The Best FHE

We recently had the coolest Family Home Evening! I had planned a lesson on how our body is like the temple, pretty much taken directly from the June 2008 Friend Magazine. My children were playing with their nonmember friend Catherine all afternoon, so naturally, they wanted to invite her to join us for Family Night. We said she could if her mom gave her permission. So she returned after dinner and we started the night. We had such a great discussion! Of course, we had to explain to Catherine what a temple even was. When we told her that people who are married in the temple could be with their families even after this life she said, "Oh, that's like my aunt." Confused, I asked, "Did your aunt get married in the temple?" "No, but they have a family burial plot so they'll be together even when they die." I had to hide a smile, and then I explained that families married in the temple will live together again after this life and forever. "Wow," she said, "I want to get married in the temple someday." Considering her parents are just going through a divorce, I'm sure that sounds extra good to her.

Then we were talking about how we treat a temple with respect, and since we learn in the Bible (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) that the body is also a temple, we talked about how to treat our bodies with respect. Since Catherine was sitting there in a spaghetti strap top, my 6-year old, Avandra, asked if we could review what modest dress was like. My 4-year old (Couscous) said, in a non-confrontational way, "We wear shirts that cover our shoulders, and swimsuits that cover our belly buttons." And Avandra added, "And skirts that cover our knees so that no one will see our underwear if we forget to keep our legs closed." It was funny, but also cool to see the young children teach their friend what they knew.

The last part that just brought tears of joy to my eyes was when Couscous decided to call on Catherine for closing prayer. Not sure of her experience with prayer I said that it was up to Catherine if she wanted to or not and either way was okay. Well Catherine said she wanted to. So my husband taught her a little about how to pray--how to address Heavenly Father, speak what was in her heart, and close in the name of Jesus Christ. Catherine got started but then didn't know what to do. So she crawled over to Avandra and whispered for help. She got the help and the girls didn't even giggle! And Catherine's prayer was so beautiful. I thought about how for nearly 8 years her Heavenly Father has wanted her to communicate with Him and finally she was. I also thought about what great missionaries these little primary children can be. The Spirit was so strong, as it always is when we teach and testify of truth. And I also noticed how much better behaved my girls were than usual! Can we invite friends over every time???