Show the children each object individually.
Use your imagination.
I them explain to them that faith is not something that you can see, taste, smell, touch or hear. It is something greater than the five senses. I compare faith to the objects I brought and ask questions like, "Can you touch faith like you can this soft blanket?"
I read them several scriptures and even send one home on a card with them. I developed this lesson for my seven year old daughter who was struggling to understand faith and why there was no physical evidence of it.
Items needed
Give one student the marker and the plate.
Ask the students to list the things necessary in the true church / Christ's gospel (i.e. apostles, revelation, baptism by immersion, etc.).
As items are listed, the student with the plate will write those items on the plate. When the class has run out of ideas, show the plate to the class and indicate that the plate is complete and whole... just as Jesus' church was when He was alive.
Then place the plate in a bag, and have another student come up and strike the plate a couple of times with the hammer (it should shatter into many pieces, hopefully large and small ones). Then pull out some of the pieces and try to put the plate back together. Point out that even if you glue the plate together, there will still be some pieces missing...it will never be completely whole again without a restoration of all the missing items.
If you are really clever, you will have another (unbroken) plate with the items written on it that you can pull out as the "restored" plate.
Here are some references about the True Church
Hold the suitcase up and tell your class members that inside this suitcase is a very valuable treasure. If they posses the treasure they will have the answers to all of the questions that they could ever have.
Ask them if anyone would like to have your treasure. Hand it to the child and ask them if they feel wiser just by holding the "treasure." Of course they say no and need to open it to see what is inside, but the lock holds them back.
Offer a key and ask them to pull out the treasure once it's opened. The child will pull out the scriptures inside their cover or carrying case.
Ask them now if they feel wiser, or more special because they are carrying around the scriptures. They will say "no" and then you can lead into the comparison that just as we needed to unlock the suitcase to discover the treasure we need to open the scriptures with "three keys" - search, ponder and pray. As we use these three keys we can unlock the treasures of knowledge and guidance that await us as we read the scriptures.
2 Nephi 4:15
15 And upon these I write the things of my soul, and many of the scriptures which are engraven upon the plates of brass. For my soul delighteth in the scriptures, and my heart pondereth them, and writeth them for the learning and the profit of my children.
Moroni 10:3-5
3 Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts.
4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truthof it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.
5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.
Mosiah 1:6-7
6 O my sons, I would that ye should remember that these sayings are true, and also that these records are true. And behold, also the plates of Nephi, which contain the records and the sayings of our fathers from the time they left Jerusalem until now, and they are true; and we can know of their surety because we have them before our eyes.
7 And now, my sons, I would that ye should remember to search them diligently, that ye may profit thereby; and I would that ye should keep the commandments of God, that ye may prosper in the land according to the promises which the Lord made unto our fathers.
Items needed
Begin by having some water in the pie pan.
Sprinkle pepper into the pan as you talk about how sinning can make us feel sad and unclean.
Hold up the bar of soap and ask what the purpose of soap is. (Answer: to clean).
Explain that repentance is like this bar of soap. When we repent (place tip of the soap into the peppered water), all of our sins are washed away (when the soap goes in the water, the pepper moves AWAY from the soap).
D&C 58:42 - Behold, he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more.
*This is a really neat visual and works best in a small classroom where people can gather around the table to watch.
*It can actually be used for other lessons. The water can represent the world and the pepper can represent all the evil in the world. And we need to be examples (represented by the soap).
We must examine closely what our decisions are based on to be sure that Satan isn't deceiving us by disguising something evil.
Having the Holy Ghost with us as all times will help us not to be fooled by his traps.
Prepare the apple and the onion like a caramel apple on the sticks.
Ask the students to pick which caramel apple they would like to eat. Based on appearances, both look appealing, however, what is disguised as good will actually be disgusting if they choose the onion.
(Jenny - if I were doing this lesson, I'd tell my co-teacher ahead of time which was the onion and which was the apple ahead of time. Then I'd tell the class that they have a helper in the class who can tell them which item to choose. Then I'd let the co-teacher guide the class, and we'd talk about following the prophet or listening to promptings.)
Ahead of time, affix some pennies to some of the paper squares.
Write things on the penny squares that are not good or cause us to sink... such as drinking alcohol, swearing, gossiping, etc.
On the squares without pennies write things that will help us...such as prayer scripture study, etc. Have the children read the square and then put it in the water. The Squares containing pennies will sink, the others will float.
This was an object lesson I used in my Young Women's Laurel class. I had our Stake Y.W. President who lives in our ward (but you could use the Bishop or someone else) step into class just after it had started. She had 3 gift bags. She gave one to me, one to the adviser and one to the Y.W. secretary, who I had asked to come sit in on our lesson. She told us that this was a gift from her to thank us for all the hard work that we were doing. She then left.
The three of us acted like we had not expected these gifts. We were very excited to open them and we each took our turn. I opened mine first. It was a bag of candy. I looked at it and said that I really didn't like that kind of candy and I threw it in the garbage. You should have seen the look on the girls faces.
The adviser opened hers and she immediately opened her candy and started to share with everyone.
While this was happening, the secretary opened hers and hid it behind her.
When the girls realized that they hadn't seen what she got they asked where it was. She said that she didn't know what they were talking about. One of the girls asked if she could take the candy out of the garbage.
We then had a lesson on how Heavenly Father gives us each talents. Some of us throw them away and don't ever even try to develop them. Some of us share them and everyone benefits, and some of us hide them so that others don't know that we have them.
Place a dollar inside someones Book of Mormon at 1 Nephi 3:7 when they are not looking.
Later ask that person to come up to help you and to bring their scriptures. Ask them if they would do something for you right there. Once you have their OK ask them to give you a dollar. Of course they will try leave to find one for you but say "no right here right now". You can mess with them for minute and then ask them to read 1 Nephi 3:7, where they will find the dollar.
Remind the class that the Lord's way is not always known to us up front that we must have faith that he provided a way for his work to be done. Remind the class that when your volunteer struggled about the money many of them may have been able to give you a dollar right then out of their wallet or purse, but that for your purpose it was important that only the volunteer provide the dollar. And that the lesson would have no meaning if someone else did it. "The Lord does not call the equipped he equips the called". This lesson can be used for: Faith in doing the Lord's work. Accepting callings in the Church. Sustaining leaders.
Can be adapted for: Over coming impossible obstacles.
Get two volunteers. Give each volunteer 10-30 square children's wooden ABC blocks. (amount depends on what age you are working with, they will be stacking the blocks, so young children will not be able to stack as many)
Tell the volunteers that they have an assignment to stack as many blocks as they can. One person will get approx. 10 seconds while the other gets 1 minute (again vary time according to age).
Let the one minute person start first and then have the second person begin when there is 10 seconds left. Discuss how procrastination makes someone feel. Why did the person who only had a few seconds make such a sloppy stack? What are some things we put off doing? How can we better plan our time to include scripture study in our day? Prayer? Ministry? Family Home Evening? Repentance? What will be the effect if we put off these things?
Our YW lesson was on Time Management. I arranged for our YW President to separate the girls into classes and when it came time for my lesson in the Laurel class, she used her theatrical experience 🙂 and vocally wondered where I was.
I was outside the door waiting for her to peek her head out "looking for me".
I then came running into class-with my manual in hand, slippers on, makeup bag in tow, brushing my hair. I gushed to the girls about waking up late, not having my lesson prepared because I slept in, etc. etc. I told them I thought bringing cookies would be great today but "Oh Well!" and I opened my book to "read" what the lesson was about.
The girls had gaping mouths and it was hard to keep a straight face!
I told the girls that I had to go to the bathroom to collect my thoughts and out in the hall, I put on my church shoes, grabbed the cookies that I HAD made, and reentered the classroom in a calm manner. The girls giggled and I went on to explain the importance of time management and continued with my lesson! It was a great attention-getter!
