Heavenly Father Has a Plan for Me

Compiled by Keira

Purpose: To help family members understand that we lived with Heavenly Father as spirit children
before we came to earth, why we are here, and that we can live with him again after this life.

Possible scriptures: Moses 3:7 (the whole chapter is beneficial); Abraham 3:22-28; Jeremiah 1:5; 2 Nephi
2:22-25; Alma 34:32; Alma 42:5-15; Helaman 14:17; Doctrine and Covenants 29:36-38 (the whole chapter is beneficial, too); Doctrine and Covenants 49:17; Doctrine and covenants 93:29; Doctrine and Covenants 132:19-24; Doctrine and Covenants 138:56; Article of Faith 3;

Possible Songs: I Am a Child of God, hymn 301 or Childrens Songbook page 2; I Lived in
Heaven, childrens songbook page 4; Families Can Be Together Forever, hymn 300 or Childrens Songbook page 188; God Loved Us, So He Sent His Son, hymn 187; I Stand All Amazed, hymn 193; O Thou, Before the World Began, hymn 189; Teach Me to Walk in the Light, hymn 304 or Childrens Songbook page 177; He Sent His Son, childrens songbook page 34; I Will Follow Gods Plan, Childrens Songbook page 164; The Third Article of Faith, Childrens Songbook page 123.

Possible Materials: a special treat; Wordart for the timeline of the plan of salvation. You
can use a string with a knot in it to display your timeline.

Preparation: Begin with prayer. Ask yourself if you understand the 3 basic philosophical
questions of mortality (Where did I come from? Who am I? Where am I going after I die?). Read the suggested scriptures and any articles listed in Resources, as well as this website on the plan of salvation, the second and third part of Gospel Principles chapter 2 and the first part of chapter 5, and The Family: A Proclamation to the World. Prepare a special treat. Children: Prepare a special treat. Get another person to volunteer to get the treat and take all the credit. Then watch the video about Before the Old Testament.

Lesson:
Introduction: Start out by saying youve prepared a special treat for the family, and all it will take is
for everyone to go to the kitchen to get it and a member of the family will hand it to them. Have one person say theyll go get the treat for everyone and bring it back, but everyone will have to like it and eat it the way they say to eat it and everyone will have to give credit to him, even though he didnt make the treat.

Discussion: Discuss how there was a council in heaven where God told us he had a special

opportunity and gift to give, and like the person who wanted to make us eat our treats a certain way, there was a person who wanted to take away our ability to choose in the war in heaven. Luckily, God picked Jesus to help him with his plan, and Jesus let us have our agency and gave the credit for the plan to the Father. Compiled by Keira. For more lesson ideas go to http://searchforseven.blogspot.com

From the Pearl of Great Price: Read Moses 3-4:4, and Abraham 3:22-28, as well as

Revelation 12:4-11 and Doctrine and Covenants 76:25-44. Summarize. Activity: Divide antemortality into categories (Pre-mortality and living with God, Council in Heaven, War in Heaven; Satans fall; Foreordination, and Waiting to be born) and discuss them in turn, creating a timeline using cards with the categories written on them. It will also be beneficial to define such big words for smaller children.

From True to the Faith: Watch this video as a family. Read or summarize the Plan of

Salvation from True to the Faith. Activity: Add to the categories above by including the Creation, the Fall, Birth, the Veil, Mortality, Death, the Atonement, and Resurrection. Discuss what we have to do to return to our Heavenly Father, and what has been done because God loves us.

Further discussion: Make sure that each family member understands the following:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

We lived with Heavenly Father as spirits. When we came to earth, we forgot what it was like in heaven. We came to earth in families. We came to earth to have a body. We came to earth to learn things we couldnt learn with Heavenly Father. What we need to do to return to Heavenly Father (baptism, Holy Ghost, Endowment, Sealing, keep commandments). 7. Messing up is part of gaining experiences. 8. The atonement of Jesus Christ makes it possible for us to return to Heavenly Father.

Challenge: Challenge each family member to memorize the third Article of Faith. Make sure

everyone knows the meanings the big words, like atonement, mankind, obedience, and ordinances.

Resources:

Behold Your Little Ones lesson 2; Sunbeams Manual Lesson 3; Come, Follow Me lessons on the Plan of Salvation (February); Gospel Principles Chapters 2 and 5 (first part); Teachings of the Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith, Chapter 17; The Family: A Proclamation to the World; Plan of Salvation from True to the Faith; see also Plan of Salvation on LDS.org
Additional aides below.

Compiled by Keira. For more lesson ideas go to http://searchforseven.blogspot.com

Definitions from the Guide to the Scriptures:

BEGINNING: Generally refers to the time before this mortal lifethat is, the premortal life. PREMORTAL LIFE: The life before earth life. All men and women lived with God as his spirit children before coming to the earth as mortal beings. This is sometimes called the first estate (Abr. 3:26). COUNCIL IN HEAVEN: The occasion in premortal life when the Father presented his plan to his spirit children who would come to this earth. PLAN OF REDEMPTION: The fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ, designed to bring about mans immortality and eternal life. It includes the Creation, Fall, and Atonement, along with all God-given laws, ordinances, and doctrines. This plan makes it possible for all people to be exalted and live forever with God (2 Ne. 2, 9). The scriptures also refer to this plan as the plan of salvation, the plan of happiness, and the plan of mercy. FOREORDINATION: Gods premortal ordination of his valiant spirit children to fulfill certain missions during their mortal lives. WAR IN HEAVEN: conflict that took place in the premortal life among the spirit children of God. DEVIL: Satan, Lucifer. The devil is the enemy of righteousness and of those who seek to do the will of God. He is literally a spirit son of God and was at one time an angel in authority in the presence of God (Isa. 14:12; 2 Ne. 2:17). However, he rebelled in the premortal life and persuaded a third part of the spirit children of the Father to rebel with him (D&C 29:36; Moses 4:14; Abr. 3:2728). They were cast out of heaven, were denied the opportunity of obtaining mortal bodies and experiencing mortal life, and will be eternally damned. Since the time the devil was cast out of heaven, he has sought constantly to deceive all men and women and lead them away from the work of God in order to make all mankind as miserable as he is (Rev. 12:9; 2 Ne. 2:27; 9:89). VEIL: a God-given forgetfulness that blocks peoples memories of the premortal existence. MORTALITY: The time from birth until physical death. This is sometimes called the second estate. BODY: The mortal, physical structure of flesh and bones created in Gods image that is combined with a spirit to make up a living person. The physical bodies of all men and women will be reunited eternally with their spirits in the resurrection. SPIRIT: That part of a living being which exists before mortal birth, which dwells in the physical body during mortality, and which exists after death as a separate being until the resurrection. All living thingsmankind, animals, and plantswere spirits before any form of life existed upon the earth (Gen. 2:45; Moses 3:47). The spirit body looks like the physical body (1 Ne. 11:11; Ether 3:1516; D&C 77:2; D&C 129). Spirit is matter, but it is more fine or pure than mortal element or matter (D&C 131:7). Every person is literally a son or a daughter of God, having been born as a spirit to Heavenly Parents before being born to mortal parents on the earth (Heb. 12:9). Each person on earth has an immortal spirit body in addition to a body of flesh and bone. A

Compiled by Keira. For more lesson ideas go to http://searchforseven.blogspot.com

spirit can live without a physical body, but the physical body cannot live without the spirit (James 2:26). Physical death is the separation of the spirit from the body. In the resurrection, the spirit is reunited with the same physical body of flesh and bone it possessed as a mortal, with two major differences: they will never be separated again, and the physical body will be immortal and perfected (Alma 11:45; D&C 138:1617). WORLD: The earth; a testing place for mortal men. DEATH, PHYSICAL: The separation of the body and the spirit. The Fall brought mortality and death to the earth (2 Ne. 2:22; Moses 6:48). The atonement of Jesus Christ conquered death so that everyone will be resurrected (1 Cor. 15:2123). Resurrection is a free gift to all people regardless of whether they have done good or evil in this life (Alma 11:4244). Each person suffers only one physical death since once we are resurrected, our bodies can die no more (Alma 11:45). ATONEMENT: To reconcile man to God. As used in the scriptures, to atone is to suffer the penalty for an act of sin, thereby removing the effects of sin from the repentant sinner and allowing him to be reconciled to God. Jesus Christ was the only one capable of making a perfect atonement for all mankind. He was able to do so because of his selection and foreordination in the Grand Council before the world was formed (Ether 3:14; Moses 4:12; Abr. 3:27), his divine Sonship, and his sinless life. His atonement included his suffering for the sins of mankind in the Garden of Gethsemane, the shedding of his blood, and his death and subsequent resurrection from the grave (Isa. 53:312; Mosiah 3:511;Alma 7:1013). Because of the Atonement, all people will rise from the dead with immortal bodies (1 Cor. 15:22). The Atonement also provides the way for us to be forgiven of our sins and live forever with God. But a person who has reached the age of accountability and received the law can receive these blessings only if he has faith in Jesus Christ, repents of his sins, receives the ordinances of salvation, and obeys the commandments of God. The scriptures clearly teach that if Christ had not atoned for our sins, no law, ordinance, or sacrifice would satisfy the demands of justice, and man could never regain Gods presence (2 Ne. 2; 9).

Compiled by Keira. For more lesson ideas go to http://searchforseven.blogspot.com