Family Home Evenings and more....: CFM Teaching Ideas for July 31

This blogpost features some resources and ideas to complement the Come Follow Me (CFM) reading for July 31-August 6, 2023, which include Paul beginning his ministry. Click here for an index and links to my CFM blogposts for other weeks.

(Can I ask a favor please? If you use these activity sheets or teaching ideas, PLEASE leave a comment and let me know. I spend a lot of time pulling these together and I'm trying to determine if they're worth my time. )

PRINTABLE ACTIVITY SHEET:
I create these activity pages to be a discussion starter or review for the CFM reading each week. They can be used in classrooms, as a supplement to be handed out with the sacrament programs, or in your families. They print two to a page (double-sided) and are meant to make learning the gospel together a little more fun. Word searches (like in this week's activity sheet) are always a favorite in my ward, and adults and teens will often seek them out.

FUN TEACHING IDEA:
Villains to Heroes / Repentance Activity:

NEED: post-it notes with different villains from pop-culture listed on each one, tape
Some examples of possible villains to use {make sure to use villains your age group should be familiar with}:   Ursula (from Little Mermaid), Darth Vader (from Star Wars), Scar (from Lion King), Wicked Stepmother (from Cinderella), Thanos (from Marvel), Voldemort (from Harry Potter), Hans (from Frozen), Gaston (from Beauty and the Beast)

HOW TO TEACH: tape a post-it note with a villain on everyone's back. Give them 3ish minutes to go around and ask questions of the other students and see if they can guess the villain.

After all the villains have been guessed, pick a couple of the people and ask them to tell a very quick alternate ending to the story of their villain if they had learned of Christ,repented, and experienced the same kind of change of heart that Paul had. For example, Ursula would have felt compassion on all the mermaids she'd hurt, restored them to their families, and gone around helping mermaids the rest of her life.   Have fun with it.

After a couple minutes of this, make sure to bring the focus back to Paul and the remarkable changes he'd made. He really had been a villain to the Christians, but because of his repentance and relationship with Christ, he was able to become a hero instead.    Make sure to emphasize that it's through Christ that we can repent and have second and third and fourth and so on chances when we make mistakes.   Repentance is a beautiful gift.

QUOTE:

"The truth is, those who diligently seek to learn of Christ eventually will come to know Him. They will personally receive a divine portrait of the Master, although it most often comes in the form of a puzzle—one piece at a time. Each individual piece may not be easily recognizable by itself; it may not be clear how it relates to the whole. Each piece helps us to see the big picture a little more clearly. Eventually, after enough pieces have been put together, we recognize the grand beauty of it all. Then, looking back on our experience, we see that the Savior had indeed come to be with us—not all at once but quietly, gently, almost unnoticed. This can be our experience if we move forward with faith and do not wait too long on the road to Damascus." Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "Waiting on the Road to Damascus," April 2011

VIDEOS:

Repentance: A Joyful Choice https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvrVP95BnUk