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Come Follow Me: Book of Mormon, Teaching Ideas and Free Resources
ALMA 8 – 12
QUESTIONS TO PONDER:
Each Come Follow Me Lesson asks important and reflective questions. When I first began my individual study these questions threw me off. Simply because many of these questions required so much depth and individual reflection in order to answer honestly. My first approach to come follow me was to get in, get out, get it done, check it off. These questions simply didn’t allow me to do so. In fact, I felt a little sick when I would read a question like, “How does the spirit speak to you?” and I wouldn’t know the answer right away. After a time, and pondering on that specific question I realized IT’S OKAY. In fact, I think these questions were meant to be set aside, thought about, and pondered. When we try and come up with the quick easy, obvious, answer, we are depriving ourselves of an opportunity to reflect, ponder, pray, and RECEIVE REVELATION. Is this not the whole reason for Come Follow Me? Are we not trying to finetune and recognize how we, and how to receive personal revelation.
So each week I will list out some of the questions issued in Come Follow Me. Maybe you pick to ponder about all of them, maybe you pick just one. Whatever you do, ponder on this for the ENTIRE week. Pray about it, discuss it with loved ones, then at the start of the new week, take the time to write down your impressions or thoughts, share them with your family, testify of powerful insights.
- What do you learn from Alma’s example of sharing the gospel despite challenges and opposition?
- Which verses in Alma 8 increase your desire to share the gospel?
- As you read about the great blessings God gave the people of Nephi (see especially Alma 9:19–23), ponder the great blessings He has given you.
- What are you doing to stay true to these blessings?
- What changes do you feel you need to make?
- Notice the effect Amulek’s words had on the people (see Alma 11:46).
- Why do you think these principles had such a powerful influence?
- How have they influenced your life?
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What does it mean to harden our hearts?
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Do you ever notice this tendency in yourself?
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Why might the Lord withhold His word from those who have hardened their hearts?
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How have you experienced the promise of receiving a “greater portion of the word”? (Alma 12:10).
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What was that experience like?
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What can you do to ensure that God’s word is “found in [you]”? (Alma 12:13).
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If you had God’s word in you, what effect would it have on your “words,” “works,” and “thoughts”? (Alma 12:14).
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- What can we learn from Alma about obeying the Lord “speedily” (verse 18) even when it might be difficult?
- Alma 10:1–12 What can we learn from Amulek’s experience in these verses? What effect did his testimony have on those listening?
- Alma 10:22–23 What do we learn from these verses about the influence a group of righteous people can have in a wicked city?
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Alma 11:34–37 What is the difference between Jesus Christ saving us in our sins and from our sins? (see Helaman 5:10; see also 1 John 1:9–10).
Lesson:
There are SO many great activity suggestions for this week that are simple and effective. I’ve listed two that were suggested in the Come Follow Me Primary manual from this week. One is an object lesson for illustrating the idea of having a hard heart vs. a soft heart. The other is an effective way for teaching how the body and the spirit are joined with the simple use of a glove. I’ve used this same object lesson with my 4-year-old after the suggestion from a devotional by Elder Bednar as a way to teach Divine Nature. Both are simple, require little to no prep, and are an effective lesson help for this week’s Come Follow Me Lesson! See the description for these activities below.
While reading this week’s verses, one of the things that stood out to me, a theme that has continued to stick out to me this round of reading the Book of Mormon is the idea that even though we may be on the path, and doing as the Lord would have us do, it doesn’t mean that everything is going to be rosy.
For whatever reason, I’ve had this false idea in my mind that when you are on the Lord’s errand, a path paved in smooth simplicity would be laid out before you… This simply isn’t the case. Consider Nephi’s path and the bumps and stumbling blocks placed in his way… Consider Abinadi and his ultimate sacrifice of meekness and obedience… Consider Joseph Smith and the reestablishment of the early Church… Now consider Alma the younger and his dealings with Ammoniahah… Looking ahead, look what happens to Amulek once he finally decides to “Know” the Gospel.
It’s so interesting to me that when the angel is sent to Alma to lift him up and send him back to Ammoniahah a key detail that in my mind would have eased Alma’s mind is left out. Notice how the angel made no mention of Amulek. There is no mention of comfort that someone has been prepared for you, and is waiting for you. Instead, Alma acts “speedily” not knowing what he will do, ACTING in faith, hoping that the Lord will provide a way.
To me this illustrates the idea of the Lord’s hand cautiously guiding us even when we can’t see it. I’ve seen this concept in my own life, however, it isn’t until I have the hindsight of the future to look back and realize his hand was there all along. There is something to choosing to act on our own. Heading in the right direction, even though we don’t know how we will be delivered, having faith that we WILL be delivered.
With there being a focus on Missionary work this week, and the fact that it isn’t always rosy… I thought a good addition to the lesson would be to write a letter to a missionary. Maybe this is a family member, a ward member, or someone new entirely, but a message from home can be an easy way to show support for those serving in the mission field. To help with this activity I created a fun and editable missionary letter template. The template should simplify the writing process and take the guesswork out of what to write. You can either type directly onto the slide, and print or email. Or you can begin by printing a hard copy and writing directly onto the page.
Use this with your family, your students, the primary, or young men| young women!
This is a FREE digital product. Feel free to add your own notes or edits, but remember this is for Personal Use Only. Feel free to point friends and family to the website membership if interested in sharing this download with a different household.
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If you are looking to do this as an activity, you might also include these FREE handouts by Inkablinka.com. Kristin has created a really beautiful handout that goes over Missionary letter etiquette. Consider it the dos and don’ts of writing a letter to a missionary. Her handout coupled with my Free Graphic Organizer make for a fun and complete activity filled with great discussion. Both would also work great as a digital activity over a zoom call for Young Men, or Young Women!
Click Here to Visit Inkablinka.com and to Download the Free Missionary Letter Handouts
If you do any of these activities PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE take pictures and tag me! Post to the Facebook group, or tag @livingonlemonlane on Instagram! Don’t forget to pin these images to your Pinterest. This is a SMALL and SIMPLE way to support the efforts of Living on Lemon Lane and sharing these ideas with your friends and family.
To stay up to date, and show your support make sure to follow @livingonlemonlane on Instagram!
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Teaching Ideas for Toddlers & Young Children
Watch or Listen To:
With a 2-year-old and 4-year-old, I understand the STRUGGLE and the attention span you are dealing with. Below are some of my favorite videos or audio recordings|podcasts you can listen to and watch with your children. My favorites right now are the Book of Mormon Story videos.**Different from the newly released B.O.M. videos. These are illustrated and READ stories to your children. THESE are PERFECT for when everyone is strapped in the car seat. My 4-year-old now requests these over the radio. Each segment is only 2-4 minutes long. This allows us to listen, review and discuss together, and listen again throughout the week. Many of the videos I share can be found on the Saint’s Radio Channel App. (Formerly Mormon Channel App, If you don’t already have this, DOWNLOAD NOW.)
I am absolutely LOVING the YouTube Channel, Latter Day Kids. Each week they put out a beautifully illustrated video meant for young children to be used in conjunction with the Come Follow Me Lessons. This week’s video is all about Pride. You can even head to their website to download discussion questions to go along with the video and a fun coloring page.
Click Here to access this week’s Printables and Activities
Click here to subscribe to Latter Day Kids
Drawn In: Free Sample of Subscription Videos
The ONLY Paid Subscription I use for Come Follow Me
I’ve recently teamed up with David Bowman artist, author and creator of the Drawn-In Video Subscription to bring a discount to all Living on Lemon Lane readers. This is the ONLY Paid Come Follow Me product that I have a subscription to, and it is worth every cent. Each week you get TWO engaging and fun videos (around 20 minutes long each!) as well as exclusive content and printables! Like his books, instead of just introducing the scripture story he explains a principle, then takes it a step further by exploring APPLICATION. Click here to watch his Free Videos, If you’re interested make sure to use the promo code LEMONLANE10 at checkout to recieve 10% off of the yearly membership!
Click Here to Learn More, Use Code LEMONLANE10 for an exclusive discount off the yearly membership!Head to davidbowmanart.com to watch more FREE episodes and learn more about subscribing ($4.95 per month – gets you 2 episodes PER WEEK that go directly with Come Follow Me as well as supplemental PDF print outs)
Wonderful Podcast geared towards younger (Primary) reviewing some of the chapters this week.
Read:
Activity
Click Here to Download Free Printable
Suggestion From Come Follow Me Primary: Read together Alma 12:10, and discuss what it means to “harden” our hearts. Why does a hard heart make it more difficult to learn from God? To illustrate this principle, show the children a sponge and a rock and ask them which will absorb water better. How can we show the Lord that we want our hearts to be soft like the sponge?
Suggestion From Come Follow Me Primary: Use your hand to represent a spirit, and use a glove to represent a body. Take your hand out of the glove to show the children that our spirits and bodies will be separated at death. Then place your hand back in the glove to show that our spirits and bodies will be joined together again at the Resurrection. Let the children take turns putting the glove on and taking it off as you read Alma 11:43 to them. Display the picture Mary and the Resurrected Jesus Christ (Gospel Art Book, no. 59), and testify that Jesus Christ made it possible for everyone to be resurrected. Invite the children to draw pictures of their friends or family members, including extended family members. As the children share their pictures, point to each friend or family member they drew and explain that he or she will be resurrected. Testify that Jesus made it possible for us to be with our families forever.
Teaching Ideas for Families
Watch or Listen To:
Finding time to make Come Follow Me can be tough, it can also be tough to keep the attention of family members. The Book of Mormon videos recently released by the church are a WONDERFUL resource.
Read:
- I LOVE using the Institute and Seminary Manuals to aid my study! They answer questions, provide insight and background coupled with beautiful quotes from Prophets and Apostles.
- New Era Article: Loving the Lord, Rain or Shine
- The Ripple Effect: Story about sharing the Book of Mormon with a Friend
- Members & Missionaries Working Together:
Activity Suggestions:
Plan of Happiness Coloring Page and Booklet
Cut, glue backs together, and staple to make a booklet.
Activity Suggestion from Ensign: Drawing Friendship
Read Alma 8:19–27 together and talk about how Amulek and Alma became friends.
Invite someone to start a game by drawing a picture of an activity they enjoy. (For example, watching a movie.)
The rest of the family tries to guess what activity is portrayed in the picture. Then talk about how you could use that activity to build friendships. (For example, inviting someone to watch a wholesome movie with you.)
Take turns drawing pictures and guessing the activities shown in the pictures until everyone has had a turn.
Discussion: How can you help a friend this week? What could you do if you’re having trouble making friends?
Click Here for the Soft Heart Graphic
Individual Study & Extension
Watch or Listen To:
Read:
- John Welch Notes: Learn about the Book of Mormon with verse by verse commentaries from renowned Book of Mormon scholar.
- Learn From Alma and Amulek: Uchdorft
- Meek & Lowly of Heart: Bednar
- Book of Mormon Central: What Does it Mean to Prosper in the Land
:MOST IMPORTANT PART:
Comment below and share YOUR favorite resources for this week of Come Follow Me in the Book of Mormon. Join the conversation on @livingonlemonlane on Instagram and stay updated on new blog posts! If you enjoyed this PLEASE SHARE! Till next week.
