Heavens Best

"God Saved The Best For Last"

This lesson was designed to promote the self value of each of the kids and to help them understand that they are a very important part of God's plan.  I started off by giving each person a piece of the puzzle which they were instructed to leave on their chair.  Then as a group the puzzle was assembled as far as it could be without the missing pieces.  I pointed out how the puzzle was incomplete without their pieces, then had them place each one into its proper place.  The object was to instill how important each person is to Heavenly father's plan and how they would be missed just as the missing piece was crucial to the puzzle.  As you will note the puzzle is of the plan of salvation.  In my lesson I explained how we were given free agency to choose our own paths.  Just as Joseph Smith as a young child didn't know he would be so instrumental in the restoration, neither do we know what God has in mind for us. The prophets have counseled us that these are the last days before the coming of Christ. One particular quote I shared with the class was from Ezra Taft Benson taken from his talk "In His Steps"  which expresses how Heavenly Father has held in reserve His choicest spirits for the last days.

In His Steps

"For nearly six thousand years, God has held you in reserve to make your appearance in the final days before the Second Coming of the Lord. God has saved for the final inning some of his strongest children, who will help bear off the Kingdom triumphantly. And that is where you come in, for you are the generation that must be prepared to meet your God."

To go along with the lesson and help the kids remember their divine nature, I made a sign to hang on our class room door each Sunday that reads:

 Valiant 10 

The class for Heaven's Best

God saved the best for last!

I ended the lesson with a quote from Pres Gordon B. Hinckley:

"You’re not just here by chance. You are here under the design of God."

          (Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley[1997], 720)

As a simple take home I prepared a puzzle made from a Mormonad which I had printed at the local photo shop.  I glued the 4" X  6" prints to pieces of hard board and cut them into eight pieces.  A copy of Pres Benson's quote was attached to each bag of puzzle pieces. As a family activity I suggested they read the quote to their family and have them help assemble the puzzle.

How to's:

The large puzzle was made from a picture that I downloaded from the internet. I had printed on a poster board and laminated at the local print shop.  It was then glued to a piece of hard board using spray on adhesive applied to both the poster and the hardboard. I used a band saw  to cut it into many, many creative shapes i.e. hand print, circle, flower, house etc.  After four years and several lessons there has been no significant delamination from the hard board.

The door sign was made using a simple certificate template found on MS Word.  The "certificate" was then glued (same method as above) to a piece of scrap sheet metal and laminated using some shelf liner purchased from the local WalMart.  I used sheet metal to give it an air of substance and hopefully instilling in the class a sense of permanence.