Life's Journey To Perfection: LDS Come Follow Me Lesson and Mutual Ideas April: The Apostasy and the Restoration

For April 2015 the topic for "Come Follow Me" is,

The Apostasy and the Restoration

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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 that can just be used as supplements. The great thing about this program is to allow the spirit to guide you to the needs of the youth in your class. Prepare before hand, Pray for guidance, Listen to the Promptings of the Spirit and invite the youth to do the same.

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).

Lesson Ideas: There are so many topics to choose from this month. I am just giving supplemental ideas to a few of them. Please refer to the church's website for the wonderful outlines they have for all of the topics, see links below. A great idea to begin each lesson is to invite each class member to come with a scripture or spiritual thought to share with the rest of the class. (When I was a youth we did this in one of my classes, it is a class I loved to attend and had the most participation in it.)

Young Women:

Why was a restoration necessary? Invite the youth to think about something that is important to them, something that they love. Know have them picture that thing being taken away. Explain that while Christ was on the earth he established His church. After His crucifixion and the deaths of His apostles the church along with the priesthood where taken from the earth. Invite a youth to read the following scripture: Amos 8:11-12. Discuss this scripture as a class. Write on the board, "Why was a restoration necessary?" Invite the youth to share why their thoughts on why they believe the restoration of the gospel was necessary. Play the video, "The Message of the Restoration" Discuss the video as a class. Draw on the board a winding path in the middle of the path erase a large section. The first part of the path write, "When Christ was on the earth" . In the empty erased part write, "The Apostasy". Then when the path starts back up again write, "The Restoration of the Fullness of the Gospel" Discuss how essential the restoration of the fullness of the gospel is to God's plan and the salvation of mankind.
Why do we need the Book of Mormon? Show the youth the picture: The Scriptures. Ask the youth the question, "Why do we need the Book of Mormon?" Invite a class member to read the following quote, "The Book of Mormon was written for our day. It testifies of Jesus Christ, contains the fulness of His gospel, and restores truths lost through the Apostasy. Joseph Smith taught that the Book of Mormon is “the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book” (introduction to the Book of Mormon)." Invite each class member to think about a scripture that has had special meaning to them and invite them to share it with the class. Play video, “Study the Book of Mormon” and or "For Our Day" or "Book of Mormon Testimonies" or "Book of Mormon: Messages from Heaven"
How was the priesthood restored? Begin by reminding the class that after Jesus was crucified and his apostles were killed, the priesthood along with the church was taken from the earth. Write the question on the board, "How was the priesthood restored?" Invite the youth to take a minute to think about this question and then share their thoughts about it. Play the video, “Restoration of the Priesthood” Discuss as a group this video. Give each class member a piece of paper. Invite them to take notes as they watch and listen to Elder Holland's 2005 General Conference address, "Our Most Distinguishing Feature".
What was Joseph Smith’s role in the Restoration? I liked this idea on lds.org, "Ask the young women to imagine that a friend of another faith asks, “Why is Joseph Smith so important in your Church?” Invite them to look for possible answers to this question in the video “Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration” or in Elder Lawrence E. Corbridge’s talk “The Prophet Joseph Smith.”"
Why is the First Vision important? Write on the board, "Why is the First Vision important?" Ask the young women the following question, "What blessings have you received because of the First Vision?" Have a bean bag and toss it to one of the YW, have here say a blessing she has received because of the First Vision, then have her toss the bean bag to another, YW. Continue until all of the YW have shared an answer. Give the YW one of the cards from the printable below, from Pres. Uchtorf''s 2005 General Conference address. In order read through the paragraphs and discuss the blessings we have received because of the First Vision.

Aaronic Priesthood: (See ideas above under Young Women)

How can I invite all to come unto Christ? Write the word Duty on the board. Invite a youth to read, D&C 20:59. Give each young man a sticky note and have them write on it a priesthood responsibility they have. Invite each young man to come and stick the note on the board. Invite discussion on priesthood duties. Explain one of their duties is to "Invite ALL to come unto Christ. Play the video, "Inviting all to come unto Christ: Sharing the Gospel" Brainstorm with the Young Men, ways they can invite all to come unto Christ.
Why was a restoration necessary? 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. or see under YW above
How was the priesthood restored? See ideas under YW
What was Joseph Smith’s role in the Restoration? See ideas under YW
Why is the First Vision important? See ideas under YW
Why do we need the Book of Mormon? see ideas under YW above

Sunday School:

Easter: How can I share my testimony of Jesus Christ’s Resurrection? Play the video, “His Sacred Name—an Easter Declaration” Give each class member one of the Scriptures from the video. Give everyone a minute to read their scripture and to ponder it. Then invite one at a time to read their scripture and share their testimony of it. (See Printable below)
What does Joseph Smith’s example teach me about learning the gospel? Show the video, "Origin" Discuss with class how this video experience is likened to that of Joseph Smith. Invite a youth to read, "Joseph Smith sought spiritual knowledge while acting as the Lord’s instrument in restoring the gospel. He pondered the scriptures, asked inspired questions, and acted upon what he learned. As we follow the Prophet’s example, we can receive answers to our questions and inspiration to guide our own lives." (Lesson header on lds.org) Give each class member the "Seeking Spiritual Knowledge printable" see below. Invite the youth to think about a question they have write it in the middle box. Invite them to write it down and then to each take a moment to try to seek knowledge through the scriptures. Invite them to write scripture references and thoughts in the top box. In the last box invite them to write any answers or inspiration they might receive. Invite them to share experiences with the class.
How can I recognize the difference between truth and error? Play the video, "You will be Freed" Ask the question, "How can I recognize the difference between truth and error?" "How can we recognize these deceptions and not give into them?" Explain that we have our own personal lie detector, it is the Holy Ghost. He sends us peaceful and warm feelings when we are living and making the choices that are inline with our Heavenly Father's will. When we are faced with danger or in circumstances that are not inline with our Father's will we do not receive those peaceful feelings, but instead we receive feelings of discomfort and confusion. Give each class member a peace of paper and invite them to think about choices they are facing. Read together as a class Moroni 7:12–19. Then invite the class to write on their papers how they can make decisions based on the scriptures.
Why is it important to teach pure doctrine? Great ideas by following the link.
How can I liken the events of the Apostasy and the Restoration to my life? Invite a youth to read this quote, "We should “liken all scriptures unto us, that it might be for our profit and learning” (1 Nephi 19:23). To liken the scriptures means to see how scriptural events and circumstances are like the events and circumstances in our lives. Even though the events of the Apostasy and the Restoration occurred long ago, we can find ways to learn from these events and relate them to us today." (from lds.org Come Follow Me May) Then choose one of the great suggestions from Come Follow Me.
How can I explain the Apostasy and the Restoration to others? Pair class members up. Explain that one of the class members will pretend to be a non-member friend. The other one will be the one to answer and explain the Apostasy and Restoration. Invite them to use what they have learned in the lessons that had been taught throughout the month. Write some scriptures on the board that could help in explaining the Apostasy and the Restoration. Invite them to roll play. When they are done, discuss as a class the experience.

Idea's for Mutual: Here is a link to the Youth Activities Planning Site. *** This site is amazing! We recently had a short little training on this site at one of our Round Tables. It is a great resource for planning activities. It will only continue to grow as wards submit more ideas. One really need thing about it is it can link the activities right into your stake or ward calendars. ***

For More Ideas Visit:

Red Headed Hostess

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