Family Home Evening ideas Based on Elder Sheldon F. Child
Of the Seventy's talk:A Sure Foundation

This Lesson can be given all at once to families with older children, or in three sessions. You could focus on the foundation and choose one part of the foundation for each lesson. The main idea is to teach that if we have a strong foundation in Christ by reading the scriptures, following the prophets and living worthily of receiving daily personal guidance from the Holy Ghost, we will not fall.

"Our testimonies . . . must be built on a sure foundation, deeply rooted in the gospel of Jesus Christ."

Items needed: towel or blanket, blocks. Picture of the Savior. Scriptures. Print out and hide these three word strips:

Make a Poster Poster (click here for example) ahead of time or just print it off. (It would be better if you run off the poster page and then make a big one and just paste the words onto the big one you make.

3. On a table place a (heaped) towel or blanket, demonstrate how easy the blocks topple when they are not on sturdy ground. Ask family members what would make the blocks sturdier so they would not be easy to topple? Except any answer. Ask: Do you think if you glued them on solid marble they would be sturdy?

4. Story: "Several years ago a severe storm hit the area in which we were living. It began with a torrential downpour, followed by a devastating easterly wind. When the storm was over, damages were assessed—power lines were down, property had been damaged, and many of the beautiful trees that grew in the area had been uprooted. A few days later I was talking to a friend who had lost several of the trees in his yard. The trees on one side of his home were standing straight and tall. They had weathered the storm well, while the trees that were in what I considered the prime spot on his property had not been able to withstand the heavy winds. He pointed out to me that the trees that survived the storm were planted on firm ground; their roots had to sink deep into the soil to receive nourishment. The trees he had lost were planted near a small stream, where nourishment was readily available. The roots were shallow. They were not anchored deeply enough to protect them from the storm."

Elder Sheldon F. Child of the Seventy explains: "Our testimonies, like those trees, must be built on a sure foundation, deeply rooted in the gospel of Jesus Christ, so that when the winds and rains come into our lives, as they surely will, we will be strong enough to weather the storms that rage about us." Its like gluing those blocks on solid marble.

5. Ask: So how do we go about making our testimonies into strong foundations, so strong that evil can't destroy them?

a. Have the children look for three word strips that you hid around the room. Read them aloud.

6. In Jacob 7:9–12, Jacob says that these three sources of truth can build strong foundations. (The scriptures, the prophets, and the Holy Ghost.) He tells us that they will help us to build our foundations on Christ.

8. Read Story: "Several years ago I was assigned to reorganize a stake presidency. At the Sunday session of the conference, the wife of the newly called stake president related this story. She stated that she had been raised in a good Christian home. Her parents gathered their family together every day to read and study the Bible. As they read about the prophets of old, she asked her parents why there were no prophets on the earth today. They didn't have an answer that satisfied her, nor did her teachers or her religious leaders. One day, as a university student, she noticed two young men wearing white shirts and ties. She could read the name "Jesus Christ" on the black name tags they wore. She spoke to them and asked if they were ministers. "Yes, we are! We are missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints."

"Then may I ask you a question?" she said. "Does the Lord love the people today as much as He loved the people of olden times?"

"Yes, He does!" was their reply. "Then why do we not have prophets on the earth today?" Can you imagine the excitement of two young missionaries being asked a question like that? They said, "We do. We do have prophets on the earth today. Can we tell you about them?"