Life's Journey To Perfection: Family Home Evening based around "Bear Up Their Burdens with Ease" April 2014 General Conference Talk by Elder David A. Bednar

I hope and pray that you can use these ideas as a guideline and adjust them to the needs of your own specific family. Our prophet President Monson says, "We cannot afford to neglect this heaven-inspired program. It can bring spiritual growth to each member of the family, helping him or her to withstand the temptations which are everywhere. The lessons learned in the home are those that last the longest." On Lds.org there are resources available in helping to make your Family Home Evenings successful, here is a link to that site on Family Home Evenings.

For tonight's Family Home Evening the topic in which I have chosen is: Elder David A. Bednar's General Conference Talk, April 2014, "Bear Up Their Burdens with Ease".

Preparation: Before Family Home Evening Read through the General Conference Talk, "Bear Up Their Burdens with Ease" by Elder David A. Bednar.

Welcome everyone to Family Night

Sing: "Cast Thy Burden upon the Lord" Hymnal Pg 110

Have a member of the family member say the prayer

Discuss any family business

Follow-up with last weeks FHE.

Introduce this weeks Topic: "Bear Up Their Burdens with Ease'

Scripture: Read and Mark: Psalms 55:22

Article of Faith: #5: We believe that a man must be called of God, by prophecy, and by the laying on of hands by those who are in authority, to preach the Gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof.

Family Home Evening Instruction:

Begin the Family Home Evening by reading the following story given by Elder David A. Bednar in his April 2014 General Conference talk,

"I have a dear friend who, in the early years of his marriage, was convinced he and his family needed a four-wheel-drive pickup truck. His wife was sure that he did not need but merely wanted the new vehicle. A playful conversation between this husband and wife initiated their consideration of the advantages and disadvantages of such a purchase.

“Sweetheart, we need a four-wheel-drive truck.”

She asked, “Why do you think we need a new truck?”

He answered her question with what he believed was the perfect response: “What if we needed milk for our children in a terrible storm, and the only way I could get to the grocery store was in a pickup?”

His wife replied with a smile, “If we buy a new truck, we will not have money for milk—so why worry about getting to the store in an emergency!”

Over time they continued to counsel together and ultimately decided to acquire the truck. Shortly after taking possession of the new vehicle, my friend wanted to demonstrate the utility of the truck and validate his reasons for wanting to purchase it. So he decided he would cut and haul a supply of firewood for their home. It was in the autumn of the year, and snow already had fallen in the mountains where he intended to find wood. As he drove up the mountainside, the snow gradually became deeper and deeper. My friend recognized the slick road conditions presented a risk, but with great confidence in the new truck, he kept going.

Sadly, my friend went too far along the snowy road. As he steered the truck off of the road at the place he had determined to cut wood, he got stuck. All four of the wheels on the new truck spun in the snow. He readily recognized that he did not know what to do to extricate himself from this dangerous situation. He was embarrassed and worried.

My friend decided, “Well, I will not just sit here.” He climbed out of the vehicle and started cutting wood. He completely filled the back of the truck with the heavy load. And then my friend determined he would try driving out of the snow one more time. As he put the pickup into gear and applied power, he started to inch forward. Slowly the truck moved out of the snow and back onto the road. He finally was free to go home, a happy and humbled man."

Give each Family Member the "Truck and load" printable. Explain that just like it was necessary for the truck to have a load in it to be able to maneuver out of the snow, the same is with us in our lives. Elder David A. Bednar further says, "Each of us also carries a load. Our individual load is comprised of demands and opportunities, obligations and privileges, afflictions and blessings, and options and constraints. Two guiding questions can be helpful as we periodically and prayerfully assess our load: “Is the load I am carrying producing the spiritual traction that will enable me to press forward with faith in Christ on the strait and narrow path and avoid getting stuck? Is the load I am carrying creating sufficient spiritual traction so I ultimately can return home to Heavenly Father?”

Ask each family member to write on or near the wood logs on the printable, what some of the things are in their life that is their, "load". Have them think about the two questions above for each thing they wrote down.

Explain that it is part of our mortal life to have burdens, no one is free from burdens. They are necessary! It is when we are loaded down that we turn to our Heavenly Father and the Savior. It is at those times that our relationship with our Father and Savior grows.

Our Savior is their to walk along side us, he knows exactly the load we carry. Elder Bednar stated, "Thus, the Savior has suffered not just for our sins and iniquities—but also for our physical pains and anguish, our weaknesses and shortcomings, our fears and frustrations, our disappointments and discouragement, our regrets and remorse, our despair and desperation, the injustices and inequities we experience, and the emotional distresses that beset us.

There is no physical pain, no spiritual wound, no anguish of soul or heartache, no infirmity or weakness you or I ever confront in mortality that the Savior did not experience first. In a moment of weakness we may cry out, “No one knows what it is like. No one understands.” But the Son of God perfectly knows and understands, for He has felt and borne our individual burdens. And because of His infinite and eternal sacrifice (see Alma 34:14), He has perfect empathy and can extend to us His arm of mercy. He can reach out, touch, succor, heal, and strengthen us to be more than we could ever be and help us to do that which we could never do relying only upon our own power. Indeed, His yoke is easy and His burden is light."

Bear testimonies on how our load can help us gain the "spiritual friction" we need to aid us on the path to return to our Father in Heaven.

Close with a Family Prayer.

Free Printables: Best way to print printables is to click on the image and save it to your computer. You will then be able to print the image from your computer.