August 16–22

Doctrine and Covenants 89–92

“A Principle with Promise”

As you study the truths in Doctrine and Covenants 89–92, ponder new and creative ways you can help the children understand them.

Record Your Impressions

Invite Sharing

Invite the children to draw and talk about good things they did this week to care for their bodies and spirits.

Teach the Doctrine: Younger Children

Doctrine and Covenants 89

I will be blessed as I obey the Word of Wisdom.

Teach the children that our bodies are gifts from Heavenly Father and He wants us to take good care of them.

Our bodies are gifts from God.

Possible Activities

• To help the children understand the Lord’s commandments in Doctrine and Covenants 89:10–17, draw or show pictures of good things we can eat or good things we can do to keep our bodies healthy (see also this week’s activity page). Also help the children understand that alcohol, tobacco, tea, coffee, and other harmful drugs hurt our bodies and the Lord has warned us not to use them. Invite the children to choose something they can do this week to keep their bodies healthy.

• Invite the children to take turns drawing a picture on the board that represents something taught in the Word of Wisdom. Let the rest of the children guess what each person is drawing. Talk about the Lord’s commandment in section 89 that relates to the drawing.

• Use the following example, or others you think of, to show how we are blessed by obeying the Word of Wisdom (see Doctrine and Covenants 89:18–21). Do a simple exercise together, such as walking or running in place, and then pretend to “be weary” or “faint” (verse 20). Testify of the Lord’s promises.

• Show a picture of the temple, and ask the children to describe what they see. Use a song about physical health, such as “The Lord Gave Me a Temple” (Children’s Songbook, 153), to teach the children that our bodies are like temples for our spirits and God wants us to keep our bodies healthy. Help the children think of ways we can care for our bodies, and let the children act them out.

Doctrine and Covenants 90:5

God gives us prophets to guide and protect us.

Help the children understand how the Lord’s prophets can help us find safety from the storms of life.

Possible Activities

• Show the children pictures of ancient prophets, and tell them how these prophets warned the people in their day. (For ideas, see “Follow the Prophet,” Children’s Songbook, 110–11.)

• Why should we listen to God’s prophets? Show a picture of the current prophet, and share some things he has taught or warned us about recently. Help the children think of ways we can follow the prophet. Share your testimony of the truths taught in Doctrine and Covenants 90:5. (Note that “oracles” means revelations or the prophets who receive them.)

Teach the Doctrine: Older Children

Doctrine and Covenants 89

The Word of Wisdom helps me be healthy in body and spirit.

Elder Gary E. Stevenson counseled young people to plan in advance what they will do when tempted with alcohol or drugs. Then he taught, “You will find that temptation has less control over you. You will have already made the decision of how you will react and what you will do. You won’t need to decide every time” (“Your Priesthood Playbook,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2019, 48). Encourage the children you teach to decide now—for the rest of their lives—to live the Word of Wisdom.

Possible Activities

• Divide the children into two groups, and ask one group to read Doctrine and Covenants 89:1–4 and the other group to read verses 18–21. Ask them to ponder questions like the following: Why did the Lord give us the Word of Wisdom? How can living the Word of Wisdom bless me physically and spiritually?

• Create fill-in-the-blank statements using phrases from Doctrine and Covenants 89, such as “ is ordained for the use of man and of beasts” or “And shall and not faint” (verses 14, 20). Invite the children to work in pairs to find the answers in section 89. The children could sort the statements into the following categories: good things for our bodies, bad things for our bodies, and blessings.

• Invite one child to read Doctrine and Covenants 89:4 and another to read the quotation from Elder Stevenson above. Why should we decide now to obey the Word of Wisdom rather than waiting until the moment of temptation? Help the children role-play how they might respond if someone, even a friend, offers them something that is against the Word of Wisdom. How does obeying the Word of Wisdom protect us?

Doctrine and Covenants 90:2, 5, 14–16

The First Presidency holds “the keys of the kingdom.”

The Lord’s instructions about the First Presidency in 1833 (Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams) can help the children strengthen their testimony of today’s First Presidency.

Possible Activities

• Invite the children to search Doctrine and Covenants 90:14–16 and write down some of the things the Lord asked the First Presidency to do. Show the children a picture of the current First Presidency, and share something about them. (You can read their biographies under “Living Prophets and Church Leaders” at ChurchofJesusChrist.org.) Share your testimony of their divine callings and the blessings you have received from following their counsel.

• Review with the children something that a member of the First Presidency has taught. Then read together Doctrine and Covenants 90:5. Point out that “oracles” are revelations or the prophets who receive them. What does it mean to “receive the oracles … as a light thing”? How can we show that prophets and the things they teach are important to us?

Doctrine and Covenants 91

The Spirit can help me know what is true.

As you read what the Lord told Joseph Smith about the Apocrypha, think about how this counsel could help the children discern between the truth and error they will encounter throughout their lives.

Possible Activities

• Read together the section heading for Doctrine and Covenants 91 to help the children understand what the Apocrypha is (see also Guide to the Scriptures, “Apocrypha,” scriptures.ChurchofJesusChrist.org). Help the children think of other places, such as in the media, where we might find “many things … that are true” and “many things … that are not true” (verses 1–2). Then invite the children to search section 91 to learn what the Lord said we can do to discern between truth and error.

• Read together Doctrine and Covenants 91:4–6, and ask the children what these verses teach about the Holy Ghost. Invite the children to share a personal experience when “the Spirit [manifested] truth” to them. Also share your own experiences. In what other ways can the Spirit help us?

Encourage Learning at Home

Invite the children to share with their family what they learned today about caring for their body and spirit or their goals for obeying the Word of Wisdom.

Improving Our Teaching

Seek your own inspiration. These outlines are not instructions you must follow as you teach. Rather, they are meant to spark your own inspiration as you ponder the needs of the children you teach. (See Teaching in the Savior’s Way, 7.)