We had such a wonderful sharing time on Sunday, and what we did for junior primary would make a great FHE, and the stories are near and dear to me and my family, so I thought I'd share. The lesson is based on sharing time idea #2 in June's issue of The Friend.
Junior Primary
We read Malachi 3:10 and learned about the word "tithes" and what that verse is teaches us. We talked about what tithing is, and where it goes (not the bishop's bank account, but to the church for building temples, chapels, and maintaining these buildings, etc.). We focused on temples since this month's theme is about temples, and this is what I taught:
I held up a picture of the Boston temple and asked if the kids could tell me where this temple is located. Several pointed out, "It's the Boston temple!" I asked, "Is this your temple?" Many were excited at that thought, and I agreed, "It's MY temple too!" I love the Boston temple.
I shared this story: I attended the Open House of the Boston temple. The temple is extraordinarily beautiful with the outside made from granite shipped from Italy, gold leaf decoratively painted near the ceilings to draw our eyes to heaven, stain glass windows designed to symbolize the tree of life and remind us of God's love. I don't know the exact cost of building the Boston temple, but no corner was cut; it is a beautiful. Our tour guide for the Boston temple told our group that when this temple is dedicated that it will be 100% paid for from tithing paid by the members of the church. There was an audible gasp in our tour group. People who were in our group who didn't know much about our faith, were amazed that this beautiful structure would be all paid for from tithing.
We talked about the blessings of the temple and related that to Malachi 3:10. Perhaps some of the blessings we will see from paying an honest tithe will be material, but the blessings that will make us feel overwhelmed with gratitude will be blessings that draw us to our Heavenly Father. We'll feel his love. We'll feel his peace. I asked the kids to draw a picture of write the name of a blessing they feel they receive because of tithing...temple, church, flowers found on church property, hymn books, etc. After they finished coloring they were to crumple up their pictures and bring them to me. The kids looked at me like, "What?! Crumple up my picture?!" It was hilarious, but those were the directions. I thought Caroline was going to cry. Her friend flat out refused and took her picture to her mom instead; proud of her hard work:) The kids brought their crumpled pictures up to me and I put them all on a pulpit in front of the group. I invited a young boy named Josh to come up in front of the pulpit and asked him hold his arms out toward the pulpit. I read Malachi 3:10, and when I read the part about blessings pouring out, I poured the blessings toward Josh and told him to try to catch all of them- an impossible task. The blessings fell everywhere because he "did not have room enough to receive them." The spirit was there and I was able to share my testimony....really a special sharing time.
Senior primary:
I omitted the coloring portion of the lesson and talked more in depth about the Boston temple with the senior primary.
When the Boston temple was dedicated it did not have a steeple. However, President Hinckley prayed in the dedicatory prayer that we would have a steeple on our temple. After the dedication we were encouraged to pray at church and in our homes for our temple to have a steeple. We did. A year later, I was driving by the temple and was amazed to see a crane on the property. I drove into the parking lot and there was the steeple being hoisted up by the crane. Prayers answered. I had to run to Christina's school to pick her up and I brought her back to show her the steeple, which by this time was on the temple, and they were now raising the angel Moroni onto our temple. Prayers answered. I encouraged the children to remember this story every time they saw our temple. Our steeple is a reminder that God lives and hears and answers our prayers.
The kids started raising their hands with good questions and comments. Emily said she enjoyed simply walking on temple grounds with their grandma who lives across the street from a temple in UT. David remembered helping work with his dad on the landscape of the Boston temple before the grounds were completed. Cameron said his mom took him to see the temple and she used to go to church right by the temple and loved being that close. I was impressed that for these children, even the simplest connection to the temple meant so much to them. I felt impressed to point out the Spirit in our little primary room, and thanked the kids for their reverence so we could learn from each other and feel our testimonies grow.
The kids were interested to hear this Boston temple story as well:
The church was planning on building a temple in Hartford, CT, but again ran into issues with neighbors and it was becoming difficult to progress with building plans. President Hinckley were here in New England in part because of the Hartford temple. He met with priesthood leaders from the Boston stake and when the issues of the Hartford temple came up, our stake president, Pres. Hutchins, who is now the temple president, said that he thought that the church might already own the land up on the hill by the Belmont chapel, but wasn't sure. No one was certain. Pres. Hinckley's interest peaked and he asked to go up to the hill. As he stood there on the hill, he was able to look out and see Boston, and the coast where some of his ancestors arrived. He said that this was the place we would build a temple. Sure enough the church did own the land, and the rest is history.
We had to close because we were running into closing exercises time, but we could have talked for another 30 minutes. To have this discussion with the kids ages 8-11 w/ minimal visual aids and no "attention getter" was wonderful. Even with a linger longer/buffet after church, what a special experience to want to stay and continue our lesson because the spirit was so edifying.
To adapt the lesson for FHE, the art project/object lesson we used in Jr. sharing time would be great. Definitely have your kids draw more than one picture because you want a visual image of lots of blessings. If time is short you may want to write the name of a blessing on each piece of paper, crumple them up, etc.
Take the time to share your testimony and perhaps a special experience or two you've had because of tithing or related to a temple (built with tithing funds). I find that my children love to hear these experiences because even though they are mine, they are also part of our family history, therefore a part of them.
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