I Believe in Heavenly Father’s Plan

By Karen Lofgreen

“O how great the plan of our God!” (2 Ne. 9:13).

Before you were born on earth, you lived with Heavenly Father. While you were there, an important meeting was held and Heavenly Father presented a plan that would enable you to be like him someday. Part of the plan was that you would receive a physical body and learn to choose the right and to do good. You chose to follow Heavenly Father’s plan.

Aurelia Spencer Rogers began at a very young age to choose the right and do good. She was six years old when her parents joined the Church. Her family moved from Deep River, Connecticut, to Nauvoo, Illinois. When the Saints were forced to leave Nauvoo, Aurelia’s mother died, leaving seven young children. They and their father crossed the Missouri River and went to Winter Quarters, Nebraska, where he built a log cabin for them to live in. When Aurelia was 12, her father was called to serve a mission in Great Britain. While he was gone, Aurelia and her 14-year-old sister, Ellen, took care of the family.

Throughout her life, Aurelia loved and was concerned about children. When she was a young married woman, she felt that parents needed help in teaching their children the gospel. When the Primary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was established in 1878, Aurelia was called to be its first president. Today, all of us can enjoy Primary because Aurelia Spencer Rogers followed Heavenly Father’s plan, choosing the right and doing good.

Instructions

The principles mentioned in the 13th article of faith suggest some good deeds we can do. On the next page is a picture-plan showing a good-deed path. As you follow God’s plan and do a good deed, write what you did on a sign. Please do the good deeds listed below your picture. Choose other good deeds and do them. You might want to include giving a talk in Primary, doing something to make your home more beautiful, being patient, being brave, and complimenting someone. When you have filled in all the signs on the path, color the picture. Then color and cut out the badge and wear it as a reminder that you are following Heavenly Father’s plan when you choose to do right.

Illustrated by Julie F. Young

Sharing Time Ideas

Give each class a picture of a person from the scriptures, such as Jesus, Joseph Smith, Nephi, Esther, Mormon, Daniel, Samuel, Ruth, Paul. Have the class members discuss how the person followed Heavenly Father’s plan and in what ways he/she was blessed, then share their knowledge with the other children.
Discuss the principles mentioned in the 13th article of faith with the children. Make a large banner for each class, and have class members decide what they can do together in Primary to help them live Heavenly Father’s plan—for example, read the scriptures, listen in class. Have them write their ideas on the banner and decorate it.
Have the children draw pictures to illustrate the following terms for their “My Articles of Faith Book” (see Sharing Time, February 1995, page 12): plan—a way to do something; choice—deciding between two or more things.
Have each Primary teacher and a member of the bishopric or branch presidency share an experience in which they followed God’s plan and how it made them feel.