Conference Talk:
For more information on this topic read “Families Under Covenant,” by Henry B. Eyring, Ensign, May 2012, 62.
Thought:
There is nothing that has come or will come into your family as important as the sealing blessings.
(Henry B. Eyring, “Families Under Covenant,” Ensign, May 2012, 62.)
Song:
“Families Can Be Together Forever,” Children’s Songbook, p. 188.
Scripture:
And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
(Matthew 16:19)
Lesson:
Show your family a key or set of keys and have them describe some uses for keys. You might ask:
• If I had a powerful and expensive car, but did not have the keys, what value would the car be to me?
• If I had a safe containing many valuable possessions but no way to lock it, how safe would the possessions really be?
While one family member reads aloud Matthew 16:19, have the rest of the family look for what Jesus promised Peter. To clarify the meaning of the keys of the kingdom, share with your family this statement:
“In the Church we hold sufficient authority to perform all of the ordinances necessary to redeem and to exalt the whole human family. And, because we have the keys to the sealing power, what we bind in proper order here will be bound in heaven. . . . With that authority we can baptize and bless, we can endow and seal, and the Lord will honor our commitments.” (Boyd K. Packer, Ensign, Feb. 1995, 36.)
(Dennis H. Leavitt and Richard O. Christensen, Scripture Study for Latter-day Saint Families: The New Testament, [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2006], p. 31.)
Story:
Bishop Robert L. Simpson
I would like to tell you also of an experience I had down in New Zealand, going into a humble Maori home. Here we had a situation where a mother and father and twelve children were living the gospel as well as anyone I have ever seen in all my life. As they would gather around each evening to have their family devotional scripture readings and have the children participate, there was a time in the evening when the father would put a few pennies in a glass jar sitting upon the mantle. The house was lighted with candles and kerosene lamps. In this humble home this little jar was always there—just a few pennies each day. This was their family temple fund. (Imagine a family of fourteen trying to save a few pennies a day, knowing that they would have to travel thousands of miles, at least to Hawaii, in order to get to the House of the Lord to do what they wanted to do.) Then they would kneel down in prayer, and from the smallest child they would take their turns and ask Heavenly Father that they might enjoy the rich blessing of having their family sealed together in order that they might have the fulness of the gospel come into their home.
I used to sit there and literally break up inside wondering how these wonderful people would ever realize this blessing. A few pennies a day—they just could not possibly get a family of fourteen to the temple on a few pennies a day, and I did not know how they could ever do it. But they prayed in great faith, and they prayed with devotion, and they meant what they said.
If someone had told me at that time that within my lifetime there would be a temple built within sixty miles of this very home, I would have said, “I don’t believe it,” because I did not have the same faith these people had. I am not sure that they visualized the building of a temple in New Zealand either, but they knew that their family was going to get together and be sealed and receive the rich blessings of the gospel. I want to tell you that the Lord is mindful of these people. He was mindful of their plea, and he poured his blessings out upon this family—and this family was multiplied by many hundreds throughout the length and breadth of New Zealand. It is a wonderful thing to contemplate the great blessings of the Lord to these Polynesian people as he listens to their prayers of faith.
(Leon R. Hartshorn, Outstanding Stories by General Authorities, vol. 2, [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1971], p. 201.)
Activity:
Play the “human knot” game.
Have all the members of the family form a tight circle or group (shoulder-to-shoulder).
Have each person reach into the center of the circle and grab a hand of a person standing across the circle, each person must hold hands with 2 different people.
Family members should step over or under arms to try to untangle so everyone in the group is holding hands regularly in a circle. You cannot let go of one another’s hands. When the circle is formed, some people may be facing out and some in.

Refreshment
Sweet and Crunchy Autumn Snack Mix
This fun mix incorporates many of our favorite fall flavors. It’s great for serving at parties, packaging up for friends and neighbors, or simply for snacking on!
12 cups popped plain or lightly salted popcorn
1 pound almond bark, melted according to package instructions 1 cup candy corn
1 cup dry roasted, salted peanuts
1⁄2 cup peanut butter candies, such as Reese’s Pieces
Place popcorn in an extra-large mixing bowl. Pour melted almond bark over it and immediately add candy corn, peanuts, and Reese’s Pieces. Using a wooden spoon or rubber spatula, stir mixture until everything is evenly coated. Spread mixture onto waxed paper or foil and let cool until almond bark hardens. Break up clumps and serve.
(Sara Wells & Kate Jones, Savoring the Seasons With Our Best Bites, [Salt Lake City: Shadow Mountain, 2012], p. 176.)