February 22–28
Doctrine and Covenants 18–19
“The Worth of Souls Is Great”
Ask Heavenly Father to help you find principles in Doctrine and Covenants 18–19 that will be especially meaningful to the children.
Invite Sharing
Read Doctrine and Covenants 18:2, and explain that the Spirit helped Oliver Cowdery know that the scriptures are true. Tell the children about an experience when the Spirit testified to you that the scriptures are true. Let them share experiences when they felt that the scriptures are true.
Teach the Doctrine: Older Children
Doctrine and Covenants 18:10–12
Each of us is of great worth to God.
Many people struggle with feelings of low self-worth; others are unkind toward people who are different from them. The powerful message of Doctrine and Covenants 18:10 can change how we view ourselves and people around us.
Have a child read Doctrine and Covenants 18:10. Explain that “souls” refers to all of God’s children. Repeat verse 10 with the children, this time replacing “souls” with the children’s names.
Preparation:
- Glue Sticks
- Scissors
- Piece of Paper
- Copy of Cover
Have a child read Doctrine and Covenants 18:10. Explain that “souls” refers to all of God’s children.
Help the children put together their own mini books.
Ask each child to write his or her name on the line on the cover of the book. Pass the mini-book around the room. Invite them to write on a page of each others mini book about something they like about that person. Encourage them to be kind and thoughtful in their comments.
Read Doctrine and Covenants 18:10–12, and invite them to share what they learn about how God feels about us. Explain that we are all of great worth to God because we are His children.
Doctrine and Covenants 19:16–19
Jesus Christ suffered for me.
How will you invite a spirit of reverence in your class so that the Holy Ghost can testify to the children that Jesus Christ paid the price for their sins?
Jesus Suffers in the Garden of Gethsemane
Jesus knew He needed to suffer for the sins of all people. He did not want to suffer, but He chose to obey Heavenly Father.
As Jesus prayed, He began to tremble because of the pain. An angel came to strengthen Him. He suffered so much that he sweat drops of blood. He was suffering for all of our sins so that we can be forgiven if we repent.
Have a child read Doctrine and Covenants 19:16–19. What do we learn from His description?
Help the children memorize the third article of faith.
Doctrine and Covenants 19:26, 34–35, 38
God’s blessings are greater than the treasures of the earth.
Printing the Book of Mormon was expensive, and Joseph Smith could not afford it. The Lord asked Martin Harris to “impart a portion of [his] property,” his prosperous farm, to pay the printer (verse 34). We have received tremendous blessings because of the sacrifices of Martin and many others.
Printing The Book of Mormon
When the translation of the gold plates was almost finished, Joseph Smith
began looking for someone to publish the translation as a book. He talked to a printer in Palmyra, Egbert B. Grandin, and asked him to give an estimate of the cost of printing the book. Grandin did not want to print the “golden Bible,” as he called it, because he knew that people were against the book, and he was afraid he would not be paid. Joseph went to Rochester, New York, to see if he could find someone else to do it. One printer refused to print the book because he did not believe Joseph’s account of where he got it; another agreed to print it, but his price was very high. Finally Joseph returned to Palmyra and convinced Grandin to print the book. Grandin agreed only after Martin Harris
pledged his farm to guarantee the printing costs.
For the safety of the manuscript of the translation, the Lord commanded Joseph Smith to have Oliver Cowdery
make a complete copy of the manuscript. Joseph assigned Oliver Cowdery
and
Hyrum Smith to oversee the printing. Only a few pages
of the manuscript were taken to the printer at a time, and for several months Oliver and Hyrum frequently visited the printing office. Oliver Cowdery learned about printing during these visits and hand-set some of the type for the book himself. The original manuscript had no paragraphs or punctuation, so Grandin’s typesetter, John H. Gilbert, added punctuation and paragraphing. The published book was called the Book of Mormon because the prophet Mormon wrote or edited most of the ancient record.
People in Palmyra who opposed the Book of Mormon held a meeting and resolved not to buy the book when it was published. Grandin again became worried that he would not be paid. Martin Harris
was afraid he would lose his farm, and he wondered what he should do. Joseph Smith inquired of the Lord, and the Lord told Martin not to “covet” his own property but to “impart it freely” to cover the costs of printing the Book of Mormon (see D&C 19:26). Martin Harris eventually sold 151 acres of his farm to pay Grandin for publishing the Book of Mormon.
Picture 5-19, Printing of the Book of Mormon. Point out the sheets that are printed and stacked, ready to be bound into books. Explain that several pages were typeset, one letter at a time, and then printed on one large sheet. The printer made one copy of the sheet and looked for errors on it. When the sheet was correct, five thousand copies were printed. This process was repeated until five thousand copies of the entire Book of Mormon were printed. Then the printed pages were sent to the bindery, where they were folded, cut, and bound into books. The first five thousand copies of the Book of Mormon were completed in the spring of 1830 and cost $3,000 to print. Satan had tried hard to stop the translation and publication of the Book of Mormon, but he was unsuccessful.
Encourage Learning at Home
Invite the children to think of someone who could be helped by what they learned from Doctrine and Covenants 18 or 19—for example, that we are all of great worth to God. Encourage them to plan how they will share what they learned with that person.
Improving Our Teaching
Help children learn from the scriptures. Some children have a hard time reading scriptures. Focusing on a single verse or phrase may help them.
There are 3 options with the lessons. The first one is a color PDF of the full lesson, all the pictures, scriptures and art projects with the watermark removed.
The next option is all the pictures in Black and White
The 3rd option is a PowerPoint with all the pictures and scriptures that you can pull up on your device. It is like having a digital copy. It eliminates the printing and the cutting out. This makes the lesson easier come Sunday morning.
All three options are now included in a zip drive that will immediately be emailed to you for $2.75. You can pick and choose from all three options to make your lesson just right for you!
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