Family Night Week 5: Being a Light and Example

It's a new month, so we have a new theme!

The truth is that lately I have felt the weight of responsibility that comes with being a parent.  There is much to impart to our children.  I have hopes that my sweet babies will grow up to be kind, wise, good, responsible.  I have hopes they will grow up to know their Heavenly Father and their Savior.  That they will strive to be like the Savior in their actions and words.  That they will make choices that will keep them safe in this world that is so fraught with dangers and evil.  As I pondered that last week, I felt strongly that the best thing I can teach them is to follow the Prophet.  Because we believe we have a Prophet on the Earth today.  We believe He receives revelation from Heavenly Father for the world.  And we believe there is safety in heeding his counsel (since it comes from our Heavenly Father).  And so...  I chose to focus on the theme of Follow the Prophet for the month of February.  And for each week, we will focus on the most recent Conference talks given by our Prophet, President Thomas S. Monson.

Be a Light and an Example

Opening Song: "Let Us Oft Speak Kind Words"

Scripture:  Doctrine & Covenants 21:4-5:  "Wherefore...thou shalt give heed unto all [the Prophet's] words and commandments which he shall give unto you as he receiveth them, walking in all holiness before me; For his word ye shall receive as if from mine own mouth, in all patience and faith."

Lesson:  We read several excerpts from Pres. Monson's talk entitled Be an Example and a Light. We focused particularly on the sections containing the attributes of a believer according to the Apostle Paul.

Activity:  We went into our bathroom (which is windowless and therefore very dark).  We had a cupcake with a candle in it (Lynnaea and I had made the cupcakes earlier for our treat :)).  We asked Lynnaea if she could see anything in the dark. She said it was very dark.  We lit the candle.  Through the light of that one candle, she could see the entire bathroom, even around the corner where not much light reached, she could still see enough to see her daddy and Corbin when they went over there.  We talked about how, even though we are each only one person, we can be a light in darkness through our actions and our words.  We can make a difference and spread our "light," just like the candle.

Treat.  And then we put a little frosting on our cupcakes and ate them :).  Lynnaea loved that part (of course ;)).  Here she is posing with what was left of her cupcake (which she called a muffin) and mine -- which I lit just for the picture ;).

And just because this is too precious not to share...  This was this morning.  She wanted to go out on the back porch.  Well, it's cold outside and she is just now getting over a nasty upper respiratory bug (and Corbin is right in the miserable middle of it :/...).  So we told her she couldn't go outside unless she had shoes and socks on, and a coat.

She said she wanted to wear "tippy toes."  Apparently this is what she calls high heels!  How stinkin' cute is that!?!  So, how could I say no?  I made her put on socks with her tippy toes to keep her feet warmer.  Oh sweet Lynnaea.  How I love her.  (Yes, they are also on the wrong feet...).