Evan, the mighty hunter

We've been doing our FHE lessons from the new nursery manual since it seems to be about Evan's speed, and he pays attention better that way. His favorite part seems to be the acting-out-the-scriptures part. Today our lesson was about prayer. Jonathan led the intrepid hunters Maggie and Evan into the forest to hunt with Enos. They stopped walking, and Jonathan had them look around.

"What animals do you see?" "I see some deer!" Maggie exclaims. "O.K., this is how you get your bow ready", Jonathan says as he reaches behind to pull an arrow from his quiver. The kids copy him, and let their arrows fly. "I hit a tree!" Evan shouts happily as Maggie announces that she got a deer.

Then the story changes a bit. Jonathan recounts how Enos began to think deeply about his life and the things he's done (everyone taps their fingers on their foreheads to "think") and he decides he needs to repent. So they all kneel with him on the forest floor and begin to pray. The kids were really into this. It was amazing to see them both be still and reverent at the same time. They prayed all day and night (or about 30 seconds), as Jonathan told them what Enos prayed for: first himself, then his people, then his enemies, the Lamanites.

He mentioned that while praying Enos spent some time listening too. "Do you listen with just your ears when you talk to Heavenly Father?" he asked the kids. They shook their heads. "No, you listen with your heart", cupping his hand beside his heart as if it were an ear. The kids did the same. "And you know what? He got an answer! The Lord told him his sins were forgiven and he would be blessed. Let's smile to show how happy we are" (they knelt and smiled).

It was one of those moments you want to last as long as possible. Half a second later, Evan bolted up and shouted joyfully, "I see a deer!"

Which apparently was just as exciting for him as having his sins swept away.