This sharing time will engage the children in an activity geared to strengthen their understanding and testimony of the Book of Mormon.
Preparation:
Create a poster with the following code printed on it:
#>) [==$ =+ @=&@=3 !: #&8)
Prepare a card with each of the clues and activities below and place them in a basket. Be familiar with the songs, questions, and activities that follow and gather any pictures needed.
Presentation:
Show the children picture #92 in the Gospel Art Book (#416 in the Gospel Art Kit). Explain that the plates were written in a language Joseph Smith did not know, but with Heavenly Father’s help he was able to translate the writing into words he could understand.
Display the poster at the front of the room. Explain that the message on the poster is a code telling us something important. The children will have to decipher the code to find out what it says. They will get help from the clues in your basket.
Have a child come up and draw a card from the basket. On one side of the card is an activity or question. Have the child follow the directions on the card (he can get help from the other children or leaders if needed). After completing the activity the child can look at the clue on the other side of the card. Have a child write the correct letter(s) under the corresponding symbol(s) on the poster.
Repeat with another child and another card until all the letters have been decoded.
Activity cards for the basket:
# is T. Have all the children sing “Book of Mormon Stories,” Children’s Songbook, 118.
> is H. Who went into the Sacred Grove to pray? (Joseph Smith)
) is E. Read 1 Nephi 5:21
[ is B. Have all the children sing, “Praise to the Man,” Hymns, no. 27.
= is O. Look at the picture on page 73 of the Gospel Art Book (#306 in GAK). What is Mormon doing in the picture? (Writing on the plates)
+ is F. In the Book of Mormon, what were the followers of Nephi called? (Nephites)
$ is K. Have all the children sing, “The Golden Plates,” Children’s Songbook, 86.
@ is M. What is the full name of our Church? (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)
& is R. Look at the picture on page 79 of the Gospel Art Book (#312 in GAK). What is Captain Moroni holding above his head? (The Title of Liberty)
3 is N. Read Doctrine and Covenants 1:29
! is I. Read Doctrine and Covenants 3:19
: is S. How old was Joseph Smith when Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ appeared to him? (Fourteen)
8 is U. Look at the picture on page 89 of the Gospel Art Book (#402 in GAK). What is Joseph Smith doing? (Reading the Bible)
After all the activities have been completed, you should have a finished word strip that says: THE BOOK OF MORMON IS TRUE.
Bear your testimony that you know the Book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith translated it. Heavenly Father wants us to read the Book of Mormon and learn from it.
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