I know that every week I say I'm so excited about this lesson, but this week I REALLY mean it, times 500! My nephew is getting baptized this Sunday!! So this lesson is so far beyond perfect, I can't even express it. I am excited to make this fun, spiritual, and educational. This is so important to the gospel of Christ. Soooo extremely important.
Last August I gave the talk on the Holy Ghost at a different nephews baptism. It was such a great opportunity to read and ponder about the Holy Ghost, it really helped to strengthen and develop my testimony even further on this subject.
What you need:
Scriptures
Some kind of fruit snacks (enough for everyone to go home with one pack and one pack for the lesson)
Start with scriptures, you can't go wrong. Have someone look up 3 Nephi 30:2, which is our scripture for this month. They should hear that so much during the month that they begin dreaming about it! ;) Ask the person who read the scripture (or even someone else), "When we are baptized we make covenants with Heavenly Father, we talked about these last week. Once we're baptized are we all on our own or does Heavenly Father give us anything to help us choose the right?"
I think it's good to emphasize that the Holy Ghost is a gift from Heavenly Father. I am going to pull my nephew to the front (you could do this as well, just do it with someone who was maybe recently baptized.) I am going to ask him if he received any gifts because he is getting baptized (I know he did, because I got him something! If they say no, you can say weeellll, actually you did...and go into the Holy Ghost from there). I then will explain that he is going to get something priceless from our Heavenly Father, the Gift of the Holy Ghost. He gives us this gift to help us choose the right when we are faced with temptation. We only get this gift after we are baptized. Before we are baptized we can be touched by the Holy Ghost, meaning we can feel the spirit, but it isn't with us all the time until after we are baptized and receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost.
The Holy Ghost is the best friend we could ever have. He will never lead us astray. He can never lie to us. He will only help us to make good choices. But if we choose to not live the commandments, he cannot stay.
Ask the primary children, "How does the Holy Ghost help us to choose the right?"
I mentioned earlier that he cannot lie to us. This means he will only ever tell us the truth. He will testify to us of things. This will help us to grow our testimony. There a lot of times when we read something or hear something and we can feel it's true. Probably the easiest example to explain to the primary children is when we read the scriptures and we feel the spirit. Or when someone is bearing their testimony and we're able to feel the spirit so strongly, that is the Holy Ghost testifying to us that what we are hearing is true. Have someone read Moroni 10:5.
The Holy Ghost can also comfort us. He is referred lots of times in the scriptures as "The Comforter." There have been many times in my life that I get panicked and stressed out about something, and I know the Holy Ghost has helped to calm and comfort me. This was especially true when my great grandmother died. She lived with us for a few years before she died, so I was really upset when I found out. She was the first person I've ever really known who has died, so it was something new for me. I could tell that not only was I comforted, but I felt that she was okay and that she loved me. I'm sure we all have stories along these lines.
The Holy Ghost will guide you in life if you allow him. Because he will let you know when you are about to make a bad choice, he will try to help you go down a correct path to make good choices. I say try because we all have our agency and will choose what we want. The Holy Ghost only encourages, he doesn't force.
Now it's time for the object lesson. I used this idea with my nephew for his Holy Ghost talk at his baptism nearly a year ago, so I apologize I do not remember where I read it to give proper credit. If anyone recognises this PLEASE comment below so I can link it up. I tried to find it and couldn't.
Call someone up to the front, open a pack of fruit snacks. Ask them to eat one, just one. Ask them what flavor it is. Let's just pretend they picked up a grape one, they will tell you it's grape (hopefully! haha!). Ask them, what if I told you that was orange? That's not what it is, but what if I tried to convince you it is orange. They will most likely remark, well it isn't orange, it's grape. The Holy Ghost cannot lie to us. If he knows a "fruit snack" is grape, he will tell you it's grape. He will never try to convince us it's "orange."
Send everyone home with a pack of fruit snacks so they can remember that the Holy Ghost will never try to decieve us or lie to us.
The other thing I think is important to discuss is that everyone feels the spirit differently. Some of us feel a burning sensation, others feel calm and comforted. Everyone is different and will feel it differently, its important to develop a special relationship with heavenly father so we can recognize the spirit and be able to use it when we need it. No one will be able to tell them how they will feel it, it's something they have to figure out themselves.
Tell them that all these wonderful things the Holy Ghost can do for us only happen if we live our lives in a way that he can be with us. If we do not, he has to leave. The spirit can not dwell in unholy places. You may want to go over some things that would cause the spirit to leave.
Close with your testimony.
Here's a link for a Holy Ghost coloring page.
Love your ideas! Thanks so much for sharing!
ReplyDelete