The Testimony of The Book of Mormon

I apologize for my absence, but I actually have been absent.  I have been home very little over the last month and it feels good to get back on track.

During the October General Conference, Jeffery R. Holland gave a powerful talk...which was really an amazing testimony of the devinity of The Book of Mormon.  I have always love Elder Holland's talks and I have a strong testimony of Joseph Smith and The Book of Mormon, but his message struck me.  It struck us all.  I don't believe that any honest person could deny his resolve and his powerful words when they were spoken.

My posts are geared towards teaching our children, and this is no exception.  I encourage everyone to have a FHE lesson on the truthfulness of The Book of Mormon and to show them this video.  I think that it is imporatnt for our children to see the testimonies of the apostles and prophets, especially one that is geared to an important key of the gospel.

Watch the video, and I know you will enjoy it.


I will be posting a new File Folder Game soon!

Nativity Cube

Christmas is coming much sooner than we think. Here's a great idea, submitted by Mckay. She has come up with a new take on the nativity. I have seen wood/vinyl nativities before, but I absolutely love this idea.

You could use this for FHE, you can take it to sacrament meeting, use it during your Christmas scripture study, or add it to your collection of nativities. It's unique and kid friendly. It's a 4x4 square block with separate images of the nativity scene on it's 6 sides.

The vinyl cost is $5. Pleasant Sunday viewers receive FREE shipping, just type in promotional code 'Pleasant'.

Thanks Mckay for your wonderful idea.

Click here or in the sidebar to purchase.

Priesthood Organization

The Gospel Principles manual is another great FHE tool. The lessons are geared to introducing investigators and new converts to the gospel principles (hence, the title). This is why the lessons in this manual are great for teaching our children. Unfortunately, there aren't ideas to keep the children occupied. This requires a little planning and creativity. However, Chapter 14 is on Priesthood Organization. This can be a loaded topic for our children, but the manual give this diagram which can be done in a couple of ways. You could simply print this image off and have the children color it. For a little older children you could remove the words and have the children find which space goes with which name. Or you could do what I did.
I printed the image on to three different color papers. Brown for the "roof", cream for the "walls", and gray for the "steps". Then I cut out the images and laminated them. This way the children can put it together like a puzzle or can build it starting with the "foundation".

Latter-day Prophet 2

My kids love playing our Latter-day Prophet Memory Game. Our oldest has even started to remember some of their names. It easy to match pictures, but we thought it might be fun to try something else. We take the same cards and play Latter-day Prophet "Go Fish". We still show the pictures because they are still learning, but it gives us the opportunity to say the prophets names. Instead of saying, "Go Fish", we say, "Follow the Prophet". The kids have a blast with both, so we get two games for the price of one!

"Felt" the spirit

Felt stories and flannel boards is something I always remember from my primary experience growing up. These are great for FHE, but have you ever thought to take them to church? You could easily make a small flannel board or you can stick it on the back of the pew. That's right, if your pews are the ones that have the fabric on the back, the felt will stick.

There are places you can buy LDS felt stories for, well, not cheap. This is a time to be creative! Felt is a very cheap fabric. You can find free images all over the net. An iron and some iron on paper and vuala! Just make sure not to make your peices small because they don't work as well.

Or you can always copy the images onto cardstock and laminate them. The kids love playing with them as well.

The story on Noah is a good place to start! Click here!


I also found this awesome tree of life clip art here!

And some for the First Vision. Sorry that they aren't on one page.

• Click here for the images of Joseph speaking to his preacher, reading the scriptures, and praying.
• Click here for Joseph looking up at Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.
• Click here for the images of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.
• And click here for the image of the sacred grove!

The First Vision

In The Friend (April issue) , is this great teaching tool. I have a strong testimony of the Prophet Joseph. It is important for our children to gain their own testimony of the first vision at an early age. This article is perfect for FHE or you can even make it your family scripture study. There are 9 questions it asks and gives the references of where to find the answer in the Joseph Smith-History.

For the Strength of YOU

I just attended a women's symposium for my stake. The theme was "For the Strength of You" and we all received our own pamphlets. These have been made specifically for the Young Men and Young Women's program, but it's standards are for all. As I was looking through it, I thought that this would be a great tool for FHE. They have several topics that can be taught to all ages. Sexual Purity and Dating are topics that can be held off until they are age appropriate. There are pictures, they are short, and they are gospel essentials. For the next 16 weeks, I will be teaching my young children the vital values they need not only in their youth, but throughout their lives.

"We promise that as you keep these standards and live by the truths in the scriptures, you will be able to do your life’s work with greater wisdom and skill and bear trials with greater courage. You will have the help of the Holy Ghost. You will feel good about yourself and will be a positive influence in the lives of others. You will be worthy to go to the temple to receive holy ordinances.
These blessings and many more can be yours." - The First Presidency, For the Strength of Youth.

Click here for the pdf file. Click here to for a free pamphlet from the Distribution Center.

Plan of Salvation

It's always a great idea to have a plan of salvation diagram. It's a great missionary tool. But how fun would it be to make it a game. Using age appropriate gospel trivia, this game can be used for any age group. Divide into two groups and make your way from the Pre-Mortal life all the way to the Celestial Kingdom. If you want to use the arrows, make sure you print off enough.

Special thanks to Camie!

Revalation Triangle

This is another great idea from my sister, Camie! When she was serving a mission, she made a diagram to show how we receive revelation. With General Conference coming, I thought that this would be a great opportunity to teach this for our FHE lesson. It is important for our children to understand that when the prophet speaks that he is speaking in behalf of our Father in Heaven.

Thanks Camie! I can't wait for FHE!

The Friend

The Friend Magazine is always full of ideas, and if you don't get The Friend you can print the activities online. I came across this one and loved it.This is great because it could be a small lesson on prayer, an FHE activity, a General Conference activity, or something to keep them occupied in Sacrament Meeting. Click here to print it off.

It's definetly worth while to browse through the old issues of The Friend to find more activities. Click here to look around.

Puzzle Time

I made this puzzle to go along with this primary lesson, but you can make one to go with any lesson you can think of. Just make a puzzle template (or use the one below) and print it over any image. This is another great activity for Genaral Conference.

Print it over the image of the first vision to teach about the restoration of the gospel. Discuss how many churches had "pieces" of the gospel, but now that the gospel is restored we can enjoy the "big picture".

Gospel Art Book

While my sister was at the Distribution Center, she came across a new release. It's called the Gospel Art Book and it gives you 137 pictures in a spiral bound book for $3.50. You can't beat that deal. Plus, it's always great to have gospel pictures handy. Click here to take a look or make a purchase.

Nursery Manuals

I am so grateful that they have come out with a revised nursery manual. Not only does it better teach gospel principles to nursery age children, but it's a great teaching tool in the home.

Click here to learn more and then click on the the training video, it's worth watching!

Click here to order yours from the distribution center.

Latter Day Memory

Now I know that I already posted this, but my sister, Camie, just did her own and I wanted to share it. Check out Camie's post on how she did hers! It gives some great tips and is really convenient. She also mentioned that it would be a great game during General Conference. That's coming up fast, but you have plenty of time to make one for your family!

Temple Prepartion Game

Temple preparation starts now! I scanned my images if you want to use them or you could use it as a template to make your own. The great thing is that you can always make different Temple Preparation Cards the older your kids get.

Gospel Art

I saw a great post here. The Gospel Art Kit costs $30.oo at the Distribution Center. It's great to have visual aids for lessons and scripture study, but you can actually use them as a lesson or scripture study. Our little children sometimes don't have the attention span that we want. Each picture has accounts and descriptions on the back that make for a quick lesson or even family scripture study. Plus, it comes in a convienent blue plastic box to keep it all organized. 160 pictures is enough FHE lessons for over 3 years. You can't beat that!

Latter Day Memory

My sister just sent me this idea and I couldn't wait to share it with everyone...and to make one for my family! A latter day memory game. In this case, I used the Latter Day Prophets, but this would be great with any topic or gospel images. You can get the images here. Just click on Church History for the Joseph Smith picture and General for the remainder (you need to find Pres. Monson elsewhere).

If memory is a little too juvenile for your family, try making it into a "Guess Who" Game! My cousin did this same thing with family members and I thought it would work well for this too. Purchase a new or used "Guess Who" Game and replace their images with those of the prophets. Then make the cards to go with it, and you have a cool game. Married couples could enjoy playing it with trivia questions!

Here's my work in progress for Latter Day Prophet Memory Game.

A little bit of laminating, and we're good to go! Here's the front and back shot. This'll be a great way for my kids to learn their Latter Day Prophets! Special thanks to Camie and Lexie!

Building the Temple

Cut out this image, fold the edges, and tape the sides to build your own temple. This is great for many lesson types. A lesson on how tithing helps to build temples (kids can use it as a tithing bank), on building a forever family (put hearts with ways we can be together forever inside), and many others.

Faith Flash Cards

As a family we are reading the Doctrine & Covenants Stories, and we just learned about the Pearl of Great Price which talked briefly about the Articles of Faith. When we finished, my 5 year old asked to learn more about them.

Yes! My child has specifically asked for me to teach him about the gospel. Now, how to do it.I found this clip art at about.com that specifically follows the articles of faith. The only one I had to change was the image of Gordon B. Hinkley. I found a picture of Pres. Thomas S. Monson and used it in its place. I printed the images and text on card stock, laminated them, punched a hole and put a ring through it. Ta-dah!

He's starting to sound out words, and what better thing to start than on scriptures?