For the Strength of Youth Family Home Evening: Hold to the Rod!

I LOVE THIS ONE!

In fact, this was one of the themes I used with my family

a few years ago.

I had pictures taken of my family holding tightly

to the rod and put the words:

"NEVER LET GO!"

as the caption for the photo.

I made a wallet-sized copy for everyone.

I was thinking about the gospel yesterday, and some of the

things I love most about it.

Knowing that I have a loving Heavenly Father

who sent His Son to be my Savior brings me great peace,

and if I hold to His words . . . I know I will never be lost.

The rod, if held tightly will lead me through whatever

storms or trials the world has to offer.

It will lead me when I can't see my way

and will guide me safely home.

So what exactly is "The Rod?"

We know that it is THE WORD OF GOD,

but do our children know?

Tonight for Family Home Evening Review Lehi's Dream.

Take some time to explain

each of the parts of the dream.

1 Nephi 8-9

Lehi had another dream.

In this dream, Heavenly Father showed him many wonderful things.

In the dream, Lehi follow an angel to a dark, empty place.

Lehi was scared and decided to pray.

He asked Heavenly Father to help him.

After the prayer, Lehi saw a beautiful tree.

It had white fruit hanging from its branches.

Lehi ate one of the fruits.  The fruit was so delicious

that Lehi's soul filled with joy.

Lehi wanted to give some of the fruit to his family, but he could

not find them.  He looked for them.

As he looked, he saw a river near the tree.

He looked along the river and saw Sariah with

Sam and Nephi.

They were standing where the river began. 

Lehi called to them, and they came and ate

some of the fruit.

Lehi wanted Lamen and Lemuel to eat some of he fruit, too.

He looked until he found them.  He told them about the fruit,

but they would not come to eat it.

Lehi saw a large group of people standing at the

beginning of the river.

They were trying to walk along a path at the edge of the river.

Some of them got lost in a dark cloud which hid part of the path.

Some of the people walked through the cloud and were not lost.

Lehi watched those people and saw that they were holding

onto an iron rod which ran along the path.

The iron rod helped them walk through the dark cloud

to the tree.  There they ate the fruit.

Lehi heard a noise.  He turned and saw a large and

spacious building on the other side of the river.

The building was filled with people.

These people were laughing and making fun of the

people who were eating the fruit.

Some of the people eating the fruit listened to the people

in the building.  They left the tree and joined the

laughing people in the building.

Lehi told his family about his dream.

They did not understand what the dream meant.

What do you thing Lehi's dream meant?

 How could you find out?

Read, Study, and Pray just as Nephi did!

1 Nephi 10-15

Nephi wanted to understand his father's dream.

He knew that Heavenly Father answers prayers, so he

decided to pray for understanding.

After Nephi finished praying, he saw the vision, too.

In this vision, an angel showed him all of the things

that Lehi had seen.  The angel also told him what the

dream meant.

When Nephi asked about the tree, the angel

showed him visions of Jesus' life.  He told Nephi that

the tree was a symbol of the Love of God, which

Jesus would share with the world.

Nephi also learned that the iron rod represented

the Word of God, which is the Gospel. 

The river stood for the wickedness of the world, and

the dark cloud stood for the teachings of Satan.

The large building was filled with the people who did

not believe in the gospel.

These people were proud and wicked.

They tried to get the good people to come into the building.

They wanted to turn the good people into bad people.

The good people walked along the path and held

onto the iron rod.

This meant that they "held on" to the Word of God

to help get through the dark clouds of their lives.

The gospel helps us to be happy and peaceful

when times are good.

When the good people got to the tree,

they ate the fruit and were happy.

This meant that they shared the Love of God.

God loved them for doing what was right.

They were happy when they knew that

Heavenly Father loved them.

Questions:

What represented the Word of God?

Who was in the large and spacious building?

What did the river represent?

What does it mean to "Hold to the Rod?"

What represented the Love of God?

What represented the teachings of Satan?

Activity:

Have each of the members of your family

put on a blind fold.

Have one person hold the rope at one end. 

Tie the other end to a tree.

 The rope will be represent the iron rod.

Let each person in your family take a turn

holding onto the rod and following it to the tree.

Have the other family members try

to get them to come away from the rod,

and to laugh at them as they stumble along.

Dad can represent Lehi and encourage

them to "NEVER LET GO!"

After they get to the tree, give them a big hug

and a sweet treat.

Bear your testimony about the importance of holding on

as tightly as you can, so that you can stay on the

path that will lead you back to our Heavenly Father's presence.

End with Prayer.

Take pictures during the activity and add them to your

Family Home Evening Journal.

As far as the TREAT goes for FHE . . .

Choose some of their favorite

candy bars to give at the tree!

Here's the PDF:

Mormonad - Get a Grip and NEVER LET GO FHE Lesson PDF

Have a great night!

(I'm sorry this one is so late,

I saved it as a draft instead of publishing it!)