Let's Study Mosiah 25-28 "They Were Called the People of God" (May 18-24)
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In Come, Follow Me Mosiah 25-28 "They Were Called the People of God" (May 18-24) we study the change that Alma and the sons of Mosiah experience as a result of seeing an angel and being called to repentance. I love this story because you get to follow the actions of what happens after they do repent. These men go on to do some really great things!
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This week we read about how Alma the Younger and the Sons of Mosiah went about seeking to destroy the Church of God. Many of the rising generation were not converted to the gospel. Alma the Elder learned how to handle these problems through prayer. Alma the Younger and the Sons of Mosiah were visited by an angel and warned to stop their wrongdoings. This is a great story to remind us of how we can repent and become new people. Here are some key things to remember as you study Mosiah 25-28:
We are responsible for our own faith and testimony (Mosiah 26:1-6).
Church discipline can help people repent and return to full fellowship in the Church. The Lord wants to forgive us (Mosiah 26).
Faithful servants of the Lord seek to do God’s will (Mosiah 26:6-39).
We all must be born again through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. The Gospel helps us change (Mosiah 27:8-37).
God does hear our prayers and will answer them. We can pray and fast for God to bless those we love (Mosiah 27:14, 19-24).
True conversion increases our desire to share the gospel with others (Mosiah 27:32-37; 28:1-8).
Videos
Alma the Younger Repents (about 3 minutes)- Illustrated scripture story
The Sons of Mosiah Become Missionaries (about 1 minute)- Illustrated scripture story
The Will of God (about 3 minutes)
Repentance: You’re Never Alone (about 3 minutes)
Alma the Younger Is Converted unto the Lord (about 11 1/2 minutes)- New Book of Mormon video
Additional Study Suggestions
“Born Again” by Elder D. Todd Christofferson
“Ye Must Be Born Again” by Elder David A. Bednar
“Hidden Wedges” by President Thomas S. Monson
“Accepting the Lord’s Will and Timing” by Elder David A. Bednar
“What God Wanted for Me” by Carlisa Cramer and Margaret Willden
“Repentance Is Always Positive” by Brother Stephen W. Owen
“The Power of a Personal Testimony” by Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf
“The Power of a Strong Testimony” by Elder Richard G. Scott
“Converted unto the Lord” by Elder David A. Bednar
“Repentance and Conversion” by President Russell M. Nelson
“Knowing the Lord’s Will for You” by Sister Anne C. Pingree
“Prayers of Faith” by President Henry B. Eyring
“Prayer” by President Henry B. Eyring
“Sharing the Message of the Restoration and the Resurrection” by Elder D. Todd Christofferson
“The Immediate Goodness of God” by Elder Kyle S. McKay
“Shame versus Guilt” Help for Discerning God’s Voice from Satan’s Lies” by McKell A. Jorgensen (Digitial Ensign article January 2020)
“You Can’t Rush Repentance” by Leah Barton (Digitial Ensign article January 2020)
Mosiah 25 is kind of like having a General Conference meeting. As you read through this chapter, fill out my Zarahemla Meeting Schedule. What do you think about the speakers? Why would it be beneficial for the people to know their words? How did they react?
A great voice to point out is Mosiah 25:10. What immediate goodness have you noticed in your life? “The Immediate Goodness of God” by Elder Kyle S. McKay is a great talk to study with it.
Also, note how Alma now gets to baptize all the people of King Limhi- these are the people he ran away from a few years earlier when King Noah was in charge. A lot has happened since he left. Abinadi had quite an impact after all.
We are responsible for our own faith and testimony (Mosiah 26:1-6)
Use my free testimony cards to make a Personal Testimony Book. Write down your testimony on the themed cards on the same day every month. At the end of the year, read back through your testimony cards and see how your testimony has grown. You may want to set goals for yourself on each card as well to continue to grow your testimony. For example, if you don’t have a strong testimony of fasting, you could make that a goal this month by dedicating specific days to fasting and really striving to do it with your whole heart and soul. Then write your experience from that after the month is over.
It seems like we have another Laman and Lemuel type of problem with the younger generation not putting in the work needed to understand the words of God and gain a testimony. Read D&C 136:32-33 and discuss the things we need to do in order to be more like Nephi instead.
Compare Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf’s story of the missionaries knocking on every single door and not finding anyone to teach until the very last one with our efforts in seeking answers from the Lord and strengthening our testimonies. You can use the fill in the blank activity at the end too.
Have a paint night! Use this example of how we paint our testimonies. Then discover other ways we might be able to share our testimonies without words. Challenge your family or group to try one this week.
We often hear testimonies from others such as at Fast and Testimony meeting or during a family Come, Follow Me lesson. These testimonies can strengthen us but aren’t a replacement for our own testimony. How do you go about having your own testimony? What helps you strengthen your testimony? What do you have a testimony about? What else would you like to have a testimony of? Why is it important to have your own testimony? What is the danger of relying on the testimony of others?
Have a testimony meeting with your family or group at the end of the week. Color in one piece of this puzzle as each family member shares. Why is each piece important? You can’t have two of the same piece- all the pieces need to be unique.
We all must be born again through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. The Gospel helps us change (Mosiah 27:8-37)
I love the story of Alma and the sons of Mosiah repentance because it shows complete repentance and truly moving on in a new way as they go about preaching the gospel and doing good the rest of their lives. When teaching our children, it’s important to remember that repentance includes fixing the wrongs and striving not to do it again. Use my folding puzzles to show how we can change through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. There are three levels of difficulty for these puzzles. I have the more difficult ones folded in the image above to give you hints. The goal is to have all the purple on the back, all the picture assembled together correctly on the front, and all the white hidden inside. Remember, there are more ways to fold then straight across.
You can also print my animal transformation chart to show how we can change. Fill in the blanks with your drawing of how animals change. The last row is to show how we can change through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. How has the gospel changed you thus far? How can it continue to change you? How does repentance change us?
Use these 10 Tips for Teaching Repentance from the February 2019 Ensign to help your children understand what it takes to repent.
Share some fears that people have about repentance and how we shouldn’t block ourselves from the gift of repentance and the joy that is available on the other side.
As you talk about repentance, point out the hope we have because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. We have hope even when we mess up because we can repent. We have hope moving forward as we strive to do our best and still fall short. Use this coloring sheet to ponder the message of repentance and the impact it has on your daily life. You can play some sacrament meeting music in the background or color as you watch this week’s Book of Mormon video (see video section for suggestions).
Invite someone in your family to build a cool creation out of blocks, bricks, whatever you have. Give them so time to make it really cool then knock it over or start taking it apart. How do they react? How do they feel about what you did? Why? Does it make a difference that it was you and not some stranger instead? This is a great example of how Alma the Elder and King Mosiah might have felt about their sons. Read Mosiah 27 to find out what they did about the rebellious sons.
Color a picture of Alma and how he changed from the Book of Mormon coloring book.
Use this Bright Idea poster to help your children remember how we all make mistakes and that repentance is there so we can try again. Cut it into puzzle pieces and put it together as a family. There is also this sequential activity for little ones.
You can also head outside and use a Meck Mom object lesson. This is an older one she shared on her YouTube channel. Get your weekly subscription and get all sorts of great ideas and insights to teach your family every week.
As you read Mosiah 28, find out who Mosiah gives the records to. What does this teach you about repentance and the Lord’s willingness to forgive? What else can you learn from this example?
God does hear our prayers and will answer them. We can pray and fast for God to bless those we love (Mosiah 27:14, 19-24)
Discuss these 5 Ways to Make Prayers More Meaningful and make each person in your family a prayer notepad to use this week. As we make our prayers more purposeful they will have greater power. Who is that needs your prayers right now? What can you do to better hear the answers? How do you avoid saying the same things over and over? If you still want to pray for the same things, how do you do it so it’s still meaningful? What helps you fill your prayers with meaning?
Have younger children? Take pictures of the children in a prayer position. Paste it on paper and write "I Can Pray." Hang it up in their room as a reminder.
Please Bless Us and Thank Thee bag labels- You will need three bags for this activity- two lunch bag sized ones for the labels and one large bag unlabeled. Each person draws a prayer card out of the lunch bag sized ones and shares it. Once you go through the cards, pull out the bigger bag. This represents the answers and blessings we have received because of our prayers. Using the squares everyone picked, flip them over, and draw a blessing you’ve received because of that prayer and put it in the big sack. Point out how this bag is much bigger because God gives us so much.
Place an empty plate on the table. Talk about how fasting is more than going without eating then invite your family to place what or who they have fasted for in the past on the plate. Why did you fast for that? How did it help to fast? Why do we pray as we fast? How does fasting strengthen prayers? You can also discuss how we fasted as a world to overcome this pandemic. How was that experience for your family? What blessings have you seen since then? When we fast, we also go hungry for a day for others who are hungry. Discuss where our fast offerings go and how it helps others.
Print this What Will You Fast For sheet (page 1) to help you talk about things we can fast for. We should always have a purpose when we fast. What have you fasted for before? What does it mean to fast? How has fasting blessed your life? When have you felt it make a difference? Why do you think we are asked to fast monthly? What can we do to make sure each time we fast, it’s a worthwhile experience?
Discuss how our fasting can be built upon a strong foundation with a toolbox object lesson from Perglers Primary Place.
True conversion increases our desire to share the gospel with others (Mosiah 27:32-37; 28:1-8)
Make something new for your family to eat or play with- be sure it’s something that they will most likely love but is new to them (like a new cookie recipe). Invite one person to try it out first then see what happens. Do they recommend it to others automatically? If not, ask them if they would recommend it to others and why. This is like the gospel. It’s so great! When we love something, it’s natural to want to share it. Most people love to hear recommendations too as long as they are sincere and made with love. How can you share the goodness of the gospel with someone else this week?
Draw upon the example of today with the pandemic. We don’t have a vaccine for it and don’t have a sure-fire way to cure people yet either. What if you discovered the cure or vaccine? Would you keep it to yourself or share it with the world? Would you sell it or give it away for free? Would you be afraid to share it? How is the gospel similar to sharing a vaccine? What did the sons of Mosiah do once they found the cure? What was the disease?
Talk about how we can overcome our fears of sharing our testimony. Use the free 2 Timothy 1:7-8 printable included in my Gordon B. Hinckley helps. Ask your family beforehand what keeps them from sharing their testimony with others. Write each reason on a sticky note then cover up the scripture poster with all the excuses. When you meet together, discuss ways you can conquer those fears. As you come up with solutions, take the sticky notes off. Read the scripture out loud together once it’s revealed and encourage each other to share testimony often.
Be fishers of men! Cut out the fish and men from my free printable and go fishing! You can add questions on the back that relate back to the lesson for extra fun.
Review ways we can be everyday missionaries with some M&Ms and a fun handout to remind you.
- Dive into more from Mosiah 25-28 with the study helps and ideas from The Red Headed Hostess like learning about the 7 churches of Zarahemla.
- Love Pray Teach has more study helps and fun too. She also has youth Sunday School and Primary lesson packets again.
