Temptations/Don't Pet a Rattlesnake Sharing time

The rattlesnakes are simply clipart from google, the B's are from theideadoor.com. The wagon handout is printed from the Friend magazine(part of a pioneer wagon) and had yellow tissue paper and a small rattlesnake cutout attached with the story)

Sharing Time- Don't Pet the Rattlesnake/ Temptations/Pres. Hinckley's B's

Since we have General Conference coming up I would like to tell a story by Elder David Sorensen who is a seventy, or a servant for the Lord. He shared this story in the 2005 April General conference. I also have some words from the prophet President Hinckley.

Then tell the story Elder David E Sorenson's gave in his talk at April conference:

“My mind raced back to the days of my youth on the farm. In the summertime one of our responsibilities was to haul hay from the fields into the barn for winter storage. My dad would pitch the hay onto a flatbed wagon. I would then tromp down the hay to get as much as possible on the wagon. One day, in one of the loose bundles pitched onto the wagon was a rattlesnake! When I looked at it, I was concerned, excited, and afraid. The snake was lying in the nice, cool hay. The sun was glistening on its diamond back. After a few moments the snake stopped rattling, became still, and I became very curious. I started to get closer and leaned over for a better look, when suddenly I heard a call from my father: "David, my boy, you can't pet a rattlesnake!”

            Why did David’s dad tell him that he couldn’t pet a rattlesnake? David has agency(the freedom to choose) whether to touch the snake or not. If someone was with him, he might have been dared to touch the snake. What might have happened if he made the wrong choice and touched the snake? The snake might have looked pretty or a good idea (remember he was curious), but David had to be make the right choice or there could have been serious consequences or a bad result from his action. The rattlesnake is like a temptation in our life. Something that Satan tells us inside that we should do, but is wrong in the Lord’s eyes.

President Hinckley's has warned us how to have courage to fight off the “snakes” or the temptations in our lives and dare to choose the right in a fireside to the youth in Oct 2000 where he talked about Six B’s. We had mentioned these B’s a couple of weeks ago and we weren’t sure what they were. These 6 B’s have been repeated in many General conference talks. We are going to play a game to find the six B’s that he mentioned. I have a bag that is filled with hay just like Elder Sorensen’s story. There are the six B’s (friendly non stinging bees) and there are some rattlesnakes with temptations on them. We want to see if we can avoid the rattlesnakes and find President Hinckley’s B’s. We will pull our items and see if we can find all the B’s and put them on the board and avoid grabbing the rattle snakes before time runs out.

Pres. Hinckley’s B’s
BE GRATEFUL
Ask what can you be Grateful for

• for blessings
• for opportunities
• thankful to parents
• thankful to friends
• thankful to teachers
• thankful to Heavenly Father

BE SMART

Next, how can you be Smart:

• schooling
• training

BE CLEAN

Next, how can we be clean

• no evil talk
• choose good friends
• good entertainment
• well groomed, take baths,
• keep word of wisdom

BE TRUE

Next, how can we be true?

• loyal to church and preach and practice teachings
• do what is right
• stand up for what is right
• Always tell the truth and not lie

BE HUMBLE

Next, what does it mean to be humble?:

• listen to others
• listen to teachers
• listen to Holy Ghost
• Don’t think you are better than everyone else or know more than everyone

BE PRAYERFUL

Last but not least, how can you be Prayerful:

• do what is right so you can talk to Heavenly Father
• thank Heavenly Father for blessings
• tell Heavenly Father what you think, things you need help with.
• Talk to Him often, keep a prayer in your heart always and at least morning, night, and at meals.

I hope you will remember to avoid the rattlesnakes in your life like in Elder Sorensen’s talk and follow the 6 B’s that were mentioned in President Hinckley’s talk.

RATTLESNAKES

"You are so tired and go got in bed before you remembered to pray. Will you just skip saying prayers tonight? Dare to choose the right!

You and your friend are riding your scooters and you see a package of cigarettes on the ground. Your friend dares you to try smoking one. Will you take the dare?

"It is a Sunday and a friend asks you to go ride bikes and afterwards go out to get pizza. Will you go with him?

You receive a sweater for Christmas from your grandmother and you don’t care for the color. What should you do to choose the right?   
Your friend dares you to run across the street when a car is coming. What will you do?
You have a test coming up and you decide that you don’t really need to study, but would rather play a game instead. What should you do?