The 2027 manual adds a Primary lesson for each fast Sunday (Appendix B), which Primary teachers are encouraged to teach on fast Sunday (usually the first Sunday of the month) in place of the regular Come, Follow Me lesson. January starts with the big picture: Heavenly Father’s plan of salvation, the plan of happiness. It answers the three questions every person eventually asks: Where did I come from? Why am I here? Where am I going? It’s fast Sunday, and some of your 9–11-year-olds may be trying to fast with their families for the first time. Children aren’t required to fast. Praise the effort, keep the room upbeat, and skip food rewards today.
Before we were born: Abraham saw the spirits of all people before the world was made, including many noble and great ones, and was told he was chosen before he was born (Abraham 3:22–23; compare Jeremiah 1:5). The Lord said an earth would be made where His children could be proved, to see whether they would do all He commanded (3:24–25). Those who kept their “first estate” (premortal life) would receive a body and a “second estate” (this life), and those who keep their second estate will have glory added upon them forever (3:26). Jesus Christ offered to do His Father’s will and give Him the glory (Moses 4:2; John 6:38); Satan sought to destroy our agency and take God’s honor for himself, and was cast out (Moses 4:1–3). The children of God “shouted for joy” (Job 38:7).
This life: we receive a body, pass through a veil of forgetting, and learn to walk by faith. Alma calls this life the time to prepare to meet God (Alma 34:32). Heavenly Father packs the journey with help: a Savior who took on our pains, sicknesses and sins so He knows how to help us (Alma 7:11–13), the Holy Ghost who shows us what to do (2 Nephi 32:5), apostles and prophets so we aren’t tossed around by every new idea (Ephesians 4:11–14), and strength through Christ (Philippians 4:13). Jesus is not one of many paths home; He is “the way” (John 14:6).
After this life: spirits go to the spirit world, where those who never heard the gospel can be taught (Doctrine and Covenants 138:30–34). Their ordinances are done by proxy in temples, which Paul mentions in 1 Corinthians 15:29. Many of your oldest kids can begin doing baptisms for the dead as early as January of the year they turn 12, the same time they move into Young Women or a deacons quorum. Help them see that temple work is the plan being fair to everyone. The Savior invites all to repent, be baptized and stand spotless before Him (3 Nephi 27:19–20), and God will dwell with His people and wipe away all tears (Revelation 21:3–4). Be gentle when death comes up; a child may be grieving someone.
