Come Follow Me Lesson & Mutual Ideas, May 2014: Prophets and Revelation

***For Ideas for May 2015: "Prophets and Revelation"  Click HERE.***

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

"Prophets and Revelation".

 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:

“We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God” (Articles of Faith 1:9).

Lesson Ideas: 

When I first read May's topic I immediately thought about General Conference and incorporating the talks into the lessons. 

Here is the link to the April 2014 General Conference talks.

As I was reading over the intro to the topic, I thought about the family home evening I did with my family before conference.  Some of the focus of that family home evening was on receiving personal revelation and how to prepare ourselves.  Here is a link to the Family Home Evening outline, it could easily be fine-tuned into a Sunday lesson: Preparing to Get the Most Out of General Conference.  An idea might be the first Sunday of the month to introduce the topic of why we need prophets and how we receive personal revelation.  Give each of the class members the paper, "Receiving Personal Revelation" (see printable below).  Have them think about a question they have or something they are struggling with.  Have them write it down on the question line.  Then have them throughout the week ponder and pray about that question. A great idea that the bishop of our ward has instructed our youth and ward members, is to in the morning open the scriptures (I do the Book of Mormon) to a random page and pick a random verse. Read that verse (I read a couple verses ahead and a couple verses after the random verse) and then ponder the instruction given and how you might apply it in your life that day.  I have been amazed since doing this, I have found that I receive answers to my prayers and get a little bit more out of the scriptures by being able to apply them into my life. As they are pondering, praying, reading their scriptures and conference articles seeking answers to a specific question or concern, I testify they will receive an answer.  Have them write their answer down on the paper.  Follow-up with them the following week. Ask if anyone would like to share their experience and/or bear their testimony. 

The following weeks you would want to discuss the rest of the outlines:

How can I make my prayers more meaningful?  (Ideas: Might include finding a time and place that you can pray and not be disturbed. By knowing that you ARE a daughter or son of your Heavenly Father, knowing that he wants to hear from you and desires to help you, you will be able to TALK to your Heavenly Father through prayer. Knowing he is listening and that he will answer.  As a teacher share examples of how you have felt your Heavenly Father's love as you pray and instances where you have recognized the answers to your prayers in your life.  Allow the class members to share their examples also)

Why is it important to study the scriptures? (The previous week invite each member of the class to choose their favorite scripture and come prepared the following week to share that scripture. Begin class by showing the class a journal. Discuss what a journal might be used for. Explain that Heavenly Father throughout time has given us prophets. These prophets recorded the instructions that our Heavenly Father knew that we would need to help us and guide us on our path. As we read and study the scriptures we are able to understand the gospel more fully and receive answers to questions we may have. Invite the class members to share the scriptures they came prepared with.)

How can I strengthen my testimony? (Discuss what a testimony is... here is a link: What is a Testimony. Explain that we have testimonies on all different aspects of the gospel. We can seek to strengthen our testimony by living the gospel, praying to strengthen our testimony and by sharing our testimony with others. Here are a couple primary sharing time outline I did that could be adjusted to a class lesson: I can gain a testimony of Jesus Christ. and My Testimony in Strengthened when I share The Gospel. You may ask the members of the class to write their testimonies down and give share their testimony with another class member.)

How can a patriarchal blessing help me? (Here are some great articles: "Patriarchal Blessings", "Your Patriarchal Blessing: A Liahona of Light" by THOMAS S. MONSON. I love that idea of likening a patriarchal blessing to the liahona. Both give direction when the operator uses them with faith.)

Idea's for Mutual:

Here is a link to the Youth Activities Planning Site. 

Set up an obstacle coarse, partner up the youth. Have one of the youth blindfolded. The other youth will direct the blindfolded youth through the obstacle course by voice alone. At different areas of the coarse have different noises or commotion.  After everyone has a chance to participate. Discuss how important it is to tune into that voice that is their to give us direction.  Explain that we live in a world that is distracting and full of commotion, that it is necessary to do the things that will help us listen to the direction given to us through the scriptures, by living prophets, church leaders, parents and through personal revelation from our Heavenly Father. 

Another idea would be to have a special fireside where the Stake Patriarch is invited to speak about Patriarchal Blessings. 

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.

For previous post of "Come Follow Me" ideas click here.