December 2004 Ensign - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

ILLUSTRATED BY JOE FLORES; SILHOUETTE BY BETH WHITTAKER
my prayers was to follow my ancestor’s
example—memorizing “the words of
life” (D&C 84:85).
We now follow a simple routine
every night before family prayer to
help us memorize scriptures:
Day one: Choose a scripture and
repeat it aloud once or twice. We are
currently working on the Articles of
Faith, but in the past we have memorized
favorite missionary scriptures
and Primary scripture themes.
Day two: Repeat the scripture,
but this time discuss its meaning. We
have found we memorize the words
more quickly if we understand what
we are saying.
Day three and beyond: Continue
rehearsing the scripture until all have
learned it. Sometimes we each take
turns repeating it aloud, and sometimes
we say it together. Because we
do this every night, we always have a
scripture in mind before kneeling in
prayer.
Memorization tips for young
children: Since we each learn at different
rates, our family sometimes
moves on to another scripture before
my youngest has fully memorized it.
Watching her older siblings move
quickly through a long verse overwhelms
her, so we have developed
other ways to help her have a positive
experience. We encourage her to
take part during our discussions and
while we repeat the scriptures.
We also regularly invite her to repeat
those she knows well, and we
have occasional review sessions that
FAMILY HOME EVENING HELPS
Five True Gifts
“Among the true gifts
of Christmas are peace,
love, service, self, and
faith.” These words
touched me as I read
President James E.
Faust’s message in the
December 2001 Ensign
(“A Christmas with No
Presents,” 2). To share
this important message
with our children, my husband
and I decided that
our December family
home evenings should
focus on these gifts.
Before our first family
night that month, I displayed
a poster listing
these five true gifts. Each
family member
old enough to
prepare a
lesson was
given one of
the topics,
along with
a teachingsuggestion.
For our
first lesson,
I chose the
help her—and everyone—recall
scriptures we have previously studied.
This memorization process has
helped us have regular scripture time,
even on hectic nights, because there
is always time to repeat one scripture.
Our children have also gained
gift of love. Sharing quotations
from the Ensign article,
I referred to an attractively
wrapped gift placed
under our tree ahead of
time. It displayed the word
love on it. To visually
remind us of the true gifts
we were seeking, we
added four more gifts in
the ensuing weeks.
For the gift of peace,
we challenged our family
to avoid contention in our
home. Our lesson on service
took us to a neighboring
nursing home,
where we sang carols
and decorated a tree for a
sister my husband visited
as a home teacher. During
our lesson on the gift of
self, we chose to look
beyond ourselves and
secretly serve others.
Lessons on faith came
from the scriptures as we
focused on the prophecies
of the Savior’s birth
and on the faith of those
who, under the threat of
death, still believed He
would come (see, for
instance, Helaman
14:2–6; 3 Nephi 1:4–21).
On Christmas morning
the impact of our lessons
became evident when I
saw how our teenage son
had arranged our true gifts
around a painting of the
Savior. Our Christmas was
much richer when our
family focused more on
these true gifts of
Christmas.
Heather J. West, East Valley
Ward, Emmett Idaho Stake
confidence through their increased
understanding and memorization
skills. Like our faithful forebears, the
messages from the scriptures are
becoming part of who we are.
Ronda Gibb Hinrichsen, Perry Third Ward,
Willard Utah Stake
ENSIGN DECEMBER 2004 65