I Will Love Them Freely

A locust army, a torn robe, and a God who keeps calling His people home

  • ⭐ Valiant 9–11
  • Week 47
  • 📅 Sunday, November 22, 2026
🤔 Forehead Guess🏆 Showdown
💡 The big idea

The Lord keeps loving me and inviting me back, even when I wander, and when I turn to Him with my whole heart, He heals me, restores what was lost and pours out His Spirit.

I can turn to the Lord with my whole heart, not just on the outside, and trust that He always wants me back.

Know the chapters

Hosea and Joel are two of the twelve short books at the end of the Old Testament called the “minor prophets” (minor because they’re short, not because they matter less). Hosea preached to the northern kingdom of Israel, often called Ephraim, in the years before Assyria conquered it. The Lord used Hosea’s own family as a living parable: Hosea’s wife broke her marriage promises and left, and the Lord told Hosea to go and bring her home (Hosea 1–3). That’s how the Lord felt about Israel. They had broken their covenant with Him, and He still wanted them back. For 9–11s, keep the marriage details simple: covenants are promises of loyal love, and the Lord keeps His side even when we don’t.

Hosea’s tenderest verses show the Lord as a parent teaching a toddler to walk, “taking them by their arms” and drawing them “with bands of love” (11:3–4). He asks, “How shall I give thee up, Ephraim?” (11:8) and promises, “I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely” (14:4). He declares “there is no saviour beside me” and promises to “ransom them from the power of the grave” (13:4, 14), fulfilled in Jesus Christ’s Atonement and Resurrection. Hosea also complains that Israel’s goodness is “as a morning cloud” that burns off by noon (6:4), and that the Lord wants mercy more than sacrifices (6:6). Jesus quoted that verse when people criticized Him for eating with sinners (Matthew 9:13).

Joel describes wave after wave of locusts stripping the land bare (Joel 1:4–12), then a call to “turn ye even to me with all your heart” and to “rend your heart, and not your garments” (2:12–13). People tore their clothes to show sorrow; the Lord wanted a changed heart, not a show. When they turned back, He sent rain and full harvests and promised, “I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten” (2:25), a picture of how the Savior restores what sin and hard times take from us.

Joel 2:28–29 promises the Lord will “pour out my spirit upon all flesh” and that sons and daughters will prophesy. Peter quoted it at Pentecost (Acts 2:16–18). In 1823 the angel Moroni quoted it to Joseph Smith and said it was not yet fulfilled but soon would be (Joseph Smith—History 1:41). The Restoration and the gift of the Holy Ghost are part of that outpouring. Your 11-year-olds are about to receive more responsibility, and the Spirit is how they’ll know what to do: not always dramatic, usually quiet and steady.

Only have 5 minutes?

Read Hosea 11:1–4; 14:1–4 and Joel 2:12–13, 25–28. Do the Walk Like Ephraim hook (no supplies), run the Locust Army drama from your phone or tablet, and play Forehead Guess. End with Hosea 13:4 and your testimony of Jesus Christ. No paper for Rend Your Heart? Mime the robe and let the class supply the “RRRIP!”

What to bring4 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. Draw a robe on one sheet of paper. Draw a big heart on the second sheet, then crumple it into a hard ball.
  2. Set up a simple path around a few chairs for Walk Like Ephraim.
  3. Bookmark Joel 2:12, 2:13 and 2:25 for your Scripture Readers, and Matthew 9:10–13 for the object lesson.
  4. Pick a kid who reads well to be the Discussion Moderator; you’ll hand them your phone or tablet for the discussion.
  5. Add your kids’ names in the My Class tab so the Name Spinner works.

If your class is wild

  • In Walk Like Ephraim, guides hold forearms, never hands over eyes. Eyes-closed walkers go slowly.
  • The Locust Army is the perfect job for your loudest kids, but locusts buzz with their mouths and flutter with their fingers. No flying across the room.
  • When you tear the paper robe, make it loud and dramatic. Then go very quiet for the crumpled heart; the contrast is the lesson.
  • Handing an 11-year-old the discussion device builds leadership and calms the room. Sit next to them and whisper follow-up questions.
  • If the energy drops, Sow, Reap, Rain can be replayed as a speed round anytime.

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

Walk Like Ephraim

3 min

Guiding a partner by the arms shows how the Lord has been leading us, often without our noticing.

  1. Pair kids up. One is the “toddler” with eyes closed; the other is the guide who holds their forearms and walks them slowly around the chairs.
  2. Switch roles after 30 seconds.
  3. Have a kid read Hosea 11:3–4. Ask: “What did the Lord say Israel didn’t notice?” (“They knew not that I healed them.”)
  4. Ask: “How was it to walk with your eyes closed? Did you trust your guide?” Say: “The Lord has been holding your arms your whole life. This week’s prophets show how much He loves people who keep wandering off.”
🌪️ Guides hold forearms only and walk at toddler speed. Any running and the pair sits out the next round.

Class screen: 🚶 Eyes closed. Trust your guide. · Hosea 11:3–4

2. Story

Story Drama: The Locust Army and the Great Comeback

6 min

Joel’s disaster-to-comeback story shows that it’s never too late to turn back, and that the Lord restores and pours out His Spirit.

  1. Hand out the roles (tap Roles in Teach Mode). Everyone left over is a Farmer or a Locust.
  2. Give your three Scripture Readers their verses: Joel 2:12, 2:13 and 2:25.
  3. Read each scene aloud and pause for the readers and actions.
  4. At scene 5, freeze the class mid-rip and ask: “Why doesn’t the Lord want the torn robe?”
  5. After scene 10, ask: “Joel’s prophecy came true at least twice. Which two times?” (Pentecost and the Restoration.)
🌪️ Locusts buzz in place with fluttering fingers. They never touch the farmers or the crops (kids).

Class screen: 🦗 From locust disaster to the great comeback · Everyone has a part

3. Wiggle break

Sow, Reap, Rain

2 min

A speed game with the actions of Hosea 10:12 gets wiggles out and teaches that it’s always time to seek the Lord.

  1. Pick a kid to be the Caller. Everyone stands. Teach five actions: Sow (scatter seeds) · Reap (swing a sickle) · Break up your fallow ground (dig hard) · Seek the Lord (hand over eyes, look around) · Rain (fingers flutter down).
  2. The Caller shouts actions faster and faster. Wrong action = sit down.
  3. Last two standing read Hosea 10:12 together: “for it is time to seek the LORD.”
  4. Ask: “When is it time to seek the Lord?” (Now. Always.)
🌪️ Sickles and shovels are invisible and swing only in your own space.

Class screen: 🌱 Sow! Reap! Dig! Seek! Rain! · Hosea 10:12

4. Object lesson

Rend Your Heart

3 min

A loud torn robe and a quiet crumpled heart show the difference between looking sorry and truly repenting.

  1. Hold up the paper robe. Have a volunteer tear it in half as loudly and dramatically as possible. Ask: “Did anything change inside them?”
  2. Hold up the crumpled heart ball. Say: “This is a hard heart.” Hand it to another kid to open slowly and carefully, smoothing it flat. Ask: “What’s left?” (Creases.)
  3. Have a kid read Joel 2:13. Say: “The Lord doesn’t want a show. He wants the heart. And He promises, ‘I will heal their backsliding.’ He can smooth out even the creases.”
  4. Have another kid read Matthew 9:10–13. Ask: “Jesus quoted Hosea 6:6 there. What was He telling the people who judged Him?”

Class screen: 💔 Tear the robe or change the heart? · Joel 2:13

No supplies? Do this instead

Instead of: Two sheets of paper: draw a simple robe on one; draw a heart on the other and crumple it into a tight ball

  1. Pick a volunteer to grab an invisible robe and “tear” it while the whole class makes the loudest “RRRIP!” they can. Ask: “Did anything change inside them?”
  2. SAY“Now make your hand into a hard, tight fist. That’s a stony heart.” Everyone slowly opens their fist, finger by finger, and lays their open hand over their heart.
  3. Have a kid read Joel 2:13. Say: “The Lord doesn’t want a show. He wants the heart. And He promises, ‘I will heal their backsliding.’”
  4. Have another kid read Matthew 9:10–13. Ask: “Jesus quoted Hosea 6:6 there. What was He telling the people who judged Him?”

Class screen: ✊ Tear the robe or open the heart?

5. Scripture

Scripture Spotlight: Hosea 14:4

3 min

Kids memorize the Lord’s promise to heal and love freely, and talk about what “freely” means.

  1. Show the verse on your phone or tablet. A Verse Leader reads it and teaches the motions.
  2. Say it three times: normal, whisper, then one kid at a time around the circle, one word each.
  3. Ask: “What does ‘backsliding’ mean?” (Sliding back into old mistakes.) “What does it mean that He loves us freely?” (We don’t earn it or pay for it.)
  4. SAY“Hosea 14:1 starts with an invitation: ‘O Israel, return unto the LORD thy God.’ Verse 4 is what He does when we come back.”

Class screen: 💞 “I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely” · Hosea 14:4

6. Game

Forehead Guess: Locusts and Love Edition

3 min

A Heads Up–style round reviews the tricky words from Hosea and Joel.

  1. Tap Forehead Guess. A kid runs the timer: 45 seconds per guesser.
  2. The guesser holds your phone or tablet on their forehead. Classmates give clues without saying the word; tilt down for got it, up to pass.
  3. Hard mode: for Palmerworm and Cankerworm, clue-givers can only act them out.
🌪️ One clue at a time, hand raised. The guesser picks who goes next.

Class screen: 🤔 Forehead Guess! Can you get Palmerworm? · Don’t say the word!

7. Talk it over

Kid-Led Discussion

3 min

An 11-year-old runs the discussion while the class digs into covenant love, real repentance and the Holy Ghost.

  1. Hand your phone or tablet to your Discussion Moderator. They read each question and tap the Name Spinner to pick who answers first.
  2. After the first answer, the Moderator asks, “Who can add to that?” and calls on one more person.
  3. Sit beside the Moderator and add your own thoughts, especially on the last question.
💬 Ask the class
  • In Hosea 2:19–20 the Lord compares His covenant with us to a marriage. What do they have in common?
  • Why do you think the Lord kept inviting Israel back after they broke their promises again and again?
  • Joel said, “Rend your heart, and not your garments.” What’s the difference between looking sorry and really repenting?
  • Hosea 6:4 says Israel’s goodness vanished like a morning cloud. How can we make our goodness last all day?
  • Joel promised the Spirit for sons and daughters. When have you felt the Holy Ghost, and how can you feel Him more?
🎡 Name Spinner (a class game in the Gospel Sparks app)

Class screen: 🎤 Your turn to lead the discussion! · Read it · Spin it · Add to it

8. Testimony

No Saviour Beside Me

2 min

End quietly with Jesus Christ, the only Savior, who never gives up on us.

  1. Read Hosea 11:8 softly: “How shall I give thee up, Ephraim?” Say: “Put your own name there. That’s how He feels about you.”
  2. Read Hosea 13:4, 14: “there is no saviour beside me … I will ransom them from the power of the grave.” Say: “That’s Jesus Christ. He paid for our sins and broke the power of death.”
  3. Share a short testimony of the Savior’s love and a time He helped you come back.
  4. Introduce the Seek-the-Lord Clock challenge. Ask a child to say the closing prayer.

Class screen: ✝️ “There is no saviour beside me.” · Hosea 13:4

9. Game

Scripture Showdown

5 minBONUS

A tough team quiz reviews Hosea, Joel, Pentecost and Moroni’s visit.

  1. Split into Team Hosea and Team Joel. Tap Scripture Showdown.
  2. Read each question aloud. Teams huddle for 10 seconds, then their captain answers.
  3. Bonus point for naming the verse.

Class screen: 🏆 Scripture Showdown!

10. Game

Chase Away the Locusts

4 minBONUS

A Mystery Picture round reviews the lesson while the tiles “get eaten away.”

  1. Tap Mystery Picture. Each correct answer to a review question removes a tile.
  2. Kids take turns asking the review questions from the lesson.
  3. The first team to name the hidden picture wins the round.
🧩 Mystery Picture (a class game in the Gospel Sparks app)

Class screen: 🧩 What’s hiding behind the tiles?

Story drama

The Locust Army and the Great Comeback

Joel 1–2; Acts 2:16–18 ↗

Parts to hand out

  • JoelThe prophet. Blows the warning, calls the people back, and stops them from tearing their robes.
  • The Locust ArmyFour waves of bugs that buzz in and munch everything, then flee when the Lord sends them away.
  • FarmersPlant, watch their crops disappear, then celebrate the rain and full barns.
  • The PriestsKneel and plead, “Spare thy people, O LORD.”
  • Scripture ReadersThree kids read Joel 2:12, 2:13 and 2:25 straight from the scriptures.
  • PeterStands up at Pentecost and says, “This is what Joel was talking about!”
  • MoroniThe angel who visits young Joseph Smith in 1823 and quotes Joel 2.
  • Joseph SmithA teenage farm boy who listens to Moroni all night.

Scenes

  1. 🦗🌾 Wave after wave of bugs

    It started with one swarm. Then another. Joel names four kinds of crawling, chewing insects, and each one ate whatever the one before it had left behind.

    🎬 The Locust Army buzzes in four waves, fingers fluttering. Farmers try to shoo them away. Nothing works.

  2. 🍇🌳 Bare vines, bare trees, empty barns

    The grapevines were stripped. The fig trees were chewed down to bare white wood. The wheat was gone, the barns were empty, and even the animals groaned with hunger.

    🎬 Farmers hold up empty hands and look around in shock. The crowd moans like hungry cattle: “Mooo.”

  3. 🎺🌑 “Blow ye the trumpet in Zion!”

    Joel said this was a warning, a picture of a great and terrible day. Blow the trumpet! Sound the alarm! A day of darkness and thick clouds is coming.

    🎬 Joel cups his hands and blows a pretend trumpet. Everyone crouches and covers their heads.

  4. 💔🔁 “Turn ye even to me”

    Then came the most important words in the book. It wasn’t too late. The Lord was calling His people back, and He wanted all of them, not just part.

    🎬 Scripture Reader 1 reads Joel 2:12. Everyone slowly turns around in a full circle to face Joel.

  5. 👘✋ Rend your heart, not your robe

    Back then, people tore their clothes to show they were sorry. It looked dramatic. But Joel told them the Lord didn’t want a torn robe. He wanted a changed heart.

    🎬 The crowd grabs their collars, ready to rip. Joel holds up his hand: “Stop!” Scripture Reader 2 reads Joel 2:13.

  6. 🙏😢 “Spare thy people, O LORD”

    The people gathered: old people, kids, even babies. The priests wept between the temple porch and the altar and pleaded with the Lord to have mercy on His people.

    🎬 The Priests kneel and say together, “Spare thy people, O LORD.” Everyone bows their heads for three seconds.

  7. 🌧️🌾 Rain, wheat and overflowing barrels

    The Lord answered! He drove the locust army away and sent rain, the early rain and the late rain. The threshing floors filled with wheat, and the barrels overflowed with wine and oil.

    🎬 Everyone flutters fingers down like rain. Farmers scoop up armfuls of wheat and cheer.

  8. 🔄🗓️ “I will restore to you the years”

    Then came a promise bigger than one good harvest. The Lord said He would give back the years the locusts had eaten. What was lost wasn’t lost forever.

    🎬 Scripture Reader 3 reads Joel 2:25. The Locust Army “un-eats” the crops: walks backward, fluttering in reverse.

  9. 🔥🗣️ Pentecost: “This is that!”

    Joel also promised the Lord would pour out His Spirit on everyone: sons and daughters, old and young. Hundreds of years later, on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Ghost came on Jesus’s disciples, and Peter stood up and said this was what Joel had prophesied.

    🎬 Peter stands up and points back at Joel: “This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel!”

  10. 👼🌙 1823: Moroni quotes Joel to Joseph

    And there’s more. In 1823 the angel Moroni visited young Joseph Smith at night and quoted Joel 2. He said it hadn’t been fulfilled yet, but soon would be. The Restoration was about to begin, and the Spirit would be poured out again.

    🎬 Joseph Smith sits up, wide-eyed. Moroni points up and then to Joseph. Everyone whispers: “Soon!”

Key verse

Hosea 14:4 ↗
“I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him”
In kid words: When we slide backward, the Lord promises to heal us. He loves us freely, not because we earned it.
🙌 “I will heal their backsliding” = take a step back, then place hands over your heart · “I will love them freely” = open arms wide · “for mine anger is turned away from him” = turn your head away and smile.

More verses

Hosea 11:4 ↗
“I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love”
In kid words: The Lord pulls us close gently, with ropes made of love.
Hosea 6:6 ↗
“For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings”
In kid words: The Lord cares more about mercy and really knowing Him than about showy offerings.
Joel 2:13 ↗
“rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness”
In kid words: Don’t just look sorry on the outside. Change your heart and come back to the Lord. He is kind and merciful.
Joel 2:28 ↗
“I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy”
In kid words: The Lord will pour out His Spirit on everyone, including kids like you.

Forehead Guess words20 words

  • 🧔 Hosea
  • 📢 Joel
  • 👶 Ephraim
  • 🤝 Covenant
  • 🪢 Cords of love
  • ☁️ Morning cloud
  • 🛝 Backsliding
  • 🌱 Sow
  • 🪨 Fallow ground
  • 🦗 Locust
  • 🐛 Palmerworm
  • 🐛 Cankerworm
  • 🎺 Trumpet
  • ✂️ Rend
  • 🌧️ Rain
  • 🔄 Restore
  • 🔥 Pentecost
  • 👼 Moroni
  • ✝️ Saviour
  • 🕊️ Holy Ghost
Clues for each word
  • Hosea: Prophet whose family became a living parable of God’s love
  • Joel: Prophet who warned about the locust army
  • Ephraim: The Lord taught him to walk, “taking them by their arms”
  • Covenant: A two-way promise with God
  • Cords of love: How the Lord draws us close, Hosea 11:4
  • Morning cloud: Israel’s goodness vanished like this
  • Backsliding: Slipping back into old mistakes; the Lord heals it
  • Sow: Plant seeds; Hosea 10:12 says do it in righteousness
  • Fallow ground: Hard, unplowed soil that needs breaking up
  • Locust: Grasshopper-like bug that swarms and eats everything
  • Palmerworm: The first chewing bug named in Joel 1:4
  • Cankerworm: Another crop-eating bug in Joel’s swarm
  • Trumpet: “Blow ye the ___ in Zion”
  • Rend: Old word for tear, as in your heart, not your garments
  • Rain: The Lord sent the former and latter kinds
  • Restore: Give back what was lost, like the locust years
  • Pentecost: Day Peter said Joel’s prophecy was happening
  • Moroni: Angel who quoted Joel 2 to Joseph Smith
  • Saviour: Hosea 13:4: there is no other beside the Lord
  • Holy Ghost: Poured out on sons and daughters
▶ Play Forehead GuessFull screen, 60-second timer, works on any phone.

Scripture Showdown10 questions

  1. In Hosea, the Lord compares His covenant with Israel to what?
    • A. A business deal
    • B. A marriage
    • C. A sports team
    Show answer

    ✅ B. A marriage Hosea 2:19–20. A covenant is a promise of loyal, lasting love.

  2. How did the Lord teach Ephraim to walk in Hosea 11:3?
    • A. Taking them by their arms
    • B. With a map
    • C. By sending a chariot
    Show answer

    ✅ A. Taking them by their arms Like a parent with a toddler, “but they knew not that I healed them.”

  3. Hosea said Israel’s goodness was like a morning cloud. Why?
    • A. It was very beautiful
    • B. It brought rain
    • C. It disappeared quickly
    Show answer

    ✅ C. It disappeared quickly Hosea 6:4. Morning clouds and dew burn off by midday.

  4. Jesus quoted which Hosea phrase when people criticized Him for eating with sinners?
    • A. “Blow ye the trumpet”
    • B. “I desired mercy, and not sacrifice”
    • C. “Sow to yourselves”
    Show answer

    ✅ B. “I desired mercy, and not sacrifice” Hosea 6:6, quoted in Matthew 9:13.

  5. Hosea 13:4 says there is no ___ beside the Lord.
    • A. Saviour
    • B. King
    • C. Prophet
    Show answer

    ✅ A. Saviour Jesus Christ is our only Savior and Redeemer.

  6. What stripped the land bare in Joel 1?
    • A. A great flood
    • B. An enemy army of horses
    • C. Swarms of locusts and other insects
    Show answer

    ✅ C. Swarms of locusts and other insects Joel 1:4 names four kinds of crop-eating bugs, wave after wave.

  7. Joel said to rend your heart and not your…
    • A. Garments
    • B. Scrolls
    • C. Tents
    Show answer

    ✅ A. Garments Joel 2:13. The Lord wants a changed heart, not a show.

  8. What did the Lord promise to restore in Joel 2:25?
    • A. The temple’s gold
    • B. The years that the locust had eaten
    • C. Israel’s king
    Show answer

    ✅ B. The years that the locust had eaten What was lost doesn’t have to stay lost. The Savior restores.

  9. Who quoted Joel 2:28 on the day of Pentecost?
    • A. John the Baptist
    • B. Paul
    • C. Peter
    Show answer

    ✅ C. Peter Acts 2:16: “This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel.”

  10. Who quoted Joel 2 to Joseph Smith in 1823?
    • A. Moroni
    • B. Nephi
    • C. Elijah
    Show answer

    ✅ A. Moroni Joseph Smith—History 1:41. He said it would soon be fulfilled.

▶ Play Scripture ShowdownTeams take turns on one screen.

Songs

  • Repentance Children’s Songbook, p. 98

    Turning back to the Lord with all your heart is the message of Hosea and Joel. Find it ↗

  • The Holy Ghost Children’s Songbook, p. 105

    Joel promised the Spirit would be poured out on sons and daughters. Find it ↗

  • I Feel My Savior’s Love Children’s Songbook, p. 74

    “I will love them freely.” A song about feeling that love. Find it ↗

This week’s challenge

Seek-the-Lord Clock

Hosea 10:12 says “it is time to seek the LORD.” Pick three times each day this week (like waking up, after school, before bed) and do one thing each time: pray, read a verse, or thank Heavenly Father. Each night, write down one moment you felt the Holy Ghost. Make it a Children and Youth spiritual goal if you want.

Text the parents

Today in Primary we learned from Hosea that the Lord keeps loving His people and inviting them back even after they break their promises: “I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely” (Hosea 14:4). We acted out Joel’s locust plague and the great comeback, and learned that Peter at Pentecost and the angel Moroni both quoted Joel’s promise that the Spirit will be poured out on sons and daughters. Ask your child: what’s the difference between tearing your robe and changing your heart?

📝 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?

💧 Pour, Don’t Drip · 3 min

  1. Over a tray, drip one drop of water into a clear cup. Then pour a whole pitcher in.
  2. Read Joel 2:28. Ask: “Why does the Lord say ‘pour’ instead of ‘drip’?”
  3. Ask: “What can we do to be a bigger cup?” (Pray, read, keep covenants, go to the temple, listen.)

📖 Two Books, One Promise · 4 min

  1. Read Joel 2:28, then Acts 2:16–18, then summarize Joseph Smith—History 1:41 in your own words.
  2. Kids make a timeline on the floor: Joel → Pentecost → 1823 → today.
  3. Ask: “Where are you on the timeline? How is the Spirit being poured out now?”

🏡 Welcome Home · 4 min

  1. Read Hosea 14:1–7 together. Kids find every picture word (dew, lily, roots, olive tree, corn, vine).
  2. Each kid acts out one picture and the class guesses.
  3. Ask: “Why would the Lord describe coming back to Him with growing things?”

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 Valiant 9–11 lessons