A Yearning For Home
Family Home Evening Lesson
“A Yearning for Home”
Dieter F. Uchtdorf
Lesson plan by Stephanie Miller
Objective:
God wants us to draw closer to him each day. We each have a light inside of us drawing us to him like the instincts in an animal. As we reach for God our lives will be better and we will be able to bless others around us.
Preparation:
- Read “A Yearning For Home” by Dieter F. Uchtdorf
- Print Mother Make's lesson Plan
- Have your kids color the little characters
- Cut out around the people and cut the slits along the dotted line
- Have tape and three feet of string ready for your lesson.
Song: “I lived in Heaven” Children’s Song Book, Page 4
Lesson
Explain:
Tell the story of Bobbie the Wonder Dog in your own words.
Explain how animals have “baffled scientists with an amazing sense of direction and instinct for home.”
Examples:
- “Some monarch butterfly populations migrate 3,000 miles (4,800 km) each year to climes better suited for their survival.
- “Leatherback turtles travel across the Pacific Ocean from Indonesia to the coasts of California.
- “Humpback whales swim from the cold waters of the North and South Poles toward the equator and back.
- “Perhaps even more incredibly, the arctic tern flies from the Arctic Circle to Antarctica and back every year, some 60,000 miles (97,000 km).”
Ask:
“How do they know where to go?” and “How does each successive generation learn this behavior?”
Teach:
Each of us wants to go home.
Uchtdorf said, “I believe that every man, woman, and child has felt the call of heaven at some point in his or her life. Deep within us is a longing to somehow reach past the veil and embrace Heavenly Parents we once knew and cherished.”
There is a path home. Uchtdorf teaches, “God is our Father, …He cares about us, and…there is a way to return to Him. God calls to you.”
He knows how we feel and wants to help us.
Ask:
Why do you want to go back to your Heavenly Father?
Here are Two reasons WHY we should listen to God’s voice and begin our journey home.
1. Your Life Will Be Better
Ask:
How will your life be better by following the Gospel plan?
Follow up question: Will you still have trials?
Teach:
Uchtdorf said, “Following the Savior will not remove all of your trials. However, it will remove the barriers between you and the help your Heavenly Father wants to give you. God will be with you. He will direct your steps. He will walk beside you and even carry you when your need is greatest.”
Visual lesson:
Following Christ will create a direct line or path to our Heavenly Father and you can use this line to guide you back home to him.
- Show the picture of Heavenly Father and tape him high on a wall. Say, “Heavenly Father is in Heaven.”
- Show the illustration of the child and place the illustration on the ground under the God illustration and say, “Here we are down on earth.”
- Tape the string directly under Heavenly Father and let it drop to the ground. Say, “This String is the path back to Heavenly Father.”
- First thread the string through the cuts on Christ, then through the Child. Say, “Christ leads us on this path back to our Heavenly Father.”
Ask:
How do you hold onto this line?
Example answers: Pray, repent, read scriptures, fast, go to temple, go to church, ponder
Teach:
Uchtdorf taught: “Those who heed the inner call and seek God, those who pray, believe, and walk the path the Savior has prepared—even if they stumble along the path at times—receive the consoling assurance that “all things shall work together for [their] good.”
2. God Will Use You
Teach:
The second reason to follow this path is because we are not the only ones on this path. Others are also on this journey and as you follow God’s path you can help others follow Christ too.
Uchtdorf said, “This path inevitably leads you to become a blessing in the lives of God’s other children—your brothers and sisters.”
Ask:
How can you help your Brothers and Sister? How can you help your friends and neighbors?
Explain:
In your own words talk about how maybe you, or others, have felt like they can’t be a big help to anyone else.
Uchtdorf said, “We might think we have to be “more” of something for God to use us—more intelligent, more wealthy, more charismatic, more talented, more spiritual. Blessings will come not so much because of your abilities but because of your choices. And the God of the universe will work within and through you, magnifying your humble efforts for His purposes.”
The scriptures teach:
“Out of small things proceedeth that which is great.” D&C64:3
“God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty.” 1 Corinthians 1:27
Blessing:
“As you care for and help your fellowmen, you will see great progress in your own life, in ways you could never imagine.”
Ask/Visual lesson:
What are some blessing from helping others come closer to Christ?
- For each blessing listed add an extra person to the string and move all the members up the string.
Examples of blessings: We become more like our Savior. We feel more happiness. Our testimony strengthens. We see God’s Hand in our lives. We become more confident. The pain of sin is swallowed up in Christ.
Teach:
Uchtdorf said, “Those who love and serve God and fellowmen and humbly and actively participate in His work will see wondrous things happen in their lives and in the lives of those they love.”
Conclusion:
Ask:
What do you do now?
Answer:
“You cannot just float in the waters of life and trust that the current will take you wherever you hope to be one day. Discipleship requires our willingness to swim upstream when needed.”
Ask:
Is swimming upstream hard?
Answer:
Sometimes following the path of the Savior can be hard. (Look at what Christ had to do.)
Uchtdorf concludes, “No one else is responsible for your personal journey. The Savior will help you and prepare the way before you, but the commitment to follow Him and keep His commandments must come from you. That is your sole burden, your sole privilege. This is your great adventure. Please heed the call of your Savior.
“Follow Him.”
Print Lesson Plan Here
