Book of Mormon (2): The Story of The Book of Mormon

I often used the lesson below to teach new investigators about the Book of Mormon on my mission. It's a simple explanation of the Book of Mormon through pictures. The pictures are found in the front of the blue, hard/soft cover Book of Mormon.


Prayer:

Song: "Book of Mormon Stories" from The Children's Songbook page 118.

Field Trip (Optional): I told my two year old we were going to buy a very special item for him - that would be his very own. We loaded in the car and drove to Deseret Book together as a family. We bought my two his very own blue, hardcover Book of Mormon. Even though he can't read it yet, he'll see it on his bookshelf every day as a reminder of Jesus and The Book of Mormon. If you're interested in more kid friendly options of The Book of Mormon, we enjoy Hidden Treasures of The Book of Mormon (short summaries and flaps - also great to put in a church bag), My First Book of Mormon Stories (short summaries) and Book of Mormon Stories (multiple pictures, we often summarize the story). We read from one of these books as a part of our nightly bedtime routine.

 Story of the Book of Mormon: We flipped through the eight pictures found in the front of my two year old's new blue, hardcover Book of Mormon. I summarized each picture as we looked through them. The pictures and summary are listed below. (Note: I skip the picture of Joseph Smith until the end).

Picture #1 (Jesus): The most important thing about the Book of Mormon is that it teaches us about Jesus. Jesus is our friend and the Book of Mormon teaches us how to be more like Him. I had my two fill in the sentence, "The Book of Mormon teaches us about..." He responded, "Jesus."



Picture #2 (Lehi Discovers the Liahona): The Book of Mormon is a story about a dad (point to Lehi), a mom (point to Sariah), and their family (point to the family). They lived a really long time ago in a city, named Jerusalem. Heavenly Father told them that they needed to leave Jerusalem. They listened to Heavenly Father and traveled in the wilderness for many years. The ball you see (point to the liahona) is like a compass - it showed them the way to go.


Picture #3 (Lehi and His People Arrive in the Promised Land): After traveling in the wilderness for a long time, they arrived in a beautiful land near the ocean. Heavenly Father instructed one of the sons (point to Nephi) to build a boat. After the boat was finished, the family sailed across to ocean to a "promised land".


Picture #4 (Alma Baptizes in the Waters of Mormon): The Book of Mormon teaches us about important things Heavenly Father wants us to do. One of these important things is being baptized. This is a picture of a group of people being baptized.


Picture #5 (Samuel the Lamanite Prophesies): This is a prophet (my two doesn't know what a prophet is yet, but I think it's good to still use the word to familiarize him) named Samuel. He climbed up this huge wall to tell the people about Jesus. He told them that Jesus would be born soon. Heavenly Father helped protect Samuel.


Picture #6 (Jesus Christ Visits the Americas): The most important event in the Book of Mormon is when Jesus visits the people. Jesus is very kind and loving. He teaches them about prayer, the sacrament and baptism (add any other principles your child already knows about). Jesus blessed all the children, because He loves them so much.


Picture #7 (Moroni Buries the Nephite Record): The story of the Book of Mormon was written on gold plates (point to the gold plates). After the story was finished, Moroni (point to Moroni) hid the gold plates in the ground to keep them safe.


Picture #8 (The Prophet Joseph Smith): This is a picture of Joseph Smith. Moroni (go back to the previous picture and point to Moroni) showed Joseph where to find the gold plates. Heavenly Father helped Joseph Smith translate the gold plates, so we can understand them.  Now, we have the Book of Mormon.


Testimony:


For other lesson ideas, please visit:

Family Home Evening Index
Book of Mormon (1): "The Book of Mormon Teaches me about Jesus"
Book of Mormon Heroes
Prayer (2): Prayer Train & Prayer Puppets

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