PRIMARY 5 LESSON 42: THE PIONEERS SHOW THEIR FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST
CLASSROOM PREP
Write “Faith is ________” on the board
OPENING ACTIVITIES
1/To set the tone, show this video:
Talk about the analogy of a light switch.
What does turning on the light switch do? Allows power to come through, starts something, etc.
What needs to happen for that light switch to be turned on? Someone has to want to turn it on, someone has to know how, someone has to hope that there will be a reaction/consequence to turning it on to even want to turn it on
Faith is action word!
We will be talking about faith today, and especially the faith of the pioneers.
2/Get out something you’ve brought to hide (manual opening activity) and have a child step out of the room.
Bring them back in and play hot and cold to find it.
Tell them this is a pioneer game!
When they’ve found it, talk about how it took faith to know there was something to find.
3/Take out a small potted plant (real or fake).
Ask connections can you make between “faith” at this plant? (you water a seed knowing it will grow, you plant a seed with hope and faith it will grow, faith is an action word so you have to do something about it...the plant wouldn’t grow without your action to put it in the sun and to water it, etc.)
What does it mean to have faith? (faith is believing and trusting that something is real and true even though we haven’t seen it with our own eyes)
When we water a seed, we believe that it will grow but we have to put action into that belief, and that action is faith!
How does “faith” relate to Jesus Christ?
Have we ever seen Him here on earth?
We must believe in Him in order to believe we can repent and be forgiven and live with Him again.
Keeping the commandments, showing faith, being baptized, going to church, etc. - all of that is showing faith!
4/Sing “Faith” with the help of the song on your phone or laptop, or a cappella.
Have the words for them.
LESSON
Illustrate as much as possible to hold their attention
Between 1847 when they first arrived in Salt Lake Valley and 1869, many groups of Saints arrived in wagons or handcarts.
Some came across the ocean from other countries first and then headed west.
Sometimes they died, sometimes they had other people die in their family, got sick, had their possessions ruined, etc.
It took a lot of faith for them to leave their homes!
This faith also helped them through the hard times.
Here are some stories!
MARY FIELDING SMITH’S CATTLE ARE STOLEN
Remember Joseph’s brother Hyrum was also killed when he was killed?
Hyrum’s wife was named Mary Fielding Smith.
She left Nauvoo with the Saints and went to Winter Quarters with her children.
Remember people stayed at Winter Quarters on their way?
While there, Mary and some of her family traveled south to Missouri to get supplies to continue on west.
But the weather was bad, and the oxen had a hard time pulling the heavy wagons full of supplies.
When they went to Missouri, it took one week.
But on the way back it took a lot longer and Mary and her family camped near the Missouri River.
Near them were some men camping too, they had a herd of cattle they were bringing to market.
Mary’s son Joseph F Smith, and his uncle usually unyoked their oxen at night so the oxen could rest and eat more easily.
But how would they be able to tell whose cattle they were, since they were so close to the other cattle belonging to the other men?
So they left the yokes on them so they could be spotted more easily.
The next morning, some of the oxen were missing.
Joseph F and his uncle spent all morning looking for them.
Joseph was tired and discouraged, and saw his mom Mary kneeling in prayer.
He heard her ask them to find the lost oxen.
After her prayer, she was smiling!
She said she would go out looking for them.
Joseph and his uncle were sure the oxen were gone.
Joseph and his uncle were sure the oxen were gone.
The uncle tried to talk her into accepting that they were gone, but she wanted to look.
One of the men camping nearby told her he saw the oxen going on direction, but she walked in another direction towards a river.
She found the oxen! They had been tied in a place where they were hidden.
Probably by people who wanted to steal them!
They were able to continue on their journey!
Follow-up…
So how did Mary show faith here?
MARY AND HER FAMILY CROSS THE PLAINS
Soon it was time for Mary and her family to head west.
But many of her animals had died because of the bad winter weather!
She had to attach two wagons together because she didn’t have enough oxen and drivers.
She also didn’t have good oxen teams pulling her wagons - she had wild animals and untrained oxen, so they were difficult to control.
The captain of her company told Mary it wouldn’t be a good idea for her to go west because she wasn’t prepared and said she wouldn’t make it!
He told her to return to Winter Quarters and wait until more people could help her.
She told him not only would she be able to do it without more help, but that she’d make it to the Salt Lake valley before he did!
Friends gave her more oxen.
The kids helped
Martha was the youngest and gathered wood.
Joseph F was 9 years old drove a team of oxen!
John drove a team of oxen too
Jerusha and Sarah helped with the daily chores and took care of the animals.
The kids walked barefoot most of the way!
As they were crossing Wyoming one day, one of the oxen suddenly lay down as if it was poisoned.
It looked like it would die! She had no spare oxen.
The captain said it looked like the oxen was dying and that he knew it wasn’t a good idea for Mary to have continued on.
She calmly took out her consecrated oil and asked her brother Joseph Fielding and another man to bless her ox that it would live.
It stood up and acted as if nothing had happened!
Another ox fell ill, was blessed, and was healed!
Mary and her family ended up reaching the valley before the captain and the others in her group!
Follow-up…
So how did Mary show faith here?
MARGARET MCNEIL HELPS HER FAMILY CROSS THE PLAINS
Margaret and her family joined the Church in Scotland.
They moved to Utah when Margaret was 10.
She walked all the way across the plains, often with her 4-year-old brother on her back.
Her mom was sick so she helped alot.
She made breakfast and dinner each day and took care of their cow, which mean getting up early and taking the cow out to eat grass so it had strength for the journey.
She swam across rivers with the cow.
They ran out of food so they ate milk and wild berries.
They finally arrived in Utah and were very thankful to the Lord!
Follow-up…
How did Margaret show faith here?
What are ways that we can show faith in our times?
Do we have problems that we have in our lives?
Do we show faith or do we complain and doubt that God can help us?
VIDEO
We’re going to watch this video about a family that is a great example to us!
DISCUSSION
Talk about a pioneer story from your own family, or the first person to join the church in your family.
BOOKMARK
Talk about the faith of a gardener, the faith of planting a seed, how you can show faith in your daily lives, etc.
Have them create a flower-motif bookmark for their scriptures using cardstock cut into a bookmark shape and decorated with markers, etc.
TESTIMONY & TAKE HOME/IN-CLASS SNACK IDEA
- Oreo pudding cup (“dirt” cup) to go with the flower analogy.
- Flower-shaped snacks or treats
- Flower shape from Fruity Cheerios or another colorful cereal made on paper with a drawn green stem
- Fruit or cheese cut out with a flower cookie cutter
- Lightbulb image printed out with words from the “Faith” song
- Animal crackers/cookies (because of all the animal stories!) with a note/scripture
No comments:
Post a Comment