For more information on this topic read “That the Lost May Be Found,” by M. Russell Ballard, Ensign, May. 2012, 97.
We have available to us a tool even more remarkable than the best GPS. Everyone loses his or her way at some point, to some degree. It is through the promptings of the Holy Ghost that we can be brought safely back onto the right path, and it is the atoning sacrifice of the Savior that can return us home.
(M. Russell Ballard, “That the Lost May Be Found,” Ensign, May. 2012, 97.)
“The Still Small Voice,” Children’s Songbook, p. 106.
For behold, it is as easy to give heed to the word of Christ, which will point to you a straight course to eternal bliss, as it was for our fathers to give heed to this compass, which would point unto them a straight course to the promised land.
If you have a compass, show it to your family and teach them how it works. Show the picture of Lehi with the Liahona (such as Gospel Art Picture Kit, no. 302) or a drawing of a Liahona as a ball with some pointers or arrows. Discuss what a compass or Liahona is used for.
Write the following quiz on a large sheet of paper or poster board and have your family look for the answers as they review Alma 37:38–47:
• Why was the Liahona given to Lehi’s family? (Verse 39.)
• What made the Liahona work? (Verse 40.)
• When would the Liahona cease to work? (Verse 41.)
• What happened to Lehi’s family when they failed to heed the Liahona? (Verses 42–43.)
• What did Alma compare to the Liahona? (Verse 44.)
• Where will the “word of Christ” point us? (Verses 44–45.)
• How can scripture study help us “look to God and live”?
Discuss as a family how often they look at and heed their personal Liahonas.
Invite them to share an experience when the Spirit gave them direction as a result of scripture study.
(Dennis H. Leavitt and Richard O. Christensen, Scripture Study for Latter-day Saint Families: The Book of Mormon, [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2003], p. 209.)
As a bishop, I worried about any members who were inactive, not attending, not serving. Such was my thought one day as I drove down the street where Ben and Emily lived. Aches and pains of advancing years had caused them to withdraw from activity to the shelter of their home—isolated, detached, shut out from the mainstream of daily life and association. Ben and Emily had not been in our sacrament meeting for many years. Ben, a former bishop, would sit in his front room reading the New Testament.
I was en route from my uptown sales office to our plant on Industrial Road. For some reason I had driven down First West, a street I never had traveled before to reach the destination of our plant. Then I felt the unmistakable prompting to park my car and visit Ben and Emily, even though I was on my way to a meeting. I did not heed the impression at first but drove on for two more blocks; however, when the impression came again, I returned to their home.
It was a sunny weekday afternoon. I approached the door to their home and knocked. I heard the tiny fox terrier bark at my approach. Emily welcomed me in. Upon seeing me—her bishop— she exclaimed, “All day long I have waited for my phone to ring. It has been silent. I hoped that the postman would deliver a letter. He brought only bills. Bishop, how did you know today is my birthday?”
I answered, “God knows, Emily, for He loves you.”
In the quiet of their living room, I said to Ben and Emily, “I don’t know why I was directed here today, but our Heavenly Father knows. Let’s kneel in prayer and ask Him why.” This we did, and the answer came. As we arose from our knees, I said to Brother Fullmer, “Ben, would you come to priesthood meeting in two weeks and relate to our Aaronic Priesthood the story you once told me of how you and a group of boys were en route to the Jordan River to swim one Sunday, but you felt the Spirit direct you to attend Sunday School? One of the boys who failed to respond to that prompting drowned that Sunday. Our boys would like to hear your testimony.”
“I’ll do it,” he responded.
I then said to Sister Fullmer, “Emily, I know you have a beautiful voice. My mother has told me so. Our ward conference is a few weeks away, and our choir will sing. Would you join the choir and attend our ward conference and perhaps sing a solo?”
“What will the number be?” she inquired.
“I don’t know,” I said, “but I’d like you to sing it.”
She sang. He spoke. Hearts were gladdened by the return to activity of Ben and Emily. They rarely missed a sacrament meeting from that day to the time each was called home. The language of the Spirit had been spoken. It had been heard. It had been understood. Hearts were touched and souls saved.
(Thomas S. Monson, Inspiring Experiences That Build Faith: From the Life and Ministry of Thomas S. Monson, [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1994], p. 25.)
Before FHE, devise a simple compass course and hide a treat or other treasure at the end. (It could be something like; 20 steps south, 5 steps west, 10 steps south, 15 steps east, 8 steps north, look in the tree.)
Give the family a paper containing the directions and a compass. Have everyone walk together to follow the instructions.
2/3 cup butter or margarine
5 oz unsweetened baking chocolate, cut into pieces
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup chopped walnuts
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease bottom and sides of 9-inch square pan. In 1-quart saucepan, melt butter and chocolate over low heat, stirring constantly. Cool slightly.
2. In medium bowl, beat sugar, vanilla and eggs with electric mixer on high speed 5 minutes. Beat in chocolate mixture on low speed. Beat in flour just until blended. Stir in walnuts. Spread in pan.
3. Bake 40 to 45 minutes or just until brownies begin to pull away from sides of pan. Cool completely in pan on cooling rack. For brownies, cut into 4 rows by 4 rows.
(Betty Crocker Sunday Dinner Cookbook, [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2007], p. 180.)
Get the PDF version for FHE: Direction.