Preparation: I hope and pray that you can use these ideas as a guideline and adjust them to the needs of your own specific family. Our prophet President Monson says, "We cannot afford to neglect this heaven-inspired program. It can bring spiritual growth to each member of the family, helping him or her to withstand the temptations which are everywhere. The lessons learned in the home are those that last the longest." On Lds.org there are resources available in helping to make your Family Home Evenings successful, here is a link to that site on Family Home Evenings.
Read the article, "God’s Harvest" by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, August 2014 Ensign Magazine. Print out copies of "Our Righteous Harvest" for each family member. Gather a package of seeds.
Sing: "The Prophet Said to Plant a Garden" Children's Song Book Pg 237
Have a member of the family member say the prayer
Discuss any family business
Follow-up with last weeks FHE.
Introduce this weeks Topic: August 2014 First Presidency Message: "God’s Harvest" by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, August 2014 Ensign Magazine
Scripture: Read and Mark: Galatians 6:7–9
Family Home Evening Instruction:
Show your family a package of seeds (if you do not have a package of seeds, you could show them a dry lentil bean or even talk about the black seeds in a watermelon).
Begin reading the article by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "God’s Harvest":
"A woman named Christa once worked for a small seed company. She loved her job. It was a source of immense wonder that each tiny seed she sold had the capacity to transform itself into something quite miraculous—a carrot, a cabbage, or even a mighty oak tree.
Christa loved sitting at her computer taking orders and answering questions. But one day she received a complaint that puzzled her.
“The seeds don’t work,” the customer said. “I bought them two months ago and still nothing.”
“Did you plant them in good soil and give them enough water and sunlight?” Christa asked.
“No, but I did my part,” the customer replied. “I bought the seeds. After all, they are guaranteed to grow.”
“But you didn’t plant them?”
“Heavens no. That would mean getting my hands dirty.”
Christa thought about this and decided that planting guidelines would have to be written. She resolved what the first guideline would be: “You must follow planting instructions for the seeds to sprout. You can’t set them on the shelf and expect them to grow.”"
Discuss with your family if you had some seeds, could you just set them on the shelf and expect to get fruit or vegetables from the seed? Explain that it is the same with our goals, both spiritual and temporal goals. If we desire to obtain a certain goal, we can not simply have the goal and not do any work to obtain it.
Continue reading from "God’s Harvest":
"It wasn’t long before another complaint puzzled her.
“The seeds aren’t producing,” a customer claimed.
“Did you plant them in good soil?” Christa responded. “Did you give them the appropriate amount of water and sunlight?”
“Oh, yes,” the customer insisted. “I did all that―exactly as it says on the package. But they don’t work.”
“Did anything happen at all? Did they sprout?”
“Nothing happened,” the customer said. “I planted them just as directed. I was hoping to have tomatoes for dinner. Now I am very disappointed.”
“Wait,” Christa replied. “Are you saying you planted the seeds today?”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” the customer replied. “I planted them a week ago. I was not expecting to see tomatoes on the first day; I was patient. Let me tell you, there has been a lot of watering and waiting between then and now.”
Christa knew she would have to add another guideline: “These seeds conform to the laws of biology. If you plant the seeds in the morning and expect to eat tomatoes later that week, you will be disappointed. You must be patient and wait for the work of nature to unfold before you.”"
Ask your family if they could plant a seed and expect to have fruit in a day or a week? Discuss how long it takes for a plant to grow and bear fruit. Then ask your family if they can expect to just work on a goal for a day and be able to accomplish it. Such as: Can we expect to have a testimony of the Savior and have the spirit with us, if we only read the scriptures one day? Explain that it takes constantly praying, reading the scriptures and keeping the commandments to have the spirit with us and to gain a testimony of the Savior.
Continue reading from "God’s Harvest":
"All went well until Christa received another complaint.
“I’m very disappointed in your seeds,” the customer began. “I planted them just as the package recommended. I gave them water, made sure they had sunshine, and waited until finally they produced their harvest.”
“Sounds like you did everything right,” Christa said.
“That’s all very fine,” the customer replied. “But what I got was zucchini!”
“My records show that those were the seeds you ordered,” Christa said.
“But I don’t want zucchini; I want pumpkins!”
“I’m not following.”
“I planted the seeds in my pumpkin patch—the very same soil that produced pumpkins last year. I praised the plants every day, telling them what beautiful pumpkins they would become. But instead of large, round, orange pumpkins, I got long, green zucchini. Tons of them!”
Christa knew then that guidelines might not be enough and that it was necessary to state a principle: “The seed you plant and the time of the planting determine the harvest."”
Ask your family if we could plant a zucchini seed and get pumpkins from it from just telling the zucchini seeds that they can be pumpkins? Explain that a zucchini seed can only produce zucchinis, it does not matter where you plant it or what you say to it.
Ask your family if we are living our lives contrary to what it takes to reach our goals will be ever reach them? Can we break the commandments and expect the Spirit to be with us? Explain that the way we live our life is like the seed. If we live our life righteously than we will obtain righteous goals.
Give each family member the below printable "Our Righteous Harvest". Have them write some goals on the Vegetables and then write some things they need to do to accomplish those goals. Examples might include: an ordinance such as baptism or the priesthood, or temple; Doing well in school; Gaining a testimony on a certain aspect of the gospel; etc.
Invite family members to bear their testimonies about living our lives worthy of obtaining our goals.
Close with a Family Prayer.
Free Printable:
Thank you for creating such a cute & applicable handout! I love coming to your blog for additional ideas and insights for sharing time and FHE. You are blessing the lives of many! Thanks again!
ReplyDeleteAshley- Thank you so much for your comment! I can't express how much it means to me :)
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