FHE NOT at home?

[Quin]

Do you ever (or frequently, never, etc.) have FHE elsewhere?

I'm taking the kiddos to the beach tonight for a last day of summer swim & bonfire... Was about to ring up some friends from Church and went 'Wait. Blink. FHE. Huh." then cheated and sent a text inviting them for saltwater, s'mores, & gospel. .

My schedule is so wacky that we had FHE on Thursdays for yonks, then rotated various days per shift work/ travel/ etc... So it's not an automatic Monday No Go. Ditto, I've often pulled a tonight... Wholesome family activity elsewhere = done deal.

I figure ill hear back from my friends, but they're a microcosm... And I'm using all y'all 'just a guy on the Internet' folks for a slightly less biased sample.

So..... How's it work on your family?

Q

[pam]

Just to clarify this thread for those investigating or new to the church and unfamiliar with LDS acronyms. FHE stands for Family Home Evening. LDS love acronyms but can be confusing to those new or investigating.

Family Home Evening doesn't have to be at home. To me as long as you are doing something as a family, that's what matters. And doesn't matter what day it is either.

[Smudge]

Living in a small rural town I was always limited to when I could go to things like Brownies/Guides - because they fell on a Monday and only a Monday we would have family home evening on a different night. And my former branch president always held his on a Sunday night because he taught piano lessons every other evening.

Personally I think that the thing is that you do make time to spend time with your family - and that time can be as well spent on a Thursday as it can on a Monday. I think although I could be wrong that Monday came about because it was the only night that church stuff didn't happen on - and it was felt that for some callings which can take so much time away from the family that one night a week needed to be protected form having church stuff on it!

Do what is right for you and your family and don't worry what other people think about your actions

[Wingnut]

FHE? What's that? Just kidding.

But seriously, we rarely do it in my house. Lazy parents, I guess. :)

When I was growing up, we hardly ever had a consistent FHE pattern either. Though I do remember a phase we went through when my parents tried to do FHE on Sunday nights, and then "family fun night" on Mondays -- that might consist of board games or movie night at home, or mini-golf/bowling/other out.

Personally, I think the biggest purpose of FHE is to spend dedicated time together as a family each week. Secondary to that is to have Gospel lessons/instruction in your home.

[AngelMarvel]

We usually have our FHE on Monday mornings because we take care of mom and dad. They are both old and disabled. They go to bed EARLY! So, mid morning's work best for us. Husband and I sometimes have other things going on and we have our FHE on another day. It doesn't really matter the day or the time...it's getting your family together to enjoy each other, share your busy lives, and have a lesson about the Lord...and some yummy food after.

I would never worry about what others say about how YOU have your FHE or when you have it. The important thing is to have that time with your family.

Angel

[SoaringEagle]

I have not had a FHE since being baptized over a year ago. I don't have a family and I work M-F evenings. The closest to having a family home evening was being on the phone at midnight and reading the scriptures with my boyfriend on the other end.

[TalkativeIntrovert]

Soaring Eagle, we have some members have FHE on a Sunday evening. Can you talk to RS or Bishop and tell them you would like to be a part of one?

We often have it on different nights and have invited other members, investigators, missionaries as well.

I especially love having the missionaries over as they have great ideas for lessons and fun games. Perhaps you could arrange it with the missionaries on a Sunday evening at your place or in a park?

As to the OP, I think as long as the spirit of the occasion is upheld, then it can be held anywhere, anytime.

[Quin]

Whew!

Okay... I'm feeling a bit better. Most of my exposure to solid Mormon culture comes from unorthodox sources (military, competitive athletes, & police all practice just a wee bit differently than most... Aka do your best and when ya can't follow the letter, follow the spirit & wing it). So every once in awhile I come up against a WHY WOULD YOU EVEN THINK, MUCH DO THAT?!?

Sounding boards me bestest.

Q

[McLainDow]

Right now for my wife and I usually have a very informal family home evening. When our daughter was with us it was much easier to have a formal FHE.

[Bini]

I concur that family home evening or family night does not need to be at home -- it can be held anywhere where the family spends quality time together -- for some that might only be at the dinner table once or twice a week.

Our family does family night activities and it's usually along the lines of popcorn and a movie. The kiddo isn't quite 2 yet and still doesn't have an attention span for much -- watching a movie for her is quite challenging! We also do leisure drives and that tends to be my husband's preferred activity lol.

[Sharky]

As a kid growing up we never had FHE, period ... except we really did!

It wasn't until I was in my 40s that I realized my parents did do FHE, not always on Monday's & not always at home, but they held FHE every week, sometimes twice a week!

To get us kids to settle down & not fight or pester each other for a formal lesson or some such thing was virtually impossible & I am sure was more then a little frustrating to my parents.

It only got worse as we got older because then we had farm chores & jobs & school things so taking the time for formal lessons would have been difficult & possibly even caused contentions.

Yet, my parents always took advantage of events & happenings to plan a few moments to slyly draw a spiritual tone in for a time. It might be something as simple as asking each of us how we had done in an assigned task .... the time that stands out in my mind was a Saturday evening, a bbq at a local park, NONE of us 5 kids had been able to accomplish our assigned farm tasks.

That turned into a very valuable lesson as we each swore we had tried EVERYTHING that we could possibly think of & we each explained the things we had tried.

My dad had set us all up!

He deliberately assigned us tasks that day that he knew we could not possibly do without help. As we talked about the fact none of us had been successful at our assigned tasks & how we had all done everything possible to accomplish them we began to learn & realize that we had not done everything possible ....

We had not asked for help!

Another "FHE" was simply going for a drive as a family while visiting my cousins .... a big city vs our small rural community.

We were playing a game as a family while taking this drive.

Each corner/intersection we came to one of the kids would role pair of dice .... add the numbers together ... odd = left turn, even = right turn, both dice same # was straight.

We had some fun & laughed so hard as we got hopefully & totally lost .... then someone saw the spire of the Temple & asked if we could go see the Temple .....

The game suddenly took on a GREAT lesson for us kids about knowing where you are going, having a goal in sight & road map to get there rather then just taking a roll of the dice.

I think of all the many lessons & realize how much we gained & learned thru those "impromptu" & very informal home evenings.

So at the beach? GO FOR IT!

I guess for me, FHE does not need to be a formal setting or on a set night or in your own home .... any time any where!