This is the March fast-Sunday lesson from Appendix B of the 2027 manual. It replaces the regular Come, Follow Me lesson on fast Sunday. Some kids may be hungry or trying to fast with their families today (children aren’t required to). The key verse fits beautifully: after Jesus fasted forty days, He said we don’t live by bread alone, but by every word from God (Matthew 4:4). Keep the energy positive and skip food rewards.
Heavenly Father speaks to His children through prophets. “Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7). Prophets write His words down so they don’t get lost or changed, and those writings become scripture: the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price. We also have a living prophet today, the President of the Church. Kids love scripture stories (an ark, a lions’ den, shining stones), but the real reason we love the scriptures is that they are messages from God, and they all point to Jesus Christ (John 5:39).
The Lord uses big, active words when He invites us to study. Nephi told his brothers that the rod of iron in Lehi’s dream is the word of God, and whoever listens to it and holds fast to it won’t be overpowered by the adversary’s temptations (1 Nephi 15:23–24). Nephi also invites us to feast on the words of Christ, because they will tell us everything we should do (2 Nephi 32:3). The Lord told early missionaries to treasure up His words in their minds all the time, and the right words would be given to them in the very moment they needed them (Doctrine and Covenants 84:85). Hold fast, feast, treasure up: each one comes with a promise.
The story comes from early Church history (see “Mary and Caroline Rollins” in Doctrine and Covenants Stories and Saints, volume 1). As a young girl in Kirtland, Ohio, Mary Rollins borrowed the only copy of the Book of Mormon in town and read it nearly all night; later Joseph Smith let her keep that copy. After her family moved to Independence, Missouri, angry men wrecked the building where the Church was printing the Book of Commandments, an early collection of Joseph Smith’s revelations. Mary and her sister Caroline dashed into the street, gathered armfuls of pages, and hid in a cornfield until the men chasing them gave up. Those revelations are in the Doctrine and Covenants today. Tell the chase with suspense, but keep it gentle: the sisters were brave and safe, and no one got hurt.