Missionary Image from LDS Gospel Image Library
Monthly Theme: I will share the Gospel with all of God's children.
Monthly Scripture: "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." Matthew 5:16
Weeks 1 and 2 Living the Gospel helps me to be a missionary now.
* Plan in advance to get some pictures of ward members as children, maybe some grandparent pictures, maybe even a current picture of the Bishop. Ask these members to share a fun missionary story they have from their life. Invite a child to guess who a picture is of and then share the story. Sing I want to Be A Missionary Now (CS 168) We have missionary experiences ALL the years of our life!
“Regardless of our age, experience, or station in life, we are all missionaries.” Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, “Becoming a Missionary,” Ensign, Nov. 2005, 44.
* Have 5 numbered chairs in the front of the room in a row. Invite 5 children at a time to come up front. Sing a missionary song and have the children walk reverently around the chairs. When the music stops, they sit and have someone in the primary draw a number. You'll need a cup with the numbers 1 through 5. Ask the child whose number was called to share a way they can be a missionary now! If they need help, HERE is a great article from The Friend with ways listed!! You could cut them up and put in a cup for the child to draw out... again if they needed help!
* HERE is a fun game from The Friend. You could make a few copies and divide into groups to play. After you play, invite a few children up front to share ways to be a missionary now!
* Bring in some flags of places people serve missions. Can we guess the countries of the flags? Everyone in primary is going to make a wonderful full-time missionary one day. We aren't sent to different countries right NOW, but there are still plenty of places to be good missionaries NOW!! Make some paper flags with pictures like school, home, grocery store, soccer game, church, friend's house... etc. Hide the flags and invite children to come find them as you sing Missionary songs. Once found, have them share several ways they can be a missionary NOW at that place!
* Have some paper for the children to draw on. Give them a simple step by step drawing of something. You will be up front modeling the steps of the drawing on the chalkboard. For example, the sun and beach... draw a circle, add lines for the sunshine. Add a straight line in the middle to separate the water and beach.... etc. Was it pretty easy when you had someone up front as an example to show what to draw? We need examples in life to show us the way! Living the gospel makes us examples and helps us to be missionaries NOW!!!
1 Timothy 4:12 " Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity."
Have a couple other examples of things to draw, then invite a couple friends to share ways to be a missionary NOW in between each simple drawing example!
*For a simple handout idea- Now&Later Candy with the message "I can be a missionary NOW AND LATER!!" I'm not all about sugaring up our sweet children... but in moderation and with a good point, it can be fun.
Week 3 I can share the Gospel with my family and friends.
* HERE is an activity from The Friend that encourages Primary children to be missionaries now! They will draw pictures in the windows, cut out and glue to make a Gospel Sharing Home!
* Does anyone ever get a little nervous about sharing the gospel? Sometimes I feel like I might not know the right thing to say. Can we practice?? You bet!! Whether it's family or friends... I can share the gospel!!
Mark 16:15 "And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature."
Bring in about 10 different stuffed animals. These are our practice creatures! Have a post it attached to each creature with a different gospel subject. We're going to pretend that they want to know more about something in the gospel.... what would you say? For example- a stuffed bunny has the post-it "Prophets". What can we tell someone who wants to learn more about prophets? Have plenty of children share their ideas about that topic!! Next, a stuffed alligator has the post-it "Holy Ghost". What can we tell someone who doesn't know anything about the Holy Ghost??
*D&C 71:1 "...The time has verily come that it is necessary and expedient in me that you should open your mouths in proclaiming my gospel..."
Have a poster board drawing of a giant head with a bid wide open mouth. The mouth will actually need to be cut out so it's a hole! Have a bag attached behind the mouth that primary friends can reach into and grab questions, scriptures, and songs about missionary work!
Let's open our mouths this week and share the gospel with our family and friends!!
* Have children write their testimonies to give with a Book of Mormon to a friend or family member this week!
Week 4 My testimony is strengthened when I share the Gospel.
* HERE is a link to The Friend with a fun activity called a "Testimony Glove".
* Have a 7 piece puzzle of a paper flower. (You could have 1 stem, 2 leaves, 4 flower petals) Invite children to come up and put a piece of the puzzle together on the board. For each piece share a paragraph of this poem by Karen Kimball (The Friend Oct. 2007):
A Testimony to Share
I have a testimony
That has begun to grow.
Gospel truths I once believed
Now I can say, “I know.”
When I feel inside my heart
The Holy Spirit’s there,
I can help bless others and
My testimony share.
I testify of Jesus Christ,
Of Heavenly Father’s plan,
The power of the Atonement,
And eternal life for man.
I testify of Joseph Smith,
And priesthood power restored,
The fulness of the gospel
On earth forevermore.
I testify of the prophet
And Twelve Apostles too,
Living in these latter days
To lead us safely through.
I testify of lessons learned
Through study and through prayer,
That I’ve discovered there.
I share my testimony,
Then reverently I end
Like a sacred prayer that’s said,
In Jesus’s name, amen.
Invite the children to draw a flower of their own and write down things they know are true! Make a book of these flowers for the missionaries to share with those who they are teaching!
* HERE is a bible video to share with the primary friends. It's very short. In it, Jesus asks who men say that He is? Peter shares His testimony. We learn from Jesus that a testimony comes from Heavenly Father and the Holy Ghost.
Have the children find a partner. They'll have 15 seconds to share who Jesus is to them! Have them switch partners and do the same, about 5 times! After everyone is sitting back down, invite primary friends to come up front and share something another partner had said!
One of the most important parts of our testimony is know who Jesus is! When we share the gospel our testimonies are strengthened!
* Bring in a little toy bulldozer. Share the following story from President Monson:
"In 1959, I met N. Eldon Tanner (1898–1982), who later would be a counselor to four Presidents of the Church. President Tanner was president of the Canada Calgary Stake. We discussed the cold Canadian winters, where temperatures can linger well below freezing and icy winds lower those temperatures even further.
I asked President Tanner why the roads in western Canada remained intact during such winters, showing little or no signs of cracking or breaking, while road surfaces in many areas where winters are less cold and less severe developed cracks and breaks and potholes.
Said he, “The answer is in the depth of the base of the paving materials. In order for them to remain strong and unbroken, it is necessary to go very deep with the foundation layers. When the foundations are not deep enough, the surfaces cannot withstand the extremes of weather.”
Challenges and difficulties can break us if our foundations of faith, our testimonies of truth, are not deeply embedded within us." (The Friend May 2009 3 Ways to Build a Strong Testimony)
Have other construction type toys for the children to come up front and choose. Attach questions, scriptures and songs about testimony and missionary work on them. After each friend, have the children pretend like they are digging! They are making their testimonies deeper as we learn from this lesson!
* Tell the children you are going to sing a song and add some words that DO NOT belong in the song! After the song, have them share what was WRONG!!
Sing "I think my Father lives, and loves me too. The spirit whispers this to me and I think that it is true. I think that it is true." (CS 5 I Know My Father Lives)
What is the difference between think and know? When the spirit tells us something, should we listen?
A testimony is "Knowledge and a spiritual witness given by the Holy Ghost. A testimony can also be an official or legal declaration of what a person perceives as truth." (Guide to the scriptures)
Have a couple children act out the story of Job. Even though he had a lot of hard things happen in life, he had a strong testimony.
Job 19:25-26 "For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God"
We have many things that happen to us in life but what makes us stay strong? The gospel! When we share the gospel with others our testimony is strengthened. We no longer "think" things are true... but KNOW. When the spirit whispers to us, we listen and follow!
