Use for COME FOLLOW ME Young Women, Young Men or Youth, Family Home Evening, Primary or Home lessons

LESSON LIFESAVER
Apostasy Mirror – Puzzle and Teaching Tool

OBJECTIVE: To help youth understand that Jesus Christ’s church was taken from the earth because of apostasy and had to be restored to the earth in these the latter-days. 

ACTIVITY: Apostasy Mirror puzzle

Youth can use this as a tool to teach their families and friends about the Apostasy and Restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ as they put up and take down the puzzle. The youth can read the Apostasy Mirror concept page to explain (shown below*).

TO MAKE: You have two options here and it might be great to provide both.
. OPTION #1 Apostasy Mirror Puzzle is to print and color the Apostasy Mirror puzzle on cardstock paper. Cut up puzzle and place in a plastic bag to store pieces until you use them to show-and-tell. Include OPTION #2 (below) to place inside the bag.

. OPTION #2 Apostasy Mirror Teaching Tool (card to place in scriptures) print the Apostasy mirror with The Apostasy Mirror instructions on lightweight paper that youth can fold and place in their scriptures as a reminder.

*The Apostasy Mirror (concept on the activity above).

The Apostasy Mirror

This mirror represents the Church of Jesus Christ. The mirror represents the Church itself, with Christ at the top as the nail and each of the Apostles as a piece of tape. When Christ died the Apostles held up the mirror and took care of the affairs of the Church. When the Apostles were killed the mirror fell and broke, thus resulting in the Apostasy. But people saw still saw good in the mirror and took pieces and built around them, resulting in the many churches of today. This exemplifies the reason we needed a Restoration and not just a reformation … because a mirror that has been broken cannot be repaired—it must be replaced.

THOUGHT TREAT Apostasy Cookie Crumble. Give youth a sandwich-type cookie filled with frosting that they can take apart (e.g., Oreo-type cookie). Talk about the apostasy using Option 1 or Option 2.

*TO FIND LESSON: Present Lesson 2 – Primary 5 Manual – Doctrine and Covenants-Church History: The Apostasy and the Need for the Restoration of Jesus Christ’s Church

SCRIPTURE CHALLENGE CARD: Help children search-and-ponder this scripture card by filling in the blanks. Print this 5 x 7 card from the pdf included with the above activity. You can punch the two holes on the left and tie a ribbon to attach cards or use two metal rings to connect cards.

D&C 1:17-18, 21, 23 “I the Lord . . . called  . . . upon my servant Joseph Smith, Junior, and spake unto him from heaven, and gave him commandments; And also gave commandments to others that they should proclaim . . . unto the world; . . . That faith also might increase in the earth; . . . That the fulness of my gospel might be proclaimed.”

VIDEO: Restoration of Christ’s Church | Now You Know

When Jesus Christ lived on the earth, He organized His Church, “built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone” (Ephesians 2:20). After Christ’s death and Resurrection, He told His Apostles to continue teaching the gospel. They did as He asked, but eventually they died and the truth of Christ’s Church disappeared during a period called the Apostasy. In the early 1800s, God the Father and Jesus Christ appeared to a young man in answer to his prayer about which church to join. This young man, Joseph Smith, was told not to join any of them but that Christ’s Church would be restored through him. This led to the organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on April 6, 1830, a direct answer to the Apostle Peter’s prophecy in the New Testament that there would be a “restitution of all things” (Acts 3:21). The divine return of the Church of Jesus Christ, coupled with modern-day prophets, apostles, priesthood authority, and all gospel light and knowledge, is what members of the Church refer to as the Restoration. God restored His Church for a very simple reason: He loves all His children and wants them to have joy in this life and eventually return to live with Him. Through His living prophets and the truths in His restored Church, God shows us the way.