FHE from LDS LIVING

We know from the scriptures that the Light of Christ is “the Spirit [which] giveth light to every man that cometh into the world.” This light is given “for the sake of the whole world.

Conference Talk:
For more information on this topic read “Let There Be Light!”, by Quentin L. Cook, Ensign, Nov. 2010, 27–30.

Thought:
The Light of Christ, which is distinct from the Holy Ghost, informs their conscience. We know from the scriptures that the Light of Christ is “the Spirit [which] giveth light to every man that cometh into the world.” This light is given “for the sake of the whole world. (Quentin L. Cook, “Let There Be Light!”, Ensign, Nov. 2010, 27–30.)

Song:
“I Feel My Savior’s Love,” Children’s Songbook, p. 74

Scripture:
And the Spirit giveth light to every man that cometh into the world; and the Spirit enlighteneth every man through the world, that hearkeneth to the voice of the Spirit. (Doctrine and Covenants 84:46)

Object Lesson:
Materials Needed: Several battery powered tea lights.
Procedure: If possible, darken the room slightly. Turn on one tea light and place it in the middle of the table. Ask: What things can you do daily to invite the Spirit? (Pray, read scriptures, serve others, etc.) As each idea is shared, turn on another tea light and place it by the first one. When all the lights have been used, ask what would happen if more tea lights were turned on.

Liken the tea lights to the Spirit of the Lord. As we obey the commandments and participate in spiritual activities, we invite the Spirit and bring light into our lives.

Note: candles could be used instead of the battery powered lights.

(Beth Lefgren and Jennifer Jackson, Object Lessons Made Easy, [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2010], p. 49.)

Story:
By Harold B. Lee
One day, my grandmother, my mother, and two or three of the younger children were seated before an open door, watching the great display of nature’s fireworks as a severe thunderstorm raged near the mountain where our home was located. A flash of lightning followed by an immediate loud clap of thunder indicated that the lightning had struck very close.

I was standing in the doorway when, suddenly and without warning, my mother gave me a vigorous push that sent me sprawling on my back out of the doorway. At that instant, a bolt of lightning came down the chimney of the kitchen stove, raced through the open doorway, and split a huge gash from top to bottom in a large tree immediately in front of the house. If I had remained in the door opening, I wouldn’t be writing this story today.

My mother could never explain her split-second decision. All I know is that my life was
spared because of her impulsive, intuitive action.

Years later, when I saw the deep scar on that large tree at the old family home, I could only say, from a grateful heart, Thank the Lord for that precious gift possessed in abundant measure by my own mother and by many other faithful mothers, through whom heaven can be very near in time of need.

During my young boyhood, there were many occasions when mother’s instructive and intuitive understanding prompted her to know that help was needed. Once on a stormy night she directed my father to go and search for me, only to find that my horse had stumbled and thrown me into a pool of half-frozen mud. My mother had known that help was needed.

Someone has coined a statement that has great significance: “God could not be everywhere, and therefore he made mothers.”

Within every child born into the world there is a heavenly gift. The Lord has revealed that this is the Light of Christ, or the Light of Truth. Even in early childhood, this gift gives to every person the ability to tell the difference between what is right and of the Lord and what is wrong and of the world. Sometimes we call this our conscience, or the voice of the Spirit of God within us.

Following baptism and as a blessing from the elders of the Church, we are given another gift—the gift of the Holy Ghost. As explained by the Master, this is to teach us that we may know the truth of all things, to bring all things to our remembrance, and to even show us things to come.

When one becomes a father or a mother, it is especially important that he or she prepares to receive, through these wonderful gifts from the Lord, the great gift of understanding necessary to rear children and make certain they are taught properly as commanded by the Lord. These heaven-sent instructions or warnings parents receive for their families might be called intuition or the voice of the Lord coming into their minds to safeguard their homes. Parents have the responsibility of teaching and training in correct principles. Then when children are old enough and have the stability and responsibility to make mature judgments and right decisions, they will have received proper teaching from wise parents in the homes from which they have come.

From my experience, it would seem that faithful mothers have a special gift that we often refer to as mother’s intuition. Perhaps, with the great blessings of motherhood, our Heavenly Father has endowed them with this quality, since fathers, busy in priesthood callings and earning a livelihood, never draw quite as close to heavenly beings in matters that relate to the more intimate details of bringing up children in the home. It might be described in this way: Father is the head, but Mother is the heart, of the family home.

(Leon R. Hartshorn, Inspiring Stories for Young Latter-day Saints, [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1975], p.17.)

Activity:
Play Harmony.

One player begins the game by saying, for instance, “I am thinking of something in the room that rhymes with “fair.” The others ask, “Is it chair?” “Is it hair?” “Is it pear?” and so on until they guess it. The one who guesses correctly starts another. The game may be varied by enlarging the boundaries so that one is not confined to the room for his thought.

Just as we need to be in harmony with the other players in the game to figure out what they are thinking, our lives should be in harmony with the Savior to feel his influence.

(Alma Heaton, The LDS Game Book, [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1968], p. 101.)

Refreshment:
Toffee Torte

1 package devil’s food cake mix
1 (16-ounce) carton frozen whipped topping, thawed
7 English toffee bars (Heath® or Skor®), crushed

Grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans. Prepare and bake the cake according to package directions. Cool on a wire rack. (If time permits the cakes can be frozen for easier handling.) Carefully cut each layer in half horizontally. Place thawed whipped topping in a bowl and fold in 6 of the crushed candy bars. Place one layer of the cake on a serving plate and spread with 1/2 cup of the topping mixture. Repeat with the remaining 3 layers. Frost the sides and top with the topping mixture. Sprinkle the remaining crushed bar on top of the cake.

(Lion House Bakery, [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2009] p. 94.)