August 17–23

Helaman 1–6

“The Rock of Our Redeemer”

The activities in this outline are intended to spark ideas and inspiration in your heart and mind. The best ideas usually come as you prayerfully ponder the scriptures and the needs of the children you teach.

Record Your Impressions

Invite Sharing

To support children in their gospel learning at home, invite some of them to share something they learned this week. Describe how you study the gospel at home, and talk about ways the children could help their families learn from the Book of Mormon.

Teach the Doctrine: Younger Children

Helaman 5:12

I can build my foundation on Jesus Christ.

Helaman taught his sons Nephi and Lehi to build their lives on the rock of our Redeemer. Ponder how you will do the same for the children you teach.

Possible Activities

• Show a picture of a temple or another building, and explain that buildings need strong foundations so they won’t fall down in wind and storms. To illustrate this, invite the children to try to move a rock by blowing on it. Read the first few lines of Helaman 5:12, and ask the children to raise their hands when they hear who the “rock” is that should be our foundation.

• Invite the children to do actions as you read Helaman 5:12. For example, they could wave their arms when you read about the devil’s “mighty storm” and stand in one place when you read about the “rock of our Redeemer.”

• Invite the children to help you build a structure using blocks or other materials. Begin by forming a “sure foundation,” and talk to them about how Jesus Christ should be the foundation of our lives. Ask the children to share things they can do to follow Jesus Christ, and let them add a block to the structure’s foundation for each thing they share.

• Invite children to color the activity page, and help them cut it out. What can we do to build our lives on the foundation of Jesus Christ? Share some of the ways you have built your life on the Savior and how doing so has blessed your life.

Helaman 5:21–52

The Holy Ghost whispers with a still, small voice.

The description in Helaman 5:29–30 and 45–47 of the voice that the Lamanites heard is similar to the way we often describe how the Holy Ghost speaks. You can use these verses to help the children recognize the voice of the Spirit.

Possible Activities

• Share the account of Nephi and Lehi in prison. You might use “Chapter 37: Nephi and Lehi in Prison” (Book of Mormon Stories, 99–102, or the corresponding video on ChurchofJesusChrist.org). When you talk about the voice the Lamanites heard, speak in a soft voice. Repeat the story a few times, and invite the children to whisper with you. Tell the children about times when the Holy Spirit has whispered to you and strengthened your testimony.

• Read Helaman 5:30, and sing with the children a song about the Holy Ghost, such as “The Still Small Voice” (Children’s Songbook, 106–7). Point out words in the scripture verse and the song that describe how the Holy Ghost speaks to us (see also Helaman 5:45–47). Use Helaman 5:29 and your own experiences to share with the children a few examples of good things the Holy Ghost can inspire us to do.

Teach the Doctrine: Older Children

Helaman 1–6

When I am humble, Heavenly Father will bless me.

The Book of Mormon contains many examples of the dangers of pride and the blessings of humility, and several of these examples appear in Helaman 1–6. As you study these chapters, ponder how you can use these examples to teach the children in your class.

Possible Activities

• Let the children help you draw on the board the following diagram of the “pride cycle.” Read together Helaman 3:24, 33–34 and 4:11–15, and invite the children to point to the parts of the cycle these verses describe.

• Write the words Humble and Prideful on the board. Write a few examples of humble or prideful actions on slips of paper, and invite the children to take turns selecting a paper and putting it next to the word on the board that describes that action. What are some of the ways we can choose to be humble?

The “pride cycle.”

Helaman 5:5–14

I will build my foundation on Jesus Christ.

Helaman 5:12 contains powerful images of building our foundation on Jesus Christ. How can you use these images to illustrate this principle to the children? Doing so will help prepare the children for the temptations and trials they will face.

Possible Activities

• Bring to class a few kinds of materials that can represent weak or strong foundations (such as cotton balls or a flat stone or tile). Invite the children to build a tower using blocks or other materials on the different kinds of foundations. What makes some foundations stronger than others? Read together Helaman 5:12, and ask the children why they think Jesus Christ is “a sure foundation” for our lives. How can we build our lives on Him? Invite them to search Helaman 3:27–29 and 35 and Articles of Faith 1:4 to find ideas.

• Invite the children to scan Helaman 5:5–14 and count how many times the word “remember” is mentioned. What did Helaman teach his sons that they should remember? How can remembering these things help us make Jesus Christ the foundation of our lives?

Helaman 5:20–52

Repentance replaces spiritual darkness with light.

The Lamanites who went to the prison to kill Nephi and Lehi were surrounded by literal darkness. When we sin, we are in spiritual darkness. Helaman 5:20–52 teaches us how our spiritual “cloud of darkness” can be lifted (verse 41).

Possible Activities

• Make the classroom as dark as possible; then read or summarize the account in Helaman 5:20–40 using a small flashlight. How might the Lamanites have felt while in the dark? Invite the children to listen for what Aminadab taught the people to do so that the darkness would be lifted, and then read verse 41. Then turn the lights on, and read verses 42–48 together. What do these verses teach us about the blessings that repentance brings to our lives?

• Invite the children to imagine that they are teaching a younger child about the Holy Ghost. How could they use Helaman 5:29–33, 44–47 to teach what the voice of the Spirit feels like and some of the things the Spirit tells us? How has the Holy Ghost inspired you to repent? Invite the children to share experiences when they have felt the peace and comfort of the Holy Ghost.

Encourage Learning at Home

Invite the children to ask family members about how they have built their lives on Jesus Christ. Or they could share with their families how they plan to build their own lives on Him.

Improving Our Teaching

Testify of Jesus Christ. You have a sacred opportunity to help strengthen the growing testimonies of the children in your class. Help them to feel Jesus’s love for them, and bear your testimony of Him often.