family with ancestors in the spirit world

Us with Them and Them with Us, by Caitlin Connolly

November 1–7

Doctrine and Covenants 125–128

“A Voice of Gladness for the Living and the Dead”

If you teach younger children and need additional help, see “Meeting the Needs of Younger Children” at the beginning of this resource.

Record Your Impressions

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Invite Sharing

Help the children think of something they learned this week at home or in Primary. Give them a few minutes to draw a picture of what they thought of and share it with the class.

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Teach the Doctrine: Younger Children

Doctrine and Covenants 126:3

I love my family.

After Brigham Young returned home from preaching the gospel, the Lord told him to focus on caring for his family.

Possible Activities

• Share with the children the information about Brigham Young in “Chapter 50: The Saints in Nauvoo” (Doctrine and Covenants Stories, 184), or summarize Doctrine and Covenants 126 in your own words. Then read Doctrine and Covenants 126:3 to the children, emphasizing the phrase “take especial care of your family.” What does it mean to take care of our families? Help the children think of ways they can show love to their family members.

• Before class, invite the children to bring a picture of their family (or ask them to draw pictures). Then ask them to share something they love about their family. Share a picture of your family, and do the same. Explain why Heavenly Father wants us to care for our family members. Sing a song that teaches this truth, such as “When We’re Helping” (Children’s Songbook, 198).

Doctrine and Covenants 128:5, 12

All of God’s children need the chance to be baptized.

In addition to helping the children prepare to make their own baptismal covenants, teach them that we can help those who have died without baptism receive the same blessings.

Possible Activities

• Show a picture of Jesus Christ being baptized (see Gospel Art Book, no. 35), or show the video “The Baptism of Jesus” (ChurchofJesusChrist.org). Ask the children if they have ever seen someone get baptized. What do they remember about it? Use the picture or video to show the children that when we are baptized, we go all the way under the water and then back up, just like Jesus did. Open to Doctrine and Covenants 128:12, and explain that Joseph Smith taught that being baptized reminds us of the Resurrection.

• Tell the children about someone you know (such as an ancestor) who died without being baptized. Read Doctrine and Covenants 128:5, and let them take turns holding a picture of a temple baptismal font (see this week’s outline in Come, Follow Me—For Individuals and Families). Testify that Heavenly Father allows us to be baptized on earth for people who are dead. This way all of God’s children can be baptized and make covenants with Him.

Doctrine and Covenants 128:18

Heavenly Father wants me to learn about my family history.

There are simple ways in which young children can participate in family history work. Help them feel love for the people in their family tree.

Possible Activities

• Create a paper chain with names of people in your family (see this week’s activity page), and bring it to show the class. Tell a few things about the people on your chain. Read to the children from Doctrine and Covenants 128:18, and explain that Joseph Smith taught that “there is a welding link … between the fathers and the children.” Help the children make their own family chains, and invite them to take the chains home and have their parents help them add names of ancestors.

• Ask the children to share something about one of their grandparents. Tell one of your favorite stories about your parents or grandparents. Show pictures if possible. Encourage the children to learn more about their grandparents and other ancestors.

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Teach the Doctrine: Older Children

Doctrine and Covenants 126

I can help care for my family.

How can you help the children you teach serve their family members in meaningful ways?

Possible Activities

• Read together Doctrine and Covenants 126:3. Why might Heavenly Father have asked Brigham Young to “take especial care of [his] family”? How can we do the same for our families? Make a list of the things we can do now to serve our families. How will doing these things help us become more like Heavenly Father?

• Share with the children Sister Carole M. Stephens’s story about her grandson Porter (see “We Have Great Reason to Rejoice,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2013, 115). What did Porter do to take care of his family? How can we follow his example?

Doctrine and Covenants 128:1, 15–18

Baptism for the dead creates “a welding link” between me and my ancestors.

Joseph Smith taught that baptism for the dead binds us to our ancestors like links in a chain. How can you help the children feel the joy that comes from learning about our ancestors and making sure that temple work is done for them?

Possible Activities

• Divide the class in two groups, and ask the first group to read Doctrine and Covenants 128:1 to find out what subject occupied Joseph Smith’s mind. Ask the other group to read verse 17 and find out what subject he considered “the most glorious.” Let them share what they find, and talk about why this subject is so glorious. If possible, invite a youth who has done baptisms for the dead to share his or her experience and explain why we do this work.

• Consider using an object lesson to show that we need to help our ancestors who were not baptized. For example, display a gift or a treat, but place it out of reach of one of the children. Tell that child that he or she can have the object but can’t move from his or her seat. Ask the other children what they can do to help the child receive it. Read together Doctrine and Covenants 128:15, and talk about how it relates to the object lesson.

• Invite the children to make a paper chain with names of their parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, and so on (see the activity page for this lesson). If the children don’t know their ancestors’ names, encourage them to find out the names and write them on the chain at home. Read together Doctrine and Covenants 128:18 to find out what the “welding link” is that makes our family history “whole and complete.” Tell a story about an ancestor that helps you feel connected to him or her. Or show the video “Courage: I Think I Get It from Him” (ChurchofJesusChrist.org).

• Show the children a temple recommend, and tell them how you obtain one. Help them look forward to getting their own temple recommends so they can go to the temple and be baptized for their own ancestors.

  young man with family name cards

  We can find the names of our ancestors and perform temple ordinances in their behalf.

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Encourage Learning at Home

Invite the children to ask someone at home to help them learn more about their family history. They could ask to hear stories about an ancestor or use FamilySearch.org to find names of ancestors who have not been baptized.

Improving Our Teaching

Help children express their creativity. When children build, draw, or color something related to the story or principle they are learning, they often remember it better. They can also use what they create to teach others. (See Teaching in the Savior’s Way, 25.)

activity page: Heavenly Father wants me to learn about my family history