Ready for some relaxation after a long hard day? Time for some FHE Fun. Try this "beauty" lesson and feel the stress dissipate!

Opening Song: #92 For the Beauty of the Earth

Opening Prayer: By invitation.

Emergency Prep Tip: No-one wants to experience an emergency. But if you are prepared, fear is far less present during traumatic experiences. Last week we added "personal comforters" to your family's well-stocked 72-hour kit. This week you may want to add a small vial of consecrated oil to each individual's kit. If injury occurred, your children and you would have oil that has been set apart for the healing of the sick. The vials are only .40 cents a piece online! (Or if you live near an LDS store, you can check with them). If your children were separated from you, they would have the oil with them. This way, if they needed a blessing and when another priesthood member was found, they could receive it.

Devotional: This is a great time for an individual in the family to share a spiritual "ah-ha" moment from the past week. You may want to pre-assign this periodically. It can be a beautiful time as family members become accustomed with sharing deep spiritual feelings with each other. Over time this brief moment can become more and more spontaneous.

Activity: Have your children gather around the computer. Click on this link and then click "Words and Music" (on the left at the site -- otherwise you won't hear voices singing). Select the play button to start the song (the play button is the sideways triangle). The song is called, "Beauty Everywhere."

1. Listen to the recording of the children singing both verses.
2. Listen to the recorded children sing again, but this time ask your family to count how many different earth words they hear ("skies," "leaves," "flower buds," "breeze," "hearts," etc.). Make it fun by having them act out each phrase.
3. This time, play the song one more time with your family and challenge them to see how well they can sing along.

(The purpose of having the song played through three times - completely - is to help your children learn the song for later use in the lesson.)

Lesson: Items needed:

• paper for each person
• pencil for each person
• blanket

Explain that you're now going to go on a scavenger hunt for these earth words! Before leaving the house, have the family write down on their papers as many earth words as they can remember. Then decide as a family which park they'd like to visit. Get in the car and while driving, try singing the song from memory (or you can simply walk out to your backyard, but a park might feel more of a special treat).

Once you are at your location, stay together (so no young children get lost). Spread out the blanket and sit on it, all facing outward toward a different section of the park (or the yard). Then practice quiet time for five minutes or so. Invite your family to look for actual examples of the earth words they'd written down and sketch each one as creatively as they desire.

After five minutes or so of quiet sketching time, turn toward each other and enjoy sharing the drawings and talking about what each person drew.

For the final portion of FHE, have the family lay down. After giggling over the tight quarters of everyone being on the same blanket, invite quiet time. Patiently wait for the giggles or squirming to finish (not all siblings are comfortable at first being with each other). Simply smile and wait for it all to die down.

Once a semblance of quiet returns, explain that the family is going to use their senses to notice the beauty of what God has given them. Invite them to close their eyes. Lead them step-by-step through several senses. Tell them you're going to mention a "sense" word and they can focus on the targeted sense.

1. For example, say the word "Eyes." Give 30 seconds of quiet while they look straight up. Invite them to look for as many things as possible. At first they may only see "sky" or "tree", but with time and attention, they can begin to notice variations and other objects. When time is up, ask the family to say out loud the different things they noticed.
2. After sharing is finished, have them close their eyes. Say the word "Nose." Give 30 seconds of quiet. Than ask the family what they sensed through their nose, such as the smell of grass, etc.
3. Next, with their eyes still closed say the word "Skin." Give 30 seconds of quiet. Then ask them what they sensed through touch, such as a breeze, etc.
4. Finally, ask them to keep their eyes closed and simply to listen. Give a full 60 seconds this time. After time is up, ask them to keep their eyes closed, but to start sharing what they hear or have heard. Then they can open their eyes but continue to stay lying down.

Explain that Heavenly Father gave them this world to refresh them with its beauty. If they are sad, they can go outside. By sitting still, they can begin to notice the beauty of the earth. They can begin, in quiet, to sense some of God's peace and how He is waiting to be noticed in their lives. Testify that He has the power to heal and to sooth a troubled heart--if we seek Him through quiet moments and in quiet places. Being outdoors can bring a special kind of peace...when we sit there quietly and long enough. A knowledge that He is there can come if we wait quietly and listen to the feelings in our heart.

Invite everyone to sit up. Ask for ideas how the family can spend more time together in the great outdoors. Even in the busiest cities there are places that can be visited that may share the same kinds of peace Heavenly Father has waiting for us all.

In closing, read D&C 6:23:

"Did I not speak peace to your mind concerning the matter? What greater witness can you have than from God?"

Ask the kids to help the family remember to have family outdoor activities so that the refreshing peace of Heavenly Father's world can heal and strengthen your family's joy together. On the way home, for fun, see if the family can remember the song, "Beauty Everywhere." (It was the one the family learned during tonight's lesson with all the earth words.)

Closing Song: #232 Beauty Everywhere

Closing Prayer: By invitation.

Refreshments: These "Chocolate Covered Pretzel Sticks" are so simple that even children can help you make them. And they have only 2 ingredients! While making them and enjoying their tastiness, why not chat about how they look like tree limbs. Review why Heavenly Father made the outdoors. Share your feelings about the beauty of the earth and how much you appreciate it. Enjoy the snacks...and most importantly, enjoy the beauty of your own family!