March 2009 Sharing Time, Week 2
Week 2: Mothers nurture the family
References: Alma 56:47-48; 57:21; Proclamation, para 7; GP chapter 37
For this sharing time, the presidency member will need an apron with many pockets. The pockets can be taped or pinned on.
The music leader will need building blocks, or if not available, squares of paper made to look like blocks.
Singing Time: Review the song from the previous week.
Sharing Time: Make a flannel board set from the pictures found in “Stripling Warriors,” Friend, Jul 1992, 5. Use these to tell the story of the Stripling Warriors. Read, or invite children to read Alma 56: 47-48, asking the other children to listen to find out what their mothers taught them.
47 Now they never had fought, yet they did not fear death; and they did think more upon the liberty of their fathers than they did upon their lives; yea, they had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them.48 And they rehearsed unto me the words of their mothers, saying: We do not doubt our mothers knew it.
Ask the children what it means when it says, “They had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them.” What does it mean to say they didn’t doubt their mothers knew it? (It means their mothers had testimonies and shared their testimonies with their children. The children believed their mothers, probably because of the way the mothers lived.
Tell the children mothers teach their children all kinds of things. Choose children to come up and act out something their mother has taught them while the other children guess what it is.
Singing Time: Sing, We’ll Bring the World His Truth. Holding Hands Around the World (Janice Kapp Perry, “Holding Hands Around the World,” Friend, Jul 2002, 44–45)
Sharing Time: Choose a girl to wear the apron. Tell children that mothers often help children learn about the truth. If you have children whose mothers aren’t active in the church, include other kinds of truth as you talk about things mothers teach. Mix gospel truths with basic truths concerning kindness, obedience to laws, etc. Tell the children mothers first decide what they believe and then help their children learn to believe those things, too. Invite children to choose a pocket from the apron. Have the child wearing it pull from the apron a situation like the ones below:
April’s mother loves to grow a garden. Her garden is always full of good foods to eat. They grow more food than they can eat or store, so April and her mother take some of the food to people at church who don’t have much food and also take some to the food bank to feed people who aren’t members of the church. What truth is April’s mother teaching her?
Samuel’s mother has a very hard calling. She spends a lot of time working on it. Often, she invites Samuel to help her with her calling. Together, they make things or go to visit people. She never complains about her calling, but always talks about how happy it makes her. What truth is Samuel’s mother teaching him?
When Benjamin’s father lost his job, his mother told Benjamin they didn’t need to be afraid. They had plenty of food storage and money saved up. They also prayed for help and she told Benjamin Heavenly Father would help them. What truth is Benjamin’s mother teaching him?
Amy’s ward has a new bishop. Amy is sad because she loves her old bishop. Her mother suggests they make a card and some cookies to take to the new bishop. While they work, her mother tells her lots of nice things about the new bishop and afterwards, they pray for him. What truth is Amy’s mother teaching her?
When Travis and his mother went to the park for a picnic, they noticed lots of people had thrown their trash around on the ground. After they ate, his mother suggested they clean up some of the trash and make the park look nicer. She said it made her sad when people treated Heavenly Father’s world so badly. What truth did Travis’ mother teach him?
Mr. Winters lives next door to Madison. He is all alone and sometimes Madison’s mother sees him sitting on his porch looking lonely. She asks Madison to go with her to visit with him whenever that happens. What truth is Madison’s mother teaching her?
Kelly and Kyle are twins. One day they started arguing with each other over a toy they both wanted to play with. Their mother came into the room, and sat down with both of them. She asked them to think of a way to solve the problem that would be kind and loving. She asked them what they thought Jesus would have done when He was their age. They decided to play something else they could do together. What truth did their mother teach them?
One day Samantha noticed her mother singing church songs while she mopped the floors. She looked happy. Samantha said, “You must really love to mop.” Her mother said, “No, I don’t like to mop, but I do like to take care of my family. So I sing songs to keep me happy and I think about how happy it makes me to take care of you all. When I do that, I don’t mind the work at all.” What truth is Samantha’s mother teaching her?
Joshua was doing his homework. Math was really hard for him and he was upset because he couldn’t understand how to do the assignment. His mother suggested he stop and pray to Heavenly Father for help. What truth did Joshua’s mother teach him?
On Saturday, Eleanor wanted to go to the park for the day. Her mother said they couldn’t go until everything was ready for Sunday. She reminded Eleanor Sunday was Heavenly Father’s day and they couldn’t do any work then. They wanted their Sabbath to be peaceful, so they should do everything they could to have everything ready. They worked very hard until they were finished and then went to the park. What truth did Eleanor’s mother teach her?
Singing Time: Teach Me to Walk in the Light
Review of other songs.
Sharing Time: Help the children review the story of the Stripling Warriors. Remind them the mothers shared their testimonies with their children often. Give each of the children a piece of paper and an envelope. Have them write or draw their testimonies and place them in the envelope. Write on the envelope, “For my future children: My testimony when I was __ years old.” Tell them to put the envelope in a safe place until they grow up.
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Go to March 2009 Week 3 I will obey my parents.
