories) and how they needed direction to know where to go and remind them that they found the Liahona.  (showed pictures from the Gospel Art Book on pages 68 and 71).

I told them briefly about how it worked- one needs to be righteous and obedient for the Liahona to guide them.  (It would be fun to make your own Liahona to hold, maybe paint a styrofoam ball, but I didn't bother this time.)  I printed out this Liahona image and pretended to get instructions from it and then I gave clues about where the treat was hidden and what it looked like, etc until they found it.  Once they found the treat, while they ate it, I asked them if we have a Liahona to guide us today.  They didn't know and so I talked about the Holy Ghost and how just like the Liahona, it guides us when we are obedient and righteous.