Kicking off The Book of Mormon FHE

Looks like I was WAY to excited to jump back into FHE's :)  I totally spaced doing an "introduction to the Book of Mormon" before jumping in to the stories:) Today's FHE is going to be "Book of Mormon FACTS!!" I want the kids to know Everything they can about this amazing book: where it came from, who wrote it, and why it is SOOO important, especially for "our" generation:) I found some amazing FHE posts but none that quite fit, so I kind of used bits and pieces from all of them ;)

Of course I used one of Tonii's printables.. :) ..link: http://ptskjohnson.blogspot.com/2013/01/joseph-smith-and-gold-plates-fhe.html
and then I made each of the older kids there own set of "brass plates" (wish I would have prepared a little more, I read that you can buy gold foil paper from some craft stores... DARN IT!!)

Opening Prayer: Briyler
Opening song: Book of Mormon stories again ...( We are going to try to do songs at least 3 weeks in a row so the kids can actually learn them a little better:) ....

at least this week they tried to follow along :)

I started off the lesson with me putting out a bunch of different copies of the Book of Mormon:) All have the same contents inside but they look a little different..

(Dad even had his phone sitting with them but I forgot to get a picture of it.)

 

I asked the kids if these books looked the same and they all said "no", then I asked if they all had the same words/stories inside.. Ryker piped in with a YES, I'm pretty sure it was a lucky guess but I told him that he was right. The Book of Mormon was originally written on "golden plates" and then later translated by the Prophet Joseph Smith. I showed the kids a few pictures that all somehow related to the "Book of Mormon" and how it came to be, and they had to try and guess what each picture meant.. We ended up going with these 6 facts as the ones we wanted to emphasise but depending on the kids age level and how much they know we can always add new facts later :)

1. The prophet who buried the "golden plates" was? - Moroni

2. One of the ancient prophets who wrote on the "Golden Plates" was- Mormon, I learned that there were 11 people who actually wrote on the plates .. I didn't know that :)

3. The person who wrote the 1st book in the Book of Mormon was- Nephi

4. The Golden Plates was eventually translated and published into what? - the Book of Mormon

5. Who translated the Book of Mormon?- Joseph Smith, we eventually talked about him having the help from Oliver Cowdery

6. Where was the place the "golden plates" were hidden? - The Hill Cumorah,it says they were found in a box under a Big Rock..

some of the pictures had multiple facts that went along with the picture:) After learning about all of the facts we talked to the kids about why Heavenly Father wanted The Book Of Mormon on the earth and why it is important for us. We came up with: It has the stories of our ancestors, it is a great learning tool, it helps you feel the spirit, it has words from the Prophets that we can apply in our lives today, it tells stories of the Savior, it gives good council and warnings: things that we should prepare for or should apply to our lives to help us get back to Our Father in Heaven. I bore my testimony of the truthfulness of the book and then shared how grateful I feel to have such a valuable tool at my finger tips, everyday:)

 The boys might not remember all of the facts from tonight but I know they remember at least 2: The plates were hidden in a "hillside" under a large rock, and that the Prophet Joseph Smith Translated the Book of Mormon .. I know they remember those facts because after we finished our discussion we told the boys that we had a set of  "golden plates" for EACH of them, but they were hidden so in order to have them they needed to find them.. We told them that if they could remember part of our lesson that would help lead them to "their plates".. the boys searched the ENTIRE HOUSE before Kaj and I decided to help them :) We asked if they remembered where the real "plates" were hidden and Ryker said "the hillside under a rock", good job dude!! We told them that we hid there plates in a similar place, so off the boys went OUTSIDE :) Lucky for us we live on a mountain so a hilly spot with big rocks was easy to find.. Kaj hid all 3 plates separately so the 3 boys could each have the satisfaction of finding there set... Well when they got outside it was kind of cold (it snowed yesterday so that gives you an idea of how cold), Bri and Dugi asked Ryker to find there's too, being the good brother that he is Ryker went off and found all 3 sets... The boys faces were priceless when they found or were given "their set of plates"... After we found them we brought them inside, i was just going to let the kids "color on them" but Ryker asked if he could try to translate or rather "transfer" the words that were actually in the Book of Mormon.. They wrote " The Book Of Mormon" on the front cover and then Ryker spent close to 40, yep FORTY, min copying verses from The Book Of Mormon onto his plates.. I didn't think Bri would last that long but he wanted to be just like Ryker and he hung in there for the majority of the time, "transferring" verses onto his plates too.. It was A GREAT ACTIVITY and such a fun night.!! Ryker was soo proud of himself and asked to have his picture taken with every page of his book.. I am soo proud of him too, he did a great job!! Once he was finished he told me, "Mom that was really hard work!". I told him that "it was probably just as hard for Joseph to write and Translate the WHOLE Book of Mormon" and his response was  "ya I know how he feels" .... HAHAHA I'm sure you do buddy, I'm sure you do :)

I think I found one Mom!! :)

Briyler was soo happy when Ryker gave him "his plates".. :)

WERE FREEZING MOM!!!

Dugi wasn't impressed!!

and this is where they sat for the next 40 min!!

I couldn't have asked for this project to turn out any better for them:)

 

seriously love this little face:)

And this one, even though it is ALWAY'S DIRTY!! :)

 

The second the lesson is done Dugi wants his TREAT.. he is for sure my son, gotta have his treats.. :)

Please stop growing soo fast.. :( he doesn't even need help with this anymore...

The older boys still going strong and the younger ones still waiting for there treat :)  

 

When Bri got done he was soo proud of himself , I was too :)

Dugi finally getting his treat!! MMM

and this is what you get after a 4 yr old sits for 35 min straight:)

No wonder dad is the favorite he brought out a few surprises from the "conference shop" that is not supposed to be open honey!! :)

 

Nothing could take Ryker away from "his work" :) seriously he got soo into it!

everyone else getting dessert.. :) mini golden plates, frosted with yellow frosting and then covered in black sprinkles ..

 

Ryker with his finished product!! :) he wrote on every side!!

Briyler with his finished plates

they carried them around ALL NIGHT LONG and it made me feel SOO GOOD!!!! Soo happy they had a fun night :)

 

This is what Dad does to entertain the little ones while I try to actually have meaningful lesson with the older ones.. No wonder Dad is the favorite around here... They all have soo much fun with him :) Caution: do not look if "thrown babies" makes you un easy... Aka: if your my visiting teachers (Kim Martinez/ Stacy Jensen), who also BOTH happen to be nurses, close your eyes!!

 

He play's with them

 

he spins them

balances them on one hand

and throws them as high as our vaulted ceilings!!  and they all love it :)

the fun doesn't stop there, he teases them 

and wrestles with them ALL NIGHT LONG!! Kynlie looks unsure in this picture but she is usually the one that is begging for more:) We love our fun dad, and I love that he keeps the younger ones occupied for the most part so the older ones can actually hear the lesson :)