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Aug 2007 Issue
By Alison Palmer
Scripture: D&C 42:17
Song: “Listen, Listen,” Children’s Songbook p. 107
Preparation: Pieces of paper and drawing utensils for each family member.
Lesson:
Assign each person a sound to listen for. These should be readily available sounds from your surroundings: cars passing by, children laughing, birds, air conditioner turning on, wind, etc. Have them draw a picture that represents their sound on a piece of paper. Form a circle so that family members can see each other. Call for silence and have each person try to listen for their specific sound. When the sound is heard they should raise their card to indicate its presence for the rest of the family. The first person to identify their sound wins the round. You may play several times.
For older families you might increase the challenge by using a piece of music and have the family choose different instruments to identify.
Discuss the distractions that made it harder to hear your assigned sound. What other sounds were you able to hear while searching for your own? Would the family have noticed any of these things if they had not been assigned to? What would have happened if someone was given a sound that wasn’t common to your area or that they were not familiar with what it would sound like?
It takes practice to separate one sound from another and be able to identify its unique voice and message. We can learn to hear the messages of the Spirit just as we can learn to discern between different sounds. Just as the sound each person was assigned to hear was different, there are different ways that the Spirit can speak to us or affect us. It is a specialized prompting according to what we need and what we are able to hear or feel.
Lead your family in a discussion about the Holy Ghost by making a list of everything that they know about His role in the Godhead and how He accomplishes his purposes. How can an individual know if the Spirit has become their companion to help lead and guide their lives? What steps can they take if they need to feel an increase in that spirit? What are some of the different ways that the Holy Ghost can communicate with each of us?
Use the following scriptures to help guide your discussion as needed.
John 14:2
Galatians 5:22
D&C 8:2
D&C 9:8-9
D&C 11:12-14
Emphasize the Spirit’s ability to help us in the ways that can best reach us in our needs. But, we in turn must learn how to feel His presence and practice understanding His voice in our lives. As we practice listening and feeling, as we learn more about the Holy Ghost and keep ourselves worthy of his presence, as we acknowledge and follow the promptings we receive, we will become more in tune and closer to the Spirit and our Heavenly Father.
Activity:
For younger children: Heads up 7-up and the telephone game.
For older children: Blind-man’s bluff in a maze. Choose a room that is easily dismantled and put back together. Have a member of the family choose someone to be their trusted guide. These people will leave the room while the rest of the family creates a maze from the room’s contents that will need to be navigated. The blind-man is lead back into the room by his companion. With the blindfold in place, he must concentrate on hearing instructions on how to get through the room from his guide. They may not touch. The other family members can provide distraction instructions as well.
Re-emphasize the need to practice and work toward hearing and feeling the Spirit’s influence in our life to keep us from harm and guide us in righteous ways.
Refreshments:
Pigs in a blanket and caramel apples.
Work together to make the refreshments while discussing the Spirit’s ability to “wrap” around us like a blanket and “enfold” us with warmth, comfort, protection and guidance when we work toward being worthy and recognizing His presence.
Alison Palmer is the author of several primary and sharing time books, available at http://shop.ampalmer.com/.
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