By Alison Palmer Scripture: Mosiah 4: 13

Song:“Nephi’s Courage,” Children’s Songbook, pg.120

Preparation:Gather a bag of mini-marshmallows and a box of toothpicks. Obtain a picture of Nephi building the boat if it is available.

Lesson:
Have your family work together to try and create a tower or small temple from the marshmallows and toothpicks.

Read 1 Nephi 17: 8-9 and Ether 2: 16 together. Share your picture of Nephi’s boat.
Discuss the fact that both groups needed to build ships to help protect and move their families to a land of promise. The scriptures specifically talk about the fact that Nephi’s ship and the Jaredite barges were made according to the Lord’s instructions. They were not built the way other ships were being made. Discuss some of the ways the Lord’s commandments differ from the world’s way of doing things. (Such as: the Word of Wisdom, marriage, the importance of the Sabbath, etc.)

Recall your experience building the marshmallow tower. Perhaps not every idea you had worked. Perhaps you found yourselves frantically trying to find just the right places to shove toothpicks to keep your tower from falling.

Explain that sometimes, without even meaning to, we get caught up in the world’s way of doing things. We frantically run around trying to find ways to “hold things together” and to protect family members from the storms of the world. Sometimes, in all this stress it becomes easier to forget that the Lord’s way is very different from the world’s. Remind the family that the Prophets have given us some very simple instructions about the best ways to build and strengthen our families. Ask the family to name what they think some of these things might be.

Read the following scriptures and identify the building block mentioned that will help you work to build strong families.

• 3 Nephi 18: 21 (Prayer)

• 2 Nephi 4: 15 (Scriptures)

• 3 Nephi 22: 13 (Family Home Evening and gospel discussions)

Sometimes it becomes helpful to step back from our family structure and make sure what we are building is based on Heavenly Father’s gospel. Discuss your family efforts and diligence in holding family prayer and scripture study as well as the frequency and atmosphere of your family home evenings. The Lord has promised us that if we will follow these basic commandments we will form a firm foundation for our family’s eternal happiness. This may mean we need to move, or completely remove, other things with which we are propping up our lives. Discuss what can be done to put these three simple tasks in place firmly in your family. What can each member of the family do to support these efforts?

Activity:
Young Children: Continue experimenting with marshmallow and toothpick construction.
You might consider using other building materials as well, such as Tinker Toys. Compare the advantages and disadvantages of building with the various mediums and how that might relate to your choices as you try to strengthen your family.

Older Children: Create a cement memory stepping stone by pouring wet cement into a large mold and having the family members press in their handprints and label them with their names. Be sure to include the date of the activity!

Refreshments:
Form a snack mix with the rest of your marshmallows, a square shaped cereal (cinnamon or graham flavored) and M&Ms®.

The marshmallows represent the time your family spends in a holy circle of prayer,
talking with Heavenly Father.

The cereal represents tiny scriptures and the need to hunger after the word of God.

The M&M’s represent the diversity among your family members and the sweetness time spent together should bring.