FHE - It's A Good Thing!

For those who don't know, FHE stands for Family Home Evening. Every Monday night in our home we spend a quality evening together sharing laughs, treats, and growing in our understanding of the gospel. Each family member has an assignment (prayer, lesson, activity, song, or treat) as designated by the pegged plaque in our hallway. Danny, "because he's the first born" he'll tell you, is usually in charge of designating assignments. It's great fun and gives Danny a sense of responsibility and power in the home.

Past FHE topics have included keeping the commandments, service, reverence, and eternal families. On more than one occasion we have covered the topic of honoring thy father and thy mother. This seems to be a tough one to grasp for our boys. Last night, we had a unique opportunity to grow in our understanding of how the Lord organizes his church and calls his servants.

This past Sunday the the boundaries of 3 wards were changed to create a new ward (or congregation) of members known as the Parkville Ward. A new Bishop was called to lead these members and new counsellors were chosen to assist the Bishop. James accepted a call to serve as the membership clerk of this new ward. The proceedings on Sunday were all very orderly and it was wonderful to see how the church has grown in our area.

We know that such callings come from our Heavenly Father, as He directs those who lead His church. It was neat to talk with our boys about the formation of this new ward, about Daddy's new opportunity to serve, and about the opportunity to fellowship new members. What was most amazing is that we had the opportunity at FHE to kneel together and feel for ourselves a manifestation that in fact these are the men whom the Lord desires to lead His church. I know that the Holy Ghost is given to us to testify of truth and I am grateful for such a gift. I am thankful for the direction given to us from our leaders to slow down, enjoy each other as families, and find the quiet in which we can hear the still small voice.

This quiet came at the end of a very long and trying Monday. It was so trying that the comparison between my busy day and my quiet night seemed to be polar opposites. This is another testament of how the gospel brings us peace and happiness. If when I was at Wal-Mart trying to get Danny to stop throwing fits over Sponge-Bob Squarepants yogurt and trying to keep Dallin from chucking the Dasani water at strangers and biting me for telling him "No," if then, you had told me our night would end peacefully, I would have thought, "Not a chance." But the miracle is that when we take ourselves out of the world that man has created and spend time focusing on nourishing the spirit, there can be nothing but peace.

...and thank goodness!