. . . 4 LESSONS & 40 ACTIVITIES . . .
Step 1 CHOOSE LESSON
Step 2 CHOOSE ACTIVITY
Step 3 CLICK ON POSTER
Step 4 DOWNLOAD ACTIVITY
GO TO OUR BUNDLES FOR THIS MONTH TO SAVE $
. . . MY CHOICES MAKE ME HAPPY . . .
Doctrine and Covenants 58:27–28
Heavenly Father has given me the power to choose.
Help the children know that Heavenly Father wants us to make good choices that bring happiness to our lives and to others.
-
Read phrases from Doctrine and Covenants 58:27–28 to help children understand that they can choose to do good. Put a happy face on one side of the room and a sad face on the other side. How do we feel when we choose to do good? Describe several situations along with a good or bad choice for each one. After describing each situation and choice, ask the children to stand by the happy face if the choice is good and by the sad face if it is bad.
DOWNLOAD Happy Choices Match Game (HERE or below) -
Show the children a container of many different colors of crayons.
Show them a second container with only one crayon. Ask the children which of these containers they would want to use. Why? Explain that being able to choose is a blessing from Heavenly Father. Testify that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love us and want us to make good choices.
DOWNLOAD Color My Life with the Gospel happy crayons game (HERE or below)
-
Tell the children about a time when you made a good choice, and describe how you felt afterward. Invite the children to draw a picture of your story or a story of their own. Then let them share their pictures with the class and tell what they learned from the story.
Doctrine and Covenants 58:27–28
Agency is the power to choose.
God has given us the power to choose, and with that power, we can “bring to pass much righteousness” (verse 27). How can you help the children you teach see that even though there is wickedness in the world, “the power is in them” to “do good”? (verse 28).
-
Show the children a piece of paper that has the word choice written on one side and the word consequence written on the other side. Explain that choices have consequences or results that naturally follow actions.
DOWNLOAD Choose the Right Consequences Spin-the-Bottle Immediate, Future, Eternal (HERE or below)Invite a child to pick up the paper to show that when you pick up the paper, you get both the choice and the consequence of that choice. Ask a child to read Doctrine and Covenants 58:27–28. What choices can we make that will “bring to pass much righteousness” or good consequences? (verse 27). When have we made good choices that had consequences that blessed others?
• DOWNLOAD Choose the Right Consequences: Build a True Prince and Princess puzzle (HERE or below) -
Write phrases from Doctrine and Covenants 58:27–28 on strips of paper, and hand one to each child. Invite them to read the verses silently and ponder their phrase. Invite the children to sit in the order in which their phrases appear in verses 27–28 and share with each other what they learned. What is the Lord’s message to us in these verses?
DOWNLOAD 2 Nephi 2:27 Agency – I Choose Liberty and Eternal Life (HERE or below) -
Sing a song about choices, such as “Choose the Right” (Hymns, no. 239). Ask questions to help the children ponder the words of the song—for example, Who helps guide you to make the right choice? Who tries to get you to make the wrong choice? How does choosing the right make you feel?
DOWNLOAD Choose the Right song visuals (HERE or below)
-
. . . SABBATH WORSHIP . . .
Doctrine and Covenants 59:9–12
The Sabbath is the Lord’s day.
As you share the joy you have found by keeping the Sabbath day holy, you can help the children see the Sabbath as a day when we worship the Lord.
-
Bring pictures or objects that depict good things we can do on Sunday to worship the Lord and find joy.
• DOWNLOAD Keeping the Sabbath: Scavenger Hunt or Match Game (HERE or below)
• DOWNLOAD Sabbath Day advent calendar (HERE or below)
Some ideas are found in Doctrine and Covenants 59:9–12 and “Sabbath Day Observance” (For the Strength of Youth, 30–31). For example, to represent the sacrament, you could show picture 108 in the Gospel Art Book or a sacrament cup and a piece of bread. How does each of these things help us be closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ on the Sabbath?
DOWNLOAD Sacrament Symbols 2-sided puzzle (HERE or below) -
Complete this week’s activity page with the children to give them ideas to make the Sabbath a holy day.
The Lord said that observing the Sabbath helps us “keep [ourselves] unspotted from the world” (Doctrine and Covenants 59:9). How can you help the children you teach honor the Sabbath and make it a sign of their love for Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ?
DOWNLOAD Sabbath Search Maze (HERE or below)-
Invite the children to read Doctrine and Covenants 59:9–16 in pairs, and ask each pair to write down something they learn about the Sabbath day from each verse. After several minutes, ask each pair to share with the class what they wrote. What will we do differently on the Sabbath because of what we learned?
-
Prepare a simple matching game in which the children match phrases from Doctrine and Covenants 59:9–16 to the correct verse. Choose phrases that teach what the Lord wants us to do on the Sabbath. Discuss what these phrases teach us about the Lord’s day and how we can come closer to Him.
-
The Sabbath day is “the Lord’s day” (Doctrine and Covenants 59:12)—a day to show that we remember the many works of the Lord as we worship Him (see Bible Dictionary, “Sabbath”). Help the children ponder these works by inviting them to read the following scripture passages and showing them related pictures: Genesis 2:1–3 (see Gospel Art Book, no. 3); John 20:1–19 (see Gospel Art Book, no. 59). What other mighty works of the Lord can we remember on the Sabbath? What else do we learn about the Sabbath from Doctrine and Covenants 59:9–16?
Doctrine and Covenants 59:9–19
Keeping the Sabbath holy brings temporal and spiritual blessings.
DOWNLOAD Blessing, Blessing, Who’s got a Blessing? Games (HERE or below – see Thankful For Blessings lesson below)
After promising to bless the Saints in Zion “with commandments not a few,” the Lord gave special emphasis to one commandment in particular: the command to honor His “holy day” (Doctrine and Covenants 59:4, 9). As you study Doctrine and Covenants 59:9–19, ponder why honoring the Sabbath would have been so important to these Saints as they sought to build Zion.You could also ponder questions like these: Am I using the Sabbath day the way the Lord intended? How does keeping the Sabbath day holy help me remain “unspotted from the world”? (verse 9). What can I do to pay my “devotions unto the Most High”? (verse 10).
DOWNLOAD Sabbath Day Planner (HERE or below)After reading the following verses, what are you inspired to do to more fully keep the Sabbath day holy? Genesis 2:2–3; Exodus 20:8–11; 31:13, 16; Deuteronomy 5:12–15; Isaiah 58:13–14; Mark 2:27; John 20:1–19; Acts 20:7.
You might also benefit from one of the many videos or other resources about the Sabbath found at sabbath.ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
See also Russell M. Nelson, SEE VIDEO BELOW: “The Sabbath Is a Delight,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2015, 129–32; Bible Dictionary, “Sabbath.”
- MORE “SABBATH” IDEAS FOR YOUTH (HERE or below)
-
Highlight: The Sabbath Is a Delight
The Sabbath Is a Delight
. . . THANKFUL FOR BLESSINGS . . .
Heavenly Father wants me to be grateful.
How can you help the children understand the importance of thanking Heavenly Father for their blessings?
-
Tell the children something that you are thankful for, and ask them to share things they are thankful for. Read Doctrine and Covenants 59:7, and help the children think of ways they can thank Heavenly Father for their blessings. What could they make to take home to remind them to thank Heavenly Father for their blessings?
DOWNLOAD Don’t Just Gobble Up Blessings: Extra-miler Thankful Turkey feather find (HERE or below) -
Sing together a song about gratitude, such as “For Health and Strength” (Children’s Songbook, 21). Invite the children to replace words in the song with other things they are thankful for.
-
Let the children draw pictures of things they are thankful for.
DOWNLOAD Blessing, Blessing, Who’s got a Blessing? Games (HERE or below)
DOWNLOAD MORE activities below
. . . TIMING OF BLESSINGS . . .
Doctrine and Covenants 58:1–5, 26–33, 44; 59:23
Blessings come according to God’s timing and our diligence.
The Saints laid the foundation of Zion in Jackson County, Missouri, where they endured many trials. They surely hoped that during their lifetimes this area would blossom into a place where all the Saints could gather. However, the Saints were driven from Jackson County within a few years, and the Lord revealed that His people would have to “wait for a little season for the redemption of Zion” (Doctrine and Covenants 105:9).
DOWNLOAD Prayers Are Always Answered – Bless the Faithful puzzle match (HERE or below)
As you study the following passages, look for reasons blessings may be withheld for a time. The questions below can help you ponder.
Doctrine and Covenants 58:1–5; 59:23. What messages in these verses strengthen your ability to bear tribulation more patiently? What blessings have you received after the tribulation? Why do you think some blessings come only after the tribulation?
DOWNLOAD D&C 121:7-8 Bite-size Memorize (HERE or below)
Doctrine and Covenants 58:26–33. What role does being “anxiously engaged in a good cause” play in the fulfillment of God’s promises? What role does your obedience play?
Doctrine and Covenants 58:44. What is the relationship between “the prayer of faith” and the Lord’s will for us?
-
-
Doctrine and Covenants 58 teaches truths that can bring peace in times of trial. Class members may have discovered some of these truths during their study of this section; invite them to share what they found. Or they could search verses 1–5, 26–33 in class, individually or in groups, for something that might be helpful to someone who is suffering adversity or who is waiting for a promised blessing. After sharing what they find, perhaps some class members could share experiences or other scriptures that have confirmed the truths in these verses.
-
As part of your discussion of this principle, you could show the video “Hope Ya Know, We Had a Hard Time” SEE VIDEO BELOW (ChurchofJesusChrist.org) and discuss what we might do to help those who are going through difficult times. The quote by Sister Linda S. Reeves in “Additional Resources” could also help your discussion. How do Sister Reeves’s words affect the way we view our trials?
-
“Hope Ya Know, We Had a Hard Time”
