COME FOLLOW ME Doctrine and Covenants – FEBRUARY Lesson 8 “Stand as a Witness” D&C 14-17 – Activities and Song Visuals for Primary and Home, family home evening (individual families), Sunday School, Seminary

Briefly share a few details about the Whitmer family (see Saints, 1:68–71 or this week’s outline in Come, Follow Me—For Individuals and Families). For example, share who David Whitmer was and how he and his family helped Joseph Smith as he was translating the Book of Mormon.

Help the children understand the comparisons between working in a field and participating in God’s “great and marvelous work” (verse 1). For example, reaping a harvest can symbolize bringing souls to Christ. You could show a picture of a farmer, bring farmers’ clothes for the children to try on, or discuss everyday tasks that farmers perform. Explain that David Whitmer was a farmer who wanted to know how he could help the Lord. Read Doctrine and Covenants 14:3–4 to the children, and help them discover what the Lord told David Whitmer to do. How can we help in the Lord’s work?

Use a present to teach the children about God’s gift of eternal life. For example, show the children a present with a paper inside that reads, “Eternal Life” (Doctrine and Covenants 14:7). Let a child unwrap the gift, and read Doctrine and Covenants 14:7 aloud. Share that eternal life means to live forever with God and to be like Him. Share your testimony of the blessings of keeping the commandments and receiving eternal life.

As you discuss the revelations to the Whitmer brothers, you can share some of the ways the Lord invites each of us to help Him in His work.

Tell the children about the Three and Eight Witnesses (see “Chapter 7: Witnesses See the Gold Plates” [Doctrine and Covenants Stories, 31–33], or the corresponding video on ChurchofJesusChrist.org). Invite the children to draw a picture of the witnesses seeing the plates.

Invite the children to color this week’s activity page, and use it to tell the account of the Three Witnesses.

Hold up a copy of the Book of Mormon, and read to the children the last line of Doctrine and Covenants 17:6: “As your Lord and your God liveth it is true.” Tell the children how you know the Book of Mormon is true. Invite the children to become witnesses of the Book of Mormon by reading it and praying to know if it is true and then sharing their testimony with others.

In Doctrine and Covenants 17, the Lord told Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, and Martin Harris that they would be the Three Witnesses of the Book of Mormon. Help the children learn how they can be a witness of the truth too.

• Invite a child to come prepared to share the account of the Three Witnesses (see “Chapter 7: Witnesses See the Gold Plates” [Doctrine and Covenants Stories, 31–33], or the corresponding video on ChurchofJesusChrist.org). What can we learn from this account about how to be brave witnesses? You might also show selections from the video “A Day for the Eternities” (ChurchofJesusChrist.org; the portion about the Three Witnesses begins at about 15:00).

• Read together the Lord’s promise in Doctrine and Covenants 17:1–3, and help the children find its fulfillment in “The Testimony of Three Witnesses” in the Book of Mormon.

• Read together Doctrine and Covenants 17:3–5 to find out what Oliver Cowdery, Martin Harris, and David Whitmer were asked to do after seeing the gold plates. What are some truths we can testify of? Tell about how you have shared your testimony with others, and invite the children to share any experiences they have had.

  Doctrine and Covenants 17

  The Lord uses witnesses to establish His word.

  What is a witness? Why does the Lord use witnesses in His work? (see 2 Corinthians 13:1). Ponder these questions as you read God’s words to the Three Witnesses in Doctrine and Covenants 17. It might also be helpful to review “The Testimony of Three Witnesses” in the Book of Mormon. How do witnesses help bring about God’s “righteous purposes”? (verse 4).

  Did you know that Mary Whitmer also received a witness of the gold plates? The angel Moroni showed them to her as an acknowledgment of the sacrifices she made while Joseph, Emma, and Oliver were living in her home (see Saints, 1:70–71). What do you learn from her experience about receiving a witness?

  See also Saints, 1:73–75; Ulisses Soares, “The Coming Forth of the Book of Mormon,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2020, 32–35.

  Sharing our witness of the Book of Mormon.

  President Ezra Taft Benson gave the following invitation to Church members in 1988:

  “The Book of Mormon is the instrument that God designed to ‘sweep the earth as with a flood, to gather out [His] elect.’ (Moses 7:62.) This sacred volume of scripture needs to become more central in our preaching, our teaching, and our missionary work.

  “… In this age of the electronic media and the mass distribution of the printed word, God will hold us accountable if we do not now move the Book of Mormon in a monumental way.

  “We have the Book of Mormon, we have the members, we have the missionaries, we have the resources, and the world has the need. The time is now!

  “My beloved brothers and sisters, we hardly fathom the power of the Book of Mormon, nor the divine role it must play, nor the extent to which it must be moved” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Ezra Taft Benson [2014], 143–44).