Scripture
“37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.”
Hymn
My Heavenly Father Loves Me, Children’s Songbook, Pg. 228
1. Whenever I hear the song of a bird
Or look at the blue, blue sky,
Whenever I feel the rain on my face
Or the wind as it rushes by,
Whenever I touch a velvet rose
Or walk by our lilac tree,
I’m glad that I live in this beautiful world
Heav’nly Father created for me.
2. He gave me my eyes that I might see
The color of butterfly wings.
He gave me my ears that I might hear
The magical sound of things.
He gave me my life, my mind, my heart:
I thank him rev’rently
For all his creations, of which I’m a part.
Yes, I know Heav’nly Father loves me.
Lesson
*For Younger Children*
You have lots of things to take up your time these days. You definitely have more things to play with than the pioneer children did! 🙂 There are lots of fun things to do today, but it is important to make sure you remember to take time for the Lord.
What are some things you like to do for fun?
The Lord likes us to have fun and spend time with our friends, but He also wants us to remember what matters most.
One thing that is important for us to make time for is family. Here is a story from the Friend magazine about why building good relationships is important: A rope is made up of many strands that are tightly woven together. If one strand is broken or cut, it weakens the rope. Your family can be compared to a rope. Each member can represent a strand. When you work together for good, the whole family becomes stronger. Every family member has a responsibility to help strengthen one another.”
The Lord also wants to make sure to make time for Him. He wants to bless you and protect you from danger. He can only do those things for you if you’re not too distracted to hear the Spirit.
How can you make time for the Lord in your life? (Going to church, reading your scriptures, saying your prayers, choosing the right, serving your family and friends, etc.)
How can you change your activities so that the Lord and your family come first?
(from Our Family Will Be Strong)
*For Teens and Adults*
Sometimes, it is easy to get caught up in the things of the world and be really busy on a daily basis. It is good to have hobbies, interests, technology, and time with friends, but sometimes we need to stop and reevaluate our priorities to make sure we’re always making time for the Lord in our lives.
The Lord loves us and desires to bless us. If we are too busy with other things, we can’t take time to look around and see all He does for us. He wants to help us and guide us in ways that He knows are best for us. If we are too distracted by things of the world it can be hard to hear the Spirit leading and guiding us.
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf explains, “‘We have to forego some good things in order to choose others that are better or best because they develop faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and strengthen our families.’
The search for the best things inevitably leads to the foundational principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ—the simple and beautiful truths revealed to us by a caring, eternal, and all-knowing Father in Heaven. These core doctrines and principles, though simple enough for a child to understand, provide the answers to the most complex questions of life.
There is a beauty and clarity that comes from simplicity that we sometimes do not appreciate in our thirst for intricate solutions.”
What are some things is your life that keep you busy?
We are not being told to be lazy, by any means. We are taught by our prophets that we need to figure out what our priorities are that can help us come closer to Christ. We are encouraged to first and foremost make time for the Lord in our life and secondly to make time to build meaningful relationships with our family. When these two things are being met in your life, then there is time for some other things to occupy your time.
President Monson helps by explaining that, “Often we devote our best efforts in pursuit of a hobby, a sport, vocational interests, and community or political issues. All these things may be good and honorable, but are they leaving us time and energy for what should be our highest priorities?
What is the remedy? Once again, it comes from the words of the Savior: ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.’
Everything else in life should be secondary to these two great priorities.”
So, what specifically are the priorities in our life that should come first? Dieter F. Uchtdorf clears this question up for us. “As we turn to our Heavenly Father and seek His wisdom regarding the things that matter most, we learn over and over again the importance of four key relationships: with our God, with our families, with our fellowman, and with ourselves. As we evaluate our own lives with a willing mind, we will see where we have drifted from the more excellent way. The eyes of our understanding will be opened, and we will recognize what needs to be done to purify our heart and refocus our life.”
What are some ways in your life that you can make more time for the Lord?
What are some ways in your life that you can build more meaningful relationships with your family?
With all this valuable information from our church leaders, they give us guidelines on how to shape our lives to give us the most joy in our life. They don’t tell us exactly how to live but give us guidance to help us sort through the business in our life. As we make more time for the Lord and those things he’d like us to do, we will find daily peace, joy, and satisfaction.
(from Of Things That Matter Most)
Treat
Rice Krispies Treat Pops or S’mores Nachos
Rice Krispies Treat Pops
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons of butter or margarine
- 4 cups of mini marshmallows
- 6 cups of Kellogg’s Rice Krispies cereal
- 16 wooden ice cream sticks
- 1 cup of semi sweet chocolate chips
- 1 cups of white chocolate chips
- 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
- Sprinkles
Instructions:
- Melt butter over low heat in a large saucepan and add 4 cups of mini marshmallows. Stir until the marshmallows are melted. When the marshmallows are completely melted, remove pan from heat and add in 6 cups of Rice Krispies. Stir until the Rice Krispies are thoroughly coated.
- Press the mixture into a greased 13×9 pan. Use a spatula to flatten the mixture into the pan. Allow the mixture to cool. When the Rice Krispies Treats have cooled, cut into 16 equal pieces. Push an ice cream stick into each treat to make a Rice Krispies Treat pop .After cutting the pops, they will still have a rectangular shape. If you push the top corners down with your fingers you can make them rounded so they look more like an ice cream pop.
- Now it’s time to melt the chocolate for dipping. Pour 1 cup of semisweet chips in a microwave safe bowl and mix with 1/2 tablespoon of vegetable oil. Microwave until melted. Repeat the process in another bowl with 1 cup of the white chocolate chips and 1/2 tablespoon of oil. Microwave until melted. Holding the treat by the stick, dip it into the melted chocolate. If you are having a child help, make sure the bowl is not hot. You may need a spoon during this process to distribute some of the chocolate evenly over the pop. Dip some of your pops in the semi sweet chocolate and some in the white chocolate chips.
- Now it’s time to shake some sprinkles on top. Place the pops on some parchment or wax paper to cool. It was a really hot day (almost 100 degrees!) when we made these, so we popped them in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes so the candy coating could harden.
(Recipe From MessForLess)
S’mores Nachos
Ingredients
- 10 marshmallows (large) or a cup of mini-marshmallows
- ½ cup milk chocolate chips
- ¼ cup chocolate fudge ice cream topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350
- Using a small cast iron griddle or baking pan layer first the graham crackers, then the marshmallows, then the chocolate chips
- Bake for 10 minutes at 350 then turn oven on to broil
- And broil for 2-3 minutes (watch closely), to brown and crisp up the marshmallows
- Heat chocolate fudge ice cream topping in microwave for 30 seconds
- Drizzle over the top of the s’mores nachos and enjoy!
(Recipe From EasyPeasyMeal)
Activity
Chicken Foot Dominoes or Musical Sprinkler
Chicken Foot Dominoes – Chicken Foot is played in rounds, one round for each double domino in the set. We normally play with 4 players using double-nines or 6 players using double-twelve. Click here for instructions.
Musical Sprinkler – a fun sprinkler game for those who can still play outside this summer
