Lesson 23: Alma 8-12

 June 8-14
Alma 8-12
"Jesus Christ Will Come to Redeem His People"

Materials: scriptures, pictures of carrot & egg, coloring page
Opening Song: "Choose the Right Way" (Children's Songbook, 160) 
Opening Prayer:
Scripture: Alma 12:10

Attention Activity:
        Sing "If You're Happy and You Know It" or "If You Chance To Meet a Frown" with your family. Happy people are easy to be around. A happy person has a good attitude. What does it mean to have a good attitude? (optimistic, doesn't complain, smiles, happy, cheerful, kind, open-minded) What does it mean to have a bad attitude? (grumpy, complains, pouts, angry, upset, pessimistic, closed off, stubborn, close-minded)

Lesson:

Read Alma 12: 10-11. What does it mean to "harden your heart?" Hardening your heart is like having a bad attitude about the gospel. This could be because they feel offended or maybe because they are angry when they are making wrong choices. Their hearts and minds become closed. 

What do you think happens to people who "harden their hearts?" It says in Alma that they "receive a lesser portion of the word, until they know nothing of his mysteries". When someone hardens their hearts, they ignore the Holy Ghost. They are cut off from the spirit. This leads to further sin or being "taken captive by the devil." 

So do we want to have hard heart or soft hearts? Show a picture of a carrot and a picture of an egg like the ones below. What happens when you boil a carrot? What happens when you boil an egg? If you were to put the carrot and the egg in the same boiling pot of water, one would get soft and the other would get hard. In this life, we have to face adversity and sin like the boiling water. We have a choice. Do we let or sins and trials harden our hearts and turn us away from the Lord. Or do we let our adversity soften our hearts, enabling us to become more humble and meek?

Verse 10 also says that if we don't harden our hearts, God will give us a "greater portion of the word, until it is given unto him to know the mysteries of God until he know them in full."  This means that if we have soft hearts and open minds Heavenly Father promises to give us further light and knowledge about the gospel and personal revelation through the companionship of the Holy Ghost. 

Read Alma 10: 5-6. Amulek had hardened his heart and rebelled against God. He admits that he refused to "hear" Him. Then in verse 7-10 Amulek describes how he appears to him and tells him that a holy man will come to his house and he should feed him. Amulek softens  his heart and chooses to believe the angels words. He kindly feeds the holy man, Alma. Because Amulek softens his heart he is blessed by the Lord and becomes Alma's missionary companion. It says in Alma 8: 30-31, "And they were filled with the Holy Ghost. And they had ^apower given unto them, insomuch that they could not be confined in dungeons; neither was it possible that any man could slay them; nevertheless they did not exercise their ^bpower until they were bound in bands and cast into prison. Now, this was done that the Lord might show forth his power in them."

We all have times in our lives where we have a bad attitude. How can we keep our struggles and bad days from hardening our hearts? Share the following quote from President Monson from "Living the Abundant Life," Ensign. Jan. 2012. 

Activity: "Choose Happy" Coloring Page click here

Closing Song: "Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam" Verse 2 (Children's Songbook, 60)
Closing Prayer:
Refreshment:
Carrot Cake Blondies recipe here