Holding to the Rod
 

Preparation:    You will need a skein of yarn for each person in your family.  Tie one end of the yarn to an object near the back door of your house.  Then unravel each skein of yarn, individually wrapping them around bushes, swing sets, tree trunks, fence posts, etc. in the yard.  Have them criss-cross over each other so that it looks like a giant spider web.  Place a treat where each yarn trail ends.

Lesson:   Read with your family the story about Lehi and his dream about the iron rod.  It can be found in 1 Nephi chapter 8.  Then hand each family member a pencil and take them out the back door.  Assign each person a string of yarn to follow.  Tell them that they must wind the yarn onto their pencil as they go.  Tell them that there is a treat waiting for them where the yarn ends, and they must not let go of the yarn if they want to get it.

Summarize:  After each person has found their treat, explain to them that the yarn is like the “iron rod” which Lehi saw in his dream.  Lehi learned that the iron rod stood for the word of God, or the gospel of Jesus Christ.   If we hold tight to the gospel and stay on the right path, eventually we will return to Heavenly Father and, just like the treat we just got, we’ll be given a special reward that Heavenly Father has waiting for us, which is the gift of eternal life.