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Ears to Hear

Four kinds of ground, a mystery bag of parables, and a field where wheat and weeds grow side by side

  • 🧭 Youth 11–14
  • Week 12
  • 📅 Sunday, March 21, 2027
🤔 Forehead Guess🏆 Showdown
💡 The big idea

How much the word of God grows in me depends on the ground I give it, and I can clear out rocks and thorns so an honest, patient heart bears fruit, even in a world where good and bad grow side by side.

I can prepare my heart to receive God’s word, keep it when life gets rocky or crowded, and value the gospel like a hidden treasure.

Study it yourself firstRead Matthew 13; Luke 8; 13 in Gospel LibraryCome, Follow Me manualOpen this week (Matthew 13; Luke 8; 13)
Know the chapters

Matthew 13 is Jesus’s great chapter of parables: short stories about ordinary things (seeds, weeds, bread dough, a buried treasure, a pearl, a fishing net) that teach about the kingdom of heaven. The crowd was so big that He taught from a boat while everyone stood on the shore. Luke 8 retells the sower, and Luke 13 adds the mustard seed and leaven, a fig tree that gets one more year to bear fruit, and Jesus healing a woman who had been bent over for eighteen years. The manual notes something teens will appreciate: many of these parables compare God’s kingdom not to something grand but to something small, like a seed or a pinch of yeast, that grows and spreads far beyond its size.

Today’s drama is the parable of the sower (Matthew 13:3–9, 18–23; Luke 8:4–15), and Jesus explains it Himself. The seed is the word of God. Wayside ground is a heart that hears but doesn’t understand, so the evil one snatches the word away. Stony ground gets excited fast but has no root, so it quits when trouble or persecution comes. Thorny ground hears the word, but worries and the lure of riches choke it. Good ground hears, understands, keeps it and bears fruit, and Luke adds “with patience.” The good news for youth: ground can change. Rocks can be dug out, thorns pulled and hard paths broken up by prayer, study, the sacrament and acting on what we learn.

The wheat and the tares (Matthew 13:24–30, 36–43) is a parable teens live every day. A tare was a poisonous weed that looks almost exactly like wheat until it’s grown; the Lord let both grow together until the harvest rather than risk uprooting the wheat. Doctrine and Covenants 86:1–7 explains it for the latter days. In “Drawing Closer to the Savior” (October 2022), Elder Neil L. Andersen spoke about this parable and told those who don’t feel like strong, mature wheat to be patient with themselves. For youth surrounded by good and bad in every hallway and feed, that’s a hopeful message: grow strong roots, don’t panic, and let the Lord handle the harvest.

The hidden treasure and the pearl of great price (Matthew 13:44–46) ask a real question: what is the gospel worth to me? Both men gave up everything they had, and the first did it “for joy.” For a new deacon or Young Woman, that might be a phone-free hour, a Saturday at the temple, or standing up for what they believe. Keep the tone joyful: these are people who found something amazing, not people making grim sacrifices.

Only have 5 minutes?

Read Matthew 13:3–9 and 18–23. Open the Mystery Bag (or play the clue version), let Teach Mode carry the sower drama (you read Jesus’s words), send teams to decode the short parables in Matthew 13:31–50, teach Luke 8:15, run the Soil Signs wiggle and the Soil Check game with the scenarios in the plan, and close by asking which kind of ground each youth wants to work on. Brought nothing? Tap “I brought nothing”: the mystery bag becomes a clue game and you read the parables aloud.

What to bring3 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. Put the five objects in the bag so they can’t be seen.
  2. Read Matthew 13:3–23 twice and write the four kinds of ground on your hand or phone so the drama and game run smoothly.
  3. Text a youth before Sunday to be the Sower (walks and scatters seed the whole drama). Pick a dramatic youth for the Sun.
  4. Add names in the My Class tab so you can hand out roles with one tap.
  5. Think of a time the word of God grew slowly in you, or when you had to clear out a “thorn” to keep a testimony growing. You’ll share it in two sentences.

If your class is wild

  • The Mystery Bag works best with a rule: feel only, no peeking, and whisper your guess to your team, not the room.
  • Everybody can be a seed in the drama. Seeds that land on each kind of ground act out what happens to them, so nobody sits idle.
  • In Soil Check, teams reveal their hand signs at the same time on “Three, two, one, show!” so nobody copies.
  • Don’t ask anyone which ground they are right now in front of friends. Save that for the quiet testimony moment.
  • Give jobs: a scorekeeper, a freeze-dance DJ for the wiggle, and a youth to read the discussion questions.

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

The Mystery Bag

3 min

Youth identify five everyday objects by touch and discover that Jesus used exactly these ordinary things to teach about God’s kingdom.

  1. Split into two teams. Pass the bag around. Each youth reaches in without looking, feels one object and whispers a guess to their team.
  2. Teams write or say their five guesses. Reveal the objects one at a time: seed, yeast or bread, pearl, coin, net. A point per correct guess.
  3. SAY“Every one of these is in Matthew 13. Jesus used them to teach about the kingdom of heaven. Why would He use a seed and some yeast instead of a palace and an army?”

Class screen: 👜 Five things in the bag. Feel it. Don’t peek. · Whisper your guess to your team

No supplies? Do this instead

Instead of: A paper or cloth bag with five small objects: a seed or seed packet, a packet of yeast or a piece of bread, a bead or fake pearl, a coin, and a mesh produce bag or hairnet (for the net)

  1. Split into two teams. Say: “I’m thinking of five small things. You get up to three clues each.”
  2. Give clues one at a time until a team guesses: (1) tiny, goes in the dirt, becomes a tree (seed) · (2) a pinch makes bread rise (yeast) · (3) grows inside an oyster (pearl) · (4) you might bury it in a field (treasure) · (5) fishermen throw it into the sea (net). Fewer clues = more points.
  3. SAY“Every one of these is in Matthew 13. Why would Jesus teach about God’s kingdom with a seed and yeast instead of a palace and an army?”
2. Story

Story Drama: The Sower

5 min

Acting out the parable of the sower lets every youth be a seed and see what each kind of ground does to God’s word.

  1. Hand out roles (tap Roles in Teach Mode). Everyone else is a Seed, split into four groups: path, rocks, thorns, good ground. You read Jesus’s words yourself.
  2. Read each scene and pause for the action.
  3. After scene 4, ask: “The rocky seeds grew the fastest. Why is fast not the same as strong?”
  4. After the last scene, ask: “Can ground change? How does a farmer turn rocky or thorny ground into good ground?”
🌪️ The Sun and the Thorns never touch anyone. Glares and prickly squeeze-motions stay a few inches away.

Class screen: 🎭 Same seed. Four kinds of ground. Four very different endings. · Matthew 13:1–23

3. Scripture

Decode the Parable

5 min

Teams practice the skill of unlocking a parable: find the details, compare them to spiritual things, and ask what the Lord is saying to them.

  1. Give each team one short parable: mustard seed (Matthew 13:31–32), leaven (13:33), hidden treasure (13:44), pearl (13:45–46), net (13:47–50). Small class? Use the first three.
  2. Each team answers three questions in two minutes: What’s the key detail? What could it stand for spiritually? What’s the Lord’s message for someone our age?
  3. Each team reports in thirty seconds. Push on the treasure and pearl: “Both men sold everything. The first did it ‘for joy.’ What’s the gospel worth to you?”
  4. Teach Luke 8:15 with the motions. Say it twice together, then once with only the motions.

Class screen: 🔍 Detail. Meaning. Message for me. Crack your parable. · 🌱 Matthew 13:31–32 · 🍞 13:33 · 💰 13:44 · ⚪ 13:45–46 · 🕸️ 13:47–50

No supplies? Do this instead

Instead of: Scriptures: Bibles, a quad, or Gospel Library on phones (one per team of two or three)

  1. Assign each team one short parable: mustard seed, leaven, hidden treasure, pearl, net. Read each one aloud from your scriptures or Gospel Library (Matthew 13:31–33, 44–50).
  2. Teams get one minute per parable to agree on: the key detail, what it could stand for, and the message for someone their age.
  3. Each team reports in thirty seconds. Push on the treasure and pearl: “The first man sold everything ‘for joy.’ What’s the gospel worth to you?”
  4. Teach Luke 8:15 with the motions. Say it twice together, then once with only the motions.
4. Wiggle break

Soil Signs

2 min

A fast freeze-and-act round burns energy and locks in the four kinds of ground.

  1. Teach four poses: Path = flap your arms like birds · Rocks = crouch small, then wilt · Thorns = tangle your arms around yourself · Good ground = stretch up tall and sway like grain.
  2. Tap Freeze Dance. When the music stops, you call a ground. Last person into the right pose sits down.
  3. Speed it up each round. The last two standing do the final round together.
🧊 Freeze Dance (a class game in the Gospel Sparks app)

Class screen: 🌾 Music stops. Soil called. Strike the pose! · 🐦 Path · 🪨 Rocks · 🌵 Thorns · 🌾 Good ground

5. Game

Soil Check

4 min

Teams diagnose real-life situations by the kind of ground they show, then earn bonus points for turning them into good ground.

  1. Teach team hand signs: flat palm = path · fist = rocks · clawed fingers = thorns · fingers spreading upward = good ground.
  2. Read a scenario. Teams huddle five seconds, then everyone reveals on “Three, two, one, show!” Right sign = 1 point. Bonus point: one sentence on how to turn it into good ground.
  3. Scenarios (read as many as time allows): (1) Felt the Spirit at youth conference; forgot it by Wednesday. (2) Scrolled through the whole lesson; can’t say what it was about. (3) Wants to read scriptures, but practice, games and homework fill every minute. (4) Friends mock her standards, so she drops them. (5) Heard a lesson on ministering and texted a lonely kid that afternoon. (6) Good counsel from the bishop, buried under wanting the newest stuff. (7) Didn’t understand the lesson and never asked. (8) Keeps praying even though the answer is slow.
  4. Answers for you: 1 rocks · 2 path · 3 thorns · 4 rocks · 5 good ground · 6 thorns · 7 path · 8 good ground (Luke 8:15: with patience).
🌪️ Hands stay hidden behind backs until “show.” A team that flashes early loses the point.

Class screen: 🧪 Path, rocks, thorns or good ground? Show on three. · ✋ Path · ✊ Rocks · 🤏 Thorns · 🖐️ Good ground

6. Talk it over

Ground Work

3 min

Honest questions connect the sower, the tares and the treasure to how a young person actually receives the word.

  1. Circle up. A youth reads each question from your phone or tablet and picks who answers. Anyone can pass.
  2. Keep answers short so more voices get in, and add one honest answer of your own.
💬 Ask the class
  • What are the biggest “thorns” for people your age, the things that crowd out the word without being obviously bad?
  • Rocky ground grows fast and quits when it gets hard. What helps a testimony grow roots before the hot sun comes?
  • Wheat and tares look almost the same while they grow. How do you tell good influences from bad ones in your feed or friend group?
  • The man with the treasure sold everything “for joy.” What have you given up for the gospel that turned out to be worth it?

Class screen: 💬 Ground work

7. Testimony

Your Ground

3 min

Each youth privately picks one thing to clear out of their ground, and hears the teacher’s witness that the word grows in patient, honest hearts.

  1. Wait for real quiet. Say: “Nobody is all good ground all the time. Think about your ground right now. Is there a rock to dig out or a thorn to pull? Pick one. Keep it to yourself.”
  2. Share Elder Neil L. Andersen’s words from “Drawing Closer to the Savior” (see Conference quotes).
  3. Share your two-sentence story of the word growing slowly in you, or of clearing out a thorn.
  4. Testify that the seed is good, that Jesus Christ is the Lord of the harvest, and that honest, patient hearts bear fruit. Introduce the challenge and ask a youth to pray.

Class screen: 🌱 One rock to dig out. One thorn to pull. · An honest and good heart… with patience. Luke 8:15

8. Game

Forehead Guess: Seeds, Soil and Treasure

4 minBONUS

A quick team review of the parables and people from Matthew 13 and Luke 8 and 13.

  1. Tap Forehead Guess. One youth holds your phone or tablet on their forehead facing the class.
  2. Hard mode: clue-givers can’t say the word or any word in the hint.
  3. Teams alternate 45-second turns; add correct guesses to the lesson score.
▶ Play Forehead Guess on the web

Class screen: 🤔 Forehead Guess: no words from the hint!

9. Game

Scripture Showdown

5 minBONUS

A team quiz reviews the sower, the wheat and tares, and the short parables of the kingdom.

  1. Keep the same teams. Tap Scripture Showdown.
  2. Read each question aloud; teams get ten seconds to decide, then point.
  3. Bonus point if the winning team can name the verse.
▶ Play Scripture Showdown on the web

Class screen: 🏆 Scripture Showdown!

Story drama

The Sower

Matthew 13:1–23 ↗

Parts to hand out

  • The SowerWalks slowly across the room, scattering invisible seed in big arcs the whole time.
  • The BirdsTwo youth: swoop in, flap, and snatch seeds off the path before they can sprout.
  • The SunRises dramatically, beams hot rays at the rocky seeds, and wilts them with a scorching glare.
  • The ThornsTwo youth: grow up around the seeds with prickly arms and slowly squeeze them.
  • The SeedsEveryone else, split into four groups: land on path, rocks, thorns or good ground and act out what happens.

Scenes

  1. 🛶 So many people, Jesus teaches from a boat

    Crowds gathered by the Sea of Galilee, so many that Jesus climbed into a boat, sat down, and taught the whole crowd standing on the shore. He told them stories about ordinary things. The first one was about a farmer.

    🎬 Everyone crowds along one wall as the shore. The Seeds split into four groups in four spots on the floor.

  2. 🧑‍🌾 A sower went forth to sow

    A farmer went out to plant. Farmers then usually didn’t drop seeds one at a time into neat rows. They grabbed handfuls and flung them out across the field, so some seed landed in places they didn’t mean.

    🎬 The Sower strides across the room flinging invisible handfuls. Each Seed group crouches small where it lands.

  3. 🐦 Seeds on the path: the birds get them

    Some seed fell on the hard, packed path where people walked. It just sat on top. Birds swooped down and ate it before it could do anything.

    🎬 The path Seeds sit on top of the ground, exposed. The Birds swoop in and tap them; those Seeds roll away.

  4. 🪨 Seeds on rocks: fast growth, no roots

    Some fell where rock was just under a thin layer of soil. Those seeds shot up fast, faster than any others. But when the sun came up hot, they had no roots to reach water, and they withered.

    🎬 The rocky Seeds pop up fast and proud. The Sun rises and glares. The Seeds wilt slowly to the floor.

  5. 🌵 Seeds among thorns: slowly choked out

    Some fell in ground full of thorn roots. The seeds grew, but so did the thorns, faster and thicker, until the good plants got crowded out and couldn’t produce anything.

    🎬 The thorny Seeds start to rise. The Thorns grow up around them with prickly arms and slowly squeeze until the Seeds sink down.

  6. 🌾 Good ground: a hundred, sixty, thirty times

    But some seed fell on good ground. It rooted deep, grew tall and produced grain: some a hundred times what was planted, some sixty, some thirty. Then Jesus said, “Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.”

    🎬 The good-ground Seeds rise slowly and stretch up tall, swaying like grain. Everyone cups a hand behind one ear.

  7. 👂 Jesus explains: the seed is God’s word

    Later Jesus explained it. The seed is the word of God. The path is someone who hears but doesn’t understand, so the evil one snatches it away. The rocks are someone who loves it at first but quits when it gets hard. The thorns are worries and wanting riches that choke the word. And good ground is someone who hears, understands, keeps it and bears fruit.

    🎬 As you name each ground, that Seed group stands and takes a bow. The good ground gets a round of applause.

Key verse

Luke 8:15 ↗
“But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.”
In plain words: Good ground is an honest heart that hears God’s word, holds on to it, and keeps growing, even when it takes a while.
🙌 “On the good ground” = palms flat, smoothing soil · “an honest and good heart” = hand on heart · “having heard the word” = cup hand behind ear · “keep it” = close your fist and hold it to your chest · “bring forth fruit” = hands rise like a growing plant · “with patience” = arms fold, nod slowly.

More verses

Matthew 13:23 ↗
“he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit”
In plain words: Good ground doesn’t just hear the word. It understands it and does something with it.
Matthew 13:30 ↗
“Let both grow together until the harvest”
In plain words: Good and bad grow side by side for now. Grow strong roots and let the Lord handle the harvest.
Matthew 13:44 ↗
“the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field”
In plain words: The gospel is worth everything, and giving for it feels like joy, not loss.
Matthew 13:31–32 ↗
“The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed … Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree”
In plain words: Something tiny, like a first testimony, can grow into something huge.

Forehead Guess words19 words

  • 📖 Parable
  • 🧑‍🌾 Sower
  • 🛤️ Wayside
  • 🐦 Birds
  • 🪨 Stony ground
  • ☀️ Scorched
  • 🌵 Thorns
  • 🌾 Good ground
  • 💯 Hundredfold
  • 🌱 Mustard seed
  • 🍞 Leaven
  • 💰 Hidden treasure
  • ⚪ Pearl of great price
  • 🕸️ Net
  • 🌾 Wheat
  • 🌿 Tares
  • 🧺 Harvest
  • 👂 Ears to hear
  • 🛶 Boat
Clues for each word
  • Parable: A short story with a hidden spiritual meaning
  • Sower: The farmer who flung the seed
  • Wayside: Hard path where birds ate the seed
  • Birds: Snatched the seed off the path
  • Stony ground: Grew fast, no root, withered
  • Scorched: What the sun did to rootless plants
  • Thorns: Choked the word with worries and riches
  • Good ground: Hears, understands and bears fruit
  • Hundredfold: The biggest harvest in the parable
  • Mustard seed: Least of all seeds, becomes a tree
  • Leaven: Yeast that spreads through all the dough
  • Hidden treasure: Found in a field; sold everything for joy
  • Pearl of great price: A merchant sold all to buy it
  • Net: Cast into the sea, gathered every kind
  • Wheat: The good grain gathered into the barn
  • Tares: Weeds that look like wheat until grown
  • Harvest: When wheat and tares are finally separated
  • Ears to hear: Who hath these, let him hear
  • Boat: Where Jesus sat to teach the huge crowd
▶ Play Forehead GuessFull screen, 60-second timer, works on any phone.

Scripture Showdown9 questions

  1. Where did Jesus sit to teach the huge crowd in Matthew 13?
    • A. On a mountain
    • B. In a boat
    • C. In the temple
    Show answer

    ✅ B. In a boat Matthew 13:2. The whole crowd stood on the shore.

  2. In the parable of the sower, what is the seed?
    • A. The word of God
    • B. Money
    • C. Good friends
    Show answer

    ✅ A. The word of God Matthew 13:19. The word of the kingdom.

  3. What happened to seed that fell by the wayside?
    • A. It grew huge
    • B. The sun scorched it
    • C. Birds devoured it
    Show answer

    ✅ C. Birds devoured it Matthew 13:4, 19. It never got in, so it was snatched away.

  4. Why did the plants on stony ground wither?
    • A. Too much rain
    • B. They had no root
    • C. Birds ate them
    Show answer

    ✅ B. They had no root Matthew 13:6, 21. Fast growth without roots quits when things get hard.

  5. Which two things choke the word like thorns?
    • A. Cares of the world and deceitfulness of riches
    • B. Rain and wind
    • C. Birds and sun
    Show answer

    ✅ A. Cares of the world and deceitfulness of riches Matthew 13:22. Busy worries and wanting stuff can crowd out God’s word.

  6. According to Luke 8:15, good ground brings forth fruit with what?
    • A. Speed
    • B. Pride
    • C. Patience
    Show answer

    ✅ C. Patience Honest and good hearts keep the word and keep growing.

  7. Why didn’t the householder let his servants pull up the tares?
    • A. They would uproot the wheat too
    • B. Tares taste good
    • C. He was too tired
    Show answer

    ✅ A. They would uproot the wheat too Matthew 13:29–30. Both grow together until the harvest.

  8. The mustard seed starts as the least of seeds and becomes a what?
    • A. A vine
    • B. A tree
    • C. A flower
    Show answer

    ✅ B. A tree Matthew 13:32. Birds even lodge in its branches.

  9. How did the man feel when he sold everything for the hidden treasure?
    • A. Angry
    • B. Nervous
    • C. Joyful
    Show answer

    ✅ C. Joyful Matthew 13:44. “For joy thereof.” The gospel is worth it.

▶ Play Scripture ShowdownTeams take turns on one screen.

From general conference

“You may at times not feel like a strong, mature strand of wheat. Be patient with yourself! The Lord said that the wheat would include tender blades springing up.”

— Elder Neil L. Andersen, “Drawing Closer to the Savior,” October 2022

Share in the testimony, before your own witness.

Read the talk ↗

Songs

  • Search, Ponder, and Pray Children’s Songbook, p. 109

    Searching, pondering and praying are how we plow good ground for the word to grow. Find it ↗

  • How Firm a Foundation Hymns, no. 85

    A hymn about building on God’s word, the deep roots that keep a testimony standing in hot sun. Find it ↗

This week’s challenge

Pull One Thorn

Pick one rock or thorn in your ground (a distraction, a worry, a habit that crowds out God’s word) and do one thing about it this week, like moving your phone out of your room during scripture time. Read a few verses every day and write one thing you understand, so the seed doesn’t just sit on top. Memorize Luke 8:15.

Text the parents

This week in class we acted out the parable of the sower, with every youth as a seed landing on the path, rocks, thorns or good ground (Matthew 13:1–23), and decoded the parables of the mustard seed, leaven, hidden treasure, pearl and net. We talked about wheat and tares growing together. Ask your youth: what’s one “thorn” that crowds out God’s word for our family, and how could we pull it?

📝 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?

🧍 Bent Over Eighteen Years · 4 min

  1. Have everyone bend forward and try to look at the ceiling for fifteen seconds. Then read Luke 13:10–13.
  2. Ask: “What did the woman do the moment she stood up straight?” (She glorified God.)
  3. Read Luke 13:14–17. Ask: “What does Jesus loose us from today?”

🌳 One More Year for the Fig Tree · 4 min

  1. Read Luke 13:6–9. Ask: “Who asked for one more year, and what did he promise to do?” (The dresser of the vineyard would dig around it and fertilize it.)
  2. Ask: “How is the Savior like the one who pleaded for the tree?”
  3. Ask: “What ‘digging and fertilizing’ could help your testimony bear fruit this year?”

🌿 Wheat and Tares Explained · 5 min

  1. Read Matthew 13:24–30 and Jesus’s explanation in 13:36–43. Make a quick chart: sower, field, good seed, tares, enemy, harvest, reapers.
  2. Explain that Doctrine and Covenants 86:1–7 applies this parable to the latter days.
  3. Ask: “Why does the Lord let both grow together instead of pulling the weeds right away?”

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 Youth 11–14 lessons