Let's Study and Teach 1 Nephi 16-22 "I Will Prepare the Way before You" (January 27- February 2)
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Come, Follow Me 1 Nephi 16-22 "I Will Prepare the Way before You" (January 27- February 2) finishes off the first book of Nephi. Can you believe it? These are great chapters full of faith and how to face the hard times that come. As you read these chapters, also consider your journey on the path back to Heavenly Father and your promised land.
Jump Ahead to the Section You Need
Marriages between Lehi’s family and Ishmael’s
Receive the Liahona
Ishmael dies
When we are obedient, God helps us
Great things are accomplished through small and simple means
Births of Jacob and Joseph are mentioned
Nephi builds a boat
They cross the waters and arrive in the promised land
Quotes Isaiah
Liken the scriptures to ourselves
Building the Ship (about 2 minutes)- Illustrated Scripture Story
“That We May Always Have His Spirit to Be With Us” by Elder David A. Bednar
“Your Patriarchal Blessing: A Liahona of Light” by President Thomas S. Monson
“With All the Feeling of a Tender Parent: A Message of Hope to Families” by Elder Robert D. Hales
“Compass of the Lord” by Elder Lowell M. Snow
The Lord Guides Lehi’s Journey (about 16 1/2 minutes)
Lehi’s Sons Marry the Daughters of Ishmael (about 2 minutes)
The Lord Provides the Liahona (about 3 minutes)
Nephi Breaks His Bow (about 5 minutes)
Nephi Exercises Faith to Obtain Food (about 7 minutes)
The Lord Commands Nephi to Build a Ship (about 15 minutes)
Lehi’s Family Arrives at the Land of Bountiful (about 4 minutes)
The Lord Instructs Nephi to Build a Ship (about 3 minutes)
Nephi Is Filled with the Power of God (about 5 1/2 minutes)
Nephi and His Family Finish the Ship (about 4 minutes)
Lehi’s Family Sails to the Promised Land (about 13 minutes)
Laman and Lemuel Bind Nephi (about 5 1/2 minutes)
A Storm Threatens to Drown Lehi’s Family (about 3 minutes)
Nephi’s Prayer Calms the Storm (about 4 minutes)
Lehi’s Family Arrives at the Promised Land (about 2 minutes)
“Likening the Scriptures to Our Personal Lives” - from March 2009 Ensign
“Liken It” by David A. Edwards (from New Era August 2012)
“Bringing the Scriptures to Life” by Jessica Larsen
“The Book of Mormon, the Gathering of Israel, and the Second Coming” by President Russell M. Nelson
“12 Facts about the Gathering of Israel” by David A. Edwards
“A Call to Enlist and Gather Israel” by Charlotte Larcabal (summary of President and Sister Nelson’s Devotional for Youth)
Worldwide Devotional for Youth: Messages from President Russell M. Nelson and Sister Wendy W. Nelson (about 1 hour)
“Where Will This Lead?” by President Dallin H. Oaks
“Small and Simple Things” by President Dallin H. Oaks
“‘Behold, We Count Them Happy Which Endure’” by Elder Robert D. Hales (Use this page to review it with your younger children)
“Do We Trust Him? Hard Is Good” by Elder Stanley G. Ellis
“Come What May, and Love It” by Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin
“Lessons from Laman and Lemuel” by Elder Neal A. Maxwell
“They They Might Know Thee” by Elder Keith R. Edwards
“Turn to Him and Answers Will Come” by Elder James B. Martino
Make your own compass after reading about Lehi’s family receiving the liahona. Be sure to attach your arrows with a brad if you want them to spin. There are extra decorative pieces so you can make your compass unique. When you attach the arrow, also attach the sheet to spin behind the compass. The slot will reveal different quotes and scriptures about where we can find direction and help. When you are done building your compass, read and discuss the quotes together.
Instead of using my quotes to go behind your compass, fill each box with your own experiences or answers for how the Lord gives you direction.
Head out on your own family adventure and go geocaching! You can download an app on your phone and it’s a great lesson in following directions. You may find there are some in your own neighborhood too! There are various difficulty levels of caches. If you have never done it before, choose an easy one. If you lose connection on your adventure, compare it to how the liahona would stop working. When you find your treasure, talk about what treasures we can find both in this life and in the next as we follow the Lord’s direction.
Tie the Restoration in with this Mormonad poster about small and simple things. Nephi’s family made it to the promised land by following one direction after another not by having the whole plan in front of them all at once. The Restoration started with a prayer from a 14-year-old boy. What are some other examples you can think of? Hang up the poster and write your examples on it to remember. You could also cut the poster into puzzle pieces then discuss it.
Use my neat small and simple things origami object lesson as you talk about consistent small actions that can make a big difference. It also goes well with the Mormonad.
Here are some liahona activities from past church magazines as well:
What are some small and simple ways you have been directed by the Lord? What are some other guides you have? How have you been able to rely on these guides? Why do you think small things can result in great things? How have you experienced this? Why do you think the Lord uses small means? How can we prepare ourselves to follow the promptings that will come from the Holy Ghost? How do we recognize these promptings for what they are?
Discuss some of the hardships we know Lehi’s family faced while traveling through the wilderness. One of these is when Nephi’s bow broke. Make your own bow and arrows or grab a dartboard for some hunting fun of your own. Tape my animal targets on a dartboard or glue them on cardboard to make them sturdy. Then take turns trying to hit all the animals. When you hit an animal, read and discuss a question on the back. You can make it more fun by assigning different point values to each question and play in teams. There are questions included in the printable.
Here are some bow and arrows you can have fun building with your family this week:
Full-size bow and arrow made out of molding and dowels. You can also use a PVC pipe or cut up an old hula hoop.
Tiny bow and arrow made out of popsicle sticks and cotton swabs
Bow and arrow made out of an old plastic hanger
The dartboard pictured uses magnetic darts so you don’t have to worry about a bunch of holes in your wall.
- If you like building bricks, check out the Nephi and the Broken Bow set from Our Picnic Tree (we have this one). It’s a fun set to build and you can use it as you act out the story.
- We read about many challenges Lehi’s family faced in the wilderness in these chapters. Go back through and find the blessings they received instead. How can this change of what we are seeking in the scriptures make a difference in our lives as well?
Get a journal page and another coloring page that goes with Nephi and his broken bow in my Primary 4 Lesson 5 helps.
How did the various members of Lehi’s family react to the hardships on their journey? How does your family react? How can we be more like Nephi and continue trying and keeping our faith in the hardest of times? What can we do when we notice that we are starting to murmur? How can we help each other when we start to go negative? How have you been blessed as you have kept the Lord’s commandments?
Build Nephi’s boat out of cupcake wrappers! You can act out the story of Laman and Lemuel tying Nephi up as well wit h the included figurines. Put several cupcakes together to make a bigger boat or let everyone build their own!
If you can get ahold of any extra cardboard, build a bigger version of Nephi’s boat and reenact what happened!
There are several coloring pages and some scripture figures you can use as you discuss Nephi building the ship:
You can also download a coloring page with 1 Nephi 17:50 on it as well as a journal page to use as you discuss chapter 17.
Use the picture included in the Come, Follow Me manual. Invite everyone in your family or class to look carefully at the picture. What characters do they see? How are the different people reacting to what’s going on around them? What insights might we gain from this piece of artwork? Read the scripture story then look at the image again. Do you notice anything else or does a certain portrayal make more sense now?
As you continue to strive to liken the scriptures to your life, start with finding new ways to bring the scriptures to life. Seeing them in different ways helps us make new connections and see new meanings in our life.
If you have little ones, you may want to color this page as you teach them how the scriptures can be a guide for our lives and give us the answers we need.
Why do you think Nephi’s first question was about how to make the tools to build the boat? How does this teach us more about small and simple means? How can you apply this to your life? What can this experience teach us about approaching Heavenly Father in prayer? How has the Lord blessed you when you have faced a seemingly impossible task? What seems impossible to you now? How can the Lord help?
Why do you think Nephi wants us to know the words of Isaiah? What are some things you learned in these last few chapters from Isaiah? How can you liken these words to your life? How can affliction refine us?
- Discover even more fun in the lesson kits by Love Pray Teach . She makes one for Sunday School, one for Families, one for Junior Primary, and one for Senior Primary. You are bound to find something you like!
- Remember to also head to My Computer Is My Canvas for more fun like the story board kits that help you act out all the stories each month. They are so much fun and great for young children. If you have older ones too though, check out her Activity Sheets for each week's lesson. She also has treat tags that would be great to use as you minister or to help motivate.
- Try the Liahona Treasure Hunt or one of the bedtime stories included in the lesson packet for The Red Headed Hostess.
