PRIMARY 5 LESSON 5 JOSEPH SMITH RECEIVES THE GOLD PLATES
CLASSROOM PREP
WRITE ON BOARD and put up the manual picture of him:
“I made this my rule: When the Lord commands, do it.” - Joseph Smith
1/OPENING ACTIVITY
2/LESSON
3/POPCORN MAKING!
4/HAND OUT POPCORN BAGS WITH NOTE: D&C 14:7 about enduring to the end
OPENING ACTIVITY
Start singing “popcorn popping” out of nowhere (they’ll likely join in)
Have a brown lunch bag (so they can’t see what’s inside) with kernels inside
Who likes popcorn? Raise your hand. (count out a few kernels into each kids’ hand)
Yum, let’s eat this up! Looks yummy right? (no)
Wait, we can’t eat these? Why not? (they’ll break our teeth, we might feel sick from the hard shell)
Hold up a kernel
We are a lot like this tiny piece of dried corn. What’s inside?
It’s the potential to become something else, but we have to choose the right. Choosing the right means making good decisions, and being obedient. We’ll learn how this makes sense with the popcorn later on.
Let’s talk about Joseph Smith and what he did when he received the gold plates. It’s all about obedience.
LESSON
Joseph Smith 1:59
the time arrived in September 1827/ Urim and Thummim / breastplate / plates
Description of plates 6” wide and 8” long, 6” thick, three rings bound them
Bring a ruler and show them how big this was
He’s now responsible for them
If he should let them go carelessly, or through any neglect of his, he should be cut off
If he uses all his endeavors to preserve them, they should be protected
Joseph Smith 1:60
He soon found out why! People wanted to take them from him!
“Persecution more bitter and severe than before…”
“multitudes on alert continually to get them from me.”
By wisdom of God they remained safe until Moroni got them back in May 1838
Read the below accounts (summarize if needed for time) in the lesson manual about how he kept them safe: (have a drawing for each to put up on the board)
TREE
After Joseph and Emma left the hill where the plates had been buried, Joseph stopped and took the plates into the woods. There he found a large fallen tree that was soft and decayed inside. He cut back the bark of the tree, dug out a hole, and hid the plates inside, covering them up again with the tree bark.
A few days later, while Joseph was working several miles away from Palmyra, his family learned that some men were coming to search for the gold plates. Emma immediately got a horse and rode to warn Joseph about the men. Joseph had also been warned through the Urim and Thummim that the plates were in danger. Joseph returned to Palmyra and took the plates from the tree, wrapped them in a linen cloth, and started for home with them. He thought it would be safer to travel through the woods rather than on the road, but in the woods someone hit him from behind with a gun. Joseph knocked down the man who attacked him and ran away as fast as he could. He was attacked twice more, but was able to escape each time and bring the plates safely to his home.
STONE FIREPLACE
On another occasion, Joseph learned that a mob was coming to look for the plates. He pulled up some stones in front of the fireplace and hid the plates underneath. As soon as the stones were put back into place, a group of men came up to the house. Joseph and his father and brothers ran out the front door yelling. The mob thought that there were many men helping Joseph and ran away frightened.
UNDER THE FLOOR
A few days later Joseph was inspired to take the plates, along with the wooden box in which he kept them, from under the fireplace stones. He carried the bundle across the street to a workshop on the Smith farm. He took the gold plates out of the box, wrapped them in cloth, and hid them in the loft of the shop. Then he pulled up some floorboards, hid the empty wooden box under the boards, and nailed the boards back down. When night came, a mob came and hunted for the plates. The mob pulled up the floorboards and found the empty wooden box, but the gold plates remained safe where Joseph had hidden them in the loft.
BARREL
Because of all the persecution and the people trying to steal the gold plates, Joseph knew that he would not be able to work on their translation in Palmyra. Joseph and Emma decided to move to Harmony, Pennsylvania, where Emma’s parents lived. Joseph was worried about how to get the gold plates safely to Harmony. He put the plates in a box and put the box at the bottom of a barrel. Joseph then filled the barrel with beans and nailed down the lid. With the barrel and their other belongings in a wagon, Joseph and Emma set off for Harmony. Although they were stopped along the way and their wagon was searched by people looking for the plates, the plates were not found.
→ why do you think people wanted them? (gold worth a lot, Satan would not want them translated)
→ why do you think people wanted the plates but didn’t believe he was a prophet? They didn’t have faith and only believed in things they could see with their eyes, they were also blinded by greed
Joseph Smith 1:61
People still persecuted him, lied about his family...he had to leave
Martin Harris was a friend who gave them $50 to help
Joseph Smith 1:62-63
Arrived in PA and copied characters off the plates, Martin Harris took them and gave them to a professor who said they were translated correctly. Martin Harris told the professor that an angel of God had given the plates to him. That professor didn’t believe in angels and said he wanted to see the plates. Martin Harris told him that they were sealed and he couldn’t. The professor said “I cannot read a sealed book”
→ In Isaiah, thousands of years before Joseph Smith’s time, there was a prophecy about this!
Isaiah 29:11-12
→ Do you think this strengthened Martin Harris’ testimony of Joseph Smith being a prophet?
Joseph Smith was obedient to Moroni’s warning so the plates were kept safe. He followed the Spirit in knowing how to protect them.
Let’s see what I mean.
3/POPCORN MAKING
Go into the kitchen and plug in our small popcorn maker from home with the right ingredients
As the popcorn is popping, discuss:
How are we like a popcorn kernel? Remember, there’s a lot of potential in it.
Potential to become what? What does the kernel turn into? (a piece of fluffy popcorn)
What do we add to the kernel? (heat and oil)
Some kernels use that heat and oil for their benefit and turn into yummy popcorn.
They magnify themselves and find their true potential
Some kernels don’t take advantage and just lie there and do nothing. They enjoy the heat and the oil but they don’t do anything with it.
What happens to the ones who turn into yummy popcorn? They make people happy (let’s ignore the fact that they are eaten, haha). They find their true purpose.
What happens to the ones that don’t take advantage of the heat and oil? They just stay a hard kernel and are considered kind of gross and are thrown away.
So we want to be like those kernels that pop and become something better .
We want to endure to the end (explain what that means) of the popping!
Take the made popcorn back to the classroom
Review what how being obedient and enduring to the end helps you reach your potential!
Review what how being obedient and enduring to the end helps you reach your potential!
4/HAND OUT MICROWAVE POPCORN BAGS WITH A NOTE ATTACHED with D&C 14:7 (about enduring to the end)
Object Lesson: Adapted from: http://ministry-to-children.com/bible-object-lesson-ideas-with-popcorn/
