CFM Teaching Ideas, Resources, and an Activity Sheet for D&C 23-26 (Mar 23)

 This blogpost features some interesting resources, a fun fill-in-the-blank hymn hunt to uncover a secret message, a few thoughts, and  a half-sheet activity page to complement the Come Follow Me (CFM) reading for  March 17-23, which includes Doctrine and Covenants 23-26.    Click here for an index and links to my CFM blogposts for other weeks.

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SOME THOUGHTS:

There are a lot of different ways to go with teaching about Doctrine and Covenants 25.  If I were teaching young women, I would almost certainly focus on what it means to be an "elect lady".  There are some great scriptures listed in this study guide, which would be great for launching some good discussions.  I would also use this as an opportunity to talk about other "elect ladies" from the scriptures and church history (like Esther, Eve, Anna, Ruth, Mary, Martha, etc.) and what it means to be an elect lady today.  This article would be a great resource if you decide to go with this route.

Focusing on the hymns would also great way to go!  You could talk about the power of good music and discuss why the Lord prioritized creating a hymnbook so early in the church.  You could play name-that-tune or have a hymn scavenger hunt.  Have fun with it!  

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SOME INTERESTING RESOURCES:

A guide for studying Doctrine and Covenants 25, including some historical background and some insights on specific verse

A page by page glimpse at the original hymn book (scroll through the pages by dragging the arrow found along the bottom of the page).  I thought it was fascinating that it was not standard at the time to include the sheet music, because most hymns were sung to familiar tunes. 

An interesting article about Emma Smith

"The Influence of Righteous Women" by Dieter Uchtdorf

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A PRINTABLE ACTIVITY SHEET:

These activity sheets are designed to print double-sided and cut in half.  They're perfect for reviewing or introducing the content found in the Come, Follow Me reading each week and would be great used in a classroom or home setting.   I have no children at home, nor do I have a calling working with youth, so I copy these to be handed out with the sacrament programs each week.  Kids, teens, and adults enjoy them. 😊

HERE IS THE LINK TO THE PRINTABLE ACTIVITY PAGE (in case it's not showing below)



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A FILL-IN-THE-BLANK HYMN HUNT:
You'll want to cut off the bottom section with the answers before distributing it.


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ENJOY LEARNING THE GOSPEL TOGETHER!!! 💗

"The Nativity Song" Printable Posters

My husband has been serving as the primary chorister in our ward for about the past year.  It's a calling he was surprised to receive, but  one that he has enjoyed immensely.  As I'm usually the one in the house doing the cutting and pasting, it's been fun for me to see him use the creative side of his brain in his preparations each week.  

The primary kids are singing "The Nativity Song" in sacrament meeting next week and he thought it would be fun if the children had signs they could hold up during the song.  We wanted to make sure that the visuals were LDS approved, since they were being shown in sacrament meeting.  The pictures (all except the stable) came from the December 2004 Friend magazine.  Below you will find them cropped and enlarged  to fit onto a standard 8.5x11-inch sheet of paper.  ( Make sure you print them the highest quality that your printer will allow.) He decided that that still wasn't quite as large as he'd hoped, so we took the printed pages to Staples and had them color copied and enlarged 155% to fit onto an 11x17-inch sheet of paper (98 cents per copy).   

 He then mounted the pictures onto posterboard and hot glued them to wooden stakes that he got at Home Depot.   Duct tape would probably also work.  

Enlarged that big the picture quality wasn't quite as clear as it ideally would be, but it was definitely still good enough to see from across the chapel. 

All in all, he was pleased with how they turned out and I couldn't resist sharing it here to save  other choristers a little work next time they sing this great Christmas song!  Enjoy! 

"The Nativity Song" Signs