Ideas for your Celebration

GAMES: (see following sheets) And Don’t Forget the PRIZES!

▪ First Vision Password
▪ Book of Mormon Charades
▪ Eye Spy – the Golden Plates lay hidden
▪ JSH Hangman

FOOD: (Period Food is the Key)

• Bread/rolls/biscuits
• Cakes and Cookies
• Eggs & Sausage, bacon
• Google search food from the 1800s
Fun idea: start out your celebration with a DIY Omelet Bar & serve homemade Cinnamon Rolls !

MOVIE & DISCUSSION:

▪ Show One of the many versions of “The First Vision” from the Church website
▪ Before the Movie let everyone know this part of your celebration you want to be
serious and really focus on the wonderful blessings of the First Vision and Restoration of
the church
▪ Before the Movie – Let everyone know that afterwards there will be a SHORT discussion
time (5-10 min), tell them that after the movie you would love to hear any thoughts they
have, feelings about the movie or the Restoration that they would like to share (not
everyone has to share)

CHALLENGEs:
 #1 - CREATE: Your Impression, Your Medium - Pass out the Challenge Cards –
encourage everyone to have fun, think of what they love to do, and put a First Vision
theme on it!
o If you play the piano – learn a first vision song, etc. etc. (See card for ideas)
 #2 – SHARE IT: Give everyone 3-5 Pass Long Cards, with a challenge to give them to
others – family, friends, neighbors, etc!

CRAFT/ACTIVTY:
▪ Coloring Cards are fun to have spread out as people arrive
▪ Craft: Golden plates can easily be made from baking dough, cooked during the
event and sent home

STORY/GIFT EXCHANGE: (see story attached) Left/Right Story Game

▪ Everyone must bring ONE WRAPPED ITEM that Represents or Symbolizes the first vision.
o Make it or Buy it – have fun getting creative
o EXAMPLES: candle – represents the light, socks – Joseph walking into the Grove, Gift card to Burger King – Joseph Spoke with
the King of Kings, paint or draw something, gift card to Barnes & Noble- grew in Knowledge, Bag of Chocolates – representing
the Browns in the Trees and on the ground, etc. Look at the words and phrases in the Frist Vision for more ideas!
 FIRST VISON LIGHT JOSEPH
BIBLE RELIGION
VISION KNEEL
DARKNESS PILLAR
RULES: WOODS GROVE
➢ Everyone Sit in a Circle
➢ Someone takes 1 card from the top of the stack (take turns doing this)
JOIN LIPS
➢ Whomever chose the card - Use any word but the word on the PRAY HEAVEN
card to explain what the word is! FIRST
➢
TONGUE JAMES
Everyone else tries to guess – shouting out answers CLERGY
➢ Winner: Person who guesses the most correct answers 1st FOURTEEN PERSONAGES SMITH
SET-UP: MOTHER SPRING CHURCH
▪ Write each word on a separate 3x5 card - stack cards together
▪ Paper & Pen to keep Score QUESTION FATHER ADVERSARY
PRIZES: GOD WISDOM SUN
 1st , 2nd, 3rd Place Prizes – Sprite (“Bright”) VOICE ASK SON
“I saw a pillar of light exactly over
my head above the “Brightness”
BOY KINGDOM FAITH
of the sun” JSH 1:16 PERSECUTION 1820 BAPTISM
METHODIST AXE BRIGHT

BOOK OF MORMON RULES:

CHARADES
➢ Divide into 2 Teams – Time limit of 30 sec. to guess each phrase
➢ Teams take turns picking 1 card from the top of the stack and
acting out the phrase to their teammates (the other team keeps
quiet)
➢ Whomever draws the card will act it out – no objects, no
mouthing words, no writing words, simply acting it out
➢ Everyone else on their team tries to guess – shouting out
answers until the answer is given (or an answer very similar)
➢ Winner: Team that guesses the most correct answers
SET-UP:
▪ Write each phrase on a separate 3x5 card - stack cards together
▪ Paper & Pen to keep Score
PRIZES:
 1st Place Team – “SPEARMINT” Gum packs
“The “SPIRIT” teacheth a man to PRAY” 2N 32:8
 Tie – hold a tie breaker round – everyone guesses

▪ Alma the Younger and the sons of Mosiah

see an Angel, Alma is truck dumb
▪ Lehi eating the Fruit from the tree of Life
▪ Brother of Jared finds 16 stones for the
▪ Moroni buries the Gold Plates
Lord to touch
▪ Samuel the Lamanite Preaches on the Wall
▪ Nephi and his brothers go back to get the
▪ Nephi cuts off Laban’s Head
Brass Plates
▪ Ammon defends the Kings flocks with a
▪ Alma & Amulek break the chords which
sword and sling shot
they are bound and escape prison
▪ Anti-Nephi-Lehies bury their weapons of
▪ Abinadi preaching to King Noah
war
▪ Nephi’s bow breaks
▪ Enos Praying all day and all night
▪ 2000 Stripling Warriors
▪ King Benjamin preaching from his Tower
▪ Nephi Builds a ship
▪ Captain Moroni makes the Title of Liberty
▪ Lehi discovers the Liahona
▪ Wars between the Nephites and Lamanites
▪ Moroni Abridges the Plates
 JSH HANGMAN
(JOSEPH SMITH HISTORY) VS.22
OBSCURE
VS.8 VS.9 VS.18 PREJUDICE
SERIOUS TUMULT INQUIRE VS.23
RELFECTION INCESSANT SECTS SCANTY
UNEASINESS ZEALOUS PERSONAGES SECTS
TENENTS VS.19 VS. 20
POIGNANT REVILING
ALOOF VS.15 CREEDS ANNOYER
KNEELED VS.24
PARTIAL ABOMINATION DISTURBER
SEIZED AGRIPPA
DENOMINATIONS CORRUPT OPPOSITION
BIND VS.25
UNACQUAINTED DOOMED SOPHISTRY INFANCY MIDST
PERSECUTED
RULES: VISION
➢ Divide into 2 Teams – Teams take turns guessing a letter and then trying to guess what the WORD is, when
they guess wrong it is the other teams turn OFFEND
➢ Start: Team 1 takes a card from the top of the stack to see the Word (this person will continue writing until the VS.26
word is guessed) then the Team 2 will take a new card and their team will start the guessing.
SATISFIED
➢ Your teammates can guess any letter of the alphabet,
 if the letter is IN the WORD… then write it on the correct space and guess the team can have one SECTARIAN
chance to guess the WORD, now another letter can be guessed LACKED
 if the letter is NOT IN the WORD…then draw part of the hangman (head, neck, arm, hand etc.) & write the
letter on the side – the team now has one chance to guess the WORD, and the turn is over
UPBRAIDED
➢ Winner: Team who guesses the most Words, you can only guess the word when it is during your teams turn
SET-UP:
▪ Use a Whiteboard or Chalkboard
▪ Write each word on a separate 3x5 card - stack cards together
▪ keep Score at the top or the board
PRIZES:
 1st Place Team – Candy in HEART Shapes or SweetTarts
“I kneeled down and began to offer up the desires of my HEART to God” JSH 1:15
OR – “YORK” Peppermint Candies “in the State of New YORK” JSH 1:3
 TIE - if there is a Tie hold a tie breaker round

EYE SPY Golden Plates

WHERE DO THE “GOLDEN PLATES LAY HIDEN” ?

RULES:
➢ State the boundaries – where you can or cannot look
➢ No using your hands to touch, lift or open – you must use only your eyes to look and your feet to
walk around the rooms
➢ Start: Everyone begins to quickly walk around look for the Golden Plates
➢ Winner: Person who finds the Golden Plates First (you can only win 1 time)

SET-UP:
▪ Hide 4-10 “Golden Plates” (depending on how large your group is, hide more or less plates)
▪ Ahead of time – Place “Golden Plates” in creative places around the rooms you will be searching
▪ Golden Plates: You can buy stickers, printed “golden Plates”, or make out of modeling dough

PRIZES:
 Powerade for each Golden Plates to be found
“Exerting all my POWERS
to call upon God to Deliver me” JSH1:16
Share a Card

Share a Truth!
Pass them
to a Friend,
a Neighbor,
Anyone!
 Assign Everyone to Bring one Item that Represents or symbolizes the
Frist Vision – it must be gift wrapped to give away.

This is the Story of Joseph Smith’s First Vision.

This is his story, his search to find which Church was Right,
and what was left for him to do about it.

As our story begins, Joseph Smith is about 14 years of age. He lives with his large family who left their home in Vermont,
to find a better place to farm in New York. In New York there were many many people who had also left their homes
and had come searching for not only the right place to live, but the right church to join. There was much interest left in
the minds of all the people during that time, especially in New York.

Joseph’s family was also very interested in Religion. He often listened to his mother share which church she thought
was right. Joseph’s family were farmers. Joseph’s father told the family he was right happy with the good weather that
spring and asked his oldest son Alvin if it seemed right to head out that day and work some more. Alive said, yes father, I
think you are right, the soil is just right and with the right amount of hard work, we could have the plant the wheat and
Barley with plenty of room left to plant other crops. Joseph suddenly thought of his shovel which he had left outside the
door. It was getting a lot of use this season. It was rarely left sitting there.

Joseph was also happy for the warm spring weather because it left him with time in the evenings to get right on his
chores before the sun went down. This left time in the evening for the family to read the bible and talk about religion.
Joseph was always a thoughtful young man asking his parents questions that left him wondering. He would ask, is it right
for preachers in town to claim their church was right? What was his family left to do? Often his father said, their truths
should be found in the bible.

As Joseph was one day reading right from his own bible, he read James 1:5

“if any of you lack wisdom let him ask of god” Joseph felt very strongly that this was the right thing for him to do! So he
went right to work thinking on this and deciding there was nothing left for him to do, but ask God!

One beautiful spring morning Joseph left his home and walked into a grove of trees. He was determined to ask God
which church was right? He found a little spot to kneel down. He looked to his left, and then he looked to right and
finding himself alone, he decided it was the right time to start praying aloud. Suddenly a darkness came around him, he
could not speak, he felt doomed to destruction. When at this moment a light shown right above him. He saw two
personages descending. He heard Heavenly Father say, pointing to the one on his right, “this is my Beloved Son. Hear
Him”.

Joseph asked which of all the churches was right to join? He was told none of them. This left him astonished.

After this vision Joseph left the grove. He went right home and spoke with his Mother saying, I have learned for myself
that Presbyterianism is not the right church to join.

Today we are grateful that Joseph Smith had the courage to ask God which church was right. And, that he left to all the
world not a doubt, that the truths he learned that day in the Grove, were Right.

- This is not an exact telling – this is made up for a fun game

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