FHE: "A ROLL OF THE DICE"

Many years ago my friend shared this fabulous object lesson with me. I have done this lesson with some Young Women groups. Today we are doing it, at my house, for FHE. I can't wait!

Here is how the lesson will play out.....

After a song and prayer we are going to file out to our vehicle. Once everyone is in and buckled I will tell the family that we are headed to the temple. We will have a little discussion about the important things that go on in the temple and the importance of attending regularly. We will read 1 Ne 14:14, which says,

"And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld the power of the Lamb of God, that it descended upon the saints of the church of the Lamb, and upon the covenant people of the Lord, who were scattered upon all the face of the earth; and they were armed with righteousness and with the power of God in great glory."

We will talk about how through regularly making the temple a part of our lives we can have access to the power of God in our lives, and how important that is to us.

Then we will break out the dice.

The rules are: At each stop sign, each person takes turns rolling the dice. On the odd numbers we turn left and on the even we turn right. Our goal is to make it to the temple. Then let the games begin by deciding the first direction you will head in, with the roll of the dice.

 The object: Have fun and after many turns point out how you are not getting any closer to the temple. With each roll continue to point out that these dice are not helping you get anywhere near the temple.

The Lesson: Don't leave getting to the temple, or accomplishing other goals in your lives (such as Eternal Life) to chance. We must make a plan and do all we can to prepare. Acheiving our goals requires great focus. With a map, instead of a set of dice, we would have been sure to arrive at the temple. We would have been more prepared.

The Plan: Return home. Make it a goal as a family to go to the temple grounds the next week. Discuss and make a plan of things that you can do to prepare spiritually and physically (dress in our Sunday best, pray, read our scriptures throughout the week, etc) to be at the temple. Talk about the things you would like to do when you are at the Temple (scriptures, walk around, sing songs, etc.). Post your list where everyone in the family can see it. Frequently remind the family about the preparation. Print a map for the family to follow, even if you know the way, to stress the point of being prepared in everyway to be at the Lord's house.

Next Monday, go prepared as a family, to the temple. Discuss with your children the feelings they have while they are there. Even on the temple grounds we can feel the Lord's spirit. This will be a great learning experience for them.

I have always loved the thought,

How can we teach our children that the temple should be important to them, when they can't SEE that it is important to us.

I hope to take this opportunity to set goals with Ryan to attend the temple MUCH more often! And not just attend, but attend prepared to be in the House of the Lord!

*When I first did this activitiy our temple was over 2 hours away. The kids still got the lesson with the dice and we ended up in the middle of no where! We made a plan to take the trip the next week. It worked out perfectly! If you live much too far from a temple, get creative! Do the activity with the dice. Make a plan as a family to watch "The Mountain of the Lord", have a lesson about the temple specifically or something temple related. I am sure the spirit will still have such a great influence through the efforts of the lesson!