Building a Thanksgiving Map

This morning I was asked to help with singing time in Primary at church. I wasn’t really sure I knew what I was going to do. I had a couple ideas, but I wasn’t exactly positive what I was going to do and how I was going to teach singing time. This group of kids can be challenging. I had decided that I should focus on Thanksgiving and choose a few songs that went along with the “pilgrim” story, such as Nephi’s Courage (For sailing across the ocean to a new land), The Wise Man Built His House Upon the Rock (for Plymouth Rock), Faith (because they planted seeds), It’s Autumn Time (for fall leaves), For Health and Strength (for the food they harvested), and We Thank Thee Dear Father (for inviting their neighbors for dinner and saying a prayer of thanksgiving for their new opportunity).

As we began to sing I noticed a dry erase marker and decided to draw a few goofy pictures to illustrate the story.

I started by drawing a boat. I explained that lots have people have come to this land so that they can have freedoms to worship God in the ways they see fit. The Pilgrims were not the first people who left their home lands in search of a place to worship Jesus Christ. Nephi and his family came looking for a new home land. The brother of Jared and his people did too. Many people today come to the country searching for freedom. We even left our Heavenly Father to gain a better understanding of the plan. I ended up teaching them that we must leave things behind to seek Jesus.

Next, I drew an embankment and put a house on the hill. Here we sang the wise man song and talked about how we must build our testimonies on Jesus. I taught them that the ROCK is a symbol of Jesus.

Then I drew corn and a turkey. I told them that the natives taught them what plants to plat. They sowed seeds. We sang Faith… is like a seed… if planted it will grow. We talked about how the seed of faith must be faith in Jesus. For a seed to grow it needs light. We talked about Jesus is the Light of the world. He is called the Son, and like the sun in our universe he gives light and life and warmth to the world. Jesus is the Life Giver. And, a seed needs water. Jesus is Living Water.

Then I drew a tree with no leaves. I taught them that because of The Fall, we need a Savior to have new life… like in the spring. We sang Autumn Time.

I then drew some corn on the cob and a pumpkin and a cooked turkey. This is a feast. After we plant and nourish our seeds of faith in Christ we can harvest the fruits of the Spirit and experience the LOVE of God. We do that as we FEAST on the Words of Christ.

Then I drew a bunch of smiling face. After we enjoys the feast on the Love of God (the fruit of the Tree of Life), we feel compelled to share with our neighbors. The Pilgrims and the Native Americans had shared many experiences together. They felt compelled to invite others to feel the Love of God… to share the FEAST. Together they thanked for all the good things in life. We too can share the feast and thank God for the good things in life, especially the Savior, Jesus Christ.

We need to Thank God for the The Plan. Jesus is the Plan. He is the Safe Passage. He is the Foundation on which we need to build. He is the Life Giver, The Word, The Love.

When all was said and done, I was super grateful for how the Spirit had guided me to use the story of the first Thanksgiving to teach principles of the gospel and to teach building a testimony of Jesus Christ.

God is good!