Lesson Helps

FHE: Scriptures

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Conference Talk: For more information on this topic read "Scriptural Witnesses," by Russell M. Nelson, Ensign, Nov 2007, 43-45.

Thought: The Bible and the Book of Mormon are both witnesses of Jesus Christ. They teach that He is the Son of God, that He lived an exemplary life, that He atoned for all mankind, that He died upon the cross and rose again as the resurrected Lord... Love for the Book of Mormon expands one's love for the Bible and vice versa (Russell M. Nelson, "Scriptural Witnesses," Ensign, Nov 2007, 43-45).

Song: "Search, Ponder, and Pray," Children's Songbook, p. 109.

Scripture: In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established (2 Corinthians 13:1).

Lesson: Divide your family into pairs and give each pair a list of the following scrambled words:

  • SMAP
  • OOTTSENOF
  • EBBLI NDAYOTIICR
  • ILATPCO IGEUD

Explain to the family that the Church has provided for us many things that can help us to better understand the scriptures. Their list contains four of those helps. Have the family members unscramble the words to find out what the helps are. After they have discovered what the helps are (Maps, Footnotes, Bible Dictionary, and Topical Guide), tell them you are going to learn more about one of the helps: Footnotes. Have you ever wondered what all of the writing is at the bottom of each page in your scriptures? This writing is called footnotes.
Footnotes are there to help us better understand what we are reading.Open your scriptures to any page and find a verse that has small a's, b's, and c's next to to some of the words. Now find the verse number at the bottom of the page. After the letter a you might find a scripture reference (such as Matt. 10:10). This scripture may help you understand the verse better. Instead of a scripture you might find the letters TG and then a word. If you look up this word in the Topical Guide you will find a list of scriptures that might help you understand the verse you are reading. Some of the footnotes say HEB and are followed by one or more words. This is because the Old Testament was originally written in the Hebrew language and later translated into English. These footnotes explain what some of the Hebrew words meant. Some of the footnotes say GR, because the New Testament was originally written in Greek. Many footnotes help explain difficult words and sentences and even some parts that have been mistranslated. When you see JST, that stands for Joseph Smith Translation. With Heavenly Father's inspiration, Joseph Smith corrected parts of the Bible that were not translated correctly. As you can see, the footnotes aren't something you just read through. But when you're reading your scriptures and don't understand something, you often can go to the footnotes for help (Allan K. Burgess and Max H. Molgard, Fun for Family Night: New Testament Edition, [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1995], p. 91.).

Story: "The Book of Mormon and The Cat in the Hat" by Julie Sessions

This story is not profound or funny. It is a simple illustration of the special spirits that Heavenly Father is sending to the earth today. It is also a reminder that it is never too early to teach our children gospel principles.The other night as I was putting the baby to sleep, I asked our 2-year-old son to pick out some of his favorite bedtime stories for me to read to him. When I went into his room, I immediately recognized Danny and the Dinosaur, If You Give a Pig a Pancake, and The Cat in the Hat. I also noticed that he had taken the Book of Mormon off the shelf. Before I could say anything, my sweet little boy said, "I got some books. Will you read the scriptures first?" I was so touched that he wanted to read the scriptures first that I could hardly read for a few minutes. After we finished reading, we talked about how much Jesus loves him. He wanted to read only one other book after that. He was "filled," and he closed his eyes with a big smile on his face. I felt the Spirit so strongly in his little bedroom that night. I feel like the special spirits that are being sent to the earth right now are yearning to feel the Spirit and learn truth and righteousness. It is our joy and responsibility to teach them and learn from them (Sunshine from the Latter-day Saint Child's Soul. [Salt Lake City: Eagle Gate, 2001], 42.).

Activity: Do a "Footnotes Activity." Using foonotes on page 1190 (Matthew chapter 3) of the LDS edition of the Bible, fill in the blanks.*1.* Footnote 11d (for Matthew 3:11) tells us that we might get some help in understanding thisscripture by looking in the Topical Guide under the topic ____________________.

*2.* Footnote 4a (for Matthew 3:4) tells us that besides "raiment" another translation from the Greekis _________________.

*3.* Footnote 10a tells us that ______________ 5:36 may help us understand this scripture better.

*4.* Footnote 17a tells us that ______________ 9:7 may help us understand this scripture better.

*5.* Footnote 16b tells us that besides "straightway" another translation from the Greek is_____________.

Lead image from Wikimedia Commons
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