June 2010 LDS Primary Sharing Time Helps and Ideas

Image flickr.com courtesy creative commons license by knowhimonline July 2007

June Theme: The Holy Ghost testifies of the Truth of all things.

June Scripture: “By the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know he truth of all things.” Moroni 10:5

Week 1 The Holy Ghost is the third member of the Godhead.

* Play Holy Ghost Win-Guess-and Draw! Have little sheets of paper for the children to draw out of a sack. On the paper have the following words written separately:

Brain (Moroni 10:5)

Heart

Body (“The Holy Ghost is the third member of the Godhead. He is a Spirit in the form of a man. The Holy Ghost is a personage of Spirit, and has a spirit body only. His mission is to bear witness of the Father and the Son and of all truth. As a Spirit personage the Holy Ghost has size and dimensions. He does not fill the immensity of space, and cannot be everywhere present in person at the same time. He is also called the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, the Spirit of the Lord, the Spirit of Truth, and the Comforter” (Joseph F. Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, 1:38)

Blanket (Comforter)

Teacher

Father and Son

Glue (The Holy Ghost seals upon worthy individuals the promises of God)

Have the children draw on the board with chalk and give the whole primary an opportunity to guess. No shouting out though! You have to raise your hand! Whoever can guess the picture gets to come up and draw the next one! Talk about each picture and how it relates to the Holy Ghost. Ask the children questions and have a couple scriptures or songs to go along with certain words/pictures.

* Have a large sheet of paper, some stamps and stamp pads. Have an official document where you can show the children what a seal is.

“The Holy Spirit of Promise is the Holy Ghost who places the stamp of approval upon every ordinance: baptism, confirmation, ordination, marriage. The promise is that the blessings will be received through faithfulness. Every ordinance is sealed with a promise of a reward based upon faithfulness. The Holy Spirit withdraws the stamp of approval where covenants are broken.”

Have questions, songs and scriptures having to do with the Holy Ghost. Invite a child to answer and then stamp the paper on the board. As children leave, you can stamp their hands to help them remember to be faithful so the Holy Spirit can seal our good choices!

* Pass 3 bean bags around 3 different circles (1 per circle) while you sing “Listen, Listen” (CS p. 107) or other songs about the Holy Ghost. Whoever has the beanbag when the song ends, stands, answers a question, reads a scripture or can contribute any thought/experience they have had with the Holy Ghost. Ask the children why the #3 is important, thinking about the gospel. Like the sharing time outline says, have the children memorize the first article of faith by standing up in their groups as you say each phrase.

* Have a birthday invitation. How would you know if someone was having a party if there wasn’t an invitation? Food for thought: how will the Holy Ghost know he’s invited in our lives and daily choices if we don’t pray and invite Him to be with us?

*A medley of great ideas: Margaret Lifferth, “Sharing Time: The Gift of the Holy Ghost,” Friend, Aug 2005, 15

Highly recommend making the handout for the children to do at home with their family! You’ll need to give them a small box or bag also.

Week 2 The Holy Ghost speaks in a still, small voice.

*Time to break out the grapes and jalapenos! Ok, maybe not jalapenos… maybe lemons? “The inspiring influence of the Holy Spirit can be overcome or masked by strong emotions, such as anger, hate, passion, fear, or pride. When such influences are present, it is like trying to savor the delicate flavor of a grape while eating a jalapeño pepper. Both flavors are present, but one completely overpowers the other. In like manner, strong emotions overcome the delicate promptings of the Holy Spirit." Richard G. Scott, "To Acquire Spiritual Guidance," Ensign, Nov. 2009, 8

* Act out the story of Elijah!! (1 Kings 19) Act out the story of Nephi building a ship and emphasize his response to Laman and Lemuel (1 Nephi 17: 45 “Ye are swift to do iniquity but slow to remember the Lord your God. Ye have seen an angel, and he spake unto you; yea, ye have heard his voice from time to time; and he hath spoken unto you in a still small voice, but ye were past feeling, that ye could not feel his words; wherefore, he has spoken unto you like unto the voice of thunder, which did cause the earth to shake as if it were to divide asunder.”)

* Joseph Smith described the Holy Ghost as such, D&C 85:6 “Yea, thus saith the still small voice, which whispereth through and pierceth all things, and often times it maketh my bones to quake while it maketh manifest…” Sometimes small things can have a big impact!!! Take a balloon and a small pin, poke the balloon.

*Put on your listening ears, go outside and see what sounds you can hear. Have children close their eyes and volunteer what they heard. Explain sometimes, the Holy Ghost can speak to us, other times it might be more of a feeling. How might the Holy Ghost feel?

"That sweet, quiet voice of inspiration comes more as a feeling than it does as a sound. Pure intelligence can be spoken into the mind. The Holy Ghost communicates with our spirits through the mind more than through the physical senses. This guidance comes as thoughts, as feelings through promptings and impressions. We may feel the words of spiritual communication more than hear them and see with spiritual rather than with mortal eyes." Boyd K. Packer,, "Prayer and Promptings,"Ensign, Nov. 2009, 44

*Another great medley of ideas. Always goes to show you, when you want the best ideas, just head to lds.org. Elizabeth Ricks, “Listen to the Still, Small Voice,” Friend, Aug 2007, 10–12

Week 3 The Holy Ghost can guide and protect us.

*The Sharing Time Outline has the best idea for this week! Very awesome!

* "The gift of the Holy Ghost operates equally with men, women, and even little children. It is within this wondrous gift and power that the spiritual remedy to any problem can be found. 'And now, he imparteth his word by angels unto men, yea, not only men but women also. Now this is not all; little children do have words given unto them many times, which confound the wise and the learned' (Alma 32:23)." Boyd K. Packer, "Prayer and Promptings," Ensign, Nov. 2009, 45

Have a first aid kit. Invite the children to come up and choose items from the kit that have questions, songs and scriptures about the Holy Ghost on them.

* Have the word “Holy Ghost” written in about 10 different languages on the board.

“In every language, the Spirit of God—the Holy Ghost—guides, or can guide, every member of the Church.” Boyd K. Packer, "The Cloven Tongues of Fire,” Ensign, May 2000, 7

Have a globe with small numbers attached. Invite a child to come up and spin the globe, using their finger to stop it. Have the numbers correspond to questions, songs and scriptures having to do with the Holy Ghost.

* The story of Sara Jane is one of our favorites. I let my girls drop rocks when they hear the right part. Scroll down to how the Holy Ghost can Guide and Warn us HERE from the Primary 2 Manual.

* Great ideas by Karen Ashton, “Sharing Time: The Holy Ghost Can Help Me,” Friend, Jul 1997, 36

Week 4 By the power of the Holy Ghost, we may know the truth of all things.

* Have the door shut. If the Holy Ghost were on the other side of the door, what gospel principle opens the door to the Holy Ghost? “Obedience opens the door to the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. And the spiritual gifts and abilities activated by the power of the Holy Ghost enable us to avoid deception—and to see, to feel, to know, to understand, and to remember things as they really are.” David A. Bednar, “Things as They Really Are,” CES fireside for young adults, May 3, 2009

* This might be a little easier for the Senior Primary to grasp…. How does a radio work? Little waves we can’t see carry the music to our radios. Bring in a radio and play something from a classical station. Pretty amazing! Even more amazing is this, the Holy Ghost!!! “He is broadcasting all eternal truth out into all immensity all the time” (Bruce R. McConkie, The Promised Messiah 16)

* “Explain that the Holy Ghost can help us know when something is true or real. Show the children a bag with an object in it. Tell the children that there is something in the bag, but do not show them the object. Is there something in this bag? Explain that even though the children cannot see the object in the bag, they know it is there because you told them it was there. Even though few people ever see Heavenly Father and Jesus, the Holy Ghost can help us know that Heavenly Father and Jesus are real and that they love us. Explain that this knowledge is called a testimony. Sometimes people bear their testimonies in Church meetings and tell us that they know that Jesus lives. The Holy Ghost has helped them know this is true.” Lesson 7: The Holy Ghost Helps Me,” Primary 1: I Am a Child of God, 19

* Have children write down their testimonies on a piece of paper. (Fulfilling a Faith in God Requirement) How do they know what they know? Because of 3 simple words… The Holy Ghost. “No man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost” (1 Corinthians 12:3)

* Have a small white board and write with permanent marker on it, “By the power of the Holy Ghost, we may know the truth of all things.” Have a child come up and try to erase it. Invite a couple more to try.

“When a man has the manifestation from the Holy Ghost, it leaves an indelible impression on his soul, one that is not easily erased. It is Spirit speaking to spirit, and it comes with convincing force. A manifestation of an angel, or even of the Son of God himself, would impress the eye and mind, and eventually become dimmed, but the impressions of the Holy Ghost sink deeper into the soul and are more difficult to erase” (Answers to Gospel Questions, comp. Joseph Fielding Smith Jr., 5 vols. [1957–66], 2:151). (And just so you know, you can go over the permanent marker with a dry erase after church and it should come back off with an eraser)

* President Smith also said, “Through the Holy Ghost the truth is woven into the very fibre and sinews of the body so that it cannot be forgotten” (Doctrines of Salvation, comp. Bruce R. McConkie, 3 vols. [1954–56], 1:48).

Have the children make paper weaves. Let them write words or phrases of things they know are true on the strips of paper. Have teachers and children help each other. See HERE on how to make a paper weave. Invite the pianist to play soft music as they work. Have children share their work when done. (This will be too hard for most sunbeams and 4 year olds, you can try to adapt by making less slits and wider strips to weave)