“The Power of Family Home Evening,” Liahona, Dec. 2010, 9
The Power of Family Home Evening
My husband, Luiz Antonio, and I have a great testimony of the power of family home evening and its ability to make our families stronger in the gospel. It hasn’t always been easy to make the attempt, but over time it has made all the difference for us and our four children.
One of the most special moments that took place at family home evening was when our son, Renan, was preparing to be baptized. Our two older daughters, Cynthia and Lilian, offered to teach the lessons for the month preceding his eighth birthday. My husband and I loved watching them teach the meaning and purpose of baptism—the same lessons we had taught them as they prepared for baptism. Four years later Renan followed the examples of his older sisters and taught lessons about baptism to his younger sister, Ellen.
Family home evening continued to bless us and our children through the challenges of their teenage years. It helped them maintain their testimonies and stay faithful in the gospel. Today our son is a returned missionary, and our daughters have married in the temple and have children of their own.
Our testimony is that family home evening is one of the best programs of the Church. We know that following prophetic direction to consistently hold family home evening has brought great blessings to our lives, and we know it can bring blessings to any who are willing to follow that direction. We acknowledge that it requires a lot of work and planning, but for us the blessings of eternity will be worth every minute of those efforts.