Our Stake (Arlington Texas) is studying one scripture a month this year. To help families to integrate the scripture into their homes in meaningful ways, for each scripture we will share the following:
- free printables of the scripture or related challenge for display in the home
- family home evening lessons for all types of families
- ideas for memorizing the scripture
- the accompanying challenge
The scripture for September is Alma 32:26-27.
26 Now, as I said concerning faith—that it was not a perfect knowledge—even so it is with my words. Ye cannot know of their surety at first, unto perfection, any more than faith is a perfect knowledge.
27 But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words.
The accompanying challenge is to ask yourself, “How does the Savior see your faith?” As part of that reflection, study the talk by Elder Neil L Andersen “Faith Is Not By Chance, But by Choice.”
For ideas on the challenge, see the Family Home Evening ideas below.
Printables
This image from LittleLDSIdeas is from a quote in Elder Anderson’s talk.
The image below is from the Church’s Twitter feed.
This printable from HolyHandouts.com is from the verse after the verses for this month, and is a strong companion to it. The image is long and narrow, so we’ve put it in a word document that you can print and trim.
Family Home Evening Ideas
With Children
- We love this FHE on Faith from AYearofFHE. It’s got an activity with a seed, so you’ll need to do a little prep for this one, but it’s a great lesson and worth the trouble.
- This FHE from the Golden Seven is fully planned out for you and ready to print.
With Teens
- This FHE includes a connection to the YW value. It’s relatively short and low prep.
- In this short, no-prep FHE from LDSLiving, Elder Anderson’s talk is quoted.
- The first adult FHE below is appropriate for teens as well.
With Adults
- Watch or read (or read while watching) Elder Anderson’s talk and discuss using the questions below. After the discussion, privately analyze your own faith, asking honestly how the Savior sees it. Is it growing? Weakening? Is it strong enough to withstand the trials you are facing? On a scale of 1 – 10, how would you rate your faith now? Three years ago? Where would you like it to be in five years? What are you doing to make that happen?
- Elder Anderson says, “Your faith is either growing stronger or becoming weaker.”What are signs that people’s faith is growing stronger? Weaker? Is it harder to see others’ faith or our own?
- How is faith a choice? How is it different from other choices, like whom to date or what to do for a living?
- What connection do you see between Aroldo’s challenges when he was younger and his strength as an adult?
- In what ways do we “no longer stand on neutral ground”? What happens when you try to remain neutral in a situation that demands a response?
- Elder Anderson said, “Immersing oneself in persistent doubt, fueled by answers from the faithless and the unfaithful, weakens one’s faith in Jesus Christ and the Restoration.” How do we immerse ourselves in persistent doubt? Why do the “faithless and unfaithful” have so much power to sway the faithful today in a way they didn’t in the past?
- How can we “give Brother Joseph a break”?
- What strikes you most about the story of the Openshaw family? How do you think this family built the kind of faith that sees young people through this kind of unthinkable trial with such strength?
- What are we doing or not doing to grow that kind of faith?
- The Book of Mormon Translation Challenge is a challenge that invites people to read the entire Book of Mormon during the same 85-day time period that it took Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery to translate it. There’s a specific post on these verses, and it makes a great FHE for adults. Read through the post, watch the videos, and mark the scriptures with the SEED acronym.
Memorizing
These verses are longer, but definitely memorizeable. Don’t be discouraged by the length – they’re worth learning. We’ve created a printable packet to help you work through it. Simply print out the packet and start memorizing.
Main Page
If you would like to see the resources for all of the scriptures, visit this page.
Be sure to visit our Scripture Memorizing Ideas page for ideas and general help on memorizing.