Lesson Summary: August 25, 2013

Kathyrn L gave the lesson this week using "The Home: The School Of Life" by Enrique Falabella.

Elder Falabella discusses 6 lessons we should focus on teaching in the home.

1) The Temple is the Place

Discussion: What are some things we can do to make it a goal in our children's life to attend the temple?
- Display the temple in our homes
- Go to the temple with our kids
- Go often, especially if you live close
- Go the a temple open house with your children

2) To Contend, You Need 2 People
"One of my wife’s mottoes has been “In order to contend, you need two people, and I will never be one of them.”
(2013 April General Conference, The Home: The School of Life, Sun. Afternoon Session - By  Enrique R. Falabella)

Discussion: What practices do you use in your home to teach your kids to love each other?
- Be tender with your spouse
- Home should be a safe place
- Be open with children about difficult times, happy times, etc...

3) A Child Who Sings is a Happy Child
"How touching it is to hear the song of a little one who has been taught by his or her parents to sing, “I am a child of God.”⁵
(2013 April General Conference, The Home: The School of Life, Sun. Afternoon Session - By  Enrique R. Falabella)

4) I Need You to Hug Me
"The words “I love you,” “Thank you very much,” and “Forgive me” are like a balm for the soul. They transform tears into happiness. They provide comfort to the weighed-down soul, and they confirm the tender feelings of our heart. Just as plants wither with the lack of precious water, our love languishes and dies as we put to rest the words and acts of love.

"Our Father in Heaven is a perfect example of expressing love. As He presented His Son, He used the words “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”⁶
(2013 April General Conference, The Home: The School of Life, Sun. Afternoon Session - By  Enrique R. Falabella)

5) I love the Book of Mormon and My Savior, Jesus Christ

"How wise are the words of our Savior: “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.”⁷

Inspired by this, I asked my grandchild Raquel, who had recently learned how to read, “What would you say about setting a goal to read the Book of Mormon?”

Her answer was “But, Grandpa, it’s so hard. It’s a big book.”

Then I asked her to read me a page. I took out a stopwatch and timed her. I said, “You took only three minutes, and the Spanish version of the Book of Mormon has 642 pages, so you need 1,926 minutes.”

This could have scared her even more, so I divided that number by 60 minutes and told her she would need only 32 hours to read it—less than a day and a half!
(2013 April General Conference, The Home: The School of Life, Sun. Afternoon Session - By  Enrique R. Falabella)

Then she said to me, “That’s so easy, Grandpa.”

6) It Is Not Enough to Know the Scriptures; We Have To LIve Them

"I remember when I was a returned missionary, and having searched the scriptures diligently, I thought I knew it all. During our courtship, Blanquy and I would study the scriptures together. I used many of my notes and references to share my knowledge of the gospel with her. After we married I came to a serious realization as I learned a great lesson from her: I may have tried to teachher the gospel, but she taught me how to live it." 
(2013 April General Conference, The Home: The School of Life, Sun. Afternoon Session - By  Enrique R. Falabella)

Our homes need to be a place of refuge, happiness and a place to hold life's lessons. It needs to be a safe place to live the commandments and sometimes fail.
We can look at our own family and what we learn from them.