July 13–19

Alma 32–35

“Plant This Word in Your Hearts”

Keep the children you teach in mind while you prayerfully study Alma 32–35. As you do, thoughts and impressions will come about how to teach them. Record and act on these impressions.

Record Your Impressions

Invite Sharing

Place each child’s name in a container. Ask someone to pick one of the names, and invite that child to share something he or she has learned from the Book of Mormon recently. Continue until everyone has had an opportunity, but don’t pressure anyone to share.

Teach the Doctrine: Younger Children

Alma 32:28–43

I can help my faith in Jesus Christ grow.

Seeds, trees, and fruit are familiar objects that can help children understand abstract principles like faith and testimony. Ponder how you can use Alma’s analogy to teach the children.

Possible Activities

• Summarize Alma 32:28–43; you might use “Chapter 29: Alma Teaches about Faith and the Word of God” (Book of Mormon Stories, 81, or the corresponding video on ChurchofJesusChrist.org). Show pictures of a plant in various stages of growth, and ask the children to help you put the pictures in the correct order (see the pictures in this week’s activity page). Explain that as we live the gospel, our testimony grows—it starts small like a seed but can become big like a tree.

• Show the children a seed, and read to them the first few lines of Alma 32:28. Tell the children that the word of God is like a seed. Ask how we help a seed grow. Let the children pretend to plant a seed, water it, and help it grow. Point out that we can’t see the seed after we plant it, but we know it’s there and growing; we also can’t see Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, but we know They are real and They love us. Help the children think of things they can do to help their faith in Jesus Christ grow.

• Draw a tree on the board, and let the children add a leaf or a fruit every time they think of something they can do to help their faith in Jesus Christ grow. Invite them to do simple actions to represent the things they thought of.

Alma 33:2–11; 34:17–27

Heavenly Father hears me when I pray.

The Zoramites prayed only once a week, using the same words every time (see Alma 31:22–23). Alma and Amulek taught that we can pray anytime about any of our spiritual or physical needs.

Possible Activities

• Read phrases you have selected from Alma 33:4–11 that describe places we can pray, and help the children think of places they can pray. Then invite them to draw pictures of themselves praying in those places. Testify that they can pray anywhere, even if they are praying silently.

• Select phrases from Alma 34:17–27 that describe things we can pray about, and read them to the children. Help them think of things they can say to Heavenly Father when they pray, and invite them to draw pictures of these things. Testify that they can talk to Heavenly Father about anything they are thinking or feeling. Share an experience in which Heavenly Father heard your prayers.

• Sing a song that teaches the children about prayer, such as “A Child’s Prayer” or “We Bow Our Heads” (Children’s Songbook, 12–13, 25). Help them notice what the song teaches about prayer.

Teach the Doctrine: Older Children

Alma 32:1–13, 27–28

If I am humble, the Lord can teach me.

Alma and Amulek had success teaching the Zoramites who were humble and ready to hear the word of God. Consider how you can encourage the children to choose to be humble.

Possible Activities

• Ask the children what they remember learning last week about the Zoramites (see Alma 31:8–24). Remind them that one reason Alma was worried about them was their pride (see Alma 31:24–28). Read together Alma 32:1–5, and ask the children to summarize what had happened to the Zoramites who were poor. Then invite the children to read verses 12–13 to find out why Alma felt that being cast out of their synagogues (or churches) was a good thing for these Zoramites. What are some of the blessings that come from being humble?

• Help the children find a definition of humble or humility in the Guide to the Scriptures or a dictionary. What other clues about the meaning of these words can they find in Alma 32:13–16? Invite them to think of various ways to complete a sentence like “I am being humble when I .”

Alma 32:26–43

My testimony of Jesus Christ grows as I nourish it.

Help the children you teach discover what they can do to “plant” the word of God in their hearts.

Possible Activities

• Display a hard, solid object (like a stone) to represent a hard or prideful heart and something soft (like soil) to represent a soft or humble heart. Let the children feel both objects. Then show the children a seed to represent the word of God. Invite them to try to push the seed into the hard object and the soft object. Read together Alma 32:27–28, and talk about what it might mean to “give place” (verse 27) for the word of God in our hearts.

• As you read Alma 32:26–43 together, stop occasionally and invite the children to draw a picture of the seed or plant being described—for example, a seed and a seedling (verse 28), a growing plant (verse 30), and a mature plant bearing fruit (verse 37). Encourage them to label their pictures with references from Alma 32. How is nourishing a seed like nourishing our testimonies of Jesus Christ? How do we nourish our testimonies? Invite the children to silently think about how their testimonies are growing and what they will do to nourish them.

Alma 33:2–11; 34:17–29

Heavenly Father hears me when I pray.

The Zoramites had misconceptions about prayer, some of which we still see today. Alma and Amulek taught powerful truths to overcome these misconceptions.

Possible Activities

• Help the children search Alma 33:2–11 for important words and phrases related to prayer that are repeated. What do these words and phrases teach us about prayer?

• Help the children make a list of situations in which they can pray, including those mentioned in Alma 33:4–10 and 34:17–27 as well as situations in their lives. Invite the children to think about or share experiences when they prayed and felt that God answered their prayers.

Encourage Learning at Home

If possible, give each of the children seeds to take home and plant to remind them to help their testimonies of Jesus Christ to grow. Encourage them to tell their families what they learned about exercising their faith in Jesus Christ.

Improving Our Teaching

Testify of promised blessings. When you invite the children to live a gospel principle, tell them about God’s promises to those who live that principle (see Teaching in the Savior’s Way, 35).