** For more ideas and free printables, here is my August 2015 ideas for Come Follow Me lessons. **

For August 2014 the topic for "Come Follow Me" is,

Marriage and Family

Here are the links to each organizations page for the month: Young Women, Aaronic Priesthood, Sunday School

Since, each organization has their own outlines and each lesson will need to be specified to the individual class members and there are already amazing outlines that can be used for guidance, I am only going to share some general ideas that can just be used as supplements.

Here is the Scripture for the month:

“Marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and ... the family is central to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children” (“The Family: A Proclamation to the World,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2010, 129).

Lesson Ideas:

There are so many topics to choose from this month. I am just giving supplemental ideas to a few of them. Please refer to the church's website for the wonderful outlines they have on there for all of the topics, see links below.

Young Women:

"Why is family important?": Place a large word strip on the board that states the question, "Why is Family Important?". Invite each young women to take a couple minutes to think about that question. Have them think about why their family is important to them and why the family is central to Heavenly Father's plan. After giving them time to think. Invite each young women to share the answer they would give in response to that question.

Print out, "The Family: A proclamation to the World". Number each paragraph and separate the paragraphs by cutting them. Give each young women a paragraph. In order have the young women read their paragraph starting with paragraph #1. Stop after each paragraph and discuss the paragraph. Asking questions, inviting discussion and sharing of experiences.

"Why is temple marriage important?": Begin class by having two popcicle sticks held up next to each other. Invite a young women to come up and pull the popcicle sticks apart. Now show the young women the two popcicle sticks that you have previously sealed together with glue. Invite a young women to come up and try to pull the two popcicle sticks apart. Explain that when a man and a women are married outside of the temple. The are only married until one of them passes away. Thus the two popcicle sticks that were just held up to each other and could be broken apart. But when a man and a women are sealed together in the holy temple by sacred priesthood power. They are bound together for all eternity, not even death can separate them if they are living true to their covenants.

Share your experiences of preparing for your temple marriage and the feelings you had as you were sealed to your eternal companion. Or you could share this story, “Our Temple Marriage Was Worth Any Price,” Liahona, Oct. 2010, 69–70

Read, "At the Top of My List," By Ryan Carr. New Era, Oct. 2004.

Give each young women a piece of paper. Have them write down their goals of what qualities they would like their future husband to have, the importance of an eternal marriage, their goal of being sealed in the temple, and what things they are going to do to prepare for a temple marriage. Have them place it in an envelope with their name on it and write on the front, "Do not open until I'm engaged".

Read this poem to the young women, "The Temple," New Era, Oct. 2004.

Why is chastity important?: Play this video, "True Confidence". Discuss with the young women the importance of the Holy Ghost and their relationship with their Heavenly Father plays in staying chaste.

Read this quote: "Any sexual intimacy outside of the bonds of marriage—and I emphasize that means any involvement of the sacred, private parts of the body—is a sin and is forbidden by God. While the world has other standards, you must stay morally clean. There are many reasons. Chief among them is that it is a commandment of God, the violation of which He considers to be serious sin that will bring great suffering. To ensure you keep this sacred commandment, in moments of quiet reflection when you feel the influence of the Holy Ghost, set specific personal standards of what you will do and what you will not do when temptation comes—for it surely will. Then, when you find yourself in the battlefield of life, don’t change your standards; don’t abandon them no matter how you feel, no matter what pressure is applied." by Richard G. Scott, Making the Right Decisions, April 1991 General Conference.

Emphasize how important it is to choose before you are placed in a situation the things you will do and the things you will not consent to do, set your standards high and choose friends that have high standards also. (I am so grateful that I dated guys who had high standards, that I was never pressured to do things that were not inline with the standards I had set. I am grateful that I have no regrets."

Invite the young women to go home and sometime that Sunday to sit and "...set specific personal standards of what you will do and what you will not do when temptation comes..."

What are the Church’s standards regarding dating?: Make a game of Dating Jeopardy: Using “Dating,” For the Strength of Youth (2011), 4–5, come up with some questions. Write them on the back of some cards. On the front write down a number of what they are worth. Start with one of the young women and have them pick a card. Invite them to read the question and provide an answer. If they are having difficulty with the answer allow them to read from the Forth the Strength of Youth. Continue until all cards have been used. Tally up the points. Give each girl a special treat from participating.

How can I prepare now to become a righteous wife and mother?: Invite the mothers of the girls to attend class and share some tips on how to become a righteous wife and mother.

Play the video: "Mother and Daughters".

Invite the young women to share with their mother's some qualities they admire in them.

How do the roles of men and women complement each other in families?:

I really liked this idea that is on the outline on Come Follow Me:

"Bring two objects that are used together to accomplish a common goal (like a pencil and paper or hammer and nail). Invite the young women to explain the differences between the objects and how they are used together. Explain that men and women are given different responsibilities that complement (or “complete”) each other to bring about God’s purposes. Invite the young women to describe some of the ways men and women complement each other."

Have the young women watch, "The Women in Our Lives". Have the young women, "write in their journal their feelings about their role as a wife complementing her future husband."

Also invite them to write little notes of appreciation to their mother and father, for their examples in the young women's life.

How can I strengthen my family?: This post I did for Family Home Evening was based on the church's webpage "Happiness in Family Life". It would easily be adapted into a lesson. "Family Home Evening on Showing Love, Appreciation and Respect to Family Members and Building a Happy Family."

Aaronic Priesthood:

See above ideas under Young Women for most topics.

How can I prepare now to become a righteous husband and father?

"Invite quorum members to read Abraham 1:1–2 or watch the video “Earthly Father, Heavenly Father.” Ask them to write down a description of the kind of husbands and fathers they want to be. Invite them to share what they wrote if they would like to. Encourage them to add to their descriptions throughout the lesson."- Come Follow Me

Invite the young men's father's to attend. Invite them to share their tips on how to prepare to be a righteous husband and father. Invite the young men to share what qualities they admire in their fathers.

Sunday School:

How will keeping a personal journal bless me and my family?: Before class print out the be "Journal Entry Ideas" printable. Make a copy for each member of your class. Cut the sentences apart and place into a plastic zip baggie for each member of the class. Begin class by playing the video, O Remember, Remember. Invite class members to discuss the importance of writing in a journal, how it can bless them personally as well as bless their families. Give each class member the baggie full of Journal ideas. Invite them to write in their journal each day using one of the ideas in the baggie. Another idea would be to give each member a small journal (inexpensive journals can be made from notebooks, which at around back to school time can be purchase for as little as 20 cents a piece). Invite the youth to pick one of the ideas out and write about it in their journals during class.

Why is it important to learn about my family history?: Here are some FHE and Sharing Times I done with Family History as the topic, ideas in them could easily be adapted to a lesson.

-Family Home Evenings & Sharing Times on Family History-

How can I teach others how to do family history work?: What a great opportunity to invite the ward family history consultant to come in and help with this lesson!

How can I explain the importance of marriage and family to others?: Give each youth a piece of paper, ask them to write a question on the paper that someone not of our faith might ask in regards to the importance of marriage and family. Gather up all of the pieces of paper. Write each question on the board. Invite the youth to take a couple minutes and ponder how they would answer that question if asked. Put the youth into pairs and invite a pair at a time to come up. Have one of the youth pick a paper with one of the questions on it and ask that question to the other youth. Have that youth answer the question. Then have the other you pick a question and ask the other. Continue with all of the youth in the class. Make sure you thank them for their great answers and their participation!

What opportunities are there for learning and teaching in the home?: I like this idea from the outline:

Have the youth think of ideas people could use to encourage their families to participate in family prayer and scripture study. Discuss the blessings that come to families from these activities. The youth could read “Family Prayer” and “Importance of Daily Scripture Study” in True to the Faith for suggestions. Role-play how a youth could talk to a parent and encourage regular family prayer and scripture study. Invite the youth to share any experiences they have had with family prayer and scripture study.

I would also add Family Home Evening and Family Activities. You could have them list some things they could do as families where they could learn something from a family member or they could teach something to a family member. Maybe a family Talent show night or Cooking night, the ideas could be endless.

Idea's for Mutual:

Wouldn't it be fun to have a night that centers around dating??? There could be a dating panel made of the youth leaders. Have the youth come prepared to ask questions and the leaders prepared to answer them. Have the youth brainstorm some fun ideas for inexpensive wholesome dates. Here is a great resource in the New Era October 2004 Issue: Idea List: Great Group Dates. Actually, the whole October 2004 Issue of the New Era is about dating. It has some wonderful ideas and tools in it to help teach the youth about dating! Maybe use one of the group dating ideas and do it that night as part of the activity.

Another idea would be a manners dinner. I remember doing this as a youth. We each dressed up in our Sunday best. We were taught the proper way to act on a date. We had dinner and if I remember right, I think the leaders were our waiters. Here is a great resource on how to be a great date: How to Be a First-Rate Date, also from the October 2004 New Era Magazine.