Guide to the Friend

The Guide to the Friend can help you find stories or articles for preparing lessons or talks for church or for family home evening. The Primary theme for July is “My family can follow Jesus Christ in faith.”

Family Home Evening Ideas

Look for the FHE symbol on the [original magazine] pages mentioned below.

1. When have you needed to be brave and protect something important to you? Read President James E. Faust’s “Courage in a Cornfield” (pp. 2–3). Share experiences of when you have defended the Church, your family, or your personal beliefs. Discuss how you felt afterward.

2. Read Luke 22:32. What does it mean to be converted and strengthen others? Read “It Is Enough” (pp. 4–5). Carlito’s mother is a good example of how we can strengthen our families and help others feel the light and truth we feel in our own lives. What can your family do to help build others’ testimonies?

3. Elder Paul E. Koelliker relates experiences he has had with temples in “Blessings of the Temple” (pp. 6–7). Ask the children in your family why they are excited to go to the temple, and then ask the adults who have been to the temple why they enjoy going. How can your testimony of the temple affect others as the children’s letter affected the construction workers? If possible, visit a temple and walk around the grounds. Discuss the blessings of the temple and why God commands His children to build them. Sing “I Love to See the Temple” (Children’s Songbook, 95).

4. If you were in a situation similar to Sarah’s family in “Ready to Go!” (pp. 8–11), what would you want to take with you? Make sure that your family has prepared supplies in case of an emergency. If not, make goals on how to acquire vital items. Show everyone where these items can be found. Make a list of what you would not want to leave without, and make sure you can find those things quickly.

5. Find a wagon, a wheelbarrow, or another kind of cart to pull. Go on a walk with your family and take turns pulling the cart. You could pack a sack lunch in your cart and have a picnic after the walk. As you walk, talk about the story “Family Faith” (pp. 14–15) and discuss the faith the Jarvis family must have had. During your picnic, talk about ways you can show faith as the pioneers did.

The Friend can be found on the Internet at www.lds.org. Click on Gospel Library.

To subscribe online, go to www.ldscatalog.com.

Topical Index to This Issue of the Friend

(FLF) = For Little Friends

(f) = Funstuf

(IFC) = inside front cover

(v) = verse

Baptism IFC, 4

Book of Mormon 22, 46

Choose the Right 22, 43, 44, 46

Church History 2, 6, 14, 24, 27, 28, 32, 48

Courage 2, 40

Emergency Preparedness 8

Faith 14, 21, 46

Family 4, 8, 14, 17 (v), 21, 22, 27, 32, 36 (FLF), 39 (FLF), 40

Family History 14, 32, 36 (FLF)

Family Home Evening 8, IBC

Heavenly Father 6, 40, 46

Heroes 2, 40, 46, 48

Holy Ghost 46

Jesus Christ IFC, 2, 14, 21, 22, 32, 40, 43, 46

Love and Kindness 18, 22, 39 (FLF)

Missionary Work 4, 14, 44

Music 22, 26 (f)

My Gospel Standards IFC, 2, 4, 6, 14, 18, 21, 22, 35 (f), 39 (FLF)

Pornography 44

Prayer IFC, 32, 46

Presiding Bishopric 20

Prophets IFC, 2, 6, 44

Quorum of the Seventy 6

Quorum of the Twelve Apostles 5, 34, 43, 47

Reverence 22

Sabbath Day 35 (f)

Scriptures IFC, 4

Service 22, 39 (FLF)

Temples 4, 6

Testimony 2