Everyday object lessons

This is a talk given by 11 yr old Alex.
The idea was based on a story given in a general conference talk – Oct 99
First you make two paper airplanes. One needs to fly very straight and true. The other needs to look a little battered and fly more in loops. There are patterns out there for making the different types. Then here is the talk: Imagine a plane taking off, the plane is in perfect condition the crew is trained and they have flight plan. If you get on this plane your sure to get to your destination. Now, imagine another plane taking off it doesn’t really have a place to go. It’s not in good shape. Its crew is a bunch of high school kids who have just graduated and have not been properly trained yet. If you get on this plane your almost sure to not reach your destination.

The first plane is god’s plan of happiness. Just like in the plane the church has leaders who are called of god. Just like the flight plan, gods plan of happiness is clearly written out in the scriptures. If we get on this plane, then we will be happy, and reach our destination of living with God again.

The second plane is the world. It has no destination, no plan, no consistent direction or standards. One month the world wants pokemon, next it wants pogs. One year the world wants Harry Potter, next it wants Animorphs. (This lesson is old! Pick popular toys and media of today.) Everthing is subject to the whims of popular culture. The passengers on this plane don’t know where they are going, so they never know if they get there.

If I were a passenger with a specific destination, I would pick the one with trained pilots and a flight plan. I would feel safer and more secure the God’s plan of happiness.

Then read this scripture Eph. 4:11-14

Everyone needs a survival kit, one to remind them of something beyond the everyday traps we fall into.

• Toothpick
• Rubber band
• Band aid
• Pencil
• Eraser
• Chewing gum
• Mint
• Candy Kiss

Here’s why:

• Toothpick – to remind you to pick out the good qualities in others…Matt 7:1
• Rubber band – to remind you to be flexible, things might not always go the way you want, but it will work out…Romans 8:28
• Band Aid – to remind you to heal hurt feelings, yours or someone else’s…Col 3:12-14
• Pencil – To remind you to list your blessings everyday…Eph1:3
• Eraser – to remind you that everyone makes mistakes, and it’s okay…Gen 50:15-21
• Chewing gum – to remind you to stick with it and you can accomplish anything with Jesus…Phil 4:13
• Mint – to remind you that you are worth a mint to your heavenly father…John 3:16-17
• Candy Kiss – to remind you that everyone needs a kiss or a hug everyday… 1 John 4:7
• Use your imagination to come up with more of these!And send your ideas to me so I can add to the list

Here is an object lesson I heard at education week.

Tonight for family home evening we are making milk shakes.
Get out a blender, fill with ice cream, milk, chocolate sauce or strawberries. Blend up. Then go to the window sill and take a dead fly (that you have planted there) and say, “oh, a dead fly. That would make this good.” Put the fly in the blender and blend again. Then pour a glass and hand to your teenager. When they refuse it. Say “Why, it’s only one tiny fly, it’s can’t hurt anything. All the other things are so good” etc.

So many times we are told we should go see a movie or other forms of entertainment. We ask if it is good. Oh, there’s only one little bad part. You can close your eyes for that. The rest is so good.

Source: Bob Wleszewsli
This is is story taken from the Focus on the Family Plugged In magazine.
It is a struggle to keep our family’s movie viewing habits free of pornography and graphic violence. “The hardest part in this struggle for some parents is saying no when other parents are saying yes. Perhaps this will help. Suppose you pulled up to the drive-thru window of your favorite fast food restaurant and there was a sign that said, Serving E. coli contaminated beef today. Would you order? Of course not. What if ten cars in front of you all got hot burgers? Would it make a difference? You’d quickly hit the gas pedal and head elsewhere. Why should it be any different if it’s E coli entertainment? Yet adults continue to take their children out for toxic nibbles of what Hollywood is eager to serve.”

Source – Lynn G. Robbins
Satan is the father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another. (3Ne. 11: 29). The verb stir sounds like a recipe for disaster: Put tempers on medium heat, stir in a few choice words, and bring to a boil; continue stirring until thick; cool off; let feelings chill for several days; serve cold; lots of leftovers.

This is a good object lesson to illustrate the scriptures about testing God’s plan by tying it out first. This is a difficult task because it requires obedience and commitment to a standard, and many people look for an excuse to not live by standards, and sometimes it is the excuse that they are testing the Lord and his church before they really commit. This would be the object lesson for these people.

Decide beforehand which “theory” you are going to test. It could be something simple like theory of gravity, or something else that both you and your audience understand very well. I will use gravity for my example here. You say, “I am going to test the theory of gravity, today. I have here some different size and weight of balls and marbles.” Now leave the tools and go to the other side of the room. “It’s like I was suspecting, that this gravity thing is not like I thought. People must have been lying. Those balls and marbles aren’t doing anything. I can say with real certainty and truth that the theory of gravity is false. I have tested it right here, and nothing works.”

Then have a discussion with your class what is wrong with this picture. “Testing a theory” means that you get in the middle of it, try it, experience it. Only then can you say with any truth that you believe it or not. It is the same with “testing the gospel.” You cannot test it by staying away from church and seeing what comes of that. You test God’s word by getting in the middle of it and trying it out and living it.

By Dr. James Dobson
Why do we have to choose between the virtues of quantity versus quality? We won’t accept that forced choice in any other area of our lives. So why is it only relevant to our children?

Let me illustrate my point. Let’s suppose you’ve looked forward all day to eating at one of the finest restaurants in town. The waiter brings you a menu, and you order the most expensive steak in the house. But when the meal arrives, you see a tiny piece of meat about one-inch square in the center of the plate. When you complain about the size of the steak, the waiter says, “Sir, I recognize that the portion is small, but that’s the finest corn-fed beef money can buy. You’ll never find a better bite of meat than we’ve served you tonight. As to the portion, I hope you understand that it’s not the quantity that matters, it’s the quality that counts.”

You would object, and for good reason. Why? Because both quality and quantity are important in many areas of our lives, including how we relate to children. They need our time and the best we have to give them.

My concern is that the quantity-versus-quality argument might be a poorly disguised rationalization for giving our children — neither.

Source: Elder Earl M. Monson conference talk Nov. 98
Make up a jar or cup full of colored water the same as you would for coloring eggs. Hot water (not too hot) with a tablespoon of white vinegar and food coloring. Have each person in the class or family put their fingers or hand into the jar with the dye then take it out and dry their hand.
Here is the quotation taken directly from the conference talk: “We may not appreciate the capacity of our our minds to absorb and remember if we think it doesn’t matter what books or movies or other activities are fed into it. The Lord wisely told us to seek first for the kingdom of God and then other desirable things will also come to us. Elder Sterling W. Sill noted that our mind, like the dyer’s hand, is colored by what it hold; that is, if I hold in my hand purple dye, my hand becomes purple. Those who help establish the Church know what is bad, but they consistently choose the better part and fill their minds with pure thoughts.”
Continue or elaborate on the discussion about how what we read or see stays with us just like the dye. A good scripture to go with this is the 13th article of Faith.

Take a spool of thread and wrap it once or twice around the volunteer’s fingers or wrists. Have them break the thread. This represents bad habits. When we first begin a bad habit like smoking, or even something as simple as watching an inappropriate t.v. show or using foul language, it is easy to break. Now wrap the thread around many many times and see if the volunteer can break the thread. If we let bad habits go on and on, we lose the power to easily return to something better. It requires more will power and may require help from someone else. Don’t give up your freedom and power by remaining in your bad habits.

What would you do if you were walking down the sidewalk in your neighborhood and you see a friend working in his yard and he runs up to you and has an armful of gooey mud that he wants to give you? Do you move closer and hold out your arms and accept all that mud? Yuck! Or do you say, “No, thanks. I don’t want that mud.” And keep on walking? The mud is like gossip or angry words or sarcasm or cutting remarks or criticism. People who dish this mud out of their mouths are wanting to give it to you. Do you have to take it? Or can you refuse? Of course, you have the choice to refuse. You don’t have to take offense, or get angry. You can choose to not let the other person’s angry words rub off on you.