To teach the children that the Beatitudes and the other truths Jesus Christ taught the Nephites can help us become more like our Heavenly Father and his Son.

1. Prayerfully study 3 Nephi 12 and 3 Nephi 13. Then study the lesson and decide how you want to teach the children the scripture account. (See “Preparing Your Lessons,” p. vi, and “Teaching from the Scriptures,” p. vii.)

2. Select the discussion questions and enrichment activities that will involve the children and best help them achieve the purpose of the lesson.

3. Materials needed:

   1. A Book of Mormon for each child.

   2. Picture 4-45, Jesus Teaching in the Western Hemisphere (Gospel Art Picture Kit 316; 62380).

Invite a child to give the opening prayer.

You may use one or more of the following activities any time during the lesson or as a review, summary, or challenge.

1. Write the headings Blessed are and Promise on the chalkboard. Write 3 Nephi 12:3, 4, and so on to verse 10 on separate pieces of paper and distribute them to class members. Have the children read the verses on their pieces of paper and tell you what the promise is in each Beatitude. Write the responses in the appropriate column. (Emphasize the importance of “coming unto Christ” when you talk about each Beatitude.) When you are through, the chalkboard should have the following lists on it:

   Blessed Are	Promise
   the poor in spirit who come unto Jesus Christ	shall receive the kingdom of heaven
   those who mourn	shall be comforted
   the meek	shall inherit the earth
   those who hunger and thirst after righteousness	shall be filled with the Holy Ghost
   the merciful	shall obtain mercy
   the pure in heart	shall see God
   peacemakers	shall be called the children of God
   those who are persecuted for the Savior	shall receive the kingdom of heaven

2. Discuss and help the children memorize the thirteenth article of faith.

3. Ask the children how they could better live one of the Beatitudes, and list their suggestions on the chalkboard. Encourage each child to choose one of the Beatitudes to work on this week. You may want to give the children a paper with the sentence “This week I will be more ” printed on it. Have them fill in the blank and take the paper home.

4. Show the children some salt. Explain that salt has been used for hundreds of years to flavor foods and preserve them from spoiling. Just as salt preserves food, our relationship with Heavenly Father and the Savior is preserved when we obey their teachings and keep our covenants. As salt adds flavor to food, we can add goodness to the world by living righteously. Ask the children the following questions:

   • What are some of the impure (unclean) influences of the world that can affect our relationship with the Savior?

   • Just as salt loses its savor (flavor) when it is weakened with impurities, what happens to us when we allow impurities (unclean thoughts, influences, and actions) into our lives?

5. If you are not teaching this lesson on fast Sunday, prepare a food such as popcorn with and without salt (check with parents to see if any of the children are allergic), and have the children taste the difference. Explain how important salt is to certain foods. Help the children understand that to be considered the salt of the earth we must develop Christlike qualities and give service to others.

6. Read the following scripture. Have the children raise their hands each time they hear the word do.

   “This is my gospel; and ye know the things that ye must do in my church; for the works which ye have seen me do that shall ye also do; for that which ye have seen me do even that shall ye do;

   “Therefore, if ye do these things blessed are ye, for ye shall be lifted up at the last day” (3 Nephi 27:21–22; italics added).

   Explain that if we do the things the Savior has commanded us to do, he will bless us. It is an eternal law that obedience brings blessings. You may want to read and discuss D&C 130:20–21.

7. Show a picture of Spencer W. Kimball, twelfth President of the Church, and tell the children one of his favorite mottos: “Do it.” President Kimball knew that it was essential not only to know the teachings of Jesus but to actually do them. Tell this story about President Kimball and the song “I Am a Child of God.”

   “In 1957 the Primary General Board … asked Naomi W. Randall and Mildred T. Pettit … to write a [song about the need of children to be taught the gospel]. Naomi Randall reported: ‘That evening, I got down on my knees and prayed aloud, pleading that our Heavenly Father would let me know the right words. Around 2:00 A.M. I awakened and began to think again about the song. Words came to my mind. … I immediately got up and began to write the words down as they had come to me. Three verses and a chorus were soon formed. I gratefully surveyed the work, drank of the message of the words, and returned to my bedroom where I knelt before my Father in Heaven to say “Thank you!”’ …

   “The words of the chorus originally read, ‘Teach me all that I must know / To live with him some day.’ (Italics added.) A few years after the song was published, Spencer W. Kimball, then a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, attended a conference … where a Primary children’s chorus sang the song. Naomi Randall said: ‘On the trip home he talked with a Primary General Board member [and] expressed his love for the song, then stated that there was one word in the chorus that concerned him. He wondered if Sister Randall would consider changing the line that says “Teach me all that I must know” to “Teach me all that I must do.” Of course I gladly accepted his suggestion.

   “‘I wondered why I didn’t include that thought at the time the lyrics were first written. But as time went on I came to feel very sincerely that this was the way the Lord wanted the song to evolve, because it became a teaching moment for members all over the Church and impressed upon their minds that knowing the gospel is not all that is required; it is the day-by-day doingthe Lord’s will and keeping the commandments that help us reach our eternal goal’” (in Karen Lynn Davidson, Our Latter-day Hymns, pp. 303–4).

   Have each child write “Do it now” on a card to take home.

8. Sing or read the words to “I Want to Live the Gospel”(Children’s Songbook, p. 148); “Love One Another” (Children’s Songbook, p. 136); “The Things I Do” (Children’s Songbook,p. 170); “Nephi’s Courage” (Children’s Songbook, p. 120), verse 3; “I Am a Child of God” (Children’s Songbook, p. 2); or “Do What Is Right” (Hymns, no. 237).