Lesson 29: Paying Tithing with the Right Attitude

Its been crazy around my house the last few weeks since I have been trying to get ready for my upcoming wedding that is in two weeks. So busy that I forgot that I was teaching this week (as in tomorrow!). I guess that is what I get when I don't pay attention and don't teach every week. Sigh...but don't fret I am getting ready for this lesson and it will be great!

 

Reading over this lesson and diving into other sites all over this wonderful (and at times frustrating) world wide web for ideas on how to go about teaching this lesson, I hit a brick wall. Nothing stood out! I guess maybe that is a sign from the heavens saying I should have prepared better or what my class needs at this time is only what I can teach them, not someone else. OR maybe it is a combination of the two?

Anyway, no matter how you look at this situation I must endure it and do the best that I possibly can. That being said every time I hear a talk or a lesson about tithing, the story of the Widows Mite from Mark pops into my head. I just love the story and the way it is told is just spectacular. Among my never ending search, I found this lovely site, part of LDS.ORG titled THE LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST Bible Videos.

Just watching that clip just gives me chills! The best part of these video clips is that you can download them from the website and store them on a hard/thumb drive or if you are talented enough you can burn them to a DVD and take with you to your class!

Moving on with the lesson plan. I am going to start our class off with reading the story that is found at the beginning of the lesson by Elder Joe Christensen of the Seventy. If you don't have a copy of the lesson, you can find it HERE.

What is tithing? What blessings come from it? How is tithing used? And what should our attitude be about paying tithing?

Quiz: Idea found on Sugardoodle where if you scroll down to lesson 29 you will find the original link!

True or False:

1. If you give one-tenth of your income to the poor and tell the bishop what you have done, that counts as tithing. (False.)

Read the Quote from President Spencer W. Kimball: "Inquiries are received at the office of the First Presidency from time to time from officers and members of the Church asking for information as to what is considered a proper tithe. We have uniformly replied that the simplest statement we know of is the statement of the Lord himself, namely that the members of the Church should pay 'one-tenth of all their interest annually' which is understood to mean income."

2. Tithe payers receive spiritual blessings. (True.)

3. If your family does not have enough means to meet their everyday needs (food, clothing, shelter), you do not have to pay tithing. (False.)

Play video clip of President Gordon B. Hinckely DONT HAVE THIS, YOU CAN USE THE VIDEO THAT IS SUGGESTED IN THE BACK OF THE LESSON UNDER ENRICHMENT ACTIVITIES ABOUT PRESIDENT LORENZO SNOW

4. The Church uses tithing funds to print lesson manuals and build meetinghouses and temples. (True.)

5. The Church does not use tithing to help support the missionary program. (False.)

Read quote from Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve: "The Lord has directed by revelation that the expenditure of his tithes will be directed by his servants, the First Presidency, the Quorum of the Twelve, and the Presiding Bishopric. Those funds are spent to build and maintain temples and houses of worship, to conduct our world wide missionary work, to translate and publish scriptures, to provide resources to redeem the dead, to fund religious education, and to support other Church purposes selected by the designated servants of the Lord."

6. Righteous people in Old and New Testament times paid tithing. (True.)

7. You don’t have to pay tithing to qualify for a temple recommend. (False.)

8. During tithing settlement you review your personal tithing records for the year with your bishop, branch president, or mission president. (True.)

9. Tithing helps you prepare to live the higher law of consecration. (True.)

Read Malachi 3:8-10 and discuss what it means to "rob God" and to "prove me now herewith" and open the Windows of heaven?"

10. One of the most important aspects of paying tithing is the intent of your heart as you pay it. (True.)

Show the video clip of the widows mite then have a class member read the statement by President David O. McKay: "Tithing makes its greatest appeal to the sincere mind because of its spiritual significance. It is an unfailing source of spiritual power. True and constant obedience to this law will give as much spiritual development as will obedience to any other principle of the gospel."

The Lord has promised to give us spiritual and material blessings when we pay a full tithe. how has the Lord blessed you or someone you know for paying tithing faithfully?

We shouldn't just pay our tithing to recieve blessings. We should pay tithing with the right attitude-willingly, cheerfully, and with faith.  Read Moroni 7:6-8, what does it mean to offer a gift "with real intent"? What does it mean to offer a gift grudgingly?

When we pay tithing, we are we giving a give to God? Why or why not? Read D8C 104-14-15. Everything we have belongs to God. When we pay our tithing, we are merely giving back one-tenth of what God has already given us.

Close and bear testimony.

Handout to go with lesson

Click HERE to download pdf-4 to sheet or right click and save image as to use as a photo.

Lesson 27: Not of the World

*So I know it has been a while since I have updated this blog. I have been team teaching with another lady and we have been switching every other week so it has been hard for me to keep up when I haven't had to prepare a lesson. So I am going to spend some time getting caught up on lessons so be looking forward to that.*

Moving on to lesson 27. I have a confession to make. Whenever I teach I always go to Sugardoodle and look for ideas on how to go about teaching my lesson. I use that as a starting point and then go from there. One idea that they had on the site for this lesson was a video that I really liked and I think I will show it (if I can get a download to work) and if not I will have the class act it out.

 I really liked the message that the story tells. You can find the talk HERE. It was told by President Gordon B. Hinckley who retold it from a talk given by Elder Robert B. Harbertson in a 1989 General Conference.  Like I said, I really enjoyed the message. When I first saw the title of this lesson I was taken back to a mutual we did in YW's when I was still a leader titled our Dr. Seuss Night which you can find HERE it takes the analogy of Satan pressuring us to the classic story Green Eggs and Ham. Crazy I know but there is a great correlation between the two, trust me. Go check it out! Anyway, since I have some of the young women in my sunday school class, I didn't really want to use the same thing again so that is another reason why I want to use this video. For the hand out I am taking another idea from Sugardoodle (the mormanad from the first of this post shrunk down into a wallet size picture and then attaching a blowpop to it since I have no air heads or balloons to attach and no time to get to the store. On the back of the Mormonad I have typed up the story of the snake as taken from the talk by President Hinckley with an image of a rattle snake on it. Feel free to copy and paste this into a word document and size it up so that it fits on the back of the mormonad handout. 

"An Indian boy climbed a high mountain.

 It was cold up there. At his feet was a snake,

 a rattle snake. The snake was cold and

 pleaded with the young man to pick it up and

 take it down where it was warmer.

The Indian boy listened to the enticings of the

 serpent. He gave in. He gathered it up into

 his arms and cove red it with his shirt. He

 carried it down the mountain to where it

was warm. He gently put it on the grass.

When the snake was warm it raised its head

and struck the boy with its poisonous fangs.

The boy cursed at the snake for striking

 him as an answer to his kindness.

The snake replied,

"YOU KNEW WHAT I WAS

WHEN YOU PICKED ME UP."

Elder Robert B. Harbertson

 

Handout lesson 13

So here is what i ended up doing for my handout/treat. Instead of attaching the handout axes on the bag of lifesavers, i just slipped it into the baggie...as it seemed to be just the right size. So one side shows the card while the other shows the candy.

Lesson 13



This weeks lesson is on Baptism and Taking the Name of Christ Upon Us. For this lesson I decided to make this into a game based on the topic of baptism. I found the idea HERE and just adapted it for my class.

HERE is the questions for the game

Here is a sample of a few of the questions (there is five categories)

Category 1: Baptism

100: If you are 12 and a worthy member of the church you can perform these at the temple          

 (Baptisms for the dead)

200: These two principles of the gospel precede the ordinance of baptism

  (Faith and Repentance, 4th A of F)

300: Baptism by immersion is symbolic of this, as described in the BD on pg. 618

    (death, burial and resurrection)

400: These are the three baptismal covenants we make to Heavenly Father as given in

 the sacrament prayers

 (D&C 20:77- take His name upon us, always remember Him, and keep His commandments)

 I will also be handing out a little handout that has lifesavers in a small bag with the image below stapled on it for a bag topper.

HERE is the link to the PDF for this treat bag topper (the above image)

I don't have the finished product up yet because I haven't put them all together but I hope to get a picture of it when I do!

Lesson #11



Wow after looking at this blog I have realized that I have been slacking a little. Actually it is more of fighting an illness and then having more issues with my laptop. So I will post those missing lessons hopefully soon!

Moving on to this weeks lesson...Faith in Jesus Christ. Since General Conference is next week, it makes this Sunday our fast Sunday (is it the same for you too??) so I can't do much in way of food object lessons (which I have found some online that were kinda cool). So this is my idea on how I am going to go about teaching this lesson.

Ask the class to repeat the 4th Article of Faith

Then I am going to have them divide into two teams. I am going to ask for two volunteers from each team to come up. One person is going to be given a picture while the other person is going to be the runner between the person holding the picture and their group.

The person holding the picture is going to give instructions to the "runner" on how to build whatever it is on the picture. They first group to build the object correctly wins. The group can ask questions but they can only ask questions to the runner who will then relay (think of the childhood game telephone) the info back to the person holding the pic.

The object lesson here is that the group has to put their faith into their two team members that they are giving them the right information.

What is faith?

Look up the scripture in Alma 32:21 and discuss 

 Why it is important that we have faith?

Why is it important that we have faith in Jesus Christ?

How can your faith in Jesus Christ help you with your daily problems and difficulties?

Show the video The Mouth of Babes

Coming Soon- Lesson 8

So I am currently working on taking the quiz on Heaven and Hell that goes with the next lesson and turning it into a game and then having the class teach each other about the different kingdom of glories.

Should be posted later tonight!


**UPDATE** I dont know why I said I was creating something for it. I did do a game but it was really simple. I had a dog toy (one that squeaked) and I put it on a table in the middle of the room. Divided the class into two teams.

I would ask one of the questions from the quiz. Then who ever knows the answer would have to get the "squeaky" and answer. they got one point for getting the answer right and another bonus point if they could explain why (the explainations are found within the lesson). If they got it wrong, the team that didn't answer would get a chance to steal for point.

It can get a little competitive but they kids seemed to like it and it made taking the quiz and answering those questions a little more fun than just answering them regularly

Lesson 7: What happens after death?

Here is the outline that I used for my class on lesson 7 What Happens After Death? This one was pretty much straight from the manual itself...it wasn't all that bad minus the story that one of my young deacons shared about ashes...anyway here is my outline

Lesson 7: What Happens After Death?

OBJECT LESSON: Could have used glove but I chose to have a few of my dramatic students act this out. However I did have the glove as well to reinforce the idea.

When the spirit enters the body- the body can live, work, and act. A spirit combined with a physical body makes a person a living soul. 

READ D&C 88:15-16

      Life was not meant to be forever. One day we will die and the spirit and body will be separated. 

     When separated, the body cannot move. It is dead. But the spirit is still alive. 

? Why is the atonement important to us? (It allows us to overcome mortal death)

Because of this- the separation of the spirit and the body will no be permanent. Each of us will be resurrected. At the time of the resurrection, the body and spirit will be reunited in a perfect state (become alive).

        ***Here is where I had a few questions: 1: Will we have belly buttons when we are resurrected and in that perfect state as it is a scar? and  2: When will we be resurrected?

? What happens after we die but before we are resurrected?

READ Alma 40:11 

READ QUOTE from President Joseph Fielding Smith

READ Alma 34:34

? What will our personalities (spirits) be like when we die?

READ QUOTE from President Brigham Young

     Our spirits will carry to the spirit world the same tendencies, appetites, and desires that we had when we lived on the earth.

READ Alma 40:12-14

   Spirit World: 

       Paradise (state of happiness): those who have accepted the gospel and lived righteously

       Spirit Prison (state of darkness): those who rejected the gospel and those who have died without a knowledge of the truth.

? Why do you think "spirit prison" is an appropriate name? 

RELATE THIS NEXT SECTION TO MISSIONARY WORK 

READ 1 Peter 3:18-20 and D&C 138-29-34

READ QUOTE from Elder Bruce R. McConkie

?Who ministers unto spirits now?

? Whats their message?

READ D&C 138-57

? Whats our duty once we die?

Just like some of you will be asked to serve full time missions to preach the gospel in this life- many of us will be called upon to serve missions in the spirit world to preach the gospel to those spirits in the spirit prison if we have lived righteously..

Testimony and closing prayer