Teach the Doctrine: Younger Children
I can forgive those who are unkind to me.
The Lord asked the Saints who were being persecuted in Jackson County, Missouri, to forgive those who had harmed them. As you teach the children the importance of forgiveness, make sure they also understand that if someone hurts them, they should always tell a trusted adult.
Possible Activities
To help the children understand the challenges the Saints in Zion were facing, share with them “Chapter 34: God Warns the People of Zion” (Doctrine and Covenants Stories, 128–31, or the corresponding video on ChurchofJesusChrist.org). Read Doctrine and Covenants 98:39–40, and ask the children to listen for what the Lord told the Saints to do when their enemies asked for forgiveness. Why does Jesus want us to forgive people, even those who are not nice to us?
click on the picture
Place a picture of a happy face on one wall and a sad face on the opposite wall. Share with the children different situations in which someone is unkind (you might find some stories in the Friend or Liahona). Suggest ways we could respond to the unkind actions, and help the children decide if each response would make them happy or sad. Invite the children to point to the corresponding face on the wall.
Same idea but have the children turn the face to be happy or sad.
Here is one about a boy that was bullied:
And another one about a girl being bullied:
Jesus Christ can bring me peace.
When the Saints were facing persecution, the Lord comforted them by saying, “Be still and know that I am God.” Consider how this counsel might help the children you teach.
Possible Activities
Invite the children to wiggle in their chairs. Then ask them to stop moving when you hold up a picture of the Savior and say the phrase “Be still and know that I am God” (Doctrine and Covenants 101:16). Repeat this activity a few times. Explain that when life was hard for the Saints in Joseph Smith’s time, Jesus wanted them to be still and trust Him instead of worrying. How can Jesus help us when we are having a hard time?
Sing together a song about reverence, such as “Reverently, Quietly” or “To Think about Jesus” (Children’s Songbook, 26, 71). Help the children recognize the peaceful feelings that come when we are being still and thinking about Jesus—for example, when we are praying or taking the sacrament.
Help the children work on this week’s activity page. While they color, tell them how thinking of Jesus Christ has helped you feel peace, even during difficult times.
If you would like it bigger, or in color so you can use it to help teach your lesson:
Teach the Doctrine: Older Children
My trials can help me become more like Jesus Christ.
As children face challenges throughout their lives, they will need faith that the Savior can help them during their trials and that those trials can “work together for [their] good” (Doctrine and Covenants 98:3).
Possible Activities
Ask the children to help you make a list on the board of some challenges that a child their age may face. Tell the children about some of the challenges of the Saints living in Jackson County, Missouri, in 1833 (see chapters 34 and 35 in Doctrine and Covenants Stories, 128–34). What advice would they give to a child experiencing these challenges? Ask the children to read Doctrine and Covenants 98:1–3, 11–14, looking for the guidance the Lord gave. How can they follow this counsel as they face challenges like the ones listed on the board?
Ask the children if they can think of a time when Jesus Christ or someone else in the scriptures did what Doctrine and Covenants 98:23 teaches. To give them one example, show a picture of the Crucifixion (such as Gospel Art Book, no. 57). Ask the children to share what they know about the Savior’s Crucifixion (see Luke 23). Invite them to read Luke 23:34. How can we follow the example of Jesus Christ?
Through Jesus Christ I can find joy.
Life is not meant to be free from difficulty, but you can help the children discover that they can still find a fulness of joy through Jesus Christ.
Possible Activities
Put water in a cup. Ask the children to name things the Savior has done for us so that we can have joy, and invite them to drop a pebble in the cup for each thing they name until the cup is full.
I really love this idea, and would like each of my kids to have their own bottles with pebbles that they can drop into the water as they talk about things the Savior has done for us. I'm going to seal my bottles with duct tape so the kids can play with the bottles and we don't have to worry about a mess. I'm also bringing a permeant marker to write the kids names on the bottles.
Here are some tags you can add to the bottle, or print in B&W for scripture cards to send home with your kids this week.
Next weeks cards, something your students can put on their fridge or mirror to read ponder during the week, and come back next Sunday with some thoughts and ideas for the lesson.
Read with the children Doctrine and Covenants 101:36, and ask them to look for how we can have a fulness of joy. What are some things we can do to “seek … the Lord” (verse 38) so we can have the joy that He wants to give us?
Explain that Doctrine and Covenants 101:23–32 teaches about what life will be like when Jesus Christ comes again. As you read these verses together, talk about things the children find that will bring us joy when He comes. Why is it helpful to know about these things when we are having a hard time?
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Your lessons and visuals are amazing. Thank you so much.