Quick note: Each box represents the chalk board. The "I Am Thankful for Water" summary of the primary lesson I wrote on a poster ahead of time and set up on the chalk board so I wouldn't have to write it all in class. I wrote the other main categories on the chalk board as we went along. In the boxes I wrote suggested "answers" in case people need help coming up with ideas of what to list, but wrote on the board whatever the class suggested. It is kind of a long lesson so I tried to kind of go through the first part quickly, but I still didn't quite have enough time to really discuss making scripture study meaningful beyond ways of just doing it- although that is good to since everyone is at such different places spiritually. We ran out of time for the closing song (but that's okay)- so if I did it again I think I might try to find a way to shorten the beginning even more, but I wouldn't eliminate it because I think it is important to see how the tangible things in life can be associated with the spiritual meaning. (Also the "singing, games,expressing..." goes sideways in my word doc, but not on the blog)
I do have a spreadsheet of rectangles without the answers if anyone wants a copy for personal study- listing scriptures & references in the boxes & your own thoughts; not really? okay, but just in case you are ambitious email me or you can just make your own-- this lesson is a good one for taking notes.
All of my references are linked at the end and I highly reccomend reading them. If you only have time for 1 read "The Way"
I am Thankful
for Water
It’s no secret
that I really enjoy primary. Most of my
teaching experience is with primary. The
kids say funny things. There’s laughing
and smiles. For the most part everyone
is pretty happy. The problems are
usually pretty simple. The lessons are
pretty simple. I love the simple ways
the gospel is taught “I rejoice in the plainness of the gospel” so today my
lesson is adapted from the primary manual for the “Sunbeam” class[1]-
“I am thankful
for water”
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I Am Thankful for Water
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singing,
games, and expressing gratitude interspersed throughout the lesson
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Purpose: to help each child feel gratitude to
Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ for water
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Water was an important part of the creation Gen. 1:9&10
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How do we get our water?
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Why do we need water?
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What is water used for?
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Have you ever been very thirsty? (Ex.17:1-6)
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Water is important to the church- baptism,
sacrament
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Additional activities: sing, dance, color
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Let’s read Genesis
1: 9 & 10: 9 ¶And God said, Let the awaters under the
heaven be gathered together unto bone place, and let
the dry land appear: and it was so. 10 And God called the dry land
aEarth;
and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good. The gathering of the waters was good. Why is water
important?
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I Am Thankful for Water
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Why is water important?
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singing,
games, and expressing gratitude interspersed throughout the lesson
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Purpose: to help each child feel gratitude to
Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ for water
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All living things need water to live We use water
for washing & cooking Water is fun to
play in
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(more specifically for our bodies[2]):
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Water was an important part of the creation Gen. 1:9&10
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our bodies are 70% water
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How do we get our water?
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water plays an essential role in digestion and
elimination
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Why do we need water?
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part of circulation
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What is water used for?
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helps maintain the body's temperature
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Have you ever been very thirsty? (Ex.17:1-6)
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helps lubricate and cushion joints
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Water is important to the church- baptism,
sacrament
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healthy skin
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Additional activities: sing, dance, color
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helps remove toxins from the body
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.[some suggestions from our class- peaceful, calming, beautiful (like a waterfall or lake etc)]
“our amazing bodies have literally trillions of cells undergoing trillions of reactions every single second we are alive. Most of those reactions deal with the uptake of nutrients or the elimination of wastes. Would you think it would be easier for those reactions (movement of materials) to take place in a sludgy, crowded stew-ish environment, where everything is thick and cramped together, or in an environment much more like a free-flowing soup or a broth?”
“our amazing bodies have literally trillions of cells undergoing trillions of reactions every single second we are alive. Most of those reactions deal with the uptake of nutrients or the elimination of wastes. Would you think it would be easier for those reactions (movement of materials) to take place in a sludgy, crowded stew-ish environment, where everything is thick and cramped together, or in an environment much more like a free-flowing soup or a broth?”
“Throughout
each day, the body is constantly losing water through breathing, urinating and
sweating. This means, of course, that you need to replace or replenish
that water. Thirst is one way the body lets you know it’s time
to refill your body’s water supply. Unfortunately, by the time you
actually feel thirsty, this can indicate that your body has already
entered into a state of dehydration.”
Why is dehydration dangerous?
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I Am Thankful for Water
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Why is water important?
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Why is dehydration dangerous?
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singing,
games, and expressing gratitude interspersed throughout the lesson
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Purpose: to help each child feel gratitude to
Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ for water
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All living things need water to live We use water
for washing & cooking Water is fun to
play in
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headaches
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(more specifically for our bodies):
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dizziness
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Water was an important part of the creation Gen. 1:9&10
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our bodies are 70% water
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lethargy/fatigue
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How do we get our water?
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water plays an essential role in digestion and
elimination
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numbness/tingling
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Why do we need water?
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part of circulation
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stress
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What is water used for?
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helps maintain the body's temperature
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chronic pain
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Have you ever been very thirsty? (Ex.17:1-6)
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helps lubricate and cushion joints
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degenerative diseases
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Water is important to the church- baptism,
sacrament
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healthy skin
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thirsty
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Additional activities: sing, dance, color
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helps remove toxins from the body
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The primary lesson asks if we have ever felt very thirsty and tells us about some dehydrated people in the Old Testament. Exodus 17:3 says, “And the people thirsted there for water; and the people amurmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?” And then in verse 6 says, “Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt asmite the brock, and there shall come cwater out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.” Often I think the Old Testament can be symbolic of the New Testament so let’s go there next. (side note thought from my head & not shared as part of lesson- the first part of this lesson is very “literal” or discussing the tangible and physical that so typically was the understanding of the people of the old testament, yet everything tangible was symbolic of what was to come in the New Testament; now we are moving on to a spiritual discussion resulting from a time when Christ was literally and tangibly there…like the spiritual/physical swapped but both always existed together) We are probably all familiar with the story of the woman at the well found in John chapter 4. Would anyone like to summarize it for us?
9 Then saith the
woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou,
being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a
woman of Samaria?
for the Jews have no dealings with the aSamaritans.
10 Jesus
answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the agift of God, and
who it is that saith to thee, Give me
to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee bliving water.
11 The woman saith unto
him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence
then hast thou that living
water?
12 Art thou greater than our
father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?
14 But whosoever
drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never athirst; but the
water that I shall give him
shall be in him a well of water bspringing up into ceverlasting life.
15 The woman saith unto
him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.
Let’s read
John 4:14, & 25-26
14 But whosoever drinketh of
the water that I shall give him shall never athirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water bspringing up into ceverlasting life.
25 The woman saith unto him, I
know that aMessias cometh, which is called Christ:
when he is come, he will btell us all things.
So who,
where, and what is this living water?|
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I Am Thankful for Water
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singing,
games, and expressing gratitude interspersed throughout the lesson
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Purpose: to help each child feel gratitude to
Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ for water
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Who, where, and what is this living water?
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Water was an important part of the creation Gen. 1:9&10
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Jesus Christ
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How do we get our water?
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Why do we need water?
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What is water used for?
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Have you ever been very thirsty? (Ex.17:1-6)
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Water is important to the church- baptism,
sacrament
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Additional activities: sing, dance, color
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[in our class we left a number of things from the previous list and compared how they are similar and people shared some personal thoughts.]
“
‘Throughout history men have always been looking for the easy way. [Some] have
devoted their lives to finding the ‘fountain of youth,’ a miracle water which
would bring everlasting life. Today
[many] are still seeking… some magic ‘fountain’ that [will] bring forth
success, fulfillment, and happiness. But
most of this searching is in vain. …It
is only this ‘living water,’ the gospel of Jesus Christ, that can and will
bring a happy, successful, and an everlasting life to the children of men.’
…As
at Jacob’s well, so today the Lord Jesus Christ is the only source of living
water. It will quench the thirst of
those suffering from the drought of divine truth that so afflicts the world.
…The
savior’s promise to that woman extends to all of Heavenly Father’s
children. By living the gospel of Jesus
Christ, we develop within ourselves a living spring that will quench eternally
our thirst for happiness, peace, and everlasting life.” (Joseph B. Wirthlin
Living Water to Quench Spiritual Thirst General Conference 1995)
Why is this living water important?
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I Am Thankful for Water
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(Spiritually) Why is water important?
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singing,
games, and expressing gratitude interspersed throughout the lesson
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Purpose: to help each child feel gratitude to
Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ for water
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(The Way- Corbridge) peace, strength, love,
light, joy, knowledge, confidence, clean, pure, blessings of the atonement
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Water was an important part of the creation Gen. 1:9&10
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We need the atonement
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How do we get our water?
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Why do we need water?
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What is water used for?
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Have you ever been very thirsty? (Ex.17:1-6)
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Water is important to the church- baptism,
sacrament
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Additional activities: sing, dance, color
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“To
understand our need for a Savior, we must first know that god lives, that He
created all things, and that because of the Fall and our own sins, we are cut
off from God’s presence[3].”
“Life
causes us to lose our valuable water in a variety of ways, such as
digestion, sweat, …Even breathing causes a natural loss of water, which is why
it is so critical to add water throughout the day.”
“Life” causes us to lose water physically and it causes us to lose
water spiritually. Why is a spiritual
dehydration dangerous?
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I Am Thankful for Water
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(Spiritually) Why is water important?
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Why is dehydration so dangerous?
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singing,
games, and expressing gratitude interspersed throughout the lesson
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Purpose: to help each child feel gratitude to
Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ for water
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(The Way- Corbridge) peace, strength, love,
light, joy, knowledge, confidence, clean, pure, blessings of the atonement
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Are there physical consequences that
we could also write down here?
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(The Way-Corbridge)
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Water was an important part of the creation Gen. 1:9&10
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doubt, greif, despair, turmoil, darkness, without
His support, without His guidance, without His power
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How do we get our water?
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Why do we need water?
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What is water used for?
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Have you ever been very thirsty? (Ex.17:1-6)
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Water is important to the church- baptism,
sacrament
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Additional activities: sing, dance, color
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[in our class someone shared a story of how she really likes diet coke, but moved somewhere that doesn't have diet coke so she had to drink water. She had never really thought she was thirsty or wanted/needed water much until she started drinking water and then realized how thirsty she was for water and liked water and wants water more often- this is similar to our spiritual thirst too- we might not even realize we are thirsty until we start to drink and then we want more and more and feel great.]
How do we get this living water?
In Doctrine and Covenants 10:66 the Lord says, “Yea, if
they will come, they may, and partake of the awaters of life freely.” Doctrine & Covenants 63:23 says, “But unto him that keepeth my
commandments I will give the amysteries
of my kingdom, and the same shall be in him a well of living bwater, cspringing
up unto everlasting life.”
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I Am Thankful for Water
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singing,
games, and expressing gratitude interspersed throughout the lesson
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Purpose: to help each child feel gratitude to
Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ for water
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How do we get this living water?
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Obedience
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Water was an important part of the creation Gen. 1:9&10
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How do we get our water?
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Why do we need water?
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What is water used for?
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Have you ever been very thirsty? (Ex.17:1-6)
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Water is important to the church- baptism,
sacrament
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Additional activities: sing, dance, color
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Thomas S Monson says the waters of eternal life can be found at a
fountain of truth instead of fountain of youth and says, “There is no need for you
or me in this enlightened age, when the fullness of the gospel has been
restored, to sail uncharted seas or travel unmarked roads in search of the
fountain of truth. For a loving Heavenly
Father has plotted our course and provided and unfailing map- obedience!”[4]
Elder Corbridge of the Seventy said,
One of the most popular and attractive philosophies
of men is to live life your own way, do your own thing, be yourself, don’t let
others tell you what to do. But the Lord said, “I am the way.” 16
He said, “Follow me.”
17
He said, “What manner of men ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even
as I am.” 18
Don’t think you can’t. We
might think we can’t really follow Him because the standard of His life is so
astonishingly high as to seem unreachable. We might think it is too hard, too
high, too much, beyond our capacity, at least for now. Don’t ever believe that.
While the standard of the Lord is the highest, don’t ever think it is only
reachable by a select few who are most able.
In this singular instance
life’s experience misleads us. In life we learn that the highest achievements
in any human endeavor are always the most difficult and, therefore, achievable
only by a select few who are most able. The higher the standard, the fewer can
reach it.
But that is not the case
here because, unlike every other experience in this life, this is not a human
endeavor. It is, rather, the work of God. It is God’s work and it is His “glory
… to bring to pass the immortality and
eternal life of man.” 19
There is nothing else like it. Not anywhere. Not ever.
No institution, plan,
program, or system ever conceived by men has access to the redeeming and
transforming power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the gift of the Holy
Ghost. Therefore, while the Lord’s invitation to follow Him is the highest of
all, it is also achievable by everyone, not because we are able, but because He
is, and because He can make us able too. “We believe that through the Atonement
of Christ, all mankind [everyone, living and dead] may be saved, by obedience
to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.” 20
[5]
To help “obedience” be less overwhelming, I’m going to help you out
a bit- hopefully. I’ll tell you what
works for me anyway. I personally
believe that if you feel busy in life and that obedience is hard, that if you
feel like you can only do one thing, make it prayer. Communicate with our Father in Heaven. He wants to help us. Ask our Father in Heaven as you get up in the
morning, “What is the one most important thing you would like me to do
today?” When I remember to do this I
have found I am less overwhelmed. Others
might judge I’m not meeting “expectations” but when I remember to do that, even
if I only get that one thing done I have peace in my heart that I did what God
asked me to do and it doesn’t matter what others think. Also, it’s less of a burden for me and more
of a joy that way.
For this lesson though, I want to spend more time focusing on
scripture study. Joseph B. Wirthlin said, “The Lord has declared that ‘whether by mine own
voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same.’ We are blessed to live in a day when prophets
and Apostles live on the earth. Through
them we are refreshed continually by an abundant stream of eternal truth that,
if obeyed, brings the living water of the Lord into our lives. Echoing those Samaritans who listened to the
Savior at Jacob’s well, we, too, can say with faith and conviction, ‘We have
heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of
the world.’ “[6]
Everyone is at a different pace or place and how often you study,
what you study, how long you study is a very personal decision between you and
your Father in Heaven- again back to praying about it. Ask for help deciding what is feasible and
realistic at your point in life. I will
admit my scripture study is more like I think I’m a camel and I’ll have periods
of time when I can spend a lot of time studying the scriptures and then it has
held me over through times when I have felt unable to devote any time. It’s not ideal to do that, but it’s okay and
it did help me through my “times of famine”.
We can’t waste time worrying about doing our scripture study the same way
as someone else or better than someone else, but I do want to take a few
minutes to discuss ideas that have made scripture study enjoyable in your life
so we can get ideas from each other in case what works for one can work for
another understanding that there really isn’t a “right” or “wrong” way. I think it’s also important to remember we
need to be flexible and willing to change- what worked once might not all the
time.
So, how do you make studying Jesus Christ and the Gospel enjoyable?
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I Am Thankful for Water
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How do we get this living water?
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Study the words of God-scripture, prophets
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singing,
games, and expressing gratitude interspersed throughout the lesson
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Purpose: to help each child feel gratitude to
Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ for water
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study ideas:
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choose a topic you want to research- something
you want to work on, maybe related to
New Year resolution,
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scripture apps!
-easy to read anytime anywhere & can highlight, cross reference,
add notes, etc.
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something you want to know more about, something
related to the Sunday lessons,
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Water was an important part of the creation Gen. 1:9&10
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the
meaning of your name or your child's name, a person or hero in the
scriptures,
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How do we get our water?
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don't rush- pause and think/meditate/listen- let
the Spirit teach you
write down what the Spirit teaches you
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or a word that might start out random or fun like
"water" -flip through the topical guide
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Why do we need water?
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join or start a bible study group
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What is water used for?
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theredheadedhostess.com-
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Have you ever been very thirsty? (Ex.17:1-6)
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a blog
with study tips, study packets, "maps" of the Book of Mormon to
help illustrate who is who and who is where
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JUST DO IT
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Water is important to the church- baptism,
sacrament
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a sketchbook journal tied into your scripture
study (you know, sing dance, color)
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Additional activities: sing, dance, color
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I’m going to give you homework since the youth are now getting assignments
for their lessons. 1- Have fun with your
scripture study. Think of primary
children grateful for water, singing and dancing and playing games, jumping in
puddles. Isaiah 12:3 “Therefore with ajoy shall ye
draw water out of the wells of salvation.” And 2- offer someone who is thirsty a
drink- literally or spiritually.
Opening
Song: On This Day of Joy and Gladness
#64 Hymnal
Closing
song: Rain is Falling All Around-
Children’s songbook page 241
