Short Attention Span Sunday School: Primary 5 Lesson 32 Joseph Smith is Jailed Unjustly

PRIMARY 5 LESSON 32 JOSEPH SMITH IS JAILED UNJUSTLY

CLASSROOM PREP

Post this scripture:
My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes.

- D&C 121:7-8

And this one:

“...for if they never should have bitter they could not know the sweet.”

- D&C 29:39

Put cocoa powder and Hershey's chocolate bars on the table as a display.

OPENING DISCUSSION

Today we’re going to be learning about a very difficult experience that Joseph Smith went through!

Reference the cocoa powder and chocolate

We’re going to be learning about these two things and how they’re different.

And how we can learn from Joseph Smith’s reaction to his adversity.

What is adversity? Let them share their answers

Do you know where pearls come from? Display a picture of an oyster with a pearl in it.
Pearls are made in oysters.

When a tiny grain of sand gets inside an oyster, it gets kind of irritated. It builds layers of something called calcium carbonate around the sand. Over many years it builds up many layers and those layers become a beautiful pearl.

So when we have difficulties, how do we react?

Do we handle it in a way that turns into something good?

Or do we just stay struggling and not think of ways to handle it?

LESSON

Illustrate to help their attention span.

Also choose appropriate sections of this Church movie to show, if you feel your class would benefit. Some parts might be too graphic for your age group.
https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2011-03-01-joseph-smith-the-prophet-of-the-restoration

If we have faith in the Lord, he will help us meet whatever adversity we face.

What do you remember about the Saints in Missouri?

Remember they were taken prisoner by General Lucas?

By the end of 1838, mobs were getting ready to attack Far West.

The Church members there tried to protect their town, but couldn’t do much because for every 1 Church member, there were 5 bad guys!

General Lucas, the leader of the anti-Mormon group, made a secret arrangement with a Colonel. Colonel Hinkle was a member of the Church but also a member of the military.

Hinkle became a traitor to the Church.

He agreed to turn over Joseph Smith and other leaders for trial and punishment!

But Hinkle knew the charges against them weren’t true!

Why does this make Colonel Hinkle a traitor? Explain the connection between betray and traitor

Colonel Hinkle agreed enemies of the Saints could take Saints’ property and said that the Saints would give up their weapons and leave Missouri!

Colonel Hinkle went back to Far West and told Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, Lyman Wight, Parley P Pratt, and George W Robinson that General Lucas wanted to meet with them to discuss a peace agreement.

When they Church leaders came, General Lucas took them prisoner! Colonel Lucas tricked them and trapped them.

This further explains why he was considered a traitor.

When they came into the area, they were yelling loudly and Church members heard the yelling and thought Joseph had been murdered! They prayed all night that he would be safe.

The Church leaders taken prisoner were not treated very nicely.

They had to lie on the ground in the rain.

They were mocked by their captors and were told they needed to perform miracles.

General Lucas decided they should be killed the next morning.

He ordered General Doniphan (remember he was a friend to the Church) to kill them.

Doniphan refused! He said “It is cold-blooded murder. I will not obey your order.”

(illustration from last week as it's the same story)

General Doniphan and his men were leaving Far West and he told General Lucas that if the Church leaders were killed, Lucas would be held responsible before a court of law.

Lucas was scared by this so he didn’t do it.

The Saints’ prayers were answered - the leaders were kept safe!

More Church leaders were arrested - Hyrum Smith and Amasa Lyman. They were added to the Church leaders already being held prisoner.

The next morning, Colonel Hinkle led the Mormon mobs to take over Far West.

They stole valuable possessions, arrested some of the men, and ordered the rest of the Saints to leave Missouri.

The enemies of the Church planned to take their prisoners to Independence, Missouri for trial.

The prisoners begged to be allowed to see their families! They were pretty sure they would be executed.

The guards took them back to Far West.

Joseph saw Emma and his children - they were so happy because they thought he’d been killed!

Joseph wrote: “When I entered my house, they clung to my garments, their eyes streaming with tears, while mingled emotions of joy and sorrow were manifested in their countenances.”

But they couldn’t stay with their families long.

Joseph and Hyrum’s mom Lucy was only able to touch their hands briefly as they were being led away.

Later, Lucy received a revelation, “Let your heart be comforted concerning your children, they shall not be harmed by their enemies.

Joseph also received a comforting revelation!

He told his fellow prisoners that none of them would die!

“Be of good cheer, brethren; the word of the Lord came to me last night that our lives should be given us, and that whatever we may suffer during this captivity, not one of our lives should be taken.”

They were kept in an empty house in Richmond, Missouri for two weeks!

Then their trial began.

It wasn’t a fair trial.

The witnesses against the Church told lies.

Witnesses who were trying to help the Church were thrown in jail or chased away!

The judge already knew he would throw them in prison.

The trial didn’t change that. It was a 13-day trial and all those days the prisoners were chained together.

At night they had to hear the prison guards saying bad things about them and other Church members.

One night, the guards were talking extra mean and using really bad words including taking the Lord’s name in vain!

It was hard for the Church leader/prisoners to hear.

Joseph Smith suddenly stood up and commanded, “SILENCE, ye fiends of the infernal pit. In the name of Jesus Christ I rebuke you, and command you to be still; I will not live another minute and hear such language. Cease such talk, or you or I die THIS INSTANT!”

He stood calm and dignified. His words frightened the guards. They apologized and sat quietly in a corner the rest of the night.

At the end of the trial, some prisoners were released and some were left in the jail in Richmond.

Joseph and five others were taken to another jail in Liberty, Missouri.

They were waiting for another trial.

This small jail was like a dungeon.

There were two small barred windows with barely any light.

Outside those windows, people mocked and insulted them!

They slept on dirty straw on the floor.

They had to go to the bathroom in a bucket.

The ceiling was really low! They couldn’t even stand up all the way!

They had terrible food to eat. Sometimes it was even poisoned!

Joseph and the others were kept there for 4 months.

Other leaders helped the Saints leave Missouri for Illinois.

While in Liberty Jail, Joseph asked the Lord how long the Saints would have to suffer.

The Lord told him that they had not been forgotten.

In April 1839, the prisoners were sent to another place for trial.

While being moved, the guards let them escape because some thought the trial would be a waste.

Joseph and the others went to Illinois to join their families and the rest of the Saints.

DISCUSSION

What are your thoughts about what you just learned from Joseph Smith’s experience?

Allow them time to share their thoughts

Why does the Lord allow adversity in our lives?

There’s a scripture in D&C 122:7 that talks about all experience being for our good.

How can it be for our good? We learn, we turn to God, our faith grows

How can it help us look to our Savior? He suffered greatly for us, He knows what we’re going through

Share an experience relating to adversity in your life and how it has strengthened you.

Do any of you have an experience that’s been really hard that’s strengthened you?

Discuss.

WORDS ACTIVITY

Let’s talk about the words that the prison guards were saying that bothered Joseph Smith and the other church leaders so much.

Why do you think words hold so much meaning and power? They cause us to have good or bad feelings, they put images in our mind

I want you to close your eyes and I’m going to say some words.

Keep your eyes closed as I say them and ask you questions about them:

Rainbow, sickness, sweet, thunder, sticky, laughter, muddy, sour, Christmas, sunlight, crying

Do you see how words are really powerful? They make you feel certain ways.

We should always choose our words very carefully and avoid bad words that bring bad images to our mind or words that show disrespect for our Heavenly Father or Jesus Christ, or even other people.

BITTER AND SWEET DISCUSSION

What does bitter mean to you? Sharp taste or smell, not sweet

What does sweet mean to you? Pleasant, not salty/bitter/sour, a sugary taste

Refer to the cocoa powder and take out a spoon.

Drop a tiny bit in their palm for them to taste but warn them it won’t taste much like chocolate.

Perhaps have small water bottles for them!

How does this taste? Bitter, gross, icky
What do you think this cocoa powder is lacking?

It says “unsweetened” so what is missing? Sugar

Hand them a small piece of Hershey’s chocolate or a Hershey’s kiss to help get rid of the bitter taste.

We're going to do a chalkboard activity called "Bitter or Sweet"

Hand everyone a piece of chalk and have them come to the board.

Ask them each question one at a time, have them all answer at the same time on a small part of the chalkboard.

Discuss answers.

Everyone erase.

Ask the next question, and so forth.

(This may only work for a small class, otherwise adapt to writing answers on a piece of paper.)

You're going to write bitter, sweet, or both:

- Was Joseph Smith’s experiences being jailed and treated poorly bitter or sweet?

- Did his strong prayers help it be bitter, sweet, or both?

- Did the revelation he received help it be bitter, sweet, or both?

- Did the way the guards treated him make it bitter, sweet, or both?

- When he stood up for what was right and told the guards to stop talking meanly, was that bitter, sweet, or both?

- When he got to see his family was it bitter, sweet, or both?

Joseph Smith was a great example of taking a really hard situation and trying to make it as positive as he could. He wasn't in control of his physical experience -- he was jailed, he was being moved around, he was having to stay in one spot, eat gross food, etc. But what was he in control of? attitude, happiness, mind, thoughts, faith

Post this quotation on the board and read it together:

Trials give us opportunities to show the Lord and ourselves that we will be faithful. We can choose to feel sorry for ourselves and ask, “Why me?” or we can grow from our trials, increase our faith in the Lord, and ask, “How can I be faithful in the midst of this trial?” We can let adversity break us down and make us bitter, or we can let it refine us and make us stronger. We can allow adversity to lead us to drift away from the things that matter most, or we can use it as a stepping-stone to grow closer to things of eternal worth.

- Larry Richman, BYU Devotional, published in the Ensign

TRIAL OF ADVERSITY VIDEO

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2011-04-002-trial-of-adversity

Hand out questions and a pen and tell them to read the questions through and answer after the video.

Watch as a class.

1. Either said she could either be a bitter angry person or hit the challenge head on. What did she choose?
2. Katie said she knew everything was going to be horrible / terrible / perfect / okay. (circle one)
3. After serving others and giving them hope, how did Katie feel?
4. What is this life about? ____ of others and the ____ that it brings. (fill in the blank)
5. What physical activities did you see Katie do after her accident? Basketball, traveling to visit others, dental care, gardening (shoveling), golf, bike riding, skiing, water sports
6. The Lord sees the _______ picture. (fill in the blank)
7. The Lord sees the _______ within the disability. (fill in the blank)
8. What did President Uchtdorf say about trials at the end? They form our _______ and shape our __________. (fill in the blank)
9. Would you say Katie focused on the bitter or on the sweet?

TESTIMONY/TAKE HOME

Share a testimony of how adversity can strengthen us!

Send home some Hershey’s treats with this note and have the words bitter and sweet highlighted on the printout with either bold or italics etc.:

President Faust:

“If there were no night, we would not appreciate the day, nor could we see the stars and the vastness of the heavens. We must partake of the bitter with the sweet. There is a divine purpose in the adversities we encounter every day.”