Donut Forget to Pray

How can I make prayers more meaningful?

If you don't know that I love donuts yet, I think I might be doing something wrong. ;)
I just think they are so cute-it's just a bonus they are fun to eat too!

So that I hadn't used donuts yet in a lesson or handout was pretty shocking to me.
So I decided to change that!  And this YW lesson topic was perfect for that!

I want the girls to get use to writing in their journals so I encouraged them to take them out right at the starting of class and write down impressions or promptings they get throughout the lesson.  I started with asking them some questions I just wanted them to think about:  Are my prayers sincere?  Do I say prayers that are repetitive or without meaning?  Do I treat prayers like a wish list?

I told the girls to remember that Heavenly Father is our Father, He wants to help us and loves us so much.  He knows our needs and desires.  He wants us to communicate with Him, He's always just a prayer away.  I hope we pray as if He's there and is listening because He is!

As we make a habit of approaching God in prayer, we will come to know Him and draw ever nearer to Him.  Our desires will become more like His, we will be able to secure for ourselves and for others-blessings that He is ready to give if we will but ask in faith.

We talked about how we can make our prayers more meaningful so I passed out a little sheet of paper that is the perfect size for them to put in their journals and to read!  Here's how you can add some SPRINKLES to your prayers and make them more meaningful!

We talked about what we could add to this list like:  preparing our minds, listening, faithful effort, praying out loud, pause, ask forgiveness, ask questions, keep a prayer journal, traits we'd like to work on, who can we serve or help-someone who is sad/sick or in need, gospel topics we are trying to understand, family concerns, etc.

We also talked about meaningful experiences we have had with prayer.

Sometimes when we pray, it's like we're picking up a phone, ordering groceries, and then we hang up the phone-we put in our our order, and we don't think any more about it than that.  

But if we take a few minutes just to think about our particular need in a given moment, 

then prayer becomes more meaningful.

President Gordon B. Hinckley 

I've learned that when I make a habit of praying it becomes natural and more meaningful for me.  I encouraged the class to make a habit of praying.  Prayer isn't just for times when we are in trouble or in need.  We should have constant communication with our Father in Heaven.  We always need to be in connection with him and know what He'd like us to do.

The next activity we did is A Dozen of Meaningful Prayers.  I told the girls to think of something or someone that has been on their minds lately.  I wanted them to write it or the persons name under the donut.  Once you pray and ACT/do something to help with your prayer, you can color it in. The goal being a whole dozen prayers that you've prayed about and can see how you have helped with those prayers. 

Which brought us into the next topic of acting and helping with our prayers.  We usually wait entirely on our Heavenly Father for answers to our prayers and I think we forget that we can do our part and help.  

Often, the answerr to our prayer does not come while we're on our knees but while we're on our feet serving the Lord and serving those around us.  Selfless acts of service and consecration refine our spirits , remove the scales from our spiritual eyes, and open the windows of heaven.  By becoming the answer to someone's prayer, we often find the answer to our own.  President Spencer W. Kimball taught this concept when he said:  "God does notice us, and he watches over us.  But it is usually through another person that he meets our needs."

Elder Uchtdorf

I have seen this SO many times in my life.  Especially when it's something simple but incredibly kind, usually it just makes my day brighter-so hopefully we can be in a position to make others happier and make life more enjoyable for them!

We talked about how our prayers can be answered in a different way

than we expected and shared stories.  

Heavenly Father hears your prayers.  He may not always answer as you expect, but he does answer-in His own time and according to His will.  Because He knows what is best for you, He may sometimes answer no, even when your petitions are sincere.

True to the Faith

God is eagerly waiting for the chance to answer your prayers and fulfill your dream, just as He always has.  But He can't if you don't pray, and He can't if you don't dream.  In short, He can't if you don't believe.

Elder Holland

Our Heavenly Father wants to help and bless us.  Those blessings require effort and work on our part.  The first being to pray!  So DONUT forget to pray!

As you can tell I got really into this lesson!  I gave little 'DONUT forget to Pray' tags with a donut eraser along with the Dozen of Meaningful Prayers activity, a 'Donut forget to pray!' sticker for them to put in their journals, how to make their prayers more meaningful paper, and a quote page (which makes it super easy to get anyone to read quotes out loud during the lesson and skip quotes if necessary, I also love that they get to keep all the quotes/scriptures/etc. for later pondering and study), and of course for a treat I gave Donettes!

I have LOADS of donut decorations from Olivia's birthday party so I just pulled a few out of our donut party box.  I made some donuts out of cardboard and painted them to look like donuts, then used them for the chalkboard decoration, I had mini popsicle sticks painted to look like sprinkles, a small picture of Christ with a small girl is always ideal for Young Women lessons I think,  a small donut decoration from the Target Dollar Bins and a super cute cake stand full of a variety of the Donettes.  I love to keep all my supplies or handouts all in one place so THIS tray was the perfect size for that.  I also love to do something fun and memorable on the chalkboard.  Even if it's simple I know that I look at the board a lot during class so this is a great way to give some inspiration for what they can put in their journals and to keep their mind on the topic at hand.

Even if you don't teach or are in YW, feel free to do this for a primary, FHE, a summer activity or ministering handout/love note!  There are so many options with these lesson ideas.

If you'd like any of these FREE printables feel free to find them below:  

'DONUT forget to PRAY' tag [page 1]

'A Dozen of Meaningful Prayers' activity

'DONUT forget to keep your prayers meaningful!' print [page 3]

'Donut forget to pray!' stickers (Need to print on sticker paper!) [page 2]

DONUT forget to Pray Quote Page

If you are interested in more Young Women lessons, I have several you can find HERE!

This post may contain affiliate links, but all opinions are my own.

Commandments Lesson

How do the commandments help me learn to be more like Heavenly Father?

This lesson is from quite a while ago.  I haven't shared several
youth Sunday school lessons, relief society handouts and some young women handouts and even some recipes and parties.
I'm hoping to share more of them as time goes on!
But if you have something you'd like to see first let me know!

I started this lesson asking the youth to imagine that they are riding along a mountain road, near a steep cliff, with a guardrail along the side of the road.  As you are imagining this I want you to think about the following questions-How are the Lord's commandments like the guardrail?  How are they like the road or street signs?

We talked about why Heavenly Father has given us commandments:  to help us understand His will for us, commanded to love, we obey the commandments because we love Him, to receive celestial glory, warnings, guidance, help, strength.

We read:
D&C 82:8-10
Matthew 22:34-40
Section from Forget Me Not talk from Dieter F. Uchtdorf

In the Forget Me Not talk Elder Uchtdorf talks about how "understanding the 'what' and the 'how' of the gospel is necessary, the eternal fire and majesty of the gospel springs from the 'why'."  I encouraged the youth to look deeper and notice the beauty that surrounds us, look more closely at the "why"s, when we realize why we are doing what we are doing it becomes sweeter and more meaningful to us.  I also asked them to think about-Why they come to church?  Why do they follow the commandments? etc.

We also talked about street signs and their different meanings.

We made a list of attributes of God.  We then talked about how specific commandments can help us develop those attributes and become more like our Heavenly Father.

Other questions I asked are:  Hoe does this affect the way they think about God's commandments?  How might it affect their attitudes toward obedience to the commandments?  How might it affect the choices they make?

When we focus on the WHY of the gospel of Jesus Christ, we realize commandments are like specialized instructions almost like a road map of life from our Heavenly Father.  Even if life gets ROCKY, if we stay on the ROAD of obedience we will return to our Father in heaven.

For the handout I wanted to give mini Rocky Road candy bars.  A full Rocky Road candy bar is always an option too, I just love the mini ones for handouts.  It happened to be fast Sunday when I gave this lesson so I didn't actually give a treat, I just ended up giving the tag and the youth was able to take one if they wanted.

Find the Free Printable for the 'Rocky Road Commandment' tag-HERE!

This post may contain affiliate links, but all opinions are my own.

The Adventure of Life YW Lesson

Plan of Salvation:  What is the purpose of life?

After some unexpected health problems at the end of 2018 I had a little mandatory break from lots of things.  One of them being church activities and teaching the sweet Mia Maids in my ward.  I was so grateful to get back into the swing of things as soon as I felt up to it and I ended up giving my first YW lesson of 2019 in February!  It was a great topic to kick off the year and teach, I felt/feel like I have a LOT of life experience now. haha

I started with telling them about where I had been and what happened.  Maybe one day I'll go into more detail here on the blog, but for right now lets get back to the lesson outline.  I brought a big box of tissues for myself because I was 95% sure I was going to break down during the lesson, and I gave little packets of tissues for each person because life is hard!! It's a great adventure, but sometimes it's just hard and its ok to cry!

We talked about the Plan of Salvation-Our eternal experience can be divided into three main parts:  premortal life, mortal life, and life after death.  We focused on mortal life for the lesson!  When we know we lived with our Heavenly Father before we were born and that we were sent with a divine purpose we act differently, we view trials and challenges differently-with an eternal perspective.  We are able to answer questions like-What is the purpose of life and why are we here?  We came to earth to prepare to have an eternal family, bless others and build His kingdom.  We are here to become more like our Heavenly Father.  Life makes more sense and you're able to answer those tough questions when you understand the plan of salvation.

I made these pictures years ago for a Relief Society lesson and I was so happy I could use them again.    If you've got cardstock, colored pencils and markers and some time
and you could do something like this too!



"You are now experiencing mortal life.  Your spirit is united with your body, giving you opportunities to grow and develop in ways that were not possible in you premortal life.  This part of your existence is a time of learning in which you can prove yourself, choose to come unto Christ, and prepare to be worthy of eternal life.  It is also a time when you can help others find the truth and gain a testimony of the plan of salvation."-True to the Faith

We watched and talked about Bobbie the Wonder Dog! A story about an amazing dog that followed his family home no matter what he went through he still kept going and trying!

Bobbie's journey home is like our own journey back to our heavenly home.  We all go through different adventures in this mortal life.  Life has fun, hard, sad, upsetting, and amazing times, just like any great adventure.We talked about how finding our way back to our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ makes our life more meaningful and better!  We build more meaningful relationships, appreciate life and the people in it much more! And how knowing this affects our daily decisions.

Mortal life can be hard.  It can be really hard sometimes and we'll experience things that we don't like, but they'll help us on our journey home.  They'll help us become more like our Heavenly Father and we'll be able to help others while we are becoming like Him.  We just have to keep the end goal in sight and keep an eternal perspective.  We must use this time we have here wisely.

"No, following the Savior will not remove all of your trials.  However, it will remove the barriers between you and the help your Heavenly Father wants to give you.  God will be with you.  He will direct your steps.  He will walk beside you and even carry you when your need is greatest."

Dieter F. Achtdorf 

I am so grateful to know that we are not alone in this life.  

He will help us through this adventurous journey!  I love the scripture Proverbs 3:5-6! Look it up, love it, memorize it!

We then talked about how knowing this can help us deal with challenges and trials that come throughout our lives.  I gave time for the girls to write in their journals and put a little Come unto Christ airplane sticker so they'd remember this lesson.  Along with a little boarding pass that I wrapped in brown cardstock and some cute pink and white twine!  I also had to give some luggage because well I had to! :) I found these on Amazon HERE and then filled them with some Jolly Rancher Jelly Hearts and Dove chocolates.
I hand wrote the Come unto Christ tag for a special touch.

I hope they remember that life really is an adventure.  It's all about perspective and how we choose to look at what happens to us.  We also might not like the stop we are in now or the detour we take, but we need to remember that's not where we are staying.  It's like passing through a town that you don't love, just keep going and remember it's not the end of your adventure or your final destination!  When we follow Christ and come unto him, this mortal life is put into perspective.

Life is different for each of us.  We all have a time of trials, a time for happiness, a time for making decisions, a time for overcoming obstacles, and a time for taking advantage of opportunities.  Whatever our personal situations may be, I testify that our Heavenly Father is constantly saying, "I love you.  I sustain you.  I am with you.  Do not give up.  Repent and endure in the path that I have shown you.  And I assure you that we will see each other again in our celestial home."
Elder Claudio D. Zivic

Shared a little sneak peek on my Instagram of how I set it up for my class.  I used these cute pink decorative luggage cases for even more decor.  And my favorite IKEA frame with a little sign for the Baggage Claim!

Once class ended I told them to remember to get their luggage from the baggage claim and remember their boarding pass so they can be ready for their journey.  I told them that there are a few things we need on this adventure and I packed one necessity for them to make it a little better-something sweet!  

On your journey back to Heavenly Father you will soon realize that this journey isn't just about focusing on your own life.  No, this path inevitably leads you to become a blessing in the lives of God's other children-your brothers and sisters.  And the interesting thing about the journey is that as you serve God, and as you care for and help your fellowmen, you will see great progress in your life, in ways you could never imagine.

President Uchtdorf

I also mentioned how we can and should help and serve others along the way.

This mortal life is a journey.  At times we can feel sad, overwhelmed, mad and not like the place we are in right then but don't focus on that.  If we see life as an adventure and keep a positive outlook with an eternal perspective in mind we will enjoy life.  Change your perspective and change your life.  You'll be able to see your journey through different eyes.  I pray that we may all come unto Christ and focus on our heavenly home as our goal.  This life is a great adventure and I hope we choose to follow Christ all along the way!

Below you can find everything I gave the girls including the FREE Printables!

Eternal Boarding Pass

Come unto Christ Airplanes-will need to print on sticker paper!

Mini Vintage Suitcases

Baggage Claim signage

This post may contain affiliate links, but all opinions are my own.

Lost and Found Gospel Treasures-Restoration Lesson

The Apostasy and Restoration-Why was a Restoration necessary?

A few months ago I taught this lesson to my Mia Maids class and totally loved it!  Honestly I love every lesson.  I love to find fun and unique ways to get excited about the lesson and then share them with the girls.  

This lesson was about Lost and Found gospel treasures.  There were many gospel treasures brought to the earth by Jesus, during His mortal life.  We learned how the gospel treasures were found again when Joseph Smith restored the true gospel of Jesus Christ to the earth and why it is so important. 

On the board I had all of these little gems/treasures labeled with things that Jesus Christ established while he was on the earth along with writing on the board-Lost and Found Gospel Treasures.  When Jesus Christ died the things he established here on earth went away or were corrupted.  There was a time when the world didn't have the full gospel because of this.

Things we read:

Amos 8:11-12

Apostasy and Restoration of the Gospel in True to the Faith

We talked about how our lives would be different if the gospel had never been restored.  We are so blessed with the treasures the gospel gives us like temples, Priesthood and sacrament.  We talked for quite a while about the jewels and treasures on the board, talking about each one in depth and how it is a blessing in our lives.  We then talked about how we can personally apply what we've learned in this class.  We have journals for each girl so I also encourage them to write in their journal and give them a little sticker to go along with the lesson that they can remember what it was about.  

For a handout I gave chocolate coins and a cute little jewel container full of cadbury eggs.  I had to put it in a treasure box because hello I've got to carry on the theme! haha

Find the free printables below!

'Recognize the treasures you've found..." handout

Lost and Found gem sticker print

This post may contain affiliate links, but all opinions are my own.

June Love Notes

Summer is here and it's a busy, but perfect time to drop off something little to someone you have on your mind.  Whether it be your friend, family member, neighbor, ministering/visiting teacher or family, the list goes on and on.

These tags are perfect to remind that someone just how much they are worth to you.

These tags are cute and so unique.  There are a lot of "hidden gems" that you can pair this tag with.  Like these Shimmer Cadbury Mini Eggs.

I found cute gem dishes at the Target Dollar Spot.
Super cute for soap, jewelry, candy or any little trinkets!

My mom got the cutest gem/jewel easter eggs at Walmart a few years ago that worked so perfectly for this!  It's such a good reminder to pick up good deals and pieces when you see them!  Any kind of small container would be so fun with any candy like these jelly beans in jewel shades.

A cute and easy option would be these Ring Pop Gummy Gems or a single Ring Pop!

A treasure box, jewelry, or gem decor would be so cute!  There are so many options!
I love THIS gem baking mold that could be used for candy or chocolate.

I also LOVE these sugar gems!  How cute would they be on sugar cookies!?  Another great option would be plastic jewels for crafting.

I love that these two tags can be paired together.  

Or they could be used separately for the same gift ideas mentioned above!

I always think one little treat is a great idea so it's not overwhelming but it's still thoughtful!

As I always say you don't need a little gift or treat to pair with my printable tags it's just a fun idea if you'd like to pair something with it.

You can find the free printable for both of 

the 'You are a gem!' tags here--SMALL or LARGE FRAME!

See my other Love Notes below:

January

February

March

April

May 

This post may contain affiliate links, but all opinions are my own.