How Does Knowing about the Plan of Salvation Affect My Life?
YOUTH CLASSES
July 11, 2021
Come, Follow Me
DOCTRINAL TOPICS & ACTIVITIES
July 11
How Does Knowing about the Plan of Salvation Affect My Life?
Doctrine and Covenants 76
Prepare Yourself Spiritually
Our Heavenly Father has provided a plan that enables us to receive eternal blessings and become like Him. He wants all of His children to know about that plan, so He has revealed it to prophets throughout the ages. As quorum or class members studied Doctrine and Covenants 76 this week, they learned what God revealed about His plan to Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon, including the Savior’s central role in the plan and the glory we can receive in the life to come. If we are faithful, we can be perfected through Jesus Christ’s Atonement, receive a fulness of joy, and live with God forever.
How has knowing about Heavenly Father’s plan influenced your perspective on life? How can you help your quorum or class understand what a blessing it is to know about the plan of salvation? To prepare to teach, you could read “Plan of Salvation” in True to the Faith ([2004], 115–17) or Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf’s message “Your Great Adventure” (Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2019, 86–90). SEE VIDEO BELOW
Your Great Adventure
HOW HAS KNOWING ABOUT OUR HEAVENLY FATHER’S PLAN INFLUENCED YOUR PERSPECTIVE ON LIFE?
“This is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.”Moses 1:39 – DOWNLOAD scripture posters/cards HERE (or below)
Special Witness – Elder Renlund – Temples endow individuals with power and seal families for eternity. How can we receive God’s greatest gift? How can we safely return back to Him? From Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Elder Dale G. Renlund answers those questions.
Learn Together
One way to begin a discussion with your quorum or class about the plan of salvation is to invite someone to write on the board the following headings, along with the verses from Doctrine and Covenants 76: Premortal Life (verses 22–27), Mortal Life (verses 40–43), and Life after Death (verses 50–53, 59–62). Give quorum or class members a few minutes to review these verses to find the Savior’s role in fulfilling Heavenly Father’s plan. Ask them to write under each heading what they find. The activities below can help them better understand how Heavenly Father’s plan blesses their lives.
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Reviewing some of the names of Heavenly Father’s plan could help quorum or class members better understand the plan. They could review the scriptures in the first bullet under “Supporting Resources” and make a list of some of the names for God’s plan. What do these names teach about the plan? For example, how does this plan bring us happiness, now and eternally? What do these scriptures teach us about the Savior’s role in the plan? You could show the video “Our Eternal Life” or “Men’s Hearts Shall Fail Them” (ChurchofJesusChrist.org) and invite those you teach to talk about times when they have felt grateful for Heavenly Father’s plan.
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Consider inviting those you teach to discuss how they might answer a friend who asked the following questions about the plan of salvation: Where did we come from? Why are we here? Where do we go after this life? Invite them to use the information under “Plan of Salvation” in True to the Faith (pages 115–17) and the scriptures under “Supporting Resources” to prepare an answer to one of the questions. How have we been strengthened by knowing the answers to these questions?
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Quorum or class members learn gospel truths more deeply when they are given opportunities to teach. In advance, ask several quorum or class members to come prepared to share a short summary of what they know about an aspect of the plan of salvation. They could use the summaries found under “The Plan of Salvation” in chapter 3 of Preach My Gospel ([2019], 48–53). What difference does it make to know about the plan of salvation?
WERE DID WE COME FROM? WHY ARE WE HERE? WHERE DO WE GO AFTER THIS LIFE?
“We find true and enduring joy by coming to know and acting upon the truth about who we are, the meaning of mortal life, and where we are going when we die. …There is a God, who is the loving Father of the spirits of all who have ever lived or will live. Gender is eternal. Before we were born on this earth, we all lived as male or female spirits in the presence of God. … [God’s Plan] is the plan God established so that all of His spirit children could progress eternally. That plan is vital to each of us. Under that plan, God created this earth as a place where His beloved spirit children could be born into mortality to receive a physical body and to have the opportunity for eternal progress by making righteous choices.” Truth and the Plan, by President Dallan H. Oaks, First Counselor of the First Presidency
Act in Faith
Encourage quorum or class members to ponder and record what they will do to act on the impressions they received today. How does today’s lesson relate to personal goals they have made? If they would like, quorum or class members could share their ideas.
Supporting Resources
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2 Nephi 11:5; Alma 12:30; 34:9; 41:2; 42:8, 13–15; Moses 6:59–62 (Names for Heavenly Father’s plan)
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Doctrine and Covenants 38:1–3; 138:53–56; Moses 4:1–4; Abraham 3:21–24 (Premortal life)
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2 Nephi 2:19–21, 25; Alma 5:15–16; 34:32; Abraham 3:25–26 (Mortal life)
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John 14:1–2; Alma 11:42–45; Doctrine and Covenants 76:39–43, 89–93 (Life after death)
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PLAN OF SALVATION
Fun-tastic! Activities
For Class or Group Gatherings
Produced by Youth Leaders
HEAVENLY FATHER’S PLAN
HOUSE OF ISRAEL DISCUSSION: Have a patriarch come and explain the House of Israel and the blessings associated with it using maps, etc.
NEPHI’S EMOTIONAL PLEA: Read and discuss carefully 2 Nephi 3.
ETERNAL-LIFE NIGHT: Divide youth into five groups. Ask each group to design a booth to represent one of the five ways we can gain eternal life on the connected word-find (shown above). Give youth some time on Sunday during class to discuss the design of their booth. That night, as a group, ask each booth committee to present their ideas.
Ideas:
1. Copy articles from the Church magazines from the new Church website: www.new.LDS.org. Go to Quick Links, Study by Topic, Magazines, New Era, Search. Then type in “eternal life” (with quote marks) to find this and more: What Is the Difference between Immortality and Eternal Life? by Joseph B. Wirthlin on November 2006 New Era.
2. Create favors to give away, post pictures (found in the ward library).
3. Have a youth give a 2 ½ minute talk.
Matching Activity: DOWNLOAD Puzzled about Eternal Life? word-find (HERE or above)
TURN OUR FACES TOWARD THE SON: To encourage youth to feel the warmth that can come from having Jesus Christ in their lives and to see things clearly with His light, begin by setting up a room with a sun lamp. Talk about repentance and the Atonement. Turn out the lights and talk about Satan’s plan. Tell how some people see physically (the light) but do not see spiritually (the light of Christ). Blindfold the youth, and talk about how some don’t see physically, but they can see spiritually (with their hearts through the Spirit).
Matching Activity: DOWNLOAD Gifts of the Resurrection and Eternal Life package (HERE or above)
AGENCY & PROMISES MADE
“PROMISES KEPT” SCRIPTURE SITUATIONS SEARCH: Search together in the scriptures for various situations when oaths were made and the circumstances in which they were made. Why were these oaths made? What were they? Get a feeling for the importance of keeping covenants and promises (see oaths, covenants, promise, swear, vow, and pledge in the Topical Guide).
Matching Activity: DOWNLOAD The Path to Eternal Life decision-maker (HERE or above)
“THE LORD NEVER BREAKS COVENANTS” OBJECT LESSON: Have two people (a young woman or young man and the bishop or adult priesthood holder) stand together with a metal or paper chain around them. Lock it (or pretend to lock it). Give the key to the youth. Say, “The adult represents the Lord and the young woman or young man is you. You have the power to break a covenant or keep it binding. The Lord will never break a covenant. Only people do.” Discuss how making and keeping covenants makes us strong and extraordinary.
THOUGHT TREAT: “Path to Heaven” Pudding. Lay parchment paper on the table for each youth. Have a variety of puddings to use as finger paints. Give each a tablespoon of each pudding on parchment paper. Have them paint their life’s path from earth to heaven. Think about choices on the path that lead them to heaven. Then eat their way to heaven.
Matching Activity: DOWNLOAD The Path to Eternal Life decision-maker (HERE or above)
AGENCY SCRIPTURE CHASE: Have youth organize and compete in a scripture chase, dividing into two teams and racing to find situations in the scriptures that tell good and bad choices that were made. Tell how this choice affected others. If the youth know the stories, ask them to tell them.
Agency Scripture Situations:
1. Read scriptures to tell a story where someone followed Jesus Christ or chose to follow Satan.
2. Read how Alma the Younger gave commandments and instruction to his sons Shiblon and Corianton (Alma 38-39).
3. Talk about the importance of making decisions before the temptations come. This gives us more freedom to choose. We don’t have to wait and think about the temptation; we already know what to say and what to do.
4. Tell of the example of Joseph in Egypt, who was tempted by his master Potiphar’s wife (Genesis 37:36; 39), and how Joseph resisted her advances. Talk about how he reacted to her temptation–how he had decided ahead of time what he would do if he was tempted in this way–because he immediately ran from the situation. If he had hesitated, he may have accepted her request and lost his eternal blessings.
5. Talk about how we can make those critical choices in our lives.
Matching Activity: DOWNLOAD Agency Actions scripture challenge (HERE or above)
CHOOSING TO FOLLOW GOD’S PLAN
THOUGHT TREAT:
Option #1: Smiling Sunflower Cookies. Purchase flower-shaped cookies and share with youth, or create a sunflower cookie by decorating a round sugar cookie with frosting in a tube.
Option #2: Sunflower seeds. Tell the youth that the sunny decisions we make each day determine our destiny. Each day we can plant in our mind and heart seeds of faith that will help us make those eternal decisions. Let’s make those decisions early in life, so when temptations come we can say “no” to unrighteous choices. Then we can say “yes” to choices that will help our family be an eternal family through temple marriage.
Matching Activity: DOWNLOAD My Eternal Garden decision-maker (HERE or above)
CHOICES AND CONSEQUENCES TRAIL: Set up and have youth each take a walk down two different trails (the one of the left is Transgression Trail) (the one on the right is Temple Trail).
1. As they walk down Transgression Trail talk about immodest dress, inappropriate music and movies (not just R rated, but also PG-13), gossip, lying, cheating, not keeping the Word of Wisdom, not honoring parents, lack of faith, and prayer, etc., and what these can lead to.
2. As they walk down Temple Trail talk about choices that lead you to obtain a temple recommend, choices like being modest, listening to wholesome music and watching wholesome movies, respecting others, being honest, being morally clean, honoring parents, etc.
3. With the guidance of leaders, let youth take charge of listing choices and consequences on the board or poster for each step taken.
4. Youth could even role-play the actions.
Ideas: Notice as one persists in doing something that destroys the Spirit he/she gets farther and farther away from the temple. List simple actions that lead to serious consequences, e.g., inappropriate thoughts and desires could lead to immodest dress, which could lead to inappropriate actions that in turn could lead to immorality, and possible pregnancy, single parenthood, family sadness, and heartache.
Matching Activity: DOWNLOAD My Eternal Garden decision-maker (HERE or above)
TRIAL TALK: Have someone come and talk about how they faced their trials (e.g. physical handicap, the death of a loved one, etc.). Let them tell their story and answer questions. You could also have someone come who has been in a war and has seen suffering and devastation. You might even invite someone who has lived in another country to come and talk about the trials they have faced. Talk about solutions to specific trials.
WHEELCHAIR WALK: Go to a nursing home or care center and take someone in a wheelchair for a walk, and/or visit to cheer and brighten their world.
Matching Activity: DOWNLOAD What I want to “Bee” Eternally challenge cards (HERE or above)
“THE PLAN OF SALVATION”
DISCUSSION TOPICS & QUESTIONS:
• WHAT is the Plan of Salvation?
• WHAT happened in my premortal life?
• WHAT is the purpose of life?
• WHY do the choices I make matter?
• WHY do we have adversity?
• HOW can I find comfort when someone I care about dies?
• WHY should I treat my body like a temple?
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