The Lesson - How can I inspire others to keep the commandments? - What I Did

So the lesson kind of talks about how there are two ways to inspire others to keep the commandments - by being a good example, and by bearing your testimony to them.  So let's start with...

Being a Good Example

- Scriptures

Have the students look up, read aloud, and mark two scriptures about the importance of example:  Matt 5:14-16 and Alma 17:11.

- Stories

Three stories were shared in the talk and manual cited in this lesson.  Two stories, about two girls named Joanna and Karen, are found here.  And another story, one told by President Monson, is in the manual, Teaching, No Greater Call.  The story is here:

“At the funeral service of a noble General Authority, H. Verlan Andersen, a tribute was expressed by a son. It has application wherever we are and whatever we are doing. . . . “The son of Elder Andersen related that years earlier, he had a special school date on a Saturday night. He borrowed from his
father the family car. As he obtained the car keys and headed for the door, his father said, ‘The car will need more gas before tomorrow. Be sure to fill the tank before coming home.’

“Elder Andersen’s son then related that the evening activity was wonderful. . . . In his exuberance, however, he failed to follow his father’s instruction and add fuel to the car’s tank before returning home.

“Sunday morning dawned. Elder Andersen discovered the gas gauge showed empty. The son saw his father put the car keys on the table. In the Andersen family the Sabbath day was a day for worship and thanksgiving, and not for purchases.

“As the funeral message continued, Elder Andersen’s son declared, ‘I saw my father put on his coat, bid us good-bye, and walk the long distance to the chapel, that he might attend an early meeting.’ Duty called. Truth was not held slave to expedience.

“In concluding his funeral message, Elder Andersen’s son said, ‘No son ever was taught more effectively by his father than I was on that occasion. My father not only knew the truth, but he also lived it’” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1997, 22; or Ensign, Nov. 1997, 18). 

So with these stories, divide your students into three groups.  Give one story to each group.  Have the group read its story and then elect a spokesperson to share it with the class.

- Whose Story Is This? Game

On four index cards, write the names Samson, Daniel, Corianton, and Ammon.  Without using the person's name, tell each person's story.  After each story, ask, "Whose story is this?"  Here's my jpg of short, name-less stories:

- Visual Organizer

Read 1 Timothy 4:12 together.  Then go through the verse little by little, talking about each element of example - conversation, charity, faith, purity, word, and spirit.  As you talk about each part of the verse, add one ice cream scoop to the paper dish, until it looks like this:

Can you tell Sadie helped me color the scoops?  Haha!  So for instance, when you talk about "in conversation," you can talk about not gossiping or talking about naughty things.  I thought that, with "in word," you could talk about having clean language.  Etc.

Here are the jpgs for the dish and the ice cream scoops:

- Game - Example Drama or Draw

I got this idea from a family home evening book.  So you put several different examples of good or bad examples inside your container.

Here is the jpg for the label you put on the container.  It also has the rules of the game on it, which is handy:

Now, in this game, you are supposed to act out or draw good and bad behavior, right?  But some of the ones in the manual would be impossible to act out or draw.  Like, "contribute to the missionary fund."  How hard would that be?  Or "Borrow sunglasses but don't return them."  Whoa.  So I fished out the ones that I think you could feasibly draw or act out.  Here is the jpg:

- Example Quiz

I saw this in a different, very old FHE manual - a little quiz, not to be shared with anybody else.  Just to evaluate yourself and if you're setting a good example for others.  I tweaked it a bit.  Here's the jpg:

 - Quote

I didn't want the kids feeling bad after the quiz - the last thing I want is for them to feel like they're not trying hard enough, or that they're not perfect enough or whatever.  So I shared this quote by Harold B. Lee, about working on commandments one at a time:

 Bearing Testimony

So the second way we can inspire others to keep the commandments is by sharing your testimony with them.  First, we read Alma 4:19 together and marked it.  Then we did a...

- Testimony Activity

Split up your students into five groups.  Give each group one of these slips of paper:

After they've had a few minutes, have each group's spokesperson share what the group found inspiring about that particular testimony.