Joseph Smith in Nauvoo, 1840, by Theodore Gorka

November 8–14

Doctrine and Covenants 129–132

“When We Obtain Any Blessing from God, It Is by Obedience”

Elder David A. Bednar explained: “Talking and telling alone are not teaching. Preaching the gospel the Lord’s way includes observing and listening and discerning” (“Becoming a Preach My Gospel Missionary,” New Era, Oct. 2013, 6). What does the Spirit teach you as you observe and listen to the children you teach?

Record Your Impressions

Invite Sharing

Select a topic from sections 129–32, and let the children tell you what they have already learned about that topic. For example, what do they know about Heavenly Father or the Godhead? about eternal marriage? about the celestial kingdom?

Teach the Doctrine: Younger Children

Doctrine and Covenants 130:20–21; 132:5

Blessings come from obedience to God.

Joseph Smith taught that every blessing from God is based on our obedience to His laws. How can you teach this principle in a way the children will understand?

Possible Activities

• Share a simple comparison with the children that shows how important it is to follow instructions; for example, talk with them about the steps we must follow to prepare food or play a game or build something. What happens when we don’t follow the instructions? (Maybe you have a personal experience you can share.) Read Doctrine and Covenants 130:21, and compare these instructions to the commandments we must follow to receive blessings from Heavenly Father.

• Ask the children if they can think of a time when they obeyed one of God’s commandments. How did they feel? Sing together a song about obedience, such as “Keep the Commandments” (Children’s Songbook, 146–47), and identify blessings of obedience mentioned in the song. Discuss some of the things God has commanded us to do. How does God bless us when we keep those commandments?

Doctrine and Covenants 130:22

Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have immortal physical bodies.

When we understand that God the Father and Jesus Christ have bodies like ours, we feel closer to Them, and our relationship with Them is strengthened.

Possible Activities

• Show the children a picture of Jesus Christ, and invite them to point to His eyes, mouth, and other parts of His body. Then invite them to stand and point to those same parts of their own bodies. Read from Doctrine and Covenants 130:22: “The Father has a body of flesh and bones … ; the Son also.” Testify that our bodies are like Heavenly Father’s and Jesus’s bodies.

• Sing together a song about our bodies, such as “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes” (Children’s Songbook, 275), and invite the children to do actions that go along with the words. Ask the children to tell you some things they can do with their bodies. Express your gratitude for the body God has given you. How can we show we are thankful for this special gift?

• Invite the children to draw pictures of Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and themselves. Help them see how our bodies are like Heavenly Father’s and Jesus’s.

Doctrine and Covenants 132:19

Heavenly Father made it possible for families to be together forever.

Through the Lord’s sealing power and the ordinances of the temple, our family relationships can last eternally if we keep our covenants.

Possible Activities

• Help the children think of examples of things that do not last forever—food that spoils, flowers that wither, and so on. Show a picture of your family, and share how you feel about them. Testify that the Lord has made it possible, through the ordinances of the temple, for families to last forever.

• Open the Doctrine and Covenants to section 132, and tell the children that this is a revelation to Joseph Smith about marriage and families. Show them verse 19, and point to the words “through all eternity” as you read them. Invite the children to read these words with you.

• Help the children make paper dolls representing members of their family (see this week’s activity page). Cut them out, and put them in an envelope or attach them together with a paper clip to represent the sealing power that can make our families eternal.

  

  Temple ordinances allow families to be together forever.

Teach the Doctrine: Older Children

Doctrine and Covenants 130:18–19

Heavenly Father wants me to gain knowledge and intelligence.

Many things we obtain in this life will not go with us into the next life. But our “knowledge and intelligence” will (Doctrine and Covenants 130:19).

Possible Activities

• Ask the children to share with you something they are learning about in school or from their parents. Invite them to read Doctrine and Covenants 130:18–19 to find out what will happen to our knowledge and intelligence in the next life.

• What does verse 19 teach about how we gain knowledge and intelligence? How can we be diligent and obedient as we seek to learn? (For more on this topic, see “Education” in For the Strength of Youth [pages 9–10].)

Doctrine and Covenants 130:20–21; 132:5, 21–23

Blessings come from obedience to God.

Ponder how the Lord blesses you when you obey His laws. What experiences could you share with the children to inspire them?

Possible Activities

• Sing a song about obedience, such as “Keep the Commandments” (Children’s Songbook, 146–47), and invite the children to read Doctrine and Covenants 130:20–21 and 132:5. Help them find words and ideas in the verses that are similar to those in the song. How do we receive blessings from God? Ask the children to share how they have been blessed for obeying God’s laws.

• Read together Doctrine and Covenants 132:21–23, and invite the children to draw pictures to represent what they learn from these verses. Encourage them to be creative, and suggest that they include in their drawings the laws or commandments that help us stay on the narrow way to eternal life.

Doctrine and Covenants 131:1–4; 132:15, 19

Heavenly Father made it possible for families to be together forever.

Regardless of our current family situation, we can make choices now that will prepare us to receive the blessings of an eternal family in the future.

Possible Activities

• Ask some of the children to read Doctrine and Covenants 131:1–4 and others to read 132:15. Help them discover what these verses teach about marriage. Select key phrases from 132:19 (such as “if a man marry a wife,” “everlasting covenant,” “sealed,” “abide in my covenant,” “through all eternity,” and “forever and ever”), and ask the children to find these phrases in the verse. What do these phrases teach us about marriage?

• Sing “Families Can Be Together Forever” (Children’s Songbook, 188), or review “Chapter 55: A Revelation about Marriage” (Doctrine and Covenants Stories, 198). Ask the children to listen for and be prepared to share what we must do so that our families can be eternal. Testify that no matter our current family situation, we can prepare ourselves to be part of an eternal family.

Encourage Learning at Home

Invite the children to tell their families how much they love them and want to be united as a family eternally.

Improving Our Teaching

Be sensitive to family situations. “Children today find themselves in many different and complex family configurations. … [We] need to reach out to [those] who feel alone, left behind, or outside the fence” (Neil L. Andersen, “Whoso Receiveth Them, Receiveth Me,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2016, 49, 52).