Come, Follow Me Daily Study Guide for the week of June 1-7, 2020 covering Alma 5-7. For personal and/or family study of the scriptures, geared towards families with teenagers, single adults, and empty nesters.
*This is a suggested outline that coincides with the Come, Follow Me manual. There is not just one right way when it comes to studying the scriptures. Everyone should study in a way that is best for them, but I do hope that you find these outlines helpful.
**I highly suggest getting a scripture journal. Throughout the year there will be several times that I will suggest jotting something down in your scripture journal. These are also great for writing down any impressions or “Aha” moments that you might have as you study the scriptures.
***A free PDF DOWNLOAD of the Study Guide is available at the bottom of this post, making it easy for those who’d like to print out a copy. OR you can add Melanie’s Library to your mobile device home screen by following these instructions, click HERE
****SONGS – For a list of suggested songs for each day of the week, be sure and check out the blog called Music for Latter-day Life by clicking HERE
FHE DAY
Start the week off right with a Family Home Evening that introduces what you’ll be studying during the week. Sign up for the Teach Me FHE email group and receive an FHE outline delivered right to your inbox every Sunday morning. Sign up at the bottom of this post.
FASTING AND MIGHTY PRAYER
BACKGROUND
What if there was a way to overcome your bad habits, addictions, and/or burdens? Would you do it?
What if there was a way to gain such confidence in the Lord that you could call down the powers of heaven and know that He is there guiding your footsteps? Would you do it?
There is a way.
Elder Shayne M. Bowen has said that the law of the fast is a precious tool Heavenly Father has given to change lives, overcome the natural man and build faith in the Lord — and it might be one of the most often neglected tools people have. (Elder Bowen’s Ensign article)
SCRIPTURE
In Alma chapter 6, Alma ordains priesthood leaders to preside and watch over the Church in Zarahemla. Their responsibilities include baptizing those who had repented of their sins and removing from the records of the Church the names of those who would not repent of their wickedness. The Church leaders ensured that all people would have the opportunity to gather and “hear the word of God” and join in fasting and mighty prayer. (Seminary manual)
READ: Alma 6:5-6
If fasting can help us individually overcome bad habits, addictions, and burdens and to call down the powers of heaven, how much more powerful it must be when we come together as a people united in faith and purpose.
MINI LESSON
A PROPHET CALLING FOR A WORLDWIDE FAST IS RARE
(Taken from Church News)
In 1985, President Spencer W. Kimball invited Church members to fast for famine victims in Ethiopia. The fast raised $6 million. Latter-day Saints participated in a second fast in November 1985 that raised another $5 million for hunger relief. Helping famine victims in Ethiopia marked the beginning of what would become LDS Charities.
Children gathered around Elder M. Russell Ballard, then of the Presidency of the Seventy, during his visit to Ethiopia in 1985 to determine how to best utilize more than $6 million raised during a special January 27, 1985, fast. Photo courtesy of President M. Russell Ballard. Used for educational purposes.
Three decades later, President Gordon B. Hinckley called on Church members across the globe in January 2005 to fast for victims of a tsunami that struck Southeast Asia on December 26, 2004. Triggered by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake, the disaster killed more than 220,000 people in a dozen nations, including Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand, and India. The fast fueled emergency response and long-term assistance in the disaster zone.
The scene following a tsunami that struck Southeast Asia on December 26, 2004; thousands of lives were lost in the disaster. Photo used for educational purposes.
Recently, President Russell M. Nelson invited members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and others to participate in a worldwide fast on Sunday, March 29, to plead with the Lord for “physical and spiritual healing” in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Then in President Nelson’s Saturday evening general conference address given in April 2020, he said: “I invite all, including those not of our faith, to fast and pray on Good Friday, April 10, that the present pandemic may be controlled, caregivers protected, the economy strengthened and life normalized.”
Photo of President Nelson inviting all to fast. Used for educational purposes.
PONDER & DISCUSS
- Discuss blessings you have seen from the fasting and prayers of millions all over the world during this historic COVID-19 pandemic.
- Can you think of any other examples where several people joined together in fasting and prayer and blessings were received?
- Ask if anyone would like to share a personal experience they have had with fasting.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES (optional)
CONFERENCE TALK: The Law of the Fast
THE SAVIOR TOOK UPON HIMSELF MY SINS, PAINS, AND AFFLICTIONS
BACKGROUND/SCRIPTURE
(Taken from Come Follow Me through the Book of Mormon, Student Institute Manual, and Scripture Study for Latter-day Saints)
SHOW PICTURE:
By Walter Rane, used for educational purposes
READ: Alma 7:11-13 and for each word “that” say “so that”
- How can Jesus help you with your “pains and sicknesses”?
- What is the difference between “sicknesses” and “infirmities”? (Infirmities are weaknesses we have that are not related to health, such as fear of speaking in public)
- Are there any trials, problems, or challenges you face that are not covered under the four categories of: pains and sicknesses, death, infirmities, and sins?
- What does “succor” mean in the scriptures?
Artwork by Dan Burr, used for educational purposes
QUOTE: Elder Jeffrey R. Holland stated, “[Succor] is used often in the scriptures to describe Christ’s care for and attention to us. It means literally ‘to run to.’ What a magnificent way to describe the Savior’s urgent effort in our behalf. Even as he calls us to come to him and follow him, he is unfailingly running to help us.”
When you think of the word “succor” you may think about the father of the prodigal son and his reaction to seeing his son afar off. Christ’s love and concern for us as he succors his people is the same.
MINI LESSON
QUOTE: Elder David A. Bednar taught, “There is no physical pain, no spiritual wound, no anguish of soul or heartache, no infirmity or weakness you or I ever confront in mortality that the Savior did not experience first. In a moment of weakness we may cry out, “No one knows what it is like. No one understands.” But the Son of God perfectly knows and understands, for He has felt and borne our individual burdens. And because of His infinite and eternal sacrifice, He has perfect empathy and can extend to us His arm of mercy. He can reach out, touch, succor, heal, and strengthen us to be more than we could ever be and help us to do that which we could never do relying only upon our own power. Indeed, His yoke is easy and His burden is light. (Bear up Their Burdens with Ease, May 2014; emphasis added)
VIDEO: The Savior Understands Me (3:37), click HERE
PONDER & DISCUSS
In your scripture journals, fill in the blank with at least 10 things.
The Savior knows what it’s like when I feel ______________. (Fill in specific pains, afflictions, infirmities, temptations, sicknesses, etc..)
Share your lists with each other.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES (optional)
CONFERENCE TALK: Bear up Their Burdens with Ease
SHORT STORY: Arland Williams, Survivor and Hero
POEM: The Race
THE JOY OF BECOMING CLEAN
BACKGROUND
VIDEO: Parent Trap House Prank Scene (2:04), Click HERE
Discuss how I’m sure the girls who were pranked couldn’t wait to get in the shower and get all that honey, shaving cream, and goop off of them! 🙂
MINI LESSON/PONDER & DISCUSS
Share the following story told by Elder Neil L. Anderson (The Joy of Becoming Clean, April 1995):
I remember my father awakening me one cold night in early February when I was about sixteen. I remember feeling startled; I had only been asleep about an hour. He explained that a steer from our small farm had gotten through the fence, wandered onto the highway, and been hit by a truck. The animal was dead, and to save the meat we would have to act quickly. The task ahead would prove to be an experience I could never forget.
After we dragged the steer from the road to an open shed with our old tractor, our next task was to hoist the animal up. We tied its hind feet together and then threw the rope over a beam. I remember struggling to get my arms under the animal’s hindquarters and lift as my father pulled. To lift with any effect required wrapping my whole body around the slippery animal. By the time the body was hung, the mud and stench had become ingrained in my clothes. I felt miserable, but our work had only begun.
Together my father and I cleaned the dead animal. We didn’t finish until about three in the morning. The smell, the slime, the dirt, and the filth clung to me.
I went back to the house. Although it has been twenty-five years, the events of the next hour are very vivid in my mind. I remember clearly the satisfaction of removing my shirt. Peeling off each layer of clothing brought relief. I began washing—first my hands, then my arms to the elbows. It was not the kind of dirt that would disappear quickly. Then I showered, first washing the ears, then the hair, back to the hands and fingernails, and to the hair again. It was some time before I felt satisfied that the cleansing was done.
Slipping into a clean pair of pajamas, I lay awake in bed for a while reliving the experience. It was four in the morning. I was exhausted, but the feelings of tiredness did not approach the sensational satisfaction of being washed and clean.
Yet as memorable as that experience was, there are wonderful feelings far surpassing the physical feelings I felt on that cold winter night. I speak of marvelous spiritual feelings that come through the gift of the Savior’s atonement as the layers of sin are washed away and we come to feel spiritually clean.
- Have you ever had a similar experience where you were covered in dirt or grime and could not wait to become clean again?
- How did Elder Anderson say this was like becoming spiritually clean?
SCRIPTURE
READ: Alma 7:21
Why is it important to stay spiritually clean?
READ: Alma 7: 23-25 and then list in your scripture journal things you can do to stay spiritually clean.
Who do you know who is a good example of one or more of the qualities that you listed?
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES (optional)
CONFERENCE TALK: Standing Spotless before the Lord
VIDEO: Stand in Holy Places and Be Not Moved (2:09)
GENERAL CONFERENCE DAY
Study a recent General Conference talk. A great way to study a conference talk is to have your own conference issue of the Ensign and a highlighter. Listen to the talk and as you listen, highlight the part(s) that stands out to you. Then after the talk, review and/or share and discuss what you have highlighted.
THIS WEEK’S TALK: Deep in Our Heart By Douglas D. Holmes, click HERE
SUMMARY: The Children and Youth initiative remains anchored to principles that help place the gospel of Jesus Christ “deep in the hearts” of children and youths. “As we come to see these principles more clearly, we will recognize this as more than a program for members ages 8 to 18.” The initiative’s first principle is relationships. “We are not expected to find or walk the covenant path alone. We need love and support from parents, other family members, friends and leaders who are also walking the path.” Revelation, agency and repentance also connect Latter-day Saint youths with heaven. The Children and Youth initiative is defined by a central invitation: Choose to become more like the Savior by seeking the guidance of the Holy Ghost and allowing Christ to “change us into the best version of ourselves.” Placing the gospel “deep in our hearts” requires engagement and sacrifice. “The Children and Youth program focuses on empowering the youth.”
CATCH UP DAYS
Do one of the days that you missed OR any of the additional resources listed.
Yours Truly,
P.S. For more Come, Follow Me resources, check out my post Your Ultimate Guide to Come, Follow Me. It lists over 100 Come, Follow Me resources that are available online starting with the church’s resources at the top. You can find it by clicking HERE.
P.P.S. Sign up here for the Teach Me FHE email group and receive FHE outlines delivered right to your inbox every Sunday morning.
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