Apostasy and Restoration

Apostasy and Restoration

Suggestions for Songs
He Sent His Son
I'm Trying to be Like Jesus

The Priesthood is Restored


Suggestions for videos:

Related Scriptures

• • D&C 136:36–38, Moses 5:4–12, 55–59, Moses 8:19–30, Article of Faith 4

Preparation:

Gather at least fifteen plastic or Styrofoam cups. Write the following words on the cups:  Heavenly Father (God), Jesus Christ (Jesus), Holy Ghost, priesthood, prophets, faith, repentance, baptism, confirmation (gift of Holy Ghost), prayer, scripture, Sacrament, temple, endure to the end, and the name of your child. The words in parenthesis are if you want to make the words more simple for your child. Since they can't read anyway, you are also welcome to substitute pictures on each cup. If you're using regular cups and not disposable ones, put masking tape on the side and write the words on the tape.   

Activity and Lesson:

(This lesson is a pretty common visual aid for missionaries. For older kids, there is a different version here and here that you can check out. This lesson has fewer cups because toddlers have shorter attention spans.)

Remind your child about prophets and how God calls prophets to lead and guide his church and to teach everyone about Christ and the ordinances that help us return to our Heavenly Father. 

Bring out your cups. Place the first cup that says, "Heavenly Father," upside down on the table or ground in front of your child. Make sure you place it on a stable surface. You're going to be stacking the cups. Then place "Jesus" and "Holy Ghost" next to it in a line. Explain that the Godhead is made up of Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost. They want us to return to heaven to be with them again. So, they give the "priesthood" (place the appropriate cup), God's power on earth to their "prophet" (place the fifth cup. This completes your bottom row. (For better participation, you can have your child help you stack the cups, though there is the danger that the cups will fall prematurely.)

Explain how when prophets are called, they teach similar things every time. When a prophet speaks, he does so with the authority of Heavenly Father. D&C 1:38 says: 

"whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same."

Then explain that they teach us the principles and ordinances that make it possible for us to return to heaven. You can define ordinance as "a sacred, formal act performed by the authority of the priesthood. Some ordinances are essential to our exaltation." Link

Place faith, repentance, baptism, and gift of the Holy Ghost on top of your bottom row. You can recite the fourth Article of Faith while you do so. 

We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Then, add your next row of cups. As you add, explain that once we have the first principles and ordinances of the gospel, we are asked to continue praying, reading our scriptures (or words of past prophets), and taking the Sacrament.

Finally, explain that as your child gets older, they will be allowed to enter God's house and make more sacred covenants at the temple. Then, they are asked to endure to the end, which means keep doing all the things that the prophet tells you until you return to Heaven.

 Finally, place the cup with your child's name or picture on top and ask your child what the cups look like. Hopefully they say something like, "Church or temple." If not, help them see the resemblance. Then say something like, "If you do all these things, you will return to live with your Father in Heaven again. That is the purpose of the church."

Then explain that when people decide not to obey the commandments or listen to the prophet, they become cut off from their Heavenly Father. Tell your child how sometimes people became so bad that they even killed the prophet.

Have your child pull out the cup that says or shows prophet. Most of your "church" should collapse.

Depending on which cups are left standing, you can explain that many church know about Heavenly Father, Jesus, and the Holy Ghost and some of the principles, but without prophets and priesthood, we don't have the complete church or gospel and we personally can't return to heaven.

You can have them help you put the "church" back together and explain that when a restoration happens, the Lord calls a new prophet and they bring the church back in the way that God's wants it, complete with all of the principles and ordinances.

If you want, at this point you can add part of the video.

Conclusion:

Bear your testimony that without prophets we cannot have the fullness of God's teachings and we won't be able to return to heaven. Bear testimony that the church has been restored today, and that if we listen to the prophet we will be guided to return to our Heavenly Father. 

Other Resources:
Nursery Manual: Lesson 28
Preach My Gospel