October 2026 General Conference › Lessons › Sister Andrea Muñoz Spannaus › Children

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

Jesus Knows Where I Am

From “God Is at Your Side,” by Sister Andrea Muñoz Spannaus · Sunday afternoon session, October 2026 General Conference

Watch the talkRead the full talk

The big idea

Heavenly Father and Jesus always know where I am, They love me, and They are at my side.

Objective

Children will say that God is at their side and will draw one place where they can remember that He is with them.

Before you teach

  • Read the talk, especially the story of the phone directions and Mark 10:21.
  • Bring a flashlight, plain paper and crayons.
  • Cut or draw one paper circle to be a steering wheel.
  • Set a row of chairs along one side of the room and clear the floor so children can walk safely.

Lesson plan

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

3 min0–3

Sing and pray

  1. Greet each child by name as they sit down.
  2. Sing one verse of a song from the music list and invite a child to pray.
  3. Teach today's truth with actions: point up for God, then pat the space beside you while saying “God is at my side.” Say it together three times.
4 min3–7

I know where you are

  1. Tell the children that when you say go, they walk quietly to any spot in the room and freeze.
  2. When they freeze, name where each child is: by the door, next to the window, behind the chair. Play three rounds.
  3. Gather the children and say that you could tell where they were because you could see them. Heavenly Father and Jesus always know where each of us is, in every place and at every time.
  4. Ask the question below, then say the truth with actions again.
Ask
  • Where are some places you go where Heavenly Father knows right where you are?
5 min7–12

The wrong turn

  1. Tell the children that Sister Muñoz Spannaus, a leader of the young women of the Church, told this story. Choose a driver to hold the paper steering wheel, a child to be the phone, and a helper who stands across the room.
  2. The driver walks slowly beside the row of chairs. The phone keeps saying to turn right. Let the children see that the driver cannot turn; the chairs are in the way. The phone did not know where she really was.
  3. The driver stops and calls the helper. Whisper the words for the driver to say: I am by the chairs near the door. Now the helper knows where she is and tells her how to walk to him.
  4. Sit down and explain that Sister Muñoz Spannaus taught that the Lord always knows our exact location and can guide us. He never gets it wrong.
Ask
  • Why could the helper guide her when the phone could not?
5 min12–17

Jesus looked and loved

  1. Tell the story from Mark 10 in simple words: a young man came running to Jesus and knelt down. He asked what he could do to gain eternal life. Before Jesus answered, He looked at the young man and loved him.
  2. Let the children act it out once: run in place, kneel, look up.
  3. Hold the flashlight low and shine it on each child's hands in turn, never toward faces. As the light rests on each child say: Jesus knows you, and Jesus loves you, using the child's name. The class repeats it for each child.
  4. Teach that Heavenly Father and Jesus know all about us and love us with a perfect love.
Ask
  • How do you feel when someone who loves you looks at you and smiles?
5 min17–22

Led by the hand

  1. Put the children in pairs. One closes his or her eyes; the partner holds a hand and leads slowly across the room to a chair. Then they trade. Remind everyone to walk slowly and gently.
  2. Read Isaiah 41:13 aloud from your scriptures, or ask an older child to read it. Ask the children to listen for whose hand the Lord holds.
  3. Tell them that Sister Muñoz Spannaus once had a very sad day. She was learning a new language and felt she had said everything wrong. She received a priesthood blessing and learned that the Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost were at her side.
  4. Say the truth with actions together.
Ask
  • How did it feel to have someone hold your hand when you could not see?
5 min22–27

Draw it

  1. Give each child paper and crayons. Ask them to draw themselves in one place they go, such as a classroom, a playground or their bed at night.
  2. Have them add a bright yellow light beside their picture to remind them that God is at their side there.
  3. Help them write the words God is at my side across the top, or write it for them.
  4. Walk around and ask each child to tell you about the picture.
3 min27–30

Share and choose

  1. Let two or three children hold up their pictures and tell where God is with them.
  2. Invite the children to do one thing this week: when they feel alone or worried, say a prayer and remember that God is at their side.
  3. Bear your testimony in two sentences that Heavenly Father and Jesus know and love each child in the room.
  4. Tell the children you will ask next week when they remembered. Send the pictures home.

Key passages from the talk

“the Lord knows where you are; He has your exact location and can guide you.”

Sister Muñoz Spannaus’s talk, paragraph 5

“Jesus beholding him loved him.”

Sister Muñoz Spannaus’s talk, paragraph 6

“The Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost are at your side.”

Sister Muñoz Spannaus’s talk, paragraph 20

Scriptures

  • Mark 10:21 Tell the story in your own words and have the children act it out. An older child can read the first part of the verse aloud to find what Jesus felt for the young man.
  • Isaiah 41:13 Read aloud after the hand-holding walk. Children listen for whose hand the Lord holds.

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

  • Heavenly Father and Jesus always know where I am.
  • Jesus knows me and loves me.
  • God is at my side.

Ways to act this week

  • When you feel alone or worried this week, say a prayer and remember that God is at your side.
  • Put your picture where you will see it when you wake up.
  • Teach the words and actions for God is at my side to someone at home.

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

Music

  • If the Savior Stood Beside Me
  • I Am a Child of God

Adapting the lesson

  • Ages 3–7. Shorten the wrong-turn story by playing the phone yourself and choosing only a driver. Lead each child by the hand yourself instead of pairing them. Repeat the truth with actions after every activity, and let the children draw freely while you write the words.
  • Ages 8–11. Have them read Mark 10:21 and Isaiah 41:13 aloud and lead the freeze game. After the flashlight activity, read Elder Fale's words and ask: Jesus loved the young man before telling him how to do better. What does that teach you about how Jesus feels about you when you make a mistake?

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.