Family Home Evening Ideas

This issue contains articles and activities that could be used for family home evening. The following are some examples.

“Christlike Mercy,” page 30: Read the article ahead of time and then highlight the main points during family home evening. Discuss with your family what it means to extend Christlike mercy. Consider inviting family members to tell about a time when someone showed mercy to them or when they showed mercy. You may want to select one of the five principles presented in the article, such as helping others in need, and talk about how your family can apply it.

“1,000 Things to Be Thankful For,” page 58: Read the article as a family and then discuss how you might find “something each day to rejoice in.” Invite family members to keep track of their blessings during the week, and at your next family home evening ask them to share what they found. To end the lesson, you could sing “Count Your Blessings” (Hymns, no. 241).

“The Healing Balm of Hope,” page 62: Begin by asking family members what hope means to them. You could then discuss the definitions and benefits of hope presented in the article. Briefly summarize the author’s 10 strategies for cultivating hope and ask how these ideas could help strengthen your family. Then make a goal to practice one or two of the strategies in your family during the next week.

Applying Lessons

While I was growing up, we took turns teaching the family home evening lesson. I remember when I was 9 or 10, I taught a lesson on compassion. A few days later, as I was doing my chores, my older brother wouldn’t stop bothering me, and I yelled at him. Hearing me, my mother asked, “What did you just teach the family about?” I was embarrassed to say, “Compassion.” She used this opportunity to reinforce the principles we had discussed. I am grateful that my parents valued family home evening and helped us make the lessons part of our lives.

Lynelle Merritt, Utah, USA

Photo illustration by Craig Dimond