October 2026 General Conference › Lessons › Elder Gerrit W. Gong › Children

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

Thank You for the House of the Lord

From “Come to the Lord in His Holy House,” by Elder Gerrit W. Gong · Saturday morning session, October 2026 General Conference

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The big idea

The temple is the house of the Lord, and I am thankful for it.

Objective

Children will say that the temple is the house of the Lord and name one reason they are thankful for it.

Before you teach

  • Read paragraphs 3-6 and 25-27 of Elder Gong's talk.
  • Bring a picture of a temple (from the meetinghouse library, a Church magazine or Gospel Library).
  • Bring building blocks (or paper cups), a soft ball, paper, crayons and a few strips of paper with tape.
  • Write on two small pieces of paper: Holiness to the Lord, the House of the Lord.

Lesson plan

Thirty minutes in 6 parts. Times are a guide; let the Spirit and the learners set the pace.

3 min0–3

Welcome and sing

  1. Invite a child to pray. Hold up the picture of the temple and ask what it is.
  2. Sing I Love to See the Temple together. Ask the children to point to the picture each time they sing the word temple.
  3. Teach the truth for today and have the children repeat it with you three times, first in a whisper, then in a speaking voice, then with a hand on their heart: The temple is the house of the Lord.
5 min3–8

Noisy world, peaceful place

  1. Tell the children that Elder Gong, an Apostle of Jesus Christ, said the world can be full of noise and worries. Have everyone stand and march, wiggle and stomp in place for ten seconds.
  2. Say: Freeze. Then say that the Lord invites us to a place that is safe and holy, His house. Have the children tiptoe to the temple picture, fold their arms and stand very still for ten seconds.
  3. Do it twice more. Each time they reach the picture, whisper together: The temple is the house of the Lord.
  4. Sit down and ask the questions below.
Ask
  • How did you feel when everything was noisy? How did you feel when we were still?
  • Where do you feel peaceful and close to Jesus?
6 min8–14

Big temple, small temple

  1. Make two groups. One group builds a big temple with many blocks. The other builds a small temple with only a few. Give them two minutes.
  2. Tell the story simply: Someone once told Elder Gong they were happy to have a temple but sorry it was a small one. Elder Gong lovingly taught that the sacred things we do in the temple are not big or small. He asked us to always speak about every temple with love and thanks.
  3. Let a child place one of the paper signs on each block temple. Read the sign aloud.
  4. Ask the questions below. Then have everyone point to each temple in turn and say: The temple is the house of the Lord.
Ask
  • Which one of these is the house of the Lord?
  • What kind words can we say about the temple?
5 min14–19

A chain of love

  1. Tell the children that in the temple Heavenly Father teaches us His plan of happiness and blesses us. His work is to help us come back to Him with our families, happy and forever.
  2. Give each child a strip of paper. Ask them to draw the face of someone they love on it. Any person they love is a good choice.
  3. Tape the strips into one chain, one child at a time. As each link is added, the class says: Thank you for the temple.
  4. Hold up the finished chain. Say that Elder Gong asked each of us to be a strong link, and that Jesus helps us stay close to the people we love.
6 min19–25

Draw and tell

  1. Give each child paper and crayons. Ask them to draw a temple and to draw themselves beside it.
  2. While they draw, hum or softly sing I Love to See the Temple again.
  3. Walk around and ask each child the question below. Write their answer at the bottom of their picture, or let older children write it themselves.
  4. Invite two or three children to show their picture and tell the class their answer.
Ask
  • What is one reason you are thankful for the temple?
5 min25–30

Roll, say and choose

  1. Sit in a circle. Roll the ball to a child. That child says The temple is the house of the Lord, or says one thing they are thankful for about the temple, then rolls the ball to someone else. Continue until everyone has had a turn.
  2. Remind the children that each of them is a child of God and He loves them. The temple is one of the places where He blesses us.
  3. Invite each child to choose one thing to do this week: thank Heavenly Father for the temple in a prayer, or show their picture to someone at home and tell them what the temple is.
  4. Tell them you will ask next week who said thank you for the temple. Next week, ask before anything else. Close with a prayer by a child, and help them thank Heavenly Father for the temple.

Key passages from the talk

“the Lord invites us to a place of spiritual safety, harmony, and holiness—the house of the Lord.”

Elder Gong’s talk, paragraph 3

“Let us always only speak with love and gratitude for ‘Holiness to the Lord, the House of the Lord.’”

Elder Gong’s talk, paragraph 26

“Heavenly Father’s work and glory is for us to return to Him, united as families, happy and forever.”

Elder Gong’s talk, paragraph 6

The speaker’s direct invitations

“let us always be grateful for the gifts of eternity sacred temples bring”

Elder Gong’s talk, paragraph 27

“Please let us never speak of a temple as big or small, elaborate or plain.”

Elder Gong’s talk, paragraph 26

Scriptures

  • Moses 1:39 In the chain segment, read it aloud (or have an older child read it). Explain in simple words, as Elder Gong did, that Heavenly Father's work is to help us return to Him with our families.
  • Job 38:7 Before the opening song, tell the children that Elder Gong reminded us that before we came to earth there was singing for joy about Heavenly Father's plan. Today we sing for joy about the temple.

Other voices that agree

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

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

Three things to remember

  • The temple is the house of the Lord.
  • Every temple is holy, whether it is big or small.
  • I can say thank you to Heavenly Father for the temple.

Ways to act this week

  • Thank Heavenly Father for the temple in a prayer this week.
  • Put your temple picture where you will see it and tell someone at home: The temple is the house of the Lord.
  • When you see a temple or a picture of one, say something kind and thankful about it.

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

Music

  • I Love to See the Temple
  • I Am a Child of God

Adapting the lesson

  • Ages 3–7. Shorten the story to two sentences and let the blocks do the teaching. Repeat the truth after every activity and add an action (hands together like a roof). Give helpers jobs: holding the picture, placing the signs, carrying the chain. In Draw and tell, give them a simple temple outline you have sketched and let them color it and add themselves.
  • Ages 8–11. Have a child read Moses 1:39 aloud and another read key quote 2 from Elder Gong. Ask a harder question: Why do you think Elder Gong said the sacred things done in the temple are not big or small? Let an older child lead the noisy and peaceful game and run the ball review. In Draw and tell, have them write one sentence of thanks to Heavenly Father under their picture.

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.