Handouts for my YW lesson on "A Grateful Heart"

This lesson starts out with the story of the 10 Lepers, and commentary taken from President Thomas S. Monson's General Conference talk "The Divine Gift of Gratitude" found in Nov. 2010 Ensign.  I found a great picture online and made it look nice to display.

I had so much wonderful material for my lesson and I knew I would never be able to give it all, so I decided to create a handout booklet to get in other ideas, thoughts, scriptures and stories, etc.  I made these so that they could be printed front side and backside.  I did them in color, but you can always just do them in Black and white on the Church copy machine, or maybe do the cover in color and the insides in color.  Up to you.  I have yet to put the finishing touches on my lesson, but I will get it posted as soon as that happens... you know like tomorrow since it is being taught the next day.  Enjoy!  Katie G.

This is the cover page and the next one below is to be copied
and put on the backside of this cover.

Print this one on the backside of the cover page

This side will be the middle or top side up page, and the next one
will be the back side.  The reason is that the suggested activity on
this page is explained on both pages, and needs to be opened
together.  Clear as mud???

Print this on the backside of the one just above.

Now just fold in half and staple like you would a booklet or book.  Simple as that!  It looks really cute.  I have some other cute ideas that I decided to do and it really helped to have been to the after Valentine sales, as I was able to find all kinds of heart treats, sticker, handouts, etc.  When you can use a heart in the theme of a lesson be sure to go to the after Valentine sales. 

I found some cute Mardi Gras type red-heart necklaces, that I am going to ask the girls to have a "Grateful Heart day", using them.  I am telling them to select one day and wear the necklace as a bracelet or necklace to remind them to be grateful and thankful the entire day.  They are to tell people thank you, and express gratitude to others like school teachers for teaching them, Mom for cooking dinner, and even showing gratitude by helping with the dishes, or doing something nice for someone.  This will be a day that will create gratitude in their hearts, and will help them to see how wonderful it feels to have a grateful heart.  I hope that they will want that feeling more than just one day, and will always remember the blessing of a grateful heart.

Another thing I will suggest to the girls is that they do a FHE using the materials from the lesson and play the grateful heart game in their family.  They cut out the hearts and when someone does something nice, they post a heart on their door with a note of thanks! 

This is a handout from the lesson when we talk about being
grateful in thought word and deed.

In my lesson, I am going to have them practice what I preached, and what I actually did before I could preach it.  I used Elder Bednars talk about praying to Heavenly Father in Gratitude and thanks and asking for nothing.  I did this for a whole week, and what a marvelous experience it was for me to realize just how much the Lord has given me, as well as how much he is in my life.  I became so aware of the blessings around me, of nature, and the beauty in it. I appreciated more the food I ate and the convenience of just going to the store and purchasing it, not to mention appreciation for my sweet husband for providing the means to buy it, and to the Lord for blessing him with a brilliant mind and talents to perform his job  and provide for us.  My gratitude for everything increased 100 fold and I hope that the YW will have much of the same experience as I did. 

Oh, I found these chocolate covered heart shaped marshmallow "Peeps" at Shopko for like 7 cents each, that I will give to the girls as a treat. I had planned on making Heart shaped iced sugar cookies, but since my lesson prep is to the 11th hour, I am so glad I found these. I will put them on a couple of heart shaped Valentine plates, and as you can see, even my display table will be pretty too.  It works for me and I know the girls will appreciate it!



Enjoy my ideas and let me know what you think and what your ideas are too!!!  Enjoy, Katie G.