COME FOLLOW ME Doctrine and Covenants – FEBRUARY Lesson 7 “Upon You My Fellow Servants” D&C 12-13 – Activities and Song Visuals for Primary and Home, family home evening (individual families), Sunday School, Seminary

• Tell the children about how the Aaronic Priesthood was restored (see Joseph Smith—History 1:68–70; see also “Chapter 6: Joseph and Oliver Are Given the Priesthood,” Doctrine and Covenants Stories, 26–27). Or invite a man in the ward to come to class and tell the story as if he were John the Baptist, reading to the children what John said to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery.

• Display pictures of John the Baptist baptizing the Savior and restoring the Aaronic Priesthood (Gospel Art Book, nos. 35, 93; see also the image in this week’s outline in Come, Follow Me—For Individuals and Families). Invite the children to share what they know about what is happening in the pictures (see Matthew 3:13–17; Doctrine and Covenants 13; Joseph Smith—History 1:68–70).

• Help the children learn a song about the priesthood, such as “The Priesthood Is Restored” (Children’s Songbook, 89). Invite the children to march around the room as they sing, taking turns holding the picture from this week’s outline in Come, Follow Me—For Individuals and Families.

  The accounts of the restoration of the Aaronic Priesthood can help the children you teach understand important truths about the priesthood and priesthood ordinations.

  • Read together Joseph Smith—History 1:66–72, and invite the children to draw pictures of what these verses describe. Then let the children tell the story using their pictures. Invite someone to share an experience when he or she saw someone be ordained to a priesthood office. How was that similar to the way Joseph and Oliver were ordained as described in Joseph Smith—History 1:66–72?

  • Give the children a few minutes to make a list of everything they know about John the Baptist, and then allow them to share what they wrote. Invite the children to work in pairs to read one of the following passages and add it to their list: Matthew 3:13–17; Doctrine and Covenants 13; Joseph Smith—History 1:66–72.

  
  Doctrine and Covenants 13

  The priesthood is God’s power.

  Lessons about the restoration of the Aaronic Priesthood are great times to help the children better understand what the priesthood is and how it can bless them.

  • Bring a few objects to class, including a key. Display the objects, and ask the children to listen as you read Doctrine and Covenants 13 and to find the object that is mentioned in the scripture. What can we do with a key? Show pictures of things we can do because the Aaronic Priesthood was restored (see this week’s activity page; see also Gospel Art Book, nos. 103–4, 107–8). Tell the children how the priesthood has blessed your life.

  • To help the children learn the phrase The priesthood is God’s power, ask them to clap as they say each syllable. Show an item that needs a battery to work, and teach that, like the battery brings power to the item, the priesthood brings God’s power into our lives. Share your testimony of the blessings that have come to you because of the priesthood.

    Joseph Smith—History 1:66–75

    Ordinances give me access to God’s power.

    Sister Carole M. Stephens, former counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency, taught: “Priesthood ordinances and covenants provide access to the fulness of the blessings promised to us by God, which are made possible by the Savior’s Atonement. They arm sons and daughters of God with power, God’s power, and provide us with the opportunity to receive eternal life” (“Do We Know What We Have?” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2013, 12).

    As you read Joseph Smith—History 1:66–75, including the note at the end of verse 71, consider what inspired Joseph and Oliver to inquire about baptism, and note the blessings that came to them after participating in priesthood ordinances. Consider reading journal entries you may have written after receiving ordinances or recording your memories of those events. What blessings have you received through priesthood ordinances?

    See also Doctrine and Covenants 84:20–22; Saints, 1:65–68.

Show the video “Restoration of the Aaronic Priesthood” (ChurchofJesusChrist.org). Pause the video occasionally to ask the children questions such as “Why did Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery go into the woods?” and “How do you think Joseph Smith and Oliver?

Tell the children about Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery being baptized (see Joseph Smith—History 1:68–74; see also “Chapter 6: Joseph and Oliver Are Given the Priesthood,” Doctrine and Covenants Stories, 26–28). Emphasize the joy Joseph and Oliver felt, and tell the children about your baptism. Invite them to draw a picture of themselves being baptized one day.

• Put pictures of a baptism and the sacrament in a container that requires a key to open. Discuss why keys are important, and let the children use the key to open the container. Invite the children to read Doctrine and Covenants 13 and find words and phrases that teach them what blessings come from the Aaronic Priesthood.
  DOWNLOAD Return To Heaven Ordinance Opportunity Game (HERE or below)

• Show the video “Blessings of the Priesthood” (ChurchofJesusChrist.org), and ask the children to identify ways people in the video are blessed because of the priesthood.

• Bring a simple puzzle to class, and invite the children to put it together. As they do, ask them how reading the scriptures is similar to putting together a puzzle. Read together Joseph Smith—History 1:73–74, and invite the children to share what helped Joseph and Oliver understand the scriptures. What can we do to seek the help of the Holy Ghost as we study the scriptures?

• Invite the children to make a bookmark that they can put in their scriptures to remind them to seek the Holy Ghost’s help when they read. Perhaps they could find an inspiring phrase in Joseph Smith—History 1:74 that they could write on their bookmark.
  DOWNLOAD ColorQuote (HERE or below) “Scriptures are like packets of light that illuminate our minds and give guidance and inspiration from on high.” – Elder Richard G. Scott