Two of our boys came to class today, so Emi told them everything they had missed about Alma the Younger last week. We talked about how Alma had repented of his sins, and Heavenly Father forgave him. We can also be forgiven of our sins if we repent. We read Isaiah 1:18, which was a little confusing until we found out that that scarlet is a color as well as a girl's name! We learned that we must forgive everybody. We talked how to forgive others, particularly by choosing to be kind and loving instead of angry and spiteful. We talked about Joseph, whose brothers sold him into slavery. The children knew a lot about Joseph because of their scripture movies. We learned that Joseph worked hard and was kind to people no matter what his circumstances were, and that he forgave his brothers and helped them. We discussed ways to forgive others when they do things that upset or hurt us. We colored pictures of Joseph forgiving his brothers, to remind us to forgive others. For some reason, coloring involved scissors and tape as well as crayons today!
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Today was Snickerdoodle Sunday and Girls-Only Sunday; one normal, happy thing, and one very unusual occurrence, as there are usually a majority of boys in the class. We reviewed what we had learned about repentance earlier this year. We also talked about the Atonement of Jesus Christ--how he suffered for our sins so that we can be forgiven if we repent. We are grateful that Heavenly Father will not remember our sins if we repent. We remembered last week's lesson about Alma teaching and baptizing the people by the Waters of Mormon. The children reminded each other that the wicked King Noah killed Abinadi, but Alma wrote down his prophecies and shared them with many people. We learned that Alma had a son whose name was also Alma! The children thought this was very silly. Alma the Younger did not obey the commandments. He and his friends, the Sons of Mosiah, made bad choices and taught other people to do the wrong things. Alma was very worried about his son and prayed about him frequently.
We learned that an angel appeared to Alma and his friends and told them to mend their ways. Alma was so astonished by his message that he fell to the ground and had to be carried back to his father's house by his friends. Alma the Younger could not move or speak for two days and two nights. When he finally regained his strength, he told his father that he had repented of his sins and that Heavenly Father had forgiven him. After that, he spent his time telling people to choose the right and teaching them true principles. We talked about the steps Alma the Younger had taken to repent. We put together very tricky heart puzzles. Repentance is how we put the pieces back together when we have broken a commandment. We had ooey gooey brownies with marshmallows on top to eat today! Fortunately, they were not nearly as sticky and messy as Sister Combs had predicted. We reviewed last week's lesson about Abinadi, then learned what Alma did after he ran away and hid from the king. We learned that many people listened to Alma as he taught them about the true Church, and they came to the Waters of Mormon to be baptized. The children loved this picture and thought it looked like a beautiful place to learn about Jesus. We talked about how we can be baptized and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost just like the Nephite people did hundreds of years ago. We reviewed what we should do if we make a wrong choice: we should repent. Then we learned about the prophet Enos, who remembered his sins when he was hunting for food. The children were amazed that he prayed for forgiveness all day long and into the night! We learned that Heavenly Father forgave him and promised him great blessings for his faith. We talked about how everyone makes mistakes, but Heavenly Father will forgive us if we truly repent. We played a CTR game to review what we learned today and in previous weeks. Fortunately, the only child who landed on a "Wrong Choice" square thought it was great fun and said, "Wheeeeee!" as he slid down the slide! We ended the class coloring pictures of a temple, since one of the great blessings of being members of the church is that we can go to the temple. We talked about beautiful temples we have visited, and how excited the children will be when they are old enough to go inside.
One chocolate-chip cookie cupcake was enough to make each child full and happy! Emmett in particular was really excited to have cupcakes. We learned all about the wicked King Noah, who also taught all of the Nephites in his kingdom to do bad things. The children thought all of his subjects should have moved away when he told them to pay taxes, and that all the ones who had stayed then should have left when he hired false priests who preached false doctrine. Unfortunately, that is not what happened!
We learned that Heavenly Father sent Abinadi to tell the people to repent. King Noah heard about him and did not want to change his behavior or have the people change theirs, so he had Abinadi arrested. Abinadi taught the king and the false priests Heavenly Father's commandments. We took turns choosing stars that had commandments written on them, and discussing what Heavenly Father was telling us to do. Each child had to explain how to keep the commandment, and then had the privilege of putting the star on the chalkboard. . .because magnets are the most important educational tool in our classroom! We learned that Noah did not heed Abinadi's counsel, and only one of his priests did. Alma listened and felt the Holy Ghost telling him he needed to repent. He begged King Noah to free Abinadi, but Noah refused and threatened to kill Alma as well as Abinadi. Alma ran and hid and wrote down all the things he had learned from Abinadi. Much to the outrage of the entire class, King Noah then proceeded to kill Abinadi. They thought Abinadi should have escaped and taught more people! We talked about how Abinadi had done what Heavenly Father wanted, and that he had taught Alma, who would later teach a lot of other people. We learned that the Holy Ghost can teach us about the truth of all things. We discussed praying and listening for the Spirit. We learned about a boy who was meeting with the missionaries and received a witness from the Holy Ghost that what they were teaching him was true. We talked about being like a star and letting our light shine through our good examples. We listened to an old Primary song that Sister Combs sang frequently as a child. Then we colored a lot of stars and even more stars. Having learned about Nephi building a boat last week, the children were ready to find out what happened when the ship was finished. We talked about things that the family would need for a long journey--the children suggested sleeping bags (because a boat would not be very comfortable!), lots of food, weapons, and animals. . .and one of them thought a car would be nice, if it was a ferry boat. We learned that Lehi also took seeds, so that he could plant crops when they arrived in the promised land. We learned that it took many days to cross the ocean. At first, everyone got along well, but Laman and Lemuel grew tired of the journey and started being unkind and singing rude songs. Nephi asked them to behave better, but they grew angry and tied him up. The children were outraged! We learned that the consequence of the big brothers' wickedness was that the Liahona stopped working and a big storm came and frightened everyone for three days. One of the children suggested that if Laman and Lemuel had been smart, they would have untied Nephi on the first day, and then they wouldn't have been scared for so long. Unfortunately, Laman and Lemuel were not as smart as the average six-year-old, so it was not until the third day, when they thought they were about to die, that they decided to untie Nephi. At that point, the Liahona started working again. Nephi said a prayer and Heavenly Father calmed the winds and the seas, and Nephi was able to steer the boat safely to the promised land. We talked about how happy Lehi and his children must have been when they saw land and knew that their journey was coming to the end. When they came ashore, Lehi said a prayer to thank Heavenly Father for their safe arrival.
We talked about times when we can pray--when we need help, when we are going to bed, before a meal, or any time we want to communicate with Heavenly Father. We learned about a boy named Romney who prayed for help when his neighbor's alpacas ran amok. Then we answered review questions on the backs of cute little alpacas. The children enjoyed coloring their alpacas in every shade of the rainbow, and some of them also took home a page of children praying. Bennett's Mom taught the class Part Three of the Adventures of Nephi series, in which Nephi builds a boat and zaps his rebellious big brothers. Sister Combs looks forward to hearing all about it next week!
We had delicious M&M Blondies and a cheerful visitor in class, so it was a great day to be a CTR 5! We reviewed last week's lesson about Lehi taking his family into the wilderness and continued with the next part of the adventure. Heavenly Father told Lehi to send his sons back to Jerusalem to ask Laban for the Brass Plates. Laman and Lemuel did not want to go, but Nephi was obedient and convinced his three brothers (not eight or ten or a hundred, as some of the children thought!) to go with him. We learned that Laman was unsuccesful in acquiring the plates, and ran away from Laban in fear for his life. The brothers picked up gold and silver from their home and brought them to Laban to trade for the plates, but Laban took all of the riches and chased the brothers out of his house. The children were outraged that Laban kept all of the precious things! We learned about Laman and Lemuel beating their brothers Nephi and Sam because they wanted to continue being obedient and trying to get the plates. By now, the children were seriously unimpressed with Laman and Lemuel! We learned that an angel came and told the mean brothers to repent. We learned how Nephi finally acquired the brass plates, and that Zoram was righteous and came back with Nephi and his brothers to their father in the wilderness. The children were probably just as relieved and excited as Nephi's family was that they finally had the brass plates! We talked about how important it is to have the scriptures, so that we can learn and remember what Heavenly Father wants us to do.
We reviewed the sequence of events with a coloring activity. Senior Primary Sister Combs made a big batch of the world's best Great Pumpkin Cookies and shared some with our class. They were delicious! We learned that Lehi was a prophet who lived with his family in Jerusalem. He tried to tell the people what Heavenly Father wanted them to do, but they did not want to listen. One night, when he was saying his prayers, he had a vision. He learned that Jerusalem would be destroyed unless the people repented. Heavenly Father told Lehi to tell the people of Jerusalem what he had seen in his vision. Lehi was obedient, but the people mocked him and threatened to kill him for what he had said. They did not want to be obedient. We learned that Lehi was a good father who prayed to know how to take care of his family. Heavenly Father told Lehi to lead his family out of Jerusalem into the wilderness. Lehi was obedient. We discussed some of the things that his family would need in the wilderness: food, tents, blankets, clothing, and the scriptures. We also talked about how much they would have to leave behind, since they only had a few camels to carry their possessions. One of the children suggested that Lehi would need a compass to tell him where to go, so we talked a little about the Liahona. Another realized that they would probably need to hunt for food in the wilderness, so we talked about Nephi's bow and all the different animals that they might have hunted.
We colored pictures to help us remember and retell the story of Lehi's vision and departure from Jerusalem. Due to Mother's Day, Preston's Birthday on Wednesday, Emi's Sister's Baptism on Saturday, and assorted other events, everyone was excited this morning. Each child ate two chocolate-chip cookies for a snack, but at least one boy thought that three or four would have been much more reasonable! We learned that many prophets kept written records of the things Heavenly Father told them to tell His people and the things that they and their families and friends did. We discussed how it was important for them to write these things down, so that they could remember, and also so their descendants and other people could read what Heavenly Father had told them and how He had helped them. We learned that Mormon compiled all the writings of the Nephite prophets and wrote them on the Gold Plates. We know these records as the Book of Mormon because Mormon did so much work to edit them and copy them onto the plates. We talked about why he had chosen to write them on golden plates instead of paper or another medium and decided that the metal would last a long time and not fade or fall apart as it aged. Mormon wanted the plates to last until a much later prophet was instructed to find them. Mormon gave the plates to his son Moroni, who finished writing the records and then buried the plates in a special box. The children know Moroni as the angel we see on top of temples, so they were thrilled to learn more about him. We learned that Moroni came to visit Joseph Smith hundreds of years later to tell him about the Gold Plates. The children were fascinated that Moroni came three times during the night with the same message. We talked about how important the Book of Mormon is and how Joseph Smith needed to learn everything that Moroni taught him thoroughly. The next morning, Joseph Smith went to do his chores on the farm, but he was so tired from spending the whole night talking to an angel that his father sent him home. He fell while climbing over a fence, and while he was lying on the ground, Moroni came to him again! Moroni repeated his message and told Joseph to tell his father what he had learned. The children had been keeping count and announced that this was the fourth visit from Moroni. Joseph told his father all that he had been taught, and Joseph's father believed him and told him to obey the angel's instructions. Later that day, Joseph Smith went to the Hill Cumorah and found the gold plates where Moroni had left them. . .and Moroni appeared again! We talked about how Joseph Smith was not allowed to take the plates yet, but had to come back three more times, a year later each time, and he talked with Moroni every time. Preston thought Joseph Smith must have been really tired of seeing Moroni by the eighth time! The last time, Moroni told Joseph it was time to take the plates and the Urim and Thummim and translate the records. We discussed how grateful we are that Joseph Smith followed Moroni's instructions and brought forth the Book of Mormon, so that we can study and learn from it today. We learned that we can keep records as the prophets did. We can write or draw pictures in journals to help us remember the important things that we learned, did, and felt. The children each chose a journal and embellished it inside and out with crayons, pencils, and alphabet stickers. Everyone enjoyed this activity!
News Flash Part 2: The other class decided that they did not need to trade classrooms with us after all, so we are staying in Room 12 until further notice! We started our lesson discussing what we would need to do if we had a new puppy. The children said they would feed him, take him for walks, give him water, and snuggle with him. Then we talked about what might make a puppy feel sick. Bennett mentioned that chocolate was bad for his dog, so feeding a puppy the wrong food would make him sick. Just like a puppy, a person needs to eat the right things to be healthy. We learned that Heavenly Father wants us to be healthy, so he taught the Prophet Joseph Smith about things are good for our bodies and things that are bad for our bodies. We learned that these teachings are found in Section 89 of the Doctrine and Covenants. We put a happy face on one side of the classroom, to represent things that are good for our bodies, and a sad face on the other side, for things that are not good. The children took turns selecting a picture of a food or drink and put them near the correct face. They had a lot of fun and made all the right choices! We now know that fruits, vegetables, grains, cheeses, and a little meat are all good for our bodies, and that we should never drink wine, beer, coffee, or tea, or smoke cigarettes. The children also chose to put soda and chips in the Do Not Eat category. We learned about the good example set by Daniel. The king chose Daniel and some other Israelite young men to receive special training. To help them become big and strong, the king wanted the young men to eat a lot of meat and wine. Daniel knew that this was not healthy, so he refused to eat this food, and asked for pulse and water instead. The king's servant was nervous about disobeying the king, but agreed to let Daniel and his friends eat their diet for ten days. At the end of the ten days, Daniel and his friends were healthier and smarter and stronger than all of the people who were eating the king's food. We learned that we will also be blessed if we follow Heavenly Father's instructions of what to eat that are found in the Word of Wisdom. We concluded by drawing pictures of healthy foods on dinner plates. The children enjoyed drawing lots of fruits and vegetables, pasta, rice, and brownies. CTR class is always better with food, even on Fast Sunday!
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