August: Marriage and Family

HOW CAN I PREPARE NOW TO BECOME A RIGHTEOUS WIFE AND MOTHER?  (Young Women)

See lesson in the blog at this link.

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO LEARN ABOUT MY FAMILY HISTORY?

Your class may be interested in hearing about the family history work done by Emma Smith and now by the descendants of Joseph and Emma.  My lesson is at this link.

WHAT OPPORTUNITIES ARE THERE FOR LEARNING AND TEACHING IN THE HOME?

Write on the board "How to be a Good Friend."  Ask the class members to contribute ideas about how to be a good friend, or characteristics they appreciate in their closest friends, and write these on the board.  Then erase the word "Friend" and replace it with the words "Brother or Sister."

Share a incident from your own life about how a sibling was a help and comfort to you, or how you had fun together as siblings, or how you admire the example of your sibling.  Share a photograph, if you have one, as you tell the story.  Then encourage each class member to share a story of sibling support from their own life.  Ask them then to think about whether they have been a support their siblings, and one way they could be a better support and commit within themselves to improve in that one way this week.

You can illustrate how siblings should be an integral part of each others' lives using candy that is of more than one color, for example:  peppermint candy sticks or salt water taffy.  Show the candy and explain that the different colors were originally different batches of candy, but they were twisted or pressed together and now can never be separated.  Encourage your class members to treasure the different "colors" in each of their siblings, and form bonds with them that can never be broken.

Depending on the size of your class and the expense of the candy, you can send home enough pieces of candy for each member of your class members' families, and encourage the class members to offer to teach about sibling friendship as a part of the family home evening lesson that week, using the same method you used in class.  Ask them to report back next week on how the lesson went and on how they improved relations with their siblings.