Five Minute FHE’s

Need last minute FHE ideas? Only have five minutes to pull your Family Home Evening together? If you have children in one of the LDS youth programs or in scouting (or even if you don’t), bookmark this post and make it your go-to list for quick and easy FHE ideas. Below is a super-duper master list of requirements from the various programs that make for a great family chat.

Pop some brownies in the oven, play a game after your chocolate-enriched discussion, sign off a requirement or two, and consider your FHE a success.

Faith in God:

Memorize one of the Articles of Faith. (All articles must be memorized to earn Faith in God.)

Review “My Gospel Standards.” Take turns reading the 13 standards and say one way you can live that standard. Or focus on just one or two and talk about what they mean to you. (Fulfills a general, ongoing requirement.)

Just about ANY requirement in the Learning and Living the Gospel section is suitable for FHE’s, and don’t necessarily require a lot of preparation. Read the applicable scriptures and discuss. Easy peasy. Here’s an example, requirement #3: “Mark these verses about the Holy Ghost in your scriptures: John 14:16–17, 2 Nephi 32:5, and Moroni 10:5. Discuss ways the Holy Ghost helps you.”

Serving Others #2: “Write a letter to a teacher, your parents, or your grandparents telling them what you appreciate and respect about them.”

Serving Others #3: “Make a list of the qualities you like in a person. Choose one quality to develop in yourself. Discuss how showing respect and kindness strengthens you, your family, and others. ”

Serving Other #8: “Read the twelfth article of faith. Discuss what it means to be a good citizen and how your actions can affect others. ”

Developing Talents #7: “List five things you can do to help around your home. Discuss the importance of obeying and honoring your parents and learning how to work. ”

Almost all of the requirements in Preparing for the Priesthood (Boys).

Preparing for Young Women (Girls) #1: “After studying the thirteenth article of faith, make a list of things that are uplifting and virtuous. Discuss with a parent or leader how you can seek after these things. ”

Preparing for Young Women (Girls) #4: “Read D&C 88:77–80, 118 and D&C 130:19. Discuss with a parent or Primary leader how important a good education is and how it can help you strengthen your home and family and the Church. ”

Preparing for the Priesthood (Boys) AND Preparing for Young Women (Girls) #5: “Read “The Family: A Proclamation to the World.” Make a list of things you can do to help strengthen your family and make a happy home. Share the list with your parents or Primary leader. ”

Personal Progress:

The beauty of the Personal Progress program is that, when done sincerely, it encourages personal pondering on a deeper level. I don’t recommend walking your daughter through any of these requirements by turning it into a family discussion. However, there ARE requirements that specifically require young women to share what they learned with others (such as in a family home evening). While you’re planning tonight’s FHE, see if your daughter would like to select one of the requirements below and be in charge of a FHE in the next week or two. Now you have that one planned too.

Faith #3: “Living gospel principles requires faith. Read about faith in the Bible Dictionary or True to the Faith. Faith in the Savior Jesus Christ leads to action. Choose a principle such as prayer, tithing, fasting, repentance, or keeping the Sabbath day holy. In your own home or another setting, plan and present a family home evening lesson about how faith helps you live that gospel principle. If possible, ask a family member to share an experience that has strengthened his or her faith. Share your own experiences as well. In your journal write down one of those experiences and describe your feelings about faith.”

Faith #6: “Increase your understanding of the plan of salvation. Resources for study include 1 Corinthians 15:22; Revelation 12:7–9; 2 Nephi 9:1–28; 11:4–7; Doctrine and Covenants 76:50–113; 93:33–34, Moses 4:1–4; and Abraham 3:24–27. Draw or obtain a picture that depicts the plan of salvation, including the premortal existence, birth, mortal life, death, judgment, and life after judgment. Using this picture, explain the plan of salvation to your class, your family, or a friend. Discuss how knowledge of the plan affects your actions, helps you understand your identity, and has strengthened your faith.”

Knowledge #4: “Select a gospel principle you would like to understand better (for example, faith, repentance, charity, eternal families, or baptismal covenants). Read scriptures and the words of latter-day prophets that relate to the principle. Prepare a five-minute talk on the subject, and give the talk in a sacrament meeting, in a Young Women meeting, to your family, or to your class. Record in your journal how you can apply this gospel principle in your life.”

Knowledge #6: “Memorize two of your favorite hymns from the hymnbook. Learn the correct conducting pattern for the hymns (see Hymns, 383-85) and then conduct them at least two times at a family home evening, in a Young Women or other Church meeting, or at seminary. Read the scriptures listed at the bottom of each hymn.”

Knowledge #7: “At Young Women camp you learn skills in first aid, safety, sanitation, and survival. Review these teachings in your Young Women Camp Manual [link downloads PDF file] and note in your journal how you could apply them in your home to keep your family safe. Develop a list of basic supplies your family will need in case of an emergency. Teach a family home evening lesson or share with a Young Women leader what you have learned and what additional skills you would like to learn to be prepared for emergencies.”

Good Works #4: “Teach a lesson about service in family home evening or in another setting. Use pictures, music, examples, or demonstrations in your lesson. You may want to use the manual Teaching, No Greater Call as a resource.”

Duty to God:

Like the Personal Progress program, Duty to God requirements take more effort than can be accomplished in one evening, and should involve a lot of personal pondering. This is when these young men can really build and strengthen their testimonies. Every section of the Duty to God program involves a final “Share” requirement. Almost all of them are perfect for FHEs. Talk to your young man and see if he can select a requirement and set a date for sharing his experiences in an upcoming FHE.

See the list of Duty to God requirements.

Cub Scouts:

Tiger Scouts elective 3: “With your family, play a card or board game, or put a jigsaw puzzle together.”

Wolf Scout requirement 10g: “Have a family Board Game night at home with members of your family. ”

Wolf Scout requirement 11, Duty to God, any or all. This requirement is filled with great questions for discussion.

Ditto for Wolf Scout requirement 12, Making Choices.

Ditto again for Bear requirement 1, Ways We Worship.

Bear requirement 3j: Character Connection for Citizenship. Another discussion-heavy requirement. Pair with the 12th Article of Faith for a spiritual angle.

Bear requirement 10b: “Have a family fun night at home.”

Bear requirement 17b: “Play a game of charades at your den meeting or with your family at home.”

Bear requirement 18b: “Write two letters to relatives or friends.” Stuff like this is perfect for writing elderly or sick family members, or a missionary from your family or ward. Also fulfills Communicating Belt Loop requirement 2: “Write a letter to a friend or relative” and Reading and Writing Belt Loop requirement 2: “Write a letter or a short story. Read it to your den or family.”

Bear requirement 18h, Character Connection for Honesty, another one listing great discussion questions. Ditto for requirement 2f, Character Connection for Compassion.

Webelos requirement 8, Faith, has good discussion questions.

Webelos Citizen requirement 1, Citizenship Character Connection. Tie in to Article of Faith #12.

Webelos Communicator requirement 11: “Use a personal computer to write a letter to a friend or relative. Create your letter, check it for grammar and spelling, and save it to a disk. Print it. ” As above, great for writing letters to the elderly or sick, or missionaries in your family or ward. Also fulfills Communicating Belt Loop requirement 2: “Write a letter to a friend or relative” and Reading and Writing Belt Loop requirement 2: “Write a letter or a short story. Read it to your den or family.”

Webelos Family Member 1: “Tell what is meant by family, duty to family, and family meetings.”

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