On Compassion

If there is one thing we try to do each week, it is to hold Family Home Evening.  The other day, I listened to an interview in which a woman talked about how grateful she was that her mother kept a record, or minutes, of their home evenings.  I thought I'd share a few pictures from some we've had this year.  I love my family and enjoy Monday nights, even if it is just a brief event. 

 Nathan had us draw papers with situations on them.  We were to consider what it would be like to have these struggles and how we could help people in these situations.

 Having Levi imagine being blind.

Nathan helped us think of others, and how to be good brothers and sisters on this earth.

Years ago, when I was teaching seminary full time, I had a student who was struggling.  I was speaking with her mom over the phone one day, and I learned so much from the conversation.  She said, in essence: "When our kids were little, I thought I had to do fancy Family Home Evening lessons, and so when I didn't prepare something spectacular, we would skip it.  I wish now that I would have had home evening, no matter what.  I wish we would have just read a little something out of the Friend magazine and not felt like it had to be a production".  Her words have really blessed me many times, when we have just thrown something together and enjoyed one another's company.  In fact, sometimes the more casual the setting, the better!

This makes me think of a statement from Elder Bednar about leaving room for the Holy Ghost to direct the experience:

"Inviting children as gospel learners to act and not merely be acted upon builds on reading and talking about the Book of Mormon and bearing testimony spontaneously in the home. Imagine, for example, a family home evening in which children are invited and expected to come prepared to ask questions about what they are reading and learning in the Book of Mormon—or about an issue that recently was emphasized in a gospel discussion or spontaneous testimony in the home. And imagine further that the children ask questions the parents are not prepared adequately to answer. Some parents might be apprehensive about such an unstructured approach to home evening. But the best family home evenings are not necessarily the product of preprepared, purchased, or downloaded packets of outlines and visual aids. What a glorious opportunity for family members to search the scriptures together and to be tutored by the Holy Ghost. “For the preacher was no better than the hearer, neither was the teacher any better than the learner; … and they did all labor, every man according to his strength” (Alma 1:26).
David A. Bednar, "Watching with All Perseverance", April 2010 General Conference 

I am grateful for what Nathan taught us about compassion on that night. And I am so grateful for prophets, who counsel us to gather in our homes each week and teach each other.