Purpose: to celebrate ancestors and those who paved a way for a better future.
Possible scriptures: Abraham 2:10-11; Genesis 17:7-8; Deuteronomy 30:1-5; Isaiah 11:12; Isaiah 29:14; Jeremiah 16:14-15; Jeremiah 23:3; Ezekiel 20:34; Malachi 4:5-6 (3 Nephi 25:5-6, Doctrine and Covenants 128:17-18); Matthew 24:14; Galatians 3:26-29; Hebrews 11:40; 2 Nephi 9:2; 2 Nephi 30:2; 3 Nephi 20:13; Doctrine and Covenants 1:30; Doctrine and Covenants 38:33; Doctrine and Covenants 97:21; Doctrine and covenants 128:15;
Possible Songs: Come, Come Ye Saints, Hymn 30; For the Strength of the Hills, Hymn 35; They, the Builders of the Nation, Hymn 36; Carry On, Hymn 255; Pioneer Children Sang As They Walked, Children’s Songbook page 214; Pioneer Children were Quick to Obey, Children’s Songbook page 215; Little Pioneer Children, Children’s Songbook page 216; Westward Ho!, Children’s Songbook page 217; To Be a Pioneer, Children’s Songbook page 218; The Oxcart, Children’s Songbook page 219; The Handcart song, Children’s Songbook page 220; Covered Wagons, Children’s Songbook page 221; Whenever I Think about Pioneers, Children’s Songbook page 222;
Possible Materials: any picture you have of an ancestor, preferably one that was a pioneer. If you need pictures, the history section of the church website has a category for pioneers, including photos of historical sites and artifacts. You may also wish to use these scripture figures of pioneers. This game board (if you can’t print it for any reason, make a simple gameboard and make a puzzle of a picture with pioneers. Then on every third square, write a fact about the pioneers followed by a question about how we can be like our ancestors), and a game die to go with it, as well as a bean or token for each member of the family. The scripture figures of Lehi’s family.
Preparation: Begin with prayer. Read the suggested scriptures, including 1 Nephi 2; 16; and 17 as well as Doctrine and Covenants 136. Then follow this link (if you have a Family Search account, log in) to quickly look up if you had any ancestors that came to Utah as a pioneer. If not, it will take more digging, but look up which ancestors were the first to join the church. Read any stories associated with them. What is a pioneer, to you? For the sake of this lesson, I choose to define a pioneer as someone who does something hard because he knows it is right. Is that how you you would define a pioneer? Read the article and watch the video on Church History Topics: Pioneer Trek. Was there anything new that you learned? Read through the lesson, including any links, and carefully select the most relevant material for your family. print the gameboard and cut out the puzzle. Collect a game die and a token for each member of the family, Children: watch the videos about the saints leaving Nauvoo and Pioneers going to the Salt Lake Valley (you can watch the videos in between and the video following, as well). Then watch this video about Lehi and Nephi and the promised land (if they need more context, start here and follow the chapters). Ask a grownup to help you print and cut the game, and to find the other game pieces you’ll need.
Lesson:
Discuss how last week’s challenge went.
Introduction: Ask your family what is so important about July 24th. It’s not a holiday that is celebrated at many schools or at work, but it is important to us. It is a chance for us to celebrate our ancestors that joined the church or did hard things because they believed it was right. Ask your family if they know what “ancestors,” means. It means a member of our family who was in our past. Someone older than our grandparents that lived their life so that we could be born. Set out the gameboard and it’s corresponding puzzle pieces. Tell the family we will be playing a game and learning about pioneers. Pioneers are a special kind of ancestors. They did something hard or new because they knew it was right. Some pioneers came across the plains in wagons so that they could be safe from people that did not like that they were trying to be good people. Some brought wagons and some brought little carts that they had to pull along. Tell your family we are going to build the little puzzle wagon and fill it with things that pioneers might have needed to walk so far. Then explain the rules of the game (“Take turns rolling the die to move forward from the square marked ‘start.’ When you land on a square with words, follow the instructions or answer the question written on the square. If you can follow the instructions or answer the question, put a puzzle piece in place. If not, it’s the next player’s turn. If a player lands on the same square more than once, he or she can choose another player to follow the instructions on the square. Continue moving around the circle until the puzzle is completed.” copied from the game)
From Church or World History: Share some stories from your own ancestors. Show any pictures you may have, and talk about any family resemblances or how their clothes or hair are different styles. If you don’t have any stories to share, here are some shared in various church articles: Albert Dickson (July 1995 Friend), Anna Anderson (July 2015 and August 2015 Friend), Thomas Giles (August 2006 Friend), Agnes Caldwell (October 1997 Friend), Peter McBride (November 2006 Friend), Mary Wanlass (July 2017 Liahona), Margaret McNeil (August 2007 Friend), Heinrich Eyering (July 2016 Friend), Arthur Parker (May 2004 Friend), Priscilla Mitchell (February 2005 Friend), and Jane Manning (September and October 2017 Friend). If your family doesn’t have many “Utah Pioneers,” the story about Gaby’s Different Kind of Pioneer would be helpful a well. Tell your family that the pioneers in the stories did hard things and they were blessed for making good choices. Ask if there is something we can do that will improve our future or make the world a better place.
From the Scriptures: Hold up the figures of Lehi and Nephi and their family. Ask your family if they remember who the people are. Tell your family that Heavenly Father told Lehi to go to a promised land, too! Lehi and his family were obedient and listened. That made them pioneers, too! Read 1 Nephi 2:2-4 and 17:1-3. How did Heavenly Father bless Lehi and his family? How will we be blessed when we do what Heavenly Father asks of us.
Further Discussion:
Watch what Dallin H Oaks and L. Tom Perry had to say about being like the pioneers. What stood out in the videos? What can we learn from the pioneers? How are we being pioneers ourselves?
Recent Conference talks to consider in your discussion: Let Doing Good Be Our Normal, by Rafael E. Pino; Follow Jesus Christ with Footsteps of Faith, By M. Russell Ballard; We Each Have a Story, by Garrit W Gong
Challenge:
Find something about your ancestors that intrigues you. Study more about them and their lives this week. Think about what their life was like. Get to know them a little closer. At the end of the week, be prepared to share what you learned or how you grew closer to your ancestors and how it impacted your week.
Giving due credit: as usual, I read and learned from Gospel Principles Chapters 17 and 42, and the Family Home Evening Resource Manual on Cultural Heritage and Family History and Gospel Topics from Gospel Library on Pioneer Trek.
