Family Home Evening: No Technology Night!

It's Monday. 

Anyone who is familiar with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints will know that Monday is the night that the Church has dedicated to Family Home Evening. This is simply one night a week where the Church will not have any scheduled activities, to allow for families to be together and to participate in social and spiritual activities as a family. There is more information about the idea of Family Home Evening (FHE) in the BYU Enclyclopaedia of Mormonism webpage here.

I often feel as though I don't do enough each week to fulfil my spiritual requirements. One thing that has been lacking is Family Home Evening. There is only my husband and I at home (as of yet, we haven't been blessed with children). My husband is not a member of the Church and is not particularly religious. I hope that by setting an example at home, he will come to love the Gospel and love our Saviour, as I do. 

Being a single-member household makes Family Home Evening somewhat of a challenge. However, this week, my husband and I came to an agreement - one night a week, once he comes home from work, we will sit down together for dinner and have a "No Technology Night". 

What is No Technology Night?

No Technology Night is what is sounds like: an evening where we will refrain from using computers, watching television or using our mobile telephones. It is going to be an evening where we focus on each other, our relationship and communicating with each other, face to face.

I strongly believe that relationships are being damaged by the cultural necessity to remain 'plugged in'. We're losing the ability to just sit and chat with each other, to tell stories, play games: to enjoy each other's company. The following video was recently posted to my Facebook page and I couldn't help but be strongly moved by its message:

So, whether or not you are a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, whether you are Christian or not, I challenge you to start your own No Technology Night! Let's all reconnect with each other on a more basic level and let's start building our relationships back up.

Ideas for No Technology Night

• Family History work
• Story telling
• Board Games
• Card Games
• Reading
• Go for a walk in the local park
• Visit a friend in need together
• Write each other letters

If you decide to take me up on the No Technology Night Challenge, then let me know what you get up to!! 

Enjoy your time together - life is precious and remember that the family is central to Heavenly Father's Plan of Salvation. 

More resources for strengthening the family unit can be found here.

How the Gospel is Changing My Life

This past Sunday I was asked to give a talk during Sacrament meeting about how the gospel is changing my life. The spirit has prompted me to share my talk with you here too, perhaps someone reading will gain some inspiration from it. 

When I was first asked to give a talk about how the gospel is changing my life I really didn't know that I had a lot to say, but then I got down on my knees and prayed to Heavenly Father to ask Him to allow the Spirit to be with me and to lead me to prepare a talk which someone in the ward needed to hear. Almost instantly things started flying into my mind, beginning with a very obvious one: PRAYER!

When I was first being taught by the missionaries, I openly admitted that I really struggled with the act of prayer. Praying to Heavenly Father just wasn't something that came naturally to me. When I was growing up my family rarely went to Church - only for weddings, christenings, funerals etc., yet we used to bid each other good night and God bless every evening! The fact that I now pray repeatedly to Heavenly Father throughout the day is a big change for me.

Over time, I have come to realise that prayer is the tool that Heavenly Father gave us to communicate with Him. He is our Father in Heaven and He is our family. I would like to think that we talk with our families regularly - that we ask them how they are doing, we share our ups and  our downs, ask for advice or ask for someone to listen to us - that's what Heavenly Father wants from us - He wants us to communicate with Him - that's how we build our relationships spiritually and temporally. Prayer is so very important!

In 3 Nephi 18:19-20 Jesus tells us:

"Therefore ye must always pray unto the Father in my name; And whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, which is right, believing that ye shall receive, behold it shall be given unto you."

We must always pray unto the Father and we must have faith and believe that we will receive an answer from Him, even if it may be an answer that we didn't want to hear!

So, we are commanded to pray - but more importantly, we need to want to communicate with Heavenly Father, even though He already knows what's in our hearts, He needs us to counsel with Him each day and to spend time with Him. Of course, I'm still very much a "baby Christian" - I'm still learning and I'll forever be learning but praying each day to my Father in Heaven is a big change for me, even if I'm taking baby steps each day, I'm pleased to be building my relationship with the Lord my God.



Every day I'm learning a little bit more about what it means to be a woman of God. I'm learning about obedience to the Lord; that I am a strong-willed and sometimes ridiculously stubborn individual, yet I am slowly coming to realise that I must learn to exercise patience; that things will be done in God's own time, not necessarily when and by what means I want them to happen. 

If I miss Church due to illness, or travelling, it now feels strange: my week just doesn't feel complete without taking the Sacrament, which is like my weekly spiritual recharge. 

I'm learning that my scriptures are my best friend and counsellor - they are the first place I should seek guidance and comfort (as well as through prayer to Heavenly Father). 

Finally, the biggest change is taking place in my heart. I just need to learn to trust more in the Lord. He knows where I am going and what lies ahead. I can take my struggles to Him as well as my gratitude for my blessings and He will always guide me. I'm so grateful that He softened my heart enough to receive the gospel into my life. 

In just over a week we will be celebrating Christmas. This will be the first CHRISTmas for me in a long time and I am so excited to be learning about my Saviour and building upon my relationship with Him. Having a Christ-centred Christmas is a big deal for me and I'm also a little bit nervous but as my husband recently reminded me: there's no need to be nervous when you know that God's backing you up.

There are so many other lessons I'm learning every day as my testimony grows but I will leave those for another time. 

I know that this Church is true, that our Saviour, Jesus Christ, lives as the Head of the Church and that through Jesus' Atonement, we can all have eternal life with Heavenly Father and our Saviour. I'm so grateful for the restored gospel, so grateful to Joseph Smith who I know was a prophet of God and I'm grateful to our living prophet, Thomas S Monson for his guiding and leading the Saints to salvation. I leave this with you in the name of Jesus Christ. 

Amen.