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Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Garden of Wishes

This is an inexpensive, fanciful and fun activity to welcome Spring and give the girls the opportunity to work on their “Outdoor Fun & Skills” development.

Required materials:
· 1-gallon milk jugs (1 for each girl), empty, clean, and dry, with label removed
· 6 different types of flower seeds
· Wooden craft sticks (6 for each girl, a few extra in case of typos) · Potting Soil
· Flower or gardening stickers (optional)
· Thin permanent markers
· Printouts (see attachment)
· Containers for seeds (ex: small condiment containers)
· Colored curling ribbon
· Plastic spoons (1 for each girl)



Printout of "Wishes" and Instructions:














Pre-Assembly:

1.Cut the top portion of the milk jug with scissors so the handle is still useable.
2.Place each packet of seeds into the “Wish” container you’d like it to correspond to. Write the type of seeds on the back so you can show the girls which seeds are in which “Wish” container.
3.Punch a hole in the top corner of the “Garden of Wishes Instructions” (see attachment).
4.Cut colored ribbon long enough to attach each instruction sheet onto the handle.

Instructions:
  • Have each girl fill their container with potting soil (4-5 inches) in the bottom of their container.
  • Select floral/foam stickers to place around the jug (optional).
  • Write each “wish” on a craft stick with a thin-tip permanent marker in preparation for sowing their “Garden of Wishes”.
  • Using the plastic spoon, create a small well in the potting soil to place the seeds in – 1” deep.
  • Select a few seeds from each “Wish” container and drop the seeds into the potting soil. Gently cover.
  • Place the craft stick identifying the “Wish” next to the seeds.
    Work in a circular motion around the jug, placing the seeds in a circle, with 1 -2 flower seeds in the center.
  • Attach the instructions to the jug handle.
Watch your wishes bloom!








Sunday, February 14, 2010

Jesus Atoned for Our Sins

Jesus Atoned for Our Sins

Use this object lesson to teach how Jesus doesn’t cover up our sins…. He is able to remove them forever.

Before the lesson, you will need to gather and create the following:

· Wire Clothes Hangers (15-20) from the dry cleaner
· Printouts of ways people repent of their sins. (See suggestions below) Punch a hole in the top of each printout so they can be slid onto the clothes hanger during the lesson
· Hole Punch
· 1 Red Sheet of Construction Paper with the words: “Jesus Atoned For Our Sins” printed on it, with a hole punched in the top center of the sheet

Lesson
Put the clothes hangers in a bag. Make sure to mix them up so they are intertwined and stuck together. Place the printouts face down on a chair or table next to you.

Pull the hangers out of the bag and talk about how messy they are. Explain to the children that they are just like our sins. One or two clothes hangers might be easy to sort out, and may not seem like a lot, but when they begin to grow large in number, they can become tangled and bulky and hard to handle. (Drop several on the floor to really get your point across.)

Ask the children: “What are some ways that you or people you know try to cover up or remove their sins?”

Ask children to come up one by one to select a way sins are covered up or removed. Have them read what the paper says, then slide it onto the clothes hanger. Hang the hangers on the bottom of a rolling chalkboard or lay them on the floor for all to see.

Some examples/ways sins are covered up:
(Print these out 2 to a sheet of paper. Cut in half and punch a hole in the top center of the sheet to place over the clothes hanger). Print a few extra blank sheets and ask the children to come up with their own ideas.

Example:
· Justify it by saying, “everyone else does it.”
· Come to church.
· Admit to the sin. Tell your family and own up to the punishment or loss of privileges.
· Do something good to make up for it.
· Lie about it.
· Pretend it never happened.
· Pray to Heavenly Father and ask Him to guide you.
· Choose the right.
· Blame it on someone else.
· Hide the evidence.
· Make up an excuse.
· Repent and try not to do it again.
· Have faith that Jesus can take away your sins if you are really sorry.
· Choose different friends if the choices they are making are not right.

At the end, pull out the red construction sheet and show the children what it says: “Jesus atoned for our sins”.
Explain that this is a special hanger. Why is it colored red? (For Jesus’s blood). Why would Jesus atone for our sins? (So we can return to live with him and Heavenly Father again.)

Lay this red hanger on top/center of all the other sins.

Explain that even though the coat hangers/sins are still there and you can still ‘see them’, they are gone. Jesus can take away/remove our sins.

Share the message below, taken from “Chapter 12: The Atonement,” Gospel Principles, (2009),59–66

The Atonement Is Necessary for Our Salvation
Jesus Christ “came into the world … to be crucified for the world, and to bear the sins of the world, and to sanctify the world, and to cleanse it from all unrighteousness; that through him all might be saved” (D&C 76:41–42). The great sacrifice He made to pay for our sins and overcome death is called the Atonement. It is the most important event that has ever occurred in the history of mankind: “For it is expedient that an atonement should be made; for according to the great plan of the Eternal God there must be an atonement made, or else all mankind must unavoidably perish; … yea, all are fallen and are lost, and must perish except it be through the atonement” (Alma 34:9).

The Fall of Adam brought two kinds of death into the world: physical death and spiritual death. Physical death is separation of the body and spirit. Spiritual death is separation from God. If these two kinds of death had not been overcome by Jesus Christ’s Atonement, two consequences would have resulted: our bodies and our spirits would have been separated forever, and we could not have lived again with our Heavenly Father (see 2 Nephi 9:7–9).
But our wise Heavenly Father prepared a wonderful, merciful plan to save us from physical and spiritual death. He planned for a Savior to come to earth to ransom (redeem) us from our sins and from death. Because of our sins and the weakness of our mortal bodies, we could not ransom ourselves (see Alma 34:10–12). The one who would be our Savior would need to be sinless and to have power over death.

Jesus Christ Was the Only One Who Could Atone for Our Sins
There are several reasons why Jesus Christ was the only person who could be our Savior. One reason is that Heavenly Father chose Him to be the Savior. He was the Only Begotten Son of God and thus had power over death. Jesus explained: “I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again” (John 10:17–18).

Jesus also qualified to be our Savior because He is the only person who has ever lived on the earth who did not sin. This made Him a worthy sacrifice to pay for the sins of others.

Christ thus overcame physical death. Because of His Atonement, everyone born on this earth will be resurrected (see 1 Corinthians 15:21–22). Just as Jesus was resurrected, our spirits will be reunited with our bodies, “that they can die no more … , never to be divided” (Alma 11:45). This condition is called immortality. All people who have ever lived will be resurrected, “both old and young, both bond and free, both male and female, both the wicked and the righteous” (Alma 11:44).

The Savior’s Atonement makes it possible for us to overcome spiritual death. Although all people will be resurrected, only those who accept the Atonement will be saved from spiritual death (see Articles of Faith 1:3).

We accept Christ’s Atonement by placing our faith in Him. Through this faith, we repent of our sins, are baptized, receive the Holy Ghost, and obey His commandments. We become faithful disciples of Jesus Christ. We are forgiven and cleansed from sin and prepared to return and live forever with our Heavenly Father.

The Savior tells us, “For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer … even as I” (D&C 19:16–17). Christ did His part to atone for our sins. To make His Atonement fully effective in our lives, we must strive to obey Him and repent of our sins.

Last, share this Parable… you can simplify it for your Junior Primary children:

President Boyd K. Packer of the Council of the Twelve gave the following illustration to show how Christ’s Atonement makes it possible to be saved from sin if we do our part.
“Let me tell you a story—a parable.
“There once was a man who wanted something very much. It seemed more important than anything else in his life. In order for him to have his desire, he incurred a great debt.
“He had been warned about going into that much debt, and particularly about his creditor. But it seemed so important for him to do what he wanted to do and to have what he wanted right now. He was sure he could pay for it later.
“So he signed a contract. He would pay it off some time along the way. He didn’t worry too much about it, for the due date seemed such a long time away. He had what he wanted now, and that was what seemed important.
“The creditor was always somewhere in the back of his mind, and he made token payments now and again, thinking somehow that the day of reckoning really would never come.
“But as it always does, the day came, and the contract fell due. The debt had not been fully paid. His creditor appeared and demanded payment in full.
“Only then did he realize that his creditor not only had the power to repossess all that he owned, but the power to cast him into prison as well.
“‘I cannot pay you, for I have not the power to do so,’ he confessed.
“‘Then,’ said the creditor, ‘we will exercise the contract, take your possessions, and you shall go to prison. You agreed to that. It was your choice. You signed the contract, and now it must be enforced.’
“‘Can you not extend the time or forgive the debt?’ the debtor begged. ‘Arrange some way for me to keep what I have and not go to prison. Surely you believe in mercy? Will you not show mercy?’
“The creditor replied, ‘Mercy is always so one-sided. It would serve only you. If I show mercy to you, it will leave me unpaid. It is justice I demand. Do you believe in justice?’
“‘I believed in justice when I signed the contract,’ the debtor said. ‘It was on my side then, for I thought it would protect me. I did not need mercy then, nor think I should need it ever. Justice, I thought, would serve both of us equally as well.’
“‘It is justice that demands that you pay the contract or suffer the penalty,’ the creditor replied. ‘That is the law. You have agreed to it and that is the way it must be. Mercy cannot rob justice.’
“There they were: One meting out justice, the other pleading for mercy. Neither could prevail except at the expense of the other.
“‘If you do not forgive the debt there will be no mercy,’ the debtor pleaded.
“‘If I do, there will be no justice,’ was the reply.
“Both laws, it seemed, could not be served. They are two eternal ideals that appear to contradict one another. Is there no way for justice to be fully served, and mercy also?
“There is a way! The law of justice can be fully satisfied and mercy can be fully extended—but it takes someone else. And so it happened this time.
“The debtor had a friend. He came to help. He knew the debtor well. He knew him to be shortsighted. He thought him foolish to have gotten himself into such a predicament. Nevertheless, he wanted to help because he loved him. He stepped between them, faced the creditor, and made this offer.
“‘I will pay the debt if you will free the debtor from his contract so that he may keep his possessions and not go to prison.’
“As the creditor was pondering the offer, the mediator added, ‘You demanded justice. Though he cannot pay you, I will do so. You will have been justly dealt with and can ask no more. It would not be just.’
“And so the creditor agreed.
“The mediator turned then to the debtor. ‘If I pay your debt, will you accept me as your creditor?’
“‘Oh yes, yes,’ cried the debtor. ‘You save me from prison and show mercy to me.’
“‘Then,’ said the benefactor, ‘you will pay the debt to me and I will set the terms. It will not be easy, but it will be possible. I will provide a way. You need not go to prison.’
“And so it was that the creditor was paid in full. He had been justly dealt with. No contract had been broken.
“The debtor, in turn, had been extended mercy. Both laws stood fulfilled. Because there was a mediator, justice had claimed its full share, and mercy was fully satisfied” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1977, 79–80; or Ensign, May 1977, 54–55).
Our sins are our spiritual debts. Without Jesus Christ, who is our Savior and Mediator, we would all pay for our sins by suffering spiritual death. But because of Him, if we will keep His terms, which are to repent and keep His commandments, we may return to live with our Heavenly Father.
It is wonderful that Christ has provided us a way to be healed from our sins. He said:
“Behold, I have come unto the world … to save the world from sin.
“Therefore, whoso repenteth and cometh unto me as a little child, him will I receive, for of such is the kingdom of God. Behold, for such I have laid down my life, and have taken it up again; therefore repent, and come unto me ye ends of the earth, and be saved” (3 Nephi 9:21–22).