Flag FHE [FHE=Family Home Evening]

~by Jessica Poe

When we sat down on the living room floor and shouted, “Welcome to Family Home Evening!” at the top of our lungs, it felt like every other FHE. My three wee ones (ages 5, 3 and 1 year old) ate their refreshment first and then plopped on the floor, staring up at Dad, wondering what family activity was on the agenda. Little did they know, this was one of those few shining FHEs that would make an impact.

Dad began by giving a brief summarization of the Book of Mormon chapter we had been reading during family scripture study: Alma 46. He asked me to read a few of the verses, while he acted them out. In basketball shorts and white T-shirt, he stood tall, as much like a casually-dressed Captain Moroni as possible.

In this chapter, Captain Moroni is feeling frustrated because so many of the Nephites are being distracted and led away by the flattering words of wicked Amalickiah. Filled with righteous indignation and desperation to get the Nephites’ attention, and to remind them of who they are and what they’re doing, Captain Moroni rent his coat.

Enter a mental image of my husband trying to rip his white T-shirt. It took a few good pulls, but he got it – and he let out an upset yell to conjure up the mood. The out-of-the-ordinary move captured the attention of my little girls. Their mouths dropped, their eyes widened and they didn’t move a muscle. (The baby cried.)

Next, Captain Moroni took a piece of rent cloth and wrote upon it, “In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives and our children” (Alma 46:12).
We decided to write and draw pictures of things that will help our family remember who we are and why we are really here. Our stick figure family was drawn first, then a smiley Jesus with one of his sheep, our home, a heart to represent love and service, a peace symbol to inspire less fighting, and a United States flag for freedom.

To communicate his message, Captain Moroni hoisted his flag, which he called the Title of Liberty, on a pole and waved it for all to see. My girls found one of those toy horse heads on a stick, and it served as our pole. Instead of heading to our private backyard, we went out front, to the side of our house which faces a busy street in our small town. Each family member waved it and ran up and down the lawn, alongside the sidewalk, enthusiastically shouting “Repent!” or “Remember!”

I loved seeing the scriptures come to life for them! They connected with the story and really understood it. For the next few days, every time we saw a relative, they’d say, “My dad tore his shirt at Family Home Evening!” – which was usually followed by raised eyebrows and great questions from the relative, and then a Gospel-centered conversation.

Not every FHE at our house is memorable or successful. Many are spur-of-the-moment games, some are chores labeled as games, and others only feature the refreshment. But we’re trying to be consistent in having Family Home Evenings; and we’re trying to consistently have the Spirit in our home.

Like Elder Richard J. Maynes, of the Seventy, said in his April 2011 General Conference, “A Christ-Centered Home”

“We learned that our children might not remember everything about the family home evening lesson later in the week, but they woul remember that we held it … Brothers and sisters, there is great power and protection for us and our youth in establishing celestial traditions in the home.”

Celestial traditions – I’ve never labeled our Family Home Evening as that; but I think I will try to now. That’s what it is and that’s what we’re striving for. I’m thankful this particular FHE felt a little celestial, and it gives me inspiration to keep on trying.

Read more about Jessica’s life and faith at her blog. Read another post by Jessica on our site as well: Faith-filled Women Link Five Generations.

The post Mormon Family Life: Flag Family Home Evening appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

A while ago, Heather at Women in the Scriptures featured posts from several different Latter-day Saint families in a series called “This is What Family Home Evening Looks Like at My House”.

Family Home Evening is an important part of family life for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We typically set aside Monday night each week to spend time together as a family learning about the gospel, working together, eating together, and having fun together.

You’ll enjoy a wide variety of experiences and family situations, including a family with eight young children, a newly-married couple, a family with a deployed military father, and more. If you are a Latter-day Saint and have written something about Family Home Evening, let us know in the comments, or submit your own essay to mormonwoman a’ gmail d’ com.

Want to start your own weekly family night? Here’s a list of over 100 different fun family activity ideas.

Family Home Evening at the Bartholomew’s Home by Christina

20 Minutes Every Monday to a Better Life by Jocelyn

Family Home Evening When Dad is in the Military by Ailihn

The Challenges of FHE When There are Just the Two of You by Kelsey

FHE with the Pimentels by Annette

And here are a few posts from Mormon Women: Who We Are about Family Home Evening.

How We Live: “Tonight was Family Home Evening”

Family Fridays: Family Home Evening

First Person: Family Home Evening

The post “This is What Family Home Evening Looks Like at My House” appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

~by Jenna Consolo

Treats are the easy part of Family Home Evening, this tradition that has us gather our families around us every Monday night for a gospel lesson, an activity or game, some songs, a prayer, and then, for many families, refreshments.

I am an ardent believer in Family Home Evening. I have tried to faithfully hold it every Monday night, and the kids look forward to it.

Me? I do not, always. It’s like exercise. Sometimes you hate doing it, but you’re always glad you did it once it’s over.

I remember Family Home Evenings in my family growing up. Like a circus they were, with nine children for my parents to entertain, uplift, and educate, while keeping a modicum of control. The cycle continues in my own family now, circus and all, no matter my pleas (or threats) to the contrary. But I will persist because I believe in the promises made by a prophet to those who will obey. And, I think it really does make our family happier. Eventually, anyway.

With a recent Family Home Evening, the treat was easy to decide on. I knew I didn’t want something too sweet because of all the Halloween candy that had been consumed over the previous several days, so Lion House Banana Bread went into the oven early in the morning. But the lesson?

As the kids have gotten older, I have felt more pressed to make every lesson count. The weeks that the teens have left in our home are numbered and the pressures they face outside of our home are increasing. I want to pack a punch with our family time. I think long and hard each week. I search idea websites and the oodles of manuals and resources that I have here at home. And sometimes, at a loss, I pray. This was yesterday.

I told God about my concerns for my family, the things weighing on my heart for each of my children. I asked Him what He would have me teach. And very clearly, yet softly, came the answer.

Service.

I stayed on my knees for a time, thinking. Yes, service. To one another. There is too much contention. Too much mean-spirited humor. Too little kindness. How can we have the Spirit in our home if we’re not even nice to each other? How can testimonies grow in mean little hearts?

I went back to some websites and found just a few scriptures. The classics.

“When ye are in the service of your fellowmen, ye are only in the service of your God.” (Mosiah 2:17)

“For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.” (Mark 8:35)

I found a great quote by Elder Robert J. Whetton that said, “Every unselfish act of kindness and service increases your spirituality. God would use you to bless others. Your continued spiritual growth and eternal progress are very much wrapped up in your relationships—in how you treat others.”

Yes, yes, this is the perfect lesson for us. Teens who are struggling with their own spirituality–who find it difficult to be sober and reverent–need to be reminded that their growth is connected to the way that they treat people.

I decided to have the kids play “The Biggest Loser,” a Family Home Evening idea I found on the internet that plays off of a weight loss reality television show. But in this game, points are given for “losing yourself” in the service of others.

I knew it was the right lesson. Still, evenings are chaotic. Homework is strewn about. I’m teaching piano until 6pm, and then dinner (which was, thankfully, cooking in the crock pot) had to be assembled, served, and eaten. The Teenage Girl gets home from work after 7pm, and then the battle begins with the toddler, who every week wants so badly to be a part of “Family Evening,” but who is the main source of disruption and frustration. One chance, I tell him. Again.

We sing a song, “Have I Done Any Good.” Teenage boy rolls his eyes and moves his lips, but without producing a sound. The toddler jumps from the couch where he is sternly directed to sit without moving, and begins to dance wildly around the room. Teenage girl is feeling homework pressure. I can see it in her face, but she never complains. Now the toddler is jumping on the teenage boy who is laying on his stomach on the living room floor. I get up from the piano, and put him back on the couch. Keep smiling. Talk sweetly.

A prayer. (Hasn’t worked yet.)

A few announcements and then we stop again because the toddler is now kicking the boy on the couch with both feet, and with all his might. I pick him up and carry him, crying and begging, up to his bed. As I come back down the stairs, having been gone for, maybe 15 seconds, the boy on the couch is now crying and holding his stomach. Apparently in that 15 seconds, the teenage boy has “played too rough” and has punched him and knocked the wind out of him.

Seriously?

So, then sweetness goes out the window. I am sick and tired of teenage boy thinking that his bad attitude can control this family. He has his hand out way too often to be given that kind of power, and I won’t stand for it. So, now he has his head down. Way down. But I don’t think he is ashamed, as much as he is ticked off and cursing me in his mind. Fine, let him.

I sit down. I want to cry. I want to run from the room and curl up in my bed. Throw it all out the window. The tension is thick. I wonder in my mind, “What is the point? We should just do this another night.”

But no. We are supposed to have this lesson, darn it.

I take a deep breath, and I look at their faces. I start to cry, but only a little. I tell them how much I love them, and how important this is, and how just that afternoon I had been on my knees asking Heavenly Father what I should teach them, and I just knew this is what He wanted. They each read a scripture. I read the quote to them, and told them that if we are unhappy with how we are feeling spiritually, then we need to examine the way that we are treating one another (myself included, of course). I told them that Heavenly Father wanted us to play a game this week, and were they willing?

Yes. I told them the game. I even told them that if they thought I wasn’t being serious, that they should ask Heavenly Father themselves and receive their own confirmation that this is what our family should be doing this week. I bore my testimony to them. The Spirit in the room changed. Even teenage boy looked up through his hair at me.

I gave them each a baggie with 50 pennies in it. I told them that for each act of service they did for a member of our family, they could put a penny inside the jar. But no mention of the acts of service can be made. The person who gets rid of the most pennies, who loses himself in the service of others most frequently throughout the week, is the “Biggest Loser” and will win a prize.

Immediately after closing song, prayer, and refreshments, I went to Teenage Boy and put my arm around him as he sat at the table. I apologized to him and told him, with a kiss on the cheek, how much I love him. Then I went upstairs to wash my face. Teenage boy came and met me in the bathroom. Towering above me as he does now, he put his arm around me and said, “I love you, Mom.” What a moment! And then? He started looking around for acts of service. He saw the flashlight next to my bed and replaced the batteries for me. He hung out in my room after the others had gone to bed, and told me about his friends, and school.

This morning there are already several pennies in the jar. Scripture study went much more smoothly this morning. We talked about the steps that Nephi followed to receive his own personal revelation. The kids were helping each other, passing out red pencils, and opening up Book of Mormons.

Family Home Evening works. It won’t work once. It won’t work now and then. But consistently, patiently, over the weeks and months and years, it will work.

The post Family Fridays: Family Home Evening appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

I have a goal to laugh more with my family. Recently, for part of our Family Home Evening, I pulled out a binder of old family letters and read a few of what we call “Notable Quotables.” These are precious and funny things our children said when they were little that I actually had the presence of mind to record. (It only makes me wish I had done more. Note to young moms: Write those precious things down!)

Here are some of the gems we got a kick out of. (You know, that we are going to ask you to share some, too, so start looking for or remembering some good ones from your world — family, friends, neighbors (adults’ funnies are OK, too — just keep them clean, please)).

From 2004:

Background: #1 (a son, then age 5) loved to draw. One thing that he loved drawing for a while was a “dotted-line” representation of the Holy Ghost (you know, because he has no body).

My husband decided to take advantage of a teaching moment with #2 (then age 4).

Dad: Does Heavenly Father have a body?
#2: Yes.
Dad: What does Jesus have?
#2: A body.
Dad: What about the Holy Ghost?
#2: Just dots.

——–

Background: Our son and his dad had (and still have) a few favorite joint pastimes. At the top of the list is checkers (chess is now added to the list).

Hubby and I were hugging in the kitchen (and, FYI, that is all that happened!)….

Son sneaked a peek at us hugging (he should have been in bed).  We sent him back to bed, and he went, but not without this comment:

Son: “I know what you guys are going to do!” (With a hint of ‘you can’t fool me!’ in his voice….) —

…”You’re going to play checkers!” [Ahhh…the true sign of a loving relationship? To a five-year-old boy, yes, I suppose it was.]

——–

As we discussed how Laman and Lemuel (rebellious sons of Lehi, the prophet whose story is the first in the Book of Mormon) were not obedient, #1 and #2 gave us their interpretation of what they must have done to be disobedient:

“They probably stole candy!”

——–

A few from #3 (who was then only two):

Background: In preschool, #1 was learning little rhymes for the colors, like “Red, red forgot his head” and “Yellow, yellow, sat in jello” Anyway, one day, #3 was chanting:

“Yellow, yellow, sat in jelly. Red, red, sat in jelly….”

**

Dressed in one of her outrageous outfits (I often let her choose what to wear; her combination choices were something else!):

“Look! Dokey-dots!” (Both her shirt and her pants had polka-dots.)

Another time when someone was sitting too close to her or something (and she was wearing polka-dotted clothing), she exclaimed, “You’re squishing my dokey-dots!”

———

One day, #1 burst into spontaneous song. It was impossible for me to capture this all when it was spontaneous, so you get an idea from what I wrote after I asked him to do it again, for posterity’s sake. (Picture a four-year-old with his fist up to his mouth like a microphone.)

If you obey your mom,
You will feel happy inside,
And you will do some more.

If you want to be good,
Then you’ll be gooder;
More kind, more faithful
More, more love-ish.
If you will love your parents
Then you will love them more.

If you obey your parents,
Just, just love them all the time,
Be faithful and do good things.
For you and for me,
For you and for me,
For you and for me.
Yay, yay, yay, yay, yay!

If we just do these things,
Then we’ll be more more good,
More more good.

If we just, if we just
Do it s’more,
Then we will be more faithful
And love each other
All the time.

———

Another attempt at a teaching moment, this time from me.

#3 was pretending that I was a dad. So I explained that daddies are boys and mommies are girls, so Mommy couldn’t be a dad because she is a girl. “And someday you will be a mommy, too.”

I don’t know what I expected her response to be, but I didn’t expect to hear:

“Big feet?”

In other words: “When I grow up and I’m a mommy, that means I will have big feet.”

——-

#1 said, “Mom, you’re the bestest cook!” But…before I had a chance to respond, he said, “Well, actually….Grandma.”

——–

OK, now it’s your turn. What are some fun or funny Notable Quotables from your world?

——-

For more Family Friday posts, see here.

The post Family Friday: Notable Quotables, Issue 1 appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

My name is Rebecca. I am 38 years old and have been married for 13 years to my husband Steve. We have three children (ages 11, 9, and 6) and live in Arizona. My hobbies are reading, writing, drawing, and blogging. I went to Brigham Young University (BYU) and have both a BA and a MA in communications from there. I served a mission from 1991-1993 (England London South). I work part-time from home as a marketing research analyst. I have also started writing books.

One of those books is about family scripture study. My interest in the topic grew from feeling dissatisfied with the way my kids reacted and behaved during our family study time. I could tell by their actions and eyes they were not interested, but I really wanted them to be. So I started experimenting with different techniques to hold their attention and get them excited about scripture study time. The result was a book I wrote/illustrated called Adventures with the Word of God. When I have kids asking me when it is time for family scripture study then I know it is successful. I have followed up my first book with another called Home Evening Adventures with the Word of God [“Home Evening” refers to a weekly family night that most Mormons hold on Mondays, where we discuss gospel principles, have fun activities, eat together, and just enjoy each others’ company as a family]. And I am currently working on a third book about temples.

I am grateful for the gospel, and grateful to know that God is there and answers prayers. This past January my kids and I traveled to Denver to visit my younger brother and his family. While there, my brother’s family dog, Daisy, escaped the house and took off. Daisy had a bad track record doing this and then getting herself so lost she was unable to return home on her own. My brother and sister-in-law would have to comb the neighborhood for an hour or two on foot to find her. So the fact she escaped was bad news. An hour or so later they found her, but she escaped again shortly thereafter, sending stress levels up very high. To make a long story short, the kids (my own and my niece and nephews) and I knelt in prayer to ask that Daisy could be found. Shortly thereafter my brother walked in the front door carrying Daisy. I felt strongly this was an answer to prayer.

Being a Mormon Woman means expanded horizons to me. I feel my faith in Christ and His gospel/leaders has provided me with answers to some life questions in a way that helped me to make the best decisions possible. I followed counsel to get an education, which has tremendously blessed my life. I served a mission to London and had incredible opportunities there and continued blessings since. Getting married and having children has brought a rainbow of experiences that I would never give up. Sometimes I wonder what my life would be like if I had not followed His counsel and made these good choices–I don’t think it would be as full. My horizons are broader and greater than they ever would have been otherwise. And I am excited to see what life brings me in the future as I choose to follow Him.

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“Harmonious Homes, Family Memories & Flowing Laughter”

Jane Worthington

You may think you don’t have talents, but that is a false assumption, for we all have talents and gifts, every one of us. The bounds of creativity extend far beyond the limits of a canvas or a sheet of paper and do not require a brush, a pen, or the keys of a piano. Creation means bringing into existence something that did not exist before–colorful gardens, harmonious homes, family memories, flowing laughter.  -President Dieter F. Uchtdor, “Happiness, Your Heritage“

Some of the things I do with my family:

Back to School Parties

I have a circle with numbers written on the sidewalk like a cake walk. Children walk around the circle while the music is playing when the music stops they must be on a number that is called out to get a prize. The prizes are pencils, paper crayons and other school supplies. We play musical chairs with the same supplies given out. Everyone gets the same gifts–no one is left out, the games are just to facilitate the giving out of the prizes

Halloween Parties

We Decorate pumpkins, no cutting, just drawing and pasting. We have apple dunking, pizza and Jell-o to eat.

Easter Parties

Easter egg hunt giving out a basket for each child to gather their own eggs for candy and money

Other Family Parties

There are birthdays, baby blessings, baptisms, weddings, [baby or wedding] showers. We also just get together because we like to get together. You don’t need matching plates, silverware, or cups to have fun and laughter. You come to enjoy family not all the decorations.

Sleep-over Parties

Every Thursday grandchildren would call and I would pick up the phone and they would say, “Grandma…” and I would say, “Yes you may sleep over.” They would say, “How do you know what we’re going to ask?”

Every Friday night was sleep-over night. This is a wonderful time for cousins to get together and enjoy each other. Grandsons and granddaughters that have grown up together, have stayed close because of this early associations. Grandsons as adults even play together on the same ball teams because they still enjoy each other. Sleep-over morning I served scrambled eggs, toast and jam. Grandpa would serve colored French toast. Grandpa would let the grandchildren put curlers in his hair and style it. [Jane explained how he was always the ‘softy’ of the family.] There is always lots of fun and laughter.

Worthington Summer Ideas

Picnics: When my children were young I would gather them and the neighborhood kids. Tell them we were going on a picnic, make peanut butter and jam sandwich, pile in the car (this was before seat belts) I would drive until I would see a park and that is where we would stop and eat and play. I found many parks that way. You can even have a picnic in your own backyard.

Drive-in-Shows: I’d have my kids go out and get the kids in the neighborhood who would like to go to the show. We would load them in the car (this was before seat belts) and head off to the show, it was $3 a car.

Spending evenings alone with my older children: While my husband was doing his bishop [congregation leader] duties, I would talk with my older children. I found out how things were going in school and in their social life.

Go on family trips and brings others with you: When I was down to two children at home I told them they needed to go out and invite someone to go with us, we’re not used to going with so few children.

One summer I had fourteen children staying at my home. I thought my fridge was broken. I made sure it was plugged in and called the repair man. After checking he asked how many children were at the home and when I told him. He said, “Lady there isn’t anything wrong with the fridge, just make sure when the children open the fridge they know what they want. The door isn’t closed long enough to keep things cold.”

Dinners

Every three months, I get together with my children and their spouses to have dinner. They rotate homes where the dinner is served. Every three months I have a pot-luck dinner with everyone at my home, children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. I have door prizes and other surprises for them to enjoy. I have the young-adult aged grandchildren over for dinner and give out door prizes and play games. I have individual families over for Sunday dinner. We love Thanksgiving dinners. Our Christmas parties rotated yearly to a different child’s home. My husband always would sing “White Christmas,” even though he has passed away we will still sing it as a tradition. [I think she said they have a recording of him singing this, also.] The yearly General Relief Society Meeting is a special time for me to take all the girls 18 and older to dinner after we listen to the conference. We’ve been out to dinner and we have had others stop by and wonder what we were laughing about but we were just enjoying each other.

Family Reunion

This reunion has been going on for 47 years in the same place. This is my extended family reunion. My immediate family are the only members of the Mormon Church. I started having family home evening one night during the week and even now when I get there the kids will ask “Aunt Jane,” which is me, “when are we having family night?”  Even though we have boats and all the water gear the first thing they want to know is when we are going to have family home evening.

Some of the games we play are:

-Money in the sand: We take a small pool and put sand in it and bury money (don’t use pennies they’re hard to see). Children put one hand behind their backs and with the other reach in and grab for the money. It helps to have someone standing behind them with a sandwich bag to collect the money for them.
-Sling shot game: Flexible surgical tubing with a pouch in the center filled with candy or water balloons is shot out over the sand for the children to pick up and gather. When playing other games the children are given tickets for participating. 
– Then they use the tickets as money to pick gifts from things I have bought at the dollar store. You should see how big their eyes get when selecting what they want with their tickets.

Conclusions

What you create doesn’t have to be perfect. Have fun with your family. Have love and laughter. My family is kind of like the show “My Big Fat Greek Wedding.” My one son-in-law when first married into the family couldn’t believe all the conversations going on at the same time. We told him if he didn’t like one conversation he could go to another.

My grandchildren and great-grandchildren call me “the party grandma.” You can have a party for anything anytime! Just enjoy your family.

My children always ask me, “How are you feeling?”

I tell them, “I’m great.”

“No really, Mom, how are you?”

I tell them, “I’m great.”

I feel if you say this long enough, in time, you will be great!

Life is great so enjoy your family!

——-

What things do you like to do to create memories and opportunities for fun and laughter with your family?

The post Family Friday: Jane’s Family Fun appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

In this feature, we will see photos and hear stories (and maybe even have some videos) that capture the day-to-day stuff of family life, the moments that keep us laughing, the deeply-rooted traditions that bind generations together, the new traditions we are experimenting with, and much more. Come enjoy and share ideas about family parties, family reunions, family nights, family memory-making, and other family fun. Reflect with us on all that family life entails, from celebrating birth to dealing with death, from the heartwarming to the heartrending.

So, beginning today, we invite you to come and focus on family life with us. And please join in and share your thoughts, ideas, and experiences in the comments. As always, submissions are also welcome. Send at gmail to ‘mormonwoman’ and include ‘Family Friday’ in the subject line.

The post New Feature! <i>Family Friday</i> appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

My name is Rebekah, and I am a Mormon Woman.

I have been married for just over a year. I was married to my husband in the Atlanta, Georgia LDS Temple, and we do not, yet, have any children. I was born into a Latter-day Saint family, and was baptized at the age of eight. My mom is a convert; missionaries from the Church taught her family while they were living in Puerto Rico and she was baptized at the age of 16, along with her mother, brother, and sisters. My Dad was born to LDS parents, who were converted and baptized into the church just before he was born.

I am currently a student attending BYU-Idaho, although I grew up in Tennessee. I am majoring in Communications, with minors in Photography and Humanities. In the Church, I am currently serving as a Family Home Evening Group Leader (in our area, young, married couples get together on Monday nights once a month to share a gospel message and get to know each other through games and activities). I am also serving on the Home, Family, and Personal Enrichment Board, helping to put together enriching activities for the women in our Relief Society.

I enjoy the outdoors more than most anything else: I love hiking, camping, rock climbing, repelling, and swimming. Some of my hobbies include writing and photography. I am currently taking piano classes and trying to develop my musical talent and I also love to dance!

When I was in high school, I was one of only a few LDS kids at my school. I was a cheerleader and had a lot of really wonderful friends. However, it was often a struggle for me to have friends and keep my standards at the same time. I didn’t drink or smoke or do much of what was often happening around me. I didn’t want to attend most of the parties, and felt a little alienated from some of my friends because I just didn’t want to participate. I felt different. But, I could feel what my parents and church leaders were teaching me was right, and I held onto it. It wasn’t until after high school that I realized what a blessing these standards were in my life! Although I wasn’t perfect, and made plenty of mistakes, the things that my family and church leaders had taught me kept me clean, healthy, and happy. It also allowed me to have the knowledge of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, so that I could repent and start fresh when I slipped up. I now feel that I have lived wisely and without regret. It is a joyful way of life.

I love the joy that the gospel of Jesus Christ brings. Being a Mormon Woman blesses my marriage and keeps it strong. It gives me guidance as to how to live a happy, healthy, and productive life. Most of all, it teaches me to progress daily and provides a way for me to repent and grow closer to my Savior. Being a Mormon woman teaches me of my identity as a child of God and gives direction as to what this life is all about and what I should be doing here to get back to my Heavenly Father with my family some day.

—
For more Portraits of Mormon Women, please click here.

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Family Home Evening is a night when your family stays home together and has a little meeting. We do it on Sundays or Mondays.

We have a chart that tells each member of the family what their job of FHE is. The chart does not need to be fancy. See ours below.

One person conducts. Tonight it was Macey. She said, “Welcome to Family Home Evening” and then told us what everyone would be doing for their FHE job.

Logan was in charge of leading the song.

Dave was in charge of the lesson.

The children were in charge of listening to the lesson. Because I have little kids, I keep the lessons short and sweet. Just a little Bible story or something like that. It is hard for them to sit still for too long. See the pictures below.

Tonight we talked about Daniel and the Lion’s Den.

Sometimes the kids have random comments and questions. Those are my favorite parts because they often lead to gospel discussions and teaching moments. So, I don’t go crazy on preparing a lesson….. something good comes from whatever I do.

After the lesson, we moved to the kids’ favorite part.

The games!

Our FHE game portion of the night typically includes one of the following games:

Duck, Duck Goose
Mother May I
Red Light, Green Light
Hide-and-Go-Seek
London Bridge
Ring around the Rosy

Tonight we played Duck, Duck Goose

Lexi helped with the treat and put sprinkles on everyone’s ice cream.

Then we ate it.

And that was the end of our FHE!

I know it makes a difference in our family, so I love having Family Home Evening. I think it makes us more unified as a family, and gives us the opportunity to discuss important “life” topics.

Now please share what you do for FHE with your family!

*This post and all pictures were used by permission from the author.

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