We used all the material in the outline earlier this month so I could do an Easter lesson about prophets on the 27th. I want to prep the kids to listen in General Conference and find answers to their questions as they listen to the words of the prophets.
So, I’m hiding quotes from last General Conference in plastic Easter eggs around the room. The kids will work in small groups to find the eggs, read the quotes, and then decide which life questions could have been answered by each quote. Some of the quotes are pretty dense so I’m planning to ask the teachers to look around for kids who may need help with their quotes.
After we share their responses, I’ll give each kid a small strip of paper and have them write down one personal question they hope to have answered during General Conference. They’ll roll the question up and place it inside an egg with a piece of candy. During Conference, when they find an answer to their question, either in prophetic words, or from the Spirit, they get to eat the candy. (the candy part isn’t necessary but kind of fun.) Of course I’ll have to adapt this for Junior (see below).
Here are the quotes for Senior:
“Brothers and sisters, if you ever think that the gospel isn’t working so well for you, I invite you to step back, look at your life from a higher plane, and simplify your approach to discipleship. Focus on the basic doctrines, principles, and applications of the gospel. I promise that God will guide and bless you on your path to a fulfilling life, and the gospel will definitely work better for you.” – Dieter F. Uchtdorf
“I learned in my life that we don’t need to be ‘more’ of anything to start to become the person God intended us to become.
God will take you as you are at this very moment and begin to work with you. All you need is a willing heart, a desire to believe, and trust in the Lord.” – Dieter F. Uchtdorf
“Christ is always near, waiting and willing to help us when we pray for help and are willing to repent and come unto Him.” – M. Russell Ballard
“All of us are blessed when the Sabbath is filled with love for the Lord at home and at church. When our children are taught in the ways of the Lord, they learn to feel and to respond to His Spirit. We will all desire to attend each Sunday to partake of the sacrament when we feel the Spirit of the Lord. And all, young and old, who are carrying heavy burdens will feel the spiritual uplift and comfort that comes from a Sabbath day of devoted contemplation of our Heavenly Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” – M. Russell Ballard
“Adherence to sacred gospel principles will allow us to be temple worthy, enable us to find happiness in this life, and lead us back to our heavenly home.” – Quentin L. Cook
“From our limited perspective, current temptations and distractions can seem attractive. The rewards for resisting those temptations, on the other hand, can feel distant and unattainable. But a true understanding of the Father’s plan reveals that the rewards of righteousness are available right now. Wickedness, such as immoral conduct, is never part of the answer. Alma said it clearly to his son Corianton: ‘Behold, I say unto you, wickedness never was happiness.’” – Quentin L. Cook
“Faith in Jesus Christ is a gift from heaven that comes as we choose to believe and as we seek it and hold on to it. Your faith is either growing stronger or becoming weaker. Faith is a principle of power, important not only in this life but also in our progression beyond the veil. By the grace of Christ, we will one day be saved through faith on His name. The future of your faith is not by chance, but by choice.” – Neil L. Andersen
“God’s commandments are not given to frustrate us or to become obstacles to our happiness. Just the opposite is true. He who created us and who loves us perfectly knows just how we need to live our lives in order to obtain the greatest happiness possible.” – Thomas S. Monson
“May we realize that our greatest happiness in this life will come as we follow God’s commandments and obey His laws! I love the words found in Isaiah chapter 32, verse 17: ‘The work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever.’ Such peace, such assurance can come only through righteousness.” – Thomas S. Monson
“Education prepares you for better employment opportunities. It puts you in a better position to serve and to bless those around you. It will set you on a path of lifelong learning. It will strengthen you to fight against ignorance and error.” – Robert D. Hales
“I testify that if you are there for the Lord, He will be there for you. If you love Him and keep His commandments, you will have His Spirit to be with you and guide you. ‘Put your trust in that Spirit which leadeth to do good. … By this shall you know, all things … pertaining unto things of righteousness.’” – Robert D. Hales
“No love in mortality comes closer to approximating the pure love of Jesus Christ than the selfless love a devoted mother has for her child… Maternal love has to be divine. There is no other explanation for it. What mothers do is an essential element of Christ’s work.” – Jeffrey R. Holland
“In mortality we have the certainty of death and the burden of sin. The Atonement of Jesus Christ offsets these two certainties of mortal life. But apart from death and sin, we have many other challenges as we struggle through mortality. Because of that same Atonement, our Savior can provide us the strength we need to overcome these mortal challenges.” – Dallin H. Oaks
“Our Savior experienced and suffered the fullness of all mortal challenges ‘according to the flesh’ so He could know ‘according to the flesh’ how to ‘succor [which means to give relief or aid to] his people according to their infirmities.’ He therefore knows our struggles, our heartaches, our temptations, and our suffering, for He willingly experienced them all as an essential part of His Atonement. And because of this, His Atonement empowers Him to succor us—to give us the strength to bear it all.” – Dallin H. Oaks
“Each of us came to earth having been given the Light of Christ. As we follow the example of the Savior and live as He lived and as He taught, that light will burn within us and will light the way for others.” – Thomas S. Monson
[To the women of the church] “Your virtue, light, love, knowledge, courage, character, faith, and righteous lives will draw good women of the world, along with their families, to the Church in unprecedented numbers!
We, your brethren, need your strength, your conversion, your conviction, your ability to lead, your wisdom, and your voices. The kingdom of God is not and cannot be complete without women who make sacred covenants and then keep them, women who can speak with the power and authority of God!” – Russell M. Nelson
“Just as the Holy Ghost strengthens us against evil, He also gives us the power to discern truth from falsehood. The truth that matters most is verified only by revelation from God. Our human reason and the use of our physical senses will not be enough. We live in a time when even the wisest will be hard-pressed to distinguish truth from clever deception.” – Henry B. Eyring
“We must remember that in the beginning, the Church was the family, and even today as separate institutions, the family and the Church serve and strengthen one another. Neither supplants the other, and certainly the Church, even at its best, cannot substitute for parents. The point of gospel teaching and priesthood ordinances administered by the Church is that families may qualify for eternal life.” – D. Todd Christofferson
[About working together as a quorum of apostles] “As we work together in unity on perplexing problems, our collective understanding of an issue has been enlarged in marvelous ways by the power of the Holy Ghost.
I am blessed to observe on a daily basis the individual personalities, capacities, and noble characters of these leaders. Some people find the human shortcomings of the Brethren troubling and faith diminishing. For me those imperfections are encouraging and faith promoting.” – David A. Bednar
“I’m confident that there is no choice, sin, or mistake that you or anyone else can make that will change His love for you or for them. That does not mean He excuses or condones sinful conduct—I’m sure He does not—but it does mean we are to reach out to our fellowman in love to invite, persuade, serve, and rescue. Jesus Christ looked past people’s ethnicity, rank, and circumstances in order to teach them this profound truth.” – Ronald A. Rasband
“God is our [loving] Heavenly Father. We are His children. … He weeps with us when we suffer and rejoices when we do what is right. He wants to communicate with us, and we can communicate with Him through sincere prayer.” – Gary E. Stevenson
“To effectively serve others we must see them through a parent’s eyes, through Heavenly Father’s eyes. Only then can we begin to comprehend the true worth of a soul. Only then can we sense the love that Heavenly Father has for all of His children.” – Dale G. Renlund
Modification for Junior Primary
I will hide eggs around the room. Each egg will contain one of the following statements on a piece of paper. We will help the younger kids read the statement and then they’ll come up to the front and choose which picture goes with the egg they chose and we’ll hang that picture on the board.
I’ll probably hand out paper and crayons and have the kids draw pictures of themselves doing something to follow the words of a prophet.
At the end of Sharing Time, each Junior Primary kid will get a plastic egg with a sticker (picture of Jesus) and a piece of candy inside. We’ll tell them that when they hear one of the prophets talk about Jesus during General Conference, they can eat the candy (or on the way home since all they’ll probably remember about the lesson is that there is candy in the egg).
Statements for Junior (picture suggestion):
Many prophets in the scriptures told us that Jesus Christ would live on the earth, die for us, and be resurrected. (picture of Jesus)
King Benjamin told his people to serve each other (picture of service)
Noah told the people to repent or they would be destroyed by a flood. (picture of Noah)
President Kimball told the people to plant a garden. (picture of a garden)
President Benson asked us to read the Book of Mormon every day. (picture of the Book of Mormon)
President Monson has asked us to love one another. (picture of a heart)
President Packer told us that families are very important to Heavenly Father. (picture of a family)
President Hinckley told us to BEE many things, be grateful, be smart, be clean, be true, be humble, be prayerful. (picture of a bee)