October 2026 General Conference › Lessons › Elder Moisés Villanueva › Children

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

Heavenly Father Keeps His Promises

From “Prove Me Now Herewith,” by Elder Moisés Villanueva · Sunday afternoon session, October 2026 General Conference

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The big idea

When I pay tithing I show Heavenly Father that I trust Him, and He keeps His promise to bless me.

Objective

Children will say that Heavenly Father keeps His promises and will draw blessings He has given them.

Before you teach

  • Bring ten building blocks (or ten paper circles), an empty bowl, an empty cup, a flashlight, paper and crayons.
  • Cut five paper hearts. On each, write or draw one blessing: a healthy body, a home, learning, a thankful heart, the Holy Ghost. Hide them around the room in easy places before class.
  • Read 1 Kings 17:8–16 so you can tell the story in your own simple words.
  • The truth to repeat all lesson long: Heavenly Father keeps His promises.

Lesson plan

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

3 min0–3

Sing and say

  1. Sing one verse of Keep the Commandments together, then invite a child to pray.
  2. Teach the truth for today with actions: point up for Heavenly Father, hug yourself for keeps, hold out both hands for His promises. Say it together three times, getting quieter each time.
  3. Tell the children that Elder Villanueva spoke at general conference about a promise Heavenly Father makes to us.
5 min3–8

Ten blocks

  1. Tell the children that when Elder Villanueva was ten years old, his family was baptized and learned about tithing.
  2. Let the children count ten blocks out loud as you stack them. Move one block to the side. Explain: tithing is giving one part out of ten back to Heavenly Father. It is a way to say, I trust Thee.
  3. Let each child have a turn counting ten and moving the tithing block.
  4. Explain that Elder Villanueva's mother did not have very much, but she chose to trust the Lord's promise and pay tithing. Say the truth together again with actions.
Ask
  • How do you think Heavenly Father feels when we trust Him?
6 min8–14

The bowl that did not run out

  1. Choose children to be Elijah, the widow and her son. Everyone else gathers sticks by picking up crayons from around the room, the way the widow was gathering sticks.
  2. Tell the story simply while the children act it out with the empty bowl and cup: the widow had only a little flour and a little oil left. The prophet Elijah asked her to make some bread for him first. He promised that her flour and oil would not run out.
  3. Have the widow pretend to make bread and carry it to Elijah first. Then let every child peek in the bowl as you say: day after day, there was still enough. The Lord kept His promise.
  4. Say the truth together with actions. If time allows, act it again with new actors.
Ask
  • Was it easy or hard for the widow to share first?
  • What did Heavenly Father do for her?
5 min14–19

Flashlight blessing hunt

  1. Explain that Heavenly Father promises to open the windows of heaven for those who pay tithing. Many of His blessings are quiet, so we have to look for them.
  2. Dim the lights if you can. Give one child the flashlight to search for a hidden heart while the others point and help. Take turns until all five hearts are found.
  3. Each time a heart is found, read the blessing and have everyone open their arms wide like a window and say, thank you, Heavenly Father.
  4. Tell the children that Elder Villanueva made a list of blessings like these, and the Holy Ghost helped him see them.
6 min19–25

My window of blessings

  1. Give each child paper and crayons. Help them fold the paper in half twice and open it to make a window with four parts.
  2. Invite them to draw one blessing from Heavenly Father in each part. Remind them of quiet blessings: a body that can run, a warm bed, someone who loves them, a good feeling from the Holy Ghost.
  3. Walk around and ask each child to tell you about one drawing. Check for understanding by asking: who gave you that blessing?
5 min25–30

Share and choose

  1. Sit in a circle. Roll or pass a block to each child in turn; the child holding it shows one drawing and names the blessing.
  2. Read the first key quote slowly, then say it simply: Heavenly Father gives us commandments because He wants to bless us.
  3. Invite each child to choose one thing to do this week from the ideas under Act. Say the truth one last time with actions and bear a short testimony that Heavenly Father knows and loves each child.
  4. Send the drawings home. Follow up next week by asking: what blessings did you find this week?

Key passages from the talk

“He gives us commandments because He wants us to receive His blessings.”

Elder Villanueva’s talk, paragraph 34

“God is our loving Heavenly Father.”

Elder Villanueva’s talk, paragraph 34

“When we live the law of tithing, the Lord indeed opens the windows of heaven”

Elder Villanueva’s talk, paragraph 35

Scriptures

  • 1 Kings 17:8–16 Tell the story of the widow and Elijah in your own simple words while the children act it out with an empty bowl and cup.
  • Malachi 3:10 Before the flashlight hunt, show the verse in your scriptures and explain that the Lord promises to open the windows of heaven.
  • Matthew 6:8 While children draw, tell them this verse teaches that Heavenly Father knows what we need even before we ask.

Other voices that agree

“the law of tithing is a law of faith”

Elder Giuffra · Trusting the Lord Through Tithes and Offerings, paragraph 20

Three things to remember

  • Heavenly Father keeps His promises.
  • Paying tithing shows that I trust Him.
  • I can look for quiet blessings and say thank you.

Ways to act this week

  • Show your window drawing to someone at home and tell them about one blessing.
  • Each night this week, thank Heavenly Father in your prayer for one blessing you noticed that day.
  • When you receive money, count out your tithing first with a grown-up's help.

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

Music

  • Keep the Commandments
  • My Heavenly Father Loves Me

Adapting the lesson

  • Ages 3–7. Keep each part short and repeat the truth with actions between every activity. Count the ten blocks together as a group, let a helper hold the flashlight with the child, and draw just one big blessing instead of four. Act out the widow story twice so more children have a turn.
  • Ages 8–11. Have a child read Malachi 3:10 aloud and another read 1 Kings 17:16. Let an older child lead the ten-block counting or narrate the widow story. Ask: why might Heavenly Father send blessings that are quiet and easy to miss? Invite them to write a list of five blessings on the back of their window.

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.