Ideas for Involving Teens in Family Home Evening

LESSONS:
Tips for Teaching Teens
Studying Patriarchal Blessings
The $1.00 Gift
Effects of Media
Quotes about R-Rated Movies
The Brownie Object Lesson
GAMES:
Games for Teens
Family Reunion Newlywed Game
Fasting Scripture Chase
A QUOTE FOR PARENTS OF TEENAGERS:
“You parents of the wilful and the wayward! Don’t give them up. Don’t cast them off. They are not utterly lost. The Shepherd will find his sheep. They were his before they were yours — long before he entrusted them to your care; and you cannot begin to love them as he loves them. They have but strayed in ignorance from the Path of Right, and God is merciful to ignorance. Only the fulness of knowledge brings the fulness of accountability. our Heavenly Father is far more merciful, infinitely more chari, than even the best of his servants, and the Everlasting Gospel is mightier in power to save than our narrow finite minds can comprehend.
“The Prophet Joseph Smith declared and he never taught more comforting doctrine that the eternal sealings of faithful parents and the divine promises made to them for valiant service in the Cause of Truth, would save not only themselves, but likewise their posterity. Though some of the sheep may wander, the eye of the Shepherd is upon them, and sooner or later they will feel the tentacles of Divine Providence reaching out after them and drawing them back to the fold. Either in this life or the life to come, they will return. They will have to pay their debt to justice; they will suffer for their sins; and may tread a thorny path; but if it leads them at last, like the penitent Prodigal, to a loving and forgiving father’s heart and home, the painful experience will not have been in vain. Pray for your careless and disobedient children; hold on to them with your faith. Hope on, trust on, till you see the salvation of God.”

Christmas Eve Fun

Here’s a fun family night idea that I’m sure you all will enjoy during the holiday season. It come to us from
Jeanette Brinkerhoff. Thanks Jeanette!

For the family night right before christmas, We do a talent show. Every one in the family has to participate in at least one activity. Some read poems or stories, some sing or play a musical instrument, one year my sister and I did the nativity scene (I was about 6 at the time) with all of our stuffed animals. For the little kids who are too small to do anything, We give them paper and crayons a few days ahead then exhibit their Art. We origionally gave awards at the end of the night for creativity, stage presence etc. and while this was fun, it usually ended up with hurt feelings, so we stopped.

It’s Summer!

It’s Summer!

Cub Scouting is a family thing. The achievements are met by the boy and his parents, not by the boy and his leader. The leader plays an active role, of course, but it is really a FAMILY program. It can seem overwhelming. The best way to fit everything in is something called “piggy-backing”. The achievements in the cub manual are of benefit to everyone, so use it as a basis for some family night lessons? There are some great lessons based on achievements in the cub manual. This accomplishes several things at once. It helps the cub to meet his needed achievements, but even more, it teaches great lessons of service to the entire family. (We have played marbles as a game when one son needed to meet that requirement.)

Playing Marbles: For example, we had a ball down on the kitchen floor together. The kids’ dad pulled his old marble bag out, and they got to see Dad’s collection, and hear about his childhood. It was a wonderful bonding experience. And it didn’t hurt to have the other kids know that they were helping the cub scout to achieve something that he needed.

Citizenship: One lesson that went really well was one on citizenship. We talked about flag etiquette, and we made posters showing things that would benefit our country, and things that did not. We learned about the origin of the flag, and the symbolism behind it. We talked about how we should act when in the presence of the flag, and what to do when it passes us in a parade. Of course, we tied all of it together by discussing the importance of the country we live in and the blessings we have been given in our lives. Piggy-backing could be used to help one child through cubs, and another through a school project, and another through Girl Scout requirements. We are all busy in our lives today. We need to think ahead, and accomplish as much with each activity as we possibly can.

My husband, Bob, and I are the proud parents of Timmy, our developmentally challenged 31-year-old son. His functioning level is that of about 18-months. It takes some real creativity to find activities that both entertain Timmy and keep his attention, while providing family projects. We have discovered that it is great fun to pick about two nights each year (about once every six months) to dig out all of the photographs we’ve taken up to that time and spend the evening putting together a scrapbook/photo album of all of the fun times we’ve enjoyed together. This not only keeps our photographs in an organized state, but it helps to bring back to Timmy’s mind some of the memories we’ve shared. Bob and I always make up a “goodie tray” (filled with foods that won’t get fingerprints on our “treasures”, of course), and we have so much fun together, laughing over the photos and good times we’ve known! (Note from Carolyn: All children love this, always get double prints of pictures and keep a photo album for each child. I have two off to college and they still will sit and look through their photo albums.)

Back to School Fashion Show

Dress the fashion plate of the family in one of mom’s favorite outfits. Then dress up in the strangest outfit they can find.

At the end of the night award prizes for modesty, weirdest, best dressed, most original, etc. Then end with a discussion about modesty and what it means. This one is great for the girls yet it does have an effect on the boys too.

Hollie

“Dress modestly to show respect for God and yourself. Avoid extremes in your clothing and appearance. Dress appropriately for all Church meetings and activities.” For the Strength of Youth, Standards Summary

(Another way to do this lesson is to go through magazines and evaluate the clothes that are on the people in the magazines. Discuss what is in fashion, what is classic, and what is reality.)

Twenty-one Ideas to Involve Young Children in Family Home Evening

21 Ideas to Involve Young Children
in Family Home Evening

1. Allow your child to practice by giving the opening or closing prayer.
2. Let your child plan and prepare (help) FHE treats.
3. Have a singing night — sing primary songs and teach your child to lead. Play

Gratitude/Thanksgiving FHE

The Gratitude/Thanksgiving lesson I used in my FHE group was pretty much taken out of the Family Home Evening Resource Book. I added the following activity ideas for to my packet:

Activity Ideas

Homemade Butter
Materials needed: Pint jar and lid, 1/2 pint heavy whipping cream, dash of salt, yellow food coloring (optional).

Let children make butter to eat with their Thanksgiving dinner. Pour whipping cream in jar and screw lid on tightly. Let the children take turns shaking the jar until the butter forms a ball. Pour off liquid. Add a pinch of salt and a few drops of yellow food coloring (optional). Use a spoon to mix and press the excess liquid out of butter.

Mind Your Manners
Discuss the following manners with your children so they know the behavior expected of them during dinner.
1. Wait until everyone else is served before eating.
2. Offer food to the person on your right or left before helping yourself; then pass it on.
3. Never reach in front of someone else to get food.
4. Before you leave the , ask to be excused.
5. Thank those who have prepared the meal.

Sharing the Wealth
With Christmas just around the corner, the children are probably already focusing on “things” they want. . .Taking time to thank our Heavenly Father for what we already have and sharing our wealth with others can get us back on track in a hurry.

Consider trying one of the following projects:
# Sort through your old clothing and toys to donate to a local charity.
# Bake a pie (or cookies, etc.) to share with someone who is homebound.
# Choose a needy family and plan to do the Twelve Days of Christmas for them (anonymously). You can write a verse for them and include it with a baked good, or some small token (i.e. On the first day of Christmas my true friends gave to me. . .A delicious pie made of cherry).

Bonus Idea
Hand out two “Runts” candies from the *Cornucopia before you have your family report the two blessings they have received from Heavenly Father. They can eat the candy after they say each blessing.

Do the same for the kindnesses or gifts they have received from other people.

You can skip the writing down part, but still ask them how they showed their gratitude for the blessings and kindnesses.

*I purchased small cornucopias from our local craft store to use with the bonus idea.

CherylABQ@aol.com

Thanksgiving FHE
Scripture: D&C 59:7

Song: Prayer of Thanksgiving – Hymn #93 or Because I Have Been Given Much #219

Prayer:

Story:
Many years ago some people called Pilgrims lived in England. They were not happy because their king would not let then go to the church of their choice. The Pilgrims left England and went to Holland. They did not like it there because the customs and language were so different. After a few years, they decided to come to America. In September of 1620, 102 Pilgrims and 26 crewmen sailed to America on the Mayflower. This was a very difficult time for them. They ate dry salted meat and dry hard biscuits. They seldom built fires to cook or keep warm because of the danger of burning the ship. Many people were seasick and others were sick because they did not have fresh food to eat.

On November 11, they saw land, and on November 15 some men went ashore to begin looking for a place to settle. After 66 days they had finally arrived in America. It was good to be on land. They had no houses to live in and had to stay on the Mayflower while the men were building shelter. The first winter was very difficult. There was little food and many of the Pilgrims got sick and died. In March the Pilgrims met and Indian named Squanto who spoke English. The Indians and Pilgrims agreed to be friends and live in peace. Squanto lived with the Pilgrims. He taught them many things that helped them survive in the New World. He showed them where wild berries grew and which plants were good to eat. Squanto also showed them how to put three herring in each hill of corn to make the soil rich. Squanto taught the Pilgrim boys how to hunt for food. They snared rabbits and squirrels. He also taught them how to use a bow and arrow and to shoot deer and wild turkey. The Pilgrim girls had many tasks around the home. They carried water and gathered wood for the fires. Some of their other tasks were to help prepare food for the family. In the fall, they gathered bayberries for candle making.

The first Thanksgiving was actually celebrated in June. The Pilgrims were grateful for the help from their Indian friends and for the abundance of food for which they had been blessed. (Years later, the official holiday was set for November). The Pilgrim mothers and girls worked for many days preparing food for the feast. Ninety Indians arrived for the celebration. They brought five deer for the feast. There was an abundance of foods from the harvest.

After eating, races and contests were held. The Pilgrims paraded with their muskets. The Indians performed several dances. One was called the “corn dance.” At the end of the dance they threw magic seeds on the fire. The seeds popped into white fluffy kernels of popcorn. This surprised the children and they were delighted when they tasted their first popcorn! This is one of the many gifts from the Indians in the New World to the white men.

Discussion: Talk about the many blessings we have. As these blessings are named, write them on a leaf. (Before Family home evening cut leaves out of construction paper for each family member).

Craft: Make a Thanksgiving tree. Have everyone cut out leaves to last the rest of the month. Each day before Thanksgiving everyone writes something they are thankful for on the leaf. Hang these leaves up in the house, and on Thanksgiving read through all of the blessings you are thankful for.

Activity: Thanksgiving puzzle

Closing prayer:

Refreshment suggestions: Pumpkin pie, Pumpkin bread, corn bread, popcorn

****I found pictures on the internet which I colored and will use for props during the story.

Indian Children
Pilgrim Children
Turkey
Basket of food
(www.night.net/thanksgiving/)

Mayflower
Thanksgiving word puzzles
(www.geocities.com/EnchantedForest/1254/thanks/)

>Does anyone have the instrcutions for making individual turkeys out of
>oreos, candy corn and whopper balls? I saw some several years ago,
>but can’t remember how they were put together.

I have two versions, basically the same:

Version 1:
Open the cookie up, and all of the icing should be on the bottom cookie. The body is made out of a malted milk ball (sit it firmly in the icing. Take the top cookie and frost it with a generous icing of chocolate icing and put it against the “back” of the malted milk ball (this will form the tail). At the top of the tail (the back cookie), put candy corn. This will give your turkey a colorful tail! Use a “red hot” candy for the head.

Version 2:
For Turkey:
one Oreo (DoubleStuff works best)
one malted milk ball
one red hot
4-5 pieces candy corn
chocolate frosting for glue

Split Oreo carefully. The side with the stuff becomes the base. Glue malted milk ball to one side (body.) Glue other side of Oreo on edge standing up behind body, next to edge of base. Glue candy corn to Oreo (feathers.) Glue red hot to body (head.)

Optional: Use piece of bridge mix for head, red hot for wattle.

Both were from my Girl Scout leaders e-mail list. Enjoy!

I don’t have that turkey receipe but you might like this one ! – you’ll need:

1 can fudge frosting for “glue”
candy corn
chocolate chips
large gum drops
fudge backed cookies

Use the cookies that look like flowers with fudge on the back ( I can’t remember the name right now) for the “Tail” cut off about 1/4 so it will be flat on the bottom. Set it on end, and glue gum drop “body” in front of the cookie (fudge part is the back). Decorate tail with candy corn, and glue chocolate chip to the front part of the gum drop for the turkey’s head.. They’re knda cute! You’ll need to make them a few days ahead of time so they can set up and the glue will keep everything together. Happy Thanksgiving to you !

Here’s what we jsut did this last Mon. I had bought a cornucopia and some things to fill it with such as indian corn, mini pumpkins, gourds, apples, tangerines, etc. Then we each wrote down somethings that we were grateful for and taped them to the bottom of something in the cornucopia. Now we have a beautiful centerpiece and we wilkl read each thankful note before we eat dinner on Thanksgiving Day.

Christmas (before reading)

Before reading the story, prepare the visual aids: Cut from heavy -duty Pellon (sewing interfacing) the following pictures…as big as you please, to fit on your flannel board. Color the pictures (I’m no artist…I traced mine from coloring books!) with marker, glitter pens, whatever–to make them eye appealing to kids (and adults too for that matter): a star, a Christmas ornament (round and red), a small Christmas tree, a big Christmas tree, a bell, a candle, a present with a big bow, a candy cane, a wreath, Santa..bigger than the rest, with a big bag he can pull the rest of the pictures from. Here’s the story:

Teach the Children

Just a week before Christmas I had a strange visitor. This is how it happened. I had just finished the household chores for the night and was preparing to go to bed when I heard a noise in front of the house. I opened the door of the front room and to my surprise, Santa Claus himself stepped out from behind the Christmas tree.

He placed his fingers over his lips so I would not cry out. “What are you doing?” I started to ask, but the words choked up in my throat as I saw he had tears in his eyes. His usual jolly manner was gone. Gone was the eager, jolly fellow we all know.

He then answered me with a simple statement of “TEACH THE CHILDREN”. I was puzzled. What did he mean? He anticipated my question and with one quick movement brought a miniature toy bag from behind the tree.

As I stood there in my night shirt bewildered, Santa again said, “TEACH THE CHILDREN, teach them the old meaning of Christmas–the meaning that Christmas now a days has forgotten.”

I started to say “How can I…” when Santa reached into the bag and brought out a shiny brilliant star.

“Teach the Children, the star was the heavenly sign of promise long ago. God promised a Savior for the world and the star was the sign that the promise was fulfilled….the great star of the east. The star now reminds us of God’s love for us all…the countless shining stars that fill the sky..one for each man..now show the burning hope of all mankind.”

Santa gently laid the star upon the fireplace mantle and a brought forth a glittering red Christmas ornament.

“Teach the Children, red is the first color of Christmas. It was first used by the faithful people to remind them of the blood which was shed for all people by the Savior. Christ gave his life and shed his blood that every man might have God’s greatest gift, eternal life. Red is deep, intense, vivid–it is the greatest color of all. It is the symbol of the gift of God.”

As Mr Claus was twisting and pulling another object out of his bag, I heard the kitchen clock strike twelve. I wanted to say something, but he went on.

“Teach the children”, he said as he dislodged a small Christmas tree from his toy bag. He set it upon the mantle and carefully placed the red ornament upon it. The deep green of the fir tree was the perfect background for the ornament. He said, ‘Here is the second color of Christmas. The pure green of the fir tree remains green all year round. This shows us the everlasting hope of mankind. Green is the youthful, hopeful color of nature. All the needles point towards heaven. A symbol of man’s returning thoughts to heaven. The great green tree has been man’s best friend. It has sheltered him, warmed him, made beauty for him and formed his furniture for him to rest upon. ”

Santa’s eyes were beginning to twinkle now as he stood there. Suddenly I heard a soft twinkling sound. As it grew louder, it seemed like the sound of long ago.

“Teach the children that the lost sheep are found by the sound of the bell. It rings for all men to return to the fold of God. It gives guidance and shows that all are precious in the sight of God. Our Lord wishes all of us to return to his fold, never again to stray.”

As the sharp soft sound of the bell faded into the night, Santa drew forth a candle. He placed it on the mantle and the soft glow from its tiny flame cast an eerie glow about the darkened room, and odd shaped shadows danced upon the wall.

“Teach the Children,” whispered Santa, “that the candle shows man’s thanks for the star long ago. It’s small light is the mirror of starlight. At first, candles were placed upon the Christmas tree–they were like many glowing stars against the dark green. Safety has now moved the candle to a mantle, and colored lights have replaced it on the tree.”

Santa turned the small Christmas tree lights on and picked up a gift from under the tree. He pointed to the large bow ribbon and said,” A bow is placed upon a present to remind us of the brotherhood of man. The bow is tied as men should be tied , all of us together, with the bonds of good will towards each other. ‘Good-will forever’ is the message of the bow.”

Now, my mind began to wonder what else Santa might have in his bag. Instead of reaching into it again, he slung it over his shoulder and began to reach upon my large Christmas tree. I thought he was hungry as he reached for a candy cane, purposely placed high on the tree. “Teach the children that the cane represents the shepherd’s cane. The crook on the staff helps bring back the wandering sheep to the fold. The cane is the symbol that we are our brother’s keepers.”

Santa then paused; he seemed to realize he should be on his way. Soon it would be his big day. As he looked about the room, a feeling of satisfaction shown on his face. He read wonderment in my eyes and I am sure he sensed my admiration for this night. He was his old self as he approached the door. The twinkle in his eye gave Santa away. I knew he wasn’t through yet. He reached in his bag and brought forth a large holly wreath.

“The holly wreath symbolizes the eternal nature of love. It never ceases, stops or ends. It is one continuous round of affection. The wreath does double duty. It is made of many things in many colors. It should remind us of all the things of Christmas.”

I pondered and wondered and thrilled with delight,
as I sat and viewed all these symbols at night.
I dozed as I sat in the soft candlelight,
And my thoughts were of Santa and all he made right!
To give and to help, to love and to serve,
Are the best things of life all men can deserve.
Old Santa Claus, that Jolly old elf,
Is the very best symbol of Christmas itself.
He is the sign of the gift of love and of life,
The ending of evil, the ceasing of strife.
His answers to questions this pre-Christmas night,
Has opened a treasure of deepest insight.
The one thing on earth we all ought to do,
Is the teaching of children, the right and the true.

I did not send this idea in originally, but here is what my book has in it. My sister gave this to me a couple of years ago and we love it. She put it in one of the padded or covered notebooks with each page in a sheet protector. You should use your own favorite stories of Christmas, mine range from the very funny to the very spiritual.

Title page — The Twenty-Four Days of Christmas
Next page — (has title across the top then has this poem)

On the first day of Christmas
We bring this gift to you,
So the true Spirit of Christmas
can join your family too.
Now throughout this holiday season,
As the days get hectic and long,
Gather together at the end of each day,
Share a scripture, story, and song.
With your hearts and voices joined together
The spirit will ring loud and clear,
And we hope that this time spent together
Will fill your holidays with cheer!

Dec 1-Luke 2:13-14, Angels We Have Heard On High
Dec 2- Isaiah 9:6, Away In A Manger
Dec 3- Micah 5:2, O Little Town of Bethlehem
Dec 4- Jeremiah 23:5, O Come, All Ye Faithful
Dec 5- Isaiah 40:3-4, Joy to the World
Dec 6- Luke 2:15, Once Within A Lowly S
Dec 7- Alma 5:50, It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
Dec 8- Psalms 24:9-10, Hark! the Herald Angels Sing
Dec 9- Jeremiah 23:6, While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks
Dec 10- Jacob 7:11-12, Far, Far Away On Judea’s Plains
Dec 11- 1 Nephi 10:4, Once In Royal David’s City
Dec 12- 1 Nephi 11:13, 18, What Child Is This
Dec 13- ! Nephi 11:20-24, Little Jesus
Dec 14- Matthew 2:11, Who Is The Child
Dec 15- Helaman 14:3, Samuel Tells of the Baby Jesus
Dec 16- Helaman 14:5-6, I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
Dec 17- Luke 1:30-31, I Believe in Christ
Dec 18- 3 Nephi 1:13, When Joseph Went to Bethlehem
Dec 19- 3 Nephi 1:19, The First Noel
Dec 20- Luke 2:4-7, Oh, Hush Thee My Baby
Dec 21- Luke 2:8-11, The Nativity Song
Dec 22- Matthew 2:1-2, We Three Kings of Orient Are
Dec 23- Matthew 2:9-10, With Wondering Awe
Dec 24- Luke 2:13-14, Silent Night, for the story for this night the page
says this:

Tonight is Christmas Eve. This night we will read from the scriptures the real Christmas Story. Luke 1:26-38,46-47, Luke 2:1-20, Matthew 2:1-14.

Have a very merry Christmas!

The Last Straw
By Paula McDonald

To truly share this season of love and laughter, even a little boy must first discover Christmas in his heart

Christmas: The Living Christmas

The Living Christmas

by Texas Fort Worth Missionaries ~ 1988

Nearly 2000 years ago an event took place which has affected the lives of billions of people. At theis time of year we remember the mortal birth of Jesus, the Son of God. He is the greatest being ever born on this ear–He is Christ, the Messiah, our Lord.

This glorious event was revealed to man through the prophets that lived many hundreds of years before the birth of our Savior, so that those people could look forward to the source of their salvation and eternal joy. About 700 B.C., Isaiah, the Israelite prophet, prophesied of this gift from God:

ISAIAH 9:6

As God loves all of His children, he also shared this wonderful message with other prophets in other lands. One such prophet that lived on the American continents nearly 600 years before Christ’s birth was Nephi. Nephi recorded his prophecies, and they are found today in what we know as the Book of Mormon. He was visited by an angel and shown the following vision:

1 NEPHI 11:13-21

Alma, a prophet also in the Book of Mormon, lived about 80 B.C., testified of the glorious mission of our Lord:

ALMA 7:10-12

During the Christmas season, we are reminded of the Heavenly manifestations given in the area around Jerusalem. Luke relates to us the account of an angel appearing to Mary:

LUKE 1:28-31

Luke also recorded the event of the shephers being visited by angelic hosts that announced Christ’s birth, and praised God. matthew tells us of wisemen who watched for the new star which had been a prophesy of the King’s birth. These righteous men travelled far to worship the Babe and bring Him their gifts.

On the other side of the world, God was revealing His plans to his prophets, in the Book of Mormon. Samuel, a prophet in ancient America, spoke to the people of his day:

HELAMAN 14:2-6

As with most prophets, only a small minority of the people believed Samuel’s workds, while the rest caused him to flee for his life. The Lord raised up another rophet among this people, another man named Nephi. As these few years passed, Nephi preached unto his people, but most hardened their hearts even to the point that they chose a day when they would put all the believers in Christ to death if the prophesied signs did not come to pass. Nephi was very saddened by the wickedness of his people and prayed unto the Lord, and in answer to his earnest prayer came the voice of the Lord:

3 NEPHI 1:13-21

This great event in mankind’s history was prophesied hundreds of years in advance. Those prophecies were fulfilled, and Jesus Christ was born of Mary. This even was so important that it was heralded by angelic hosts showing forth signs and wonders; it was so important that even today, 2000 years later, we still remember and praise this birth in a lowly manger. Without a doubt, the importance of this event is based on the divine mission of the Infant. The apostle John wrote:

JOHN 3:16

Jesus Christ made it possible for us to return to live with our Father in Heaven and have joy with Him forever. He is the center of our religion and our rejoicing:

2 NEPHI 25:26

May we each take the opportunity this Christmas season to remember the real meaning of Christmas. May we each gain a greater understanding of the life and mission of Jesus Christ, that we may know to what source we may look for a remission of our sins.

We read this for our FHE lesson and look up the scriptures as we go along. This is great to share with our non-member friends as well. We give out a copy of the Book of Mormon as a gift and inside it, it says, “We would like to leave you with this Christmas gift. This is a copy of the Book of Mormon. As it says on the cover, it is another witness of Jesus Christ. This book, like no other book, has helped us develop a personal love and relationship with the Savior, as it has strengthened and supported the truths taught in the Bible. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it….”

Homemade Christmas

Holiday Family Night Ideas

Here is a wonderful, warm idea for the whole family, sent by Theresa Turnbull

My family and I decided the last few Christmases to stop with the comercialized Christmas and go for homemade. I made afghans, dishcloth and towel sets, doily sets and runners,etc… my sister did cross-stitch and canvas, my brother made magazine racks. I had thought about this for a long time, and finally decided that where our parents were really too old to do any handcrafts, that I would think of something better. As it turned out, I got my mom and dad to do a cassette tape.They sang songs that that they sang to us as children and told us stories of our childhood as well as children’s stories that have become lost over the years.

The thing about this tape is, even after they are long gone, my children will here the stories and songs of MY childhood and it will be from their grandparents. Some things cannot have a price tag put on them.

In todays’ economy, most people have to go into debt to have a big Christmas. My children 13 and 9, realize the expense and make homemade stuff as well,which is more precious than anything in the stores.

In The Qualheim home we have many special traditions and family times spent together around the Holidays. One of the fun things we do together is to bake lots of Christmas Cookies! We also, make a special Birthday Cake for Baby Jesus, each Christmas Eve. which we eat for dessert Christmas Eve. After this we take time to each write down, or draw a picture of, the things we want to give Jesus in the coming year. These could be such things as;

“I will read my scriptures every day.” or “I will try not to fight with my brothers this year.”

These are placed in an envelope which we decorate with Christmas rubber stamps or stickers. On Christmas morning, this is the first thing we open on Christmas morning and these are read aloud.

My husband is a collector of fiction & non-fiction Christmas stories and likes to share those stories with the rest of the family by typing the story up then wrapping it in a “gift” box along with a tangible symbol of that particular story. For instance there is a story about hot cocoa that we read every year and it is wrapped with a package of instant cocoa mix. On Christmas Eve or a family night before Christmas, each member of the family chooses a “gift”, displays the token and reads the story. This is a special way to let each person participate rather than just having Dad read all of his favorite stories out loud.

Talent (1)

Presiding:
Conducting:
Song: ( # 219 ) “Because I Have Been Given Much”
Scripture : ( Romans 14:12 )

“The Parable of the Popcorn” by William James Mortimer

Behold at the time of harvest, the ears of corn did bring forth kernels which were dried and prepared forth for the popper’s hand.

And then it was that the popper did take the kernels all of which appeared alike unto him and did apply the oil and the heat.

And it came to pass that when the heat was on, some did explode with promise and did magnify themselves a hundred fold and some did burst forth with whiteness which did both gladden the eye and satisfy the taste of the popper and likewise, some others did pop but not too much.

But lo, there were some that did just lie there and even though the popper’s heat was alike unto all, they did bask in the warmth of the oil and kept everything they had for themselves.

And so it came to pass that those which had given of themselves did bring joy and delight to many munchers but those which kept of the warmth and did not burst forth were with hardness and disgust.

And thus, we see that in the beginning all appear alike but when the heat is on some come forth and give their all while others do procrastinate their day of pop, to burn and become as chaff to be discarded and forgotten.

1. Read scripture aloud.

2. Discuss scripture.

(then = at judgment day; every one = everyone; account of himself = list of sins, etc.; to whom = God)

Opening Prayer:

Lesson:

1. Read aloud the parable of the talents from Matthew 25: 14-30.

2. Discuss parable.

Define parable. (Story of common things. Has spiritual symbolism.)

Define talents. (Anciently a sum of money. Now a gift.)

How many servants were given talents? (Draw 3 stick figures.)

How many talents was each servant given? (5, 2, 1)

What did each one do with his given talents? (5+5, 2+2, 1+0)

What does it mean to hide your talents? (not use or develop)

How many talents did each servant end up with? (11,4,0)

Activity: My Own Talents

1. What talents have you been given? (at home, at church, at school, at work or in community)

2. Mark one for each category on continuums labeled “Totally Developed,” Partially Discovered or Developed,” “Totally Buried.”

Activity: Corn Seeds

1. Each take one seed. Look at it. What good is it? Delicious? (Potential. Plant, snack. Not very good as is. In shoe- ouch.) Needs what to become that? (water, nutrients; heat, oil)

2. Take several seeds. Examine. (Look alike. Slight differences. Can

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