"Fortunately" We Have Forgiveness

For our recent lesson on forgiveness in Young Women I made this quick little handout to give to the girls.

The handout said:

We all make mistakes, but "Fortunately" we have forgiveness!

Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

- Isaiah 1:18

I gave each girl a fortune cookie and inside some of them were scriptures and quotes from talks on forgiveness that we used to learn more about the topic.

I thought it was a fun way to introduce the topic and it helped the girls be a little more engaged.

March is almost over! Have you taught about forgiveness this month?

Object Lesson: A Change of Heart

I can't take credit for this really great object lesson idea. I saw the idea here, but I had to share because it goes so well with March's theme of the Atonement.

I froze some small hearts inside ice cubes then sealed the ice cubes inside plastic bags to prevent water from getting everywhere. I gave each girl an ice cube and I told them to use their hands to melt it until they got to what was inside. After some time, the cold of the ice started to cause some pain, but the girls continued on until they found the heart inside.

Once all the girls had melted the ice cube we talked about how repentance requires us to have a change of heart. We need to have a change of heart so that we no longer have the desire to continue to sin. We must align our will with our Heavenly Father's. Like trying to melt the ice cube, this can sometimes be a long and painful process, but the Lord will help us through it and in the end we will have joy because we are doing what our Heavenly Father wants us to do. 

I then shared this scripture with the girls:

And it came to pass that when Ammon arose he also administered unto them, and also did all the servants of Lamoni; and they did all declare unto the people the selfsame thing—that their hearts had been changed; that they had no more desire to do evil. 

-Alma 19:33

I think this was such a great object lesson to teach the girls the process and importance of having a change of heart when we repent.

When we had our lesson on forgiveness, the subject of having a change of heart came up again. This great quote from President Uchtdorf shows how we must have a change of heart when we forgive others:

Forgiving ourselves and others is not easy. In fact, for most of us it requires a major change in our attitude and way of thinking—even a change of heart. But there is good news. This “mighty change” of heart is exactly what the gospel of Jesus Christ is designed to bring into our lives.

How is it done? Through the love of God.

Lay your burden at the Savior’s feet. Let go of judgment. Allow Christ’s Atonement to change and heal your heart. Love one another. Forgive one another.

- Dieter F. Uchtdorf

(source)

You could definitely use this object lesson when you teach about repentance OR forgiveness!

Do you use object lessons when you teach? What has been a really good object lesson you have used recently?

Repentance Is Like Soap

Here is a quick handout I made for our Young Women lesson on repentance last year.

 I used the following quote that I found on Sugardoodle here.

Soap is a practical household necessity.

Soap is cleansing.

For physical cleanliness, soap must be applied frequently.

Repentance is a practical principle of the gospel.

Repentance is cleansing.

Spiritual cleanliness requires constant repentance.

 I gave the girls the handouts with cute little rose-shaped soap petals I found at Dollar Tree. Quick, easy, and cute!

Do you teach the Youth this month? How will you teach about repentance?

Repentance Road Map

UPDATE (3/5/2017)

You can now view and download the file for the Repentance Road Map. Scroll to the bottom of the post for the link!

When I was preparing to teach the Young Women about repentance, I read this quote from Elder Neil L. Andersen that gave me a great idea for an activity:

For most, repentance is more a journey than a one-time event. It is not easy. To change is difficult. It requires running into the wind, swimming upstream. Jesus said, "if any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me." Repentance is turning away from some things, such as dishonesty, pride, anger, and impure thoughts, and turning toward other things, such as kindness, unselfishness, patience, and spirituality. It is "re-turning" toward God.

- Neil L. Andersen

(source)

I used this idea of "re-turning" toward God to create a "Repentance Road Map". I used True to the Faith (found here) as a reference for the steps of repentance and a little creativity to relate each step to a road sign on our map.

At the top of the map I wrote the following, represented by a "Wrong Way" sign:

On the highway of life we occasionally sin and go off course, but with repentance, we can find our way back.

Next, I put a quote from Elder Andersen with a "U-turn" sign:

"When we sin, we turn away from God. When we repent, we turn back toward God."

 Under the heading, "Directions Back to the Straight and Narrow Path", I listed the steps of repentance and explained to the girls a little about how they related to each road sign.

1. "Stop" sign- Faith in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Before you start on your road to repentance, you must first stop and confirm your testimony of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. It is through them that repentance is possible.

2. "Rough Road" sign- Sorrow for Sin. Feeling bad about what you have done is not easy.

3. "Merge Right" sign- Confession. To start on the "right" path you need to begin by admitting the wrong you have done.

4. "No U-Turn" sign- Abandonment of Sin. It is important that you continue moving forward on your road to repentance and not "u-turn" back to old sins.

5. "Construction Ahead" sign- Restitution. It takes some work to make things right again.

6. "Merge" sign- Righteous Living. Once you have "re-turned" toward God, you can "merge" back to the straight and narrow path.

I put large road signs on the board during the lesson and the girls followed along on their own maps.

I think the girls enjoyed my approach to this lesson and I think it helped to keep them interested and focused.

Have you taught about the steps of repentance before? How did you approach the subject?

UPDATE (3/5/2017)
You can now view and download the file for the Repentance Road Map here. Enjoy!

How Repentance Heals Us

UPDATE (3/5/2017) You can now view and download the file for the Healing Hearts. Scroll to the bottom of the post for the link!

Last March I taught the Young Women a lesson on repentance. Many times when we hear the word "repentance" we get uncomfortable thinking that it is a bad thing or a thing that only bad people need. This is not true. We all need repentance and it is a great gift provided by our Heavenly Father and Jesus because they want to help us and heal us. As we read Elder Andersen's talk entitled, "Repent . . . That I May Heal You" (found here), we discussed several "band aids" or qualities of repentance that show that repentance is a wonderful thing all about love and healing.

I put a sad and hurt girl on the board. Each Young Woman read a quote from Elder Andersen's talk then came up to the board and put a band aid on the girl to "heal" her. Each band aid was labeled with a healing/comforting quality of repentance or its process. I tried to pick out things that would calm the girls' fears about repentance or that would help them better understand the repentance process.

Following is what I wrote on each heart, I put in bold the parts that I wanted the girls to pay special attention to:

In this life, it is never too late to repent.

Don't be discouraged. If you are striving and working to repent, you are in the process of repenting.

If you are concerned, counsel with your bishop. He will help you.

Repentance removes pain and guilt from our hearts and replaces them with joy and peace of conscience.

The Savior is there, reaching out to each of us, bidding us: "Come unto me" We can repent. We can!

The invitation to repent is rarely a voice of chastisement but rather a loving appeal to turn around and to "re-turn" toward God.

For most, repenting is quiet and quite private, daily seeking the Lord's help to make needed changes.

The Lord will forget our sins, but to help us the Lord at times allows the residue of our mistakes to rest in our memory.

I hope that through Elder Andersen's talk and our lesson the girls learned that repentance is a wonderful thing! I also hope that I was able to clear up any confusion about it.

Do you find that the Youth often feel like repentance is a bad thing? How have you tried to clear up this misconception?

UPDATE (3/5/2017) You can now view and download the file for the Healing Hearts here! Enjoy!