Scripture
7 - Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
Hymn
Search, Ponder, and Pray - Primary Songbook #109 or Let the Holy Spirit Guide - Hymn #143
1. I love to read the holy scriptures,
And, ev’ry time I do,
I feel the Spirit start to grow within my heart—
A testimony that they’re true.
2. So, prayerfully I’ll read the scriptures
Each day my whole life through.
I’ll come to understand.
I’ll heed the Lord’s command
And live as he would have me do.
Chorus
Search, ponder, and pray
Are the things that I must do.
The Spirit will guide, and, deep inside,
I’ll know the scriptures are true.
1. Let the Holy Spirit guide;
Let him teach us what is true.
He will testify of Christ,
Light our minds with heaven’s view.
2. Let the Holy Spirit guard;
Let his whisper govern choice.
He will lead us safely home
If we listen to his voice.
3. Let the Spirit heal our hearts
Thru his quiet, gentle pow’r.
May we purify our lives
To receive him hour by hour.
Lesson
*For All Family Members* Click on the link below to access additional material, discussions, and questions that you can use for your lesson. Choose the material that best suits your families needs.
*Recognizing Personal Revelation*
*For Younger Children* Read the talk by President Thomas S. Monson and discuss afterwards. Help your children understand what revelation is, who can receive it, and how. Help them understand that we must act upon the revelation that we receive.
Tell a personal experience of a time when you received personal revelation and what you learned from it.
Testify of the power of personal revelation.
Going on an Errand for the Lord
Our Lord and Savior said, “Come, follow me” (Luke 18:22). When we accept His invitation and walk in His footsteps, He will direct our paths.
In April of 2000, I received a phone call from Rosa Salas Gifford, whom I did not know. Her father, Bernardo Agusto Salas, had liver cancer. Her father’s great desire, she explained, was to meet me before he died.
I felt impressed that I should visit Brother Salas that very evening. I drove past the location where the road to the house should have been. I could see nothing. However, I don’t give up easily. I drove around the block and came back. Still nothing. One more time I tried and still no sign of the road. I offered a silent prayer for help. The inspiration came that I should approach the area from the opposite direction. I turned the car around so that I was now on the other side of the road. As I neared the location once again, I could see a street sign lying on its side at the edge of the road and a weed-covered track leading to a single, tiny residence. As I drove toward it, a small girl in a white dress waved to me, and I knew that I had found the family.
I was ushered into the room where Brother Salas lay. With some prompting, Brother Salas opened his eyes, and a wan smile graced his lips as I took him by the hand. I spoke the words, “I have come to meet you.” Tears welled up in his eyes and in mine.
I proceeded to provide a priesthood blessing. The words seemed to flow freely under the direction of the Spirit of the Lord. Following the blessing, I offered a few words of comfort to the grieving family members. With my limited Spanish language ability, I let them know that I loved them and that our Heavenly Father would bless them.
As I drove homeward, I reflected on the special spirit we had felt. I experienced a sense of gratitude that my Heavenly Father had answered another person’s prayer through me. May we ever be on the Lord’s errand, that we might ever be entitled to the Lord’s help.
Object Lesson
Purpose: This game demonstrates that sometimes our prayers we are concentrating on only speaking. We need to remember that prayer is not only our communication with
Heavenly Father, but also His communication with us. This game can teach us to be sensitive to what He is saying to us.
You will need:
- Six to eight items of clothing that you can take off or put on such as glasses, tie, sweater, hat, necklace, shoes
- Stopwatch or watch with a second hand
- The scriptures
Ask participants to look at you for ten seconds, paying attention to the details of how you are dressed. Have them close their eyes (or you can briefly leave the room). Quickly change one detail about how you are dressed (take off a shoe, roll up sleeves, put on glasses, etc). Ask them to carefully look at you again, trying to identify the change you made. When they have the right answer or thirty seconds has gone by, repeat the process using yourself or others.
Vary the difficulty of the changes according to the ages of your participants.
As they are guessing, commend them for the way in which they are paying careful attention.
Explain that we are able to communicate to Heavenly Father through prayer and that we must listen carefully and pay careful attention when He talks to us. When we listen to God’s voice it will help us to know how to love and obey Him.
*For Teenagers or Adults* Read the talk “Eight Ways God Can Speak to You”, by Dallin H. Oaks. You can also use the same object lesson and additional resources below to adapt questions, activities, and discussions according to your families needs.
*Recognizing Personal Revelation*
Use this as an opportunity to ask family members to write down ways or situations in which they may need to seek personal revelation. Challenge them to take the steps towards receiving that revelation through what has been taught.
Testify of the power personal revelation has had in your life.
Treat
Quick OREO Cheesecake and Angel Lush Cupcakes
Ingredients:
1 tub (24.2 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Ready-To-Eat Cheesecake Filling
12 OREO Cookies, coarsely chopped, divided
1 OREO Pie Crust (6 oz.)
Instructions:
1. SPOON cheesecake filling into large bowl. Remove 1/3 cup of the chopped cookies; set aside. Add remaining chopped cookies to filling; stir just until blended.
2. SPOON into crust. Smooth top lightly with back of spoon to form even layer. Sprinkle with the reserved chopped cookies.
3. SERVE immediately. Or cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Ingredients:
1 pkg. (16 oz.) angel food cake mix
1 pkg. (3.4 oz.) JELL-O Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding
2 cans (8 oz. each) DOLE Crushed Pineapple in Juice, undrained
1 cup thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping
2 cups assorted fresh berries (blueberries, raspberries and sliced strawberries)
Instructions:
HEAT oven to 375ºF.
PREPARE cake batter as directed on package; pour into 30 paper-lined muffin cups, filling each cup 2/3 full. Bake 12 to 15 min. or until tops are golden brown and cracks feel dry. (Note: If baking in batches, refrigerate remaining batter in bowl until ready to pour into lined muffin cups and bake.) Cool cupcakes in pans 10 min.; remove to wire racks. Cool completely.
MIX dry pudding mix and pineapple in medium bowl. Gently stir in COOL WHIP; spread onto cupcakes.
TOP with berries.
Activity
1- Red Rover
Divide everyone into two teams, each forming a long line, holding hands, facing the other team. The two teams should be around 20 or so feet apart. The teams take turn calling out, “Red Rover, Red Rover, let <insert child’s name> come over!” That child leaves their team’s line, runs as fast as they can toward the other line and tries to break through the held hands. If they break through, they get to take someone back to their team. If they don’t, they join the new team. When a team only has one person left, that person tries to break through the other team. If they do not, then their team loses. If they do, they gain a player and play continues.
This game is most fun when played with a large group. Split the group into two teams, each team having a flag or other marker at the team’s base. The object of the game is to run into the other team’s territory, capture their flag and make it safely back to your own territory. You can tag “enemy” players in your territory, sending them to your jail. They can be sprung from jail by a member of their own team running into your territory, tagging them and running back, with one freed person allowed per jail break. It is sometimes played that all the people in jail could hold hands and make a chain back toward their own territory, making it easier for members of their team to tag them. We also played a similar game called Steal the Sticks. It had almost the same rules, but several sticks were used instead of one flag.
Read the following story with them:
