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Monday, June 13, 2011

It is Monday.......that means FAMILY HOME EVENING!

I have been lost in the craziness of every day life.
I have had to let some things slip for a time.
That drives me absolutely CRAZY,
I am now trying to get caught up.
I have really missed doing my blog.
It is nice to have people read what I have to say and get a peek at my family life. 
But, I mainly write my blog for me.
I find it therapeutic.
You will never know how many posts have been written, agonized over and then ultimately, deleted.  Sometimes there are things that just don't need to be shared.......

But, with summer here, I am determined to get back on the
So, today is Monday.
Monday means Family Home Evening.
This Family Home Evening is taken from the weekly e-mail I get from

I wasn't sure if I wanted to do this particular FHE, but decided to after all.  The reason why I didn't want to was some of the questions asked.
"Invite family members to share the most valuable thing they have ever lost and what it meant to them to lose it. Have you ever been able to replace it?"
A very easy question for me to answer in my mind, but never an easy question to answer out loud.

FHE: Commandment
Conference Talk:
For more information on this topic read “What Have You Done with My Name?,” by Mervyn B. Arnold, Ensign, Nov. 2010, 105.

Thought:
I realized that [a fence] was a protection, just as the commandments and my parents’ rules were a protection. The commandments and rules were for my own good. I realized that obedience to the commandments could save me from physical and spiritual death.

(Mervyn B. Arnold, “What Have You Done with My Name?,” Ensign, Nov. 2010, 105.)

Song:
“Keep the Commandments,” Children’s Songbook, p. 146.

Scripture:
Consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual. (Mosiah 2:41)

Lesson:
As you read Alma 37:13–14, have family members mark the things Alma told Helaman to remember. Suggest that family members circle the blessings for keeping the commandments and underline the consequences for not keeping the commandments. Ask your family why they think Alma seems so serious on this point.

Invite family members to share the most valuable thing they have ever lost and what it meant to them to lose it. Have you ever been able to replace it? Read together Alma 37:15–17 and ask:
• What would Helaman have lost for disobedience?
• Why would losing these sacred records change the world today?
• Why would it have been difficult to replace them?

(Dennis H. Leavitt and Richard O. Christensen, Scripture Study for Latter-day Saint Families: The Book of Mormon, [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2003], p. 208.)

Story:
Valentina is a senior citizen [in Ukraine] who had drunk strong coffee for several years as a prescription from her doctor for a health condition. When she was preparing for baptism into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Valentina read of the Word of Wisdom and what it said about coffee. She returned to her doctor and asked if there might be a prescription that would permit her to take something other than coffee for her condition. The doctor said that he knew of nothing available and that if that were true she should continue drinking the coffee. She scoured the woefully depleted pharmacies throughout the city and found that there were no other stimulants available that would meet her needs.

Valentina might have concluded that in the absence of other remedies she was justified in taking coffee purely for medicinal purposes, as her doctor prescribed. It troubled her, however, to fail to fulfill anything given of the Lord. “I don’t want to miss any of the spiritual blessings the Lord has promised in this revelation. I want to be an example to my family, who are all unbelievers. How can I do that if they see me drink coffee each day?”

After prayerful consideration, Valentina approached the missionaries who had taught her the gospel. “If you will give me a blessing through the priesthood, I believe Heavenly Father will take away my health problems. Whatever his will might be, however, I have decided that I will never drink tea or coffee again. I trust in the words of our Savior.”

Valentina received a wonderful blessing, promising her health and spiritual gifts through her faith. She was then baptized, and immediately her health problem disappeared. She has often publicly borne her testimony about this experience and of the spiritual and temporal blessings that the Lord granted her through obedience to his commandments.

(Howard L. Biddulph, Morning Breaks: Stories of Conversion and Faith in the Former Soviet Union, [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1996].)

Activity:
Players arrange their chairs in a circle. One player, called the lawgiver, stands in the center. As he gives the laws, the other players obey. If they are not alert they will disobey the law, and the lawgiver can take their chair. The disobedient player, then becomes “it.”

Use laws similar to the following list, or use some of your own. The laws should be given in rapid succession so that the players must keep alert.

Stand up.
Sit down.
Stand on the left foot.
Move two chairs to the right.
Move one chair to the left.
Move to the third chair on your left.
Lift both feet off the floor.
Turn around.
Raise both arms.

(Alma Heaton, The LDS Game Book, [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1968], p. 96.)

CHOCOLATE LUSH
  • 1 cup flour          
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
  • 3/4 cup walnuts or 3/4 cup pecans, finely chopped
  • 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened to room temperature
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 (12 ounce) container Cool Whip
  • 1 box instant chocolate pudding mix (any favorite flavor may be used) Some use 2 boxes
    Directions:



  1. Mix butter and flour together then add the ground nuts ( save a few for the topping). Pat into a 9x13 baking dish.
  2. Bake 20 minutes at 350
  3. Cool.
  4. In a mixing bowl mix cream cheese and powdered sugar together, stir in 1/2 of the cool whip.
  5. Spread this mixture over cooled crust.
  6. Make the pudding as directed on the box and spread over the cream cheese. If you would like a firmer pudding, use a little less milk.
  7. Top with the rest of the cool whip, sprinkle with the reserved nuts.
  8. Refrigerate until serving time.
  9. Sometimes I drizzle melted chocolate or chocolate ice cream topping over the top, makes it look even more rich. But, my all time favorite is to sprinkle with crushed Butter Fingers........

Enjoy!
Sally-Ann

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