Week 2: Dating

Virtue loveth virtue; light cleaveth unto light.

Doctrine and Covenants 88:40

This Week's Lesson
Click to view ideas from LDS.org (including talks, videos, quotes, and ways to integrate Duty to God and Personal Progress into your Family Home Evening)
Daddy/Daughter Dates (or mommy/son)
Role Plays (Use "what would you do" scenarios)
Lesson on manners
Ettiquitte dinner
Write the top 10 ways you can be a good date (or play date)
Teenagers: invite everyone to come with their best pick up lines to kick off the discussion on dating!
For the little ones....use puppets to lead a discussion on proper relationships/ways to act around kids of the opposite sex (school, play dates, church, etc.)

Ideas from Elders Quorum- Brother Richards

•Parents share experiences of dating someone that made them a better person
or helped them keep the commandments, and someone who didn’t
• You tube video on For the Strength of Youth and Dating: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5F98MyXeKvU
• New Era article with dating tips: http://www.lds.org/new-era/2000/11/
idea-list-the-dos-of-dating?lang=eng
• Story of how Candice and I got to know each other on a group date:
“Candice and I sort of knew each other, but we weren’t great friends. Candice
was dating one of my best friends (who ended up being Candice’s first kiss). We
started to get to know each a lot better because we spent a lot of time together
on group and double dates. Turns out that my friend wasn’t very good at
talking to Candice, so they stopped dating. But because of the time Candice and
I spent together on group dates (even though we were with different people)
we became really good friends. When we eventually started dating we had
already developed a strong friendship. If we hadn’t spent a lot of time together
on group dates we may never have developed a strong friendship which led to
us becoming eternal companions. Candice and I really knowing and caring about
each other as friends before dating helped us have an even stronger relationship
when we did start formally dating. ”
• Activity or challenge for the week: Practice using manners (please, thank you,
table manners, putting your phone down and looking them in the eye, etc.)
and chivalrous actions (opening doors, helping with chair, etc.)
• Lesson on dating from YW manual: http://www.lds.org/manual/young-
women-manual-1/lesson-31-group-activities-a-basis-for-wise-dating?
lang=eng
• Dating Advice from Prophets and Apostles: http://www.lds.org/new-era/
2010/04/dating-advice-from-prophets-and-apostles?lang=eng lots of short
quotes on different aspects of dating
• Ask your teenagers and kids what they feel would be important in a spouse
(it may be a good idea to record these in a journal in that it may be humorous
to look back at them one day)
• Mom and Dad could talk about what qualities their spouse had that made
them want to have them as an eternal companion

Ideas from the Primary Presidency

·          Here is a Mormon Channel video, probably better for teens: http://www.mormonchannel.org/we-will-stand/3-dating

·          A good direction for younger families is to talk about what we need to do to prepare to become good fathers and mothers.

·          This is taken from LDS.org website: Why are families important?

o    The family is ordained of God and is central to His plan for the eternal destiny of His children. This divine plan makes it possible for individuals to return to His presence and for families to be united eternally.

·          Show the video: Families can be together forever.

·          https://www.lds.org/youth/learn/yw/marriage-and-family/family?lang=eng#video=families-can-be-together-forever

·          Talk about the reasons Heavenly Father gave us families.

·      Ask why the roles of father and mother are important? Read from the Proclamation on the Family:

        “By divine design, Heavenly Father gave men and women different gifts and abilities to help them fulfill complementary roles as husband and wife. “Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose. … Fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children. In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners” (“The Family: A Proclamation to the World,” Ensign or Liahona,Nov. 2010, 129).

·          Have kids act out how mothers and fathers should treat one another (get out dress ups for this).

·          Ask how we find who we are going to marry. Talk about what dating is.

·          Ask what we can do now to prepare to become good parents (example: learn how to make friends with people of the opposite gender, learn how to compromise, learn how to show respect to the opposite gender, prepare spiritually...etc.)

PLEASE keep commenting with all your ideas for ALL ages! Enjoy!We enjoyed our first week of the challenge.

Featured Family:
This week's featured FHE family of the week...who could it be? The Wilkins! They enjoyed watching President Monson's mormon message "Dare to Stand Alone" and shared with each other times when they have had to choose to stand alone and be an example.

Your family could be our featured FHE family of the week! Submit a pic of your family enjoying an activity from our blog. Happy FHE

Next week's lesson: Dress and Appearance