Family Home Evening for Exodus 24; 31-34

Read Exodus 31:12-13; 16-17

12 ​​ ​And the ​​Lord​​ spake unto Moses, saying,

​​​13 ​Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my ​​​sabbaths​ ye shall keep: for it ​is​ a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ​ye​ may know that I ​am​ the ​​Lord​​ that doth sanctify you.

​​​16 ​Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, ​for​ a perpetual ​​​covenant​.

​​​17 ​It ​is​ a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for ​in​ ​​​six​ days the ​​Lord​​ ​​​made​ heaven and earth, and on the ​​​seventh day​ he ​​​rested​, and was ​​​refreshed​.

Discuss 

In President Nelson’s talk, “The Sabbath is a Delight,”he asks the three questions below. You can use these questions to structure your discussion of how you can make the Sabbath Day a delight in your home.

1. How can you ensure that your behavior on the Sabbath will lead to joy and rejoicing? 

2. In addition to your going to church, partaking of the sacrament, and being diligent in your specific call to serve, what other activities would help to make the Sabbath a delight for you? 

3. What sign will you give to the Lord to show your love for Him?

Watch

For ideas, you may watch our video by clicking on the picture below.

Family Home Evening for Exodus 18-20

 Activity

Cut out the following strips of paper. Use the “Honoring God” and “Loving Others” strips to become column headings. Then, take turns reading the 10 Commandments strips. Have your children place the strips under the appropriate column heading. Maybe you could choose one or two commandments a day. Discuss how obeying each commandment can bless your family, and see if you and your children can think of ways the Savior obeyed that commandment. For example, Jesus honored His Father and mother by always giving Heavenly Father the glory and telling John to take care of His mother, when He knew He was going to die. It helps our family when we honor our parents, because it helps Mom and Dad feel less stressed, which makes our home more peaceful.

Honoring God

Loving Others

1 ​Thou shalt have ​​​no​ other ​​​gods​ before me.

​​​2 ​Thou shalt ​​​not​ make unto thee any ​​​graven​ ​​​image​, or any likeness ​of any thing​ that ​is​ in heaven above, or that ​is​ in the earth beneath, or that ​is​ in the water under the earth: ​Thou shalt not ​​​bow​ down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the ​​Lord​​ thy God ​am​ a ​​​jealous​ God, ​​​visiting​ the ​​​iniquity​ of the ​​​fathers​ upon the ​​​children​ unto the third and fourth ​generation​ of them that ​​​hate​ me; ​And shewing ​​​mercy​ unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my ​​​commandments​.

3​​​ ​Thou shalt not take the ​​​name​ of the ​​Lord​​ thy God in ​​​vain​; for the ​​Lord​​ will not hold him ​​​guiltless​ that ​​​taketh​ his name in vain.

4 ​Remember the ​​​sabbath​ day, to keep it ​​​holy​. ​​​​Six​ days shalt thou ​​​labour​, and do all thy work: ​But the seventh day ​is​ the sabbath of the ​​Lord​​ thy God: ​in it​ thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy ​​​stranger​ that ​is​ within thy gates:

5 ​​​​Honour​ thy ​​​father​ and thy ​​​mother​: that thy ​​​days​ may be ​​​long​ upon the ​​​land​ which the ​​Lord​​ thy God giveth thee.

​​​6 ​Thou shalt not ​​​kill​.

​​​7 ​Thou shalt not commit ​​​adultery​.

​​​8 ​Thou shalt not ​​​steal​.

​​​9 ​Thou shalt not bear ​​​false witness​ against thy ​​​neighbor​.

​​​10 ​Thou shalt not ​​​covet​ thy neighbor’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s ​​​wife​, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that ​is​ thy neighbor’s.

To see how we did this lesson, check out our video by clicking on the picture below.

Easter Family Home Evening

 For Family Home Evening this week, I would like you to turn your thoughts toward Jesus Christ. Here are some activities you can do nightly, or you can do them all at once. Do what works best for your family, as you discuss the last week of Christ’s mortal life and find peace and happiness in the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

Palm Sunday

Throughout Jesus’s life, there were not many times that Jesus went into a city, where He was treated like a king.

On Palm Sunday, Jesus Christ rode into Jerusalem. His followers came to him, and laid down their cloaks and palm tree branches in his path. The people showed Jesus a lot of love and respect. 

Discuss: What can we do this week to show love and respect for Jesus Christ?

Monday

Inside the temple there were people who started selling things and betting money. They were disrespecting Heavenly Father’s temple. The temple is a place where people go to feel closer to Heavenly Father. Jesus knew that the Spirit could not be there if people were shopping, selling, and gambling in the temple. Jesus told them to leave and cleared out the temple.

Activity

Visit a temple near you, or look at a picture of a temple. Have your children say what things about the temple help them feel the Spirit. Maybe the flowers help them see God’s love for them. Maybe they feel the quiet peace of the Holy Ghost. In front of our closest temple is a water fountain. Maybe it reminds them of how Jesus Christ is the living water.

Tuesday

Jesus filled His week with prayers. He prayed for people and He helped people learn how to pray. He knew that if people learned to pray, then Heavenly Father would continue to be with people to help and comfort them, even when He was not physically with them.

Discuss

Talk about things that you could pray for to bring greater peace to your home and to your individual lives.

Wednesday 

Jesus continued to teach the gospel to people. He knew that when He left the people, the scriptures would continue to teach them. Many of us have not seen or talked to Jesus personally, but we can be taught by His words, when we read the scriptures. 

Read

Read some scriptures with your children that bring you peace. If they have special scriptures, have them share. You can also ask the missionaries in your area to share a special message with you.

Thursday

Recently, we have read about the sacred holiday, Passover. On Thursday, Jesus and His Apostles had a Passover dinner. This later became known as The Last Supper. During the supper, Jesus began the sacred ordinance of the sacrament. He taught them that the bread is in remembrance of His body and they drink is in remembrance of His blood. Today, we still partake of the sacrament, to remember the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Jesus promises us that as we remember Him, we’ll always have His spirit to be with us.

After supper, Jesus asked His followers to go with Him to Gethsemane. Gethsemane was a quiet garden. Jesus asked His Apostles to stay awake with Him while He prayed, but they kept falling asleep.

In Gethsemane, Jesus began His Atonement. He began to suffer for the sins and pain of everyone that has ever and will ever live in the world. He felt the guilty feeling people feel when they do something wrong and what it feels like to do really bad things. He felt the pain people feel when they stub their toe, have surgery, experience cancer, break a bone, and every other pain anyone has ever felt. He felt what we feel like when we are really sad because our pet or someone we love dies. This extreme suffering caused Him to begin to bleed from every pore. He did not finish this Atonement until the next day, on the cross at Golgotha.

Because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we can repent and become like Heavenly Father.

Activity

It might be fun to recreate the Last Supper in order to make it more real to your children. Here are some pictures of when my Mom did it for us.

Friday

Early in the morning, Jesus was betrayed and taken in as a prisoner. After going before unfair judges, Jesus was sentenced to death by crucifixion. Soldiers beat Him and nailed Him to a cross. Instead of getting angry, Jesus asked Heavenly Father to forgive them. Jesus finished His Atonement, then told Heavenly Father that it was done, and He was ready to return home. He died immediately.

Discuss

Even though lots of people were mean to Jesus, He forgave them. How could you follow His example, when someone is not nice to you?

Saturday 

The earth was sad after Jesus died. Nobody had ever been resurrected before, so Jesus’s followers didn’t understand how it would happen. Imagine how sad they felt. The earth was completely dark and earthquakes happened as well. 

Discuss

The world was dark to represent the darkness that is felt when Jesus Christ left the earth and what our life is like, when Jesus Christ leaves our lives. Discuss how Jesus is the light in your life.

Easter Sunday

This is the day that Jesus’s friend, Mary Magdalene, came to take care of Jesus’s body. When she arrived at the tomb, Jesus’s body was gone. This made Mary very sad. A man approached her and asked her why she was sad. She replied that someone had taken her Lord, and asked Him if He knew where the body was. The man said her name, and she immediately recognized that He was Jesus Christ. Jesus was no longer dead. He has been resurrected, because of Him, we will all be resurrected someday.

Activity

Have a family testimony meeting where you share your testimonies about Jesus Christ and His Atonement.

Watch our video by clicking on the picture below.

Family Home Evening for Exodus 14-17

Read, Summarize, or Role Play Exodus 17:8-12

8 Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim.

9 And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand.

10 So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.

11 And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.

12 But Moses’ hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.

Discuss

These scriptures tell us that Aaron and Hur sustained Moses as the prophet, and they helped him fulfill his role. Sustain means that they supported him and knew that he was a prophet. Last weekend was General Conference. We had the opportunity to listen to our prophet, President Russell M. Nelson. What are some ways we can help and sustain our prophet, today? We can obey what they teach us. When asked if we sustain him we can raise our hand to the square. What other ideas do you have? Discuss with your children, some of the things President Nelson taught. If you need some reminders, you can find the talks here https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2022/04?lang=eng 

 What blessings come to us and our leaders as we sustain them?

To see our lesson, click the picture below.