The wise man and

the foolish man

Scripture
Print off the pictures below of a house built on a rock. You can
cut it out into a doorknob hanger or just laminate it for the
picture. Read Matthew 7:24-29 while your child looks at the
picture. Then read Helaman 5:12

Print off and color 16 square pictures of the wise man and
foolish man. Cut and tape the square together to make one
continuous vertical line of pictures. Print off the 16 lines of
words to the song and glue them on the back of their
corresponding square picture. Then laminate the long strand
of pictures. Print off the wise man foolish man front, cut along
the dotted lines and laminate. Then cut again along the
dotted lines. Thread the picture strips through the slits of the
front. As you pull each picture through the slits, sing or say the
words of “The Wise Man and the Foolish Man from the
Children’s Songbook on page 281.

Print off the picture of the hand, cut it out then cut out the 5
finger points and glue them to the back of the hand. Laminate
the hand. Glue a Popsicle stick to the bottom of the hand and
hold it up for your child to see. Talk about the five fingers of a
testimony. Answer these simple questions that you child might
have:

How do I get a testimony?

When do I bare my testimony?
Why do I want a testimony of my own?
How do I know I have a testimony?
Who can I share my testimony with?
How do I share my testimony?
The Wise Man And
The Foolish Man
1 2

3 4

5 6
7 8
9 10

11 12

13 14
15 16
1. The wise man built his
house upon the rock,

2. The wise ma built his

house upon the rock,

3. The wise man built his

house upon the rock,

4. And the rains came

tumbling down.

5. The rains came down, and

the floods came up,

6. The rains came down, and

the floods came up,

7. The rains came down, and

the floods came up,

8. And the house on the rock

stood still.

9. The foolish man built his

house upon the sand,

10. The foolish man built his

house upon the sand,

11. The foolish man built his

house upon the sand,

12. And the rains came

tumbling down.

13. The rains came down, and

the floods came up,

14. The rains came down, and

the floods came up,

15. The rains came down, and

the floods came up,

16. And the house on the sand

washed away.
 5 4ESTIMONY
&INGERS

1.'ODISOURLOVING&ATHERIN(EAVEN
God is our loving Father in Heaven.
2.(IS3ON*ESUS#HRISTISOUR3AVIORAND2EDEEMER
His Son, Jesus Christ,
is *OSEPH3MITHWASAPROPHETOF'ODANDHEWASTHEINSTRUMENT
our Savior and Redeemer.
3. Joseph Smith was a prophet of God,
THROUGHWHICHTHEGOSPELOF*ESUS#HRISTWASRESTOREDTOTHEEARTH
and he was the instrument
ANDTHE"OOKOF-ORMONWASTRANSLATED
through which the gospel of Jesus Christ
4HE#HURCHOF*ESUS#HRISTOF,ATTER DAY3AINTSISTHE,ORDS#HURCH
was restored to the earth and
ONTHEEARTHTODAY
the Book of Mormon was translated.
4.4HIS#HURCHISLEDBYALIVINGPROPHETWHORECEIVESREVELATION
The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints is the Lord’s
3USAN,7ARNERh"EAR2ECORDOF(IMv%NSIGN.OV
Church on the earth today.
5. This Church is led by a living
prophet who receives revelation.
Story
Print off and laminate the following story. Read the story to
your child, and then ask them if they have any other questions
about testimonies. ANYHTING!
 I Have a
BY LANA KRUMWIEDE
(Based on a true story)

I declare unto you the gospel

Testimony
(1 Corinthians 15:1).

W
hat do you want to play next?”
Tyler asked Jonathan.
“I don’t know. What other toys
do you have?” Even though they were best
friends in the second grade, this was the
first time Jonathan had come over to play at
Tyler’s house.
“Let’s see,” Tyler said. “We already
jumped on the trampoline. We played dig-
ging for dinosaurs. We put the space shuttle
set together three times. Those are all
my favorites.”
“Do you have any new games?” Jonathan
asked.
“No, but I just had an idea. I have
something to show you that I
bet you’ve never seen.” Jona-
than followed Tyler into the family
room. Tyler got out an envelope
and a big square board covered
with fuzzy flannel.
“Look at this,” Tyler said. He
turned the envelope upside down
and a bunch of pictures fell out onto
the floor. “I’ve been practicing my les-
son for family home evening tonight.
I’m going to tell the story of Joseph
Smith just like the missionaries do.
Want to hear it?”
“Hold on,” Jonathan said. “What’s
family home evening, and who’s Joseph
Smith?”
“Family home evening is when our
family gets together every Monday night.
We do lessons, play games, sing songs,

ILLUSTRATED BY BRIAN CALL

4
and stuff like that. And we always have treats at the end.
Anyway, it’s my turn to give the lesson. It’s all about
Joseph Smith. Want to hear it?”
Jonathan shrugged. “OK.”
“Good. It starts off when Joseph was a teenager.”
Tyler put a picture on the flannel board of a boy
dressed in old-fashioned clothes. “He wanted to know
which church was true. He was reading in the Bible
where it says that if you have a question, you should
ask God. Joseph Smith decided to pray and ask God
which church he should join.”
“Is this a Bible story?” Jonathan asked.
“Well, not really.” Tyler took the boy’s picture off the
flannel board and put on a picture of some trees. Then
he got out another picture of the boy, only this time the
boy was kneeling. “This is the good part. Joseph Smith
went into the woods where he could be alone to pray.
When he prayed, he asked God his question about
which church was true.”
Tyler put another picture above the Joseph picture
on the flannel board. This one showed Heavenly Father
and Jesus Christ, all dressed in white. “God and Jesus
came down and told Joseph Smith not to join any of
the churches. They told him that the true church was
not on the earth. Later, when Joseph Smith was older,
he was able to help bring the true Church back to the
earth. He was a true prophet.”
Tyler stopped and looked at Jonathan. Jonathan was
staring at the pictures but not saying much. Finally Tyler
asked, “What do you think?”
“Well, I don’t know,” Jonathan said. “The only
prophets I’ve ever heard about are from Bible stories.
Are you sure Joseph Smith was a prophet?”
“Sure, I’m sure.”
F R I E N D FEBRUARY 2003 5
 “But how do you know? I mean, if it’s not in the
Bible, how do you know?”
Tyler hesitated. He knew that Joseph Smith was a
prophet, but how could he explain it to Jonathan? “I
just know,” he said.
Jonathan still had a frown on his face, and Tyler had a
feeling that there was something else he should say. Then
he knew what it was. “I know because I have a testimony.”
“Oh,” was all Jonathan said.
Tyler began putting the pictures back into the
envelope.
Just then, Tyler’s mom poked her head around the
corner. “How about a snack?” she said. “There are
cookies in the kitchen.”
Tyler and Jonathan told each other jokes while
they licked the frosting from the middle of their
cookies. By the time they munched down the choco-
late outside parts of the cookies, Jonathan’s mom
had come to pick him up. He went outside to look
for his shoes next to the trampoline. Tyler went with
him.
While Jonathan was tying his shoes, he looked up
at Tyler. “You know that story you told me? It was
good. I mean, it’s good about your testimony and all.”
Before Tyler could answer, Jonathan had jumped
up and was running through the gate out to the car.
“See you tomorrow!” he called over his shoulder.
“Yeah, see you tomorrow,” Tyler called back. ●

“It is important that we each know for ourselves that Jesus is the Christ and that He has restored to the earth through
the Prophet Joseph Smith the fulness of His everlasting gospel. As we press forward in His service, spiritual experiences
will increase our faith, and we will find great joy. . . . And as we come to know and understand these true doctrines for
ourselves, we will discover that there is also a great need for us to share our knowledge and beliefs with others while
always maintaining their friendship and goodwill.”
Elder M. Russell Ballard
Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
From an April 2000 general conference address.

6
Activity
Print off both copies of the “My testimony wall.” Laminate the
first copy and place 12 pieces of Velcro spaced out on the wall.
Cut out the stone on the second copy of the testimony wall and
laminate them. Answer the questions on the stones and then
place them on the wall. Explain to your child that a testimony
can bring protection and strength against evil.