A BYU student and his family recently began selling a board game they created in response to the death of a family member.
The game, 'The Atonement: Miracle of Christ's Love,' was created by the Leonard and Kathryn Matthews family after the death of their son Jonathan in 1999, and is based on doctrines of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Richard Matthews, son of Leonard and Kathryn Matthews and a junior at BYU, acts as president of the company that publishes the game, Building Zion Together.
Jonathan suffered through deteriorating health for ten years, and during that time, Jonathan and his family had questions about the plan of salvation.
Ten years of research and development went into the creation of the board game that is rooted in the principles of the atonement and was created as a response to questions about this life and the after-life.
As Jonathan's health was weakening, Kathryn Matthews began a deep study of the scriptures to find comfort for herself and her son.
'This study of the atonement that I experienced brought me so much closer to the Lord that I was able to deal with the grief of our son passing away,' Kathryn Matthews said.
Kathryn Matthews searched for a way to present the knowledge that she gained from her study of the atonement and came up with the format of a board game.
The idea of publishing the game came to Richard Matthews while he served a mission in Russia. He realized that the Russian people had many of the same questions and concerns about the plan of salvation that his mother had experienced.
'I had my family draw up another game board that I labeled in the Russian language,' Richard Matthews said. 'It was immensely popular and made such a difference to the lives of the members.'
The board game, which the Matthews family has called a learning activity, has players begin in the pre-existence. They are next sent down to Earth to receive a mortal body, face difficult choices and collect good works and sins. Players are eventually judged according to their works in Earth life and finish by growing and building the kingdom of God.
The game can be purchased from the Building Zion Together Web site. The family started the company during the summer of 2002 and began selling the product three weeks ago.
'The response since the launch date has been very remarkable,' Richard Matthews said. 'The orders have been pouring in.'
The Matthews family will donate all proceeds from the game to the Perpetual Education Fund, the Temple Patron Fund and the Humanitarian Aid Fund.
The Lyman family of Orem, who are friends of the Matthews family, experienced a trial run of the game before its September launch date.
'It's pretty powerful,' Michelle Lyman said. 'At first it felt like a game, but afterwards there was a huge difference between a board game and what we'd just experienced. It's more of a spiritual experience. It made my family realize the importance of their experience here on earth and how important the choices are that they make.'
Building Zion Together strives to build the kingdom of God in two ways, Richard Matthews said.
'The first way is to create activities and games that will strengthen testimonies and strengthen families,' Richard Matthews said. 'The second arm of the mission is to use the funds that this generates to build Zion in nations abroad and impoverished nations to help people that are less privileged than we are.'
Information about the company and the board game can be found at www.buildingziontogether.com.