Monthly Theme: Heavenly Father Speaks to Us Through His Prophets
Monthly Scripture: “What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, … whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same” D&C 1:38
Weeks 1 & 2 Prophets speak for Heavenly Father.
* Print out pictures of the 12 apostles (or you could do a picture of the quorum and draw lines from each member on the chalkboard) and make matching paper strips with their names. Invite the children to try matching the name with the apostle after you (or a good primary reader) read a short quote from that apostle. When you hear the words of these apostles, do they make you feel good or happy or peaceful? Do these words testify of Christ or Christ-like things we should do?? Each child can get 2 tries to try to match the name with the right apostle!! Didn't quite get it, that's OK, this is hard!! Great guess!! Let's let another friend try!
I'm going to do this for Family Home Evening, so here are some quotes and fun facts about the new Quorom of the 12 Apostles. Remember when these men are sustained, they are sustained as prophets! (If you mouse over the top right hand corner to the square with the arrow, you can click on that and it will open it up to then let you print)
* "Prophets speak not only to the people of their time, but they also speak to people throughout all time. Their voices echo through the centuries as a testament of God’s will to His children. Today is not different from ages past. The Lord does not love the people of our day any less than in past times. One of the glorious messages of the Restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ is that God continues to speak to His children! He is not hidden in the heavens but speaks today as He did in ancient days." (President Deiter F. Uchtdorf Why Do We Need Prophets? March 2012)
Have a picture of Jesus. Play a game of hide and seek! Invite 1 primary friend to close their eyes and count slowly to 20. Invite another primary friend to hide the picture. After a while, invite another primary friend to give a couple hints about where the picture is. So it is with the prophets!! If we listen to them, we will find Christ!! In between rounds of the game, have a few pictures of prophets throughout the ages. Who are these men and what did they teach? At the end of your lesson, ask is Heavenly Father and The Savior hidden from us?? No!! Bear testimony that prophets speak for Heavenly Father!
* Again, from President Uchtdorf (same talk as the idea above) "Heavenly Father wants what is best for us. That is why His instructions are so crucial and sometimes so urgent. That is why He has not abandoned us today but continues to reveal His will to us through His prophets. Our fate and the fate of our world hinge on our hearing and heeding the revealed word of God to His children."
What is a hinge? A
movable joint or mechanism on which a door, gate, or lid swings as it opens and closes, or that connects linked objects. In order for a door to not fall down, it needs a hinge!! The door depends on that hinge just like we must depend upon listening and following what the prophets say.
Invite 5 primary friends up front. Have them whisper to you who their favorite prophet it and write it down on individual pieces of paper. Put it in a bowl. Invite a friend to come up and pick a paper. Have them guess out of the 5 friends who's favorite prophet that is! Once the person is guessed, have them share why they love that prophet. It might be fun to even do a teacher round!!!
At the end of the lesson, challenge the children to go home and show their parents a hinge on the door and tell them what they learned in primary!
Week 3 We are led by a living prophet today.
* These Jeopardy games on President Monson are always a hit.
HERE and HERE
* Bring in a dead plant and a living plant. Which one gives us air? The dead plant is still important because it will crumble and give nutrients to the soil! The living plant helps us breath though!!
Just as important as the air we breath are the words of LIVING prophets. If the size of your primary permits and the weather, go outside! Beforehand, hide little Easter eggs with facts about President Monson in them. Hide the eggs by living plants!! Once they are found, come back inside and share what is in the inside of the eggs. If you have a larger primary, this would not be a good idea!! A larger primary could have an outline of a tree on the chalkboard. Have leaves with interesting facts about President Monson on them. Invite children to choose a leaf, read, and then put on the tree.
President John Taylor said, “We require a living tree—a living fountain—living intelligence, proceeding from the living priesthood in heaven, through the living priesthood on earth. …" (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: John Taylor, (2011), 153–61)
* HERE is an excellent talk with lots of insight for the week's topic.
* Here is a great poem from The Friend. Children can draw a picture of President Monson and share. (Again, mouse over the top right hand corner. Click on the square with the arrow and it will direct you to a page where you can print)
Also, I took the liberty of changing 1 word in the poem. Instead of President Hinckley, I changed it to President Monson. I hope the brilliant author, Sister Arthur doesn't mind!
Week 4 There is safety in following the prophet.
* Bring in a toddler car seat. Why do we have these in cars? To keep our little brothers or sisters safe, right?? The seatbelts help us if we are in an accident and keep us from getting severely hurt hopefully!
Like seatbelts, there is safety in following the prophet. Have 10-12 questions and/or scriptures to read about the week's theme. Invite a child to come up and buckle in a stuffed animal. For older primary children, have them do it not facing the car seat or with one hand. Have them answer a question afterwards! You could even have your primary pianist buckle up the animal and time her. Can anyone beat her time??
As a sidenote, if you take out your toddler seat and their is not a mass grave of crumbs and questionable dried food, I solemnly salute you as an amazing mother. If there is that mass grave as well as some sort of fungus growing on top, I solemnly salute you as an amazing mother. Because the truth of the matter is you were able to get the seat out in the first place. Congratulations.
* "In our own time, we have been warned with counsel of where to find safety from sin and from sorrow. One of the keys to recognizing those warnings is that they are repeated. For instance, more than once in these general conferences, you have heard our prophet say that he would quote a preceding prophet and would therefore be a second witness and sometimes even a third. … The Apostle Paul wrote that “in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established” 2 Corinthians 13:1." President Henry B. Eyering The Way to Safety Liahona October 2015
For SENIOR sharing time, have a few copies of different talks from General Conference. Break into groups and have the children find examples of prophets quoting other prophets... what is the message of safety being told to us?? End with the following quote, again from President Eyering,
"When the words of prophets seem repetitive, that should rivet our attention and fill our hearts with gratitude to live in such a blessed time. …
Our Heavenly Father loves us. He sent His Only Begotten Son to be our Savior. He knew that in mortality we would be in grave danger, the worst of it from the temptations of a terrible adversary. That is one of the reasons why the Savior has provided priesthood keys so that those with ears to hear and faith to obey could go to places of safety."
* Bring in your chef hat, cutting board, and basket of food safety. Did you know that one doesn't simply cook. They have to know a few things about food safety so they don't get hurt or sick!
HERE is a link to lds.org about food safety. Have some visuals and demonstrate to the kids a few important tips about being safe while preparing food.
Divide into groups and have the children come up with a recipe for following the prophet.... what is the end result? A cake? A cookie? A salad?? No! Safety!!!
