We had so much fun putting phrases from Psalms together to write our own for FHE last night!
I copied a few dozen phrases I had marked in my reading this week and printed off a few copies, then cut them into strips and let my kids choose what phrases they wanted to use in writing out their own Psalm. It was SO fun, some of us did 2! I was a little surprised how much my kids (12, 10, 6) embraced it. We glued them onto cardstock using white liquid glue.
The printable file is here. It was SO fun, some of us did 2! These phrases are from Psalms 1-36.
Here's one more General Conference Activity. I've used so many that other people have done so here is my little contribution. We're excited to try it tomorrow! Let me know if you want me to send you the doc. Happy Conference. :)
“Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7). I used this picture to explain how God calls prophets in each time period and that is how he speaks to his children. Here is the link for the original picture: http://www.mormonshare.com/lds-clipart/lds-dispensations-handout-2
Quoted material, titles and headings come from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Gospel Principles manual unless otherwise noted. Click here for the full lesson.
Prayer is a sincere, heartfelt talk with our Heavenly Father. As we pray to our Heavenly Father, we should tell Him what we really feel in our hearts, confide in Him, ask Him for forgiveness, plead with Him, thank Him, express our love for Him.
We did this prayer craft and then played prayer bingo to talk about the how, when, why, for whom, and for what. It was a big hit at our house and we wished we weren't short on time. I kept the calling cards in their columns and we did one from each column before starting back with the first and talked about them while finding them on our cards. :)
For younger kids an activity that also works well is to put pictures of eyes, ears, arms, head, mouth, and knees into a bag or bowl and let the kids draw them out and then tell the group what these parts should be doing when praying.
Quoted material, titles and headings come from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Gospel Principles manual unless otherwise noted. Click here for the full lesson.
I asked one of my kids to share the first article of faith which she recently learned to start us off. We then discussed this section from the manual:
Attributes of the Holy Ghost
• How does the Holy Ghost differ from the Father and the Son? Why is that difference important to us? The Holy Ghost is a member of the Godhead. He is a “personage of Spirit”. He can be in only one place at a time, but His influence can be everywhere at the same time. Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost are called the Godhead. They are unified in purpose. Each has an important assignment in the plan of salvation. Our Heavenly Father is our Father and ruler. Jesus Christ is our Savior. The Holy Ghost is the revealer and testifier of all truth. The Holy Ghost is our Heavenly Father’s messenger and is a special gift to us.
The Mission of the Holy Ghost
The mission of the Holy Ghost is to bear witness of the Father and the Son and of the truth of all things. I got most of my ideas from a year of fhe. I like this poster and the way she illustrates the three things.
1. For "Comforts Us" we used the example from A Year of FHE. I asked my girls what we do to comfort them and we get my daughter's blanket and stuffed animal and give her hugs and hold her. The Holy Ghost helps us feel better inside, warm, peaceful, safe, etc.
2. For "Guides Us" we read this story from the friend about President Harold B Lee when he was a boy. I felt the spirit both times I read this story and was glad I shared it. I also shared a story from this link that is a great reference for this lesson, especially if you have older kids!! You can talk about all the roles of the Holy Ghost instead of summarizing it with just 3. 3. For "Testifies of Truth" I used the example from A Year of FHE, but used hot chocolate under a fabric napkin. I let my kids smell it and feel the warmth of the cup and told them what was under there. I then explained that the hot chocolate is like Heavenly Father or Jesus and I am like the Holy Ghost. Not very many people have seen them with their own eyes but we can know they are real just like they can trust me when I testify that I am holding hot chocolate. Then again from the manual, the Holy Ghost will witness to us that Jesus is our Savior and Redeemer. He will reveal to us that our Heavenly Father is the Father of our spirits. He will help us understand that we can become exalted like our Heavenly Father. The prophets of the Lord have promised, “By the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things”. • What are some of the truths that the Holy Ghost reveals to us? I then bore my testimony and talked about how I know the things in my testimony are true personally because of the witness of the Holy Ghost. Then we watched this video. My girls don't know this song yet, so it worked well to introduce it here.
There is a series by the Mormon Channel called Power of the Holy Spirit with 5 segments. This one is about how the Holy Ghost feels or communicates with different people. I love the quotes from apostles that are mixed in.
The Garden of Eden • Under what conditions did Adam and Eve live in the Garden of Eden?
Adam and Eve were in a terrestrial state in the Garden of Eden. They still were not in a position to learn about opposites, because everything was good! I used this mini book to summarize the story of the fall.
Adam and Eve’s Separation from God • What physical and spiritual changes occurred in Adam and Eve as a result of their transgression?
Because Adam and Eve had eaten the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, the Lord sent them out of the Garden of Eden into the world. As God had promised, they became mortal. They and their children would experience sickness, pain, and physical death.
Because of their transgression, Adam and Eve also suffered spiritual death. This meant they and their children could not walk and talk face to face with God. Adam and Eve and their children were separated from God both physically and spiritually. Great Blessings Resulted from the Transgression: • How does the Fall provide opportunities for us to become like our Heavenly Father? I think the following is great background information as you give the lesson, but I would summarize with the graphic above from the Old Testament Resource Manual: Some people believe Adam and Eve committed a serious sin when they ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. However, latter-day scriptures help us understand that their Fall was a necessary step in the plan of life and a great blessing to all of us. Because of the Fall, we are blessed with physical bodies, the right to choose between good and evil, and the opportunity to gain eternal life. None of these privileges would have been ours had Adam and Eve remained in the garden. After the Fall, Eve said, “Were it not for our transgression we never should have had seed [children], and never should have known good and evil, and the joy of our redemption, and the eternal life which God giveth unto all the obedient” (Moses 5:11). The prophet Lehi explained: “And now, behold, if Adam had not transgressed he would not have fallen [been cut off from the presence of God], but he would have remained in the Garden of Eden. And all things which were created must have remained in the same state in which they were after they were created. … “And they would have had no children; wherefore they would have remained in a state of innocence, having no joy, for they knew no misery; doing no good, for they knew no sin. “But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things. “Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy” (2 Nephi 2:22–25).
I also used this worksheet: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B3uNEVAAKowpMy1mVGFzZHpOX28/edit and this from a Mary Ross FHE book:
Quoted material, titles and headings come from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Gospel Principles manual unless otherwise noted. Click here for the full lesson.
Review- Why did we need to leave Heavenly Father’s presence? Why do we need a Savior?
For this lesson I put a bunch of pictures of Christ out on our rug and had everyone choose a few. (If you don't have pictures, you can find some beautiful ones on google images here or on lds.org.) We then talked about what we know about Jesus and what the pictures show us about him.
We then contrasted that with what we know about Satan.
Jesus and Satan both volunteered, Jesus in agreement with God's plan and Satan presenting a different plan.
FYI, in case there are BIG questions, in a talk entitled The Great Imitator, James E Faust taught that Satan wanted to mount an insurrection to supplant even God the Father. He thought he knew better than God and said basically "I will save your children if you will step aside."
Jesus Christ Became Our Chosen Leader and Savior After hearing both sons speak, Heavenly Father said, “I will send the first”.
I also like what is added by Moses 4:2 "But, behold, my Beloved Son, which was my Beloved and Chosen from the beginning, said unto me—Father, thy will be done, and the glory be thine forever." The War in Heaven
Because our Heavenly Father chose Jesus Christ to be our Savior, Satan became angry and rebelled. There was war in heaven. Satan and his followers fought against Jesus Christ and His followers.
Moses 4:3-4 "Wherefore, because that Satan rebelled against me, and sought to destroy the agency of man, which I, the Lord God, had given him, and also, that I should give unto him mine own power; by the power of mine Only Begotten, I caused that he should be cast down; And he became Satan, yea, even the devil, the father of all lies, to deceive and to blind men, and to lead them captive at his will, even as many as would not hearken unto my voice."
We Have the Savior’s Teachings to Follow
In our premortal life, we chose to follow Jesus Christ and accept God’s plan. We must continue to follow Jesus Christ here on earth. Only by following Him can we return to our heavenly home.
In what ways can we follow Christ?
I think this is a beautiful way to end followed by your testimony of Christ. Be warned though that it covers his whole life and shows the marks on his back, the crucifixion, etc.
Quoted material, titles and headings come from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Gospel Principles manual unless otherwise noted. Click here for the full lesson.
God has again called prophets and has revealed another testament of Jesus Christ, called the Book of Mormon. This is the biggest news since the resurrection of Jesus Christ! He is a living God who is still involved in our lives today! Love this video:
The Book of Mormon is for the scholarly and the uneducated, the rich and the poor, the hopeful and the demotivated. This book is for those who want to see a change in themselves and a change in the world. This book is for all of us. It is another testament of Jesus Christ! Request your free copy here.
Christ visits the Americas after his resurrection.
Christ gathered the children, blessed them, and they felt his love for them.
Review that Heavenly Father is a dad to us all. Everyone on earth is a child of our Heavenly Parents. We are all spirit brothers and sisters.
We Developed Personalities and Talents While We Lived in Heaven
We were personally taught and trained by our Heavenly Parents. We grew up as children do in their presence. We grew up to spiritual maturity. We are all unique as siblings on earth are unique having their own talents and abilities. When we had learned what we could learn while being in their presence, they presented the next step in our progression.
Our Heavenly Father Presented a Plan for Us to Become Like Him
"Our Heavenly Father knew we could not progress beyond a certain point unless we left Him for a time. He wanted us to develop the godlike qualities that He has. To do this, we needed to leave our premortal home to be tested and to gain experience."
We wanted to be like our Heavenly Parents. We were different in lots of ways.
I found pictures to help demonstrate these things and just discussed them using the pictures.
These pictures are pulled from LDS.org. This is what is said about the use of their pictures, fyi- "you may post material from this site to another website or on a computer network for personal, church-related, noncommercial use unless otherwise indicated."
To become like Him, we needed to come to earth. We also needed a Savior--someone who could help us be forgiven for the mistakes we would make and allow us to be redeemed from both physical and spiritual death. "We learned that if we placed our faith in Him, obeying His word and following His example, we would be exalted and become like our Heavenly Father. We would receive a fulness of joy."
Here is a supplemental video of I Lived in Heaven. To stick to the material presented in the lesson watch only the first half.
Lesson Rating: Well received. So glad my kids can begin to understand these abstract/difficult topics!
Quoted material, titles and headings come from the Gospel Principles manual published by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Click here for the full lesson.
-How can we know God is there when we can't see him?
I collected some pictures of ways we know of God's existence and had the kids draw them out of a bag. I then had them tell me how what is pictured tells us God is real.
Then I likened Heavenly Father to our earthly father. Heavenly Father gave us earthly fathers to help us know what His love is like. He cares for us like a dad cares for us.
The Nature of God
Discuss what God is like and what he does.
Read Moses 1:39 For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.
Coming to Know God
How can we come to know God?
I again took the images of prayer and scripture study, added the commandments, and a blank paper representing 'believe that He exists and loves us.'
Here are a few supplemental videos we watched:
We Lived With God
My Heavenly Father Loves Me Primary Song
Lesson Rating: This was very well received at our house. :)
Quoted material, titles and headings come from the Gospel Principles manual published by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Click here for the full lesson.
