YOUTH LESSON ACTIVITY. PLANTING MY ETERNAL GARDEN decision maker. Youth can “plant” in this garden planner things they will “try not to” do and things they will “try to” do to make the best choices of their time and attention. With this plan, they can purposefully plant in their flowerbed flower seeds rather than weeds to grow toward eternal life to achieve all that God wants for us.
Use for Primary, Sunday School, Activity Days, family home evening, or “Come, Follow Me” lessons or home devotionals.
LESSON LIFESAVER Activity
Planting My Eternal Garden decision maker
ACTIVITY: Help youth look at their life and family life as an eternal garden that needs constant care. If we desire our family to be eternal, we must purposefully plant a flowerbed of beauty rather than a patch of tangled weeds.
DECISIONS. Decide what you will not grow in your eternal garden by listing things you will not do on the left. Decide what you will plant in your eternal garden by writing things you will try to do on the right.
Tell youth they can be worthy of eternal blessings by making eternal decisions daily. Say, “Use this decision maker to plant eternal seeds within your mind so you can grow beautiful flowers instead of weeds.”
TO MAKE print activity in color or black and white.
THOUGHT TREAT:
Option #1: Smiling Sunflower Cookies. Purchase flower-shaped cookies and share with youth, or create a sunflower cookie by decorating a round sugar cookie with frosting in a tube.
Option #2: Sunflower seeds. Tell youth that the sunny decisions we make each day determine our destiny. Each day we can plant in our mind and heart seeds of faith that will help us make those eternal decisions. Let’s make those decisions early in life, so when temptations come we can say “no” to unrighteous choices. Then we can say “yes” to choices that will help our family be an eternal family through temple marriage.
CHOICES AND CONSEQUENCES TRAIL: Set up and have youth each take a walk down two different trails (the one of the left is Transgression Trail) (the one on the right is Temple Trail).
1. As they walk down Transgression Trail talk about immodest dress, inappropriate music and movies (not just R rated, but also PG-13), gossip, lying, cheating, not keeping the Word of Wisdom, not honoring parents, lack of faith, and prayer, etc., and what these can lead to.
2. As they walk down Temple Trail talk about choices that lead you to obtain a temple recommend, choices like being modest, listening to wholesome music and watching wholesome movies, respecting others, being honest, being morally clean, honoring parents, etc.
3. With the guidance of leaders, let youth take charge of listing choices and consequences on the board or poster for each step taken.
4. Youth could even role-play the actions.
Ideas: Notice as one persists in doing something that destroys the Spirit he/she gets farther and farther away from the temple. List simple actions that lead to serious consequences, e.g., inappropriate thoughts and desires could lead to immodest dress, which could lead to inappropriate actions that in turn could lead to immorality, and possible pregnancy, single parenthood, family sadness, and heartache.
SHARE VIDEO: We’re Still a Family – A young man shares how the plan of salvation has helped him to see the blessings that can come through trials. CLICK HERE TO ACCESS VIDEO FROM YOUR I-PHONE
SOURCE YW3.8
THIS ACTIVITY CAN BE USED FOR Come Follow Me – YOUNG WOMEN Lesson Activities:
• FEBRUARY Lesson 2 “What happened in my premortal life?”
• FEBRUARY Lesson 4 “Why do the choices I make matter?”
• SEPTEMBER Lesson 1 “How can I be in the world but not of the world?”