“Lesson 14: Alma the Younger and the Sons of Mosiah Repent,” Primary 4: Book of Mormon (1997), 47–49
Purpose
To teach the children that repentance is necessary for earthly happiness and eternal life.
Preparation
Prayerfully study Mosiah 27, 28:1–9 and Alma 36:11–24. Then study the lesson and decide how you want to teach the children the scripture account. (See “Preparing Your Lessons,” p. vi, and “Teaching from the Scriptures,” p. vii.)
Select the discussion questions and enrichment activities that will involve the children and best help them achieve the purpose of the lesson.
A backpack or bag and four or five heavy objects such as books, rocks, or bricks. Label each object with a sin such as lying, making fun of others, smoking, and so on.
Picture 4-26, An Angel Appears to Alma and the Sons of Mosiah.
Suggested Lesson Development
Invite a child to say the opening prayer.
Enrichment Activities
You may use one or more of the following activities any time during the lesson or as a review, summary, or challenge.
Use a picture of a baby, or invite someone with an infant to bring their baby to class. Compare the purity of a baby with the purity of a person who has repented.
Invite a recent convert to share some of the ways repentance and baptism have affected his or her life and happiness.
Use a bottle of clear water as a representation of a person free from sin. Drop a small amount of food coloring into the water, and point out how the color spreads throughout the water. Compare this to sin. Then add a few drops of liquid bleach to clear up the color, and compare this to how repentance cleanses us from sin. (You might want to try this experiment in advance to know how much food coloring and bleach to use.)
Sing or read the words to “Help Me, Dear Father” (Children’s Songbook, p. 99).