PROPHETS – SHARING TIME (preparing for General Conf.)
-Have you ever gone camping before or been outside when it is dark?
-What do you use to see where you are going when it’s night time? (flashlight)
-A flashlight lights the path you will follow. It helps you stay out of danger. It can help you avoid getting hurt - tripping or falling.
-Just as a flashlight helps you know which way to go and how to stay out of danger. Jesus Christ chooses prophets,who are just like this flashlight, because they show us the way to go and show us how to stay out of danger so we can return to live with our Heavenly Father.
-Because you are a child of God, Heavenly Father does not want you to be left alone. We are blessed with prophets to guide us.
-There are pictures of different prophets hanging up around the room. We are going to turn the lights out and I will choose someone to follow the light of my flashlight to one of those prophets. We will learn something about what each prophet has taught.
*Sing the chorus to “Follow the Prophet” quietly as they follow the light to the picture.
PROPHETS:
John the Baptist: Bible in the New Testament
The scriptures tell us that he was a prophet who was sent to be a messenger to prepare the way for Jesus.
John the Baptist lived in the wilderness of Judea.
He wore clothes made of camel’s hair, he ate locusts and wild honey.
John traveled around teaching about repentance and baptism.
He told people that Christ would soon come and they needed to be ready to meet him.
Also taught the people to treat others with kindness and to share what they had with those who were in need.
Noah: Bible in the Old Testament, also in the Pearl of Great Price (in book of Moses)
Noah was called to teach the gospel during a time when almost everyone on the earth was wicked.
He told them they must repent and be baptized or they would be destroyed by floods.
The people would not listen to him.
Some were so angry with Noah they wanted to kill him, but the Lord protected him.
Before the floods came, the Lord told Noah to build an ark.
The ark had: 3 levels, many rooms, a window in the top, and a door in the side. It was about 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high.
Noah was told to use tar to make it watertight.
The Lord also told Noah to take 2 animals, 1 male & 1 female (2 “of every living thing”), and food for the animals and for themselves!
When the ark was finished and everything was ready, Noah brought his wife, 3 sons and their wives, and the animals on the ark.
Noah was 600 yrs. old! It rained for 40 days/nights
*Sing Noah verse from follow the prophet
Lehi: Book of Mormon(picture of Lehi’s family w/ the Liahona)
Lehi and his family lived in Jerusalem 600 years before Jesus was born.
He had a dream (vision) and learned that Jerusalem would be destroyed because the people were so wicked.
Lehi tried to teach the people about the coming of Jesus and told them that if they did not repent Jerusalem would be destroyed.
The people were angry with Lehi when he told them that.
The Lord protected Lehi and his family and told him in a different dream to take his family and leave Jerusalem.
They were traveling in the wilderness, and one morning Lehi found at his tent door and strange round brass ball on the ground.
Ball is called the Liahona (which means compass – what does a compass do?)
Inside the ball were two spindles. One of the spindles pointed in the direction they were to travel. Lehi found that the pointers worked if his family was faithful and obedient.
Moroni: Book of Mormon
Moroni received the plates from his father, Mormon, to finish the record of his people.
During the final battle between the Nephites and Lamanites, Moroni had to hide from the Lamanites to abridge(condense/edit/compile) the history of the Jaredite people. He also wrote more upon the plates.
Moroni wanted those who read the teachings from the plates know how to find out if they are true.
(The words on those plates are in what book that we have today?)
He tells us in the BOM to pray to Heavenly Father and ask if the things we read are true.
If we have faith we will know, by the power of the Holy Ghost, that they are true.
He tells us that by the power of the Holy Ghost we can know the “truth of all things”.
He hid the plates in the Hill Cumorah.
Joseph Smith: His writings are in the Doctrine and Covenants
1st Latter-day Prophet (let children share as much as they know)
When Joseph Smith was 14 yrs. old may churches were claiming to be true, and he did not know which one to join.
One night he read in the Bible, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God.”
So he decided to ask Heavenly Father which church was right.
Heavenly Father and Jesus appeared to Joseph and Jesus told him not to join any of them because they were all wrong.
Angel Moroni came to Joseph and told him where the plates were buried.
Joseph went to the hill Cumorah and was told not to take the plates but to come back on the same day each year for 4 years.
Each time he went back, Moroni taught him.
When he was able to take the gold plates, he translated them and printed them in a book called, The Book of Mormon.
Joseph Smith had a strong testimony of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.
He restored Christ’s church back to the earth.
Joseph received many revelations that he wrote down for us in the Doctrine and Covenants.
His testimony of Christ:
“And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives!
For we saw him, even on the right hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father-
That by him, and through him, and of him, the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God.” D&C 76 22-24
Pres. Monson: Bear testimony that he is our prophet today. We have the the great opportunity to listen to our prophets voice this coming weekend.
Just as Noah in the OT, John the Baptist in the NT, Nephi/Moroni in the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith in the Doctrine and Covenants were all prophets of God who received revelation, so is President Monson today a prophet who receives revelation from our Father in Heaven and Jesus Christ.
This is Christ’s church, He tells President Monson (just as he did Pres. Hinckley and all the prophets before) the things that we need to know to make wise choices and be “safe” here. The prophet is just like our flashlight, leading us back to our Father in Heaven. (Thanks, Kristin Black, for the previous 2 bullets. I got the wording from her sharing time idea for March - #6.)
*Sing “Follow the Prophet” or “We thank thee, O God, for a Prophet”