Family Home Evening - Small and Simple

This month marks the 40^th anniversary of when the First Presidency designated Monday night as Family Home Evening night for members of the Church! No Church meetings are scheduled on Monday nights so that we may gather our families and strengthen them on this very special night every week.

We live in such a complicated time—it seems like all the time-saving inventions and amazing technology has served to only increase the expectations of what we CAN get done! Most of us are so busy it is a real challenge to think about planning a formal, structured Family Home Evening every single week.

But Pres. James E. Faust said: "To combat the world’s evil influences, we need the strength that comes from family home evening" (Ensign June 2003). The stakes are so high right now, we can’t afford not to do it!

It is important enough to be a top priority, and also simple enough that even the busiest families can manage it!

There are different challenges you may face, depending on your circumstances.

~ young children

 from

Family Night in a Basket - (this idea so cracks me up, but I think it would really work!)

~ crazy schedules – maybe your Monday nights are booked. With Chris's very strange and unpredictable schedule, we have been known to have "Family Home Afternoon" right when the boys get home from school. Or even "Family Home Morning"! :)

~ no children, or single (I'll mention later on what my empty-nester parents are doing for their FHEs)

~ spouse not a member or less-active (such a tough one - I hope for your comments on what has worked for you if you're in this situation)

I pray that as you ponder your own unique situation, the Holy Ghost might prompt you as to how to accomplish this great work in your own personal circumstances. Remember 1 Nephi 3:7 – The Lord will help you do what He commands!

 

1. The Unimportance of Fancy-ness :)

Probably the most important thing to remember is, KEEP IT SIMPLE. Better to do things plain and simple, than not at all!

For us, a lesson includes, at the very minimum:

A Scripture

A Principle

A Testimony

Anything else that becomes part of a lesson is only to support those 3 things. Sometimes if things are really crazy, we have had a lesson that is simply telling a story from the scriptures, focusing on the principle in one particular verse, and then bearing testimony. It took only minutes, but helped us feel the Spirit as a family, and we felt strengthened as we had to go on to the other things scheduled.

 

2. How We Do It - using Church-produced resources

Our Spiffy Chart

gets rotated every week. This is helpful because it keeps it fair and organized. (The boys would just love to be on "Refreshments" every time. :) The names are on velcro. You could do this even simpler if you want, or beautiful and fancy, of course. Just don't let not having a fancy chart stop you from doing FHE! :)

FHE manual – oldie but goodie

 

Gospel Art Kit and Gospel Art Book - we use the pictures from these A LOT.

 

Friend magazine – great for children preparing lessons. At the back of each issue, it gives specific FHE ideas that are usually quite simple to put together, and of course, fun for children.

 

Preach My Gospel – prepare for baptism or mission! We use this when our children turn 7. For most of the year before their baptism, our FHE lessons come from Preach My Gospel, the lessons that missionaries teach investigators. We break it down by heading and paragraph within each lesson. I have posted many of our past lessons online here, if you'd like to see how we do it. (I plan to finish posting them when Hyrum turns 7 in January! :)

My parents just sent off their 8th child to college and a mission, and are planning to serve full-time missions themselves when my dad retires in about 4 years. They use Preach My Gospel for their empty-nester FHEs to help prepare themselves for when they are missionaries. They served Spanish-speaking missions when they were young, and so they even do this FHE study in SPANISH to help refresh their language skills. This sounds so fun. I look forward to doing this in German when Chris and I are preparing for our missionary service after the kids are grown!

 

Behold Your Little Ones - nursery manual - makes great FHE lessons for the preschool set

 

Scriptures - most important resource, along with the most recent General Conference report!

The links above take you to those things on the Church's website. But if you want your own copies, to hold in your hot little hands :), all this stuff you can order online, with free shipping, directly from the Church.

 

3. The Importance of Spiritual Preparation

FHE should definitely include fun, but that is not its main purpose.

A dear friend of mine in Tallahassee, Sis. Dransfield, said once: “We should give every FHE lesson as if it were our last chance to teach our children how to get back to Heavenly Father.” I love this. It has really helped me focus on how to prepare my lessons in a way that brings about a spiritual experience for me children and crucial knowledge that they must have.

Feeling the Spirit is more important than just a fun time.

2 Nephi 25:26 “And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ. . . .that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.”

Mosiah 4:15 “. . . Teach them to walk in the ways of truth and soberness. . . .”

Be sure your lessons are based on the scriptures and words of the living prophets! And probably the most important thing is that YOU are in tune with the Spirit. If the right things are in place, daily scripture study and prayer, then giving the FHE lesson is a natural outgrowth of what you have been learning or what you have felt prompted that your family needs to hear.

During the lesson, our goal is for us to feel the Spirit. That is what can really strengthen a family. We encourage the boys to sit peacefully (not always an easy task) but it’s not a lecture. We try to have it be more discussion-oriented, asking them by name to answer questions, etc.

Feeding our spirits through this sort of experience is what is really important about FHE. Then comes the sprinkles on the cake – the game and treat. :)

Promised Blessings and My Testimony

The prophets who revealed this counsel to have FHE have also shared the blessings promised to us by Heavenly Father. The First Presidency, under Joseph F. Smith, said:

"If the Saints obey this counsel, we promise that great blessings will result. Love at home and obedience to parents will increase. Faith will be developed in the hearts of the youth of Israel, and they will gain power to combat the evil influences and temptations which beset them."

I asked Chris what blessings he felt that our family had received through having Family Home Evening. He said:

~ Our children have developed testimonies early on ~

~ They would be disappointed if we didn’t have FHE ~

I am so grateful for these. It hasn't always been easy. Satan makes it seem too hard to do sometimes. During a time of grief and depression for me, there was one night when I felt I just couldn't do it. I closed myself into my bedroom, sobbing. How could I bring the Spirit into our home when I wasn't feeling it at all? Thankfully, with prayer and some help from Chris, I managed to at least bring myself to begin the lesson. Soon the peaceful feeling of the Holy Ghost came into the room, and I myself was the one really strengthened that night.

If we just have the faith to do it, amazing blessings will come! Family Home Evening is one of the “small and simple things [by which] great things [are] brought to pass” (Alma 37:6). I testify of this in the name of Jesus Christ.

how to make { baklava }

I learned how to make this from my neighbor in Tallahassee, Florida. We lived in an apartment complex called Talla Villa that had so many members of the Church that it was jokingly called "Mormon Villa". It could just as easily have been called "Muslim Villa" because there were probably just as many Turkish Muslims there. And pretty much all of us (Mormons and Muslims) were there in Tallahassee to be students at FSU. So we bonded. :)

Long story short my beautiful Turkish neighbor Yeliz Kaya explained to me how she makes baklava. I like her way because it doesn't call for honey, which nearly requires a 2nd mortgage to be able to buy. :) I hope I can explain it well. If you have any questions, ask away in the comments and maybe I can add pictures the next time I make it. . . .

(Here's an old one of the finished product).

Yeliz's Baklava

Ingredients:

1 box Phyllo dough (I only use half the package for one batch)

lots of butter (helpful to have  1 lb salted butter on hand - I usually use about 2 cubes)

2 c. chopped walnuts

3 c. sugar, divided

1 1/2 T. cinnamon

1 tsp. lemon juice

cinnamon stick (optional)

1. Two hours before making the baklava, set out your phyllo dough to thaw (or let it thaw in the fridge overnight).

2. In a small bowl, mix together chopped walnuts, 1 c. sugar, and the cinnamon, and set aside.

3. Melt 1 - 2 cubes of butter. Unroll one of the packs of phyllo, and with a 9x13 pan ( a little larger is ideal, but I make it work with my 9x13 ), spread out two sheets of the phyllo. Drizzle melted butter with a spoon all over the phyllo (plenty is good!). If it's dry in your kitchen, you may want to keep a slightly damp towel on the rest of the phyllo because it dries out quickly and then it's hard to separate without breaking.

4. Then put down two more sheets, drizzle more butter, continue layering. After about 6-8 sheets of phyllo, sprinkle roughly half of your cinnamon-sugar-walnut mixture all over the buttered phyllo. Continue layering phyllo and butter, and after 6-8 sheets, sprinkle the rest of your cinnamon-sugar-walnut mixture. Continue layering phyllo and butter until you finish the pack (or until you decide it's tall enough for your taste), setting aside some butter for later. (Can you believe we're still not done with the butter?! :)

5. With a sharp knife and some serious patience (I think this is the hardest part) cut all the way through the layers, making a design like this:

Then drizzle your remaining butter into the crooks and crannies, so they don't dry out during baking. If you've used a regular 9x13, now's a good time to kinda shove those corners down and make it fit.

6. Then pop into an oven at 350 degrees, and bake until golden, 35-40 minutes. Meanwhile, combine the remaining 2 cups sugar with 1 cup water in a small saucepan. Stir to dissolve and heat until boiling. Add the cinnamon stick if you have it. Boil for 5-7 minutes, until it seems to have thickened somewhat into a nice, healthy syrup. Add 1 tsp lemon juice in the last minute or two of boiling. Mmm-hmm. :) Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.

7. After removing pan from the oven, let it sit for 15 minutes (quite possibly the longest 15 minutes of your life :), then drizzle the syrup all over the top. Let that soak in for another 15 minutes if you can stand it. Then enjoy! I promise not to tell your cardiologist if you don't tell mine!

for the kids

i saw on an email from "LDS Living" an offer for a free "job chart" for kids at www.myjobchart.com. i haven't gone and looked at it, but thought those of you with young kiddos might like to check it out! also, check out www.realheroposters.com. these are fabulous.

Sit and Chat Finish That.

We had such a marvelous time at our Monthly Meeting.  We all came together with a project and a snack.

We enjoyed chatting, and learning from one another. 

It was a huge success.  We missed those who couldn't make it.

Everyone was working on such amazing items.

Linda Higginbothom/wood carving

Beate Hall/knitting

Collen Neilson/Stitching

Vie Smith/Card Making 

Beth Freshour/crocheting (I believe she is making this for the day of service for Disney)

Connie Storey/Crocheting

Edlin Brignoni/Picture Project

Among other projects.  Are sisters are amazing, and talented.

We hope to see you Tuesday March 30th at our RS Birthday party.  It will begin at 6:30pm.  Please bring a fun international dish to share.  It does not have to be big.  Just be creative!!

How to Make Home Made Laundry Soap and become a Money Saving Monster

At Tuesday nights "Sit and Chat and Finish That" several of us talked about some low cost homemade laundry soaps we've been using.  These have been all over the web and I said I'd post about what I've learned.  

I've always been a fan of the generic bargin brand of anything and I think that you should at least try the low cost options.  I have found though, that when it came to laundry soap the bargin brands didn't cut the mustard - or any other stains.   I would use lots of stain treatments and when the kids were younger I discarded many a shirt that was too stained and dingy to wear and my unmentionables would be grayish no matter how much bleach I used.  By trial and error I became a user of Tide, easily the highest priced laundry product and justified this use by buying in quanty at Sams or Cosco and I didn't have to use other stain removal products other than a little (generic) clorine bleach.   It may cost more but my undies were white and our clothes were bright and unstained.  I had switched to the 3X liquid All lately and felt it was just as good as Tide and was a little cheaper.  I also loved that it used less packaging.  

A few months ago Daughter #2, Stephanie, in Arizona (also a huge Tide fan) had told me she  had switched to a homemade alternative as a money saving measure and that she was thrilled with the results.  Stephanie is the queen of thrift, and sometimes a little over the top when it comes to saving a little.  I thought she might have lost it on this one.  When I visited my kids in Utah at the holidays my daughter-in-law Michelle and her mother Susan were using the same homemade recipe and while using their laundry facilitys I used the stuff.  It worked great.  With three testimonials and using it myself I came home and made a batch for myself. 

Recipe:
  1 Cup Washing Soda
1/2 Cup Borax
1 bar Fels Naphta Bar Soap

Grate the Fels Naphta finely - I used my food processor on the cutting blade - It's SOAP, and washed right off.  Then mix everything together.  Use 2 Tablespoons per load. 

Here's my jar of laundry soap.  I made 5X the recipie.  For about 16$ I filled this Rubbermaid storage jar up to the shoulder.  I've used it for about 7 weeks so I figure at this rate I will need to make more at the end of summer. $16 worth of All would last me about 6 weeks.  It doesn't want to stay really well mixed so I shake it up every once in a while.

The ingredients are old fashioned and can be a bit hard to find.  Washing soad is NOT baking soda. Washing Soda is NA2CO3 and sometimes known as caustic soda (it isn't harmful).   Baking Soda is NAHCO3.  They are chemicaly different and cannot be interchanged.  I could not find this at Walmart. My Ace Hardware in East End carried it.  I paid about 4$ for a 55oz box. The only brand I've seen is the Arm and Hammer. 

Borax powder is easier to find.  I got mine at WalMart.  76oz for a little more than $5.  It's a naturaly occuring substance that's mined in California and this brand marketed by Dial. It's a really good deodorizer and great to have around the house. It's in the laundry area.  Don't confuse it with Boric Acid that you may find as a roach killer or in solution in the pharmacy area.

Fels-Naptha is an old fashioned bar soap that's now made by Dial and marketed as stain remover.  It has been made for over 100 years and women used to use it for washing clothes on a washboard.   I found it at the Ace Hardware store, also.  I paid 1.29$ per bar.  Several on line sites say you can use a similar bar soap called Zote.  Zote is softer, made in Mexico and popular south of the border. 

RESULTS:  After almost two months of using this it works great!  It does cost quite a bit less.  My clothes are as clean as with Tide and not a bit "dingy".  I haven't noticed any fading and they smell clean and good.   I have noticed the white plastic basket on my washer gets a dark dirty "ring" around the top that it didn't get with Tide or All but other ladies at the Relief Society meeting said they had this when they were using "store bought" products anyway.  If it gets to bothering me I use my spray kitchen cleaner and wipe it off.  This is very low sudsing - really no suds- so newer front load washers would be Ok.  Everything I researched says that that it will be safe for septic systems.

Linda Higgenbothem, Lee Bailey and Edlin Brignonni say they are using a similar recipe but it is disolved in water and used as a liquid.  You can Google directions for this or Ladies - share the info. 

Happy Laundry - Cathy Lane

furniture deals

i have just discovered that cleo's furniture has internet specials periodically. the last one was a gorgeous white king-sized bed for $99.00. i missed that one. they are having one now for an armoire to match the bed for $499. just go to www.cleosfurniture.com. you have to sign up for their blog. hopefully, they'll have some living room furniture soon!!!!

Sit and Chat Finish That

Dear Sisters:

As many of you know, our Enrichment Meetings have now been renamed Relief Society Meetings.

After much thought and prayer, here is the schedule that I have come up with for those.

We will hold a RS meeting on the 4th Tuesday of every month.

Every other month starting with January will be our big meetings. We will do service, b-day party, and other regular meetings that we used to hold quarterly. These will be chosen by the RS Pres. and the RS Meeting Committee.

Then on the even months beginning with Feb. we will meet and replace what used to be our small meetings with what I want to call:
"Sit and Chat--finish that.", "Sit and Chat--read that." Sit and Chat--cook that." or "Sit and Chat--learn about that."

This will combine our dessert night, how to group, a book club, a cooking group.. all in one.

I feel the importance to simplify, and feel like this ward could not support a whole bunch of small groups. We are busy, and scattered in a large area.

How will this combine our groups you ask?
We will always bring desserts to share.(dessert night)
As a group we will discuss what it is we would like to do for the next months get together.

ie: We can pick a book to read and discuss. This will give us 2 months to complete that.(book club)
We may share a few of our favorite recipes, or someone can teach us how to cook something.(cooking group)
We can also learn How to do some skill. (How to group)
We will also use the time to just complete a project that you may be working on at home.(project group)

This month we will do just that.

So lets, "sit and chat and finish that." Come and bring a dessert, and a project that you may need to finish. This may include a quilt, crochet, scrap booking, tole painting, anything you are working on.

It will give you a designated time to complete it, and will also give us an opportunity to visit.

Sisters, as I prayed, I felt strongly that our relationships with one another were more important then any other activity that I could put together.

Please join us for "Sit and Chat, Finish that." on February, 23rd at 7:00pm. Please bring a dessert and any project. If you don't have a project, just come.

Also come with some ideas in mind. Then we can plan out what we will do for the rest of the year.

These activities will be held in Feb, April, June, August, October, and December.

I hope you will all join us for a great night of fellow-shipping, and getting re-acquainted with one another.

With Love,
Sister Swenson