Eternal Families Sharing Time

Objective:

To help each child have a desire to live in the celestial kingdom with his family

Activity:

Give the children paper and a pencil and ask them to list the names (first name only) of the people who are important to them.

How many of the people you listed are in your family?

Point out that the family is very important to us. We do not always realized how much they mean to us.

Story:

During the recent flood disaster at Rexburg, Idaho, one man was separated from his family by the raging torrents. He feared the worst, but six hours later found that all had survived the ordeal. The next day, he remarked: "I have lived my life under the false illusion that security was achieved by accumulation of this world's goods; but now, with all that swept away by the flood and my wife and children spared and at my side, all is well. I feel like a millionaire, and we are ready to start all over again."

-Robert L. Simpson

Ask: What did this man discover? (That is family was more important than anything else.) Emphasize that money, furniture, and other worldly goods did not matter to this man. He loved is family and wanted them to be together.

Activity:

Display the following:

Explain that in our heavenly home, we had heavenly parents and spirit brothers and sisters. Have a child write "as a family" in the first circle.

Then we came to earth and received bodies and have earthly parents. Have a child write "with my family" in the second circle.

Display a picture of the temple. Explain that certain men in the temple hold the sealing power of the priesthood and that this power makes it possible for families to be sealed together forever. Have a child write "with my family" in the third circle.

Ask:

What does sealing mean? To illustrate the concept of sealing, place small paper families (mom, dad, children) in an envelope and seal the envelope. A small paper family can also be placed in an envelope and not sealed. The difference can be explained to the children. The children whose families have not yet been sealed in the temple should not be discouraged, but should pray, set a good example, and tell their parents how they feel. They should always be encouraged that the opportunity to go to the temple may yet come about.

Have any of your parents been married or sealed in the temple? Let the children share their experiences.

Have any of you been sealed to your family in the temple? Let the children share their experiences.

What will the celestial kingdom be like? Explain that Joseph Smith asked this also, and the Lord gave him a vision. Have the children read Joseph Smith's vision of the celestial kingdom (from Doctrine & Covenants 137).

Who did Joseph see? (He saw his brother Alvin and his parents.) Help the children imagine how happy Joseph must have been to see that his parents and his brother who had previously died were together in the celestial kingdom. He knew that if they lived worthily, they could be a family forever in the celestial kingdom. Explain that everyone can have the opportunity to live as a family in the celestial kingdom.

Activity:

Have the children stand in a circle, holding hands. Point out that there is no end to this circle. Have the children pretend the people in the circle are a family.

Ask: Would you like to be a family forever?

Heavenly Father prepared a way for this to happen. How can families stay together forever? (Through temple marriages, sealings, and remaining faithful to the gospel.)

Picture discussion:

Show a picture of a temple sealing room.

Explain to the children that within the temple are rooms, like the one shown, where temple marriages and sealings are performed. Help them understand that our Heavenly Father planned for a sacred marriage ceremony to be performed by good men who have the sealing power of the priesthood.

Bear your testimony that Heavenly Father will help everyone who has faith to go to the temple. If we earnestly desire to go to the temple and are willing to do all we can to make it happen, we will one day reach our goal. Express gratitude to the Lord for providing a way for us to live together as families forever.