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Come Back, I Love You!

Hosea and Joel teach one of the happiest truths a child can learn: Heavenly Father and Jesus love us freely, and when we slide away, They are always waiting to welcome us back. This week your family will act out Joel’s locust swarm and the great comeback, slide and return with Hosea 14:4, build a “seek the Lord” clock, and talk about how the Holy Ghost is poured out on kids too. In Primary on Sunday, your children will hear the same story and verse.

  • Week 47
  • 📅 Nov 16–22, 2026
  • 📖 Hosea 1–6; 10–14; Joel
Start with Monday
Read it togetherHosea 1–6; 10–14; Joel in Gospel LibraryCome, Follow Me manualOld Testament 2026, week 47

What your kids learn in class

Stories, verses and games for the week come from each child’s own Primary or youth lesson, so home matches Sunday.

Daily sparks

Five to ten minutes a day, Monday to Sunday. Grown-ups lead; kids act, play and answer. Where a step says to tap something, that’s in the Gospel Sparks app; on the web, use the “Play along” links.

Monday · 8 min · Story

The Locust Swarm and the Great Comeback

🦗 Bzzz! Can the wheat grow back?You are the wheat. Sway!Hide from the locusts!Turn around, and watch the rain come!

📖 Read together: Joel 1:4; 2:12–13, 23–26 ↗

  1. Open the story scenes and tap through them together. Read each screen out loud with lots of expression.
  2. Have your kids be a field of tall wheat: stand up, arms up, and sway in the breeze.
  3. When the locusts come, you become the swarm: buzz around and “munch” them until they flop to the floor like eaten crops.
  4. When the Lord tells the people to turn to Him with all their heart (Joel 2:12), everyone spins around to face you. Then drum fingers on the floor for rain and have the wheat grow back taller than before.
  5. SAY“Joel promised the Lord would give back what the locusts ate. When we turn back to Him, He helps us grow again.”

🎭 Play along: the story scenes (from the CTR 8 lesson; pick your kid’s class above for theirs)

Talk about it
  • How did the people feel when the locusts ate everything?
  • What did the Lord ask them to do?
  • What happened after they turned back to Him?
🧸 Little ones (2–5)Let your little one be the rain: they tap their fingers on the floor and shout “Grow!” to make the wheat stand back up.
📚 Big kids (10–13)Have your 10–13-year-old read Joel 2:25 out loud and explain what “restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten” could mean for someone who repents.
🧑 Teens (14–18)Put your teen in charge of narrating the story scenes. Afterward, have them read Joel 2:12–13 and explain the difference between tearing your clothes and tearing your heart: what does real, inside-out change look like at their age, compared with just looking sorry?
☕️ For grown-upsJoel’s promise in Joel 2:25 isn’t that the lost years never happened, but that the Lord can restore what they cost. Think of a season you wish you could redo, and notice what the Lord has already given back.

Sticker for today: 🌾

Tuesday · 6 min · Verse

Slide Away, Come Back

🧦 Slide away… then zoom back for a hug!When you slide away, He helps you come back.He loves you for free. Always!Hosea 14:4

📖 Read together: Hosea 14:4 ↗

  1. Open the key verse screen and read Hosea 14:4 together. Explain that “backsliding” means slowly sliding away from Heavenly Father.
  2. Stand at one end of a hallway with open arms. Have your kids stand next to you in socks.
  3. Each kid slides (or scoots) away down the hall while you say, “Oops, I slid away!”
  4. Then call, “Come back!” and have them race back into a big hug while everyone says the verse together.
  5. SAY“No matter how far we slide, Heavenly Father and Jesus want us back. You never have to earn Their love.”

📖 Play along: the key verse (from the CTR 8 lesson; pick your kid’s class above for theirs)

Talk about it
  • What are some ways a kid might “slide away” from Heavenly Father?
  • How does it feel to be welcomed back after a mistake?
🧸 Little ones (2–5)Hold your little one’s hands and let them “slide” just two steps away before you scoop them back up for the hug.
📚 Big kids (10–13)Ask your 10–13-year-old to find one more word in Hosea 14:4–7 that shows how the Lord helps people grow after they come back (like dew, lily or olive tree).
🧑 Teens (14–18)Invite your teen to read Hosea 14:1–4 and notice that the Lord even gives Israel the words to say when they come back (verse 2). Ask: why might it help to be handed the words when you’re embarrassed to return? Then have them write the “come back” text they’d want to get from a friend.
☕️ For grown-ups“I will love them freely” means His love isn’t a wage. Many adults quietly believe God’s love rises and falls with their performance; notice this week whether your tone after your kids’ mistakes teaches the first idea or the second.

Sticker for today: 🤗

Wednesday · 10 min · Activity

The Seek-the-Lord Clock

🕰️ What time is it? Time to seek the Lord!Draw your clock.Then SEEK the hidden picture!

📖 Read together: Hosea 10:12 ↗

  1. Read Hosea 10:12 together. Say: “Hosea said it is time to seek the Lord. When is a good time? Any time!”
  2. Give each child a paper plate (or a circle of paper). Help them write the numbers 1–12 around the edge like a clock.
  3. Have them draw little pictures at times they could seek the Lord: morning prayer, a scripture at breakfast, a song in the car, prayers at bedtime.
  4. Play hide-and-seek: hide a picture of Jesus somewhere in the house and start the timer. Everyone seeks until it’s found!
  5. Hang the clocks where your kids will see them each morning.

⏱️ Big Timer (in the Gospel Sparks app)

Talk about it
  • What’s one time tomorrow you can talk to Heavenly Father?
  • How is seeking Jesus like playing hide-and-seek? How is it different?
🧸 Little ones (2–5)Your little one can put stickers or scribbles on the clock and be the first seeker in the hide-and-seek game.
📚 Big kids (10–13)Have your 10–13-year-old set one real phone or watch reminder this week for a time they’ll seek the Lord, and report back on Sunday.
🧑 Teens (14–18)Skip the paper clock for your teen: have them open their phone’s screen-time report and choose one real 10-minute slot each day this week to give to the Lord (scriptures, prayer, a hymn on a walk). Hosea 10:12 pairs sowing with reaping, so ask what they’re sowing with those minutes now.
☕️ For grown-upsHosea 10:12 talks about breaking up fallow ground: soil that was once farmed and then left alone. Is there a spiritual habit you used to have that has gone fallow? This week, plow one row of it again.

Sticker for today: ⏰

Thursday · 10 min · Game

Locusts and Love Game Night

🤔 Guess the word on your forehead!Act it out. Buzz like a locust!Tilt down if you got it.
  1. Gather everyone on the couch. Open Forehead Guess with this week’s words.
  2. The guesser holds your phone or tablet on their forehead while the rest of the family acts out or describes the word (no saying the word!).
  3. Give everyone a turn, grown-ups too.
  4. After each word, ask: “How does that word connect to Hosea or Joel?”

🤔 Play along: Forehead Guess (from the CTR 8 lesson; pick your kid’s class above for theirs)

Talk about it
  • Which word was the funniest to act out?
  • Which word reminds you most that Heavenly Father loves you?
🧸 Little ones (2–5)Pair your little one with an older sibling as a team, and let them do the buzzing and the actions.
📚 Big kids (10–13)Let your 10–13-year-old be the host who keeps score and explains the connection for each word after it’s guessed.
🧑 Teens (14–18)Give your teen a harder version: when it’s their turn to give clues, they can only use phrases from Hosea or Joel, no ordinary descriptions.
☕️ For grown-upsPlay hard and laugh. Hosea’s whole message is that the Lord wants a relationship, not just rule-keeping, and kids remember the nights you were fun longer than the lectures.

Sticker for today: 🎯

Friday · 10 min · Service

Welcome-Back Mission

💌 Make someone feel welcome back!Draw a big heart.Write: We miss you!

📖 Read together: Hosea 11:4 ↗

  1. Read Hosea 11:4 together. Say: “The Lord pulls us back with ‘bands of love,’ not by being mean. We can do that too.”
  2. Ask your kids: “Who is someone we miss or haven’t seen for a while?” It could be a friend, a cousin, a grandparent or a neighbor.
  3. Make a “We miss you!” card or a quick video message together.
  4. Deliver it, mail it, or send it today.
  5. SAY“When someone makes a mistake at home, we can welcome them back fast, just like Jesus welcomes us.”
Talk about it
  • How do you think the person will feel when they get our message?
  • What can you say when a brother or sister says sorry to you?
🧸 Little ones (2–5)Your little one can color the card and add their handprint as a “hug.”
📚 Big kids (10–13)Have your 10–13-year-old write the message themselves or record and send the video.
🧑 Teens (14–18)Ask your teen to think of a friend who has drifted from church or from their group, and to reach out in their own way this week: a text, an invite, sitting by them at lunch. No agenda, just the “bands of love” from Hosea 11:4.
☕️ For grown-upsRead Hosea 11:1–4 on your own. The Lord describes Himself as a parent teaching a little child to walk, holding him by the arms. It may change how you picture His feelings toward you when you stumble.

Sticker for today: 💌

Saturday · 8 min · Activity

Dew Drops and Sunday Prep

💧 Shh… can you feel the dew?Quiz time first!Then lie still and feel the drops.

📖 Read together: Hosea 14:5; Joel 2:28 ↗

  1. Play the quiz together to review the week before Primary tomorrow.
  2. Read Joel 2:28. Say: “Joel said the Lord would pour out His Spirit on sons and daughters. That includes you!”
  3. Have everyone lie down and close their eyes. Walk around and softly sprinkle a few drops of water on each hand like morning dew (Hosea 14:5).
  4. Whisper: “The Holy Ghost usually comes quietly, like dew. Tomorrow during the sacrament, let’s listen for Him.”
  5. Lay out Sunday clothes together.

🏆 Play along: Scripture Showdown (from the CTR 8 lesson; pick your kid’s class above for theirs)

Talk about it
  • How can you tell when the Holy Ghost is helping you?
  • What can you do tomorrow to listen for Him?
🧸 Little ones (2–5)Your little one can help sprinkle the “dew” on everyone else’s hands with one careful finger.
📚 Big kids (10–13)Ask your 10–13-year-old to read Joel 2:28–29 and name all the groups of people the Spirit is promised to.
🧑 Teens (14–18)Have your teen read Joel 2:28–29 and then Joseph Smith—History 1:41, where Moroni told Joseph this prophecy was about to be fulfilled. Ask: what would an outpouring of the Spirit look like in a teenager’s life, and what tends to crowd it out?
☕️ For grown-upsJoel promises dreams to the old and visions to the young, and the Spirit even on servants and handmaids (Joel 2:28–29). Revelation isn’t reserved for the especially spiritual; ask where you’ve been waiting for something dramatic when the Spirit has been quiet and steady.

Sticker for today: 💧

Sunday · 7 min · Sabbath

Olive-Tree Gratitude

🌿 Tell us what you learned in Primary!Add a leaf for every blessing.Watch your tree grow!

📖 Read together: Hosea 14:6–7 ↗

  1. Ask: “What did you learn in Primary today? Show us something you did!”
  2. Read Hosea 14:6–7 together. Say: “When we come back to the Lord, He makes us grow strong and beautiful like an olive tree.”
  3. Draw a tree trunk on paper. Take turns adding a leaf for each blessing that comes from Jesus, like a fresh start, family, the Holy Ghost or answered prayers.
  4. End quietly: share how you know Heavenly Father and Jesus love your kids no matter what, and invite anyone who wants to share too.
Talk about it
  • What did you learn in Primary today?
  • What’s one blessing from Jesus you’re thankful for this week?
🧸 Little ones (2–5)Let your little one add green fingerprint leaves while you say the blessing out loud.
📚 Big kids (10–13)Invite your 10–13-year-old to share a time they felt the Lord help them start fresh, if they’re comfortable.
🧑 Teens (14–18)Invite your teen to read Hosea 14:5–8 and choose the image that fits their own year best (dew, lily, deep roots, olive tree, grain, vine). They can share why, or write it down privately if they’d rather.
☕️ For grown-upsShare honestly and briefly about a time you came back to the Lord, or felt Him welcome you back. Kids learn more from a parent’s real return than from a parent who seems never to have left.

Sticker for today: 🌳

Family challenge

Fast Turn-Around

This week, when anyone in the family makes a mistake, practice a fast turn-around: stop, say sorry, fix what you can, and then everyone else says, “Welcome back!” with a hug or high five. Nobody gets a lecture.

Parent Corner

Hosea is one of the boldest books in the Bible: the Lord compares His covenant with Israel to a marriage and Israel’s idolatry to unfaithfulness. The shock of the metaphor is the point. A covenant isn’t a contract that ends when one side breaks it; it’s a relationship, and the Lord keeps pursuing His people, speaking “comfortably” to them and promising to turn the valley of trouble into “a door of hope” (Hosea 2:14–15). Joel adds that real return happens in the heart, not in outward show (Joel 2:12–13), and he foresees a day when the Spirit is poured out on sons and daughters, old and young alike. Together they answer a question many adults carry quietly: after all my drifting, does He still want me? Hosea’s answer is yes, and freely.

  • Ponder: When you picture the Lord’s face as you come back after a hard stretch, is He disappointed or glad? Where did that picture come from?
  • Try this: Read Hosea 14 slowly on your own this week and mark every promise the Lord makes to those who return. Then, in your own prayers, name one specific way you want to return to Him.

From general conference

“It is not possible for you to sink lower than the infinite light of Christ’s Atonement shines.”

— Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, “The Laborers in the Vineyard,” April 2012

For parents: read after Tuesday’s slide-and-come-back verse, or keep it for yourself on a hard day.

Read the talk ↗

Dinner-table questions

  • If you could send a locust swarm to eat one food you don’t like, which one would it be?
  • What’s something that grows back after it’s gone, like the wheat in Joel?
  • How do you know someone loves you even when you mess up?
  • When is your favorite time of day to talk to Heavenly Father?
  • What would you say to a friend who thinks Heavenly Father is mad at them?

Sources

Scripture quotations are from the King James Version, the Bible used by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

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