Welcome back, you guys.

Now that we've done the sparks and the questions, it's time to get into

my favorite part, the object lessons.

Cause I think it's great for you to love the scriptures and to see good things in

them, but it's even better if you can take some time to teach somebody else and help

them get those same fires ignited that we saw pass from Abinadi to Alma to all

All those people at the water support.

So this is a good week to put some of these verses to the test.

I've got three ideas to get you started.

These are just creative kickstarts.

Feel free to take them in whatever direction you want, but I'm hoping to

give you some ideas to get things humming.

So I'm gonna walk you through the supplies first, and then I'll take you

through each one individually so that you can figure out how you might adapt

them to your kids or your classes.

Hey, first off.

This one, we're going to talk about what it means to have our hearts knit.

And one of the simplest ways I've found to teach this is just to do a

kind of a teamwork unity challenge.

The easiest one that seems to work every time for me, regardless of

how many kids I'm teaching is this one called the circle sit challenge.

To pull it off, you just need rope.

Ideally, something that's not too scratchy so that your kids can handle

it and it doesn't bug their hands.

You also want something that's strong enough that if kids

pulled on it, it won't snap.

So, you don't want baker's twine.

You need legit rope.

Um, if you don't have this handy, you could also grab

something like a wide ribbon.

Something that won't break easily.

Um, and you need a few feet.

If you're doing it with a family of four or five, then you could maybe

use like four or five feet of rope.

If you're trying to do it with a whole seminary class or a big young

women's group, you might need more, but I'll walk you through how to

pull that off in just a second.

Okay, second one.

This is to talk about how the Lord tries and tests our patience and our faith.

I think one of the most compelling parts of this week's story is when

those who are trying to do right, those who've made covenants with God and are

keeping his commandments and are Doing things right are also tested and tried

and experienced bondage and adversity.

It's just relatable, right?

Every one of us can understand what that's like.

So I'm hoping to help our kids get that.

And the simplest way I found to teach why the Lord often allows adversity to happen,

especially to those who are doing good, is with a really some simple challenge.

I call it the chip clip challenge.

Because basically the only supply you need is a chip clip like this.

If you don't have these on hand, you also could use a clothespin.

It works really similarly.

And then you need a cord of some kind.

If you wanted to, you could make a few lengths of the same rope that

you used for the first, um, object lesson and grab a few lengths of that.

Either one.

You're just trying to get some kind of long, dangly, Weight that

you could use and I'll teach you how to put these together in just

a second Okay, third one and this is the most involved of all three.

It's something that I wanted to help my kids understand I really love how

the people in the waters of Mormon when they leave that place of solitude They

experience hostility from the Lamanites.

Remember they're in Lamanites attack and there's this epic moment where they

turn to Alma because they're afraid and he helps them remember their Redeemer.

And in that moment, they hush their own fears.

Remember that great talk from Elder Bednar?

We're going to get into all of that in just a second, but I wanted some way to

capture the idea of, how can I choose?

How much I fear.

How can I control my emotions in those moments when I am afraid?

Whether you have little kids or teenagers, they all experience these moments of panic

and fear, and we want them to figure out how they can turn in to conquer those.

And there's a really cool way to do it.

Kind of ridiculous, but Also really effective.

So, I call these fear hushers, you guys.

When my kids were little, I made them these very furry, almost like a journal,

books that they would keep under their pillow to conquer their fears.

I've made a miniature version for you so that if you have primary kids and a class,

you could make them and, They would, I'm telling you, they will never forget them.

They'll use them.

They're awesome.

If you don't have little kids to teach and you need something that's

more applicable to teenagers, I also created this version of a fear husher.

Looks like a little composition book and inside it has all kinds of guidance

for how to hush your own fears, but I'll walk you through all that in a second.

In just a second.

For this one, you just need the printable and a piece of copy paper or cardstock.

For this one, you need a mini composition book.

I bought mine at the dollar store, they came in a three pack.

But I give you some links in the notes to Amazon if that's easier for you.

You also want, obviously, some fur.

You can find it at any craft store.

Ideally, some eyes, I, I put one on the back as well, but you want

some of these cool like cat eyes.

If you can find them, if not googly eyes work great.

And then just some white craft foam so that you can create

the very sharp, scary teeth.

And then of course the printable that's on the inside.

So if you get those supplies on hand, you'll be all set to get into the details.

So let's go there next.

One of my favorite parts of this week's study was reading

about how hearts become knit.

I just think the same guidance that Alma gave the people at the Waters of

Mormon, we here at Conference and in our Sunday school lessons and in our

Young Men's lessons, I think those same messages are offered to us because

we are making the same covenants, especially at baptism where we Promise

that we will take his name upon us, which means we're going to ease each

other's burdens and lift where we can.

This object lesson will help your kids see how working together allows you to

do things you couldn't do on your own.

It's one of the incredible blessings of being a part of his covenant,

that you are Sharing the load and that others share your burdens so

that everybody can ascend together.

So to pull this off, you just need to make a loop of rope, like we talked

about, maybe four or five feet of rope, and tie a really strong knot,

because it's going to get a lot of pressure pulling on those two ends.

So make your rope first.

If you've got a big class, you might want to make a bigger rope,

or divide them into two groups and let them do this simultaneously.

But essentially, you're going to have all your people sit down on the ground,

and have their legs straight out in front of them with their feet touching.

They're going to all be facing each other in the circle.

They can kind of creep their knees up a little bit, but they have to

keep their feet touching together.

And then the challenge is simply that they need to stand up, but they

can't use their hands on the ground and they can't separate their feet.

Those are the two rules.

And if you put your kids to the test and give them this challenge,

I promise you, they will struggle.

They might flip over on their stomach.

They'll do all kinds of crazy things, but they will not be able to stand upright

without either separating their feet or using their hands to support them.

Then you want to show them another way that they can pull this off.

If they work together, that's when you take that looped rope and you

put it right next to their feet.

So ideally you have your group close enough that however big your loop of

rope is that all their feet can kind of come up against it and then you

want each person to grab that rope with two hands that's in front of them and

everybody pulls back at the same time.

As they pull back it creates tension on the rope and then everybody can Stan.

Sometimes it doesn't work on the first time or the second time.

They need some practice.

I think the same way that Alma's people probably needed practice too.

Remember all of them are converts.

They're all coming from a much different life back in Noah's city.

And so I'm sure they made some mistakes along the way and they

didn't do things perfectly, but they they came with good hearts.

Hoping to do their best, and that's what your kids are

going to demonstrate as well.

As they practice, and they create that perfect amount of tension, and they help

each other, they'll find that if they all pull back at the same time, they can

actually stand up and Arise all together.

You can even do it backwards.

You can all sit down again and then stand back up again.

And you can talk about the blessings of this kind of unity.

That when our Father in Heaven asks us to be covenant children, where we make these

covenants and we keep them, it's because he wants everyone's loads to be lighter.

It's a way that all of our burdens can be lifted simultaneously

when we do what he's asked.

We show up for our callings, we do our ministering, we become stronger

disciples so we can testify to each other.

All those things help lift the burdens of the people around

us and help all of us ascend.

One of the things that's cool about this week's study is you see that

doing things well, choosing the right, keeping the commandments, all

those things, they don't give you immunity from hard things happening.

Both the people of Limhi who were struggling for a season and the people

of Alma who made covenants with God and were keeping them, both of them

experienced bondage and adversity and both of them need the help

of the Savior to get deliverance.

And I think there's power in that.

We all need the Savior and it's actually what helps our hearts

become knit because we're all beggars in this and we need each other.

But I'm hoping to help my kids understand.

Some of the reasons why the Lord allows hard things to happen, especially

when we're on the right track.

And I think there's a lot of good ones.

I lay out a bunch of them in the notes.

Like, He sometimes wants us to be strengthened.

He wants us to grow and stretch ourselves.

Sometimes I think it's a refining process.

He's trying to you know, purge out some of the impurities in our character or in our,

uh, habits and refinement needs to happen.

Sometimes I think it's a test of faith.

I think we see that a little bit with the children that are Alma's people.

They, there is a test of their faith.

They've learned in the waters of Mormon in this insulated environment, and

now they have to put it to the test when there's taskmasters and bondage.

And do they really believe there's a test of faith there?

I also think sometimes he allows adversities to come because it's an

opportunity for miracles to happen.

He wanted these people to understand that he is the source of deliverance so

that they would trust him for greater deliverance from their sin and from death.

Like, if they can get this understanding, then it can apply in much bigger ways.

I think that's one of the reasons adversities tend to hit us even

when we're doing a good job.

I also think it's simply to fulfill his purposes.

He can see and understand things that I can't, and so oftentimes I think these

stumbling blocks come in my way in order to get me to turn or to slow down or to

do something differently, almost like those rumble strips on the freeway.

I think that's his intent.

So you can go through all those as you go to teach your lesson and then

demonstrate it in a really simple way.

You're just going to give your kids a challenge, and that is that they can

take a clothespin or a chip clip like this and try to balance it on one finger.

So we usually used our middle finger because it was one that

you could kind of balance.

You can see right now I can kind of balance this chip clip without too

much trouble, but it's a little wobbly.

And then you're going to give them an obstacle course of some kind.

So if you're in your house, you might have them rotate around the

table and go up and down the stairs.

If you're in a classroom at church, you might have them step over a chair and then

go out of the hallway and come back in.

Something that makes it hard for them to keep their balance of this chip clip.

And inevitably.

The chip clip will fall because it's lightweight.

They don't have anything to grip it with.

They can't use their other fingers or their other hand.

They really can't use anything other than that one finger that it's resting on.

And then you take a second to talk about how hard it is to accomplish this task.

And then you're going to give them the tools to accomplish it.

And that means adding weight to their load.

So this is when you take.

Like for me, I have this HDMI cord and you clip it into the chip clip.

So have it go the long way across the chip clip.

So the two ends dangle down below it.

Again, you could use a rope or a couple lengths of ribbon.

Anything that adds a little bit of weight to this chip clip and dangles down and

then give them the very same challenge.

Ask them to balance it on their finger and walk around that same obstacle

course and notice the difference.

Because there is weight on this chip clip, it is so much easier to balance.

I can even, like, toss it in the air and catch it again, and I

could handle keeping the balance.

Like, that weight is what provides stability.

And I think you see that oftentimes when it comes to dealing with adversity.

Even when you're making good choices, what he wants to do is

give you stability and grounding.

A lot of this object lesson was inspired by that incredible

video from Elder Bednar.

I've linked to it in the notes.

It's that one that talks about the truck and how it can't get out of

the snow, and then when he finally puts weight in the truck, all those

logs in the back, he has the traction he needs get out of the snow pile.

That's kind of the same idea here is that your kids can understand

how this might apply to them.

They can think about the adversities in their life or maybe their physical

disabilities or their mental struggles or whatever it is that they're wrestling

with and see how that's something that actually gives them weight.

Yes, it's hard, and it seems like it will, uh, burdened them to some degree,

but it also gives them stability and tethers them to God in a way that is

powerful and that He wants for them.

So hopefully this object lesson helps you teach it.

I love scripture stories that empower my kids to do more on their own.

And this one about people hushing their own fears is awesome to me.

Because this is Alma's invitation where they have these Lamanites attacking

and they're afraid in the moment.

And he reminds them like, no, you have a connection to the Savior.

Remember your Redeemer.

And in the moment, it's not that Alma hushed their fears, it's

they hushed their own fears.

their remembrance of the promises of the Savior.

calmed their hearts and gave them the courage to move forward.

And I think that's why we want our kids to have a connection to the Savior as well.

So that in these moments of fear and struggle, They can feel peace.

And this ridiculous object lesson is designed to help them do just that.

So, like I mentioned with my older three, we made these journals that they

would keep under their pillows at night.

The idea being that if they had ways to calm their own fears in

the night, when they woke up with a nightmare or something, they

could turn to the book first.

And then if that didn't work, they could come and track me down.

But I had lots of kids you guys, and lots of nightmares to wrestle with.

So this was one of my strategies to try and hack my way through

this and let them feel peace.

Hush their own fears so inside their little monster snatchers is what we

called them at the time But inside your fear hushers, you're gonna have things

that they would put inside are like things that would calm them in the night

So when I talk to Violet about this, I'm like, what would you put in here?

That would help calm your fears if you woke up in the night afraid and

you couldn't get to me or you needed a second to try and handle things

yourself, what would you put inside?

So she has things like primary song lyrics on one page.

We also talked about some scripture stories that might help her.

So you can flip through the book and see that she has like the parting of the red

sea that helps her remember that Jesus does save from even scary situations

and that all these little miracle stories that she's added to her book.

Even scriptures that she loves or just really cute little characters

like this adorable pig that she drew.

The idea being that if she's afraid in the night, she can

learn to hush her own fears.

In fact, on the printable in this one, I give you some tips from Elder Rednar

about how to hush your own fears.

Those are on the front side.

On the back cover, the printable has all these verses that I

love about conquering fear.

Some are specifically about fear.

Some are scripture stories about conquering fear, like David and Goliath

and others that you'll find in there.

But hopefully between the two and what they choose to put inside,

they can learn that this is something they have within them.

They don't need an outside person to calm them.

They can actually hush their own fears, especially if they rely on

something as strong and solid as their connection to their Savior.

The same Savior who helped Moses in that moment with the Red Sea.

The same Savior who helped Esther in that frightening moment when

she had to stand before the king.

That same savior and promises to help us in our moments of fear too.

So I would take some time if you have little kids to talk through their common

fears and help them fill out their books.

Maybe they'll add to them over the course of time, but the printable or

the creation of it is pretty simple.

I walk you through it in the book.

videos in the printable.

I'll give you a play by play on the printable itself for how to make it.

It's actually really easy, comes together in like 10 minutes

or so, but totally worth it.

If you have older kids and the, you know, teeth ridden little furry

journal is not for them, then you want to use the other printable.

This is the cute little composition book.

I created this so that those who are a little older have

some tools at their disposal.

The fears of teenagers are, I think, a lot scarier.

You know, fear of being left out, fear of being rejected, fear of being ridiculed,

fear of your beliefs not being true.

Like those are legitimate fears that are scary and hard to deal with.

So I filled this little book with things I thought might help a teenager.

So there's two versions.

There's a version that they can fill out themselves and there's a

version that's kind of pre populated.

So with scriptures that they can read, the second page inside says

songs that they can listen to, hymns.

Church songs that they can listen to.

There's always spaces at the bottom so that they could add some of

their favorites if they wanted.

I also have great talks on fear that they could listen to.

So if they're in a moment of panic or they're in their car and they're

struggling to get up the courage to do what they know they need to do, they

can flip to this book and say, okay, I'm just going to listen to Elder Rednar

for a second and see if that helps, or I'm going to turn to the scripture.

and see what the spirit teaches me.

I also have some tips on things you can remember, and then the very

last one is things I can control and things I cannot control.

Because sometimes fears are based around things you simply can't control,

and even being able to understand that makes a huge difference.

So like I mentioned, there's this one.

It actually prints on one piece of paper with a really cool folding

technique, so that you can fold it.

Simplify this down.

If you needed to print it for a whole seminary class or a young

women's group, you could make them for your youth activity and then

talk through Conquering Fears.

Talk through Elder Bednar's guidance on how to hush your own fears and

then use the prompts in this little book to help your kids accomplish it.

I hope it makes a difference.

This is a hard world to be a part of, but if you know how to hush your

own fears, I think we can make it.

I think we can empower our kids to accomplish so much more if they

know how to do this on their own.

Okay, you guys.

Hopefully you feel very equipped, right?

We got one gone through the insights.

There's sparks to consider, questions to talk over, and hopefully some

object lessons to help you find ways to teach these cool principles to your

kids and to your classes and have a really, really good week of study.

Remember, if you're interested in accessing the notes and the printables for

the course, then you want to go to gather.

macmom.

com and subscribe.

There's a monthly option or an annual option.

Either of those can work.

If a subscription isn't for you and you still need access to the printables.

You can also sign up as a free member on the course and then find

the printables over in my Etsy shop.

So if you just go down below this video on YouTube, you can access those printables

and purchase whatever you might need.

Okay.

I think that's it for this week.

You guys, if you want more help or more insights on these chapters,

or you're interested in more chapter by chapter approach, you

should come join me on the live.

So I do one of those every Monday morning at 10 a.

m.

Usually it lasts an hour and I kind of walk through chapter by chapter and then

take you through the object lessons.

It's a little bit more interactive.

It's, you know, I see your face and you see mine.

It's a way for us to kind of chat and get to know each other and hopefully answer

any questions you might have about this week's study or frankly any week's study.

So if you're interested, join over at gather.

mecmom.

com and then RSVP for the live that's coming up on Monday.

Otherwise, I think you'll have everything you need.

Okay, enjoy this week of study, you guys, and I'll see you on Monday.