Family Home Evening Help Online

Recently, in an effort to help families plan more meaningful family home evenings, the Church added a link to its Web site that gives families hundreds of ideas for lessons, activities, games, and topics of conversation.

Ideas listed on the Church’s Home and Family site (www.lds.org/hf) are taken from the Family Home Evening Resource Book, Church magazines, and various other sources. While the site has been operational for about two years, additions and changes are constantly being made to allow even those who use the site often an opportunity to come across new material.

Prophets and apostles have stressed the importance of family home evening since it was instituted. In a letter dated February 11, 1999, the First Presidency counseled members on the importance of the responsibilities of parents and family in the home.

“The home is the basis of a righteous life, and no other instrumentality can take its place or fulfill its essential functions in carrying forward this God-given responsibility,” the statement said. “We counsel parents and children to give highest priority to family prayer, family home evening, gospel study and instruction, and wholesome family activities” (see Ensign, June 1999, 80).

In order to encourage these activities, the Web site includes tips that can help families with varying circumstances understand the best ways to make family home evenings memorable. The site includes tips on how to involve teenagers in family home evening, keep the attention of younger family members, and create your own lessons.

While the site is currently only in English, plans are being made to broaden the number of languages available to aid more members.

Family home evening help can be found online at www.lds.org/hf.