Prepare yourself spiritually
Prayerfully study these scriptures and resources. What principles found in the scriptures and words of the prophets will inspire the young women to strengthen their families?
1 Nephi 8:12 (Lehi wanted his family to partake of the fruit of the tree of life)
1 Nephi 16:14–32 (Nephi strengthens his family)
D&C 88:119 (Pattern for a righteous home)
Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “In Praise of Those Who Save,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2016, 77–80
Bonnie L. Oscarson, “Defenders of the Family Proclamation,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2015, 14–17
David A. Bednar, “More Diligent and Concerned at Home,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2009, 17–20
“Family,” For the Strength of Youth (2011), 14–15
“Home Can Be a Heaven on Earth,” Hymns, no. 298
“Love Is Spoken Here,” Children’s Songbook, 190
At the beginning of each class, invite the young women to share, teach, and testify about the experiences they have had applying what they learned in the previous week’s lesson. This will encourage personal conversion and help the young women see the relevance of the gospel in their daily lives.
Introduce the doctrine
Choose from these ideas or think of your own to introduce this week’s lesson:
- Ask the young women to think of things a family might do to protect their home from physical harm (such as a fire or burglary). What spiritual dangers threaten families? What can the young women do to help protect their family from these dangers?
- Ask the young women to write on the board as many words as they can think of in one or two minutes that describe things that bring happiness to their families.
Each of the activities below can help the young women learn how to strengthen their families. Following the guidance of the Spirit, select one or more that will work best in your class:
- In his talk “In Praise of Those Who Save,” President Dieter F. Uchtdorf taught of families: “We may share the same gene pool, but we are not the same. We have unique spirits. … We can choose to celebrate these differences.” What unique traits or strengths does each young woman have? How can each young woman use her unique strengths to bless her family? Class members could also search portions of the talk in small groups, looking for and sharing things that stand out to them. You could also invite class members to watch one of the videos in this outline and look for what the family members did to improve their relationships. How can the young women celebrate the differences in their families? What ideas can they share about how they can strengthen their family relationships?
- Have young women read portions of Bonnie L. Oscarson’s talk “Defenders of the Family Proclamation.” In this talk, Sister Oscarson taught that “all of us—women, men, youth, and children, single or married—can work at being homemakers. We should ‘make our homes’ places of order, refuge, holiness, and safety” (Ensign or Liahona, May 2015, 17). Invite the young women to search Sister Oscarson’s talk, looking for a quote that they can display in their homes or rooms that inspires them to strengthen their family. What can they do now to help their homes be holy, orderly, and safe?
- As a class, read the seventh paragraph of the “The Family: A Proclamation to the World,” looking for principles that can help the young women achieve happiness in family life. Ask each young woman to read 1 Nephi 16:14–32 and share ways Lehi’s family applied these principles. Ask them to share experiences they have had that have taught them the importance of these principles in family life.
- Ask the young women to listen for ways to increase love in the home as they sing or listen to “Home Can Be a Heaven on Earth” (Hymns, no. 298) or “Love Is Spoken Here” (Children’s Songbook, 190). Ask them to share what they find. Invite them to share an experience in which they have felt happiness because they were shown love or because they helped increase the love in their home.
- Ask the young women to read “Family” in For the Strength of Youth or watch the video “Through Small Things” and find things they can do to strengthen their families. What examples do the young women know about of families in the scriptures who did or did not follow these principles? Invite the young women to look at the table of contents of For the Strength of Youth and discuss how living the other standards in this book can help invite the Spirit in their homes. Invite them to choose one thing they will do during the coming week to strengthen their families.
- Divide the class into three groups, and ask each group to read about one of the suggestions Elder David A. Bednar gives in his talk “More Diligent and Concerned at Home.” Ask each group to share with the class what they learn, explaining specific things they can do to apply Elder Bednar’s suggestions in their families. Encourage them to share examples they have seen of family members doing what Elder Bednar suggests.
Ask the young women to share what they learned today. Do they understand how to strengthen their families? What feelings or impressions do they have? Do they have any additional questions? Would it be helpful to spend more time on this doctrine?
Live what we are learning
Invite the young women to consider how they will live by what they have learned today. For example, they could:
- Look for ways to strengthen their families through giving service. This could be as simple as preparing a meal, helping a sibling with homework, or just listening. Ask them to share their experiences next week.
- Record in their journals ways they can be supportive of their families.
- Complete an activity from Personal Progress that helps strengthen their families, such as Divine Nature value experience 3 or 5, Individual Worth value project, or Virtue value experience 2.