The end is in sight! 2020 is almost done, and for all it’s crazy and inconsistency, I’m glad that this one area- Book of Mormon Family Home Evenings- has been our one constant.
I figured life doesn’t get any less busy and crazy through the holiday season so I’m just going to finish out the year right here.
Side note- sorry that the songs and Book of Mormon Stories don’t have links- I’m struggling with getting those pages from the Church Website to load- have been for a few weeks???? Other things load fine, but not those.
Nov 2-8 “I Speak Unto You As If Ye Were Here”
Scriptures: Nothing specific for this week
Song: Book of Mormon Stories- 119, The Books in the Book of Mormon- 118, The Books in the New Testament- 116, The Books in the Old Testament- 114
Materials: World Map, Pictures of Book of Mormon and Bible Stories
Post a world map on the wall. Put a picture of the Book of Mormon by the Americas and a picture of the Bible by Israel. Or just use the printout from Come Follow Me for Primary. Print or pull pictures from the Gospel Art Book and help the kids to sort the stories into the Bible or Book of Mormon by hanging them on the wall on the side of the Earth they came from. Talk about the different stories. Explain that while there are different people and stories because they happened on different parts of the Earth, they both tell us about Jesus and how much he loves us.
Nov 9-15 “Rend That Veil of Unbelief”
Scriptures: Book of Mormon Stories Chap 50-51; Book of Mormon Stories for Young Readers Traveling to the Promised Land; My First Scripture Stories The Jaredites, Shining Stones; Heroic Stories from the Book of Mormon The Brother of Jared
Song: Faith 96
Materials: glow in the dark paint, rocks (or just glow in the dark rocks), blocks, popsicle sticks (or other boat making materials)
Do some activities to discuss the events at the beginning of Ether. Build a tall tower out of blocks or legos and explain that they were trying to build a tower to get to Heaven instead of keeping the commandments. Knock over the tower and then begin saying phrases in languages that the kids don’t understand (or just gibberish). Discuss what it would feel like if we couldn’t understand each other in our own family. Explain that the Brother of Jared was commanded to take his family and righteous followers across the sea. Build some small boats. Discuss the darkness inside and tell the story of Jesus touching the stones and making them shine. Either paint rocks with glow in the dark paint or give them a glow in the dark rock (glow in the dark stuff should be easy to find on clearance right after Halloween!) Save the rocks for next week!
Nov 16-22 “That Evil May Be Done Away”
Scriptures: Book of Mormon Stories Chap 52 (first 4 frames); review last week’s
Song: Thanksgiving songs
Materials: Glowing rocks, boat
Go in a dark room with your glowing rocks and pretend you are on a boat. Discuss the preparations that the Jaredites made to cross the ocean- the things that they did on their own or had to figure out and the things that the Lord did for them. Then “arrive” at the promised land and sing their favorite Primary songs as hymns of praise. Then ask the kids if they can think about any other groups who crossed the ocean by boat to get to the promised land (Nephites and Pilgrims!) Make the Thanksgiving connection by talking about the Pilgrims coming to America for religious freedom. Then talk about our own journeys and how we can work hard to prepare ourselves and also watch for how Heavenly Father helps us.
Nov 23- 29 “By Faith All Things Are Fulfilled”
Scripture: Book of Mormon Stories Chap 52
Song: Our Primary Colors 258
Materials: identical boxes/containers, weights
Find identical boxes or containers. Put weights or other heavy objects in one and leave the other empty. Have the kids try to lift the heavy box (try to make it heavy enough that they can not lift it). Explain that they are too weak to lift it because their bodies are still growing. Sometimes we have things that are hard for us to do that don’t have to do with lifting. Discuss some things that can be difficult for everyone in the family. Then explain that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ can make weak things strong. Give the kids small hand weights or cans and take turns calling out things we can do to strengthen our spiritual muscles (church, pray, read, temple, FHE, listening, etc.) lift the weights as you call them out. Now ask the kids if they think they are strong enough to lift the other box. Mom and Dad can take a turn and make it appear that they are struggling to pick up the box so the kids feel extra strong when they pick it up with no problem.
Nov 30- Dec 6 “To Keep Them in the Right Way”
Scriptures: Book of Mormon Stories Chap 53
Song: I like My Birthday 104, I Love to See the Temple 95
Use the Covenant Path printable to discuss the covenants and ordinances Moroni discusses- plus the temple. You could create an actual path around your house for the kids to follow. The full size sheets are the ordinances, the smaller pictures are the promises, blessings, and opportunities that come from the ordinances.
Dec 7- 13 “May Christ Lift Thee Up”
Scriptures: Book of Mormon Stories Chap 49 (the end goes over Mormon’s teachings recorded by Moroni)
Song: Christmas
Materials: Service Project materials
Have your kids repeat the phrases “Charity is the pure love of Christ,” and “Charity never faileth.” Talk about what it means to have charity. Show love by completing a service project to get ready for Christmas. Some ideas to help get kids involved:
-If you live close to a giving machine let them pick out an item
-Grab a Christmas Tree Angel
-Make cards for elderly members of the ward
Dec 14-20 “Come Unto Christ”
Scriptures: Book of Mormon Stories Chap 53 (the end)-54; Book of Mormon Stories for Young Readers Moroni’s Special Promise; Heroic Stories from the Book of Mormon Moroni; My Book of Mormon Friends Me
Song: The Golden Plates 86
Materials: Cake, licorice, yellow frosting, Black frosting (to write Book of Mormon on the the cake), Gifts of the Spirit supplies
Stealing this idea from my in-laws. When my husband was growing up, every time they finished the Book of Mormon as a family they would have a Book of Mormon party. They would make the gold plates out of cake by putting two cakes next to each other, frosting them with yellow frosting, and then using pull and peel black licorice to connect them to look like the rings the plates were bound with.
I’m going to add gifts to go along with the gifts of the Spirit described in Moroni 10. Gather little items and wrap them up:
Teaching– pencils or other school supplies
Great faith– a pocket sized picture of Christ
Healing– fun bandaids
Miracles– something color changing, or the markers that only work on certain paper (like Melissa and Doug Color Blast- there’s a few different types made by other companies- these are perfect for the church bag!)
Prophesy– something to help them follow the Prophet- like something small for the 72 hour kit (whistle, mini flashlight, pocket poncho, etc.), or a scripture marker, pocket sized scriptures, etc.
Tongues/ Interpretation of Tongues– a treat from a different country
To make the party extra fun you could make other treats to go along with different stories. Here’s some ideas I thought of with help from Pinterest and my Sister-in-Law:
-Honey with sopapillas for the Jaredites
-White treats to represent the fruit from the Tree of Life- divinity, Oreos dipped in white chocolate, etc.
-Pretzel rods for the Iron Rod
-Rare steak for dinner- for when they were able to eat raw meat in the wilderness
-Sunflower or other seeds for the seeds of faith
-Something with peanut butter or other high protein snacks for all of the stories about strength
If you come up with other cute ideas please share!!!!!
Dec 21-27 “He Shall Come Into the World to Redeem His People”
Scriptures: Book of Mormon for Young Readers Samuel Teaches about Jesus; Book of Mormon Stories Chap 40; My First Scripture Stories Samuel the Lamanite; Heroic Stories from the Book of Mormon Samuel the Lamanite; Book of Mormon Stories Chap 41; My First Scripture Stories Jesus is Born
Song: Christmas Songs
Materials: Costumes or toys for acting out the Nativity
Act out the Christmas story using costumes, figurines, or pictures. Make sure to include Samuel and the Nephites side of the story. Check out my Christmas countdown post when it’s up for more ideas on making Christmas Christ centered throughout the month. You can start perusing old ones if you want for ideas:
Stones that shine in darkness 