Jesus wants me to strengthen those around me.
Doctrine and Covenants 23:3–7; 25:7
When the Church was first organized, there weren’t many members. The Lord asked the Saints to build up the Church by sharing the gospel and strengthening one another. We can do the same today.
Ask the children to find every instance of the words “exhortation” and “exhort” in Doctrine and Covenants 23:3–7; 25:7. Help them define these words. How might exhorting someone strengthen them? Invite the children to role-play “exhorting” someone but doing so with love.
How can we do better in the work of strengthening other members of the Church? To illustrate this principle, give one child a task that requires many helpers. Then ask other children to help, and discuss how much easier the task became. Share an experience in which you were strengthened by the service of a fellow Church member.
Show pictures or examples of nourishing foods. Why is it important to nourish our bodies? Read together Moroni 6:4, and ask the children what they think the phrase “nourished by the good word of God” means. How does the word of God nourish us? How can we help spiritually nourish each other at church?Come, Follow Me—For Primary: Book of Mormon 2020 “Moroni 1–6: “To Keep Them in the Right Way”
Use an object lesson to teach that we are stronger together than we are apart. For example, invite the children to try breaking one stick and then a bundle of sticks or tearing one piece of paper and then a stack of papers. How are we like the sticks or the paper? How can we strengthen each other when we gather together in our families or at church?Come Follow Me for Primary: Book of Mormon 2020 “3 Nephi 1–7: “Lift Up Your Head and Be of Good Cheer”
For additional ideas see Example
God wants me to pray and learn from the scriptures every day.
Doctrine and Covenants 23:6; 26:1
The Lord counseled the early leaders and friends of the Church to pray (see Doctrine and Covenants 23:6) and study the scriptures (see Doctrine and Covenants 26:1).
Friend September 2016 “Heavenly Father Hears Your Prayers” Heavenly Father has many blessings he wants to give us. Prayers unlock the treasure chest of blessings.
Read to the children from Doctrine and Covenants 23:6, beginning with “you must pray.” Help them identify the different ways and places the Lord said we should pray. Invite them to draw a picture of themselves praying in one of those ways or places.
Friend October 2020 “Jesus Taught Us How to Pray”
If needed, explain to the children how to pray. A song about prayer, like “I Pray in Faith” (Children’s Songbook, 14), can help.
Read to the children, “Let your time be devoted to the studying of the scriptures” (Doctrine and Covenants 26:1).
Friend March 2020 “Feasting on the Scriptures” Action Rhyme
Sing together “Search, Ponder, and Pray” (Children’s Songbook, 109) or another song about prayer and scripture study. Help the children discover the blessings promised in the song.
For Additional ideas see Scriptures and Prayer
The Savior can lift me “up out of [my] afflictions.”
Doctrine and Covenants 24:1, 8
Help the children list on the board some of the afflictions or challenges that Joseph Smith and other early Saints were facing (see “Chapter 11: More People Join the Church,” Doctrine and Covenants Stories, 46–47 or watch the video below.
Joseph Smith suffered many trials, but he was able to “be patient in afflictions” because the Lord promised that He would always be with him.
Friend April 2019 Comfort Cards with scriptures from the Lord
Friend April 2018 “Trouble in Adventure Forest” When Owen’s feet get burned he learns that Heavenly Father doesn’t always stop bad things from happening, but He helps us get through them.
Invite the children to discover what the Lord said to Joseph about his afflictions in Doctrine and Covenants 24:1, 8. How can we seek the Savior’s help when we are having a difficult time?
8 Be apatient in bafflictions, for thou shalt have many; but cendure them, for, lo, I am with thee, even unto the dend of thy days.
Friend September 2020 “For Older Kids” “Once I had a good friend. We had been friends for years. But she just stopped being my friend when a new girl moved in. It made me sad, so I said a prayer. I thought of the words from a song: “Courage, for the Lord is on our side” (Hymns, no. 243). I’m happy that Heavenly Father is with me and can help me through this trial.” Scarlett W.
- Teach the children that sometimes we need to be “patient in [our] afflictions,” you could show the video “Continue in Patience” (ChurchofJesusChrist.org). Ask the children to think of something they really want but have to wait for. Why does the Lord sometimes require us to have patience during challenging times in our lives? How does He let us know that He is “with [us]” during our afflictions?
See Adversity for more ideas.
Jesus loves “the song of the heart.”
Doctrine and Covenants 25:11–12
For the Strength of Youth “Making the First Hymnbook”
Doctrine and Covenants Coloring Book “Emma Smith Gathered Hymns”
Primary 5: Doctrine and Covenants and Church History “Lesson 14: Emma Smith Selects Sacred Hymns” (This link includes stories, activity ideas, and question ideas)
What has Heavenly Father promised us if we sing hymns to worship him? (D&C 25:12.) What kinds of blessings might we receive from singing hymns? Explain that hymns can help teach us the gospel and strengthen our faith and testimonies. They can help us want to repent and keep the commandments. They can make us feel happy when we are sad and can fill our minds with good, clean thoughts (see enrichment activity 5). They remind us that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love us.
See Music for ideas and stories on how sacred music helps us.
The Lord said that sacred music “is pleasing unto me.” Help the children see singing as not just a fun activity but also a way to worship Him. Singing is one way we can show our love for God.
- Invite each child to share his or her favorite hymn or Church song, and sing some of them together. Read Doctrine and Covenants 25:12 to the children, and invite them to imagine how Heavenly Father and Jesus feel when They hear us sing these songs.
- Teach the children a song about singing, such as “Lift Up Your Voice and Sing” (Children’s Songbook, 252),
Friend March 2021 “Scripture Time Fun: Name that Song” Have a family song challenge! One person hums a Church song. Everyone else guesses what song it is. When someone guesses right, everyone sings the song together! Then take turns choosing the next song.
I can prepare to make sacred covenants/ I can “cleave unto the covenants” I have made.
Doctrine and Covenants 25:13, 15
Soon after Emma Smith was baptized, the Lord told her, “Cleave unto the covenants which thou hast made.”
- Read Doctrine and Covenants 25:13 to the children. Explain that the word “cleave” in this verse means to hold tightly to something. To help them understand, pass something solid, like a rock (or even an iron rod), around the room and invite the children to hold the object as tightly as they can. Explain that cleaving to our covenants means holding on to (or keeping) the promises we make with Heavenly Father and never letting go (or never giving up). (Or to illustrate, pass around objects that are firmly fastened together and let the children try to tear them apart. Why is the word “cleave” a good word to describe how we should feel about our covenants?) Use this week’s activity page to teach the children about the times when we make covenants with Heavenly Father. (Or if needed, review with the children the covenants we make when we are baptized (see Mosiah 18:8–10; Doctrine and Covenants 20:37). What does it mean to “cleave” to these covenants?) Read Doctrine and Covenants 25:15, and explain that the “crown of righteousness” represents the blessing of returning to live with God, our Heavenly King.
What is common consent?
Come, Follow Me—For Individuals and Families: Doctrine and Covenants 2021″Doctrine and Covenants 23–26″ and Liahona March 2021 “What does “common consent” mean in the Church?”
When members receive callings or priesthood ordinations in the Church, we have the opportunity to formally sustain them by raising our right hands as a show of support. The principle of demonstrating public support and agreement is called common consent. As President Gordon B. Hinckley taught, “The procedure of sustaining is much more than a ritualistic raising of the hand. It is a commitment to uphold, to support, to assist those who have been selected” (“This Work Is Concerned with People,” Ensign, May 1995, 51).
Sustaining is a chance to show and give our support and to acknowledge the will of God.
Additional Resources
See also Saints, 1:89–90, 94–97.
Doctrine and Covenants Historical Resources: Doctrine and Covenants 23-26
