1. Get a map of your city and put an x on the spot
where you live. Put an x on a place that you want
to go . (an eating place, a park, a store).
2. Tell your family that you will be following
directions on the map and let them be a part of
finding the right streets etc.
3. When you get to your final destination, get the
family home evening treat or have a picnic.
4. After you eat together, follow the map back home
have the children direct you on the proper
course
to take.
5. Read (Many people travel through life without
good guidance, they lack the knowledge of how to
get where they are going . But if we pay
attention to a road map for a day's journey,
like
the journey we just made, isn't
it also wise to
pay attention to
Heavenly Fathers guidance on our
journey through
life?
6. Have paper strips hidden and guide one child at a
time to find them. Have them numbered. Guide
each child with words. (example : Go to the hall, turn
right at the first door, look on the back of the
door.) have them read what is on each word strip
to the family.
Word Strips:
_______________________________________________________
a. If you keep my commandments and endure to the end
you shall have eternal life, which gift is the
greatest of all the gifts of God. (D&C 14:7 )
_______________________________________________________
b. In order for us to have eternal life we must we
must follow his plan. When we are in trouble ,
that is when we need to stop what we are doing and
study his map if we want his help! What is
his map?
_______________________________________________________
c. "What if you are lost and have no map? Suppose you
are alone. You do not know where you are. What
can you do? You call for help! You call home!
Call the Church! Pray! When connected with your
help line, you learn that you need to make a
climb here or a turn there to get back on course.
Or you may have to go back to the
beginning in order to be certain that you can get
where you want to go".
_______________________________________________________
d." Where do we obtain the guidance we need? We turn
to Him who knows us best--our Creator. He allowed
us to come to earth with freedom to choose our own
course. In His great love, He did not leave us
alone. He provided a guide--a spiritual road
map--to help us achieve success in our journey. We
call that guide the standard works, so named
because they--the Holy Bible, the Book of Mormon,
the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great
Price--constitute the standard by which we
should live. They serve as a standard of
reference, as are standards of time, weights, and
measures that are kept in national bureaus of
standards.
_______________________________________________________
e. "To reach our objective of eternal life, we need to
follow teachings in the standard works and
other revelations received from prophets of God.
Our loving Lord foresaw our need for
guidance: "For strait is the gate," He said, "and
narrow the way that leadeth unto the
exaltation and continuation of the lives, and few
there be that find it. (Few find the way
because they ignore the divine road map provided
by the Lord. An even more serious mistake is to
ignore the Maker of the map. God declared in
the first of His Ten Commandments, "Thou shalt
have no other gods before me Yet carnal man tends
to let his loyalty drift toward idols).
_______________________________________________________
f. "We marvel at computers and the Internet that
enable transmission of data with remarkable speed. We
are truly grateful for these electronic
servants. But if we let them take over our time,
pervert our potential, or poison our minds
with pornography, they cease being servants and
become instead false gods. The Master warned of
those who "seek not the Lord to establish his
righteousness, but every man walketh in his own
way, and after the image of his own god, whose
image is in the likeness of the world, and whose
substance is that of an idol." False
gods can only lead to dead ends. If our
journey through life is to be successful, we need to follow divine direction. The Lord said, "Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not." And the Psalmist wrote, "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." (Ps. 119:105.)
_______________________________________________________
g. Following God's counsel demands not only
conviction but conversion and often repentance.
That would please the Lord, who said, "Repent, and
turn yourselves from your idols; and
turn . . . from all your abominations."
(Ezek. 14:6.) So repentance is an important part of
our spiritual roadmap.
_______________________________________________________
h. "In your journey through life, you meet many
obstacles and make some mistakes. Scriptural
guidance helps you to recognize error and make the
necessary correction. You stop going in the wrong
direction. You carefully study the scriptural road
map. Then you proceed with
repentance and restitution required to get on
the "strait and narrow path which leads to eternal
life." (2 Ne. 31:18; see also Matt. 7:14;
Jacob 6:11; 3 Ne. 14:14; 27:33; D&C 132:22.)
_______________________________________________________
i. "Brothers and sisters, our busy lives force us
to focus on things we do from day to day. But the
development of character comes only as we focus on
who we really are. To establish and accomplish
those greater goals, we do need heavenly help".
_______________________________________________________
7. Discuss these next words of Elder Russell M.
Nelson :
Once we understand why we need guidance and where we
obtain it, we then ask, how can we achieve it?
How can we truly live, not "by bread alone, but
by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of
God"? (Matt. 4:4).
We begin with a determination to "liken all scriptures
unto us . . . for our profit and learning .
(1 Ne. 19:23.) "If we "press forward, feasting upon
the word of Christ, and endure to the end, . . . [we] shall have eternal life." (2 Ne. 31:20.)
To feast means more than to taste. To feast means to
savor. We savor the scriptures by studying them in
a spirit of delightful discovery and faithful obedience. When we feast upon the words of Christ,
they are embedded "in fleshy tables of the heart." They become an integral part of our nature.
Scriptures give encouragement to live in accord with
the will of our Maker, who said, "If thou
turn away . . . from doing thy pleasure on my holy
day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy
of the Lord, . . . and shalt honour him, not
doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own
pleasure, . . . then shalt thou delight thyself in
the Lord" (Isa. 58:13-14). Self-esteem is also
earned by obedience to God's commandments
regarding chastity (see Ex. 20:14; Lev. 18:22;
Matt. 5:28; 1 Cor. 6:9; 3 Ne. 12:28; D&C 42:24;
59:6).
8. Read nand discuss "Many years ago a medical
colleague chastised me for failing to separate my
professional knowledge from my religious
convictions. That startled me because I did not
feel that truth should be fractionalized. Truth is
indivisible.
Danger lurks when we divide ourselves with expressions
such as "my private life," "my
professional life," or even "my best behavior." Living
life in separate compartments can lead to
internal conflict and exhausting tension. To
escape that tension, many people unwisely resort
to addicting substances, pleasure seeking, or self-
indulgence, which in turn produce more tension,
thus creating a vicious cycle.
Inner peace comes only as we maintain the integrity of
truth in all aspects of our lives. When we
covenant to follow the Lord and obey His commandments,
we accept His standards in every
thought, action, and deed.
9. Give each person a piece of paper and a marking
pen or crayon, and something hard to draw on. make
a map with eternal life at the end and then
place the words (directions ) that they need to
reach their goal of eternal life.
word directions : (read) understand why we need
guidance and where we obtain it, we then ask, how
can we achieve it? How can we truly live,
not "by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth
out of the mouth of God"?
a. Be determined to Study the scriptures for your own
profit, learning and guidence. Feast on Them,
savor every word and liken it to your own
life.
b. Tell the truth and covenant to follow the Lord and
obey His commandments, we accept His standards
in every thought, action, and deed.
c. Cultivate the gift of the Holy Ghost. That gift
helps us understand doctrine and apply it
personally. Because truth given by revelation can nly be understood by revelation, our studies need to
be prayerful. Scriptures attest to the efficacy
of prayer in daily life. One is in Proverbs: "In
all thy ways acknowledge [God], and he shall
direct thy paths." Another comes from the Book of
Mormon: "Counsel with the Lord in all thy
doings, and he will direct thee for good." Pray
As you ponder and pray about doctrinal principles,
the Holy Ghost will speak to your mind and your
heart. From events portrayed in the scriptures,
new insights will come and principles
relevant to your situation will distill upon your
heart. living according to the light already
given you and by searching the scriptures
with pure motives--with real intent
to "come unto Christ."As you do so, your
confidence will "wax strong in the presence of
God," and the Holy Ghost will be your constant
companion.
d. Next, I suggest that you shape the style of your
study to fit you. One way is to read a book
of scripture from the first page to the last.
This method gives good overall perspective.
But other approaches also have merit.
Attention to a particular topic or a specific theme,
supplemented by use of cross-referencing
footnotes and study guides, can help
to switch on the light of doctrinal
understanding. Time for scripture study requires
a
schedule that will be honored. Otherwise,
blessings that matter most will be at
the mercy of things that matter least. Time for
family scripture
study may be difficult to
establish.
10. read: "We all need guidance through life. We
obtain it best from the standard works and
teachings of the prophets of God. With diligent
effort, we can achieve that guidance and thus
qualify for all of the blessings that God has in
store for His faithful children. I so testify in
the name of Jesus Christ
, men."
Excerpts taken from ( Elder Russell M. Nelson
Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles )
FAMILY HOME EVENING BASED ON DAVID B. HAIGHTS TALK, FALL CONFERENCE.
