Primary Sharing Time Helps and Ideas for January 2009

Diagram from Lesson 1: The Temple Teaches about the Great Plan of Salvation,” Endowed from on High: Temple Preparation Seminar Teacher’s Manual, 1

I am a spirit child of Heavenly Father.
“All of you are children of the most High” (Psalm 82:6).

Week 1 Heavenly Father loves me and has a plan for me.

* Have a small box of Lincoln logs. Invite a child to come up and build a house. Ask them questions like, why don’t you put the green roof sticks on the bottom? Why do you put long logs on the bottom and shorter ones on the side? How will you make room for windows? How long will it take you to finish? Thank the child and ask if anyone has ever built a real home or knows what goes into building a real home? Show a picture of a real house. Do they just stop by home depot with $100 and window shop for things that look good or do you think they make a list of supplies they need? When you build a real home do you need a plan? What is a plan? What is Heavenly Father’s plan for me?At the end of the lesson, come back to the idea that you are grateful Heavenly Father took the time to carefully think out each piece of our lives (hold up Lincoln logs). He didn’t throw us together and hope for the best, but He perfectly designed (hold up a picture of the real home) a plan that would bring us happiness.

* Invite a child to come up that can read. Have 6 strips of paper of things they need to do. For example brush teeth, do homework, help neighbor mow lawn, play a board game with my sister, put away dishes/finish chores, spend time with Fish the family dog. Ask them how they would plan their day and to put the paper in the order they would feel is best for the day. Why wouldn’t they help their neighbor mow the lawn at the end of the day when it’s dark? Why would they do homework before playing? Is it good to have a plan for your day, why? What about having a plan for life? What might that include? Hold up a diagram of the plan of salvation and ask, who’s plan do you think this could be?
At the end of the lesson, come back to the idea that we can make plans to help our day go smoother. Heavenly Father has created the ultimate plan that gives happiness to each day and we should follow it with all our hearts.

*Bring in a 3-D book and pair of 3-D glasses. Ask a child to come up and look at the book and tell them what they see. Now put on the glasses. Is that pretty cool?
President Eyring has said:
“You can think of the plan of salvation as a set of eyes (hold up the 3-D glasses) that allow you to see what the natural eye does not see” (Mission Presidents’ Seminar, June 2000, 2). Is it pretty exciting to know where we have come from, where we are going and what our purpose here on earth is? The plan of salvation helps us see life as the happy and wonderful thing it is!
On the same note, with a little variation: Bring in a pair of glasses. Have a child come up and put them on for 5 seconds. Can they see? Is it blurry? Is it clear?“Some of us at one time or another let the pressures of life or the false teachings of men cloud our vision, but when we see with clarity, the difference between the plan of God and that of Satan is unmistakable” (Richard G. Scott, Ensign, Nov. 1981, 11)

*Margaret Lifferth in the January 2005 Friend had a wonderful sharing time idea. There is a visual with key words about Heavenly Fathers plan. You can cut these out and put on the black board. Write the scriptures on the board also. Start by looking up Moses 1:39. Then look up the scriptures and match them to the key words of the different parts of Heavenly Father’s plan.

“We lived in heaven with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ before we were born.

(See Abr. 3:22–26)

An earth was created.

(See Moses 2:1–3:3)

Adam and Eve and the Fall were a part of Heavenly Father’s plan.

(See Moses 4:6–5:12)

Jesus Christ came to earth. He is our Savior; He overcame the Fall. Because of Him, we can live again.

(See Abr. 3:27–28)

Coming to a family is part of Heavenly Father’s plan.

(See paragraphs 1–4 of “The Family: A Proclamation to the World,” Ensign, Nov. 1995, 102.)

I would just put up the whole proclamation, they should have these in the library.

We will all die, and because of Jesus Christ, we will all be resurrected.

(See Alma 11:42–45)

When we follow the example of Jesus Christ, we can inherit the celestial kingdom.

(See D&C 76:50–70)”

* Thomas S. Monson, “Which Road Will You Travel?,” Ensign, Mar 1991, 2

Have copies of this talk for the SENIOR sharing time. Divide them into groups. Highlight different parts of the talk for them to read and discuss. Then have 1 child come up to summarize what they read or read a quote that the group enjoyed.

* From the D&C and Church History Gospel Doctrine Teacher’s Manual, 19: The Plan of Salvation, Purpose, 105

" Display the small pieces of the picture that you have brought to class, but do not display the picture.Tell class members that these small pieces are part of a bigger picture. Invite them to briefly guess what is in the picture. Then display the picture, putting the small pieces in place.
Point out that although the small pieces are important, they would have little meaning if they were not part of the big picture. Explain that experiences we have, decisions we make, and truths we learn are like small pieces of a big picture. They have less meaning if they are not put in the context of a bigger picture: the plan of salvation. A knowledge of the plan of salvation can help us make righteous decisions, find joy in mortality, and prepare for eternal life. This lesson discusses the plan of salvation.

The plan of salvation is “one of heaven’s best gifts to mankind.”
Write on the chalkboard Heavenly Father’s Plan of ___________________.

Ask class members to complete the phrase. Encourage them to think of as many answers from the scriptures as they can. Write their responses on the chalkboard. After a minute or two, share any of the following answers that they have not mentioned:
Salvation (Alma 24:14; Alma 42:5; Moses 6:62)
Restoration (Alma 41:2)
Happiness (Alma 42:8, Alma 42:16)
Mercy (Alma 42:15, Alma 42:31)
Redemption (Jacob 6:8; Alma 12:25–33)

• What do these words teach about Heavenly Father’s plan?
• The prophet Alma referred to Heavenly Father’s plan as “the great plan of happiness” (Alma 42:8). How can the plan of salvation bring us happiness?

The Prophet Joseph Smith taught, “The great plan of salvation…be regarded as one of heaven’s best gifts to mankind” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, sel. Joseph Fielding Smith [1976], 68). What can we do to give the plan of salvation “our strict attention”?"