Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only.

Transcription

1 Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only.

2 Plan your work, then work your plan!

3 Family Home Evening Idea Booklet This booklet has ideas to help your family with the activity portion of Family Home Evening. You can use the ideas along with your family home evening lessons or rotate the different nights. (i.e. lesson one week, service project one week, sports night one week, etc.) The focus is on spending time together, learning new skills, building self-confidence, strengthening family unity, and having fun. Don t overwhelm yourself thinking bigger is always better. SIMPLIFY!!! If something works well for your family, do it again (and again and again.) One of the best things you can do to be successful with these ideas is to make a calendar usually a three month calendar is the best. That way you are less likely to leave things to the last minute and even if you do, it is easier to follow through with an activity that is already scheduled than it is to come up with one at the spur of the moment. Don t overwhelm yourself! SIMPLIFY!!! You don t need to reinvent the wheel. Bigger isn t always better. Remember, the important t Be sure to get everyone in the family s input when scheduling. Let different family members take turns choosing from the list of ideas. The lists given are just to get you started brainstorm and add things your family would enjoy. Most of all, have fun and don t give up! Your family is worth it!

4 SPORTS NIGHT A family that plays together, stays together. Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities. (The Family: A Proclamation to the World, emphasis added) *Everyone must be able to participate! *Focus on good sportsmanship, learning new skills, and not being afraid to try different things. Go swimming Go for a hike Go for a bike ride Have a water fight Play soccer dribble around cones, shoot goals, etc. Go to the park Play tennis Play hopscotch Play freeze tag Play frisbee Play capture the flag Play Dance, Dance Revolution Play water balloon volleyball Run at a local track Go rollerblading Play hopscotch Play touch football Play H.O.R.S.E. Go miniature golfing Play capture the flag Play Frisbee or ultimate Frisbee Go sledding Board games (on nights weather doesn t cooperate.)

5 SERVICE NIGHT Hands that help are holier than lips that merely pray. And the king shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. (Matthew 25:40) Write letters to grandparents or a missionary. Clean up trash at a local park. Ask an elderly neighbor how you can help him or her. Make or assemble humanitarian projects. Invite a non-member or less-active family over for a barbecue. Have a free car-wash. Visit a shut-in. Visit a nursing home sing for residents, deliver homemade cards, etc. Make dinner (or a freezer dinner) for someone who is sick. Walk around the block and see who can pick up the most trash. Ask the bishop if he knows of a family who needs service. Mow a family s lawn who is on vacation. Make a surprise snowman with a friendly note for someone. Shovel driveways and sidewalks. Clean the church. Deliver anonymous goodies. (Doorbell ditch) **If we can t think of a service project for someone else, we do a service project for our own house: Organize a closet. Work in the yard. Wash windows. Wash the cars. Work in the garden. Organize the food storage room. Wash walls.

6 Tricks and Talents Night That which we persist in doing becomes easier, not that the nature of the thing has changed, but our ability has increased. (President Heber J. Grant) For unto ever one who hath obtained other talents, shall be given, and he shall have in abundance. But from him that hath not obtained other talents, shall be taken away even that which he hath received. (JST, Matthew 25: 29-30) Sing a song they learned in Primary. Show and explain project they completed for school. Do a cartwheel, stand on their head, or any other tumbling move. Dance. Recite a poem. Tell a story. Do a trick on the trampoline. Juggle. Throw up popcorn and catch it in their mouth. Do a magic trick. Tell a joke. Bake something beforehand and share with everyone. Display artwork (a picture out of a coloring book would work). Memorize something (latter-day prophets, books in Book or Mormon, etc.)

7 Two-and-a-half-minute Talk Night A testimony is to be found in the bearing of it! (President Boyd K. Packer, The Quest for Spiritual Knowledge, New Era, Jan. Jan. 2007, 2-7) then shall your tongue be loosed; then, if you desire, you shall have my Spirit and my word, yea, the power of God unto the convincing of men. (Doctrine and Covenants 11:21) Everyone is given the chance to give a 2 ½ minute talk. Everyone must stick to the time limit. Sometimes the talks are prepared ahead of time. Other times, everyone just draws a subject out of the hat, takes five minutes to prepare, then gives the talk. Family members are encouraged to use the following worksheet to help them prepare. You can help younger children remember main points by drawing stick figures or other simple pictures. Family members are not allowed to read anything in their talks except scriptures and direct quotes. They have to stick to the time limit. Family members will strengthen their testimonies as they share them with the family. Their confidence in their ability to give a talk will increase so they will feel more comfortable giving talks in church. They will be more prepared to serve missions and be future teachers and leaders. Occasionally, you may wish to have a family testimony meeting. In this case, family members are invited, but not required to share their testimonies. (During testimony meetings, time limits are not appropriate.)

8 TALK OUTLINE (Remember: You have a 2 ½ minute time limit) USE THIS OUTLINE TO HELP YOU REMEMBER KEY POI NTS. READING WORD FOR WORD IS NOT ALLOWED!!! 1. Today I m going to give a talk about: 2. Give a scripture or quote by a general authority about that subject. 3. Share a personal experience or tell a story from The Friend, The New Era, or one you heard in your Primary or Sunday School class. (You don t need to remember every little detail, just the main points.) 4. Bear your testimony about what you just taught. 5. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen. 6. Sit down.