Scripture of the Week

By Stacey Child Weeks

Our sons are all under the age of ten, and sometimes their youthful enthusiasm makes family home evening a bit of a challenge. One night after an especially difficult time trying to keep the Spirit with us during our lesson, I knelt in prayer for some guidance. The answer came to me immediately: we needed to read the scriptures. Up to this point, we had not read the scriptures in home evening for fear of losing our young children’s attention. But at that moment I knew we had misjudged their ability to love and appreciate the scriptures.

The next week at family home evening we began our new tradition—our “scripture of the week.” In preparation, I selected a favorite scripture and printed it in large letters on a big sheet of brightly colored paper. That night, I displayed the sign and read its words: “Therefore, strengthen your brethren in all your conversation, in all your prayers, in all your exhortations, and in all your doings” (D&C 108:7).

Our family repeated the scripture together. Then I explained why the scripture was important to me and how it could bless our lives. The Spirit was strong, and we enjoyed its peaceful presence during the rest of the evening.

The next morning at breakfast, all eyes were drawn to our “scripture of the week” sign, which I had taped to the kitchen cupboards. Once more, we reviewed our scripture and its meaning and rehearsed it aloud.

A few days later, I was surprised to hear my son reciting our “scripture of the week” from memory. Suddenly I realized that, without planning to do so, I had memorized the scripture, too. Somewhere between our introduction of the “scripture of the week” and our testimony of it, our minds had been opened to receive its words, our hearts had been lightened by its message, and our home had been blessed by its spirit.

Photograph by Steve Bunderson