Summer of Secret Service and Remember Elder Perry

We lost one of our apostles this past weekend. Elder L. Tom Perry was an amazing man that dedicated his life to bringing others to Christ. His smile and wise words will be missed. Tonight for FHE I wanted to start a little Summer Challenge with my family. I want to focus on the importance of serving others as our Savior did. I want my family to take the time to make others happy and in turn feel closer to our Heavnly Father. Elder Perry was a great example of service so we will use his example to begin our own "Summer of Secret Service". Here is tonight's lesson...

You will need: Scriptures, GAB Page 44 (The Good Samaritan), Children's Song Book or use the links in the lesson, Crayons or markers, Paper flowers ( see link), Smiley faces ( link below) or small spiral notebooks for each family member.

Opening Song: Give Said The Little Stream Children's Song Book 236

Lesson:
Play the following song for your family: When We're Helping Children's Song Book 198

What is this song about? What was our opening song about? Can you think of another word that means the same as helping? Can you think of a synonym?

Service!
Service is another word or way that we can HELP others.

Read the following scripture together: Mosiah 2:17
This scripture teaches us that when we serve others we are showing our love for our Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ.

Show the following picture: The Good Samaritan GAB 44
Tell the story of the Good Samaritan or read it in the scriptures here.

Questions to Ask:
Why did the Priest and Levite pass the man by? Do we sometimes pass people by that need our help?  We can strive to be good Samaritans by helping others just like the Savior was trying to teach in this story.
What are some ways that we can serve each other or help each other here in our home? What about in our neighborhood? How can we serve or help others at school or at church?

There are many people in our church that help others everyday like our bishop or the prophet, or primary teachers. I am going to show you a picture of someone that helped others his entire life. Let's see if we can figure out who it is...

Show the following picture of Elder Perry as a boy: (Top row, left)



Use the following biography to share some highlights of his life. You might want to also share some of the other pictures found in the bio.
Elder L. Tom Perry

Elder Perry dedicated his life to helping others find joy and feel our Savior's love. I want our family to follow the example of the Savior and help others like Elder Perry did. Remember we talked about ways we could help others earlier, do you think we can try to help others this summer by doing SECRET SERVICE?? Let's try!

Activity:
Pass out paper flowers and have family color them.

Have your family each write a kind note to a neighbor. Attach straws to the flowers and put them in a vase or bottle. Or just take the flowers and tape them to the neighbors door. Have your family go and leave the flowers at the neighbors door... try not to get caught! Keep it secret if you like!

Summer Goal: We will serve others secretly each week to help them feel of the Savior's love!

For younger ones I thought it would be fun to use an idea from a primary manual. Give each family a smiley face. Have them hang it somewhere they will see it often. Hang them upside down so it looks like a frowny face. When you have served someone or helped  someone flip the smiley face right side up! Start each day or week over again.

For older kids I thought it would be fun to buy inexpensive spiral notebooks and keep a private service journal. Have the kids record their acts of kindness or service and how it made them feel. You can share entries with each other or keep it private.

We are going to do the service journals in our house and try and keep it up all summer so it is a summer full of secret service. I really want to teach Madison the importance of helping and serving those around us. It seems like when I am focused on others instead of myself I appreciate and am more grateful for what I have. Summer gets busy and is full of fun and often kids get bored. I want to encourage Madi as she grows that there is always good that can be done. We can help others and find joy in doing it. Hope you have a fabulous family night!
Love, Amanda

Tonight's Treat:
"Wendy's" Homemade Frosty
Recipe found here.