COME FOLLOW ME Doctrine and Covenants – JANUARY Lesson 3 “The Hears of the Children Shall Turn to Their Father” D&C 2; Joseph Smith–History 1:27-65 – Activities and Song Visuals for Primary and Home, family home evening (individual families), Sunday School, Seminary

• Display a picture of Moroni visiting Joseph Smith (see Gospel Art Book, no. 91). Ask the children to point out things they notice in the picture. Summarize the account of Moroni’s visits to Joseph. As needed, refer to Joseph Smith—History 1:27–54 and “Chapter 3: The Angel Moroni and the Gold Plates” (Doctrine and Covenants Stories, 13–17).
  DOWNLOAD Moroni and Joseph Smith – Hill Cumorah pop-up scene (HERE)
  Invite the children to pretend to be Joseph Smith at various points in the story by folding their arms like they are praying, pretending to climb the Hill Cumorah, and so on.

• Read Joseph Smith—History 1:33 aloud, and ask the children to stand when they hear the phrase “God had a work for me to do.” What did God want Joseph to do? What does He ask us to do? Let the children draw pictures of things God wants them to do, such as praying, serving, or reading the scriptures.

Studying Moroni’s message to Joseph Smith can help the children strengthen their testimonies about Joseph’s sacred calling.

• Help the children say the name “Elijah” a few times. Ask them to listen for this name as you read Doctrine and Covenants 2:1. Explain that these are Moroni’s words to Joseph Smith, and they teach that Elijah would come to restore priesthood authority. Elijah later did appear to Joseph in the Kirtland Temple and gave the Prophet the power to seal families together.
  TWO ACTIVITIES FEATURING ELIJAH’S RESTORING PRIESTHOOD KEYS:
  • DOWNLOAD Priesthood Keys door reminder (HERE or below)
  • DOWNLOAD Priesthood Pockets activity (HERE or below). Here you will find the Elijah Uses the Priesthood lesson

• Ask the children to tell you something they love about their families. Display a picture of a family next to a temple—your own family, if possible (or see Gospel Art Book, no. 120). Testify that Heavenly Father wants families to be together forever, and this is one reason He gave us temples.

• Sing together “Families Can Be Together Forever” (Children’s Songbook, 188). What does this song say we can do to be with our families forever?
  DOWNLOAD Families Can Be Together Forever song visuals (HERE or below)

• Doctrine and Covenants 2

  Heavenly Father wants families to be sealed in the temple.

  Moroni told Joseph Smith that Elijah would come to “reveal … the Priesthood” (verse 1). This refers to the sealing power of the priesthood that allows families to be united eternally and enables us to receive ordinances for our ancestors in the temple.

  • Ask the children to read the prophecy in Doctrine and Covenants 2:1. Ask them to look for who the Lord would send in the last days and what this person would reveal. Display a picture of Elijah in the Kirtland Temple (see Gospel Art Book, no. 95), and talk about how this prophecy was fulfilled 13 years after Moroni’s visit (see Doctrine and Covenants 110:13–15).

  • Explain that Elijah restored priesthood keys that allow families to be sealed together eternally. Show some objects that could help the children understand what it means to seal something, such as a can of food or a plastic storage bag with a zipper lock. How do these objects help us understand what it means for a family to be sealed?

  • Display a picture of a temple, and help the children name some of the things we do in temples. Explain that baptisms for the dead, eternal marriage, and sealing families in the temple are all possible because of the priesthood keys Elijah restored.

  • Invite a young woman or young man in the ward to share an experience in which he or she found an ancestor’s name and was baptized for that ancestor in the temple.

    Doctrine and Covenants 2

    What did Elijah restore?

    President Henry B. Eyring said: “It is important to know why the Lord promised to send Elijah. Elijah was a great prophet with great power given him by God. He held the greatest power God gives to His children: he held the sealing power, the power to bind on earth and have it bound in heaven” (“Hearts Bound Together,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2005, 78).
    DOWNLOAD Matthew 18:18 scripture poster/card set (HERE or below)

    See also Doctrine and Covenants 110:13–16; David A. Bednar, “Let This House Be Built unto My Name,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2020, 84–87.

As you read Joseph Smith—History 1:34–65, consider what details in these verses might stand out to you if you had never heard of the Book of Mormon before. As a believer, why is this account important to your testimony of the Book of Mormon?

Consider how the Book of Mormon fulfills the prophecies in Isaiah 29:4, 11–18.

Moroni quoted to Joseph several Old and New Testament prophecies, such as Isaiah 11; Acts 3:22–23; and Joel 2:28–32. Why might these prophecies have been important for Joseph to know? Why are they important for you to know?