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Open the Windows of Heaven

Leftover lambs, a blizzard of blessings, and Elijah’s promise kept in the Kirtland Temple

  • 💧 CTR 8
  • Week 51
  • 📅 Sunday, December 20, 2026
🤔 Forehead Guess🏆 Showdown
💡 The big idea

The Lord loves me and keeps His promises: He opens the windows of heaven when I pay tithing, and He sent Elijah so families can be together forever.

I can give the Lord my best by paying my tithing and turning my heart to my family.

Come, Follow Me manualOpen this week (Malachi)
Know the chapters

Malachi is the last book of the Old Testament, written more than 400 years before Jesus was born. The temple that Haggai and Zechariah helped rebuild was standing again, but many people had grown careless. Priests were offering the Lord blind, lame and sick animals, the ones nobody wanted (Malachi 1:7–8), and many people had stopped paying tithes (3:8). Yet the Lord’s very first words in the book are tender: “I have loved you, saith the LORD” (1:2). He wanted their hearts, not their leftovers.

Malachi 3:8–12 is one of the great scriptures on tithing. The Lord says, “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse,” invites us to “prove me now herewith,” and promises to “open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” Today, tithing is one-tenth of our increase (Doctrine and Covenants 119:4). Children pay tithing on money they receive, like birthday money or allowance, by filling out a donation slip and giving it to a member of the bishopric, or with a parent’s help online. Tithing helps build temples and meetinghouses and share the gospel. The Lord’s blessings come in many forms, often quiet ones like peace, faith and help when we need it. Some children don’t receive money yet, and some families are going through hard times: never ask who pays, and remember that tithing is paid on money we actually receive. Keep it joyful: tithing is a way to say thank you.

Malachi also looked ahead to Jesus Christ. A messenger would prepare His way (3:1), fulfilled by John the Baptist (Matthew 11:10). The Savior would be “like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ sope” (3:2), purifying His people the way a silversmith purifies silver or a fuller scrubs wool clean. Those who love the Lord and talk about Him are written in “a book of remembrance,” and He calls them His “jewels” (3:16–17). When the resurrected Savior visited the Nephites, He gave them Malachi 3–4 and had them write it down, because their families had left Jerusalem before Malachi wrote (3 Nephi 24–25; 26:2).

Malachi ends with a promise: “I will send you Elijah the prophet” to turn the hearts of the fathers and the children to each other (4:5–6). It is so important that it appears in all four books of scripture. The angel Moroni quoted it to Joseph Smith in 1823, with some different wording (Joseph Smith—History 1:36–39). Then on April 3, 1836, Easter Sunday and during the Passover season, when Jewish families traditionally watch for Elijah, the Savior appeared in the Kirtland Temple to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, followed by Moses, Elias and Elijah. Elijah gave them the sealing keys (Doctrine and Covenants 110:13–16), so families can be sealed forever in temples. Be sensitive: some children’s families aren’t sealed or are going through hard things. Every child belongs to Heavenly Father’s family, and every child can learn about their ancestors.

Only have 5 minutes?

Read Malachi 3:8–10 and 4:5–6, and skim Doctrine and Covenants 110:13–16. Bring 10 pennies per child, an envelope and a bag of cotton balls. Let Teach Mode carry the story drama, do the Ten Pennies demo and Blessing Blizzard, and play Forehead Guess. Skip the leftovers bag and Four Corners if you’re short on time. Brought nothing at all? Tap “I brought nothing” and fingers become pennies, invisible blessings pour from the sky, and the kids become Elijah’s key.

What to bring9 items

Tick what you have. Forgot something? Every step that needs a supply has a no-supplies version in the plan below.

Before class

  1. Fill the gift bag with “leftovers”: a broken crayon, a holey sock, a bent spoon, an empty wrapper. Add tissue paper on top so it looks like a real present.
  2. Count 10 pennies into a small cup for each child. Write TITHING on an envelope.
  3. Make the window of heaven: cut a big H shape in the middle of a sheet of paper and fold the two flaps open like shutters. You’ll hold it up high and pour the cotton balls through the opening.
  4. Make four corner signs and tape one in each corner: 🐑 BEST GIFT · 🪟 WINDOWS OF HEAVEN · 📖 BOOK OF REMEMBRANCE · 🔑 ELIJAH.
  5. Add your kids’ names in the My Class tab so you can hand out story parts with one tap.

If your class is wild

  • Give the Limping Lamb to your class clown. A pitiful “baaa” and a dramatic limp get laughs, and the laugh helps them remember the point.
  • Pennies stay in their cups until you say “Count!” Anyone who spins or flips pennies becomes the Tithing Envelope Carrier.
  • The Blessing Blizzard is loud and happy. Before you pour, practice the freeze: “When I close the window, everyone freezes and sits.”
  • For Four Corners, keep the Noise Meter up: if it hits red, everyone tiptoes back to the middle before the next clue.
  • If they come in wild, open with Elijah Says, then do the leftovers bag.

The 25-minute plan25 min + bonus

Bonus steps are for when you have extra time. Steps that mention Teach Mode, the Sound Board or other class games refer to the Gospel Sparks app; on the web you can play Forehead Guess and Scripture Showdown from this page.

1. Hook

Leftovers for You!

2 min

A silly “worst gift ever” shows how Malachi’s people were treating the Lord.

  1. Hold up the gift bag with a big smile. Say: “It’s almost Christmas, so I brought a present for our class. I picked it out myself!”
  2. Let a kid who is sitting ready pull out each item: a broken crayon, a holey sock, a bent spoon, an empty wrapper.
  3. React proudly: “Isn’t it great? They’re my leftovers!” Let them groan.
  4. Ask: “Would you give this to your principal? To the bishop?” Then say: “In Malachi’s day, people were giving God their leftovers: sick, limping animals. Let’s see what the Lord said.”
  5. Bring out the good gift (new crayons, stickers or the treat): “Here’s my BEST. That’s what the Lord deserves too.”
🌪️ Only kids sitting criss-cross get to pull an item out of the bag. Save the best gift for the very end of the hook.

Class screen: 🎁 The worst present ever? · Broken crayon 🖍️ · Holey sock 🧦 · Bent spoon 🥄

No supplies? Do this instead

Instead of: A gift bag with “leftover” junk inside: a broken crayon, a sock with a hole, a bent spoon, an empty wrapper

Leftovers for You! (Invisible Edition)

  1. Hold up an invisible gift bag with a big smile. Say: “It’s almost Christmas, so I brought a present for our class. I picked it out myself!”
  2. Pull out each pretend item slowly and let them guess what it is: snap a crayon in half (“Crack!”), poke your fingers through a sock hole and wiggle them, bend a spoon, crinkle an empty wrapper.
  3. React proudly: “Isn’t it great? They’re my leftovers!” Let them groan. Ask: “Show me the face you’d make if you got this for Christmas.”
  4. Ask: “Would you give this to your principal? To the bishop?” Then say: “In Malachi’s day, people were giving God their leftovers: sick, limping animals. Let’s see what the Lord said.”
  5. Pretend to lift out one shining, sparkly gift. Everyone: “Ooooh!” Say: “This is my BEST. That’s what the Lord deserves too.”
2. Story

Story Drama: Elijah Will Come!

6 min

Following one promise across 2,000 years shows kids that God always keeps His word.

  1. Hand out the roles (tap Roles in Teach Mode to assign them from your class list). Give Elijah the white towel and the key.
  2. Everyone without a role is in the Temple Crowd & Families. Choose one crowd member to be Oliver Cowdery in scene 8.
  3. Read each scene aloud and pause for the action cue.
  4. At scene 8, slow way down and lower your voice. Let the Kirtland Temple moment feel special.
  5. End with the family chain in scene 10. Say: “Malachi’s last promise came true. God always keeps His word.”
🌪️ Tell them before you start: scenes 1–5 are loud and silly, scenes 8–10 are quiet and reverent. Kids handle the shift much better when they know it’s coming.

Class screen: 🎭 Story Drama time! · Everyone gets a part

No supplies? Do this instead

Instead of: A white towel or scarf for Elijah, and any real key

  1. Hand out the roles (tap Roles in Teach Mode to assign them from your class list). Elijah wraps on an invisible shining robe. Everyone else is in the Temple Crowd & Families. Choose one crowd member to be Oliver Cowdery in scene 8.
  2. Read each scene aloud and pause for the action cue.
  3. At scene 8, slow way down and lower your voice. Let the Kirtland Temple moment feel special.
  4. At scene 9, Elijah holds out a giant invisible golden key with both hands. Joseph takes it and turns it in the air. Everyone: “CLICK!” Tap Sound Board and play “bells.”
  5. End with the family chain in scene 10. Say: “Malachi’s last promise came true. God always keeps His word.”
3. Wiggle break

Elijah Says

2 min

A turning twist on Simon Says gets them moving and acts out “turning hearts.”

  1. Point to the front wall: “This wall is the children.” Point to the back wall: “This wall is the fathers: parents, grandparents and great-grandparents.”
  2. Play like Simon Says, but only move when you hear “Elijah says.”
  3. Try: Elijah says turn your heart to the fathers (face the back wall and make a heart with your hands) · Elijah says turn your heart to the children · Elijah says spin slowly like a whirlwind · Elijah says leap like a calf let out of the barn (Malachi 4:2) · Touch your toes! (Oops, Elijah didn’t say!)
  4. Nobody is out. If someone moves by mistake, they do three jumping jacks and keep playing.
  5. Finish with: “Elijah says smile at the person next to you. We’re all part of Heavenly Father’s family!”

Class screen: 🔄 Elijah Says: turn your heart! · Front wall = children · Back wall = fathers

4. Object lesson

Ten Pennies and a Blessing Blizzard

4 min

Counting real coins makes tithing concrete, and a cotton-ball “blizzard” shows blessings too big to hold.

  1. Give each child a cup of 10 pennies. Say: “Pretend this is your birthday money: ten whole dollars!” Count them out loud together, 1 to 10.
  2. SAY“Tithing means giving one out of every ten back to the Lord. Everything we have comes from Heavenly Father, and He asks for just one part.” Pass the TITHING envelope; each child drops in one penny. Ask: “How many do you have left?” (Nine!)
  3. Show the real donation slip. Say: “When you get money, you can write your name and your tithing on a slip like this, put it in an envelope, and give it to a member of the bishopric. Your parents can help.”
  4. Read Malachi 3:10. Hold the paper window up high. Say: “The Lord promises to open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing. Ready?” Open the shutters and pour the cotton balls over the class.
  5. Let them try to catch them all. They can’t! Say: “There shall not be room enough to receive it!”
  6. Cleanup race: each child picks up cotton balls and names one blessing for each: temples, meetinghouses, missionaries, scriptures, food, family, feeling the Holy Ghost.
  7. SAY“Some blessings we can see. Many are quiet, like peace and faith. Tithing is a way to say thank you, and Heavenly Father always keeps His promises.”
🌪️ Pennies stay in the cups until you say “Count!” After the blizzard, freeze when you close the window, then start the cleanup race.

Class screen: 🪟 Open the windows of heaven! · 1 out of 10 = tithing · Blessings too big to hold!

No supplies? Do this instead

Instead of: 10 pennies (or buttons or paper circles) per child in small cups, plus one envelope marked TITHING, A big bag of cotton balls, at least 5 per child

Ten Fingers and a Blessing Blizzard

  1. Everyone holds up 10 fingers. Say: “Pretend your fingers are your birthday money: ten whole dollars!” Count them out loud together, 1 to 10.
  2. SAY“Tithing means giving one out of every ten back to the Lord. Everything we have comes from Heavenly Father, and He asks for just one part.” Cup your hands like a TITHING envelope and walk around; each child folds down one finger and drops it in. Ask: “How many do you have left?” (Nine!)
  3. SAY“When you get real money, you write your name and your tithing on a little slip, put it in an envelope, and give it to a member of the bishopric. Your parents can help.”
  4. Choose two helpers to be the window of heaven: they face each other and join hands high. Read Malachi 3:10. Say: “The Lord promises to open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing. Ready?” The window swings open, tap Sound Board and play “rain,” and everyone tries to catch the invisible blessings pouring down until their arms are overflowing.
  5. They can’t hold them all! Say: “There shall not be room enough to receive it!” Then cleanup race: pick up one blessing at a time and name it out loud: temples, meetinghouses, missionaries, scriptures, food, family, feeling the Holy Ghost.
  6. SAY“Some blessings we can see. Many are quiet, like peace and faith. Tithing is a way to say thank you, and Heavenly Father always keeps His promises.”

Class screen: 🪟 Open the windows of heaven! · 10 fingers → give 1 = tithing · Catch the blessings!

5. Scripture

Scripture Spotlight: Malachi 3:10

3 min

Motions help them remember the Lord’s tithing promise.

  1. Show the verse on your phone or tablet and read it once slowly.
  2. Teach the motions one phrase at a time.
  3. Say it three ways: normal voice, whisper, then super-excited voice.
  4. Ask: “What does ‘prove me’ mean?” (Try it and see that the Lord keeps His promise!) “What blessings has your family received from Heavenly Father?”

Class screen: 🌧️ Not room enough to receive it!

6. Game

Four Corners of Malachi

4 minBONUS

Tiptoeing to the right corner reviews every part of Malachi while burning off energy.

  1. Point out the four corner signs: 🐑 Best Gift · 🪟 Windows of Heaven · 📖 Book of Remembrance · 🔑 Elijah.
  2. Tap Noise Meter. Say: “Tiptoe so quietly the meter stays green.”
  3. Read a clue. Everyone tiptoes to the matching corner, then you reveal the answer.
  4. Clues: Someone gives God a limping lamb (🐑) · You get $10 and put $1 in a tithing envelope (🪟) · The Lord writes down the names of people who love Him (📖) · Moroni told Joseph Smith about this prophet (🔑) · You sing your very best in sacrament meeting (🐑) · The Lord calls you His jewel (📖) · Grandma tells you a story about her grandpa (🔑) · Blessings pour down with no room to hold them (🪟)
  5. Play until every clue is used. If the meter hits red, everyone freezes and tiptoes back to the middle before the next clue.
🐭 Noise Meter (a class game in the Gospel Sparks app)

Class screen: 🧭 Four Corners: tiptoe to the answer! · 🐑 Best Gift · 🪟 Windows of Heaven · 📖 Book of Remembrance · 🔑 Elijah

No supplies? Do this instead

Instead of: 4 sheets of paper and tape for the Four Corners signs

Four Corners: Strike a Pose

  1. Point to each corner and give it a pose instead of a sign: 🐑 Best Gift = baa on hands and knees · 🪟 Windows of Heaven = throw open shutters · 📖 Book of Remembrance = open-book hands · 🔑 Elijah = turn a key: “click.” The kids’ screen shows all four.
  2. Tap Noise Meter. Say: “Tiptoe so quietly the meter stays green.”
  3. Read a clue. Everyone tiptoes to the matching corner and does its pose, then you reveal the answer.
  4. Clues: Someone gives God a limping lamb (🐑) · You get $10 and put $1 in a tithing envelope (🪟) · The Lord writes down the names of people who love Him (📖) · Moroni told Joseph Smith about this prophet (🔑) · You sing your very best in sacrament meeting (🐑) · The Lord calls you His jewel (📖) · Grandma tells you a story about her grandpa (🔑) · Blessings pour down with no room to hold them (🪟)
  5. Play until every clue is used. If the meter hits red, everyone freezes and tiptoes back to the middle before the next clue.
7. Game

Forehead Guess: Windows of Heaven Edition

4 min

A Heads Up–style guessing game that reviews the lambs, the windows and Elijah’s keys.

  1. Tap Forehead Guess. One kid holds your phone or tablet on their forehead, screen facing the class.
  2. The class gives clues without saying the word. The hint under each word helps if they get stuck.
  3. Guesser tilts your phone or tablet down for “got it,” up to pass. Each turn lasts 45 seconds.
  4. Switch to Act It Out mode: Lamb, Window, Key and Soap are great for acting.
🌪️ Clue-givers stay seated and take turns around the circle. Anyone who blurts the word waits one round to give a clue.
▶ Play Forehead Guess on the web

Class screen: 🤔 Forehead Guess! · Give clues, don’t say the word!

8. Game

Draw & Guess

4 minBONUS

Quiet artists and loud guessers both get a turn to shine.

  1. Tap Draw & Guess. One kid draws a word from today’s lesson on your phone or tablet while the class guesses.
  2. No letters or numbers allowed in the drawing!
  3. Whoever guesses right draws next, or use the Name Spinner so everyone gets a turn.
🖍️ Draw & Guess (a class game in the Gospel Sparks app)

Class screen: 🎨 Draw & Guess!

9. Game

Scripture Showdown

5 minBONUS

A fast team quiz reviews everything they learned.

  1. Split into two teams. Tap Scripture Showdown to start.
  2. Read each question aloud. Teams whisper together, then point to an answer.
  3. Tap the team that got it right to give them a point.
▶ Play Scripture Showdown on the web

Class screen: 🏆 Scripture Showdown!

10. Talk it over

Talk It Over

2 min

Connect Malachi’s promises to their own money, effort and family.

  1. Sit in a circle. Toss a soft ball (or a rolled-up sock) to whoever answers next.
  2. Ask one question at a time, and share your own answer too.
💬 Ask the class
  • Malachi 1:2 says, “I have loved you.” How do you know the Lord loves you?
  • What does giving the Lord your best look like for an 8-year-old?
  • If you got $20 for Christmas, how much would your tithing be? How would you pay it?
  • What do you know about a grandparent or great-grandparent? What would you like to ask them?

Class screen: 💬 Let’s talk!

No supplies? Do this instead

Instead of: A soft ball or rolled-up sock

Talk It Over: Catch a Blessing

  1. Sit in a circle. Cup your hands: “I’m holding a blessing straight from the windows of heaven. Whoever catches it answers the next question.”
  2. Toss the invisible blessing gently. The catcher catches it with both hands, answers, then tosses it to someone new.
  3. Ask one question at a time, and share your own answer too. If everyone wants it at once, tap Name Spinner to choose who catches next.
11. Testimony

Testimony & Heart-Turning Interview

2 min

End calm and reverent, with a family history mission for Christmas week.

  1. Lower your voice. Share one or two sentences about a blessing you’ve received from paying tithing, or how you feel about families being together forever.
  2. Introduce the Heart-Turning Interview challenge on the screen.
  3. Ask a child to say the closing prayer.

Class screen: 🎤 This week: interview a parent or grandparent! · What was Christmas like when you were 8? · Write or draw one answer

Story drama

Elijah Will Come!

Malachi 1; 3–4; 3 Nephi 24–26; Joseph Smith—History 1:36–39; Doctrine and Covenants 110 ↗

Parts to hand out

  • MalachiThe prophet who asks, “Would your governor want that?” and promises that Elijah will come.
  • Careless PriestYawns and drags in the Limping Lamb as an offering.
  • Limping LambLimps, coughs and gives a very sad “baaa.”
  • Record KeeperWrites names in the book of remembrance, then writes super fast for the Nephites.
  • Angel MoroniAppears at Joseph’s bedside and points up: “Elijah will come!”
  • Joseph SmithSleeps, wakes up amazed, and later kneels in the Kirtland Temple.
  • ElijahWears the white towel and hands Joseph the key: “CLICK!”
  • Temple Crowd & FamiliesEveryone else: whisper, catch blessings, tick like clocks and link arms at the end. One of you is Oliver Cowdery in scene 8.

Scenes

  1. 🐑🩹 A gift nobody wanted

    At the temple in Jerusalem, some priests had gotten lazy. Instead of giving the Lord their best animals, they brought the blind ones, the limping ones and the sick ones. The ones nobody else wanted!

    🎬 The Careless Priest yawns and drags in the Limping Lamb, who limps and coughs: “Baaa…” Crowd: “Ewww!”

  2. 🧔❓ “Would your governor want that?”

    The prophet Malachi said, “Try giving that sick lamb to your governor. Would he be pleased with you?” Then he gave them the Lord’s message: “I have loved you.” The Lord didn’t want their leftovers. He wanted their hearts.

    🎬 Malachi offers the lamb to the teacher (the governor), who shakes their head no. Lamb: “Baa?”

  3. 🪟🌧️ Open the windows of heaven!

    The people asked, “How have we robbed God?” Malachi answered, “In tithes and offerings.” Then came a promise: bring all your tithes, and the Lord will open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing so big you won’t have room for it all!

    🎬 Everyone throws open pretend window shutters, then catches falling blessings: “Whoa! Too many!”

  4. 📖💎 A book of remembrance

    The people who loved the Lord talked together about Him. The Lord listened, and their names were written in a book of remembrance. “They shall be mine,” said the Lord, “when I make up my jewels.”

    🎬 Crowd whispers in pairs. The Record Keeper writes names in the air. Everyone sparkles like a jewel: “Bling!”

  5. 🔥⏳ One last promise… then waiting

    At the very end of his book, Malachi made a big promise from the Lord: “I will send you Elijah the prophet.” Elijah was the prophet who went up to heaven in a whirlwind, with a chariot of fire! Then the Old Testament ended, and the people waited, and waited.

    🎬 Malachi points up: “Elijah will come!” Crowd spins slowly once like a whirlwind, then ticks like clocks: “Tick… tock…”

  6. 🌎📜 Jesus gives Malachi’s words to the Nephites

    After Jesus rose again, He visited the people in the Americas. Their families had left Jerusalem long before Malachi lived, so they didn’t have his words. Jesus taught them Malachi’s promises, Elijah and all, and told them to write them down.

    🎬 The Record Keeper scribbles super fast. Crowd: “Write it down! Write it down!”

  7. 👼🌙 Moroni visits Joseph Smith

    In 1823, the angel Moroni visited 17-year-old Joseph Smith in his bedroom at night. He quoted Malachi’s promise about Elijah, a little differently. He said Elijah would bring priesthood power, and that God’s promises to their ancestors would be planted in children’s hearts.

    🎬 Joseph lies down, then sits up amazed. Moroni points up: “Elijah will come!”

  8. ⛪✨ Easter Sunday in the Kirtland Temple

    On April 3, 1836, which was Easter Sunday, Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery knelt to pray in the new Kirtland Temple. Jesus Christ Himself appeared to them! Then three heavenly messengers came, one after another: Moses, Elias and… Elijah!

    🎬 Joseph and Oliver kneel. Everyone gasps and whispers, “Elijah!” as Elijah steps forward.

  9. 🔑❤️ The keys to seal families forever

    Elijah said the time Malachi talked about had fully come. He gave Joseph and Oliver the keys, God’s power and authority, to seal families together forever in holy temples. Malachi’s promise came true more than 2,000 years after he made it!

    🎬 Elijah hands Joseph the key: “CLICK!” Everyone makes a heart with their hands.

  10. 🏛️👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Hearts turning today

    Today there are temples all over the world. Because Elijah came, families can be sealed together forever. And every time you learn about your grandparents and great-grandparents, your heart turns toward them, just as Malachi said.

    🎬 Everyone links arms in one long family chain and says, “Together forever!”

Key verse

Malachi 3:10 ↗
“Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse … and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it”
In kid words: Bring your tithing to the Lord and try it! See if He won’t open the windows of heaven and pour out more blessings than you can hold.
🙌 “Bring ye all the tithes” = hold up one finger (one out of ten), then carry a pretend box · “into the storehouse” = make a roof over your head with your arms · “and prove me now herewith” = thumbs up: try it! · “open you the windows of heaven” = push open two big shutters · “and pour you out a blessing” = wiggle your fingers down like rain · “not room enough to receive it” = hug an armful that’s way too big: “Whoa!”

More verses

Malachi 1:2 ↗
“I have loved you, saith the LORD.”
In kid words: The Lord says, “I love you.”
Malachi 1:8 ↗
“if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee”
In kid words: Would you give a sick, limping animal to the governor? Then don’t give one to God. Give Him your best!
Malachi 3:16–17 ↗
“a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name. And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels”
In kid words: The Lord writes down the names of people who love Him and think about Him. He calls them His jewels!
Malachi 4:5–6 ↗
“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet … And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers”
In kid words: God promised to send Elijah to help families love each other, from kids all the way back to great-great-grandparents.

Forehead Guess words18 words

  • 🧔 Malachi
  • 🐑 Lamb
  • 💰 Tithing
  • 🪟 Window
  • 🔟 Ten
  • ✉️ Envelope
  • 🔥 Elijah
  • 🏛️ Temple
  • 🔑 Key
  • 🌳 Family Tree
  • 👵 Grandma
  • ❤️ Heart
  • 💎 Jewels
  • 📖 Book of Remembrance
  • 🧼 Soap
  • 👦 Joseph Smith
  • 👼 Angel Moroni
  • ☀️ Sun
Clues for each word
  • Malachi: The last prophet in the Old Testament
  • Lamb: Malachi’s people gave God sick, limping ones
  • Tithing: Giving one out of ten back to the Lord
  • Window: The Lord will open these in heaven
  • Ten: Tithing is one out of this many
  • Envelope: You put your tithing slip inside it
  • Elijah: Prophet who went to heaven in a whirlwind
  • Temple: Where families are sealed forever
  • Key: Elijah gave Joseph Smith the sealing ones
  • Family Tree: A chart of parents, grandparents and great-grandparents
  • Grandma: Your mom’s or dad’s mom
  • Heart: Elijah turns these toward our families
  • Jewels: What the Lord calls the people who love Him
  • Book of Remembrance: The Lord writes the names of those who love Him in it
  • Soap: Malachi said Jesus cleans us like this
  • Joseph Smith: Saw Elijah in the Kirtland Temple
  • Angel Moroni: Told Joseph Smith that Elijah would come
  • Sun: Malachi called Jesus the ___ of righteousness
▶ Play Forehead GuessFull screen, 60-second timer, works on any phone.

Scripture Showdown8 questions

  1. What kind of animals were the priests giving the Lord?
    • A. Blind, sick and limping ones
    • B. The biggest and best ones
    • C. Chocolate bunnies
    Show answer

    ✅ A. Blind, sick and limping ones Malachi 1:8. The Lord deserves our best, not our leftovers.

  2. Tithing is how much of the money we receive?
    • A. Half
    • B. One-tenth
    • C. All of it
    Show answer

    ✅ B. One-tenth One out of every ten. If you get $10, your tithing is $1.

  3. Malachi said the Lord will open the windows of…
    • A. a castle
    • B. a car
    • C. heaven
    Show answer

    ✅ C. heaven Malachi 3:10. He pours out blessings with not enough room to receive them!

  4. What does the Lord call the people who love Him?
    • A. His snacks
    • B. His jewels
    • C. His shoes
    Show answer

    ✅ B. His jewels Malachi 3:17. You are precious to Him!

  5. Which prophet did Malachi promise the Lord would send?
    • A. Elijah
    • B. Jonah
    • C. Daniel
    Show answer

    ✅ A. Elijah Elijah, the prophet who went up to heaven in a whirlwind (2 Kings 2:11).

  6. Who told Joseph Smith about Malachi’s promise in 1823?
    • A. King Herod
    • B. Haggai
    • C. The angel Moroni
    Show answer

    ✅ C. The angel Moroni Moroni quoted it the night he first visited Joseph (Joseph Smith—History 1:36–39).

  7. Where did Elijah appear in 1836?
    • A. The Kirtland Temple
    • B. The Sacred Grove
    • C. Mount Sinai
    Show answer

    ✅ A. The Kirtland Temple On Easter Sunday, April 3, 1836 (Doctrine and Covenants 110).

  8. Elijah turns the hearts of the children to their…
    • A. video games
    • B. fathers and families
    • C. pets
    Show answer

    ✅ B. fathers and families Malachi 4:6. Because Elijah came, families can be sealed together forever in the temple.

▶ Play Scripture ShowdownTeams take turns on one screen.

Songs

  • I Want to Give the Lord My Tenth Children’s Songbook, p. 150

    Sing it right after the Ten Pennies demo. Find it ↗

  • Family History—I Am Doing It Children’s Songbook, p. 94

    Turning our hearts to our ancestors, just as Malachi promised. Find it ↗

  • Families Can Be Together Forever Children’s Songbook, p. 188

    Elijah brought the keys that make it possible (Doctrine and Covenants 110:13–16). Find it ↗

This week’s challenge

Heart-Turning Interview

Interview a parent, grandparent or other older relative. Ask: What was Christmas like when you were 8? What do you remember about your grandparents? Write down or draw one answer and keep it as your own book of remembrance.

Text the parents

Today in Primary we finished the Old Testament with Malachi. We learned that the Lord wants our best, not our leftovers, and that when we pay tithing He promises to “open you the windows of heaven” (Malachi 3:10). We also learned that Malachi promised Elijah would come, and he did, in the Kirtland Temple in 1836, so families can be sealed forever. Your child has a mission this week: to interview you! Ask them what they learned about tithing, then tell them what Christmas was like when you were 8.

📝 After class

What worked? Who needs a check-in this week? Jot it here on a printed copy, or in the app’s private class notes.

Got extra time?

🧼 Fullers’ Soap · 4 min

  1. Draw a smiley face on an old white rag or sock with a washable marker.
  2. Read Malachi 3:2: the Lord is “like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ sope.” A fuller was a worker who scrubbed wool cloth until it was clean and white.
  3. Let kids take turns scrubbing the mark with soap and a little water until it fades.
  4. SAY“Jesus can make us clean when we repent. That’s one reason we take the sacrament every week.”

💎 The Lord’s Jewels · 5 min

  1. Cut a big diamond shape from paper for each child.
  2. Read Malachi 3:17: “they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels.”
  3. Kids write their name in the middle and decorate the jewel with sparkly stars and dots.
  4. SAY“You are one of the Lord’s jewels. He knows your name and He remembers you.”

📣 Messenger Relay · 3 min

  1. Read Malachi 3:1: “Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me.”
  2. Line up and whisper a message down the line: “Jesus is coming, get ready!” See if it arrives correctly at the end.
  3. SAY“John the Baptist was the messenger who got people ready for Jesus (Matthew 11:10). This Christmas, we can help people get ready for Jesus too.”

Sources

Scripture quotations are from the King James Version, the Bible used by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Tap or click a reference to open it in Gospel Library. Start with the official Come, Follow Me manual; these ideas are here to help it come alive.

All CTR 8 lessons