Short Attention Span Sunday School: Primary 4 Lesson 42: Moroni and His Writings

LESSON 42: MORONI AND HIS WRITINGS

CLASSROOM PREP

• GIVE THANKS SIGN

OPENING ACTIVITY

• Thanksgiving crossword

LESSON

Mormon 8:2-6

Moroni 1, 7, 8

1/discussion

2/figure out how long he was alone

3/matching game about charity

4/matching game about moroni and charity too

THANKFUL CARD FOR THE BISHOP

→ Thanksgiving cards for him, then deliver after

THANKSGIVING PIE FEAST with mini pies for each kid

NOW DELIVER PIE AND CARDS TO THE BISHOP AND TAKE A PHOTO

LESSON

First let’s figure out how long Moroni was alone for:
- find the year of the final Nephite battle on the bottom of the page in Mormon 6
- subtract that date from the year listed on the bottom of the last page of Moroni 10 (421-385=36 years)

Mormon 8:2-6 Mormon gave part of the sacred records to Moroni to protect from the Lamanites and have him complete the account

My father was killed, sad tale of my people being destroyed, 400 years AD

Moroni 1

Planned to do the abridging of Jared but I haven’t died yet so I’m writing more

I’m hiding from the Lamanites

They hate all the Nephites that won’t deny Christ

I’m writing more so future Lamanites will benefit

Moroni 7 - he’s speaking to us / Moroni lived through many difficulties to complete the gold plates so they could be preserved for future generations as scripture.
5/the word of God says ye shall know people by what they do, if what they do and what they produce is good then they are good
6/if your evil, you can’t do good...offer gifts and pray with real intent
8/if you serve unwillingly then it’s almost as if you didn’t serve
9/if you don’t pray with real intent then it’s as if you didn’t pray at all
11/a bitter fountain cannot bring forth good water
12/all things which are good cometh of God
15/you need to judge good from evil
- how?
19/search in the light of christ that ye may know good from evil

40/hope and faith - you need hope to have faith
41/what do you hope for? Hope for eternal life and in christ
42/have hope to have faith / cannot be one without the other
44/have real sincere faith and hope and be meek and lowly, and have charity...pure love of christ

When have you witnessed examples of charity?

MATCH MORONI DESCRIPTIONS WITH EXPLANATIONS

• Suffereth long: Is patient
• Kind: Not cruel or mean, loving
• Envieth not: Is not jealous
• Not puffed up: Humble, not proud
• Seeketh not her own: Is unselfish
• Not easily provoked: Slow to anger, quick to forgive
• Thinketh no evil: Is trusting, looks for the good
• Rejoiceth in truth: Is honest
• Beareth all things: Is obedient
• Believeth all things: Is faithful
• Hopeth all things: Is optimistic, trusting
• Endureth all things: Is patient, persistent

MORONI’S LIFE MATCHING GAME

• Suffereth long:
  Moroni lived alone for over thirty-six years patiently keeping the records. (Mormon 8:5.)
• Kind:
  Moroni prayed for us, and he loved his brethren. (Ether 12:36, 38.)
• Envieth not:
  Moroni saw our day and counseled us to not be envious or proud. (Mormon 8:35–37.)
• Not puffed up:
  Moroni was humble because of his weakness in writing. (Ether 12:23–25.)
• Seeketh not her own
  Moroni unselfishly worked and prayed for us that we would have a knowledge of Jesus Christ. (Mormon 9:36; Ether 12:41.)
• Not easily provoked
  Moroni forgave his enemies and worked hard to write things that he hoped would be of worth to them. (Moroni 1:4.)
• Thinketh no evil
  Moroni exhorted us to hold to good and touch not evil. (Moroni 10:30.)
• Rejoiceth in truth
  Moroni was honest. (Moroni 10:27.)
• Beareth all things
  Because Moroni would not deny Jesus Christ, he had to wander alone for his safety. (Moroni 1:2–3.)
• Believeth all things
  Moroni encouraged us to believe in Jesus Christ. (Mormon 9:21.) So great was Moroni’s faith that he was able to see Christ face to face. (Ether 12:39.)
• Hopeth all things
  Moroni understood the importance of hope. (Ether 12:32.)
• Endureth all things
  Moroni was faithful to the end. (Moroni 10:34.)

Short Attention Span Sunday School: Primary 4 Lesson 40:The Jaredites Are Led to the Promised Land

LESSON 40 THE JAREDITES ARE LED TO THE PROMISED LAND

CLASSROOM PREP

On the board → Put up Jaredite picture from manual with "JAREDITES" sign

TWO CHURCH MOVIES

LESSON (below)

MINUTE TO WIN IT (below)

Minute to win it

• Stack a tower of cups for tower of babel individually (10 minutes)
• Build a barge with toothpicks and marshmallows in teams (5 minutes)
• Stone stacking individually (10 minutes)
• Spell Mahonri Moriancumer individually

LESSON

Ether 1:1–4, 33–43 language not confounded / tower of babel

2 design of barges, talks with the lord, prepare for journey to chosen land

3 sees finger of the lord then all

6:1–13 lord touches the stones, the barges are safe, they land/humble

The Book of Mormon is not arranged in chronological order. If it were, the book of Ether would be listed first. The Jaredite record begins approximately 2200 B.C. First Nephi begins in 600 B.C.

The brother of Jared pled with the Lord to preserve the language of his worthy friends and family. Demonstrating great faith and led by the hand of God, the brother of Jared was able to lead this group to another land.

Explain that Moroni began his account of the Jaredite history by recording the ancestry of the prophet Ether, who wrote the history on the 24 gold plates. Moroni recorded Ether’s ancestry back to a man named Jared, who lived during the time of the Tower of Babel.

After Moroni finished the record of his father, he wrote an abridgment, or an abbreviated version, of the record found on the 24 gold plates. This record contained the history of the Jaredites, who lived on the American continent before the Nephites and Lamanites.

Read Ether 1:1–5 silently
- what did Moroni chose to include in his abridgment of the Jaredite record?

Summarize what you know about the tower in Ether 1:5 and what happened to those who tried to build it. (It was called the Tower of Babel. The Lord confounded the language of the people who tried to build it and scattered them because of their wickedness)

Ether 1:33–43

Have you ever been in a place where they could not understand the language?
- how did you feel?
- imagine how it must have felt for the people around the Tower of Babel when they realized that everyone’s language was being confounded.

Read Ether 1:33–34 silently.
- look for (1) who Jared wanted to be able to communicate with and (2) how he proposed to solve the problem. (He wanted to be able to communicate with his family, and he asked his brother to pray that their language would not be confounded.)

After students report what they have discovered, ask:
- what does the phrase “cry unto the lord” mean to you?

Point out “let us be faithful unto the Lord” at the end of Ether 1:38.
- Jared and his brother show their faith in and willingness to be obedient to the Lord.
- They asked in faith for the blessings they needed.

Ether 2:7
Once they got to the sea in the wilderness the Lord had them stop. He was going to have them cross the ocean to get to the land of promise, “which the Lord God had preserved for a righteous people.”
And the Lord told the brother of Jared that whoever was going to possess the land of promise had better be righteous and should serve the Lord or they would be swept from the Land of Promise. The land referred to and to which they will travel is the American continent.

Read Ether 2:13–15 silently, looking for what the Jaredites did when they reached the seashore.

• What did the Jaredites do? (pitched their tents and stayed at the seashore for four years.)
• What lessons can we learn from Ether 2:14? (Students may identify different truths, including the following: The Lord wants us to call upon Him regularly in prayer; the Lord is not pleased when we fail to call upon Him in prayer; and the Spirit will not strive with us if we are sinful.)

Invite a student to read Ether 2:16–17 aloud
- have someone draw what they think the barges looked like
- search Ether 2:18–19 to find the three problems that the brother of Jared noticed in the barges.
- what were the solutions? Write the following principle on the board: As we call upon the Lord and do our part to solve our problems, we can receive the Lord’s help.

Ether 6:1–12

Sharing the gospel with a friend
Choosing friends with high standards
Setting correct priorities in life

Point out that these are examples of things the Lord wants us to do. However, some people think these things are too difficult.

Invite a student to read Ether 6:1–4 aloud. Ask the class to follow along and identify other ways the Jaredites prepared for these difficulties.

• What do you think it means that the Jaredites set sail “commending themselves unto the Lord their God”? (They entrusted themselves to God for care and preservation.)
• Why do you think it was important for the Jaredites to commend themselves to the Lord after having done all they could to prepare themselves?
• Why might it have been difficult to trust in the Lord in this situation? (If students do not mention the following, you may want to point out that the Jaredites had to build their own barges, they could not steer their vessels, and they most likely did not know the way to the promised land or how long the journey would last.)

How did the Jaredites show their trust in the Lord as they crossed the sea?

What are some phrases in Ether 6:5–11 that describe what the Lord did for the Jaredites because of their trust in Him?

Based on what you have learned from the Jaredites’ journey, what will the Lord do for us as we trust in Him and do His will?
- as we trust in the Lord and do His will, He will direct the course of our lives.

Points to Ponder:

• Does the Lord answer prayers?
• What kind of power does faith have?
• What quality is important for us to have when we pray? (humility)
• What do we learn about the purpose of the American continent from this story?
• What does the Lord expect from us when we go to Him for help with our problems?
• What is the difference between faith and knowledge?
• Why would the Lord keep a certain record from a people?  What does this tell us about the importance of the records that we have?