Things you need for this Family Home Evening:  10-12 feathers, coins, mouse trap, enough yarn to form a circle on the floor

Things to do before this Family Home Evening:  Secretly hide coins in each family member's shoe. 

PRAYER: Assign

SONG:  "I believe in being honest"

ACTIVITY: 

Show family the feathers.  Imagine they were to go around the entire neighborhood and leave a feather on the doorstep of every person.  The next day their assignment was to gather all the feathers.  (Throw the feathers in the air and blow them around).  Explain how difficult this would be because by then the wind would have most likely scattered the feathers all over.  Have family members gather the scattered feathers.

Discuss how Satan convinces us that it is easy to tell a lie.  But it is very difficult to keep track of those lies and to go back and make up for those untruths, just as it would be difficult to gather a bag of feathers scattered by the wind.

STORY #1:

When President Hinckley was beginning the seventh grade, the junior high school building could not fit all of the students, so it was decided that all the seventh grade class would remain in the grade school building.  President Hinckley and his schoolmates were furious.  They had spent six years in the grade school building, and they were ready to move on.  They felt they were too good to be attending school with the younger students and felt they deserved something better.

All the boys met after school one day and decided they would go on strike.  The next day they did not show up for school.  They spent the day wandering around, afraid to remain at home because their mothers would ask questions.

The next morning, the principal, Mr. Stearns, met them at the front door of the grade school.  He was very disappointed in the boys and told them they could not return to school until they brought a note from their parents.  He also explained to the boys that striking was not the way to settle a problem.  They should have come to his office and discussed the problems.

They were left with no choice but to go home and get a note.  President Hinckley's mother was of course, surprised to see him home and asked what was wrong.  He told his mother what he had done and explained he needed a note.  This is what the note said:

                                                                            Dear Mr. Stearns,

                                                                            Please excuse Gordon's absence yesterday.  His action
                                                                            was simply an impulse to follow the crowd.

                                                                            Sincerely,
           
                                                                            Mrs. Hinckley

President Hinckley never forgot his mother's note.  He and his friends had learned an important lesson that day.

What lessons do you think they learned?

        1.  There are proper ways of settling problems.
        2.  They should have been honest.
        3.  They should not follow the crowd. 

They should make their own decisions based on what they know to be right.

President Hinckley and his friends were far from perfect, but after the important lesson they learned in seventh grade, they all remained true and honest to themselves and others.

        1.  What kind of world would this be if there was no honesty?
        2.  Would you be safe with a doctor who cheated in medical school?
        3.  Would you want your money in a dishonest bank?
        4.  Could you trust what your teachers taught you at school?

STORY #2:

President Hinckley and his wife Marjorie took a train ride from Osaka to Nagoya, Japan.  Some friends met them at the station and in their excitement Marjorie left her purse on the train.  When they discovered it missing they called the train station where the train was going and reported their lost purse.  They had little hope the purse would be found.  Much to their delight, when the train arrived at the station three hours later, a railroad official called to say they had found the purse and promised to send it to the United States.  Once again, they never believed they would see the purse.  But one day, to their surprise, it arrived at their home in Salt Lake City.  There was nothing missing, not even any of the money.

        1.  What kind of world would this be if everyone was honest?
        2.  Would prisons be needed?
        3.  Would people break laws?
        4.  Would we feel safe and trust everyone?
        5.  Would we be much happier?

SCRIPTURE ACTIVITY:

Read the ten commandments.  Five of the Ten Commandments have to do with honesty. 

#6   Thou shalt not kill (taking the life of another)
#7   Thou shalt not commit adultery (cheating, betrayal, destroys all trust)
#8   Thou shalt not steal (theft, lying, cheating)
#9   Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor (gossiping, lying)
#10 Thou shalt not covet (greedy desire to have that which belongs to another)

What is greed? 

"Greed is the devious, sinister, evil influence that makes people say, 'What I have is not enough, I must have more.  And I will do whatever it takes to get it."  -President Hinckley

Show a mouse trap and talk about ways Satan tries to trap us into being dishonest.
 
STORY #3:

Before you begin this story, take a piece of yarn and make a circle on the floor.  Ask a volunteer to stand in the circle and tell them they cannot step out of it until told to do so.

During the Civil War, it came to Abraham Lincoln's attention that some of his trusted officers were giving information to the enemies.  This made him very upset.  When the Secretary of War asked the president what he wished for him to do about these men, Lincoln told them this story about a farmer who loved a large shade tree that stood near his house. 

"It was a majestic looking tree, and apparently perfect in every way - tall and straight.  One morning while at work in his garden, the farmer saw a squirrel run up the tree into a hold and he thought the tree might be hollow.  He proceeded to examine it carefully, and much to his surprise, he found the stately tree that he had valued for its beauty and grandeur, to be the pride and and protection of his little farm, was hollow from top to bottom.  Only a rim of sound wood remained, barely sufficient to support its weight.  What was he going to do?  If he cut it down, it could do great damage with its length and spreading branches.  If he let it remain, his family was in constant danger.  In a storm it might fall, or the wind might blow it down, and his house and children would be crushed by it.  What should he do?  As he turned away he sadly said, 'I wish I had never seen that squirrel.'"

What is the moral of this story?  Very simple, we cannot be less than honest if we are to keep the sacred trust given us by those around us.  Those who are dishonest with others canker their own souls and soon learn that they cannot trust even themselves.

Karl G. Maeser, the first president of B.Y.U. was asked what was meant by "Word of Honor."  This is what he said,

"I will tell you.  Place me behind prison walls-walls of stone ever so high, ever so thick, reaching ever so far into the ground - there is a possibility that in some way or another I might be able to escape; but stand me on the floor and draw a chalk line around me and have me give my word of honor and never to cross it.  Can I get out of that circle?  No, never!  I'd die first."

Allow the person standing in the circle to step out.  Thank them for being honest.

STORY #4:

President Hinckley's father told him this story:

An older boy and his young companion were walking along a road that led through a field.  They saw an old coat and a badly worn pair of men's shoes by the roadside, and in the distance, they saw the owner working in the field.  The younger suggested that they hide the shoes, conceal themselves, and watch the perplexity on the owner's face when he returned.  The older boy, a benevolent lad, thought that would not be so good.  He said the owner must be a very poor man.  After discussing the matter, they concluded to try another experiment.  Instead of hiding the shoes, they would put a silver dollar in each one and concealing themselves, see what the owner did when he discovered the money. 

Soon the man returned from the field, put on his coat and slipped one foot into a shoe, felt something hard, took it out, and found a silver dollar.  Wonder and surprise showed in his face.  He looked at the dollar again and again, turned around and could see no one.  Then he proceeded to put on the other shoe where, to his great surprise, he found another dollar.  His feelings overcame him and he knelt down and offered aloud a prayer of thanksgiving, in which he spoke of his wife being sick and helpless and his children without bread.  Then he fervently thanked the Lord for this bounty from unknown hands and evoked the blessings of heaven upon those who had given him this needed help.  The boys remained concealed until he had gone.  Then they quietly walked along the lane and one said to the other, "Don't you have a good feeling?  Aren't you glad we didn't try to deceive him?" 

Tell the family members to look in their shoes.  Encourage them to be honest and kind.

CLOSING PRAYER & TREAT:  Assign