Lesson 10: 2 Nephi 31-33

March 2-8
2 Nephi 31-33
"This is the way"

Materials: copy of game board below printed on card stock, picture of a path, dice
Opening Song: "Fourth Article of Faith"
Opening Prayer:
Scripture: 2 Nephi 31:20

Attention Activity:

Think back to Lehi's vision of the Tree of Life. What led up to the tree? (the strait and narrow path) Show the picture of the path. When it says strait--the way it's spelled--it actually means difficult. Strait means "used in reference to a situation characterized by a specified degree of trouble or difficulty." The journey of life is not straightforward or easy. It is meant to be difficult. Today we are going to talk about the strait and narrow path and our journey of mortal life. 

Lesson:
Ask your family to close their eyes and try to picture a path. As you listen to the following scriptures, try to imagine the path, the gate and anything else described. Read 2 Nephi 31:17-19. What does the gate represent? Is it enough just to get onto the right path? What else do we need or rather who else do we need? That's right; we need Jesus Christ. The Atonement of Jesus Christ is kind of like the car that takes us up the path. Our faith is like gas. If we put the gas/faith in the atonement, grace enables us to travel up the road toward eternal life. If we lose faith or stop relying on Jesus Christ's atonement through repentance, we won't make it up the path. 

Activity: The Pathway to Eternal Life Game. 
You will need the game board below and one die. Each member of your family needs a game piece of some sort (a coin, a matchbox car, a paper clip, etc). To play everyone will start at the "birth" square and take turns rolling the dice, advancing toward death and eternal life. When you come to a blue square you must stop there before your next turn. When everyone has finished the game, they will receive a treat. (A cute idea for a treat would be angel food cake.) The squares all have things the we need to learn and do to prepare to meet God and gain eternal life. 

We often hear the phrase in the church, "endure to the end." What does that mean? Read 2 Nephi 31:20-21. So in other words, we've got to keep on keepin' on. In order to receive exaltation we need to receive ordinances and make covenants--the boxes in blue. But the enduring to the end--that is made up of the small things, the day to day things, the things we learn slowly through a lifetime of practice. If we practice the things in the white squares, that's enduring to the end.

So, "This is the way." This is the way we obtain celestial glory. It's that simple, but it isn't easy. Our path to exaltation will be filled with ups, downs, and curves. We might even have mountains and deep gullies to traverse, but we are not alone. We have an eternal family to travel with us and help us. We have the gift of the Holy Ghost, and we have the atonement of Jesus Christ to make our loads lighter and keep us on "the covenant path."



Closing Song: "I Believe in Christ" (Hymnal, 134)
Closing Prayer:

Refreshment: 
Angel Food Cupcakes recipe here