You are a Child of God

Preparation: Read Elder Brian K. Taylor's talks from April 2018 General conference entitled, Am Ia Child of God?

Materials:

• ·        Pretzels (Optional)
• ·        Picture of Christ in Gethsemane 
• ·        Picture of Joseph Smith Reading the Bible
• ·        Picture of the First Vision 
• ·        Pretzel Object Lesson Printable
• ·        Supplies to Make Pretzels

Opening Song:

 I am a Child of God 

Opening Prayer:

Gain Attention:

If you have pretzels, take a pretzel and show it to the children. Break it in half and ask children if it will still taste just as good as before. (If you do not have pretzels, just ask the children if a broken pretzel would still taste as good as a whole one.) Explain to the children that our Heavenly Father loves us no matter what. He loves us if we are whole or if we are broken and what he really wants is for us to return to live with Him because we are his children.

Instruction:

Relate Moses’ experience found in Moses Chapter One where the Lord refers to Moses as his son. Then read and discuss Moses 1: 12-13 as a family.

Next read this quote from Elder Taylor,

“Coming to know these truths with certainty helps us overcome trials, troubles, and afflictions of every kind. When asked, “How can we help those struggling with [a personal challenge]?” an Apostle of the Lord instructed, “Teach them their identity and their purpose.”

Read this quote from President Russell M. Nelson:

“Something powerful happens when a child of God seeks to know more about Him and His Beloved Son.”

Show the children the pictures of Jesus Christ and Joseph Smith. Have children tell you what they know about what is happening in the pictures.  Explain that both the Savior and Joseph Smith are great examples of seeking to know our Heavenly Father.

Read this quote from Elder Jeffrey R. Holland:

“With blood appearing at every pore and an anguished cry upon His lips, Christ sough Him whom He had always sought—His Father. ‘Abba,” He cried, ‘Papa.’”

Read this quote from Elder Taylor:

“As we follow the examples of the Savior and the Prophet Joseph in earnestly seeking God, we will come to understand in a very real way that our Father know us by name, that we are His children.”

Conclude by bearing your testimony of the fact that each of us are children of God.

Activity:

Make homemade pretzels as a family and use the Pretzel Object Lesson printable to direct you as you each shape your own pretzels. (You may want to make the dough before Family Home Evening so that all you need to do is shape them together.)

Treat:

Homemade Pretzels! A good recipe can be found on Salt and Baker  

Click here to download printable 

Prepare to Meet God

Preparation:

 Read Elder Quentin L. Cooks Talk from the April 2018 General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints entitled, Prepare to Meet God.

Materials:

Who Would You Invite                          How Would You Prepare 

Opening Song:

 I am a Child of God 

Opening Prayer:

Gain Attention:

Show the family the Who Would You Invite printout. Ask them if they could invite anyone to dinner tomorrow, who would they invite? Write the answers around the mystery head. Once they have each added a person or two to the page pull out the how would you prepare page and place it in front of everyone. Ask the family what preparations they would make for the visit and fill in their responses.

Instruction:

Read Alma 34:32 then explain that just as we would make preparations for a special visitor we should be spending our time here on earth preparing to meet our Heavenly Father again.

Ask your family, “How can we prepare to meet God?” Discuss your answers then read this quote from Elder Cook’s talk:

“Pursuing divinely appointed responsibilities in righteousness, unity, and equality will prepare us to meet God.”

Discuss one or all of these divinely appointed responsibilities with your family.

Righteousness:

This year in primary the theme is Choose the Right. Discuss with children what it means to choose the right.

Unity

Read Doctrine and Covenants 38:27 and then read and discuss this quote from Elder Cook:

“The unity we seek is to be unified with the Savior and His teachings.”

Equality:

Talk about how when we walk into the temple we are all dressed differently in our Sunday best but when then we all go and change into white clothes that look very similar and are all white. We all have different experiences in this life but we are equal in the Lords eyes.

To conclude read this quote from Elder Cook, share the challenge and close with your testimony:

Fulfilling divinely appointed responsibilities, based on righteousness, unity and equality before the Lord, brings personal happiness and peace in this world and prepares us for eternal life in the world to come. It prepares us to Meet God.

Challenge:

Have each family member think of something they can work on this week to prepare to meet God.

Activity Idea:

Spend some time learning and practicing etiquette rules as a family so you would be prepared if someone special ever came to dinner.

Treat Idea:

Orange Julius from Lil’ Luna 

How We Can Minister

Preparation: Read Bishop Gerald Causse’s talks from the April 2018 General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Entitled, It Is All about People. 

Materials:

Basket full of items such as cans of food or bags of flour or you could simply use a large pile of books.

Markers

Paper

Opening Song: If the Savior Stood Beside Me 

Opening Prayer:

Gain Attention:

Place a basket full of cans of food in front of the family. Have each child come up and take turns trying to move the basket to a designated location. Allow them to struggle for a bit and ask if there is another way we can get the cans to the location. Then have each children take a can or a two at a time to the designated location.

Instruction:

Read this quote by President M. Russell Ballard,

“What is most important in our Church responsibilities is not the statistics that are reported or the meetings that are held but whether or not individual people—ministered to one at a time just as the Savior did—have been lifted and encouraged and ultimately changed.”

Explain that just as the children could not move the basket of cans all at once we cannot take care of those around us in our wards, neighborhood, and family all at once. We must take care of them one at a time as the Savior did.

Read this Quote by Bishop Causse you may even want to pause after each question he poses and have the family answer:

“Have you ever asked yourself what it would be like if the Savior Visited your ward or branch next Sunday? What would He do? Would He be worried to know if the visual aid were good enough or if the chairs were positioned properly in the classroom? Or would He find someone He could love, teach and bless? Perhaps He would seek out a new member or a friend to welcome, a sick brother or sister in need of comfort, or a wavering young person who needed to be lifted and encouraged.

What classes would Jesus visit? I wouldn’t be surprise if he visited the Primary children first. He would probably kneel down and speak to them eye to eye. He would express His love to them, tell them stories, congratulate them on their drawings, and testify of His Father in Heaven. His attitude would be simple, genuine, and without affection. Can we do likewise?”

Give each family member a piece of paper or you could even have them write on the outside of a can of food. Instruct them to write down the name of an individual they will minister to or an idea of a way they plan to minister one by one this week. You may also want to come up with a way you can minister one by one as a family this week.

Read this quote from Bishop Causse’s talk,

“I promise you that as you strive to be one the Lord’s agenda, nothing will become more important than finding those people you can help and bless. At church you will focus on teaching individuals and touching their hearts. Your concern will be to foster a spiritual experience rather than organize a perfect activity, to minister to your fellow members rather than check a box for the number of visits you have made. It will not be about you but about them whom we call our brothers and our sisters.

[The Church of Jesus Christ’s] strength and vitality come from the daily actions of millions of His disciples who strive each day to follow His supreme example by caring for others.”

Conclude with your Testimony

Activity Ideas:

• ·        Make a treat to share with another family and doorbell ditch it
• ·        Go for a bike ride
• ·        Make card to send to others to brighten their day

Treat Idea:

Make s’mores in the microwave.

Setting Goals

Preparation:

It may be beneficial to read Elder Oaks talk, Small and Simple Things, from the April 2018 General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Also read through the section of Preach My Gospel entitled, How Do I Use Time Wisely.

Materials:

You will need various pieces from different board and card games. 

Opening Song: Improve the Shining Moments 

Prayer:

Gain Attention:

This idea came from this clip about goal setting. 

Gather random pieces of four or more board games and or card games. Instruct the family to gather around the different pieces to play a game. Tell them that there are no rules and to simply begin playing. Allow them to play the game for a while then ask them to stop. Ask how each of them are feeling about the game, if it has a purpose, or if it has an ending. Then explain that much like a game without rules life does not have much purpose if we do not set goals.

Instruction:

Read this quote by President Ballard found in Preach My Gospel: 

“I am so thoroughly convinced that if we don’t set goals in our life and learn how to master the techniques of living to reach our goals, we can reach a ripe old age and look back on our life only to see that we reached but a small part of our full potential. When one learns to master the principles of setting a goal, he will then be able to make a great difference in the results he attains in this life.”

Also read this quote from Preach My Gospel:

“Goals reflect the desires of our hearts and our vision of what we can accomplish. Through goals and plans, our hopes are transformed into action. Goal setting and planning are acts of faith.”

Quote from President Dallin H.Oaks:

“We are surrounded by media influences and cultural deteriorations that will carry us downstream in our values if we are not continually resisting. To move upstream toward our eternal goal, we must constantly keep paddling. It helps if we are part of a team that is paddling together, like a rowing crew in action. To extend that example even further, the cultural currents are so strong that if we ever stop paddling, we will be carried downstream toward a destination we do not seek but which becomes inevitable if we do not constantly try to move forward.”

Discuss this quote and decide on a goal that you would like to work towards as a family so you can be paddling together. If age appropriate you could also have your children each set a personal goal as well. Then go through these questions found in preach my gospel about your goals and adjust them as needed.

Questions:

·        Is the goal specific?

·        Is the goal realistic?

·        Will the goal make us stretch?

·        Are we committed to this goal?

Bear your testimony of goal setting and share your own personal experience with goal setting or have a family member share his or her own experience.

Activity Ideas:

·        Go Kayaking/Canoeing/Floating as a family and relate it back to the quote from President Oaks about needing to paddle together.

·         Make a treat together and talk about how the directions are like our goals that give us direction to meet our end goal, exaltation.

Treat Idea:

Scotcheroos from Six Sisters’ Stuff