Lesson 30: Alma 39- 42

July 27- August 2
Alma 39-42
"The Great Plan of Happiness"
**Special Note: This lesson is on the law of chastity. I highly encourage you to review this lesson before giving it. Prayerfully ponder how this can be adapted to fit your own family dynamic. I have written this lesson geared with my own children in mind: ages 9, 6, 4, and 1.)

Materials: wedding photo printed and cut into a puzzle, video below. 
Opening Song: "Families Can Be Together Forever" (Children's Songbook, 188)
Opening Prayer:
Scripture: Alma 39:9 Now my son, I would that ye should repent and forsake your sins, and go no more after the lusts of your eyes, but crossyourself in all these things; for except ye do this ye can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God. Oh, remember, and take it upon you, and cross yourself in these things.

Attention Activity: Print off a wedding picture (yours or someone you know who has a strong  marriage.) Cut the picture into puzzle pieces. Have your family put the puzzle together.

Lesson:
Toward the end of Alma's life, he addressed each of his sons with some words of wisdom. His son, Corianton had not kept the commandments. Corianton accompanied his father on a mission to the Zoramites. But when he was there, he caused trouble and behaved badly. He also broke the law of chastity with a woman named Isabel. Alma talked to Corianton, about the seriousness of breaking the law of chastity and how he can repent.

What is the law of chastity? The law of chastity is one of God's sacred laws regarding sexual morality. Men and women fit together like the pieces of a puzzle.  A man and woman have sexual relations to show their love for each other. 


Modern day prophets have explained, "Do not have any sexual relations before marriage, and be completely faithful to your spouse after marriage. Satan may tempt you to rationalize that sexual intimacy before marriage is acceptable when two people are in love. That is not true. In God’s sight, sexual sins are extremely serious because they defile the power God has given us to create life." 

The law of chastity is a very important law because it protects the sacredness of the eternal family. When people break the law of chastity, bad things can happen. What are some negative consequences for breaking the law of chastity? (unplanned pregnancy, divorce due to infidelity, addiction, STDs, etc.) 

In contrast, those who keep the law of chastity are blessed by the Lord. The have stronger more loving marriages and can have precious little babies. Sexual intimacy is a wonderful tool to unite a husband and wife and make their marriages more loving. Elder Jeffery R. Holland said, “… Human intimacy is reserved for a married couple because it is the ultimate symbol of total union, a totality and a union ordained and defined by God. … Marriage was intended to mean the complete merger of a man and a woman. … This is a union of such completeness that we use the word seal to convey its eternal promise.” (“Personal Purity,” Ensign, Nov. 1998, 76).

As you get older, you will be tempted to break the law of chastity. You might be tempted as you start to date; you may be confronted with pornography. You need to be aware of those temptations now and make a personal commitment to keep the law of chastity. 

Show the following video to your family about how kids can withstand the dangers of pornography. (This video is made by the church and does a good job breaking down the topic of pornography for kids. I encourage you to watch it before the lesson, so you will be prepared to answer any questions.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNeYQA3ZeX8

An important thing to remember is that it is okay to be attracted to others or feel excited about girls/boys. In fact, it's a good thing. It's okay to be curious about sex. Heavenly Father wants us to feel that way because, he wants us to have loving marriages and bring children into the world. 

 Alma encouraged Cortianton to repent after he broke the law of chastity. Read Alma 39:9. Jesus Christ is always there for us. He will always help us to overcome our weaknesses and forgive our mistakes if we come to him. Ask your family if they have any questions about the law of chastity. 


Closing Song: "Love is Spoken Here" (Children's Songbook, 190)
Closing Prayer:
Refreshment: Dole Whip recipe here 

Lesson 29: Alma 36- 38

July 20-26
Alma 36-38
"Look to God and Live"

Materials: picture of butterfly (below), picture of scriptures printed and cut out, exact-o-knife, printout of scripture truths (below)
Opening Song: "The Books of the Books of Mormon" (Children's Songbook, )
Opening Prayer:
Scripture: Alma 37:6 "By small and simple things are great things brought to pass."

Attention Activity:
Show the picture of the butterfly below. Who has heard of the butterfly effect? The butterfly effect is a theory that says that something as small as the flapping of a butterfly's wings can have a huge effects later on like a tornado. Small things can bring about big changes in peoples lives.

Lesson: 
Read Alma 37:6-7. The small and simple things Alma is referring to in these scriptures are the scriptures. The scriptures are a small thing. We can hold them in our hands; we can carry them on our phones. But they are also great things. How would your life be different without the scriptures? 

Alma knew the importance of the scriptures. Before his death, he shares the importance of the scriptures with his son Helaman before giving him the ancient records. 

Activity: Lift the flap activity
Before the lesson, print out the two pictures below. Take an exact-o-knife and cut out windows on the picture of the scriptures on the solid colored lines. The dotted lines are where the windows will be folded open. Once cut, glue the picture of the scriptures on top of the paper with the words on it so that when the windows are opened, you will be able to read the words in the window. 

Have your family take turns reading the blessings of the scriptures from Alma 37. Supplement your discussion with the quotes below taken from D. Todd Christofferson's talk, "The Blessings of Scripture." (General Conference, April 2010.)

"The scriptures enlarge our memory by helping us always to remember the Lord and our relationship to Him and the Father. They remind us of what we knew in our premortal life. And they expand our memory in another sense by teaching us about epochs, people, and events that we did not experience personally."

"God uses scripture to unmask erroneous thinking, false traditions, and sin with its devastating effects. He is a tender parent who would spare us needless suffering and grief and at the same time help us realize our divine potential."

"In the end, the central purpose of all scripture is to fill our souls with faith in God the Father and in His Son, Jesus Christ—faith that They exist; faith in the Father’s plan for our immortality and eternal life; faith in the Atonement and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, which animates this plan of happiness; faith to make the gospel of Jesus Christ our way of life; and faith to come to know “the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom [He has] sent”

"Because they expound the doctrine of Christ, the scriptures are accompanied by the Holy Spirit, whose role it is to bear witness of the Father and the Son (see 3 Nephi 11:32). Therefore, being in the scriptures is one way we receive the Holy Ghost."

Discussion Questions: How has your life been blessed by the scriptures? How can we teach the scriptures to "future generations"? How can we help each other study the scriptures more diligently? 

Alma didn't understand how his words would impact future generations, including us. He did not know what exact reason he was carving all of these things into the plates, but he knew that God wanted him to. His words and the words of all of the other prophets have blessed the lives and brought comfort to millions. Bear your testimony of the scriptures. 

Closing Song: "Search Ponder and Pray" (Children's Songbook, ) 
Closing Prayer:
Refreshment: Peanut Butter Brookies recipe here (If you have peanut allergies, substitute for rolo or other bite sized candy)

Lesson 28: Alma 32-35

July 13-19
Alma 32-35
"Plant this word in your hearts"

Materials: seeds (could be beans, sunflower seeds, seed packet etc.), Faith printouts (below), crayons or colored pencils
Opening Song: "Faith" (Children's Songbook, )
Opening Prayer:
Scripture: Alma 32: 42 

Attention Activity: 
Show your seed to the children. Play a few rounds of "button, button, who's got the button?" with your child. ("...players form a circle with their hands out, palms together. One child, called the leader or 'it', takes an object such as a button and goes around the circle, putting their hands in everybody else's hands one by one. In one person's hands they drop the button, though they continue to put their hands in the others' so that no one knows where the button is except for the giver and receiver.

The leader, or all the children in the circle, says "Button, button, who's got the button?" and then each child in the circle guesses. The child guessing replies with their choice, e.g. "Billy has the button!"

Once the child with the button is finally guessed, that child is the one to distribute the button and start a new round." [from Wikipedia.org])

Lesson:
Prophets in the scriptures often used nature as examples for object lessons or parables. Do you remember the Parable of the Sower from last year? The parable of the sower was one that Christ gave to demonstrate how the gospel is received by different kinds of people. Alma also used the concept of planting seeds when he taught about faith.  

Activty: Directed coloring
Have the following coloring page printed out and give one to each family member. Starting with the seed, read the scripture passages on the page, following the instructions below.

The seed: Read Alma 32:28. Color the seed. Where do you plant a seed? If our seed represents faith, where do we plant our faith? Draw a heart around the seed. 

The sprout: Read Alma 32: 30;34. Color the sprout. When your faith grows like a sprout, what happens to your mind? Color the sprout and draw a head or brain above the sprout. 

The Rain: Read Alma 32: 37. Color the raincloud. How do we nourish a tree? How can we nourish our faith? What can we do to help our faith grow? Draw a picture of one thing you can do to nourish your faith. 

The Sun: Read Alma 32:38 Color the sun. What happens if we don't nourish our faith? *You may want to point out that the harsh sunlight in these verses represents harsh conditions or trials. 

The Tree: Read Alma 32:41. Color the roots and trunk of the tree. What two things do we need to practice to help our faith grow? Sometimes, when we are having a "trial of faith," it's hard to remember to be patient and be diligent. Alma reminds us that these are important to get us to eternal life. 

The Fruit: Read Alma 32:42. Color the leaves green, leave the fruit white. Earlier, Alma tells us that the tree that grows from our faith is the "Tree of Life." Who else talked about the tree of life? Lehi and Nephi had great visions of the Tree of Life. What does the fruit of the Tree of Life represent? (eternal life) 

Read Alma 32:33. Alma calls this process an "experiment". He approaches the matter of faith scientifically. If we have a little tiny amount of faith like a seed, let it grow, and keep nourishing it, (by doing all the things like keeping the commandments, going to church, praying, keeping your covenants, etc.) then your faith will continue to grow. With diligence and patience, you'll be able to receive eternal life.

Faith is a powerful force. It is the first principle of the gospel. Without faith, everything else falls apart. We have to believe; we have to faith in our Heavenly Father's plan, in Jesus Christ's atonement, in the restoration of the gospel, and in personal revelation. Bear your testimony.

Closing Song: "The Fourth Article of Faith" (Children's Songbook, 124)
Closing Prayer:
Refreshment: French Toast Roll Ups recipe here

Lesson 27: Alma 30-31

July 6-12
Alma 30-31
"The virtue of the word of God"

Materials: t-chart, paper strips, 
Opening Song: "A Child's Prayer" (Children's Songbook, 12)
Opening Prayer:
Scripture: Alma 31: 28

Attention Activity:
Would you rather play in the snow in the mountains or in the sand at the beach? Would you rather be a unicorn or a pegasus? Would you rather live in a tree house for the rest of your life or live on a boat house for the rest of your life? Would you rather hear a beautiful lie or a simple and honest truth? Heavenly Father would much rather hear us pray with simple and honest truth than with beautiful lies. 

Lesson:
This point in the scriptures is a challenging time for Alma the younger. He has to contend with the wicked antichrist Korihor. Korihor's teachings led many astray. Just as Alma gets through this trial, he learns that  the Zoramites have fallen away from the church and cut themselves off from the people of Zarahemla. Alma decided to lead a group, including the sons of Mosiah and his sons, to travel to the land of Antionum to try to bring the apostate Zoramites back from wickedness. When they get there, they discover that the Zoramites have not been keeping the commandments and have perverted (messed up) gospel concepts like prayer. 

Activty: prayer T-chart
Alma observes how the Zoramites pray and then offers his own prayer to Heavenly Father in Alma 31. Print out the T-chart and paper strips below. Have each family member take turns picking a strip out of a bowel and deciding whether that action was done by the Zoramites or by Alma. 

-      Saying the same prayers over and over (v.20)

-      Prayed on a rameumptom, or tower, so that everyone could see them pray (v.21)

-      Prayed about traditions of their fathers and not about Christ (v.22)

-      Didn’t pray in their homes or any other times (v. 24)

-      Tells God of their struggles with prideful people (v.24-30) 

-      Asks God to comfort them (v.31)

-      Asks God to comfort their loved ones and bless them with strength (v. 32-33)

-      Asks for help bringing lost souls back to Christ because they care about them. (34-35)

The Zoramites were turning their prayers into something like a performance. They wanted everyone to hear them praying, but they never truly prayed in their hearts or homes. Prayer was a tool that they used to gain popularity. Their hearts revolved around worldly possessions, money, and pride. What can we learn from the Zoramites prayer?

Alma's prayer was different. He tells the Lord the deepest feelings of his heart. He communicates with the Lord how frustrated he is with prideful people like the Zoramites and asks God when these kinds of trials will end. He prays for comfort and strength not only for himself but his loved ones. Alma also prays for the lost Zoramites, that they might come back to Christ. 

Alma's prayer is  good example of a heartfelt prayer given in the midst of a personal trial. What can we learn from Alma's prayer? When we offer sincere prayers of faith to God, he will answer our prayers. Read Alma 31:38. Because Alma prayed in faith, any of his suffering would be "swallowed up in the joy of Christ." Christ always eases our burdens and answers our prayers when we pray in faith. 

Can you think of other scripture stories we a have learned this year that also demonstrate this concept? 

Optional Activity: Create prayer rocks to help members of your family remember to pray. Decorate small stones with paint, markers, glitter, stickers, etc. 

Closing Song: "I pray in faith" (Children's songbook, 14)
Closing Prayer:
Refreshment: Spinach Artichoke Wonton Chips recipe here

Lesson 26: Alma 23-29

June 29- July 5

Alma 23-29 
They "never did fall away"

Materials: play printed out (below), swords 1 per person (plastic sword, cardboard tube, paper sword, etc.), blanket, sheet of paper, pencils, scriptures
Opening Song: "Teach me to walk in the light" (Children's Songbook, 177) 
Opening Prayer:
Scripture: Alma 24:15 Oh, how merciful is our God! And now behold, since it has been as much as we could do to get our stains taken away from us, and our swords are made bright, let us ^ahide them away that they may be kept bright, as a testimony to our God at the last day, or at the day that we shall be brought to stand before him to be judged, that we have not stained our swords in the blood of our brethren since he imparted his word unto us and has made us ^bclean thereby.

Attention Activity:
Invite a family member to come up. Take their hand and demonstrate a pinky promise. What is this? When we promise something, what does that mean? Today we are going to be talking about a group a good people who made a promise to God.

Lesson:
Ammon and the other sons of Mosiah have been successful in converting many of the Lamanites including the kings. This made the other wicked Lamanites angry with them and want to destroy them. The Lamanites who have converted to the gospel decide to give themselves a different name to set themselves apart. Do you remember what the name is? (Alma 23:17) They called themselves the Anti-Nephi-Lehies. 

Activity: Using the passage below have your family act out Alma 24. 

Cast: Ammon, Anti-Nephi-Lehi (ANL), Lamoni, a Lamanite, an Amulonite. Props: Swords (1 per person, a blanket)

In the land of Midian the Anti-Nephi-Lehies and the sons of Mosiah gather to hold a council to decide what they should do to defend against the angry Lamanites. 

Ammon: Brothers! It is good to see you!

Lamoni: I wish it was under different circumstances. Let me first introduce my bother, Anti-Nephi-Lehi. My father appointed him to be the next king of his lands before he died. 

ANL: It is good to see my fellow brethren in Christ. Unfortunately, the Amalekites, 
Amulonites, and all others who do not believe in God now wish to destroy us. So, what shall we do?

Lamoni: I thank my God, for sending these Nephites (Point at Ammon) to teach us about the gospel of Jesus Christ. I am also thankful that we can repent of our many sins. 

ANL: Yes! It was hard for us to repent though.

Lamoni: Yes, we had committed many sins and murders. But our swords (hold up  sword) which were once stained with the blood of the Nephites are now clean and bright through our repentance. I don't think we should use our swords again; I don't want to shed anymore blood. Let us hide our swords away as a testimony to our God that we will shed no more blood since we have been made clean. 

ANL: We should bury them deep in the earth!

Lamoni: Yes, let's bury our swords as a testimony! And if our brethren destroy us, we will go to God and be saved. 

ANL, Lamoni, and the people of the Anti-Nephi-Lehies gather together each with a sword. They bury their swords and weapons in the earth [under a blanket].

Lamoni: We now covenant never to use weapons again for the shedding of man's blood. We will die before taking anymore lives. We will work and not be lazy. 

The Lamanites come. They find the people of Anti-Nephi-Lehies kneeling on their knees without any weapons, praying. The Lamanites kill 1,005 of them without any resistance. 

Lamanite: (confused) What is this? Why don't they fight? I can't do this anymore. Throws down sword. (sadly) What have I done? Oh Lord, I am so sorry for killing all these innocent people. 

Amulonite: (angrily) What's going on now? Why are you saying sorry? This is all the Nephite's fault. Let's go with the Amalekites away from here. 

The Amulonites and Amalekites leave.

Ammon: 1,005 of the people of Anti-Nephi-Lehies died today, but the Lord works in many ways to the salvation of His people. The Lamanites who killed these men have now repented and joined us and they number more than those who have been killed today. 

End Scene

Show the picture from the manual "Anti-Nephi-Lehies buring their weapons" by Dan Burr. Why did the Anti-Nephi-Lehies bury their swords deep in the earth? Do you think they were blessed for making this choice? How? (Read Alma 24:26) Even though a lot of righteous Anti-Nephi-Lehies died, there were more Lamanites converted. 

The Anti-Nephi-Lehies Burying Their Swords (62565), by Del Parson; GAK 311; Primary manual 3-54; Primary manual 4-33; Alma 24:17

What is one thing you are really good at? What's one thing you do that Heavenly Father would be proud of? Now, can you each think of an area where you could improve. What is one thing that you need to try harder to do?

Pass out a slip of paper and pencil to each person. Have everyone write down one thing they need to overcome or stop doing like a bad habit, etc. Do you have a bad habit or something you could overcome or abandon?  Collect the papers and decide as a family a symbolic way to get rid of them (i.e. bury them in backyard, burn them, throw them in the dumpster, etc. )

We all can choose to let go of our personal demons--the things that hold us back. We can all choose to overcome or sins and bad habits. The people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi decided not to fight, even though it meant their certain doom. They said they would rather be killed than break their oath and shed more blood. What hardships are we willing to endure to overcome our own personal faults? The Lord blessed the people, not by protecting them, but by adding to their numbers. Heavenly Father always has a plan. 


Closing Song: "If the Savior stood beside me" (Additional Songs for Children, Hymns app)
Closing Prayer:
Refreshment: Sugar cookie cheesecake bars recipe here

Lesson 25: Alma 17-22

June 22-26
Alma 17-22
"I will make an instrument of thee"

Materials: tools matching print out (below), picture of Uchtdorf's 5 things (below) 
Opening Song: "I will be valiant" (Children's Songbook, 162)
Opening Prayer:
Scripture: Alma 17:9 And it came to pass that they journeyed many days in the wilderness, and they fasted much and ^aprayed much that the Lord would grant unto them a portion of his Spirit to go with them, and abide with them, that they might be an ^binstrumentin the hands of God to bring, if it were possible, their brethren, the Lamanites, to the knowledge of the truth, to the knowledge of the baseness of the ^ctraditions of their fathers, which were not correct.

Attention Activity: Have your family complete the printout below. In each job, people have certain tools or instruments that are used to fulfill their work. Heavenly Father also has a job He's trying to do. Read Moses 1:39. What tools/instruments do you think Heavenly Father uses in His work? 

Lesson: 
Heavenly Father uses His children to do His work. He uses the righteous to teach others about repentance so that we can all return to Him again and receive eternal life. The sons of Mosiah wanted to serve the Lord; they wanted to help in His work. Each of Mosiah's sons was given a chance to be the next king, but they each turned it down. They wanted to serve a mission to the Lamanites. 

Now we are going to read about the sons of Mosiah. As we read, look for what Mosiah's sons had to do to be instruments in God's hands. Read Alma 17:9-11. What did Mosiah's sons have do to be instruments in God's hands? (were prepared, fasted, prayed for the Spirit, had patience, were long-suffering, had to be a good example, had courage.) 

In April 2019 General Conference, Elder Uchtdorf gave "5 guilt free ways" that we can be instruments in God's hand and gather His church in the latter-days. Show picture below.

We have talked before about gathering Israel and about missionary work, but being an instrument in God's hands also means that you are willing to do what the Lord asks you to do. When you submit yourselves to His will, you have an attitude that says "I'll go where you want me to go, dear Lord." President Thomas S. Monson said, "I always want the Lord to know that if He needs an errand run, Tom Monson will run that errand for Him." ("On the Lord's Errand: The Life of Thomas S. Monson, churchofjesuschrist.org) So are you willing to go run errands for the Lord? Are you ready to be his instrument?

Activity: To show how we can do what God asks us to do play a round of Simon Says, or sing "Do As I'm Doing" (Children's Songbook, 276.)

When we are willing to submit to the Lord and allow Him to use our talents to enable His work, we will be blessed beyond measure. I can be an instrument in God's hands to bring salvation to His children.

Closing Song: "I'll go where you want me to go" (Hymnal, 270)
Closing Prayer:
Refreshment: Andes Mint Mini Cheesecake recipe here

Lesson 24: Alma 13-16

June 15-21
Alma 13-16
"Enter Into the Rest of the Lord"

Materials: priesthood cards (front and back) printed and cut out, scriptures
Opening Song: "Love is Spoken Here" (Children's Songbook, 190)
Opening Prayer: 
Scripture: Alma 13:11 Therefore they were called after this holy order, and were ^asanctified, and their ^bgarments were washed white through the blood of the Lamb.

Attention Activity:
Have the cards below printed and cut out (Backside below). Lay them out on the floor or the table scrambled. Have your family unscramble them to spell out "priesthood."

Lesson:
Today we are going to discuss truths Alma teaches about righteous men/priesthood holders. In Alma chapter 13, Alma shares that through their own righteousness, priesthood bearers are sanctified and enter into the rest of the Lord. 

Turn your attention back to the "priesthood" cards. On the back of each card is a verse from chapter 13 and a truth about the priesthood summarized from that verse. Have each family member take turns flipping over the cards and reading about the priesthood. 

Now that we know a little more about the priesthood, let's learn about the blessings promised to them. Keep in mind that these blessings are available to every worthy endowed member of the Church, male and female. Read Alma 13:10-12. 

Activity: 
Close your eyes and imagine you have just been outside and are now very dirty. Maybe you were working in the yard pulling weeds and your fingernails and hands are covered in dirt. Maybe you were playing in the yard after a rainstorm and now have itchy grass and mud over your legs and arms. You feel dirty and uncomfortable. Now imagine that you just stepped out of the bath or shower. Your hair smells like shampoo, and your skin is clean and fresh. Repentance is kind of like taking a shower after you're sweaty and dirty from being outside. How are these feelings similar to what we feel when we sin and then repent and become clean through the Savior's atonement? 

Through Christ's atonement we can repent and as Alma says be "sanctified", "be "washed white", and be "pure and spotless before God." When we are truly clean and ready to enter into the kingdom of God we will no long want to sin, but look at it with "abhorrence" (disgust). The blessing from becoming clean like this is that we can "enter into the rest of the Lord." Entering into His rest is another way of saying gaining celestial glory, exaltation, or everlasting life. 

Through the ordinances of the holy Melchezidek Priesthood, we are able to receive redemption through Jesus Christ and through our faithfulness we can become clean and enter into his rest.

Closing Song: "The Fifth Article of Faith" song (Children's Songbook, 125)
Closing Prayer:
Refreshment:
Cinnamon and Sugar Soft Pretzels recipe here

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