Power of the Priesthood

My Sunday afternoon nap is awaiting... so I'll get to the point.

Prep:  Find a strong chain (a cheap chain dog collar will suffice) or a picture of a chain.

Lesson:  Begin by telling this riddle.  You can't see it, but you can feel it.  You can't touch it, but it can touch you.  Some people hold it and some people don't.  It's stronger than steel, but it's invisible.  It's the most powerful tool on earth.  What is it?  The answer is the Priesthood.  If you have kiddos in Primary they should have learned about Elijah and when he used the Priesthood to seal the heavens, trying to call the Israelites to repentance for their idol worship.  Discuss with your family what the Priesthood is and when it can be used.  We use it to bless babies, baptize and confirm, ordain, set apart for callings, in temple ordinances, bless the sick, give blessings of comfort and prepare the sacrament.  Ask your family to share any instances when they were blessed by the Priesthood.

Activity: Bring out your chain.  Or your picture of a chain.  Let each person take a turn trying to pull in apart.  Tell them they can use any means available to them to try and break the chain.  If you're using the picture, ask them how they would break the chain.  It's a strong material, right?  But the chain can be broken if you get it hot enough or if it rusts.  What other ways can the chain be broken?  Explain that the Priesthood can never be broken.  Heavenly Father has promised us that the Priesthood will never leave the Earth again.  How comforting is that?

source

Treat:  Spice Cake Cupcakes (click for recipe).  Enjoy.

Listening to the Holy Ghost

Alright, I'm sitting here, trying to decide what this week's FHE topic should be...  And the idea fairy seems to have gone on vacation or something...  But no worries.  I'll just pull out my handy dandy, trusty little cell phone.  On said cell phone is a list of topic ideas I once jotted down at like 3am one morning while I was up feeding the baby.  I have to be up, might as well get some things done right?  (Apparently I need more 3am feedings tho... my list is dwindling...)  If you have any requests or ideas for topics, please share!  Well, this week's topic will be on listening to the Holy Ghost. 

Prep:  Buy a King sized candy bar and a fun sized candy bar.  The fun sizes don't come individually, but Halloween is coming up so just snag a piece from your stash of Halloween candy.  Also, probably an activity best done before Halloween, when candy is still a novelty and not sitting in PILES around the house... 

Lesson:  Read this short story from The Friend (Feb 2010).  I C&P for you, so it's right below here.  If you want the link though, click HERE.

When I was nine years old, there was a family reunion at my house in Coimbra, Portugal. My parents were busy entertaining our relatives. Everybody was talking and laughing. While the grown-ups were busy, I decided I wanted to have some fun too.

My house was close to the Mondego River, and I thought it would be fun to go fishing. I didn’t want to go alone, so I took my four-year-old sister with me. I had a feeling that I should tell my mom and dad where we were going. But they were busy talking, so I decided to go without telling them.

We walked along the riverbank until we found a nice spot. I gave my sister some small rocks to throw into the water while I enjoyed fishing.

Soon my parents noticed that my sister and I weren’t at home. They drove all around town looking for us. Many hours later my father noticed that my fishing equipment was missing. So he and my mom searched the riverbank until they found us.

My parents were relieved to find us, but they were also unhappy with me. It was very dangerous to play by the river without my parents, especially for my little sister.

From this experience I learned that we always need to talk to our parents—and listen to them. They have our best interests at heart. I also learned that it is important to listen to the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost tried to tell me that I shouldn’t go fishing without telling my parents. But I didn’t listen. Even though we were having fun, my sister and I were in danger. If we listen carefully to our parents and to the Holy Ghost, we will be safe.

 Ask your family if they have any experiences they'd like to share about a time when the Holy Ghost prompted them to do something.  You may also want to talk briefly about what promptings are and how we receive them.  Explain that sometimes they may be a voice we can hear and some times it's just a feeling or thought we have.

Activity:  Choose three participants and then choose one to be the "listener".  Send them out of the room.  When the "listener" can not hear or see, choose one of your remaining volunteers to be the "good voice" (like the Holy Ghost) and one to be the "bad" voice (temptation we have in the world).  Let the "good" voice hide the king size candy bar and the "bad" voice hide the fun size one. Tell the two voices that they will try to lead whomever you sent out of the room to the candy bar that they just hid.  When all candy is sufficiently hidden, invite your "listener" back into the room.  Explain that there are some rewards hidden in the room.  The listener is going to try to find them.  Both 'voices' will give directions to the rewards.  Neither may talk louder than a whisper.  Go!  When we did this lesson with my parents and sisters, we put the stipulation that if the fun size candy was found the "bad" voice got to eat it.  If the king size was found the "good" voice and the listener got to share it. 

Treat:  Butterscotch Marshmallow Brownies.  CLICK HERE for the recipe.


By the way, I debated about saving this lesson until October when I could post with my Halloween theme... but decided not to.  Don't forget to leave any topic requests you may have!  Enjoy!

Temples

So, my Mr Right and I just celebrated our 1st Sealing Anniversary last week, so I thought an FHE on temples was appropriate.  And EVERYONE loves fieldtrips, right?

Prep:  Get enough pictures of the temple for each family member.  Your choice on sizes and with or without frames.  There are some resources below.

Lesson:  Sing the song, or read the words, to I Love To See The Temple from the Children's Songbook, page 95.  Talk about it.  Here in the US we have quite a few temples now, and there are more and more being built all the time.  The number of temples have increased dramatically in the last few years.  Younger children probably won't be able to comprehend having to travel days or weeks or even months and having to sell everything you own or saving for years and years to get to a temple.  I wasn't even in a situation like that, but some people have been.  The farthest we've ever had to travel to the nearest temple was about 4.5 hours.  How blessed are we now?  We live 15 minutes from the temple.  I don't have any great stories about people sacrificing it all to attend the temple, but I know we have all heard them.  Explain to your children that the blessings we receive in the temple are so much more valuable than worldly posessions that some people have been willing to sell everything they own just to go to the temple one time.  Discuss briefly the blessings we receive in the temple: promises from Heavenly Father, the opportunity to receive exhaltation, and the opportunity to be forever families.  Talk a little about baptisms for the dead and how important they are.  Point out the inscription on every temple above the doors.  What does it mean?  Why is it on every temple? 

Activity:  If you live near a temple, take your family there and walk around the grounds.  You won't be able to go through the gates, as they are locked on Mondays, but the same sweet Spirit can still be felt.  If you don't live near a temple make a plan to visit the nearest one on a future (but not too future) weekend.  If you go on Saturday, the gates will be open and your family can walk on the grounds.  Please remember to be reverent and respectful, as temples are sacred and holy.  Before you close, hand each member of you family a picture of "your" temple (the one nearest you or any other temple that is special for any reason).  Tell them to hang them in their rooms where they can see it every day.  If you want to provide frames, more power to ya!  The Dollar Store has cheap, decent frames (and if they do break, it's only $1 to replace it).  Order prints from Deseret Book, Seagull Book, or the Church Distribution Center website.  You can also pick them up at any physical location of each of those links, of course.

Treat:  Rice Crispy Treats.  Shape them into a temple shape if you'd like.  =]

Feel free to use these images if you'd like, but please limit them to personal use.  Please do not repost these images without permission.  If you use these images for other projects or crafts send me photos! (whilehewasnapping[at]gmail[dot]com).  I'd love to see what you do with them.  I'll even feature your project on my 'crafty blog,' whilehewasnapping.blogspot.com.  Thanks.

Melodious Monday - The Music Choice

We finished up the Be's... Hooray!  It feels so great to accomplish things!  So, moving on.  Today's FHE is on music.  My little boy LOVES music.  He will stop what he is going and run around the other side of the sofa, totally enthralled when the right commercial comes on... what brings him running???  The music!!  It has absolutely nothing to do with the actual commercial, it's all about the music.  And he's only one!  Music can have such an amazing effect on us.  But it can also be detrimental.  Let's get started.

Prep:  Go through your iTunes library and select a play list of songs you enjoy.  Use YouTube to find brief clips of some heavy metal and music you may not have in your library.  Or check out your teenagers CD/MP3 collections...  I know when I was a teenager I didn't always choose the most "Spirit-Inviting" music...  Choose about 5 different songs, all different genres, for your list.  Include Church music as well as music you may not approve of.  It'll help get the point across.  Promise.

Lesson:  Hand out a piece of paper to each member of the family.  Help your younger kids, if needs be.  Play a short clip, 10-20 seconds, of each song you have chosen.  Ask each person to number their paper.  Tell them to write down one or two words for each clip that describes how they feel while they are listening to the song.  When you have finished playing the clips, talk about the different things you felt during each song.  Which songs made them feel good inside?  Encourage your family to choose only music that is uplifting.  "Music is an important and powerful part of life. Don't listen to music that drives away the Spirit, encourages immorality, glorifies violence, uses foul or offensive language, or promotes Satanism or other evil practices" (For The Strength of Youth, "Music and Dancing," p 20).

Activity:  Choose 3-5 songs out of the Hymn Book or Children's Songbook to sing as a family.  Or choose a new song to learn as a family.  If someone in your family is musically talented and can accompany, ask them to do so.  If you have accompaniment on CD's, use those.  Or you can find some super useful resources HERE.

Treat:  Nilla Wafer No-Bake Cheesecake.  It's WAY yummy!  Click HERE for the recipe!