Why is it Important to Listen to and Follow the Living Prophets?

I typed this up as an outline of a Sunday YW lesson, but it was also easily adapted to our family's FHE lesson the next night.  For both the young women and my children, I found that the process of highlighting and subsequently writing the prophet's words on the wall surrounding a picture of President Monson was a very powerful and memorable illustration. Click here for printable version of all images.
 Why is it Important to Listen to and Follow the Living Prophets? 
Lesson by Lara Goold

CLICK HERE FOR PRINTABLE VERSION OF THE PICTURES

Suggested Songs:
"We Thank Thee, O God, for a Prophet,"  Hymns, page 19
"Latter-day Prophets," Children's Songbook, page 134
 "Follow the Prophet," Hymns, page 110

Lesson Purpose:  To help the young women to understand what a great blessing it is to have a living prophet on the earth to give us guidance and direction for these latter-days.

Scripture:  "Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets."  Amos 3:7

PREPARATION: 
1.  print enough copies of the talk,  Believe, Obey, and Endure for every YW (or member of your family)
2.  gather pens or pencils for every YW, also chalk and tape 
3.  Print off large picture of President Monson
4. (optional) print off wallet size pictures of President Monson for each of the YW to tape into their notebooks while they take notes

OPENING PRAYER:

ANALOGY OF THE GARDEN MAZE (see this link for printable version of pictures):     Imagine you are in a maze that is made up of tall hedges.  The bushes are too thick to see through, too tall to see over, and you can't tell whether you are heading towards a dead-end until you are right there. (SHOW PICTURE OF PEOPLE INSIDE THE MAZE) You start off knowing the approximate direction of where the exit is, but quickly lose your bearings and can't do anything more than wander aimlessly until you find the correct path out.  Then you notice a little look-out tower.  (SHOW PICTURE OF MAZE FROM THE LOOKOUT) You climb the tower and you can regain your bearings again and  plot a path to the exit.

Relate being lost in the maze to being lost in the maze of our lives.  Talk about how easy it is to get caught up in the "maze of life" and focus only on what is right in front of us.

ASK:  What are some of the concerns that are in your maze of life?  (you're looking for answers like a hard physics test, getting into college, boys, friends,  etc)

WRITE:  Have one of the YW come write on the picture of the people inside of the maze, some of the answers received.

TEACH:  There is someone we can look to who has been given the keys to be on the look-out  for our day and time.  They have the perspective of being able to see all the twists and turns in the maze and give us guidance and direction that will help us to the finish line (eternal life).

SHOW PICTURE OF PRESIDENT MONSON and tape to the top of the chalkboard.

DRAW a simple watchtower underneath the picture and explain that God has given him the authority to see.

BELIEVE, OBEY, and ENDURE: 
Hand out a pen and copy of the article to each student:  Divide the YW into groups and assign each  group a page of the article to read and to circle important messages that President Monson has given to the YW for this day and this time.

HAVE EACH PERSON SHARE SOMETHING THEY'VE CIRCLED IN THE ARTICLE:   and ask for a volunteer to come make speech bubbles around the prophet and write in the words of the prophet that the YW shared from the article.   If the girls have class journals, have them glue in a  wallet size picture of President Monson and reproduce this in their notebooks while you go around the room.

 Here are some of the things that our girls came up with:  Decisions determine destiny, seminary changes lives, they are a daughter of Heavenly Father, pray for guidance, fan the flame of your testimony, choose to obey, there is a way back!  

VIDEO:   watch this video  and discuss. 

SHARE A PERSONAL EXPERIENCE OF FOLLOWING THE PROPHET:  and the blessings you received.  Bear your testimony about what a remarkable blessing it is to live in a day and a time that there is a living prophet.

CLOSING PRAYER:


HANDOUT (printable version below):

Additional Reading Material: 
YW Lesson:  Why is it Important to Listen to and Follow the Living Prophet?


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Why We Need a Prophet Printable Pictures by Lara Goold

Teaching the Gospel Using Questions

Today's youth are used to information being presented in short little bursts.  Twitter and Facebook have shortened their attention spans to the point that it's difficult for them to concentrate on the same thing for 5 minutes, yet alone the length of the average church lesson. We all know that we learn better when we are engaged in the lesson being taught, but as a teacher sometimes the task of engaging the students is difficult in practice, because engaging the students means that as teachers we need to be better prepared and more engaged ourselves.

 In my article 14 Ways to Engage Students in the New Youth Curriculum, I presented some ideas of helping students to use both sides of their brain as they learn.  In this article I will present some more ideas from the same teacher training and talk about using questions to help students learn the gospel.

When Jesus Christ taught the people, he taught them with patience and understanding.  He sought to know his students enough, that he could teach in a way that connected with them. We've all read the accounts of Christ using parables and real life examples that illustrated what he was teaching far better than an hour long dissertation on the philosophy of it ever could.

Think of  when Christ answered the Pharisee's accusations in Luke 5 with the simple question, "Whether [it] is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Rise up and walk?"  The act of curing the palsied man would have been remarkable enough, but with the question to provoke some deeper thinking, it was all the more a powerful teaching moment.  We can harness that same power when we teach.  Think of questions that invite thought and allow them to reach their own conclusions about what you are teaching.  Those kind of lessons will stick with them much longer than when all the information is spoon fed to them.

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The following are presented as a series of questions, in order from least to most thought provoking.  Our teacher encouraged using them in order as a way to build understanding during a lesson.


Different Types of Questions to use during lessons (with examples of how to use them)

1.  Search for information
Example:  What are the steps of prayer?

2.  Analyze for understanding
Example:  What things are appropriate to pray for?

3.  Invite feelings / testimony
Example:  What are your personal experiences with prayer?

4.  Encourage application
Example:  What will you work on this week to improve your prayers?

Using Time Wisely FHE Lesson

We actually used this as a mini YW lesson to help the girls pass off a choice and accountability value experience, but as I was teaching it I thought that it would make for a great family home evening lesson for older kids and teens as well.  A printable version of the handout can be found here. 

Opening Prayer:

Opening Song: Hymns #266, "The Time is Far Spent"

Scriptures:  Ecclesiastes 3:1, Doctrine and Covenants 60:13, Article of Faith #13

Materials Needed:  A clock, the video, and handout (click here to get it in a printable version)

Discussion:  Imagine for a second that each and every day, your bank account is credited with $86,400.    But at the end of each day the money disappears.    What would you do?

You would try to use up every penny of it every day.

Show:  Show them a clock and tell them that each and every day they are given exactly 86,400 seconds  to use as we choose.   We can't save them for another day.  Once the seconds are passed, they are gone and it is up to us how we use them.

Discuss:  According to studies, the average person spends 35-40 hours in front of a television or computer screen.  That is an average of 5-6 hours (=18,000 seconds) per day, which equates to approximately 20% of every day.    Think of what we could accomplish if we tried to cut that time down by half or fourth.

Quote:  
If you have a twenty-hour-a-week television habit and would repent and convert in into a gospel study habit, in one year you could read the Book of Mormon, The Doctrine and Covenants, The Pearl of Great Price, and the entire Bible.  In addition, you could read Jesus the Christ, Gospel Principles, the Relief Society manual, Preach my Gospel, the Miracle of Forgiveness,  and this would still leave you time to read the Ensign, New Era, and Friend each month.  This is based on your ability to read only ten pages an hour.
paraphrased from Elder William Bradford


Video:  Choose This Day (embedded below)

Recite Article of Faith #13 (emphasizing "seeking after praiseworthy pursuits"):
We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul—We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.

Discuss:  What kinds of things qualify as "praiseworthy"?  The answers could be reading scriptures, serving others, developing a talent, being a better friend, sharing the gospel, writing letters to grandparents or missionaries, helping a family member, staying caught up in school, doing family history, etc.

Conclude:  Encourage students to try to prioritize their time in such a way that they can use a greater portion of their time each day in more praiseworthy pursuits.  Bear your testimony  of how you've been blessed as you've tried to use your 86,400 seconds each day more wisely.

Closing Song: Scripture Power

Closing Prayer:


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Divine Nature Week: The Last Envelope

Okay, okay...I just realized that I promised to post about the final envelope in the Divine Nature Week a long time ago and haven't done it yet.   

The final envelope contained two things: 
1.  this letter 
2.  Two copies of a picture  (shown below) of each YW (printed in matte finish in 4x6 size at Costco).  One copy was for them to tape into their journals, the other was to hang up in their room.  Enlarged and framed, it would also make for a  special gift for a graduating senior or for a birthday gift.  

A couple of weeks beforehand I had handed out the following survey to the YW, the leaders,  and their parents.  Each parent would write 3 sincere compliments about their daughter and each YW and leader would write three sincere compliments about three other YW.  So each person had 4 different people (including their parents) who complimented them.  I tried to assign people to compliment people that they knew fairly well. 

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SURVEY 

--> Please write three sincere compliments about each of the people listed and turn into Sister G. before or during YW.   Please make sure the compliments are about them or their character (not something superficial like what they’re wearing, etc).   Thank you! 

Ana:
1.
2.
3.

Rachel:
1.
2.
3.

Kaili:
1.
2.
3.

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Afterward I compiled all of the responses into one long list for each girl.  Then in Photoshop Elements, I cropped the background out of their photos, and added the compliments in different fonts. 

It ended up turning out very well and the girls really seemed to treasure their photo as a very special keepsake.  The whole week ended up being very memorable for me as well as many of the young women.  It is my prayer that the young women will reread their letters and admire their photos often, especially as they hit discouraging or difficult times in their lives. 


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Baptism Candy Bar Note

I can't take any credit for this candy bar note whatsoever, but I thought it was so cute when the primary presidency presented it to my daughter at her baptism this past weekend, that I wanted to remember it for the future.  They attached everything with rolled up packing tape and used a sharpie to cross off the part of the title of the candy  that wasn't applicable to the message.  It was a perfect, inexpensive, fun little baptism gift with a great message.   It would be perfect for  primary presidencies or for anyone looking to give a little something special to someone who is getting baptized! 


Dear Ellie SWEETTARTS,
Congratulations! We are so proud of YORK decision today.  You know baptism in more than a FUNDIP in the water.  It is an EXTRA special covenant between you and Heavenly Father.  This promise will bring you so much ALMOND JOY.  You also received the gift of the Holy Ghost today.  Use it MOUNDS so you can always know how to FRUIT CHEWS the right.  It is UP2U to keep your covenant.  You shine like a STARBURST! 
Love,
The Primary