Lesson 39: Isaiah 40-49

September 19-25
Isaiah 40-49
"Comfort Ye My People"

Materials: blanket, Isaiah 40 cards printed front and back and cut out
Opening Song: "Redeemer of Israel" (Hymns, 6)
Opening Prayer:

Attention Activity:

Take turns wrapping a warm blanket around each family member. How do they feel when the blanket is wrapped around them? We sometimes call the Holy Ghost, the comforter. Comfort often comes when we remember our blessings and our faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior. 

Lesson:

This weeks' chapters in Isaiah deals with the time that the Jews are taken captive. They had lost their land, their homes were gone, and the temple had been destroyed. It is hard to imagine the pain and suffering they must have felt. They were in despair and yet, they had their faith. Isaiah wrote beautiful passages about the hope and comfort that can come from our faith in the Lord. 

Activity: Hope in Christ Cards

(Before FHE, print out and cut the cards below.) Place the cards words down in front of your family. Have family take turns choosing and card and reading the scripture on the back of each card. How would this scripture have helped the Israelites to have hope during their captivity? How could this scripture give you hope when you face trials?

We might not be driven off our lands and be made slaves and captives like the Israelites had, but we each have challenges and trials that can sometimes make us feel hopeless, discouraged, and depressed. We face so many challenges today. Think to yourself what you have been struggling with? How does your faith in Christ help you to have hope amidst your adversity? 

What are some things we can do to turn to Christ when we are having a difficult time? I encourage each of you have sincere and heartfelt prayers when you are struggling, especially when you are struggling with your faith. Pour your heart out to the Lord. Prayerfully and carefully study the scriptures, especially The Book of Mormon. Look for passages like these in Isaiah that can give you comfort, hope, and counsel. If need be, fast on behalf of your trial. Attending the temple, if you're able, can also bring you peace. 

Another thing you can do is to read recent General Conference messages that are relevant to your trial. Last conference, there were many inspiring messages that can bring us hope like: 

• "Steady in the storms" by President Eyring, 
• "Fear Not: Be Believing" by Elder Holland, 
• "He is Risen with Healing in His Wings" by Elder Kearon,
•  "Lift up your hearts and rejoice" by Elder Aidukatis, 
• "Then will I make weak things become strong" by Elder Hamilton, 
• "Your Devine Nature and Eternal Desitny" by Elder Renlund, 
• "Christ Heals that which is Broken" by Sister Wright, 
• "For God So Love Us" by Elder Ringwood
• "The Power of Spiritual Momentum" by President Nelson

Mortality is hard, but the challenges of this life can be overcome as we come unto Christ. He will be with us and shoulder our burdens if we turn to him. Christ promised to not forget us, "Behold, I have graven the icon the palms of my hands" (Isaiah 49:16). Jesus's atonement is the ultimate example of help and hope. When we remember the love and sacrifice of our Redeemer, we can be comforted in our trials like a warm blanket. 

Bear your testimony. 

Closing Song: "I Feel My Savior's Love" (Children's Songbook, 74)
Closing Prayer:
Refreshment: Apple Fritters recipe here

Lesson 48: Jonah; Micah

November 21-27
Jonah; Micah
"He Delighteth in Mercy"

Materials: whale visual aide (printed, colored, and folded), video, whales printed and cut out, a stick, a magnet, a string, paper clips. 
Opening Song: "Follow the Prophet" verse 7 (Children's Songbook, 110)
Opening Prayer: 

Attention Activity: Before FHE, print and color the image below. Make a "z" fold along the mouth of the whale so that Jonah appears to be swallowed. Sing "Follow the Prophet" verse 7 again, but this time, on the chorus, sing "swallow the prophet" instead. Have family members take turns with the visual aide "swallowing the prophet".

Lesson:

Watch the video "Jonah and the Fish" video from YouTube. 

Jonah was a prophet during the reign of King Jeroboam around 788 b.c. Jonah's story is one of the most famous in the Old Testament because it is so fantastical. Jonah wasn't the typical prophet. When he received his call from the Lord to preach to the people of Ninevah, he ran away instead of doing what the Lord asks him to do. The Lord sent a storm to Jonah's boat and Jonah offered to go into the sea so the others on the boat may live, only then to be swallowed by a "great fish." Jonah's trial inside the whale lead him to repent and the Lord made it so the whale spat him out. Jonah finally completed his task and taught the gospel to the people of Ninevah, Assyria, and they turned to the Lord and repented. But Jonah, didn't like the fact that these Assyrians were forgiven and became angry with the Lord for forgiving them. God then taught Jonah about mercy. 

Activity: Magnet Fishing--Lessons from Jonah

(Before FHE, print and cut out the whales below. Put a paper clip on each whale. Tape a piece of yarn or string to a long stick or pole to act as a fishing rod. Set the whales in front of your family on the floor.) Have family members take turns fishing for a whale. As they pick one, read the lesson from the book of Jonah below that corresponds to the number on the whale. 

1. We can not hide from God. Jonah thought he could hide from God, but God always knows where we are, what we are doing, and the state of our hearts. He knows us better than we know ourselves. 

2. We shouldn't run from our responsibilities.  "Though most Latter-day Saints may never be called to do anything as dramatic as calling on a whole city to repent or be destroyed, we receive numerous calls of our own from the Lord. Sometimes, like Jonah, we seem to run away or at least to escape our responsibility. Consider the following: 1.A person who refuses to accept a call in the Primary because she would not be able to attend Relief Society meetings. 2. A young man who turns down a mission call so he can accept a scholarship from a university. 3. A family who does not hold regular family home evenings. 4. A person who gets behind on his bills and does not pay his tithing. 5. A young woman too shy to accept a call as a Young Adult Relief Society teacher. We all receive calls, and sometimes we try to escape them. But we can repent, accept the call, and reap joy in our service" (Old Testament Student Manuel, "Jonah: One Should Not Flee From His Responsibilities). 

3. All of God's children need to hear the gospel. Jonah wasn't to keen on preaching to the Gentile people of Ninevah in Assyria. Assyrians were supposed to be the "bad guys" after all. But God doesn't see people that way. All people are God's children and he wants what is best for us all. "We should never set ourselves up as judges of who is ready [to hear the gospel] and who is not. The Lord knows the hearts of all of His children. and if we pray for inspiration, He will help us find persons He knows to be 'in a preparation to hear the word [Alma 32:6]" (Dallin H. Oaks, "Sharing the Restored Gospel" Ensign, Nov. 2016). 

4. God hears and answers our prayers. Jonah spent 3 days praying in the belly of the whale. He "cried" unto the Lord, and the Lord heard him and answered his prayers. “It is true that the answers to our prayers may not always come as direct and at the time, nor in the manner, we anticipate; but they do come. And at a time and in a manner best for interests of him who offers the supplication” (David O. McKay, Conference Report, Apr. 1969, 152-52).

5. Our actions can have negative effects on others. When Jonah decided to board a ship to Tarshish instead of going to Ninevah, his actions had dreadful consequences on those around him. The great storm that God sent was so terrible that the "ship was likely to be broken" (1:4) We can not assume that action poor choices will only effect ourselves. Those around us, those we love, are effected negatively when we sin. 

6. The Lord is merciful to all who turn to Him. The Ninevites' repentance was immediate, humble, and sincere after they heard Jonah's words. They fasted and prayed for repentance and turned "everyone from his evil way" (3:7). God forgave the Ninevites and spared them their destruction.

7. Jonah's story was used by Jesus Christ to teach about His death and resurrection. Read Matthew 12:39-41. Jonah is a Christ-type because he spent 3 days in the belly of the whale and Jesus spent 3 days buried before He was resurrected. 

Read the words to "I'll go where you want me to go" (Hymns, 270). Bear your testimony. 

Closing Song:  "I'll go where you want me to go" (Hymns, 270)
Closing Prayer:
Refreshment: Cheddar and Bacon Cornbread Muffins recipe here

Lesson 47: Amos; Obadiah

November 14-20
Amos; Obadiah
"Seek the Lord, and ye shall live"

Materials: Paper, writing/coloring utensils, President Nelson's October 2022 Conference Talk, coloring page
Opening Song: "We Thank Thee Oh God For a Prophet" (Hymns, 19)
Opening Prayer:

Attention Activity: Have your family color this coloring page and have them tell you one thing they know about President Nelson.

Lesson:

Amos was a shepherd from the Southern Kingdom of Judah who went North to preach to the people of Israel who had gone astray. He tried to worn all the Israelites of the coming calamities and urged them to repent. 

Amos foresaw the troubles ahead for his people as one of the Lord's prophets. Take turns reading Amos 3: 4-8. Amos uses common analogies to try to get Israel to understand that he is prophesying for a reason. A lion roars when he finds prey. A bird is caught when it takes the bate in a trap. A city should be afraid when it hears a warning trumpet. 

When there are dangerous times ahead, the Lord always warns His people by providing a prophet. The prophet, like Amos, encourages people to repent and make their relationship right with God. 

President N. Eldon Tanner said: “There are many scriptures which assure us that God is as interested in us today as he has been in all his children from the beginning, and thus we believe in continuous revelation from God through his prophets to guide us in these latter days" (In Conference Report, Apr. 1975, p. 52.).

Who is our prophet today? Can you think of any warnings the prophet has given to us recently? What has he urged us to do? 

Activity: Give each family member a paper and writing utensil. Listen to President Nelson's talk from October 2022 General Conference. Everyone should write or draw a picture of one thing President Nelson asked us to do. What are you doing or what will you do to follow this counsel?

Prophets today still give us warnings and encourage us to repent just like the prophets of old. They clarify doctrine and receive revelation that helps the church as a whole and the entire world. In the last 30 years alone, we have seen a clear pattern of divine guidance before troubling times ahead. The Family Proclamation was read in Conference in the 90's and now the family is attacked on every front. Prophets encouraged us to get out of debt during times of economic ease and then the economy floundered shortly after. President Nelson instituted a new program to study the gospel more at home before a global pandemic stuck which closed churches and temples.

The words of President Nelson are just as prophetic as Amos or Abinidi or Nephi or Peter. He leads our church today and He sees what we cannot see. He receives revelation to guide us through the turbulent times of the latter-days. 

Bear your testimony of the prophet. 

Closing Song: "Latter-Day Prophets" (Children's Songbook, 134)
Closing Prayer:
Refreshment: brown sugar peach crumble pie recipe here