Items needed
- muddy socks
- bathrobe
- bowl/pitcher of ice water
- bowl/pitcher of warm water
Start off your lesson with a volunteer to put on a pair of socks. When you show the volunteer the muddy socks, he/she won't want to put them on. Walk around the room asking for another volunteer to put them on.
After they are reject the opportunity to put on the socks, relate it the the holy ghost, that he does not dwell in unclean things, just like we would not like to wear muddy socks, the HG does not want to be in unclean situations.
Then, call another volunteer, (you can have a bathrobe for them,) tell a story about a child wanting to know how he knows if something is right or wrong. The mother of the child (in your story) explains the HG feeling like a warm or cold bath.
Warm Bath
God shall give unto you knowledge by his Holy Spirit (D&C 121:26).
One sunny afternoon Cory slipped into the kitchen after finishing his daily chores. “Hi, Mom. What’s for dinner?”
“Hungry so soon?” Mom replied as she wiped flour from her elbows. “I’m making chicken potpie, but it won’t be ready for an hour or so. Think you can wait, big guy?”
“Sure,” Cory said. But instead of running to his room to grab his baseball and glove to practice pitching, Cory stayed in the kitchen and sat stiffly on a chair. “Can I help you, Mom?”
Mom put down the ball of dough she had been molding in the middle of the table and gave Cory a quick glance. “Isn’t it your turn to do the dishes tonight, Cory?”
“I think so.” Cory was staring out the large window over the sink into the bright blue sky. Mom could tell that something was bothering him.
“Hand me the rolling pin from the big drawer there, please.”
As he handed her the rolling pin, Cory asked, “Mom, how do you know when you have done something right”—he paused—“or wrong?”
Mom sat down, dusting off her apron. “Well, I look inside myself. I listen for the Holy Ghost to guide me. If I feel good, it’s usually a good thing. I feel warm all over.”
Cory was confused. “You look inside yourself?”
Mom began again. “Imagine yourself taking a bath. If the water’s warm, you’re comfortable, right?”
“Right.”
“What if it’s cold?” Mom asked.
“You want to get out.”
“Exactly. When something is right, you might never question it. It’s like taking a warm bath. But when something is wrong, it’s like a cold bath; you want to get out. Many times the Holy Ghost guides us by the way we feel.”
There was silence.
“Is something bothering you, Cory?”
“Yeah.” Cory hesitated. “A kid at school wanted me to give him the answers to our homework.” He glanced down to his shoes. “He said I would be a great friend if I did.”
Mom looked at Cory as he wriggled in his chair.
“I said no, Mom, but I didn’t feel warm.”
“Well, what if your friend had asked you for your help instead of just your answers?” Mom asked.
Cory’s eyes brightened. “I would have liked that. That’s not wrong.”
“See the difference?”
“I think so.”
Talking and laughing, they chopped vegetables and cut up chicken and got the pie ready for the oven.
“Thanks for your help, Cory,” Mom said.
“Thank you, too, Mom.”
After school the next day, Mom was in the kitchen, writing out checks for bills, Cory bounded in, followed by a shy, stocky boy. “Mom, this is John. Can we study together at the kitchen table this afternoon?”
“Of course,” Mom answered. She hid her smile as she slipped her checkbook into her purse. She winked at Cory. “I’ll be upstairs taking a warm bath.”
Pull out your pitcher of "ice" cold water and have your volunteer put his/her foot in it. They will pull it out quickly. Let kids from other classes try to put their hand in the ice cold water. Let the tell how they wanted to "get out fast."
Compare that to the spirit letting us know when we are doing something wrong. We will feel uncomfortable, and we want to get out. Then have your volunteer put her foot in pitcher of warm water. Let the other kids in the primary try. They will most likely make comments on how good it feels. Compare that to when we are doing good things or are in good places, we are very comfy and will be very comfortable staying. This object lesson is one that will stick with the kids! Enjoy.
