Deseret Book. Theme: Emma Smith Packet # tips for successful Family Home Evenings. Family Home Evening Materials

Transcription

1 Deseret Book Family Home Evening Materials Theme: Emma Smith Packet # tips for successful Family Home Evenings 1. Pray. Pray about the needs of your family as you consider topics for home evenings, and pray as you prepare. 2. Prioritize. Make Family Home Evening a priority; learn to say no to other activities. 3. Involvement. Involve everyone in the family; help little children take part. 4. Commitment. Be committed and be consistent. Set a designated time and stick to it. Holding Family Home Evening on a weekly basis takes dedication and planning on the part of all family members. 5. Relax and enjoy it. The most important thing your children will remember is the spirit they feel in your family home evenings and activities. Be sure the atmosphere is one of love, understanding, and enjoyment.

2 Emma Smith Thought: Emma Smith, the Prophet s wife, is remembered as a woman who faithfully supported her husband. Emma was a woman of great faith and courage whom the Lord addressed twice in the Doctrine and Covenants. (Susan Easton Black, Happiness in Womanhood, Ensign, Mar ) Song: Sing a Song, Children s Songbook, p Scripture: Hearken unto the voice of the Lord your God, while I speak unto you, Emma Smith, my daughter; for verily I say unto you, all those who receive my gospel are sons and daughters in my kingdom. Behold, thy sins are forgiven thee, and thou art an elect lady, whom I have called. (D&C 25:1, 3) Lesson: Invite your family to play a game called Name that Hymn. Divide your family into teams. Have someone play or hum the first few notes of different hymns. See which team is first to name the hymn as the notes are played. You could also use songs from the Children s Songbook. Ask: What are your favorite Church hymns or songs? How does sacred music help you worship the Lord? Read D&C 25:11 12 together as a family. Then ask: What was Emma Smith asked to do for the Church? What did the Lord teach about music? Consider reading together the section on music in the For the Strength of Youth pamphlet or the First Presidency Preface in the front of the LDS hymnbook. Discuss as a family what you can do to enhance the positive power of music in your lives. (Dennis H. Leavitt and Richard O. Christensen, Scripture Study for Latter-day Saint Families: The Doctrine and Covenants, [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2004], p. 50.) Story: Joseph got a chance to earn some of the money the family needed [to pay for their farm]. In the fall of 1825, a man named Josiah Stowell from Pennsylvania came to Palmyra looking for Joseph, who was now almost twenty.... [He was looking for a lost gold mine.] He offered Joseph money to dig for him, whether they found the mine or not. Joseph thought how badly his family needed money and finally agreed to do what Mr. Stowell asked. He went with Mr. Stowell to Harmony, Pennsylvania, and helped him dig. They continued the work for nearly a month without success. Joseph told Mr. Stowell that it was no use to continue. Reluctantly Mr. Stowell agreed that they should stop digging. Joseph did not find the Spanish treasure, but he did find a treasure of quite a different kind.

3 While in Harmony, he boarded with a family by the name of Hale. They had a daughter named Emma, a pretty girl with dark hair and hazel eyes. Joseph enjoyed her good humor and bright personality. He liked the way she cheerfully went about her work. He spent as much time as he could with her. But not long after he gave up digging for Mr. Stowell, Joseph decided to return to his family in New York. Though he hadn t known Emma long, he liked her a lot and would think about her often while they were apart.... After the harvest, the wheat was [to be] delivered to Mr. Stowell and Mr. Knight. In December Father Joseph prepared to go to Pennsylvania to get the money for it. Joseph had been thinking a lot about the lovely girl he had met in Harmony. When his father was ready to go, Joseph pulled his parents aside and said, I would like to go with you, Father. I ve been lonely since Alvin died, and if you have no objection, I would like to get married to Miss Emma Hale, if she will have me. His parents smiled at his eagerness and looked at each other understandingly. We have no objection, Father Joseph said. In fact, we hope you ll bring her home with you so we may enjoy her company. Joseph and his father set out for Pennsylvania with everything looking bright and hopeful for their family. For the first time since Joseph had been born, they would own a farm and a comfortable home. Life seemed good. It seemed even better when they got to the Hale house. Emma was excited to see Joseph again. He could tell that she liked him as much as he liked her. But Emma s parents were not as pleased to see Joseph as Emma was. They wanted their daughter to marry well, and to them, Joseph was just a boy who had helped Josiah Stowell dig for treasure. They ll accept you eventually, Emma assured Joseph. Joseph spent most of the next few months working in southern New York, not too far from Harmony, Pennsylvania. He went to Harmony whenever possible to visit Emma. But Emma s father, Isaac Hale, still did not like him. He looked down on Joseph and thought he was rough and careless, especially compared with Emma, who was a schoolteacher. Isaac Hale refused to let his daughter marry Joseph. Over the next while, Joseph tried to better himself. He went to school. Friends who knew of his honesty and hard work helped him out. Martin Harris, a Palmyra farmer Joseph had worked for, bought him a new suit of clothes. Mr. Knight, who thought Joseph was the best worker he d ever hired, let him use his horse and sleigh to visit Emma. Emma made it plain that she liked this handsome young man who appeared so often at her door. At age twenty, Joseph was six feet tall and muscular, like his father. He had blue eyes under thick eyelashes, and light auburn hair. His smile was easy and warm. When Emma asked her father once again to approve her marriage to Joseph, he once again bellowed his refusal. Discouraged, Joseph returned to Palmyra, arriving in time for his yearly visit to the Hill Cumorah, on September 22, But it wasn t long before he headed back to Harmony. Hyrum had recently married, and that only made Joseph lonelier for Emma. He was determined to do something about his love for her. Mr. Stowell showed him what he could do. You re twenty-one years old now, he said, and Emma is twenty-two. You re legally old enough to make your own decisions. You don t need Mr. Hale s permission to get married. Emma soon agreed, and on January 18, 1827, they quickly and

4 quietly got married. Nobody from either of their families was present. After their marriage, Emma went back to Palmyra with Joseph. They settled down to live with the Smiths, and Joseph again became part of the family farming operation. Now happily married, Joseph and Emma looked forward to what the future might hold. (Richard E. Turley Jr. and Lael Littke, Stories from the Life of Joseph Smith, [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2003], p ) Activity: Explain that the first hymnbook Emma made consisted of words only. The hymns were sung to different tunes the Saints were familiar with. The same hymn could be sung to different tunes. As an example, the words to hymn no. 2, The Spirit of God, can also be sung to the tune of Hymn no. 3, Now Let Us Rejoice, and vice versa. For fun, mix and match the words and tunes of the following hymns: no. 7, Israel, Israel God Is Calling ; no. 26, Joseph Smith s First Prayer ; no. 102, Jesus, Lover of My Soul ; no. 163, Lord, Dismiss Us with Thy Blessing. (Dennis H. Leavitt and Richard O. Christensen, Scripture Study for Latter-day Saint Families: The Doctrine and Covenants, [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2004], p. 50.)

5 Refreshment Pull-Apart Rolls This delightful pull-apart loaf is also known as monkey bread or bubble loaf. For fun variations, after rolling the balls in butter, roll them in a cinnamon and sugar mixture or in a savory blend of fragrant herbs. 3 1/2 to 3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour 2 tablespoons sugar 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 package active dry yeast 1/4 cup margarine or butter 1 egg 1/4 cup margarine or butter, melted 1. Grease 12-cup bundt cake pan or tube pan, 10 x 4 inches. 2. Mix 1 1/2 cups of the flour, the sugar, salt and yeast n 3-quart bowl. Heat milk and 1/4 cup margarine in 1-quart saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until very warm (120 degrees F.) Add milk mixture and egg to flour mixture. Beat on low speed until moistened; beat 3 minutes on medium speed. Stir in enough remaining flour to make dough easy to handle. 3. turn dough onto lightly floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Shape dough into 24 balls. Dip each ball of dough into the melted margarine. Layer evenly in pan. Cover and let rise in warm place until double, 20 to 30 minutes. 4. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake until golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool 2 minutes; invert onto heatproof serving plate. Serve warm. (Betty Crocker Sunday Dinner Cookbook, [Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Publishing and Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2007] p. 20.) FHE-20 percent coupon clip this coupon and save 20% OFF AT DESERET BOOK On this week s selected FHE titles: Church History for Latter-day Saint Families Sacred Places, Vol. 2: New York and Pennsylvania FHE Or any regular priced item on Monday (excludes scriptures, Church distributed items and Willow Tree figurines) expires 7/28/2007