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Can These Bones Live?

A hot-take debate on whether people really change, a valley of dry bones that stands up, and a rock versus a sponge

  • 🔥 Youth 14–16
  • Week 45
  • 📅 Sunday, November 8, 2026
🤔 Forehead Guess🏆 Showdown
💡 The big idea

Nobody is too far gone: Jesus Christ can take a heart that feels stuck, stony or dead and give it new life, and He asks us to help find the ones who feel lost.

I can believe that I and the people around me can really change through Jesus Christ, and I can be the kind of friend who goes looking for the lost.

Study it yourself firstRead Ezekiel 1–3; 33–34; 36–37; 47 in Gospel LibraryCome, Follow Me manualOpen this week (Ezekiel 1–3; 33–34; 36–37; 47)
Know the chapters

Ezekiel was a priest carried off to Babylon about ten years before Jerusalem fell (Ezekiel 1:1–3). His audience was a crowd of homesick refugees who had lost their homes, their temple and, for many, their hope. The Lord called him a watchman (3:17; 33:7), the guard on the wall who sees danger coming and shouts a warning. A watchman who stays quiet isn’t being polite; he’s failing the city. That is worth talking about with teenagers who see friends heading toward trouble.

Chapter 33 answers a question every honest teen has felt: “If our transgressions and our sins be upon us, and we pine away in them, how should we then live?” (33:10). The Lord’s reply is urgent: He takes no pleasure in anyone’s ruin, and He pleads, “turn ye, turn ye” (33:11). A good reputation doesn’t save someone who stops trying, and a bad one doesn’t doom someone who turns around (33:12–16). Chapter 34 rebukes shepherds who fed themselves and ignored the flock, then promises the Lord Himself will seek the lost, bring back the driven away and bind up the broken (34:11, 16). Jesus later called Himself the Good Shepherd (John 10:11). In 36:26 He promises to remove the “stony heart” and give “an heart of flesh.”

Chapter 37 has two famous visions. A valley of very dry bones rattles together, gets sinews and skin, and then, when breath comes from the four winds, stands up as “an exceeding great army” (37:1–10). The Lord explains that the bones are Israel saying, “our hope is lost” (37:11), and promises to open their graves and put His Spirit in them (37:12–14). Latter-day revelation connects this vision to the Resurrection (Doctrine and Covenants 138:43), made possible by Jesus Christ. Then Ezekiel joins a stick “for Judah” and a stick “for Joseph” into one (37:15–17); the Church teaches these represent the Bible and the Book of Mormon, two witnesses of Christ that grow together (see 2 Nephi 3:12).

In chapter 47, water flows out from under the temple door and gets deeper, from ankles to knees to a river to swim in, and everything it touches comes alive, even the salty Dead Sea (47:1–12). Blessings flow from the house of the Lord. Many of your youth do baptisms for the dead; this is their chapter. For 14–16s, the heart of the lesson is hope: labels, screenshots and the internet may not forget, but the Lord offers a new heart. Keep it honest, not preachy: invite them to argue the hard version of the question first.

Only have 5 minutes?

Read Ezekiel 37:1–14 and 36:26. Open with the Agree/Disagree walk (just point at two walls), run the Valley of Dry Bones reader’s theater in Teach Mode with the Sound Board, then do the fist-and-open-hand version of Stone or Flesh and the Dry Bones Moments discussion. Close by asking everyone to think of one “dry” area and quietly whisper Ezekiel’s answer: “O Lord GOD, thou knowest.”

What to bring5 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. Make two signs, AGREE and DISAGREE, and tape them to opposite walls.
  2. Set the rock, the dry sponge and the cup of water on a table where everyone can see. Make sure the sponge is completely dry.
  3. Read Ezekiel 37:1–14 once out loud to yourself. You will read the Lord’s lines in the reader’s theater; no youth plays the Lord.
  4. Ask one youth ahead of time (a text on Saturday works) to teach the Scripture Spotlight on Ezekiel 36:26. Send them the verse and the three steps.
  5. Add your class names in the My Class tab so you can hand out parts and use the Name Spinner.

If your class is wild

  • Hot-take debates get loud fast. Set one rule up front: argue the idea, never a person in the room, and no naming classmates’ past mistakes.
  • Give the Bones Crew to the youth who love to ham it up. Rattling slowly back to life is a great outlet for a restless group.
  • Teens can smell a canned answer. If someone says “people never change,” thank them and take it seriously; it makes the valley of bones land harder.
  • Keep the testimony step private. Nobody shares what they wrote on their card.
  • If energy crashes after the discussion, jump to Shepherd Scenarios early; competition wakes a room up.

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

Hot Take: Can People Really Change?

3 min

A quick walk-to-your-side debate gets everyone moving and puts the week’s real question on the table.

  1. Everyone stands in the middle of the room. Say: “I’ll read a hot take. Walk to AGREE or DISAGREE. No middle allowed.”
  2. Read one at a time, and after each, ask one person on each side to defend their spot in one sentence: “People can completely change.” “Once you get a reputation at school, it’s basically permanent.” “The internet never forgets, so you’re stuck with your worst moment.” “You can tell who someone really is from their profile.”
  3. Let people switch sides if someone convinces them. Point that out: “Look, someone just changed their mind. That counts.”
  4. SAY“Twenty-six hundred years ago, a whole nation was saying, ‘We’re done. Our hope is lost.’ Today we’re going to see what the Lord said back.”
🌪️ If it gets heated, say, “Argue the idea, not the person,” and move to the next hot take.

Class screen: 🔥🗳️ Hot take: Can people really change? Pick a side. · No middle allowed · Defend your spot in one sentence

No supplies? Do this instead

Instead of: Two sheets of paper and a marker for AGREE and DISAGREE signs

  1. Everyone stands in the middle of the room. Point to one wall: “That’s AGREE.” Point to the opposite wall: “That’s DISAGREE. No middle allowed.”
  2. Read one at a time, and after each, ask one person on each side to defend their spot in one sentence: “People can completely change.” “Once you get a reputation at school, it’s basically permanent.” “The internet never forgets, so you’re stuck with your worst moment.” “You can tell who someone really is from their profile.”
  3. Let people switch sides if someone convinces them. Point that out: “Look, someone just changed their mind. That counts.”
  4. SAY“Twenty-six hundred years ago, a whole nation was saying, ‘We’re done. Our hope is lost.’ Today we’re going to see what the Lord said back.”
2. Story

Reader’s Theater: The Valley of Dry Bones

5 min

Acting out the vision lets youth feel the move from “hopeless” to “alive” instead of just hearing about it.

  1. Hand out parts (tap Roles in Teach Mode). Everyone without a named part joins the Bones Crew. Say: “I’ll read the Lord’s words; everyone else is on stage.”
  2. Give the Narrator the shared screen and let them read each scene. Pause for each action.
  3. At scene 2, hold the silence after Ezekiel’s answer. It’s the most important line in the story.
  4. At scene 4, ask quietly: “What does it look like when someone has all the right parts, but no breath?” Take one answer and keep going.
  5. After scene 6, everyone sits. Say: “The Lord didn’t ask the bones to fix themselves. He asked Ezekiel to speak, and He sent the breath.”
🌪️ If the Bones Crew gets too rowdy with the rattling, make the rule “bones only move when the Narrator is reading.”

Class screen: 🦴🎭 Reader’s theater: The Valley of Dry Bones · Everyone’s on stage · The teacher reads the Lord’s words

3. Wiggle break

Dry Bones Freeze

2 min

A fast, silly movement break that reviews the vision’s stages and resets attention.

  1. Tap Freeze Dance. While the music plays, everyone moves like a rattling skeleton trying to find its other bones.
  2. When the music stops, the teacher calls a pose and everyone freezes in it: “Dry bones!” (collapse), “No breath!” (stiff mannequin), “Great army!” (stand tall, arms crossed), “Watchman!” (hand shading eyes, scanning the horizon).
  3. Last one to hit the pose calls the next round. Three or four rounds is plenty.
🌪️ Keep feet on the floor. Collapsing is a slow melt, not a dive.
🧊 Freeze Dance (a class game in the Gospel Sparks app)

Class screen: 💀🕺 Rattle when the music plays. Freeze in the pose when it stops! · Dry bones · No breath · Great army · Watchman

4. Object lesson

Stone or Flesh?

3 min

A rock and a sponge show the difference between a heart that shuts things out and one the Lord can fill and change.

  1. Hold up the rock and the dry sponge. Say: “Ezekiel 36:26 talks about a stony heart and a heart of flesh. Watch.”
  2. Pour a little water over the rock into the cup or a sink. It runs straight off. Say: “A stony heart isn’t always evil. Sometimes it’s just done. ‘Whatever.’ ‘I don’t care.’ Nothing gets in.”
  3. Dip the dry sponge. It soaks the water up, grows and softens. Say: “A heart of flesh can take in what the Lord gives: the Spirit, other people’s pain, correction, love. And it changes shape.”
  4. Ask: “What makes a heart go stony at our age?” (Being burned by friends, scrolling past so much pain it stops hurting, grudges, sarcasm as armor, feeling like you’ve already failed.)
  5. SAY“Notice the verse says ‘I will give’ and ‘I will take away.’ The Lord does the heart surgery. Our part is to hand it over.”

Class screen: 🪨🧽 Stony heart or heart of flesh? · 💧 Water runs off a rock · 💧 A sponge soaks it in and changes

No supplies? Do this instead

Instead of: A small rock and a dry kitchen sponge, A cup or bowl of water

Fist or Open Hand?

  1. Ask everyone to make a tight fist. Say: “Ezekiel 36:26 talks about a stony heart. This is it.”
  2. SAY“I’m going to pour water into your hand.” Mime pouring slowly over the fists. “Where does it go? Straight off. A stony heart isn’t always evil. Sometimes it’s just done. ‘Whatever.’ Nothing gets in.”
  3. Now have everyone open their hands and cup them. Mime pouring again. Say: “A heart of flesh can hold what the Lord gives: the Spirit, other people’s pain, correction, love.”
  4. Ask: “What makes a heart go stony at our age?” (Being burned by friends, scrolling past so much pain it stops hurting, grudges, sarcasm as armor, feeling like you’ve already failed.)
  5. SAY“The verse says ‘I will give’ and ‘I will take away.’ The Lord does the heart surgery. Our part is to open our hands.”

Class screen: ✊🤲 Fist or open hand?

5. Scripture

Youth-Led Spotlight: Ezekiel 36:26

3 min

A youth teaches the key verse, so the class hears the promise from a peer, not just an adult.

  1. Invite the youth you asked ahead of time to lead. Show the verse on the screen.
  2. They read it once, then ask the class to find the four things the Lord promises to do. (Give a new heart, put in a new spirit, take away the stony heart, give a heart of flesh.)
  3. They teach the motions and the class says the verse together once with motions, once in a whisper.
  4. They ask: “Why do you think the Lord offers a new heart instead of just telling us to try harder?” Take two answers.
  5. Add in your own words: For the Strength of Youth, in the section “Jesus Christ will help you,” teaches that repentance is not a punishment; it is how the Savior frees us and changes our hearts over time.

Class screen: ❤️‍🩹 A new heart also will I give you · Ezekiel 36:26

6. Talk it over

Dry Bones Moments

4 min

Youth connect Ezekiel’s promises to guilt, labels and friends who have drifted away.

  1. Sit in a circle. Say: “There’s no right-answer voice needed here. Say what you actually think.”
  2. Show one question at a time. Let two or three people answer each. It’s fine to skip one if the room isn’t feeling it.
  3. Share your own honest answer to at least one question, briefly.
💬 Ask the class
  • In Ezekiel 33:10 people say they’re “pining away” in their sins and ask how they can live. When does guilt make someone feel stuck instead of motivated to change?
  • Ezekiel 33:12–16 says a good reputation doesn’t save someone who quits, and a bad one doesn’t doom someone who turns around. Why is that good news and a warning at the same time?
  • Ezekiel 34:16 says the Lord seeks the lost and brings back the “driven away.” Who gets driven away from friend groups or church at our age, and what drives them out?
  • In scene 4 the bodies looked alive but had no breath. What does going through the motions look like in seminary or at church, and what brings the breath back?
  • What would a “new heart” look like for you this week, in one real, specific change?
🌪️ If nobody talks, start with the easiest question and answer it yourself first. Honest teachers get honest answers.

Class screen: 💬🦴 Dry bones moments · Real answers only

7. Game

Shepherd Scenarios

3 min

Teams turn Ezekiel 34:16 into real moves they could make this week.

  1. Split into two teams. Put Ezekiel 34:16 on the screen: seek the lost, bring back the driven away, bind up the broken, strengthen the sick.
  2. Read a scenario. Teams get 20 seconds to agree on which shepherd job fits and one specific thing they’d actually do. Use the Name Spinner to pick who answers for each team.
  3. Scenarios: “A friend stopped coming to Young Women or quorum after a fight with someone.” “A new kid eats lunch alone every day.” “Someone in your group chat got roasted and went silent.” “A friend says they’re too far gone to repent.” “Someone you know is struggling with anxiety and skipping everything.”
  4. Award a point for the most real, doable answer (the other team votes with thumbs). Say at the end: “Watchmen warn. Shepherds go get people. The Lord needs both.”
🌪️ Ban “I’d invite them to church” as a first answer. Make them go one step more real.
🎡 Name Spinner (a class game in the Gospel Sparks app)

Class screen: 🐑🔦 Shepherd Scenarios: what would a real shepherd do? · 🔍 Seek the lost · ↩️ Bring back the driven away · 🩹 Bind up the broken · 💪 Strengthen the sick

8. Game

Scripture Showdown: Ezekiel

4 minBONUS

A quick team quiz reviews the watchman, the shepherd, the bones, the sticks and the river.

  1. Keep the same teams. Tap Scripture Showdown.
  2. Read each question aloud; teams confer for ten seconds, then answer.
  3. Let the losing team pick the final question’s wager: double points or nothing.
▶ Play Scripture Showdown on the web

Class screen: 🏆 Scripture Showdown: Ezekiel

9. Game

Forehead Guess: Ezekiel

4 minBONUS

A fast Heads Up–style round with this week’s people, places and symbols.

  1. Tap Forehead Guess. One person holds your phone or tablet on their forehead facing the class.
  2. Everyone else gives clues without saying the word. Tilt down for got it, up to pass. 45 seconds each.
  3. Hard mode: clue-givers can only use scripture references.
▶ Play Forehead Guess on the web

Class screen: 🤔 Forehead Guess: Ezekiel edition

10. Testimony

Lord, Thou Knowest

2 min

A private, reverent moment to hand one “dry” area to the Lord.

  1. Hand everyone a card. Say: “Write one area of your life that feels dry right now. A friendship, a habit, your testimony, your family. Nobody will see it.”
  2. SAY“Under it, write Ezekiel’s answer: ‘O Lord GOD, thou knowest.’ That isn’t giving up. It’s trusting the One who can put breath in bones.”
  3. Share a brief testimony that the Savior gives new hearts and that you have seen someone really change, maybe yourself.
  4. Point to the challenge on the screen and invite a youth to say the closing prayer.

Class screen: 🙏🦴 One dry place. “O Lord GOD, thou knowest.” · Private. Nobody sees it.

No supplies? Do this instead

Instead of: Index cards or scrap paper and pens, one per person

  1. SAY“Close your eyes or look down for twenty seconds. Think of one area of your life that feels dry right now. A friendship, a habit, your testimony, your family. Keep it private.”
  2. SAY“Now, in your head, give it Ezekiel’s answer: ‘O Lord GOD, thou knowest.’ That isn’t giving up. It’s trusting the One who can put breath in bones.”
  3. Share a brief testimony that the Savior gives new hearts and that you have seen someone really change, maybe yourself.
  4. Point to the challenge on the screen and invite a youth to say the closing prayer.

Story drama

The Valley of Dry Bones

Ezekiel 37:1–14 ↗

Parts to hand out

  • EzekielReads his own lines, including the honest answer “O Lord GOD, thou knowest,” and speaks to the bones and the wind.
  • NarratorReads the scene text aloud from the shared screen while the teacher reads the Lord’s words.
  • The Hopeless VoiceSays Israel’s line in scene 6, “Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost,” then slowly lifts their head.
  • The Four WindsTwo to four youth in the corners who build a slow wind sound, then breathe life into the Bones Crew.
  • Sound TechRuns the Sound Board: wind, rumble, whoosh and heartbeat on cue.
  • Bones CrewEveryone else: slumped as dry bones, then rattling, stiffening and finally standing as a great army.

Scenes

  1. 🏜️🦴 A valley full of very dry bones

    Ezekiel was a refugee in Babylon, far from a burned-out Jerusalem. One day the Spirit of the Lord carried him to a valley covered with bones. Not recent bones. Sun-bleached, scattered, very dry bones. Whatever happened here happened a long time ago, and nobody expected it to change.

    🎬 The Bones Crew slumps in chairs or on the floor, completely limp. Ezekiel walks slowly among them, looking around.

  2. ❓🧔 “Can these bones live?”

    The Lord asked Ezekiel a question that sounds almost like a trick: “Son of man, can these bones live?” Ezekiel could have said “Obviously not.” He could have said “Sure!” to sound faithful. Instead he gave the most honest answer in the chapter.

    🎬 Teacher reads the Lord’s question. Ezekiel answers: “O Lord GOD, thou knowest.” Pause three seconds of silence.

  3. 🗣️💥 Ezekiel speaks, and the bones rattle

    The Lord told Ezekiel to speak to the bones and tell them the Lord would put breath in them. It felt ridiculous, talking to a pile of bones. Ezekiel did it anyway. There was a noise, then a shaking, and the bones started snapping together, bone to his bone.

    🎬 Ezekiel speaks to the Bones Crew: “Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!” The crew rattles and clicks, joining elbows and shoulders with the person next to them.

  4. 🧍🧍🧍 Bodies, but no breath

    Sinews came, then muscle, then skin. Row after row of complete bodies lay in the valley. They looked right. But there was no breath in them. Looking alive and being alive are not the same thing.

    🎬 The Bones Crew freezes stiff like mannequins, eyes closed. Narrator repeats slowly: “But there was no breath in them.”

  5. 🌬️✨ “Come from the four winds, O breath”

    So the Lord told Ezekiel to call to the wind. “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.” The breath came into them. They lived, and they stood up on their feet, an exceeding great army.

    🎬 The Four Winds build a slow whoosh from the corners. One by one the Bones Crew takes a huge breath and stands tall.

  6. 😔➡️💓 “Our hope is lost”… “Ye shall live”

    Then the Lord explained. These bones were His people, who were saying, “Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost.” His answer: “I will open your graves… and shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live.” It was a promise to a nation, a promise of the Resurrection through Jesus Christ, and a promise to anyone who feels spiritually dead right now.

    🎬 The Hopeless Voice says their line with head down. Teacher reads the Lord’s promise. The Hopeless Voice slowly lifts their head and stands with the army.

Key verse

Ezekiel 36:26 ↗
“A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.”
In plain words: You don’t have to manufacture a better version of yourself alone. The Lord offers to swap out the heart that’s gone hard for one that can feel, love and change again.
🙌 “New heart”: hands form a heart over your chest. “New spirit”: breathe in and open your arms. “Stony heart”: make a tight fist. “Heart of flesh”: slowly open the fist into a relaxed, open hand.

More verses

Ezekiel 37:3 ↗
“Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest.”
In plain words: When something looks hopeless, the honest, faithful answer is “Lord, You know.” He sees possibilities we can’t.
Ezekiel 33:11 ↗
“turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die”
In plain words: The Lord isn’t waiting to catch you. He’s pleading with you to turn around, because He wants you to live.
Ezekiel 34:16 ↗
“I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken”
In plain words: The Good Shepherd goes after the lost, the pushed-out and the hurting, and He asks us to help.
Ezekiel 47:9 ↗
“every thing shall live whither the river cometh”
In plain words: Wherever the water from the temple goes, things come alive. The Lord’s house brings healing.

Forehead Guess words18 words

  • 🧔 Ezekiel
  • 🔭 Watchman
  • 🧑‍🌾 Shepherd
  • 🐑 Lost Sheep
  • 🦴 Dry Bones
  • 🏜️ Valley
  • 🌬️ Breath
  • 🧍 Great Army
  • 🪨 Stony Heart
  • ❤️‍🩹 New Heart
  • 🥢 Two Sticks
  • 📖 Bible
  • 📘 Book of Mormon
  • ⛪ Temple
  • 🌊 River
  • 🏛️ Babylon
  • ↩️ Repent
  • 🌅 Resurrection
Clues for each word
  • Ezekiel: Prophet in exile who saw a valley of bones
  • Watchman: Guard on the wall who warns the city
  • Shepherd: Should feed the flock, not himself
  • Lost Sheep: The Lord goes looking for it
  • Dry Bones: Filled a whole valley in Ezekiel 37
  • Valley: Low place between hills, full of bones
  • Breath: Came from the four winds and brought life
  • Great Army: What the bones became when they stood up
  • Stony Heart: The Lord offers to take this away
  • New Heart: Ezekiel 36:26 promise
  • Two Sticks: For Judah and for Joseph, joined as one
  • Bible: The stick of Judah
  • Book of Mormon: The stick of Joseph
  • Temple: Water flowed from under its door
  • River: Everything it touched came alive
  • Babylon: Where Ezekiel lived as a captive
  • Repent: “Turn ye, turn ye”
  • Resurrection: Because of Jesus, every body will live again
▶ Play Forehead GuessFull screen, 60-second timer, works on any phone.

Scripture Showdown9 questions

  1. What job did the Lord give Ezekiel, like a guard on a city wall?
    • A. Watchman
    • B. Scribe
    • C. Gatekeeper
    Show answer

    ✅ A. Watchman Ezekiel 3:17 and 33:7. A watchman sees danger coming and warns people.

  2. What did Ezekiel answer when asked, “Can these bones live?”
    • A. “Absolutely not.”
    • B. “Only if they repent.”
    • C. “O Lord GOD, thou knowest.”
    Show answer

    ✅ C. “O Lord GOD, thou knowest.” Ezekiel 37:3. Honest and faithful: he trusted the Lord to know what was possible.

  3. What was still missing after the bones got sinews, flesh and skin?
    • A. Clothes
    • B. Breath
    • C. Names
    Show answer

    ✅ B. Breath Ezekiel 37:8. They looked alive, but there was no breath in them until the wind came.

  4. What did the bones become when breath entered them?
    • A. A family
    • B. A temple
    • C. An exceeding great army
    Show answer

    ✅ C. An exceeding great army Ezekiel 37:10. Row after row stood up on their feet.

  5. What does the Lord promise to replace in Ezekiel 36:26?
    • A. A stony heart
    • B. An old temple
    • C. A broken stick
    Show answer

    ✅ A. A stony heart He takes away the stony heart and gives a heart of flesh.

  6. What does the Church teach the two sticks in Ezekiel 37 represent?
    • A. The Old and New Testaments
    • B. The Bible and the Book of Mormon
    • C. Two tribes at war
    Show answer

    ✅ B. The Bible and the Book of Mormon The stick of Judah and the stick of Joseph become one witness of Jesus Christ.

  7. In Ezekiel 34, what did the bad shepherds do wrong?
    • A. Fed themselves and ignored the flock
    • B. Lost their staffs
    • C. Sold the sheep
    Show answer

    ✅ A. Fed themselves and ignored the flock Ezekiel 34:2–4. So the Lord promised to seek His sheep Himself.

  8. In Ezekiel 47, where did the healing river come from?
    • A. A mountain spring
    • B. Under the temple door
    • C. The Jordan River
    Show answer

    ✅ B. Under the temple door Ezekiel 47:1. Blessings flow from the house of the Lord.

  9. In Ezekiel 33:11, what does the Lord plead with His people to do?
    • A. Hide
    • B. Fight
    • C. Turn from their evil ways and live
    Show answer

    ✅ C. Turn from their evil ways and live “Turn ye, turn ye.” He wants us to live, not to fail.

▶ Play Scripture ShowdownTeams take turns on one screen.

Songs

  • I Know That My Redeemer Lives Hymns, no. 136

    The dry bones point to the Resurrection. This hymn is a testimony that the Savior lives and gives life. Find it ↗

  • The Lord Is My Shepherd Hymns, no. 108

    Pairs with Ezekiel 34: the Lord is the Shepherd who seeks and feeds His sheep. Find it ↗

This week’s challenge

Go Get One

Be a shepherd this week. Pick one person who’s been driven away, drifting or alone (a friend, a quorum or class member, a sibling) and do one real thing: a text that isn’t about church, sitting by them, an invite to something fun. Then pray about the “dry” area you wrote down.

Text the parents

This week in class we debated whether people can really change, acted out Ezekiel’s valley of dry bones coming back to life, and talked about the Lord’s promise in Ezekiel 36:26 to give “a new heart.” Your teen’s challenge is to reach out to one person who seems lost or left out. A good question to ask: “What do you think makes a heart go ‘stony’ at your age, and what softens 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?

🥢 Two Sticks, One Witness · 5 min

  1. Read Ezekiel 37:15–17. Explain that the Church teaches the stick of Judah is the Bible and the stick of Joseph is the Book of Mormon.
  2. Pairs get two minutes: one finds a Bible verse about Jesus Christ, the other finds a Book of Mormon verse that teaches the same truth (for example, John 10:11 and 3 Nephi 15:21).
  3. Each pair shares their match. Ask: “Why does the Lord give us two witnesses instead of one?”

🌊 How Deep Is the River? · 4 min

  1. Read Ezekiel 47:1–9. The water gets deeper: ankles, knees, waist, then a river to swim in.
  2. Ask youth to stand and touch their ankles, knees and waist as you read each depth.
  3. Discuss: “What makes someone’s temple experience go from ankle-deep to swimming?” (Preparation, going often, family names, pondering.)
  4. Invite youth with a recommend to take a family name to the temple this month.

🔭 The Watchman’s Dilemma · 5 min

  1. Read Ezekiel 33:6–9: a watchman who sees danger and says nothing shares the blame.
  2. Pose a dilemma: “Your friend is posting things that could really hurt them later. Do you say something, and how, without being preachy?”
  3. Small groups write the exact text message they’d send. Share and vote on the kindest honest one.

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 14–16 lessons