FAMILY HOME EVENINGS:

 A Defense and a Refuge submitted by Kari Mitchell - through the trials of life we can live the gospel as best as we can and shine forth as a standard, a defense, a refuge against whatever is to be poured out upon the earth.

HANDOUTS:

 Preparing for change by Carolyn Barnes

LESSON HELPS:

James on Adversity - love this.
 Monkey on my back lesson by Deb

OBJECT LESSONS:

 Armor of God - This object lesson could be used to show how when trials come, and they will, the armor of God can keep us afloat.

 Compare life to a kite. The following parallels may help in your discussion:
Kite - Each one of us is like a kite.
Wind - Trials, like the wind, push against us each day. The resistance they provide, like the wind, keeps us, like the kite, up and going.
String - We have the gospel which, like the string of a kite, directs, controls, and anchors our lives.
 How we can receive comfort - Invite an adult to portray one of the people of Alma from Mosiah 24:8-15. Have him or her bring a backpack or other carrier and retell the story. Give the children a piece of paper and a pencil, and ask them to write a trial or challenge that children face today, such as immodest clothing, inappropriate media, and so on. They might write something like "Sometimes school seems hard," "I get sick," or "Sometimes I am sad." (Younger children can draw pictures of the trials.) As the children share the trial, have them wrap the paper around a small rock and place it in the backpack. Pass the backpack to some of the children. Discuss ways Heavenly Father helps them with their trials. With each suggestion, remove several rocks. Pass the backpack again. Sing "Jesus Is Our Loving Friend" (p. 58). Explain that Jesus will always help us and comfort us when we face challenges. Testify of the comfort you have received. (Idea taken from the September 2006 Friend Magazine)

ONLINE VIDEO CLIPS:

 Good things to come
 Hope Ya Know, We Had a Hard Time
Mountains to Climb
 My New Life
 Never ever give up in life - very inspirational!
 The missing piece
Trial of Adversity
 You're never alone
 Your Happily Ever After

OTHER:

 We Need Never Feel Alone

POEMS:

 God Gave To Me
 Good Timber
 It's all in how you look at it (author unknown)
 The Winds of Fate by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

QUOTES:

 One Liners
 Quick Quotes

SHARING TIME IDEAS:

 The scriptures teach me how the people of Alma received comfort in their trials. I can also receive comfort.

STORIES:

 Two Wolves, a Cherokee Legend
 Deep Scars
 He will sit as a refiner and purifier - Malachi 3:3
 Helping Others Win
 He's a Thoroughbred
 I am
 Is your hut burning??
 Lessons from trees
 Man and Cocoon
 Problems others had but kept going anyway
 Put the glass down
 Rich man's party
 The Blacksmith by Lynell Waterman
 The Fern and the Bamboo
 The Hospital Window
 The King's Boulder
 The Kite
 The Parable of the Mule
 The Pear Tree
 Jenny"s Pearls
 The Trouble Tree

TALKS:

 Bad Luck? by David K Swenson
 Believing Christ, by Stephen E Robinson, April 1992 Ensign
Your sorrow shall be turned to joy by Robert D. Hales
 But if not... by Dennis E Simmons, Ensign May 2004