Prayer. . . It's the "filling" that counts!

I have really wanted our family to improve in saying meaningful prayers. So, here is what came together for FHE this week.

Opening Prayer
Song: Children All Over the World, Primary Songbook p. 16
Scriptures: Mark 11:24, Matthew 6:5-7, James 1:5, D&C 68:28
Treat: cream puffs

First I used pictures from the gospel art kit to recap the story of Joseph Smith reading James 1:5 and then going to the sacred grove and sincerly praying to the Lord about his questions. I focused on the fact that Joseph was a young boy when this happened, and that he was very sincere in his prayer.

Next, we read the scriptures listed above. We focused our discussion on believing that the Lord hears and answers our prayers and not using vain repetitions.

For the activity I drew a very abstract :) "cream puff" on a piece of brown paper. On the top of the cream puff is written "Dear Heavenly Father" and at the bottom is written "In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen". Then we talked about how the best part of cream puffs is the filling. On cream colored pieces of paper (the "filling") we wrote down things that we can pray for (i.e. "Please help us to choose the right", "Please bless our family", "We thank thee for our prophet"). I taped each of the bits of filling on our cream puff until it (in a very abstract way) looked delicious!

I challenged our family members to say at least three of the specific statements in their prayers from now on.

For the treat, I made cream puffs and amazingly they were SO yummy!Here is the recipie (Thanks Laura!):
Puffs:
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 eggs, lightly beaten

Filling and topping:
1 container (8 oz) frozen whipped topping, thawed
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbls chopped pistachios or almonds
1/4 cup prepared chocolate frosting, melted

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 375. For puffs, in small saucepan combine water, butter and salt; bring to a boil over high heat. Add flour all at once. Stir mixture vigorously about one minute or until mixture leaves sides of pan and forms into a ball. Remove from heat; place dough into bowl. Add eggs and whisk until smooth and very thick.
2) Lightly spray mini muffin pan with oil. Using slightly mounded small scoop, scoop batter into cups. Bake 22-25 minutes or until deep golden brown. Remove from oven and make a small cut into side of each puff to release excess steam. Remove puffs from pan and allow to cool completely.
3) For filling, combine whipped topping, powdered sugar and vanilla. Mix gently until well blended. Attach small holed tip to pastry bag, fill with filling and pipe into center of each puff. For topping, chop nuts and microwave frosting on high 5-10 seconds or until melted. Drizzle frosting over puffs and sprinkle with pistachios.

Yield: 24 puffs

To prepare filling using heavy whipping cream, combine 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream, 3/4 cup powdered sugar and 1/2 tsp vanilla. Beat with whisk until stiff peaks form, about 5-7 minutes.

Here is a picture of the "cream puff", the real cream puffs, and the scriptures we read.

PERSONAL NOTE: Although Breanna cried through most of the lesson, she calmed down and gave our closing prayer. It was precious. I could tell that even through her tears she had learned more about prayer and talking to her Heavenly Father. Just a testimony to me to KEEP GOING, as moms, everything we do DOES make a difference.