Week 1: Introductory Pages of the Book of Mormon (Another Testament of Jesus Christ)
In the October 2018 General Conference, President Russell M. Nelson announced "a new balance and connection between gospel instruction in the home and in the Church." He stated, "For many years, Church leaders have been working on an integrated curriculum to strengthen families and individuals through a home-centered and Church-supported plan to learn doctrine, strengthen faith, and foster greater personal worship."
Elder Quentin L. Cook further explained these adjustments: "[President Nelson] and the entire leadership of the Church desire to bring greater gospel joy–to parents, children, youth, singles, the elderly, new converts, and those people the missionaries are teaching—through a home-centered, Church-supported, balanced effort. The purposes and blessings associated with this adjustment and other recent changes include the following:
Deepening conversion to Heavenly Father and the Lord Jesus Christ and strengthening faith in Them.
Strengthening individuals and families through home-centered, Church-supported curriculum that contributes to joyful gospel living.
Honoring the Sabbath day, with a focus on the ordinance of the sacrament.
Helping all of Heavenly Father's children on both sides of the veil through missionary work and receiving ordinances and covenants and blessings of the temple.
The Family History Guide Come, Follow Me Companion is a resource for families to help accomplish these purposes and receive the promised blessings. It provides a simple way to help introduce your family to family history with minimal preparation. You'll discover that doing family history isn't as hard as you might have thought, and it's so much fun! You can enjoy doing temple and family history activities along with your study of the Book of Mormon this year, and open the door to receive additional blessings in store for you and your family (see Week #2).
You can also work together to create your own related activities!
The Family History Guide can also help you learn family history skills and help you chart your progress with the Online Tracker or Word Tracker tools. Check out the Study Center, which helps you plan an organized approach to learning family history.
Have fun getting your family excited about family history as you incorporate activities into your time together this year as you study the Come, Follow Me resource.
Title page of the Book of Mormon
The Book of Mormon can strengthen my faith in Jesus Christ.
From Come, Follow Me :
"The title page of the Book of Mormon provides more than just a title. Among other things, it lists several purposes of this sacred record. Look for these purposes, and then as you study the Book of Mormon this year, note passages that you feel accomplish these purposes."
What purposes would you like to accomplish this year, in your family history activities? If you need help deciding what you want to do, watch this video for some ideas.
Home Evening or Family Council
Plan a family home evening or family council to talk about what you would like to accomplish this year. You may want to keep a book or a digital file to record what activities you have done and what you have learned. Perhaps you can create a title page with your purpose and commitment included.
Do you want to find a name to take to the temple? Maybe you would like to learn about the Ordinances Ready feature. Check out this blog article or watch Elder and Sister Bednar introduce Ordinances Ready.
Each week as you study the Book of Mormon, you could take a photo or make a short video recording of some part of your study activities. Perhaps you could record one or more of your family members sharing a sentence about what they appreciated and learned about that week. A favorite scripture for the week could be recorded by a family member. Perhaps a simple photo or two of an activity you did as a family would be sufficient to show what the week was like for you, or a drawing of some part of the week's focus. You could video the entire family sharing a scripture you have memorized, or reading together a favorite one from the lesson. You could include the date and title of the lesson for the week in your record. There are many free online apps to help you collect and then "mash" the photos and videos into one video presentation at the end of the year. If you make each weekly video only a few seconds long, you will have a short but sweet "consumable" memory to share with those you love next December.
What a great family history gift this would make for your family (or extended family and friends) at the end of the year!
"The Testimony of Three Witnesses"; "The Testimony of Eight Witnesses"
I can be a witness of the Book of Mormon
From Come, Follow Me :
The Holy Ghost can testify to you that the Book of Mormon is true, even if you haven't seen the golden plates as the Three Witnesses and Eight Witnesses did. How do their testimonies strengthen yours? How can you "give [your name] unto the world, to witness unto the world" what you know about the Book of Mormon? ("The Testimony of Eight Witnesses").
We can receive strength and inspiration from the testimonies of others. Those testimonies of the past can strengthen us now. As we share our testimonies today, we can influence others both now and in the future.
"Generations are affected by the choices we make. Share your testimony with your family; encourage them to remember how they felt when they recognized the Spirit in their lives and to record those feelings in journals and personal histories so that their own words may, when needed, bring to their remembrance how good the Lord has been to them." (Ronald A. Rasband, "Lest Thou Forget," General Conference, Oct. 2016)
Elder and Sister Bednar share how to recognize the spirit in our lives and how to follow it. They discuss how Nephi is a powerful example to us. The records he kept continue to influence and change lives.
Personal Testimony and Experiences
Decide how to share your personal testimony and experiences (especially of the Book of Mormon) in a way that is best for you, and begin (or continue) as you start this new year of studying Come, Follow Me. You may want to read A Mother's Love–Blessing Lives through the Generations, and ponder how your recorded experiences can build a legacy that can last through the generations yet to come. Not only that, but think about how your written testimony can be shared in many ways to influence your living family members.The author gives the following ideas to consider including as you share your testimony in your writings:
The reality of Heavenly Father and of being children of God
The reality of Jesus Christ
The reality of the Holy Ghost
Joseph Smith as a prophet
The Book of Mormon
The Restoration
The power of the Atonement
Eternal families
The power of prayer
Finding answers in scriptures
Faith in Christ to overcome life's challenges
See also: O Remember, Remember, Henry B. Eyring, General Conference October 200, and the additional links and ideas in Week #3 to help you in your quest to create and preserve a heritage of faith for generations to come. Also, see the suggestions included at the end of each week of the Come, Follow Me Companion to help write your personal history.
Preparing for April 2020 General Conference
President Russell M. Nelson closed the October 2019 general conference with an invitation for Latter-day Saints to prepare for the subsequent April 2020 general conference, 200 years since Joseph Smith's First Vision. The year 2020 will be designated as a bicentennial year. "General conference next April will be different from any previous conference. In the next six months, I hope that every member and every family will prepare for a unique conference that will commemorate the very foundations of the restored gospel."
Here are some ideas for this week:
Research your ancestors to discover which ones were contemporaries of the prophet, Joseph Smith. Their birth dates could be included on a calendar for the year 2020, with the idea of researching and sharing their lives and stories as you go throughout the year. What were they doing during the events of the restoration? How were they converted to the gospel?
Record these stories on FamilySearch and upload any photos you have. Tag and share.
Create a timeline with events from church history and events from the lives of your ancestors during the restoration.
President Nelson invited Church members to read Joseph Smith's account of the First Vision as recorded in the Pearl of Great Price. See the ideas below to be working on writing your "accounts" of your own personal history.
Your Personal History
Write one brief story about your life as you study each Come, Follow Me lesson. By the end of the year, you will have compiled 50 stories to add to your personal history. Save each one as a story (also consider audio-recording it) and add it to your FamilySearch memories to preserve it. Use your own questions or those from (or inspired by) the #52 Stories Project below. For example:
Write about an experience when you recognized the Spirit in your life and how you felt.
Is there a motto or creed that you live by? An inspirational quote that you have hanging in your home to guide you? If not, take this opportunity to write one of your own.
What has shaped your beliefs the most throughout your life?
Each week as you study the Book of Mormon, you could take a photo or make a short video recording of some part of your study activities. Perhaps you could record one or more of your family members sharing a sentence about what they appreciated and learned about that week. A favorite scripture for the week could be recorded by a family member. Perhaps a simple photo or two of an activity you did as a family would be sufficient to show what the week was like for you, or a drawing of some part of the week's focus. You could video the entire family sharing a scripture you have memorized, or reading together a favorite one from the lesson. You could include the date and title of the lesson for the week in your record. There are many free online apps to help you collect and then "mash" the photos and videos into one video presentation at the end of the year. If you make each weekly video only a few seconds long, you will have a short but sweet "consumable" memory to share with those you love next December. 