October 2026 General Conference › Lessons › Elder David A. Bednar › Children

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

My Promises with Heavenly Father

From “Sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise,” by Elder David A. Bednar · Sunday afternoon session, October 2026 General Conference

Watch the talkRead the full talk

The big idea

A covenant is a special promise with Heavenly Father; I can keep my promises, and the Holy Ghost helps me.

Objective

Children will be able to say that a covenant is a special promise with Heavenly Father and name one way they will keep a promise this week.

Before you teach

  • Read Elder Bednar's talk, Sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise. This lesson teaches only its simplest truth; leave out everything about marriage and families.
  • Fold one sheet of paper in half for each child to make a small book, with a few spares. Bring crayons.
  • Bring a flashlight, a picture of the Savior, and six sheets of paper to lay on the floor as stepping stones.
  • Write one of these on each stepping stone, with a simple drawing: pray, be kind, tell the truth, say sorry, help, listen.

Lesson plan

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

3 min0–3

Welcome and song

  1. Greet each child by name and invite a child to pray.
  2. Sing The Holy Ghost or Keep the Commandments together.
  3. Tell the children that today they will learn about special promises with Heavenly Father.
5 min3–8

What is a promise?

  1. Ask the first question below and listen to several answers.
  2. Play a quick promise game. Say: I promise to clap three times. Then do it. Let three or four children make a small promise to the class, such as hopping twice or touching their toes, and keep it right away. Cheer each kept promise.
  3. Teach the word covenant. Have the children say it with you three times: whisper it, say it, then say it while standing tall.
  4. Tell them that Elder Bednar, an Apostle of Jesus Christ, taught what a covenant is. Read the first key quote. Explain that a covenant is a special promise between Heavenly Father and us.
Ask
  • What is a promise?
  • How do you feel when someone keeps a promise to you?
5 min8–13

The traveler and his special book

  1. Give each child a folded paper book. Say it is their special book for today and ask them to take very good care of it.
  2. Tell Elder Bednar's story simply while the children act it out: a man wanted to visit his family in a country far away. He packed his suitcase (pretend to pack). He flew on an airplane (arms out). He needed a special little book called a passport to go in. But he had not taken good care of it. It was stained and ripped. The helper at the gate could not let him in, and the man felt sad.
  3. Ask the question below.
  4. Say: our promises with Heavenly Father are even more special than a passport. We take good care of them by keeping them. If a child's paper is bent or torn, cheerfully give a fresh one and say that Heavenly Father helps us try again.
Ask
  • What could the man have done to take good care of his special book?
6 min13–19

Walking home to Heavenly Father

  1. Lay the six stepping stones in a path across the room. Put the picture of the Savior at the end.
  2. Tell the children that Elder Bednar shared the words of President Packer, who taught that life is a journey home to God. Read the first aligned quote.
  3. One at a time or in pairs, the children walk the path holding their special book carefully. At each stone, the whole class calls out what is on it.
  4. When each child reaches the picture, everyone says together: I keep my promises.
  5. Ask the question below while the children sit down by the picture.
Ask
  • Which stepping stone is something you can do today?
5 min19–24

The Holy Ghost helps me

  1. Dim the lights a little, keeping the room light enough to see safely. Turn on the flashlight and shine it along the stepping stones, one by one.
  2. Say that Elder Bednar taught that the Holy Ghost is a messenger for Heavenly Father and Jesus. Read the second key quote. Like this light, the Holy Ghost helps us know what is true and right, and helps us feel that Heavenly Father is happy when we keep our promises.
  3. Let two or three children take a turn shining the light on a stone while the class names what is on it.
  4. Turn the lights up and ask the questions below.
Ask
  • What does it feel like inside when you choose the right?
  • When could the Holy Ghost help you this week?
4 min24–28

My promise book

  1. Hand out crayons. Inside their special book, each child draws one way they will keep a promise this week. They may copy a stepping stone.
  2. Walk around and ask each child to tell you about the drawing. This is your check that they understand.
  3. Help them write on the cover: I keep my promises.
2 min28–30

Happy when we keep our promises

  1. Tell the children that Elder Bednar ended with a promise from King Benjamin in Mosiah 2:41: people who keep God's commandments are blessed and happy.
  2. Bear a short testimony that Heavenly Father always keeps His promises and that the Holy Ghost will help them keep theirs.
  3. Ask them to take their book home and put it where they will see it. Follow up: next week, begin by asking who kept the promise in their book and how it felt.

Key passages from the talk

“A covenant is a solemn promise”

Elder Bednar’s talk, paragraph 11

“The Holy Ghost is the third member of the Godhead.”

Elder Bednar’s talk, paragraph 14

“the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God”

Elder Bednar’s talk, paragraph 29

Scriptures

  • Mosiah 2:41 In the last segment, tell the children in your own words that King Benjamin promised that those who keep God's commandments are blessed and happy. Older children can read the verse aloud.
  • D&C 136:4 Before the stepping-stone walk, tell the children this verse speaks of a promise to walk in the Lord's ways. Then walk the path together.

Other voices that agree

“life is a homeward journey for all of us, back to the presence of God”

President Boyd K. Packer, quoted in this talk (paragraph 2)

“I urge you to keep the commandments and be true to the covenants so many of you have made to guide you along the covenant path.”

President Oaks · The Gospel of Jesus Christ Is for All, paragraph 7

Three things to remember

  • A covenant is a special promise with Heavenly Father.
  • I can keep my promises.
  • The Holy Ghost helps me.

Ways to act this week

  • Do the thing you drew in your promise book every day this week.
  • When you pray at night, tell Heavenly Father one promise you kept today.
  • When you feel a warm, happy feeling after choosing the right, say quietly: thank You, Heavenly Father.

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

Music

  • The Holy Ghost
  • Keep the Commandments

Adapting the lesson

  • Ages 3–7. Keep each part short and moving. Use only three stepping stones (pray, be kind, say sorry) and walk the path twice, holding a helper's hand. Tell the traveler story in four sentences with big actions. Repeat I keep my promises after every activity, and let the children draw freely while you write the words for them.
  • Ages 8–11. Have a child read Mosiah 2:41 aloud and another read Elder Bednar's definition of a covenant from the talk. Let older children lay out the stones, lead the walk, and hold the flashlight. Ask a harder question: why does keeping a promise every day matter more than making it once? You may add that Elder Bednar said hard things that are not our fault never spoil our promises with God.

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.