Additional Sharing Time Ideas, January 2005

The following are additional ideas Primary leaders may use with the Sharing Time printed in the January 2005 Liahona. For the lesson, instructions, and activity that correspond with these ideas, see “The Plan of Happiness” on pages F8 and F9 of the children’s section in this issue.

1. Help the children memorize Moses 1:39 (see Teaching, No Greater Call [1999], 171–72). Teach the plan of salvation by using stations that represent each phase of our existence: premortal, earth life, spirit world, and degrees of glory. (This will need to be taught chronologically. If your Primary is small, move to each station as a group. With many children, select small groups to represent the whole group and have them demonstrate moving from station to station at the front of the room.) As children move from premortal to earth life, they will pass through the “veil” representing birth. As they move from earth to the spirit world, they will pass through the “veil” representing death. As they move from the spirit world to the degrees of glory, help them understand the concepts of resurrection and judgment. With scriptures, stories, songs, and testimony (see suggestions below), teach what we have done and what we are expected to do in each phase of our existence.

Premortal life: Abr. 3:22–26; D&C 138:55–56; “The Family: A Proclamation to the World,” paragraphs 2–3; “I Lived in Heaven” (Liahona, Apr. 1999, F5). Earth life: Articles of Faith [A of F 1:1–13]; My Gospel Standards; role of the Savior; stories from the scriptures of choosing the right; a song or hymn about obedience. Spirit world: Alma 40:9–14; D&C 138:57 (the righteous will do missionary work); a song or hymn about missionary work; talk about the importance of temple work for the dead. Degrees of glory: D&C 76:50–112; A of F 1:3–4; a song or hymn about eternal families.

Copy the plan of salvation chart from Primary 6, lesson 1. Make a copy for each child to color as he or she moves from station to station. Encourage the children to share the charts with their families.

2. Using Gospel Art Picture Kit 101 (Adam and Eve in the Garden) and 119 (Adam and Eve Teaching Their Children), teach the story of Adam and Eve and the role they played in Heavenly Father’s plan. Post both pictures on the wall. Make wordstrips identifying conditions specific to the Garden of Eden (for example, no death, living in the presence of Heavenly Father, no illness or pain, all animals living in peace with each other, no children, Adam and Eve did not labor for their living) and wordstrips identifying conditions in the world after the Fall (for example, death and pain, living by faith, children coming to Adam and Eve, knowledge, progression). Place the wordstrips in a box, and pass the box while the children sing a song or hymn. Stop the music frequently. When the music stops, let a child pick a wordstrip and place it under the appropriate picture. Have the children find and read the testimonies of Adam and Eve in Moses 5:10–12. Point out that because of Adam and Eve, we can come to earth and be part of a family. Just as they taught their family the gospel, we can learn and live the gospel in our own families.

Divide the Primary into three groups. Ask the first group to think of what they could do to keep the commandments at home, the second to think of what they could do to keep the commandments at school, and the third to think of ways to keep the commandments at church. Pick one child from each group to draw on the chalkboard one thing they can do to keep the commandments. They must complete their drawings while the children are singing a verse of a song or hymn. Have the children guess what activities are illustrated. Repeat as time allows. Bear testimony that Adam and Eve were an important part of Heavenly Father’s plan; they were our first parents and taught their children the gospel. We can also learn and live the gospel in our families.