Our Book of Mormon Party

The chosen Monday night had finally arrived. Lamoni’s queen, Samuel the Lamanite, the evil Shiz, Enos, and wicked King Noah gathered in the living room so that we could begin home evening.

These special guests were attending as part of our family’s Book of Mormon party. We had planned it months before to celebrate the time when we finished reading the book.

In the weeks before our party, we assigned each family member to choose a character from the Book of Mormon and learn all he or she could about that person. We also asked that each come up with a costume and be prepared to act out a part of the character’s life so that other family members could guess whom he or she was portraying.

We were delighted with the variety of costumes and skits. Our six-year-old was Lamoni’s queen, fainting on the floor when she heard Ammon’s testimony of Christ. Our nine-year-old, dressed in Indian apparel he had made at Scout meetings, became Samuel the Lamanite. We all laughed with delight as he stood on the couch and told us to repent. We watched our eleven-year-old, representing Shiz, fight his battle to the death. Dad, as Enos, had to pray for many days and nights before we could guess his identity. And my purple bathrobe and ornate jewelry made me a perfect King Noah.

After our game of charades, we went on a treasure hunt with a “Liahona” fashioned out of cardboard. Clues led us throughout the house—but first each room had been magically transformed. The living room became the desert, the bathtub the river Sidon, and the stairway a mountain.

As we wandered, we found messages: “The people of Lehi murmur and argue all day, and the Liahona won’t work. (See Alma 37:38–42.) Wander around the room two times, then go east to the desert.” And “The people repent. (See 1 Ne. 18:21.) The Liahona works again. Go south to the river.”

The treasure hunt ended in the land of plenty—the kitchen—where we found a plate of treats and a note that read: “If we obey and do what’s right, Heavenly Father will guide us and we will be an eternal family.”

What a memorable evening! How grateful we are for the Book of Mormon and for our chance to celebrate it in family home evening.—Shawna Struthers Gottfredson, Sandy, Utah