By Alison Palmer

Scripture: 1 John 4:14

Song: “If the Savior Stood Beside Me,” Friend, Oct. 1993, 14 or “He Sent His Son,” Children’s Songbook, 34-35

Preparation: Gather a blindfold, and the necessary ingredients and tools to make your choice of cake mix.

Lesson: Blindfold one member of your family. Place them in front of the materials they need to make a “faith cake.” Ask the person to make the cake for the Family Home Evening dessert while blindfolded. The other members of the family may offer verbal direction as he works, but they can not do the task for him. Have him complete all the steps necessary until the cake is ready to go into the oven. Place the cake in the oven yourself and set a timer for the appropriate bake time. Work together to clean up the mess, then proceed with the rest of Family Home Evening.

Talk about the experience of trying to make a cake blindfolded. What strategies had to be employed to get the task done? How much did prior experience with cake making affect the person’s ability to complete the job? What else would have made it easier?

When we try to learn any new skill, or practice one we are familiar with, it becomes very consuming. It takes commitment and, often, involvement of all the person’s senses. Sight is especially important when you are trying to learn or complete a needed task. It helps to be able to see another person doing what you want to learn, to read directions that may be given to you, and to become comfortable with the materials you need to use.

Read and discuss 2 Nephi 31:7. Jesus Christ came to this earth to be our Savior and example.
He showed us how to follow Heavenly Father’s commandments and do His will. We can learn how to live our own lives by watching Jesus Christ. Talk about the kinds of things we can learn
from Jesus, and the commitment it takes to learn to do things as He would.

Just like baking a cake, we need to use our eyes to watch others who are trying to be like Jesus, so we can learn from their example as well. We need to use our eyes to read the instructions Heavenly Father has given us in the scriptures that show us Christ’s example and the commandments that will lead us back to Them. We need to be able to listen to the Holy Ghost as He tries to guide us through the steps that will lead to happiness for us. We need to use our hands to work and grow and serve others because these are the tools Heavenly Father has given us. The more we practice doing the will of the Father, the easier it becomes.

Activity

Younger children- Play charades with actions or familiar stories from Christ’s life, or follow-the-leader.

Older children- Review the Ensign article “Good, Better, and Best” by Elder Dallin H. Oaks, November 2007, 104. Discuss its message briefly. Use a stack of index cards to create individual cards for things that your family feels are good, Christ-like activities that they like to spend their time on. Try to be specific (i.e. baking cookies for a neighbor, helping someone move, giving away a Book of Mormon, family history work). Shuffle the cards and have each family member blindly draw two cards from the pile.

Take turns reading your cards and discussing how you would choose between the two if you could only do one in a given time. Emphasize that there are no right or wrong choices. All the choices had good intentions and blessings attached to them. Often we try to pile so much good in our life that we wear ourselves out. The key to following the Savior and living the Gospel is not necessarily quantity, but quality and timing. It is most important to choose the path that the Heavenly Father needs you to be on.

Refreshments: “Faith Cake”

When the cake you prepared is cooled, ice it and eat. Talk about the sweet blessings that come from following the Savior’s example.