Sharing Time - July Week 3

I'm so very excited about this week, there are so many great ideas and it is such a powerful topic.  As I read through the Sharing Time Outline, which talks about blessings, I was excited, but it felt like something was missing.

I wanted to do a quick overview of the Priesthood.  What is it?  Where does it come from?  And best/most of all, why is it so very important?

Then I found this AMAZING video on youtube.  It's a Mormon Ad by Elder Robert D. Hales and it's powerful.  I love the idea of letting the kids hear the gospel taught from one of their modern day prophets.  His testimony and teaching of the priesthood are wonderful and we'll be using this video for sure during our lesson this Sunday.

While watching the video I'll ask the kids to listen for ways the priesthood blesses their lives.  Once it's over, we'll start our matching game. 

Before primary starts, I'll either hide some cute little cut-out type men (that I found on Katie's Blogness, free to download...my favorite!) around the room or I'll have them ready up front in a jar for kids to pick out.  I'll also have picture that match up with each of the "men" on a board ready for the kids to match.

After getting their cut-out guy, I'll ask the kids to choose which picture it goes along with, and, if appropriate, ask them to tell me about a time they've gotten to experience that priesthood blessing.  Atlhough, I just had a better idea that would allow any child to participate in this part, I can tell them that they can either tell about their own experience OR they can call on someone else to tell about their experience.  They always love to be the "leader" and call on others.

If the six little men isn't quite enough for you, you could always make up your own (even just on little slips of paper if you're as artistic as I am).  I found a great list of all the different priesthood ordinances that bless our lives in this Young Women lesson on lds dot org.  There are 14 different items that cover everything from Baby Blessing to Temple Marriages (and everything you could possibly think of in between).

I thought about finding stories to go along with each type of blessing, but I really think it will be more meaningful to hear first hand stories from the children and leaders in our primary. 

After making our way through as many blessings as we have time for, I'll close with a quote and my testimony.  While reading through some ideas on Sofia's Primary Ideas, I came across a quote by President Faust.  She has a much longer quote along with a link to the talk it comes from, but just this little part really hit me.

"If, through our priesthood blessings, we could perceive only a small part of the person God intends us to be, we would lose our fear and never doubt again."

This is a very simple lesson, but in hindsight, it seems that those that are the most simple are often the most powerful.

Have a wonderful week,
Leah