Making “Sabbath Sunshine”

My husband and I decided to implement a family gospel study time on Sundays as Church leaders have suggested families might wish to consider (see James E. Faust, “The Lord’s Day,” Ensign, Nov. 1991, 34; Spencer W. Kimball, “Families Can Be Eternal,” Ensign, Nov. 1980, 5). At first we felt unsure of how to begin or what to do. But I knew from experience that the Lord would help us if we tried, so we began developing a number of different gospel-based activities to bring a little “Sabbath sunshine” to our time together. Following are some of the things we do.

• Ask one of the children to prepare a short talk to be delivered after church to family members. The talk can come from lessons learned at church.

• Have a hymn-singing time. This includes teaching new hymns, singing old favorites, or playing games to name the more familiar tunes.

• Write letters or record cassette tapes to send to grandparents, family members, missionaries, or friends.

• Hold a “children’s fireside.” Invite another family to join in, and ask each family to prepare a flannel-board story, a talk, and one or two musical numbers.

• Organize the children to perform an impromptu skit about a religious topic or story.

• Read a chapter from a Church book or an article from a Church magazine.

• Hold parental interviews.

• Plan to scatter some of the family’s “Sabbath sunshine” to others by preparing a treat and a card for a friend or neighbor; then drop it off anonymously.

We have found that the more we involve our children in a variety of different activities, the more they look forward to our Sunday gospel time together.—Karen F. Church, Pleasant Grove, Utah

Illustrated by Beth M. Whittaker