Kirtland Temple, by Al Rounds

August 30–September 5

Doctrine and Covenants 94–97

“For the Salvation of Zion”

Seek inspiration to know what principles from sections 94–97 to emphasize as you teach. You can adapt activity ideas for younger children as you teach older children, and vice versa.

Record Your Impressions

Invite Sharing

Show the children a picture of a temple, and invite them to share what they know about temples. They could also talk about how they feel when they see a temple.

Teach the Doctrine: Younger Children

Doctrine and Covenants 95:8; 97:15–16

The temple is the house of the Lord.

Even the children in Kirtland helped, in small but meaningful ways, to build the Kirtland Temple. Help the children you teach strengthen their love for the Lord’s holy house.

Possible Activities

• Show a picture of the Kirtland Temple (see this week’s outline in Come, Follow Me—For Individuals and Families). Use phrases from Doctrine and Covenants 95:8 to teach the children about the Lord’s commandment to build this temple. Let the children take turns holding the picture and saying “The temple is the house of the Lord.”

  

  The Saints built a temple to feel closer to God.

• Tell the children that on every temple is written “Holiness to the Lord. The House of the Lord.” If possible, show them a picture of these words on a temple. Why is the temple a special place? Read phrases from Doctrine and Covenants 97:15–16 that teach about the temple being the Lord’s house, and share your feelings about the temple.

• Invite the children to pretend they are helping to build a temple (cutting wood, hammering nails, painting walls, and so on). Explain how important the temple is to the Lord, how hard the Saints worked to build the Kirtland Temple, and how much they sacrificed for it (see Saints, 1:210).

• Sing together a song to help children feel reverence for the Lord’s house, such as “I Love to See the Temple” (Children’s Songbook, 95). Let the children share their feelings about the temple.

Doctrine and Covenants 97:8

I can be honest.

In Doctrine and Covenants 97:8, the Lord identified honesty as one attribute of those who are “accepted of me.”

Possible Activities

• Explain to the children that God taught that when we are honest, He accepts us (see Doctrine and Covenants 97:8). Share with them a few brief stories that help them understand what it means to be honest. These stories could come from your own life, from the life of someone you know, or from the Friend or Liahona. Help the children retell the stories to you or share experiences with honesty from their lives.

• Help the children learn the first phrase of the thirteenth article of faith: “We believe in being honest.” Help the children act out examples of being honest and dishonest. For example, the children could act out taking something from a sibling and telling their parents that they didn’t take it. Then help the children act out the same scenario in which they tell the truth to their parents. Explain that this is being honest.

Teach the Doctrine: Older Children

Doctrine and Covenants 95:1–3, 8, 11–17; 97:10–17

The temple is the house of the Lord.

Ponder how you can use these verses to help the children understand how important the temple is to the Lord—and how important it should be to all of us.

Possible Activities

• Ask the children to talk about times when they were supposed to do something but didn’t do it immediately. Help a child read Doctrine and Covenants 95:3, 8, and ask the children what commandment the Lord said the Saints hadn’t obeyed. Read together verse 11. What did the Saints need to do so they could build the temple? What can we learn from the Lord’s promise to them?

• On cards, write principles about the temple found in Doctrine and Covenants 95 and 97, along with the corresponding scripture references, and place the cards in a bag. For example: Building temples requires sacrifice (Doctrine and Covenants 97:11–12) and We must be worthy to enter the temple (Doctrine and Covenants 97:15–17). Divide the children into pairs. Let each pair draw a card from the bag and then work together to read the scripture on the card and talk about what the principle means to them. Help the children understand what they are reading as needed.

• Invite a young person from your ward or branch who has been to the temple to share his or her experience and tell the children what they can do to prepare for the temple.

• Use the article “Your Path to the Temple” (in Temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints [special issue of the Ensign or Liahona, Oct. 2010], 72–75) to help the children understand what happens inside temples and how they can prepare. Consider giving each child a section of the article to read and letting them share what they learn.

• Share the video “Two Apostles Lead a Virtual Tour of the Rome Italy Temple” (ChurchofJesusChrist.org), and invite the children to share how they feel about going to the temple someday.

• Sing together a song about the temple, such as “I Love to See the Temple” (Children’s Songbook, 95). What phrases in this song teach us why the temple is sacred?

Doctrine and Covenants 97:1–2, 8–9, 21

Zion is “the pure in heart.”

Help the children understand that Zion is not just a place; it is also “the pure in heart” (Doctrine and Covenants 97:21).

Possible Activities

• Invite the children to read Doctrine and Covenants 97:21, and ask them what the word “pure” means. To illustrate, show them a glass of clean water, and discuss why it is important to have clean water. Add something to the water that makes it impure (such as dirt or pepper). Invite the children to read Doctrine and Covenants 97:21 again and put their finger on the word “pure.” What does it mean for our hearts to be pure? Help the children understand that being pure in heart doesn’t mean we never make mistakes. What can we do to become more pure in heart? How does the Savior help us?

• Help the children search Doctrine and Covenants 97:1–2, 8–9, 21, looking for words or phrases that describe how to become pure in heart. Ask them to pick a word or phrase, write it on a slip of paper, and place it in a container. Draw out one slip at a time, and ask the children to suggest things they can do to use that idea in their lives. For example, what can we do to “find truth” (verse 1) or be more “honest” (verse 8)?

Encourage Learning at Home

Invite the children to use this week’s activity page to share with their families what they learned today about the temple.

Improving Our Teaching

Encourage children to ask questions. “Strive to see [the children’s] questions as opportunities, not as distractions or impediments to your lesson. … Such questions give you valuable insights into what the children are thinking, what concerns they have, and how they are responding to the things they are learning. Help them see that the answers to their questions can be found in the scriptures and the words of living prophets” (Teaching in the Savior’s Way, 25–26).