This is a blog meant for the use of individuals and families which contains Family Home Evening lesson ideas and plans for the 2019-2020 "Come Follow Me" curriculum. This is meant to supplement the resource "Come Follow Me: For Individuals and Families". This is not an official page of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
April 11-17 Easter "He will swallow up death in victory"
Materials: Easter Match Game Cards, Construction paper Opening Song:"I Know that My Savior Loves Me" (Additional Songs for Children, Sacred Music App) Opening Prayer:
One of the special parts about reading the scriptures is that each volume of scripture testifies of Christ in its own special way. The God of the old Testament, Jehovah, is the same Jesus Christ that performed the atonement, the same Christ that appeared to the Nephites, and the same Savior that appeared to Joseph Smith in the Sacred Grove. Old Testament testifies of the coming of a Messiah. Ancient prophets like Isaiah, Zechariah, and Daniel would write about the Savior.
Activity: Old Testament Easter Match Game
Directions: Before FHE, print and cut out the cards below. Paste the cards onto construction paper or card stock that are equal in size. Shuffle the cards and place them face down in front of the family. Have family members take turns playing the match game. When they pick a card, have them read the scripture passage. There will be an Old Testament passage that prophesies about Christ's ministry and it's match will be a New Testament passage that shows a fulfillment of that prophesy.
Bear your Testimony of the Resurrection of the Savior and how the Old Testament can teach us about the Savior.
Closing Song: "Did Jesus Really Live Again?" (Children's Songbook, 64) Closing Prayer: Refreshment: Easter bunny coconut tails recipe here
April 4-10 Exodus 14-17 "Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord"
Materials: bread and spreads, grab bag pictures, scriptures, prayer rock, rocks, paint, sponge brushes, permanent marker Opening Song: "Search, ponder, and pray" (Children's Songbook, 109) Opening Prayer:
Attention Activity: Make a bread spread platter with some different types of bread, cheese, butter, jam, or whatever you feel like and enjoy a tasty snack together.
The Israelites needed food but because they were traveling in the wilderness, they couldn't plant crops and meat was scarce. The Lord said he would provide bread that would rain from heaven. Read Exodus 16: 14-16. Collecting manna became a daily exercise for the Israelites. They had to collect it every morning because if they left it out, it would get worms in it and start to stink. Before the sabbath they would gather and bake enough bread for 2 days.
When Christ taught the people to pray during the Sermon on the Mount, he used the phrase, "Give us this day our daily bread." What do you think he meant? Just like we have to eat food and drink water every day for physical nourishment, we also need to have daily spiritual nourishment. How can we feed our spirits?
Activity: daily bread grab bag
Before FHE put the items listed below into a bag. Have family members take turns taking things out of the bag and answering how that brings us daily spiritual nourishment.
Give each family member a rock and have them paint it with their favorite color. When the paint is dry, write "Prayer" on it with permanent marker. Tell them to stick it under their pillow as a reminder to not forget their daily prayers.
Just like the Israelites needed to gather their daily bread to survive in the harsh wilderness, we need daily spiritual nourishment to survive in a wicked world. Daily scripture study and prayer connects us to the Savior and helps us to heed promptings from the Holy Ghost. It helps us to be better versions of ourselves and keeps us on the covenant path. Bear your testimony.
Closing Song: "Scripture Power" (Additional Songs for Children, Sacred Music App) Closing Prayer: Refreshment: Cheesy pull-apart garlic bread recipe here
March 28- April 3 Exodus 7-13 "Remember this day, in which ye shame out from Egypt"
Materials: paper and crayons, construction paper, scissors, printout (see below), video clip (link below), fresh parsley, pita bread Opening Song: "Tis' Sweet to Sing the Matchless Love" (Hymns, 177) Opening Prayer:
Attention Activity: Have family members draw a picture of a nightmare and a hero that could save the day.
Lesson:
Moses had been called by the Lord to ask Pharaoh to free the Hebrews from slavery, but Pharaoh refused. The Lord was not happy with Pharaoh; he said, "For I will at this time send all my plagues upon thine heart, and upon thy servant, and upon thy people; that thou mayest know that there is none like me in all the earth. For now I will stretch out my hand, that i may smite thee and thy people with pestilence; and thou shalt be cut off from the earth" (Exodus 9:14-15).
Activity: 10 Plagues Reveal
Directions: Print the picture below. Using construction paper, cut circles of the same size as those in the image. Tape the construction paper circles over the pictures circles and number them 1-10 accordingly. Have family members take turns taking off the circles in order. Describe each plague as you go using your own words or the passages below.
1: Waters to Blood: The first thing the Lord did to get Pharoh's attention was to have Moses and Aaron (his brother) turn all of the streams, rivers, lakes, and ponds in Egypt to turn from water into blood. All the fish died in the water and it stunk. It lasted for 7 days.
3. Lice: The next plague to come to the Egyptians was lice. Lice are tiny bugs that live in your hair and cause you to itch. Exodus says that all the dust in Egypt was turned to lice that infested all the people and animals in Egypt.
4. Flies: Even after the water was ruined and frogs and lice infested Egypt, Pharaoh still refused to free his Israelite slaves. So the Lord sent swarms of flies into the homes of the Egyptians.
6. Boils: Moses took ashes and threw them in the air in front of Pharaoh. When the ashes drifted down large painful sores called boils appeared on the skins of all the Egyptians including Pharaoh's magicians.
7. Hail and Fire: Pharaoh still wouldn't listen, so the Lord sent a storm--a massive hail storm. Hail is ice that rains from the sky. Sometimes hail can be very large and dangerous like ice cubes the size of baseballs raining from the sky. Along with the hail storm, fire rained down upon the earth.
8. Locusts: Locusts came next to the Egyptians. They are big huge crickets. The Lord sent so many locusts they covered the entire land so you could not see the ground and the sky seemed dark because there were so many flying around. The locusts ate all of the crops that had not already been destroyed in the storm, so the Egyptians had absolutely no food to eat. The locusts filled the houses of the Egyptians.
9. Darkness: For 3 days a thick darkness covered the land in Egypt. The darkness was so bad no one could see each other or light lanterns.
These plagues mainly effected the Egyptians; the Israelite slaves God protected. Moses came to Pharaoh before each plague and begged him to let the Lord's people go free, but Pharaoh hardened his heart and refused.
10. Death of the Firstborn: Moses came to Pharaoh one last time and said, if you don't let the Israelites go, all of the firstborn children and beasts will die. But Pharaoh again didn't listen and threw Moses out.
How did the Lord protect the Israelites from the plague of the firstborn? The Isrealites were told to take a lamb and use its blood to mark their doorways. The lamb would be eaten for dinner along with bitter herbs and unleavened bread. The bitter herbs (show parsley) were to remind them of the bitterness of the captivity and the unleavened bread (show pita bread) was to remind them that there was not time for their bread to rise before they fled their captivity. They had to be ready to go with their loins girded, shoes on their feet, and staff in their hand. They did this and were safe from the plague. Pharaoh, grieving the loss of all the firstborn children finally let the Israelites go.
Every year the Jewish people celebrate the passover. The day before Jesus was crucified, he celebrated the passover meal in what we now call the Last Supper. What did Jesus do at this meal? At the Last Supper Jesus instituted the sacrament. He told the disciples to drink wine in remembrance of his blood and to eat bread in remembrance of his body.
The passover meal and the sacrament have a lot in common. In the passover, blood of the lamb is meant to protect from death. In the sacrament, we drink water to remember the blood that was shed by Jesus, the Lamb of God. The Israelites ate the flesh of the lamb in the passover meal just like we eat the bread to help us remember the body of Christ that died for us. Read Exodus 12:14.
Bear your testimony of the atonement and the sacrament.
Closing Song: "He sent his son" (Children's Songbook, 34) Closing Prayer: Refreshment: Matzah bread recipe here
