Can You Believe It's August?!

I can't!  This summer has flown by and the school year is just around the corner.  Having decided to homeschool my daughter I'm planning lessons, buying school supplies and getting ready.  But how often do I intentionally do an activity that teaches a gospel principle?  Once a week at FHE?  Hopefully, it will be a little more often with the help of The Friend.  Here's what we read and did tonight, and ideas for the first half of the week...

SUNDAY: "A Birthday Wish Fulfilled"  pgs. 2-3 of The Friend, August 2011
There's a cute suggestion of making warm fuzzies, which we will probably do for FHE.  The idea is to do an act of service for someone and then leave the warm fuzzy as a reminder you care for them.  My kids love games where they have to find something, so by doing service and then leaving the warm fuzzy they can find it and then try to figure out what service was performed.  If they need help finding it you can always sing a primary song louder as they get closer and quieter as they get farther away as a help.

Today though we decided to make birthday cards for President Monson.  We will be mailing them to Church Headquarters tomorrow at the following address:

LDS Church Headquarters
Attn: President Monson
50 East North Temple
Salt Lake City, UT 84150
Please comment if you know of another address.

This is the cute one my son drew. :)  I wrote a letter to the prophet too, which is something I hadn't done before but really enjoyed.  Knowing who speaks for God is truly incredible!

MONDAY: "Without Purse or Scrip" pgs. 4-5

The Friend actually uses this story as the basis of a suggestion for an FHE activity, which is hearing missionary stories from someone you know (suggestions found on pg.48.)  We went through my husband's mission album once for FHE and had a lot of fun seeing the pictures of him in Holland and learning about the experiences we had while serving.  We were even able to find a video from the library about the country.  I definitely recommend doing something like this for your children.  Another idea could be to write a supportive letter/draw a picture and mail it to a missionary in your ward or your family.

TUESDAY: "Bright Idea" pg.6

Remember, you don't have to do something huge everyday. :) The goal is consistency and having some days where lessons don't require as much time or planning will make that happen.  For this cute Bright Idea I suggest you read the quote and explain how we can and should love everyone, even if they don't believe the same things we do.  Help them tell from the people's clothing that they have different beliefs.  I spotted people of Catholic, Jewish, Hindu, and Muslim faiths.  I chose one that looked Mormon too.  You could even choose one to be Atheist if your kids are old enough to be asking questions about that term.  But explain that even though people look different, and worship in different types of buildings as depicted in the background, they can still share the same play ground, and speak to each other kindly.  If you have friends of other faiths, use their friendships as examples that we can learn and be friends with a variety of people.  It's never too early to teach love for all God's children!

I hope you can incorporate some of these ideas into your busy schedules.  I know things are hectic at my house and I already, on the first day, found myself wondering if doing these activities with my children and The Friend was worth it.  As if an answer to my is-this-really-worth-it-questions I found the pictures on pgs. 24-25 when looking ahead.  What cute pictures of smiling kids all over the country reading The Friend!  It is worth it!  We need our kids to have the best "Friends" they can.  Remember, the Gospel is true and teaching it is a noble, eternally-important goal.  Stick with it!  Luv, Eva