Have someone try to crush the empty soda can with one hand--it's easy. Now have someone try to crush the full can with one hand--you can't. What is the difference? When you are full of the Spirit you are strong and Satan can't crush you.
Ring the tuning fork, play the same note on the piano. Ask if the piano is in tune with the tuning fork. Ask why or why not? (piano hasn't been tuned, humidity, time between tunings, etc.) Make the connection that we need to do certain things to keep ourselves in tune with the Holy Spirit, i.e. prayer, scripture study, church attendance, etc.
Soon after you begin teaching the class, ask for a volunteer to come up. When someone has come up, ask them to finish teaching the lesson and then sit down. After they have been trying to teach something for a short while, stand up and ask them how they felt.
Ask if it would have been a little bit easier if you had given them some time to prepare their lesson. Then thank the volunteer and ask them to be seated.
Address the class on the importance of being prepared before they go to the temple (sacrament meeting, church, study scriptures etc.)
Have someone tie their string to the pole and see if they can pull the stick off the ground and try to make it stand straight up.
Then have some one else tie their string on and see if it works with two people. You can keep adding one by one, or just show how when everyone isn't working together it won't get the job done.
Tie everyone's string onto the pole and at the same time everyone pull on their string to lift their weight of the pole so it will stand straight and strong.
Read Ether 12:6 or any faith related scripture. After reading hand a piece of paper to each of the students and say to the class that you now want to test their faith, then tell them that they have to make a hole with the piece of paper big enough to fit themselves through it!
Some laugh or say it's impossible. Let them have a go for a while. Sometimes they get it most times they don't.
Then do it yourself, its easy here are the instructions (you can do it in front of the class or while they are trying do it, you can do it without them seeing or have one prepared before class):
1. Fold the paper in half
2. Starting at one side of the folded paper.
3. Rip downwards from the folded edge but not all the way. (about 1cm from the edge)
4. Then rip the paper from the opposite end beside your last rip, again not all the way.
5. Repeat ripping from opposite edges until you end up at the other side of the paper. (You might want to try this before the class.)
5. Your last rip must be from the folded edge.
6. Then open the paper rip carefully the middle joining parts of the paper, you then get one huge hole.
Okay so after they are amazed at your skills at papering, you can then teach the class "ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith" or other related topics.
Show the hourglass or timer and discuss how we are all like the individual pieces of sand. We are all together in the top of the hourglass, and we go down the hourglass we may feel like we are being restricted and squeezed. People are telling us what to do, how to act, how to dress, what time to be home, etc. But if we decide not to follow the rules and decide to break the "law of gravity" we will never know a whole world of freedom that we are missing out on. We are missing out the freedom to be sealed in the temple, serve a mission, receive personal revelation etc.
When the sand has reached the bottom, show the class how some pieces of sand are stuck to the glass. Remind the class not to break laws and end up being stuck on the glass, unable to progress.
This is part of a lesson that I taught called "Understanding Your Divine Nature".
I held up the first pot (plain pot with the beautiful plant inside of it) and then held up the second (much prettier pot) and asked if they could be represented by a flower pot, which pot would you choose to be??? (Of course, they pretty much chose the pretty pot)
Before we came to earth, our Heavenly Father took the time to discuss with us our mission upon the earth, the talents we'd be given, the challenges we'd face and before letting us go, I can see that same loving Heavenly Father tell us of his love for each and every one of us. When we were born to our parents, we all do not have the same skin color, or hair color. Some have freckles and some have perfect hair and some not so perfect hair. Some of us have physical challenges were we're dependent on a wheelchair or have illnesses to overcome in this lifetime.
But no matter what package or physical bodies we are given in this life, know that we are daughters of a king, the father of our spirits. We are each equally unique and beautiful in our own way and special in the sight of God. And your worth is so much greater than what the eye can see.
And as a great tree bears many branches, each branch is an extension of a greater source. So it is with us, we are an extension of a greater being who fathered our spirits and knows us better than we can ever know ourselves.
Before class, choose a class member that would be comfortable being blindfolded during class, but don't tell the class member before hand. Invite a parent of the class member you chose to visit the class without letting the class member know.
Also invite a member of the ward to visit the class who doesn't know the class member.
Have both invites remain outside the classroom until you call them in. Have the class member come to the front of the class and blind fold them. Tell them you want them to identify the visitors without seeing them.
Invite the parent into the class and have the parent greet the class member. The class member should easily recognize this visitor.
Next invite the other visitor in to greet the class member still blind folded. Hopefully, the class member cannot recognize the 2nd visitor.
Take the blind fold off and invite the class to discuss why the class member could identify the first visitor and not the second one. Point out that the class member communicates with the first visitor daily, but hasn't communicated with the second visitor at all.
Teach that we cannot recognize our Heavenly Father or have a relationship with him if we don't have daily communication with him. Sometimes it's fun to use 2 or more class members for this attention-getter. You can maybe even use this for creating a better relationship with your family.
I asked each member of the class to listen to the heart of the girl next to her. They laughed and giggled!
Then I gave them each a stethoscope and had them listen again. Our lesson was on the Holy Ghost as an instrument used in hearing Heavenly Father. It worked great!
When teaching primary teachers the importance of being prepared and knowing their lesson material relate it to the cake, which is on display. Talk about how desirable it is, how it took time to prepare it and make it. Compare this to the lesson manuals and helps put out by the church for teaching. They are desirable and someone has gone to much time to prepared them for us to present.
Then ask if any would like to have a piece of cake. (They may think you've tampered with it to make it taste bad, assure them it is as delicious as it looks)
When you have a volunteer to sample look about for a cutting utensil, plate, napkin, etc. Excuse yourself for not being prepared with these things and then just grab a handful of cake and hand it to the person. They will probably pull back and not accept the cake.
Compare this to the lesson manuals prepared for us. They are desirable and attractive but it is up to us to prepare them so that they are presented in the way they were meant to be. This is VERY effective. Enjoy!
