August 2–8

Doctrine and Covenants 85–87

“Stand Ye in Holy Places”

Because your time with the children is limited, seek spiritual guidance to know what principles from the scriptures you should emphasize. Trust the promptings you receive.

Record Your Impressions

Invite Sharing

Show the children some pictures or activity pages you have used in recent lessons, and invite the children to share what they remember learning about them, either in class or at home.

Teach the Doctrine: Younger Children

Doctrine and Covenants 85:6

The Spirit speaks with a “still small voice.”

Elder Richard G. Scott said, “If you accomplish nothing else in your relationship with your students than to help them recognize and follow the promptings of the Spirit, you will bless their lives immeasurably and eternally” (“To Learn and to Teach More Effectively” [Brigham Young University Education Week devotional, Aug. 21, 2007], 5, speeches.byu.edu).

Possible Activities

• Read to the children how Joseph Smith described the Spirit: “Yea, thus saith the still small voice” (Doctrine and Covenants 85:6). Ask the children to name some things that are small (show pictures if they need help). Invite them to crouch down on the ground to be as small and still as they can. Help them think about how a voice can be small, and let them practice listening to and speaking in a small voice. Tell about times when the Spirit spoke to you in a still, small voice.

• Teach the children a song about the Spirit, such as “The Holy Ghost” (Children’s Songbook, 105). Invite them to sing it with you in a whisper. What does this song teach about the Holy Ghost? Help the children recognize when they may have felt His influence (such as when praying, singing hymns, or helping others).

Doctrine and Covenants 86:11

I can be like a light to others.

Section 86 describes the important work the Lord wants His servants to do in the latter days. One way children can help with this work is by being a light to people around them.

Possible Activities

• Read to the children the following phrase from Doctrine and Covenants 86:11: “Blessed are ye if ye continue in my goodness, a light unto the Gentiles [or people who don’t have the gospel].” How does light bless us? What is it like when we have no light? How can we be a light to other people who don’t know about the gospel? Help the children think of ways we can share Jesus’s goodness with others.

• Ask the children to imagine that a friend is trying to walk in the dark (turn off the lights if it helps). Why is it hard to walk in the dark? What can we do to help our friend? Explain that when we follow the Savior, it’s like shining a light to show others the way to go.

• The Liahona and Friend magazines often have stories about children who are good examples. Look for one to share with the children that will inspire them to be good examples too.

Doctrine and Covenants 87

Our homes can be “holy places.”

No home is perfect, but there are things we can all do to make our homes into holy places of peace.

Possible Activities

• Explain to the children that Joseph Smith was worried about things that were happening in the world. Summarize the heading to section 87, or read “Chapter 30: A Revelation about War” (Doctrine and Covenants Stories, 117–18; see also the video on ChurchofJesusChrist.org). Ask the children to listen for things that might have made Joseph worried. To teach what the Lord said we should do about those problems, read Doctrine and Covenants 87:8.

• Show a picture of a temple, and share why the temple is a holy place. Show a picture of a home, and help the children think of ways they can make their homes holy like the temple (see this week’s activity page). Why do we want to be in holy places?

Teach the Doctrine: Older Children

Doctrine and Covenants 85:6

The Spirit speaks with a “still small voice.”

The world has many distractions that can make it difficult to hear the Spirit. How will you help the children listen for the Spirit’s voice?

Possible Activities

• Ask the children what they would say if someone asked them how they know when the Holy Ghost speaks to them. Invite them to read about one way Joseph Smith described the Spirit’s voice in Doctrine and Covenants 85:6.

• Play a hymn or children’s song quietly, and ask one of the children to guess what song it is while the others make distracting noises, such as clapping or stomping. Then ask the other children to stop, and discuss how this is like hearing the Holy Ghost when we remove distractions from our lives. Help the children think of distractions they can remove in order to feel the Spirit more often.

Doctrine and Covenants 86

I can help gather God’s people.

The parable of the wheat and the tares is about “the last days, even now” (Doctrine and Covenants 86:4). Use this parable to help the children feel inspired to take part in “the gathering of the wheat” (verse 7).

Possible Activities

• Tell the children the parable of the wheat and the tares, or invite a child to tell it (see Matthew 13:24–30). Invite the children to draw a picture of something from the parable. Then read together Doctrine and Covenants 86:1–7, and invite the children to write on their drawings what the thing they drew represents.

• Prepare several small pictures or drawings of wheat, and hide them around the room. Invite each child to help gather the wheat and write on it the name of someone they can “gather” to Jesus Christ. What does it mean to gather people to Jesus Christ? What are some ways we can do this? What does it mean to “continue in [the Savior’s] goodness,” and how does that help us gather people to Him? (Doctrine and Covenants 86:11).

Doctrine and Covenants 87

I can “stand … in holy places.”

The children you teach will face spiritual and physical dangers throughout their lives. You can help them prepare to face those dangers by teaching them to find and stand in holy places.

Temple service is one way we can help gather God’s people.

Possible Activities

• Read together Doctrine and Covenants 87:6 to learn about things the Lord said would happen in the latter days. Ask the children to talk about challenges that children their age sometimes face. Invite them to find in verse 8 what the Lord said we should do during hard times. Tell the children about holy places in your life.

• Help the children make a list of holy places, holy thoughts, and holy actions that can help them face spiritual danger (for ideas, see the videos “Standing in Holy Places” and “Stand Ye in Holy Places—Bloom Where You’re Planted,” ChurchofJesusChrist.org). Invite them to keep their list with them to refer to when needed.

Encourage Learning at Home

Invite the children to pick one thing they will do to make their home or their life a “holy place.”

Improving Our Teaching

Use your creativity. Don’t limit yourself to the activity ideas suggested in this outline. Let these ideas spark your own creativity. Think about what the children in your class will enjoy and what will help them learn.