Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Monday, August 22, 2011

FHE: Patience


"It is through sorrow and suffering, toil and tribulation, that we gain the education that we come here to acquire.” -Orson F. Whitney

Conference Talk:


For more information on this topic read “The Atonement Covers All Pain,” by Kent F. Richards,
Ensign, May 2011, 15.


Thought:


“No pain that we suffer, no trial that we experience is wasted. It ministers to our education, to the
development of such qualities as patience, faith, fortitude, and humility. … It is through sorrow
and suffering, toil and tribulation, that we gain the education that we come here to acquire.” (Elder Orson F. Whitney)


Song:


“Teach Me to Walk,” Children’s Songbook, p. 177.


Scripture:


And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made
light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they
did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord.


(Mosiah 24:15)


Lesson:


Ask your family members if they have ever heard the phrases “hold your horses” or “keep
your shirt on.” Ask, What quality is being requested by those phrases? (Patience.)


Read this insight from Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin: “I believe that a lack of patience is a major
cause of the difficulties and unhappiness in the world today. Too often, we are impatient with
ourselves, with our family members and friends, and even with the Lord. We seem to demand
what we want right now, regardless of whether we have earned it, whether it would be good for
us, or whether it is right. Some seek immediate gratification or numbing of every impulse by
turning to alcohol and drugs, while others seek instant material wealth by questionable investments
or by dishonesty, with little or no regard for the consequences. Perhaps the practice of patience is
more difficult, yet more necessary, now than at any previous time.” (Ensign, May 1987, 30.

Ask, Why do you think Elder Wirthlin would say that having “patience is more difficult, yet
more necessary, now than at any previous time”?

Have family members read Romans 5:1–5 and look for what Paul taught about patience.

Ask:


• How can we have “peace with God”?

• What did Paul say helps us learn patience?


• Whom should we learn to rely on when faced with tribulation?

• What blessing comes to us through the Holy Ghost?

Read the following by Elder Neal A. Maxwell: “Patience is tied very closely to faith in our
Heavenly Father. Actually, when we are unduly impatient, we are suggesting that we know what
is best—better than does God. Or, at least, we are asserting that our timetable is better than his.
Either way we are questioning the reality of God’s omniscience [knowledge].” (Ensign, Oct. 1980,
28.) Ask:


• How can we show our faith in Heavenly Father?


• Why is it important to recognize that God knows what is best for us?

• How might this knowledge help us get through trials?


Testify to your family that patience is one way we come to be more Christlike. Remind your family
that patience gives us the hope that Christ’s Atonement will save us.


(Dennis H. Leavitt and Richard O. Christensen, Scripture Study for Latter-day Saint Families: The New Testament, [Salt
Lake City: Deseret Book, 2006], p. 183.)


Story:


Patience was required of Noah and his family. We talk about “forty days and forty nights” as
though they had to live in the ark with all those animals for a month and a half. Well, forty days and
forty nights was only a fraction of their endurance. For instance, do you remember that after they
went into the ark and closed the door, they were inside the ark for seven days before the Flood began?
(Genesis 7:10.) Now, would that be a test of faith or what? Would you decide, about the fifth day, that
it would be awfully nice to spend the weekend picking buttercups in the meadow rather than cleaning
the elephants’ stalls and that maybe Noah had made a big mistake?


Then the rains began. The scripture tells us that on the same day “all the fountains of the great deep
[were] broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.” (Genesis 7:11-12.) It was not until the
fortieth day of this torrential downpour and flooding that the water was deep enough to “lift [the ark]
up above the earth.” (Genesis 7:17.) And then “the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and
fifty days.” (Genesis 7:24.) We’re up to 197 days so far.


The scripture doesn’t tell us how many days it took for the waters to recede, but it says that the ark
came to rest on the mountains of Ararat on the seventeenth day of the seventh month (Genesis 8:4),
and it took until the first day of the tenth month for the tops of the mountains to become visible. If
we hypothesize a month of thirty days—and I realize that there are Bible scholars who make careers
out of figuring out the calendar—then we need to add another seventy-three days. Then they waited
forty days to send out the raven and the dove, seven more days for the second flight of the dove, who
returned with the olive branch, and a final seven days for the third flight. It sounds as if it then took
another month plus twenty-seven days before they received the command of the Lord to go forth from
the ark. (Genesis 8:3-6, 10, 12-14.) According to my addition, this comes to a total of 401 days. That’s
a long time to be cooped up in a floating zoo—a year, a month, and six days!


So the story of Noah teaches us that there will be adversity, that it will last a long time, and that it
will require reserves of patience that seem superhuman.


(Chieko N. Okazaki, Aloha!, [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1995].)


Activity:


Play Patience Relay.


Separate the cards into a suit per team. Lay out the 10 number cards (including ace) in any order
face down at the end of the room. One at a time the team members run up and turn over a card. If it
is not the ace then they turn it face down again and run back to their team and the next player has a
go. When the ace is turned up they can lay it face up. The next card needed is the two and so on. Play
continues until one team has all its cards turned face up. [Note: this game can be played with Rook
cards if preferred.]


Refreshment


Mango Mash-up

3 mangoes, peeled and sliced
1 tray ice cubes
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
3⁄4 cup frozen orange juice concentrate
1 2-liter bottle of ginger ale

Combine mangoes, ice, lime juice, sugar, vanilla, and orange juice concentrate in the jar of a
blender. Pulse until well blended. Add ginger ale until blender jar is nearly full. Blend again and enjoy.
Serves 4.

Monday, August 15, 2011

FHE: Truth


One of our greatest quests in life is to recognize the truth and avoid deception.

Conference Talk:

For more information on this topic read “Testimony,” by Cecil O. Samuelson, Ensign, May
2011, 40.

Thought:
Everyone who is willing to pay the price—meaning keeping the commandments—may have
a testimony [of the truth].
(Cecil O. Samuelson, “Testimony,” Ensign, May 2011, 40.)

Song:

“I Will Be Valiant,” Children’s Songbook, p. 162.

Scripture:


And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.
(Moroni 10:5)


Object Lesson:


Materials Needed


A dollar bill and a piece of “play” money.


Procedure


Display the genuine money and the play money. Ask: Which currency would you use
to buy something at a store? Explain that we must use real money to make a purchase. It is
important to distinguish between real and imitation in order to get what we want.


Compare this to gospel truths versus Satan’s lies. It is important to recognize the truth
and avoid deception. Point out that in order to receive the blessings we ultimately desire, we
must recognize and apply the truth in our lives.


(Beth Lefgren and Jennifer Jackson, Object Lessons Made Easy, [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2010], p. 19.)


Story:


Elder Bernard P. Brockbank

A fine couple came into my office in the Mormon Pavilion recently, and the husband
was concerned because his wife who had visited the Pavilion a few weeks before had
recently joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and she was filled with
peace, joy, and satisfaction. He said, “My wife seems to know, but I do not know, that Jesus
Christ is the Son of God. I do not know that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God. I would like
to know the truth.”


He said, “I do believe that there is a God or a Creator.”


In answer I said, “Your Father in heaven has a greater desire that you know that Jesus
Christ is literally his Son and that he is the Savior, and he desires that you know the
prophets, even more than you desire to know, but you must be ready to accept and follow
the Savior.”


Jesus Christ gave us the key of how we can know, and this has been repeated, and I
think it is rather significant. . . . I think it has great import and is very essential in the great missionary
program because no convert can come into this church, knowing the truth and knowing what is
essential, unless he follows and understands what the Savior mentioned. . . .


This revealed one of the little secrets that was keeping this young man from the Church. His desire
was good, which is very important; he had a marvelous attitude, but he wanted a witness through his
own mind, from his own reading, through his own understanding, even though we had been speaking
about the message the Lord gave of how we can know. This witness cannot come from flesh and blood
but must come from God the Eternal Father.


I again asked him if he would privately and secretly fast and pray from his heart to God, so that he
might know the truth. He said, “I will do the best I can, but I assure you I will pray.”


One week later he was baptized, and with tears in his eyes and joy in his heart he knew that Jesus
Christ was his Savior and that he was literally the Son of the living God. His Father in heaven also
revealed to him that Joseph Smith was a prophet; he also knew that the Book of Mormon was scripture
and was the word of God. That came as an answer from his Father in heaven, and he was thrilled to get
acquainted with it. He told me, “Life has greater meaning.”


(Leon R; Hartshorn, Outstanding Stories by General Authorities, vol. 3, [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1974].)


Activity:


Play “Hunt the Ring.”


“It” stands in the middle of a circle of players. A piece of string long enough to go around the
circle is slipped through a ring and the ends tied. All players in the circle grasp the string. “It” counts
to ten with eyes closed so as not to see the ring passed initially. The ring is concealed under a player’s
hand and is passed from player to player. “It” must find the player under whose hand the ring is
concealed. The player caught with he ring becomes “it.”


The truth is often hidden and we must search it out.


(Alma Heaton, The LDS Game Book, [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1968]. p. 95.)


Refreshment


Parmesan Popovers

1 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 eggs

1 cup milk

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine the flour, salt and Parmesan
cheese. In a second bowl, beat the eggs and milk, using a wire whisk or electric mixer; mix until fluffy.


Fold the wet mixture into the dry mixture, and thoroughly combine. Coat a 6-cup muffin or popover
pan with cooking spray. Divide the batter between the 6 cups. Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to
350 degrees and bake for another 20 minutes, until popovers are golden brown. Cool slightly, then turn
popovers from the pan.


Serves 6.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

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Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Monday, June 27, 2011

FHE: Pioneers


Thought: With frozen feet and a barren wasteland, those early Saints surely needed faith to trust their prophet. Their very survival and lives were at stake. Yet the Lord rewarded their obedience and blessed and prospered those who followed His mouthpiece.

Conference Talk:
For more information on this topic read “Our Very Survival,” by Kevin R. Duncan, Ensign, Nov 2010, 34.

Thought:
With frozen feet and a barren wasteland, those early Saints surely needed faith to trust their prophet. Their very survival and lives were at stake. Yet the Lord rewarded their obedience and blessed and prospered those who followed His mouthpiece. (Kevin R. Duncan, “Our Very Survival,” Ensign, Nov 2010, 34.)

Song:
“Whenever I Think about Pioneers,” Children’s Songbook, p. 222.

Scripture:
Let every man use all his influence and property to remove this people to the place where the Lord shall locate a stake of Zion. And if ye do this with a pure heart, in all faithfulness, ye shall be blessed; you shall be blessed in your flocks, and in your herds, and in your fields, and in your houses, and in your families. (Doctrine and Covenants 136:10-11)

Lesson:
Have family members turn to their Doctrine and Covenants maps and locate Winter Quarters and the Salt Lake Valley. Have them identify how far the journey was. Talk briefly about how difficult it would be for the pioneers to travel west to the Salt Lake Valley, especially under their difficult circumstances.

Read D&C 136:2 aloud to your family and explain that the commandments given on this journey would also help “all the people of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints” on another journey. That journey is the journey through mortality as we seek to return to live with our Heavenly Father someday.

Have family members take turns reading D&C 136:1–42. After many or most of the verses, stop and have a family discussion. In your discussion, identify answers to the following questions:

1. What instruction did the Lord give the early Saints in this verse?
2. How would this instruction help them in their particular journey?
3. How could we apply this instruction to our lives today?
4. How would that counsel help us in our journey back to Heavenly Father?

As an example, consider answers to the questions above for verses 3 and 9: D&C 136:3

1. The Lord instructed the Saints to be organized in companies with captains for each.
2. This would help the people be watched over and cared for by others.
3. We are organized with leaders in stakes, wards, quorums, and families.
4. Our stake, ward, and quorum members help us in our challenges.

D&C 136:9

1. The pioneers were to build homes and raise food to assist others who would travel later.
2. This would help the poor Saints to survive. Serving others would also bring blessings.
3. We should use our resources to help make the world a better place for those who are yet to be born.
4. Worrying about others and helping meet their needs is critical to helping fulfill Heavenly Father’s plan for His children.

(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. 307.)

Story:
by Lucina Mecham (Boren)

In the spring of 1853 [when I was 12 years old] we started for Utah. We went a long way on a raft. I was always afraid of water. We crossed the Missouri River on a ferry boat, which frightened me very much, as the water was very high.

We left the Missouri River July 18th. My father started with two wagons, one yoke of oxen, two yoke of unbroken steers, and four cows. The man that sold Father the oxen had stolen them, and the man that he had stolen them from came and took them from us, so we only had one wagon and the cows.

The Indians were on the warpath, so we all had to travel together for safety. We were stopped once by the Indians. I thought there were one thousand of them! They could easily have killed us all, but we gave them provisions by robbing ourselves and then suffering from want of food.

We children had to walk most of the way. We stopped one day each week for washday, and we were always allowed time to keep ourselves clean. When we camped at night, the first wagon would stop. The next wagon would stop at his side, and so on, till they were all in a circle making a corral of the wagons and we would stay inside for safety. After supper and the animals were taken care of, we would sit around the fire, sing songs, tell stories, and those that were not too tired would dance. One brother had a violin, and he was very good at it for dancing.

My sister Sarah and I stopped to rest one day, and the wagons passed us. Sarah said she was not going any farther. I begged her to come with me, but she said she would rather be eaten by wolves than go on. She tried to get me to go and catch the wagons, but I told her I would not leave her. Then she said, “I will not see the wolves get you, so come on, let us go to camp.”

When we were three days from Salt Lake, my cousin Daniel Mecham met us with a load of food, flour, meat, and vegetables. And what a godsend it was, for we were out of food. The next day Brother Allen I. Stout, a friend of ours, came with another load of food. We all rode in the extra wagons to Salt Lake. We arrived October 16, 1853.

(Susan Arrington Madsen, I Walked to Zion: True Stories of Young Pioneers on the Mormon Trail, [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1994].)

Activity:
Seat the family in a row. Give the first player a large handerchief. At the signal he ties it with one hand around the left arm of the next player, between the elbow and shoulder. The second player unties it with his right hand and then with one hand ties it on the arm of the third player, and so on. The last player runs with the handkerchief and tie it on the first player to end the relay.

(Alma Heaton, The LDS Game Book, [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1968], p. 196.)

Refreshment:
White Raspberry Cake
12-14 servings

1 package white cake mix
1 (16-ounce) can raspberry filling
1 cup fresh raspberries, for garnish

Whipped Cream Frosting:
2 cups heavy cream
½ cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Raspberry Sauce:
½ cup raspberry jam
1 tablespoon warm water

For the cake: Prepare and bake cake following the package directions for two 9-inch round cakes. Cool and cut each cake layer into two layers so that you have four layers. Spread raspberry filling evenly between the four layers and chill for 30 minutes.

For the frosting: In a mixing bowl, whip cream, sugar, and vanilla until soft peaks form and hold their shape.

For the sauce: Combine raspberry jam with warm water and mix well. Frost the sides of the cake with frosting. Drizzle sauce over top and garnish with fresh raspberries.