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Week 7 COME FOLLOW ME: Doctrine and Covenants – TEACHING IDEAS & RESOURCES | D&C Sections 12-13 & Joseph Smith History 1:66-75

Questions to Ponder:

Weekly Free Come Follow Me Doctrine and Covenants Resources, Activities, Ideas, Printables, and Supports for Your Students, Toddlers, Family, and Individual Study!

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.

As you read, Doctrine and Covenants 12–13; Joseph Smith—History 1:66–75  ponder how other people’s opinions may be influencing you. You may also note that in addition to rebuking Joseph Smith, the Lord spoke words of mercy. 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 does it mean to you “to bring forth and establish the cause of Zion”? (verse 6).
  • How do the principles and attributes in verses 7–9 help you do this?
• What blessings have you received through the ordinances of the Aaronic Priesthood?
• Consider reading journal entries you may have written after receiving ordinances or recording your memories of those events.
  • What blessings have you received through priesthood ordinances?
• Why are the characteristics listed in this verse necessary when we are doing the Lord’s work?
• How can we follow the example of Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery to find answers to our questions?
  • Perhaps as you read together, you could make it a regular habit to pause and ask if anyone has questions about what they are reading.
• What impresses members of your family about Oliver Cowdery’s words?
  • What are some of your family’s “days never to be forgotten”?
• What effect did the Holy Ghost have on Joseph and Oliver?
  • When has the Spirit helped your family understand the scriptures and rejoice in the Lord?

Lesson:

To all my friends with younger children… I couldn’t wait to share the new Gospel Kids App with you, just put out by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! If you’re like me one of the biggest hurdles for the majority of the fun Come Follow Me lessons is a PRINTER. Which makes it difficult when you haven’t entered into that stage of adulting yet, despite making teacher products for teachers that require a printer 50% of the time… It’s fine. 

This is one of those things where you didn’t realize how NECESSARY it was until using it. Now the majority of the fun coloring pages I link can be accessed through the app and used again and again.  Both my children (Ages 3 & 5) completely enjoyed this, my 5-year-old especially so. I would not hesitate to recommend this app to all children primary aged.

The app also includes the Scripture Stories and acts as a read-aloud. Kiddos click on the chapter, then swipe through the pictures as each page is read aloud to them. The words are on display ***This is GREAT for fluency and reading skills, made my teacher heart flutter.

Also included in the app are sing-along videos, where you can toggle between children’s voices singing and instrumentals without skipping a beat. The words are included in the video again allowing your child to follow along as they sing. This includes the primary songbook AND HYMNS.

I’ll share about the Come Follow Me Playlists next week!

So if you have a smartphone or tablet… MAKE sure to download this app. For us it was a GAME-CHANGER!

Apple Device: Click Here to Download

If you find the link for Android Devices, please comment the link below!

If you do this activity PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE take pictures and tag me! Post to the Facebook group, or tag @livingonlemonlane on Instagram! If you appreciate these object lessons or resource ideas, 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.

 

Joseph Smith explained the circumstances surrounding the restoration of the Aaronic Priesthood (see JS—H 1:68–72), which took place along the bank of the Susquehanna River near Harmony, Pennsylvania. Oliver Cowdery, who was with the Prophet on this occasion, was filled with awe and wonder, for it was his first experience with a heavenly messenger. He wrote:

“On a sudden, as from the midst of eternity, the voice of the Redeemer spake peace to us, while the vail was parted and the angel of God came down clothed with glory, and delivered the anxiously looked for message, and the keys of the gospel of repentance!—What joy! what wonder! what amazement! While the world was racked and distracted—while millions were groping as the blind for the wall, and while all men were resting upon uncertainty, as a general mass, our eyes beheld—our ears heard.

As in the ‘blaze of days;’ yes, more—above the glitter of the May Sun beam, which then shed its brilliancy over the face of nature! Then his voice, though mild, pierced to the center, and his words, ‘I am thy fellow-servant,’ dispelled every fear. We listened—we gazed—we admired! ’Twas the voice of an angel from glory—’twas a message from the Most High! and as we heard we rejoiced, while his love enkindled upon our souls, and we were wrapt in the vision of the Almighty! Where was room for doubt? No where; uncertainty had fled, doubt had sunk, no more to rise, while fiction and deception had fled forever!

“But, dear brother think, further think for a moment, what joy filled our hearts and with what surprise we must have bowed, (for who would not have bowed the knee for such a blessing?) when we received under his hand the holy priesthood.” (Times and Seasons, 1 Nov. 1840, p. 202.)

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Watch or Listen To:

With young children, 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.  Many of these are PERFECT for when everyone is strapped in the car seat. My 5-year-old now requests many of these over the radio. 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.)

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 receive 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)

Read:

• Activity Suggestion from the Friend
• Scripture Stories: Doctrine and Covenants

Activity Suggestions:

Click Here to Download

Activity Suggestions From Come Follow Me:

• Possible Activities

  • Consider reading journal entries you may have written after receiving ordinances or recording your memories of those events. What blessings have you received through priesthood ordinances?
  • Bring a simple puzzle to class, and invite the children to put it together. As they do, ask them how reading the scriptures is similar to putting together a puzzle. Read together Joseph Smith—History 1:73–74, and invite the children to share what helped Joseph and Oliver understand the scriptures. What can we do to seek the help of the Holy Ghost as we study the scriptures?
  • Invite the children to make a bookmark that they can put in their scriptures to remind them to seek the Holy Ghost’s help when they read. Perhaps they could find an inspiring phrase in Joseph Smith—History 1:74 that they could write on their bookmark.
  • Put pictures of a baptism and the sacrament in a container that requires a key to open. Discuss why keys are important, and let the children use the key to open the container. Invite the children to read Doctrine and Covenants 13 and find words and phrases that teach them what blessings come from the Aaronic Priesthood.