Lehi and His Family are led through the Wilderness

Attention Activity:

Give each child a ribbon or a string.  Ask them to hold on to the ends and while not letting go, tie the ribbons into a knot.

After watching them try for a short time – while not laughing at them – ask them how well that worked for them.

Now give them step-by-step instructions…

1. Lay the ribbon across your lap
2. Tightly fold your arms
3. While keeping your arms folded, pick up an end with each hand
4. Hold on to the ribbon and pull your arms apart to unfold.

Children should now have a knot in their ribbon.

*** Gather the ribbons so that they are not a constant distraction.

Which way was easier?

What made the difference?

Each of us will face a lot of challenges through out our lives.  Some of these challenges are quickly fixed if we ask our parents or teachers what we need to do.  Others of those trials will require more help and more patience.  Some of those trials can only be helped if we lean on and ask Heavenly Father for help.

Play the video “Chapter 5 – Traveling in the Wilderness”

Have all of the children open up their scriptures to 1 Nephi 16.

What did Lehi receive because of his obedience when he was traveling in the wilderness?

What was the Liahona for?

During the video we heard about Nephi and others going hunting in the wilderness.

What happened while they were hunting?

Pretend that you were there with Nephi and his family.  You had agreed to leave the comforts of your home where you could go to the market to get food, you could climb in your bed for warmth and comfort, and you could change your clothes whenever you wanted.  It had already been several days or weeks since you had left the comforts of home.

How would you respond if the primary source of food was gone?

What did Nephi’s brothers and father do?  (1 Nephi 16:17-21)

Did you notice that this time it wasn’t just his brothers that murmured?  Even Lehi got discouraged.  Sometimes it is really hard not to complain about when we are faced with a struggle.

I would like each of you to take one pebble or a bead and one piece of candy.  Please place the pebble in your shoe and the candy in your mouth.  Now, lets go for a walk.

*** Take a very short walk around the church.  There is likely to be a lot of murmuring and a short walk will get the point across.

Wasn’t that such a nice little walk?  We got out of the classroom for a minute; we got to visit about other stuff, and we got a treat.

What did you think about the walk?

Likely they will complain about the pebble or bead more than they will focus on the treat.  Sometimes it is much harder to focus on the positive than it is to focus on the negative.

Lehi and the rest of Nephi’s family really struggled with finding the good in Nephi losing his bow.  In fact, even looking back at it and having not been there.  I still think – really?  As if they weren’t proving their faith enough did he really need to break his steel bow?

Some of us will have to face trials that we will never understand the reason for.  Whether we will have a sibling get sick, a parent lose their job, a cousin die from cancer or something else.  There is no easy explanation for why.  No easy way to say I guess I learned my lesson.

What did Nephi do to fix the problem? (1 Nephi 16:23-24)

Why did Nephi ask his father for help?

Who do you go to when you need help?

We went for a walk and a lot of you complained about the bead hurting your foot.  Some of you couldn’t even enjoy the candy because the pebble or bead was so annoying.

In this jar of rice, there are several treasures.  There is a ring, an earring, a coin, a charm and a pin.  As you look at it, you can’t see any of the treasures.

*** Have the kids take turns rolling the jar looking for the treasures.  Likely only the coin and ring will ever be seen.  But assure them that they are all there.  It just means we have to really look hard to find the good things in life.

After Nephi asked Lehi for direction on where he should go hunt, Lehi went to the Liahona.  (1 Nephi 16:26-30)

How did the Liahona work?

Today we don’t have a Liahona, so what do we have?

We all have the scriptures that we can turn to.  We have our parents and our teachers and our grandparents that will all help us in the right direction to return to our Heavenly Father.  I’d also like to share a story with you from something else that the children in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints have to help them do what is right.

The Friend shares a story of a little girl who won her school spelling bee.

What did Nancy do to help her when she was nervous and needed some extra help?

Today’s lesson has three very important things that I would like you to remember.  All three of these lessons will make every aspect of your life better.

Who can tell me what those three things are?

1. Focus on the positive
2. Seek to find the good
3. Lean on the Lord for direction and comfort

I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the true and living church.  I know that the Lord will guide us and direct us when we have faith in Him.  I know that when bad things happen we want to curl into a ball or we want to throw a fit and scream about the problem.  The only way that we can overcome our trials is to face them head on and come up with a way to fix the situation.  Laman and Lemual instantly reacted and freaked out whenever things did not go their way.  Nephi always took a minute and looked at the situation.  He considered the situation and sought out a solution.  On our walk, Nephi would have focused on the treat and when we returned from the walk, he would have removed the stone.  Nephi never would have given up looking for the treasures in the jar of rice.

Believe me, I know that it is hard to look on the bright side all the time.  But I know that we can.  I know that if we ask the Lord for guidance, He will help us find the path to happiness and to return to Him.

(Object lessons are both from OBJECT LESSONS MADE EASY by Beth Lefgren and Jennifer Jackson)