We loved coloring treasure boxes and other items to review what we learned in class today!
Today was almost a very sad day in our little class. It was Fast Sunday, so Sister Combs had not brought snacks, but the Primary President had saved cookies from an event earlier in the week, so nobody starved to death. It was also Sister Combs's last Sunday as a CTR (she is moving to a Sunday School class several years older), but the children seemed blissfully unaware of the fact, so we continued class as usual and left it for mom and dad to explain matters to them at home. We talked about some of our very special treasures, such as piggy banks, stuffed animals, and toy trucks. Everybody could think of a treasure and what made it so important and valuable. Then we took turns pulling objects from our treasure box: a photograph of the Houston Temple, the scriptures, and pictures of Jesus. We talked how all of these treasures teach us what Heavenly Father wants us to do and help us to be happy. We learned that many people came to learn from Jesus when he lived on the earth. No matter how tired he was, he always found time to teach them. Jesus wants everyone to know the truth. We reviewed some of our favorite stories from the life of Jesus Christ. We learned that prophets teach us what Jesus wants us to know. We talked a little about Joseph Smith, and how he studied the scriptures and prayed to know which church was true. He had a vision and learned that none of the churches then on the earth were correct. Later, Jesus sent angels to help Joseph Smith restore the true church on the earth and become a latter-day prophet. We always love talking about our current prophet, President Thomas S. Monson! He has many great stories that teach us how we should live and treat others.
We loved coloring treasure boxes and other items to review what we learned in class today!
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The five hungry children ate a total of two dozen whole wheat mini muffins. The girls only liked the chocolate-chip muffins, but the boys thought the ones topped with cinnamon sugar were just as delicious. We talked about how our prayers are always answered, but not always in the way that we had expected. Sometimes the answer is "yes", sometimes the answer is "not now", and sometimes the answer is "no". The children loved the story of how John A. Widtsoe learned both that Heavenly Father answers our prayers and that it is dangerous to have holes in your pockets! They were so excited when his prayer was answered and he found his lost $5 gold coin. We learned about Elisabeth and Zacharias, who had to wait many years for their prayer for a child to be answered. The children found this story much more interesting once they learned that the baby was John the Baptist, one of their New Testament heroes. We also heard a story about a boy who prayed for something that was not good for him, and the answer to his prayer was "no". Syler helpfully told us that his brother had recently prayed that he would be able to advance quickly to the next level of his video game, and that prayer was not answered the way he wanted, either! We talked about how some things we want would not be safe or healthy, and some things are just not necessary for us to have. The children pretended that they were parents and took turns saying how they would respond to requests from their children. They loved it, especially when they could tell their imaginary offspring no! We talked about how our parents usually know what is best for us, and our Heavenly Father always does. We had a great time coloring lots of different sizes and shapes of stars. Just like there are many stars on the page, we say many prayers each day, and Heavenly Father hears and answers them all.
The children ate their chocolate-chip cookies and had a long discussion about muffins for a future snack. They helped Sister Combs figure out why her flashlight was not working -- she hadn't turned on the power! We talked about some of the things that we can do using electrical power, and then discussed that there is a much greater power: the power of the priesthood. We watched a Bible video reenactment of when Jesus calmed the stormy seas. Most of the class enjoyed seeing the weather change and the looks of astonishment on the disciples' faces. We learned that it was through the power of the priesthood that Jesus could command the wind and the water to be still. We learned that many people hold the priesthood, including the current and former prophets and our fathers. We learned that Heavenly Father gave them this power to bless and help us, and we discussed some of the ways that the priesthood is used. We reviewed last week's lesson about healing the sick. We learned that the young men who bless and pass the Sacrament hold the priesthood. We talked about what we should do during the Sacrament; the children said we should think about Jesus and not talk. We reviewed what we had learned in prior lessons about baptism and the Gift of the Holy Ghost. The baptism lesson must have made a big impression, because the children remembered all about when Jesus was baptized and some of the steps they should take to prepare for their own baptisms when they reach the age of accountability! Syler looked at a picture of a baby blessing and remembered when his father blessed his baby sister. If Mees had been in class, he probably would have been happy to share about his baby brother's blessing, too. The children were very excited to see the picture of a couple who had just been sealed in the temple. We discussed that temple marriages last forever, not just until we die. The children each said that they will be married in the temple when they grow up. We looked at some other pictures of temples and discussed how they are all beautiful and special. We learned that fathers who hold the priesthood can give their children special blessings if they are nervous about school or worried about other things.
The children were very excited to have little "I Love to See the Temple" books to color. They especially liked drawing a temple with the Angel Moroni on top on the blank page! The children were overexcited from Mother's Day, but they were still able to focus on their chocolate-chip cookies. We looked at items that one might find in a first-aid kit and discussed how we would use them. All of these things can help us to feel better when we are sick or injured. The children had trouble thinking of anything else that might help us to heal, so we listened to a story about Jesus to try to figure out the answer. The children enjoyed hearing the story of the daughter of Jairus. They were horrified when some of Jairus' friends laughed at Jesus for saying that the child was not dead, only sleeping. They thought it was good that those people were not allowed to stay when Jesus blessed the girl, because they were so rude! We discussed that Jesus was able to heal the daughter of Jairus because he held the priesthood and because the child's family had faith that she could be healed. We learned that we can receive blessings of healing, even though Jesus is not on the earth with us right now. Righteous men who hold the priesthood have the authority to act in the Savior's name and administer priesthood ordinances. We talked about how they anoint our heads with consecrated oil (at least one of the children remembered seeing this done) and how usually there are two men giving us the blessing. We discussed how we need to have faith, like Jairus did, that we can be healed.
We learned about the first time President Monson gave someone a blessing. We love hearing stories from the life of our prophet! Our coloring page shows several pictures related to essential elements of priesthood blessings. The children added lots of smiley face stickers, because it makes us happy that we can receive blessings when we are sick. We only had two students and no snacks today, so the classroom felt much emptier than usual! We enjoyed playing "Teacher Says", which is startlingly similar to Simon Says. We learned about a little boy named Sam, who did not enjoy carrying firewood through the snow. Sam's father told him to walk in his footsteps, and this made the walk a lot easier. We talked about how following in other people's footsteps can also mean following their examples, and discussed some people who are good examples to us. We heard a great story about Jesus calling Peter, James, and John to be fishers of men. The children enjoyed thinking about the boats overflowing with fish, and loved that Peter instantly decided to follow Jesus because he recognized that a miracle had occurred.
We learned that Jesus has also invited us to follow him. We watched part of a "Come, Follow Me" music video, but they have not seen theWe learned that Jesus has asked us to keep the commandments and love one another. We read a story about Heber J. Grant, who gave his brand-new coat to a shivering boy. The children loved his great example of loving one another. We reviewed what we had learned by fishing! Our magnetized fish had questions attached. After we had collected all of our fish, we colored them, then fished again until our parents arrived. Class started with chocolate-chip cookies, so everybody was happy. We had mail to read -- a letter from Elder Rex D. Pinegar! The children were horrified that seven-year-old Rex had accepted a friend's dare to run across the road in front of a car, but they were relieved that he was not seriously injured. Elder Pinegar taught us that we should not accept any dares except "Dare to Do Right!" We watched a music video and talked about all of the children wearing CTR rings and making good choices. We also liked the picture of President Monson, because the prophet teaches us about ways to choose the right. We learned that Jesus Christ fasted and prayed for forty days and forty nights. The children talked about how hungry and sad they felt when they hadn't eaten for just a few hours and tried to imagine how it would feel not to eat for many days! We learned that Satan tempted Jesus three times at the end of this period of fasting, but Jesus made the right choice. As the children observed, Jesus always makes the right choice, and Satan always wants people to do what is wrong. They especially enjoyed looking at a picture of the temple in Jerusalem, since it does not look very much like our temple. We played a fun board game to review what we had learned. Everybody had fun, although the girls were somewhat annoyed that the boys' team won both times. We had just a few minutes at the end for coloring (click the link below to download the file if you want to color the words again!). The children were excited to tell their families all about how Jesus resisted temptations and how they plan to follow his example.
The children were very excited to eat their frosted sugar cookies with star sprinkles! We reviewed what we learned about baptism last week and discovered that everyone had been paying attention and remembered quite a bit. We talked about who we knew was present at Jesus's baptism: John the Baptist, Jesus Christ, and Heavenly Father. Then we learned that one more person was there: the Holy Ghost. We learned that the Holy Ghost does not have a body like we do. He is assigned by Heavenly Father to help us, like Jesus was. We discussed that the Holy Ghost can help us to make good choices and help us to know what is true. Some of the children mentioned having a peaceful feeling at church or reading the scriptures, which they recognized as the Holy Ghost testifying to them. We watched a music video. The children noticed several boys and girls being confirmed. We learned that we are confirmed members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints after we are baptized, and we receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost. We learned that this gift entitles us to the help and direction of the Spirit as long as we are righteous. The children remembered going to baptisms and seeing people be confirmed. They also enjoyed the music and the other images in the video -- it seemed to be made for our class! We had fun coloring all of these beautiful presents. We learned today that, when we are old enough, we can receive a gift that is far better than a big stack of birthday presents!
The children loved learning about Jesus and John the Baptist. They loved John asking Jesus why he needed to be baptized when he had no sins, and were interested to learn that it is a commandment for everyone to be baptized. They pointed out that Jesus was baptized by immersion -- his whole body went under the water. We also learned that Heavenly Father testified of his son after the baptism was complete. We discussed how Sister Combs is the only person in our class who has been baptized. The children said that we must be at least eight years old to be baptized, and they discussed family members who had been baptized and how long it will be until they turn eight. We learned that it is not too early to start preparing for our baptisms, and discussed six steps that we can take (artwork by Emily Walls): We put footsteps on the floor as we discussed each step. When our path was complete, it led to a picture of a child being baptized. The children took turns stating each step and walking toward their goal. It was exciting to see how much everybody had learned! We had lots of things to color today. Sister Short gave us pictures of Jesus being baptized, we found hidden hearts in a picture of Alma baptizing in the Waters of Mormon, and most of the children colored symbols representing the six steps of preparation for baptism.
The children were all very excited and very hungry today! We had two kinds of mini muffins and two colors of grapes from the ward Easter party and chocolate-chip cookies from Sister Smith, and everyone enjoyed the variety and quantity of delicious snacks. We talked about bunnies and sheep and eggs for a minute or two, but the children said those were not really why we celebrate Easter, so we spent the rest of our lesson time talking about Jesus. The children spent a lot of time examining this picture. We talked about the thieves on either side of Jesus, the sign above his head, and Jesus' friends, who were very sad. We talked about how Jesus had not done anything wrong, but some bad people had him put to death anyway. It was hard to understand how anyone could not love Jesus and want to be like him. We learned that Jesus' friends took his body and cleaned it and put it in a tomb. The children noticed how small and dark the tomb was. We learned that a big stone was rolled in front of the tomb and soldiers stood guard, so that nobody could go inside. The children were very excited when angels came and frightened the soldiers into unconsciousness. They wondered how the angels moved the big, heavy stone out of the way, but then they realized that Heavenly Father had given them the strength and the knowledge of how to do the job. Jesus' spirit had reentered his body, so he didn't need to stay in the tomb any more! We learned that several women came to take care of Jesus' body, but he wasn't there! They eventually saw two angels, who told them that Jesus had risen from the tomb. The children were very glad that Jesus comforted Mary Magdalene, who was crying because she didn't know where he was. They also thought it was funny that she didn't recognize Jesus at first. We learned that Mary Magdalene and her friends went and told Jesus' other disciples to be happy because he was alive. We learned that we will all be resurrected because Jesus was. What an amazing gift he gave us on Easter! We colored pictures of the empty tomb and Jesus and practiced how we could tell the Easter story to our families and friends. Then we spent the last few minutes of class using lots of sparkly bunny and egg stickers. We were having so much fun that nobody wanted to go home when their parents arrived!
The children loved their little round carrot cookies, especially the frosting. After snack time, we watched a little video to introduce our topic for the day. We talked about what the missionaries in the song were doing. We learned that the sons of Mosiah chose to become missionaries rather than staying to advance their political careers. Mees pointed out that most kings in the scriptures were wicked, so being a missionary was much better. We learned that King Mosiah (who was a good king!) was worried about his sons' safety among the Lamanites, but Heavenly Father promised him that they would be safe. We talked about how Ammon and his brothers prayed often and made good choices. We learned that Ammon became a servant to King Lamoni. He protected the king's sheep and showed love and respect for the Lamanites, which made the king want to know more about the Gospel. Eventually, thousands of the Lamanites joined the church because of Ammon and his brothers.
We learned that we can be missionaries, even though we are not on full-time missions right now. We role-played inviting a neighbor to an activity, playing nicely with others, and helping a neighbor pick up her spilled groceries. We learned that we can follow Jesus's example and be kind and loving to everyone, and sometimes people will want to know why we act and feel the way we do. Sister Combs brought a bag of warm fuzzies, and the children felt inside the bag and tried to imagine what could be so soft and wonderful. They wanted to learn more about the warm fuzzies! Learning about Jesus makes us feel warm and happy inside, so the children agreed that they should share what they know about Jesus with their friends and neighbors. They were very excited to take a warm fuzzy home and explain to their families how they can be member missionaries. We had two coloring options, but most members of the class liked the full-time missionaries better than the member missionaries. |
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