Life's Journey To Perfection: Come Follow Me Lesson Helps for April 2014:The Apostasy and the Restoration

My husband has a calling in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a Sunday school teacher. Each week he studies the given topic and comes up with a lesson plan. With the "Come Follow Me" program for the youth, the Young Women, Young Men, Sunday School for the youth and Seminary all have the same topic for the month. Each month there are 5-6 outlines for each organization to choose from. I was intrigued by this program and wanted to learn more. So, I headed over to the church's website to do some exploring. The church has amazing instructions and videos to help you learn about this program, they can be found here: "Come Follow Me". Basically, the concept is to teach the Gospel in the Savior's way. I think this concept is beneficial in all areas of teaching.

Here are my thoughts on the ways of "Teaching in the Savior's Way" (see the link to the video here, it's the 1st video, the following highlighted topics are given at the end of that video):

"Prepare to Teach": We can prepare ourselves to teach by living the gospel in our own lives. When we study the topic given and think of the needs of those we are going to be teaching, we will also be better prepared. We also, prepare ourselves by seeking the guidance of our Heavenly Father as we prepare our lessons. That is something I do before preparing my sharing times, visit teaching messages and family home evenings. I think it is very important to be open and mindful to the needs of those that you are going to teach and allow the Spirit to guide you as you prepare.
"Help us Discover the Gospel": Isn't that what learning is all about? Discovering...how does one discover something? Discover is defined on Dictionary.com as, "to see, get knowledge of, learn of, find, or find out; gain sight or knowledge of (something previously unseen or unknown)" So, if we are going to help those we teach to discover the Gospel, we are going to help them gain knowledge of the gospel topic, gain an insight of how it applies in their own lives. We do this by sharing our experiences related to the topic and allow the class member's to share their experiences as well. The scriptures are an amazing tool. It is a tool that can be used to gain knowledge in the classroom as well as individually at home. By helping the class members understand how to search and ponder over the scriptures you are giving them something that they can rely on throughout their life. It is such a blessing to have that knowledge and understanding. Asking questions during your lesson also opens up the pathway to discussion. Allow members to testify of the gospel principles. It is an amazing thing as someone feels the spirit and is willing to testify of the truths they know. It strengthens their testimony as well as the testimonies of those who are able to witness it.
"Invite us To Act": We do this by inviting our class member's to live the gospel principles in their lives. This might include giving class member's an assignment in regards to living a gospel principle and follow-up with it the following week. Allowing them to share their experiences. If our class members know that we trust them to do the right, they will be more likely to do so. Trust goes a long ways, when we give trust to someone they will most likely try to strive to live up to that trust.
"Let us Teach": Some of the best lessons I have been involved in are where there is class participation and discussion. Each individual has their own experiences and ways of looking at things. When we allow class member's to share their insights and teach by the spirit everyone is a teacher and everyone is a learner. We are learning from each other. I remember when I was around seventeen, I attended a Sunday school class that in which this was the case. I loved to go to that class! Each week we were asked to come the following week with a scripture and be prepared to share with the rest of the class that scripture and how it applied to our life. I loved this, I loved to hear from my peers, I loved that I was able to study a scripture and share it with others. We were constantly engaged in the lessons, reading scripture passages, or parts of the lesson and sharing our thoughts. I am so grateful for those Sunday school teachers, their love for each of us, their preparation and their guidance as we taught each other.
"Love Us": This is one of the most important principles of being an effective teacher! When the people we teach feel of our love for them, they will be more open to learning and sharing. When we love the people we teach we will be more in-tune with how to teach them and have that sincere desire to help them reach their potential. We love our class or organization members, by praying for them individually. By being interested in their talents and interest, by supporting them, by knowing their names and by knowing and accepting them as they are and seeing their potential of who they can become. I remember in my youth the amazing Young Women leaders I had. I knew of their love for me, I wanted to be the type of girl that they saw I could be.

For April 2014 the topic for "Come Follow Me" is,

"The Apostasy and the Restoration".

Here are the links to each organizations page for the month: Young Women, Aaronic Priesthood, Sunday School

Since, each organization has their own outlines and each lesson will need to be specified to the individual class members and there are already amazing outlines that can be used for guidance, I am only going to share some general ideas.

Here is the Scripture for the month:

“I have sent forth the fulness of my gospel by the hand of my servant Joseph”

(D&C 35:17).

Here are links to some wonderful articles about the Apostasy and the Restoration:

Here is a link to Apostasy in Gospel Topic on lds.org.

Here is a link to Joseph Smith in Gospel Topic on lds.org.

Here is a link to Restoration of the Priesthood in Gospel Topic on lds.org

"Apostasy and Restoration", by ELDER DALLIN H. OAKS, Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

"The Light of the Gospel", by N. ELDON TANNER

"Restored Truth", by M. RUSSELL BALLARD, Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

"Joseph Smith the Prophet", by DAVID B. HAIGHT, Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

"Keys of the Priesthood", by RUSSELL M. NELSON, Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

Here is a link, to a whole bunch of General Conference talks on the subject of The Restoration of the Gospel.

Object Lesson Idea:
Have a tree or wreath with lights on it it. (or you could just use the lights in the class room or a lamp or flashlight) Turn the lights on. Explain that when Jesus and his apostles were on the earth so was the Light of the Gospel, or the fullness of the gospel. But soon after Jesus' death and the death of the apostles, as we know as the apostasy, the Light of the Gospel/fullness of the gospel was taken from the earth. Turn off the lights. Explain that it was not until these latter-days when the fullness of the Gospel was restored back to the earth, through the prophet Joseph Smith. Turn the lights back on. As member's of, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints we are so blessed to have the fullness of the Gospel, as it was in the days Jesus was on the earth. *** This object lesson could be used in conjunction with the article, "The Light of the Gospel", by N. ELDON TANNER.

Idea's for Mutual:
Book of Mormon Scavenger Hunt- using clues in the Book of Mormon leading to a fireside on the Restoration of the Gospel. (I remember doing a scavenger hunt in Young Women's when I was a youth, we got a small handout at each place, I still have all of them)

Free Printable:
Printing tip: Click on the image and save to your computer. You will then be able to print the image from your computer.