Click here for a copy of this sheet music, words or MP3 song.
Ask the children to listen to a hymn that
tells us what we can do when we are feeling discouraged. Have the pianist
play the chorus of
“Count Your Blessings” (Hymns,
no. 241), and ask if any of the children know what the advice is. Sing the
chorus for the children. Explain that the song “I’ll Follow Him in Faith”
is a list of some of God’s blessings to us. Write 1, 2, 3, and 4 on the
chalkboard. Ask the children to listen for the first blessing. Sing “The
Lord has blessed me with gospel truth,” and then sing “la, la” through the
next two lines. When the children respond, write “gospel truth” after 1.
Have the children sing the words to the blessing with you, and then sing
“la, la” through the rest of the first two lines, just as you did. Follow
the same pattern for “The Lord has blessed me with simple faith.” Explain
that the part they have been singing “la, la” to tells more about the
blessing. Tell the children how thankful you are for all of Heavenly
Father’s blessings to you. Testify of God’s love and the importance of
following Him in faith. (Suggestion from January 2007 Friend
Magazine)
Tell the children that the first part of
the song talks about praying in faith, and the second part of the song
explains how to pray. While we want to pray correctly, it is more
important to pray with faith. Explain that Joseph Smith did not know
exactly how to pray, but he prayed with faith, and Heavenly Father
answered his prayer. Bear witness of Joseph Smith and the power of prayer.
(Suggestion from January 2007 Friend Magazine)
To introduce the song "I'll Follow Him in
Faith", I found an old wooden trunk with a latch and key hole and tied
ropes around it. I found a whole bunch of old-fashioned, rusty keys and
pretended to unlock the trunk. I filled it with "treasures" (fake pearls
necklaces, colored stones, chocolate coins, seashells, etc.). I also
included small candles for each of the kids, wrapped in a big scrap of
leather. Thanks to this group, I copied the lyrics and pictures to "I'll
Follow Him in Faith" on heavy paper. I burned the edges of all the pages
to make it look really old and wrapped it in old material and tied it with
leather cording. We talked about what a treasure really is, and which
treasures you can take to Heaven. They were able to choose a coin, jewel,
candle and seashell, but they were able to understand that the songs they
learn in Primary are the real treasures that they will be able to keep
forever. We used the candles to help with the lyrics about sharing your
light. The children loved it, and I definitely had their complete
attention. This idea could actually be used for learning any new song, of
course. I also used this idea with the Nursery kids, teaching them
"Popcorn on the Apricot Tree" in German.
(Idea by Brittany Moffitt from
Wuerzburg, Germany
/ ga01072007)
(Idea from January 2007 Friend) Ask the
children to listen to a hymn that tells us what we can do when we are
feeling discouraged. Have the pianist play the chorus of
“Count Your Blessings” (Hymns, no. 241), and ask if any of the
children know what the advice is. Sing the chorus for the children.
Explain that the song “I’ll Follow Him in Faith” is a list of some of
God’s blessings to us. Write 1, 2, 3, and 4 on the chalkboard. Ask the
children to listen for the first blessing. Sing “The Lord has blessed me
with gospel truth,” and then sing “la, la” through the next two lines.
When the children respond, write “gospel truth” after 1. Have the children
sing the words to the blessing with you, and then sing “la, la” through
the rest of the first two lines, just as you did. Follow the same pattern
for “The Lord has blessed me with simple faith.” Explain that the part
they have been singing “la, la” to tells more about the blessing. Tell the
children how thankful you are for all of Heavenly Father’s blessings to
you. Testify of God’s love and the importance of following Him in faith.
Teaching "I'll
follow him in faith" by Melissa McGowan
The chorister started out singing "Do As I'm Doing" and told the children
what a good job they were doing in following her. Then she talked about
how important it is to follow Jesus. She sang the first 2 lines of "I'll
Follow Him in Faith". Then she had the children pass around a stuffed
animal and when they got to the end of the second line and sang "to
testify of Him" who ever was holding the stuffed animal on "Him" was asked
to tell how they can testify of Jesus. Then she started the song again and
passed the stuffed animal, we sang the first two lines over and over and
the kids didn't mind the repetition because they were passing something.
(Credit Unknown)
I saw a "how-to" music presentation about
this song. The leader cut apart the words to the song and gave each line
to two or three people to act it out. They showed the rest of the primary
the movements and then we sang along. Because it involved the physical
movement of the children along with visual and hearing, it was a WONDERFUL
strategy! (Idea by Wendy)
Here is an idea of how to teach and ideas for visuals:
The Lord has blessed me with gospel truth (black cardstock cut in a
rectangle, Book of Mormon written in silver marker)
I have learned his ways in my early youth (simple colored cut-out of a
baby, big oval for body, small circle for head, closed eyes)
I will share my light for I know it's right (big light bulb made with gold
cardstock)
To testify of him (picture
from June 2003 Friend, click on tab on left that says "Pages" and scroll
down to page 29, boy giving a talk in Primary)
The Lord has blessed me with simple faith (cut-out of a bean seed)
If I pray for help he will give me strength (GAK
605 Boy praying)
I will do his work (GAK
612 Missionaries)
I will gladly serve (GAK
615 Serving one another)
I'll follow him in faith
The Lord has blessed me to feel his love (pink heart cut-out)
I have felt his promptings and learned to trust (bring a small
blanket--like the Comforter, it is a stretch I know)
So in all I do (cut out of big letters ALL)
I'll be faithful to the things I know are true (cut-out of a
thought-bubble cloud with things written inside - for example, prophets
teachings, Book of Mormon--things we know are true)
The Lord has blessed me in many ways (cutout of numbers 1 2 3)
With a thankful heart I will since his praise (cutout of a heart with a
music note on it)
I will raise my voice and proclaim my choice to follow him in faith (GAK
607 Girl speaking in church)
He has shown the way... (GAK
240 Jesus the Christ)
(Idea by Mrs. Shankly) Here's an idea from
our Stake meeting last year:
- Post a large picture of Jesus Christ at the top of the chalkboard.
- At the bottom put footprints with key words, all mixed up:
gospel truth
early youth
share my light
testify of Him
simple faith
pray...strength
do His work
gladly serve
(These are in pairs & should be one line for the left foot and the other
line for the right foot. Can be color coded for Jr. Primary i.e., 1 pr.
green, 1 pr. red, etc.)
- Off to one side, put GAK pictures:
GAK #617 "Search the Scriptures" (gospel truth/early youth)
GAK #612 "Missionaries Teach the gospel of Jesus Christ" (share my
light/testify of Him)
GAK #605 "Young Boy Praying" (simple faith/pray...strength)
GAK #607 "Young Girl Speaking at Church" (do His work/gladly serve)
Begin by asking the kids what faith is. (something you believe in but is
not seen.) Explain that to really have faith, like our prophet has
encouraged us to do, we need to act on our faith. To just believe
something shows some faith, but to live it and do the things we believe
shows true faith. Explain that we are going to learn a song about this.
It's called "I'll Follow Him in Faith."
(sing 1st verse once through)
Now, sing the 1st line, and ask them to listen to see if they can find 2
footprints that match what you sing. Sing the line as many times as
necessary. When they find them, post them at the bottom pointing toward
Christ and invite the kids to sing the line with you. Talk about what
"gospel truth" is and ask them if they know what "early youth" means. Sing
it again and invite them to find a picture that matches these footprints.
Place the picture next to the footprints.
Repeat for the other lines, matching up footprints, coordinating pictures,
and lining them up to make a "path" toward the Savior. Don't forget that
they need to hear things at least 3 times before they remember them. Be
sure to clarify big words and ask them if they understand what the lines
mean.
When the "path" is complete, invite them to sing the whole 1st verse with
you. Ask them if they noticed that they made a path to the Savior and
explain that if they do these things in the song, they will indeed be
following Him in Faith and will be able to return to live with Him again.
Sing again if time allows. Bear your testimony of faith and the footsteps
we can take to exercise our faith.
(The footprints can be re-used throughout the month/year to remind them of
key words. They can also be used as a matching game throughout the year to
review.)