April 6th: Restoration Party!!

(Joseph Smith Image- Gospel Art Book)
We love reasons to celebrate and party at our house... so tomorrow will be no exception! Here is what we plan to do:

1. I will take a few items away from my girls. Then I will bring back the items and "Restore" them to the girls. This may sound scary, seeing as they are 5 and 3, but really my girls are game for anything!

2. Taking a calendar and outlining the April 6th with a bright color, laying it on the floor, I will have the girls toss bean bags and see how close they can get to the date! April 6th is a wonderful day because it was the day the church was organized again in the latter days... Quote April 6th was, "The precise day upon which, according to (God's) will and commandment, we should proceed to organize his church once again, here upon the earth." (Joseph Smith, "History of Joseph Smith," Times and Seasons, 1 Oct. 1842, pp.928-29.)

3. We are going to gather small twigs and leaves and make "Sacred Grove" art by gluing them onto the paper with a small clip art image of Joseph Smith praying.
(Small hint: Let children glue, then when they are done placing, you add a bit of hot glue for the sticks to really stay in place)

4. Taking small milk cartons, white frosting and preztel sticks we'll make log cabins like Peter Whitmer Sr.'s home (pictured below in Fayette Township, NY) where the very first church meeting was held!

5. I'm going to take some paper plates, cut them in half and let the girls paint them gold. I'll have some short scriptures for them to glue on when dry, and then punch holes and add them to binder rings... hence making their own set of golden plates.

6. Yes/NO Hop: Have 2 papers on the ground, one YES one NO. I will hold up some GAK pictures and say all the things they did in their very first meeting as a Church. The girls then have to choose YES or NO and jump on the right one answering this question: Do we also do that today in our church meetings? "Elements present at that meeting in 1830: exercise the law of common consent, singing, praying, partaking of the sacrament, sharing of personal tesimonies, bestowal of he gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands, ordinations, personal revelation, and revelation through priesthood officers." (Our Heritage A Brief History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, p.15)

7. We have old Joseph Smith calendars that I got for $1 at Deseret Book. I plan on making a word wall with pictures from the calendars. (A word wall is basically a bulletin board that is smack dab in the living room where the girls can see it often and familiarize themselves with the words,letters, gospel vocabulary) Words/phrases to include for my little readers: Joseph Smith, Restore, True Church, Apostacy, April 6, JSH 1:25 "I have actually seen a vision; and who am I that I can withstand God, or why does the world think to make me deny what I have actually seen? For I had seen a vision; I knew it, and I knew that God knew it, and I could not deny it..." Emma Smith, Doctrine and Covenants.

8. All in Favor Listening Activity: I will review with the girls what we do when we sustain/ law of common consent. In the very first church meeting on April 6, 1830 the prophet recorded, "Having opened the meeting by solemn prayer to our Heavenly Father, we proceeded, according to previous commandment, to call on our brethren to know whether they accepted us as their teachers in the things of the Kingdom of God, and whether they were satisfied that we should proceed and be organized as a Church according to said commandment which we had received. To these several propositions they consented by a unanimous vote."(Our Heritage A Brief History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, p.14) I will say some phrases and the girls have to listen to whether or not I say "All in favor." to then raise or not raise their hand. Questions to ponder:

What does it mean to be unified? How about seperate?

Why is it important to vote on things?

How can we show love and support for others?

When we sustain others, are we being one with Christ?

9. We'll eat some Johnny cakes, jerky and apples for lunch... similar to what they ate during that time!

10. The girls can play dolls with the wagon I found at Goodwill for $3 and dress up in pioneer clothes... also goodwill finds :)