“August 24–30: ‘Remember the Lord,’” Come, Follow Me—For Sunday School: Book of Mormon 2020 (2020)
“August 24–30. Helaman 7–12,” Come, Follow Me—For Sunday School: 2020
Illustration of Nephi in a garden tower by Jerry Thompson
August 24–30
Helaman 7–12
“Remember the Lord”
Nephi encouraged his people to remember the Lord. You can do the same for those you teach. As you read Helaman 7–12, record impressions about how you can help class members remember the Lord.
Record Your Impressions
Invite Sharing
Invite class members to write on the board some gospel principles they found in Helaman 7–12, along with references to where these principles are found. Then you could determine as a class which of these principles and verses you will discuss.
Teach the Doctrine
Prophets reveal the will of God to the people.
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To help your class learn from Helaman 7–11 about the roles and responsibilities of prophets, you could start by reading together the entry for “Prophet” in the Guide to the Scriptures (scriptures.ChurchofJesusChrist.org). Class members could identify the roles of prophets mentioned and list them on the board. You could then ask class members to each review one chapter from Helaman 7–11. Ask them to look for how Nephi fulfilled the roles listed on the board. How do our living prophets and apostles fulfill these roles? How can we sustain them in their responsibilities?
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Why do prophets sometimes have to speak with boldness like Nephi did? Consider inviting class members to read Helaman 7:11–29, looking for the warnings Nephi gave and the reasons he had to be so bold in giving them. What prophetic warnings have inspired us to repent and come to the Lord? In “Additional Resources” you will find a metaphor that Elder Neil L. Andersen used to help us understand the dangers of ignoring prophetic warnings.
Faith must be built on more than signs and miracles.
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One way to discuss these verses is to divide the class into two groups and invite each group to read Helaman 9:1–20 and imagine themselves in the place of either the five men or the chief judges. What might these people have felt? What may have influenced each group to respond differently to the same miraculous prophecy? How can we ensure that miracles build our testimonies but do not become the only basis for them? How can we determine whether the prophet’s words in our day are true?
The Lord gives power to those who seek His will and keep His commandments.
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The account of the Lord blessing Nephi in Helaman 10 can inspire members of your class to be more diligent in seeking and doing the Lord’s will. Class members could read verses 1–12, looking for what Nephi did to gain the Lord’s trust and how the Lord blessed him. They could then share other examples of people who sought and did the Lord’s will “with unwearyingness” (Helaman 10:4), either from the scriptures or their own lives. How did the Lord bless these people with power to “cast down” (Helaman 10:9) figurative mountains in their lives? Give class members time to ponder ways they can better seek the Lord’s will and keep His commandments.
The Lord wants us to remember Him.
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Many members of your class have made covenants to always remember Jesus Christ. Perhaps they could share with each other some things that help them “always remember him” (Moroni 4:3; Doctrine and Covenants 20:77), both in times of prosperity and times of difficulty. Then class members could search Helaman 12 for reasons people tend to forget the Lord. How can we overcome the tendencies described in this chapter? How has adversity helped us remember God? (see Helaman 11:4–7).
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To demonstrate the effort it takes to remember something, you could give class members a few minutes to look over Helaman 12. Then you could ask them questions about the chapter to see what they remember. Maybe they could share what they do to remember information for a test. How is this similar to the effort that is required to “remember the Lord”? (Helaman 12:5). How is it different? Invite the class to find a verse or a phrase from Helaman 12 that they could display in their homes or memorize to remind them to remember the goodness and power of God.
Encourage Learning at Home
To encourage class members to read Helaman 13–16, you could point out that Samuel the Lamanite’s prophecies of events associated with the Savior’s birth and Crucifixion can be compared to events in our day that will precede the Savior’s Second Coming.
Additional Resources
Listen to the guidance of the prophets.
Elder Neil L. Andersen shared the following experience:
“Those who choose to serve the Lord will always listen attentively and specifically to the Prophet. …
“… Let me illustrate with an experience. Our family lived for many years in the state of Florida. Because Florida has a high concentration of sand, lawns there are planted with a large broadleaf grass we call Saint Augustine. A formidable enemy of a Florida lawn is a small, brown insect called a mole cricket.
“One evening as my neighbor and I stood on the front steps, he noticed a little bug crossing my sidewalk. ‘You better spray your lawn,’ he warned. ‘There goes a mole cricket.’ I had sprayed the lawn with insecticide not too many weeks previously, and I hardly felt that I had the time or money to do it again so soon.
“In the light of the next morning, I examined my lawn closely. It was lush and beautifully green. I looked down into the grass to see if I could see any of the little bugs. I could see none. I remember thinking, ‘Well, maybe that little mole cricket was just passing through my yard on the way to my neighbor’s yard.’ …
“The story, however, has a sad ending. I came out the front door one morning, about 10 days after the conversation with my neighbor. Shockingly, as if it had happened overnight, brown spots covered my lawn. I ran to the garden store, bought the insecticide, and sprayed immediately, but it was too late. The lawn was ruined, and to return it to its former state required a new crop of sod, long hours of work, and large expense.
“My neighbor’s warning was central to my lawn’s welfare. He saw things I could not see. He knew something I did not know. He knew that mole crickets live underground and are active only at night, making my daytime examinations ineffective. He knew that mole crickets did not eat the leaves of the grass but rather found nourishment in the roots. He knew that these little inch-long creatures could eat a lot of roots before I would ever see the effect above the ground. I paid a dear price for my smug independence. …
“… There are spiritual mole crickets that burrow under our protective walls and invade our delicate roots. Many of these insects of wickedness appear small, at times almost invisible. …
“Let us not follow the pattern I showed in dealing with my Florida mole crickets. Let us never ignore the warnings. Let us never be smug in our independence. Let us always be listening and learning in humility and faith, anxious to repent should it be necessary” (“Prophets and Spiritual Mole Crickets,” Ensign, Nov. 1999, 16–18).
Improving Our Teaching
Express love. “Depending on your circumstances, expressing love to those you teach may mean giving them sincere compliments, taking an interest in their lives, listening carefully to them, involving them in the lesson, performing acts of service for them, or simply greeting them warmly when you see them” (Teaching in the Savior’s Way, 6).