Thomas S. Monson- Bishop
by: Deborah Pace Rowley
Story:
President Monson was called to be a bishop of the Sixth-Seventh Ward in the Temple View Stake in Salt Lake City when he was just 23 years old.
“It was a large ward, with 1,080 members, 84 of those being widows who needed a bishop’s attention. But Bishop Monson wasted no time being preoccupied with the load; he prayed and he went to work. Many church members have heard him tell personal accounts of ministering to the needs of those widows. Few know the full story. At Christmastime, he would visit each one of the widows, taking a welcome gift of food. For many years it was a dressed hen from his own poultry flock. In the beginning it took a week of his personal vacation time to make all the visits. Long after he was no longer their bishop, those widows looked forward to his yearly visits, knowing he could come. He continued visiting them in their declining years, and somewhat miraculously, has been able to speak at each of their funerals- all 84 of them! He still makes regular visits to local rest homes and convalescent centers, visiting with folks he met with “his” widows and other friends who were staying in those facilities.”
Jeffry R. Holland, “President Thomas S. Monson: Always on the Lord’s Errand.” Liahona October 1986
Scripture Chase:
President Monson faithfully follows the counsel of the Savior concerning the widows and fatherless. Divide the family into groups of two and scripture chase to see which pair can accomplish this task the fastest.
**Find a scripture where Jesus teaches us how we should treat the widows and the fatherless. When each pair has found a relevant scripture, read and discuss them together.
Testimony:
Let the family choose from one of these two statements. Then go around the circle and let each person share their testimony or feelings about their statement.
- Serving those who are lonely and in need invites the Spirit and makes me feel great.
- President Monson is a great example of Christ-like service because of his loving concern for widows.
Game: Gathering Grandmas
Preparation: Gather a dice and enough buttons of different colors for each member of the family. Print out the Grandmas below. You will need one page of Grandmas for each person playing the game. Cut out the grandmas. Print out the game board below and lay it out on a table. Put the Grandmas in the center of the table.
Game Play: Roll the dice to see who will go first. The high roll begins then move in a clockwise manner around the table. Take turns rolling the dice and then moving your buttons that many numbers around the game board as you follow the instructions on the squares. When you land on a space that shows service or kindness, you can take a Grandma from the pile. If you land on a space that shows neglect or disrespect, you have to give a Grandma back. The winner is the person who arrives at the finish line with the greatest number of Grandmas. It doesn’t matter if this person arrived at the finish line first.
The purpose of the game is to encourage our family to show love to all the elderly people in our wards and neighborhoods and find ways to include and serve them. We can have many adopted grandmas and grandpas. The more love we share, the more love we will get back and the happier and closer to Christ we will be.
Treat: Old-Fashioned Taffy Pull
For this lesson you can enjoy an old-fashioned treat. Make taffy according the the recipe below and then gather the family around for an old-fashioned taffy pull. Many Grandmas and Grandpas enjoyed pulling taffy when they were young.
Old-Fashioned Taffy
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups water
1 cup white corn syrup
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons glycerin (available in the Pharmacy section of most grocery stores)
2 Tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla.
Mix sugar, water, corn syrup, salt and glycerin in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook until temperature is 258 degrees. Remove from the heat and add butter and vanilla, stirring until the butter is melted. Pour candy onto a buttered cookie sheet. Cool until lukewarm and the taffy can be handled comfortably. Divide the taffy into small pieces so that each family member can have some. Stretch and fold the taffy until it is a whitish color, then form it into a desired shape and place it on a piece of waxed paper. This recipe will make enough taffy for 10-14 people.
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