October 2026 General Conference › Lessons › President Timothy L. Farnes › Children

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

Eyes to See and Hands to Help

From “Divine Appointments,” by President Timothy L. Farnes · Saturday afternoon session, October 2026 General Conference

Watch the talkRead the full talk

The big idea

Heavenly Father helps me see people who need help, and I can help them like Jesus did.

Objective

Children will be able to say and act out three steps (I see, I care, I help) and will choose one person they can help this week.

Before you teach

  • Read the airport story in President Farnes’s talk (T10.24–T10.38) so you can tell it simply in your own words.
  • Bring a flashlight, a small blanket, paper and crayons.
  • Before class, draw four simple faces on separate papers (sad, worried, lonely, tired) and place them around the room where children can find them.
  • Bring one extra sheet of paper to be a pretend ticket and a block or small box to be a pretend clock.

Lesson plan

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

3 min0–3

Looking eyes

  1. Greet each child by name. Sing the first verse of the song I’m Trying to Be like Jesus together.
  2. Show the children how to make pretend glasses by curling their fingers around their eyes. Ask them to look around the room and find something blue, then something round, then a friend who is smiling.
  3. Tell them: today we will learn that Heavenly Father helps us see people who need help. Teach the three steps with actions: I see (hands around eyes), I care (hands on heart), I help (hands held out). Say it together twice.
5 min3–8

The missionary at the airport

  1. Explain that President Farnes, a leader in the Church, told a true story in general conference. Invite one child to be the missionary and hold the paper ticket and the pretend clock. Invite two children to be President Farnes and his wife, Sister Farnes.
  2. Tell the story simply while the children act it out. A young missionary sat at the airport. He was far from home, he had never been on an airplane alone, and he was scared. He held a clock so he would not miss his plane. President Farnes was reading a book. He looked up and then looked back down at his book.
  3. Pause and ask the first question. Then go on: the Holy Ghost helped President Farnes look again. He asked the missionary if he was OK. He and Sister Farnes showed him where to go.
  4. Have all the children line up as the airplane. The missionary gets on last and finds the only empty seat, right next to President Farnes. Let the missionary pretend to fall asleep.
  5. Finish: when the plane landed, they walked with him, arm in arm, until he found his mission leaders. He was so thankful that he gave them a big hug. Do the three actions together: I see, I care, I help.
Ask
  • How do you think the missionary felt?
  • Who helped President Farnes look again?
5 min8–13

Jesus told a story

  1. Hold up the scriptures and say that Jesus told a story about a man with eyes to see. It is in Luke 10:30–35.
  2. Lay the blanket on the floor as the road. Invite one child to sit on the blanket as the traveler who was hurt and needed help.
  3. Have the other children walk past on the far side of the room, looking away. Then have them walk again, and this time stop, kneel down, and gently place the blanket around the traveler’s shoulders.
  4. Help the traveler stand and walk together to the inn (a chair). Trade places and do it once more if time allows.
  5. Ask the question, then do the three actions again.
Ask
  • Which helper was like Jesus? What did he do first?
5 min13–18

The helping light

  1. Gather the children in a circle and hold up the flashlight. Say: when we pray, Heavenly Father can help us notice people who need us. Let’s practice noticing.
  2. Give one child the flashlight and ask them to shine it around the room until they find one of the paper faces. Keep the room lights on so everyone feels safe.
  3. When the light lands on a face, ask the class how that person might feel and one thing we could do to help (sit by them, say hello, share, get a grown-up, smile).
  4. Pass the flashlight to another child and repeat until all four faces are found.
Ask
  • How do you think this person feels?
  • What could we do to help?
6 min18–24

Draw someone I can help

  1. Give each child paper and crayons. Ask them to draw two big circles like a pair of glasses.
  2. Inside the glasses, have them draw someone they could help this week and what they will do. It can be anyone: someone at home, at school, at church or in their neighborhood.
  3. Walk around and ask each child to tell you about the drawing. Write a few words under the picture for the younger children.
  4. Invite two or three children to show their drawing and say who they will help.
4 min24–28

Pray for eyes to see

  1. Tell the children that President Farnes invited everyone to pray every day for eyes to see the people Heavenly Father places in front of us, and then to help them.
  2. Teach one sentence they can add to their prayers: Heavenly Father, please help me see someone I can help today. Say it together, phrase by phrase, two times.
  3. Check for understanding: ask the children to show you the three steps with actions and no words, then say them aloud.
  4. Tell them that next week you will ask who they helped. Ask them to put the drawing where they will see it at home.
2 min28–30

Closing song and testimony

  1. Sing “Kindness Begins with Me.”
  2. Bear a short testimony: Jesus sees each one of you. He loves you. He will help you see people who need help.
  3. Invite a child to give the closing prayer and, if they wish, to use the sentence you practiced.

Key passages from the talk

“God has given us eyes to see.”

President Farnes’s talk, paragraph 22

“It’s what Jesus did. And it’s what we do.”

President Farnes’s talk, paragraph 39

“But the Spirit prompted me to look again.”

President Farnes’s talk, paragraph 26

The speaker’s direct invitations

“let us pray every day for eyes to see the divine appointments God places before us!”

President Farnes’s talk, paragraph 39

“Let us put compassion into action and minister to the person in front of us.”

President Farnes’s talk, paragraph 39

Scriptures

  • Luke 10:30–35 Show the children where the story is, then act it out with the blanket in segment 3. An older child may read verses 33–34 aloud.
  • Mosiah 2:17 For ages 8–11: have a child read it aloud after the drawing activity and ask who we are also serving when we help someone.

Other voices that agree

“Love is being there with arms outstretched and a cheerful countenance.”

Elder Rasband · Love Like Jesus, paragraph 12

Three things to remember

  • Heavenly Father helps me see people who need help.
  • I see, I care, I help.
  • When I help someone, I am being like Jesus.

Ways to act this week

  • Ask Heavenly Father in your prayers each day to help you see someone you can help.
  • Help the person in your drawing this week.
  • When you see someone alone or sad, say hello and smile.

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

Music

  • I'm Trying to Be like Jesus
  • Kindness Begins with Me

Adapting the lesson

  • Ages 3–7. Keep the two stories very short and let every child have a turn as a helper. Repeat the three actions (I see, I care, I help) after every activity. Skip writing; ask each child to tell you about the drawing. If they are restless, shorten the flashlight activity to two faces and sing the opening song again with actions.
  • Ages 8–11. Let an older child read Luke 10:33–34 aloud and another lead the flashlight activity. Read Elder Rasband’s aligned quote and ask what arms outstretched could look like at school. Ask a harder question: why is it sometimes easier to look away, and what can we do when we feel that? Have them read Mosiah 2:17 and write one sentence under their drawing about what they will do.

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.