3 Nephi 1 & 2 - Spiritual Snacks and Scoreboards

Last Thursday we did an overview to the entire book of 3 Nephi. Today we began the indepth study.

First, I asked a student to draw a scoreboard on the whiteboard at the front of the class. He enjoyed this, since he plays sports. His scoreboard was quite detailed, which helped later.

Then I passed out two colorful 3x5 index cards. I explained that we were beginning our study of the important book of 3 Nephi. This book reallly is a microcosm of so many things, both of The Book of Mormon as a whole, as well as life in general.

The battle for our souls is real, and could be compared in some ways to a scoreboard. You could at this point ask the students what their private "scoreboard" looks like. Let them know that an exciting turn-around happens in 3 Nephi 1, just as can happen in our lives.

I asked each student then to write somewhere on one of their new index cards how they feel about the gospel in just a sentence or so. Once they finished, I had them share that with both neighbors sitting on either side of them (sharing it with two individuals helps to ensure no one gets left out, in addition to providing an opportunity for the student to reaffirm what they wrote).

I passed out the sacks the students had drawn on last week for them to put their card in (for more information on our "Spiritual Feast Sacks", feel free to read here).

After sharing some of the scriptures and excerpts from the teacher's manual for 3 Nephi 1-2, I asked the students to look through 3 Nephi 1 to find out "who" was in the chapter and "what" was happening. They were to write that information down on one of the index cards I gave them. Their job essentially was to find the exciting turn-around that happened.

In other words, at first things did not look like they were going well for the Believers. The kids were to find out what happened in the chapters and write that down on their cards. They were also looking for any verse which might touch them, and mark that in their scriptures.

Once they finished exploring 3 Nephi 1, we talked a bit about what they had written and then we moved on to chapter 2.

Some of the discussion points for both 3 Nephi 1 and 3 Nephi 2 were:

* Compare and contrast the youth mentioned at the end of 3 Ne 1 and the youth mentioned in Alma 53:16-22; 56;44-48.

and

* What weakened the Nephites enough that the Gadianton life became appealing?

We finished up by the students making sure both of their cards were tucked away inside their spiritual lunchsack. Then they inscribed something (a symbol or a phrase) on the reverse side of their spiritual lunch sack to represent something from today's study. At the end, I shared the quote on page 212 in the teacher's manual from President Ezra Taft Benson.

In final summation, how important it is that we keep battling, no matter what the "scoreboard" in life says. We have no idea just how close the turn around is, just like those faithful saints experienced in 3 Nephi 1!

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Warmly,

Seminary Mom