Family Home Evening for 1 Nephi 1-5

 Read 1 Nephi 2:16,19

16 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, being exceedingly young, nevertheless being large in stature, and also having great desires to know of the mysteries of God, wherefore, I did cry unto the Lord; and behold he did visit me, and did soften my heart that I did believe all the words which had been spoken by my father; wherefore, I did not rebel against him like unto my brothers.

19 And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto me, saying: Blessed art thou, Nephi, because of thy faith, for thou hast sought me diligently, with lowliness of heart.

Lesson

Nephi’s father, Lehi, was a prophet in Jerusalem. Heavenly Father showed him many visions that taught him a lot of things. When he shared what he had seen with his family, his oldest sons, Lamen and Lemuel, rejected the visions and said that their father was a “visionary man,” which meant that they thought he was crazy. Nephi did something different.

Discuss

According to the scriptures at the beginning of this lesson, how did Nephi know that what his father taught was true? 

Why is it important to gain our own testimonies of truths that we learn?

Activity

Tell your children that these scriptures teach us how we can gain our own testimonies of what we are taught. 

Get some building blocks, food storage containers, sugar cubes, or anything else you can stack. Use these cubes to demonstrate how to build testimony. As you lay the foundation for your structure, teach them that the foundation of all testimonies is a belief or knowledge that Jesus is the Christ. That because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we can live again after we die, repent, and live with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ again. Without a testimony of Jesus Christ, a testimony will not be as strong.

You could show your children pictures or objects that represent things they might seek a testimony of, such as a copy of the Book of Mormon or a picture of Jesus Christ, a temple, or the living prophet. Invite them to pick one and share their testimonies of that thing. As they do, add a layer or two of blocks, until you have built a strong, testimony house.

Watch

Click on the picture below to see how we did this lesson