Conversion of Alma the Younger, by Gary L. Kapp

May 18–24

Mosiah 25–28

“They Were Called the People of God”

Heavenly Father knows what the children in your class need to learn and how to reach them. Seek His guidance as you read Mosiah 25–28 and review this outline.

Record Your Impressions

Invite Sharing

Show the picture in this week’s outline in Come, Follow Me—For Individuals and Families, and ask the children to describe what is happening in the picture. If the children are familiar with the story of Alma the Younger and the sons of Mosiah, let them share what they know.

Teach the Doctrine: Younger Children

Mosiah 26:30–31

The Lord wants me to forgive.

The Lord taught Alma that He freely forgives those who repent. We should follow His example by forgiving those who sin against us.

Possible Activities

• Read to the children this phrase from Mosiah 26:31: “Ye shall also forgive one another.” Let the children practice saying “I forgive you” a few times, and find out if they know what it means to forgive. Share an experience from your life when you forgave someone or someone forgave you.

• Help the children role-play forgiving one another. Ask one child to pretend that he or she has done something to hurt or offend another child. What can the other child say or do to show forgiveness?

• Invite the children to draw a sad face on one side of a paper and a happy face on the other side. Ask them to hold up the sad face while they tell about an experience when a sibling or friend made them upset. Ask them to hold up the happy face while they tell how they have forgiven or will forgive that person.

Mosiah 27:8–37

The gospel helps people change and become more like Jesus.

The conversion of Alma the Younger and the sons of Mosiah demonstrates that because of Jesus Christ and His gospel, anyone can change and become more like Jesus.

Possible Activities

• Briefly tell about the conversion of Alma the Younger and the sons of Mosiah, as described in Mosiah 27:8–37. For help, see “Chapter 18: Alma the Younger Repents” (Book of Mormon Stories, 49–52, or the corresponding video on ChurchofJesusChrist.org). Then tell the story again, allowing the children to share the details they remember. Let them act out the story, and help them see the differences between what Alma and the sons of Mosiah were like before they repented and afterward.

• Help the children use this week’s activity page to tell the story of Alma and the sons of Mosiah. Read Mosiah 27:24, and help the children understand that Alma and the sons of Mosiah changed because they repented of their sins and accepted the gospel of Jesus Christ.

  

  His Father Rejoiced, by Walter Rane

Mosiah 28:1–8

I can share the gospel.

After their conversion, the sons of Mosiah were eager to share the gospel with everyone, including their enemies, the Lamanites.

Possible Activities

• Use Mosiah 28:1–8 to tell the children about the sons of Mosiah deciding to preach the gospel to the Lamanites. For help, see “Chapter 19: The Sons of Mosiah Become Missionaries” (Book of Mormon Stories, 53, or the corresponding video on ChurchofJesusChrist.org). Why did they want to share the gospel? (see verse 3).

• Help each child think of someone who needs to know more about the gospel. Help the children plan what they will say to the people they thought of.

• Sing together a song about sharing the gospel, such as “I Want to Be a Missionary Now” (Children’s Songbook, 168). Point out phrases in the song that suggest how we can share the gospel with others.

Teach the Doctrine: Older Children

Mosiah 26:22–23, 29–30; 27:8–37

God freely forgives those who repent.

If anyone in your class wonders if he or she can truly be forgiven, God’s words to Alma the Elder and the experience of Alma the Younger can help.

Possible Activities

• Ask the children to pretend they are talking to someone who doesn’t think God will ever forgive him or her. Invite them to review God’s words to Alma the Elder in Mosiah 26:22–23, 29–30. What do they find that would help that person?

• Before class, ask one of the children to read about the conversion of Alma the Younger, found in Mosiah 27:8–37, and come prepared to tell the story to the class as if he or she were Alma the Younger. (If needed, suggest that he or she ask a parent to help.) As the child tells the story, ask questions such as “How did you feel when … ?” or “What happened next?”

• Invite the children to make a list of words from Mosiah 27:8–10 that describe what Alma and the sons of Mosiah were like before their conversion. Then ask them to make another list from Mosiah 27:32–37 that describe what they were like afterward. According to verses 24–29, what caused this great change in Alma?

Mosiah 26:29–31

To be forgiven, I must forgive.

Help the children see the connection between the forgiveness they extend to others and the forgiveness they hope for themselves.

Possible Activities

• Invite the children to read Mosiah 26:29–31 and count how many times the word “forgive” appears. What do these verses teach us about forgiving others? How does forgiveness help both the person who has done something wrong and the person who forgives?

• Ask a child to draw a bridge on the board, and share this statement quoted by President Thomas S. Monson: “He that cannot forgive others breaks the bridge over which he himself must pass if he would ever reach heaven, for everyone has need of forgiveness” (George Herbert, quoted in “Hidden Wedges,” Ensign, May 2002, 19). Erase part of the bridge, and ask the children to help you rebuild it, piece by piece, as they share ways they can extend forgiveness to others. Invite them to think of someone they need to forgive.

Mosiah 27:8–24

I can pray and fast for God to bless those I love.

Consider how you can help the children understand that fasting can strengthen their faith as they pray for people they love.

Possible Activities

• Read together Mosiah 27:8–24, and ask the children to identify what Alma and his people did to help Alma the Younger. Share an experience in which you fasted and prayed for someone, and encourage the children to share their own experiences.

• Invite the children to think of someone they know who needs God’s help in his or her life. Bear your testimony that the children can pray and fast with faith for God to bless this person. Invite the children to pray for the person they thought of and, if they are able, fast for them too.

Encourage Learning at Home

Ask the children to pick one thing they learned from the experience of Alma the Younger and the sons of Mosiah that they would like to share with their families.

Improving Our Teaching

Support parents. “Parents are the most important gospel teachers for their children—they have both the main responsibility and the greatest power to influence their children (see Deuteronomy 6:6–7). As you teach children at church, prayerfully seek ways to support their parents” (Teaching in the Savior’s Way, 25).