October 2026 General Conference › Lessons › Brother Gabriel W. Reid › Children

30-minute lesson · Children · Ages 3–11: Primary or home

Jesus Knows My Name

From “You Are Good Enough to Teach,” by Brother Gabriel W. Reid · Sunday afternoon session, October 2026 General Conference

Watch the talkRead the full talk

The big idea

Jesus loves me, and I can help others feel His love.

Objective

Children will feel that the Savior knows and loves each of them, and will choose one person to show love to this week.

Before you teach

  • Bring a soft ball, a blanket, a flashlight, paper and crayons.
  • Bring a picture of Jesus Christ with children (from the meetinghouse library or the Gospel Library app).
  • Know every child's name before class; ask a parent or leader if you are unsure.
  • Read paragraphs T35.16–22 and T35.25–28 of Brother Reid's talk.

Lesson plan

Thirty minutes in 7 parts. Times are a guide; let the Spirit and the learners set the pace.

4 min0–4

Name ball

  1. Greet each child by name at the door. After the prayer, sit in a circle on the floor.
  2. Roll the ball to a child and say that child's name with a smile. The child rolls it to someone else and says that friend's name. Keep going until every child has heard his or her name.
  3. Ask the question below. Then say today's truth and have the children repeat it with you twice: Jesus loves me, and I can help others feel His love.
Ask
  • How does it feel when someone knows your name and is glad to see you?
5 min4–9

Under the mango tree

  1. Have the children help you hold the blanket up high like the leafy top of a big tree, then lay it on the floor and sit on it together in its shade.
  2. Tell the story in simple words: Brother Reid is a leader in the Church. When he was a boy he lived in a village called Leone, in American Samoa, in a family with 13 children. Many of his Primary classes were outside, in the shade of a mango tree.
  3. Tell what he remembers most: his teachers loved the children. They knew each child by name. Their love helped the children feel Jesus's love.
  4. Read the first key quote. Ask the questions below.
Ask
  • What did Brother Reid remember most about his Primary teachers?
  • Who helps you feel that Jesus loves you?
3 min9–12

Sing

  1. Stand up on the blanket and sing I Feel My Savior's Love (or Jesus Said Love Everyone). Add simple actions: hands on heart for love, arms open wide for everyone.
  2. After the song, whisper today's truth together, then say it in a regular voice.
6 min12–18

One by one

  1. Show the picture of Jesus with children. Explain that when Jesus visited the people in the Book of Mormon, He did not hurry. He invited the people to come to Him one by one, and He blessed their children one by one.
  2. Place the picture at the front of the room. Invite the children to walk up one at a time, slowly and reverently, and look at the picture.
  3. As each child stands there, say quietly, using the child's name: Jesus knows you, and He loves you.
  4. When all are seated, ask the questions below. Let several children answer.
Ask
  • Why do you think Jesus blessed the children one by one and not all at once?
  • How do you feel knowing Jesus knows your name?
4 min18–22

Pass the light

  1. Dim the lights if you can and turn on the flashlight. Say: Jesus's love is like this light. When we love others, we help His light reach them.
  2. Shine the light gently on the floor in front of one child (never in eyes). That child names one kind thing to do for someone, such as sharing, saying hello, helping, or sitting by someone who is alone. Then the child holds the flashlight and shines it in front of the next child.
  3. Continue until every child has had a turn. Read the second key quote and say that everyone can teach about Jesus by loving the way He does.
5 min22–27

Draw someone to love

  1. Give each child paper and crayons. Ask the children to draw one person they can show love to this week: a friend, a neighbor, a teacher, someone at home, or someone new.
  2. As they draw, walk around and ask each child, by name, who is in the picture and what kind thing the child will do.
  3. Help the children write or copy at the top: I can love like Jesus.
3 min27–30

Show and promise

  1. Let each child hold up the drawing and say the person's name or what he or she will do.
  2. Tell the children that Brother Reid invited us to love the Lord and love those we teach, and promised that Jesus will help us love others.
  3. Say today's truth together one last time. Ask the children to put the drawing where they will see it at home. Tell them you will ask next week what they did.
  4. Share your testimony in one or two sentences that Jesus knows and loves each child, and close with prayer.

Key passages from the talk

“They knew us personally—even by name.”

Brother Reid’s talk, paragraph 21

“To teach like the Savior, we must love like the Savior!”

Brother Reid’s talk, paragraph 45

“Many of my earliest Primary classes were held beneath the shade of a mango tree.”

Brother Reid’s talk, paragraph 20

The speaker’s direct invitation

“Love the Lord and love those you teach.”

Brother Reid’s talk, paragraph 15

Scriptures

  • 3 Nephi 17:21 In the one by one segment, open the Book of Mormon to this verse and tell in your own words what Jesus did for the children; an older child may read it aloud.
  • John 13:34–35 With older children, read it after the flashlight activity and ask how people can tell that we follow Jesus.
  • 1 John 4:19 Read it just before the drawing activity and ask who loved us first.

Other voices that agree

“Often, helping others feel seen as children of God begins with something as simple as learning their name.”

President Chibota · A Child of God, paragraph 4

“I am a child of God and He loves me.”

Elder Fale · I Am a Child of God, paragraph 1

Three things to remember

  • Jesus knows my name and loves me.
  • Loving teachers and helpers help me feel Jesus's love.
  • I can help others feel Jesus's love by being kind.

Ways to act this week

  • Do the kind thing you drew for the person in your picture.
  • Learn the name of one child you do not know well and say hello using that name.
  • In your prayers this week, thank Heavenly Father for someone who helps you feel Jesus's love.

Suggestions written for this lesson, not the speaker’s words.

Music

  • I Feel My Savior's Love
  • Jesus Said Love Everyone

Adapting the lesson

  • Ages 3–7. Keep each part short and moving. Roll the ball rather than toss it, repeat today's truth after every activity with hand actions, and let a helper walk with shy children to the picture. Skip the reading; tell the story in four or five sentences. For the drawing, write the words for them and let them simply color a person.
  • Ages 8–11. Have one child read 3 Nephi 17:21 and another read John 13:34–35 aloud. Ask a harder question: Brother Reid says the love of the messenger matters as well as the message; what do you think that means? Let an older child lead the flashlight activity, and use President Chibota's words (aligned quote) to challenge them to learn a new name this week.

This lesson is an independent study aid written for this site. It is not an official lesson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Quotations are word for word from the official talk; paragraph numbers count the paragraphs of the talk as published at churchofjesuschrist.org, not counting headings or picture captions. The activities, questions and ideas for acting are suggestions; follow the Spirit and adapt them to those you teach.