Lesson 26

The Holy Ghost Can Help Us

Purpose

To help the children understand that the Holy Ghost can help us do what is right. He also warns us of danger.

Preparation

1. Prayerfully study 1 Nephi 4:1–6; 2 Nephi 32:5; Doctrine and Covenants 8:2.

2. Prepare nine questions on slips of paper for the game in the lesson. Place the questions in a bag.

3. Be prepared to sing or say the words to “Choose the Right Way” (Children’s Songbook, p. 160) and “The Holy Ghost” (Children’s Songbook, p. 105); the words for these songs are included at the back of this manual.

4. Materials needed:

   1. A Book of Mormon and a Doctrine and Covenants.

   2. A handkerchief or piece of cloth to be used as a blindfold.

   3. Chalk, chalkboard, and eraser.

   4. Picture 3-52, A Father Stopping a Horse and Saving His Son; and picture 3-53, Karolina’s Prayer.

5. Make the necessary preparations for any enrichment activities that you will be using.

Suggested Lesson Development

Invite a child to give the opening prayer.

Follow up with the children if you encouraged them to do something during the week.

The Holy Ghost Prompts Us

Attention activity

Choose a child to help you with the following activity:

Have a child stand by the door. Blindfold him, and instruct him to find his chair and sit down. Don’t give him any help. (However, make sure that he does not injure himself or others.)

Repeat the procedure, but this time have another child help the blindfolded child by giving directions.

Remove the blindfold, and have the child sit down.

• Why was it easier for (child’s name) to find the chair the second time?

Chalkboard discussion

Print the word help on the chalkboard. Read the word to the children, and explain that when someone receives help, the person often receives directions or is told what to do or say.

Explain that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ knew that we would need their special help and direction. They promised to send someone to prompt us.

Scripture, picture, and story

Read Doctrine and Covenants 8:2 to the children. Then display picture 3-53, Karolina’s Prayer, and tell the following story in your own words:

Karolina was a little girl who lived in Sweden. She and her little brother Erik were always together. Karolina took care of her little brother because she loved him. Erik was four years old. Many ships came to the seaport where they lived because their home was not far from the ocean. Sometimes the ships carried loads of food or machinery. Karolina and Erik’s father worked on these ships.

One day the children were standing on a hill watching a big ship move slowly through the water. Karolina said, “Erik, let’s go down and watch the men unload the ship. It’s so big; let’s see what’s on it. Father won’t mind us watching the men work if we keep out of their way. We could just sit on a big box, and then we could see everything.”

Erik happily caught hold of Karolina’s hand, and they ran down the hill. But when they got to the bottom of the hill, they thought it would be a lot more fun if they walked along the railroad track. This would be a much faster way down to the water.

As they walked along the track, Karolina saw some pretty wild flowers. She let go of Erik’s hand so she could pick some of them. Erik went skipping on ahead of her, carefully stepping between the railroad ties. He loved to play this game. Suddenly, Karolina heard a yell of pain. Just as she turned to see what the trouble was, Erik cried out to his sister, “Karolina! Karolina! My foot’s caught. I can’t get it out!”

Karolina dropped her flowers and ran to help him. By this time Erik was crying with pain and fear. Karolina tugged and tugged at his arm, trying to pull his foot out of the hole. But she couldn’t move it. She put her arms around his waist and tried to lift him out. Her little brother screamed with pain because his foot was hurt. The more Karolina pulled and tugged, the more Erik cried. At last Karolina said, “Erik, I can’t get your foot loose; I’ve got to get somebody to help pull your foot out. I’ll be back.”

She started running down the track, but as she came around the bend, she saw a train a long way off. Karolina knew she didn’t have time to go for help because in a few minutes the train would be there, and the engineer might not see her little brother in time to slow down.

• What could Karolina do?

Karolina turned and ran back to Erik. She was very frightened, and as she pulled at Erik’s foot again, she said a little prayer for help: “Our Heavenly Father, help me. I don’t know what to do. Please help me!”

Suddenly Karolina thought she heard a very quiet voice say, “Unlace the shoe.” With shaking hands she untied the shoelace. Even though his shoe was still tightly caught under the railroad tie, when Karolina pulled hard, Erik’s foot came right out of it. He fell against her, and they both fell over on the ground. They jumped from the tracks, and the train steamed around the curve and swished by them.

After the train had gone, Erik began to cry, “Oh, look at my shoe!” The shoe was badly scuffed, but Karolina was able to wriggle it loose. Karolina put her arms around Erik and said, “Never mind about your shoe. Just be thankful that Heavenly Father answered my prayer. I would never have known what to do if he hadn’t helped me.”

Karolina hugged her little brother, happy that she had been able to save his life. Then, tightly holding hands, they walked along together to tell their father how Heavenly Father, through the power of the Holy Ghost, had answered Karolina’s prayer for help.

Discussion

• Who helped Karolina?

• How did the Holy Ghost help Karolina save her brother?

Point out that the Holy Ghost helps people in different ways. Most often he speaks to our minds. When he does this, we might get a feeling or thought that can help us know what to do. Sometimes, however, people actually hear a voice speaking to them and giving them help.

Song

Sing or say with the children the words to “The Holy Ghost.”

The Holy Ghost Will Help Us Do What Is Right

Ask the children to listen to the following stories of Anita and George to see how the Holy Ghost helped them to do what is right.

Story and discussion

Early one summer, one of Anita’s friends invited her to come swimming with her. Before she went, Anita tried on her swimsuit from last year. She was surprised to see how much she had grown. As a result, the swimsuit did not cover her as it should and was now immodest.

Anita knew that her friend was waiting for her to come over, and Anita wanted to run quickly over to her house to play. However, a thought that came into her mind helped her decide what to do. She was reminded that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ wanted her to be modest. If she went to her friend’s house with this swimsuit on, she would feel uncomfortable around her friend’s family. She knew that she should dress differently.

Quickly Anita found her older sister and asked if she had a swimsuit that might fit and that she could borrow. Together they looked and found an old suit that fit Anita well. Anita thanked her sister, changed immediately, and ran over to her friend’s house, happy that she had chosen the right thing to do.

• How did the Holy Ghost help Anita do what was right?

Story and discussion

George and his friends loved soccer. They played it at school, watched it on television, and even bought magazines and read about their favorite teams. They enjoyed watching the games and talking about the exciting plays.

The championship game was coming up. George knew it would be an exciting game, and he wanted to see it. But the game was going to be televised on Sunday at the same time as his Church meetings.

His friends decided to stay home and watch the game with their fathers. George had been invited to watch the game with them but felt that he should not miss his Church meetings.

Then he began to wonder whether it would be all right to stay home and watch the game. “After all,” he thought, “I can go to church every week, but the championship game comes only once a year. Surely it won’t matter if I miss church just this once.”

He almost convinced himself to miss church when a thought came into his mind: “What would Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ want me to do?”

When George answered this question, he knew what his choice would be. He would go to church.

• Who do you think was helping George?

• How did the Holy Ghost help George?

Explain that the Holy Ghost prompted Anita to be modest and George to go to church. Both children followed the promptings and lived the commandments. Point out that the Holy Ghost will prompt us, and we should follow him by choosing the right.

CTR ring

Remind the children that wearing the CTR ring can help them remember to choose the right.

Song

Sing or say the words to “Choose the Right Way.”

We Are Blessed When We Obey the Promptings of the Holy Ghost

Picture and story

Explain that we are greatly blessed when we listen to and obey the promptings of the Holy Ghost.

Display picture 3-52, A Father Stopping a Horse and Saving His Son. Tell how Heavenly Father blessed Bruce R. McConkie and his father because his father obeyed the promptings of the Holy Ghost:

“One of my earliest childhood recollections is of riding a horse through an apple orchard. The horse was tame and well broken, and I felt at home in the saddle.

“But one day something frightened my mount, and he bolted through the orchard. I was swept from the saddle by the overhanging limbs, and one leg slipped down through the stirrup.”

Point to the stirrup in the picture.

“I desperately hung to an almost broken leather strap that a cowboy uses to tie a [rope] to his saddle.”

“My weight should have broken the strap, but somehow it held for the moment. Another lunge or two of the stampeding horse would have broken the strap or wrenched it from my hands and left me to be dragged to injury or death with my foot entangled in the stirrup.

“Suddenly the horse stopped, and I became aware that someone was holding the bridle tightly and attempting to calm the quivering animal. Almost immediately I was snatched up into the arms of my father.

“What had happened? What had brought my father to my rescue in the split second before I slipped beneath the hoofs of my panic-driven horse?

“My father had been sitting in the house reading the newspaper when the Spirit [the Holy Ghost] whispered to him, ‘Run out into the orchard!’

“Without a moment’s hesitation, not waiting to learn why or for what reason, my father ran. Finding himself in the orchard without knowing why he was there, he saw the galloping horse and thought, I must stop this horse.

“He did so and found me. And that is how I was saved from serious injury or possible death” (Bruce R. McConkie, “Hearken to the Spirit,” Friend, Sept. 1972, p. 10).

Discussion

• How did the Holy Ghost save young Bruce McConkie from serious injury?

• What might have happened if Bruce’s father hadn’t obeyed the whispering of the Spirit so quickly? (Explain that Bruce R. McConkie was later called to be a Seventy and then an Apostle; we might not have had this important leader.)

• How could an experience like this strengthen a person’s testimony? Why?

Tell the children that sometimes we might not immediately see the blessings that come from listening to the promptings of the Holy Ghost. We can be sure, however, that we will be blessed if we obey the promptings that come to us.

Summary

Question game

Invite the children to take turns choosing a question from the bag you have prepared and then answering the question. You will need to read the questions aloud for younger children. Use the following questions. Write some additional questions of your own if needed so that every child has a chance to choose a question from the bag.

1. What does it mean to prompt someone? (To give directions or to tell someone what to do.)

2. Who prompts us? (The Holy Ghost.)

3. How does the Holy Ghost prompt us? (He prompts us by giving us thoughts or feelings or by speaking to us.)

4. How does the Holy Ghost help us? (He helps us know the right things to do.)

5. How did the Holy Ghost help Anita? (He prompted her to be modest.)

6. How did the Holy Ghost help George? (He prompted him to do what Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ wanted him to do—go to church.)

7. What did the Holy Ghost prompt Karolina to do? (To unlace her brother’s shoe so she could pull his foot out of it.)

8. How was young Bruce R. McConkie blessed because his father listened to and obeyed the promptings of the Holy Ghost? (He was saved from injury or death.)

9. What should we do when we receive a prompting from the Holy Ghost? (Listen, obey, and choose the right.)

Testimony

Express your gratitude for the promptings of the Holy Ghost in your life. As led by the Spirit, share a personal experience about a time when the Holy Ghost prompted you or someone you know.

Explain that the Holy Ghost will never prompt us to do anything that is wrong. He will help us to do what Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ want us to do.

Article of faith

Have the children repeat the first article of faith.

Remind the children that the gift of the Holy Ghost is a special gift we receive after we are baptized and confirmed.

Ask the child giving the closing prayer to express gratitude for the promptings of the Holy Ghost. Suggest that he ask Heavenly Father to help each class member recognize the promptings of the Holy Ghost when he receives them.

Enrichment Activities

Choose from the following activities those that will work best for your children. You can use them in the lesson itself or as a review or summary. For additional guidance, see “Class Time” in “Helps for the Teacher.”

1. Have the children listen to the following story about Elder Thomas S. Monson:

   Some time ago, Elder Monson and his wife were sent by the prophet to visit the islands of Samoa. While they were there, they visited a class of children who lived in the village of Sauniatu. Elder and Sister Monson each spoke to the class. After they finished their talks and as the children’s teacher was announcing the closing song, a thought came into Elder Monson’s mind. He was prompted to personally greet each one of the 247 children.

   However, when he glanced at his watch, he realized that it was getting late and that he wouldn’t have time to greet each child individually.

   He tried to put the thought out of his mind, but he couldn’t.

   Before the closing prayer, he was prompted again to take the time to shake the hand of each child.

   He finally turned to the teacher and said, “I would like so much to shake the hand of each boy and girl. Would this be possible?”

   The teacher smiled and, in the Samoan language, spoke to the children. They nodded their heads eagerly in approval. He told Elder Monson the reason for the children’s smiles. When the teacher learned that the President of the Church had asked one of the Twelve Apostles to visit them in Samoa, the teacher had told the children that if they would each pray sincerely and have faith as did the people in the Bible and Book of Mormon, the Apostle would visit their village. He would also be prompted by the Holy Ghost to shake the hand of every child (see Thomas S. Monson, “Talofa Lava,” Friend, May 1972, pp. 12–13).

   • Who prompted Elder Monson?

   • How did the Holy Ghost prompt Elder Monson?

   Point out that the Holy Ghost prompts people in different ways. Most often he speaks to our minds as he did to Elder Monson’s.

   Explain that because Elder Monson listened to the promptings or instructions of the Holy Ghost, he was able to do what Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ wanted him to do.

2. Have the children tell about any experiences in their own lives when they feel they have received guidance from the Holy Ghost.