Okay first let me make a disclaimer:
I’m not a fan of leaning on supplemental materials. There are SO MANY supplemental resources out there! So many lesson ideas, summaries, handouts, youtube lessons, etc. and I’m sure a lot of them are really great. But I’ve found (at least for me) that it can be SO EASY to get sucked into the never-ending world of supplemental materials and learning from other people’s insights ABOUT the Come Follow Me curriculum, that we let it crowd out our own personal studying of the actual primary resources for ourselves.
In fact, as I was looking in my journal over the past year or so, I came to a realization:
Most–if not all–of the more significant spiritual impressions/personal directions I’ve received from studying Come Follow Me, have actually come as a result of me studying the actual manual/scriptures, NOT from supplemental resources. Notwithstanding how amazing many of those supplemental resources are. I think there’s something to be said about really getting down to the primary stuff yourself. That’s where most of the magic happens!
As a result, I’ve decided to make a rule for myself to not do any supplemental materials until I have done the actual CFM reading myself, because it’s way too easy to get distracted and sucked in to all the other stuff and never get around to fully doing the primary stuff on my own.
Have you noticed the italicized headings in the manual? I feel like it’s trying to train each of us to better receive personalized revelation as we are studying. I love it! I’ve come to find out that those tiny, fleeting promptings that come while I’m reading the scriptures actually do more good and impact my life to a much greater degree, than some of the mind-blowing, sensationalized, and even awesome spiritually edifying insights to be gained from listening to other people’s personal studies and commentary. Because it comes straight from the Holy Ghost, the best mentor of all, who sends a perfectly personalized package of direction just for me.
Best Come Follow Me Supplemental Resources
That being said– I’ve checked out a lot of the different Come Follow Me supplemental resources out there, and have found, what are, in my personal opinion, the very best ones– the ones worth your time, once you’ve already done your own primary studies. Others may have different ones they like, but here are are some of my favorites that I wanted to share:
1. Come Follow Me Insights by Book of Mormon Central
By Tyler Griffin and Taylor Halverson. Okay, these guys are amazing! I’ve checked out many of the other YouTube Come Follow Me weekly commentaries, and this Book of Mormon Central series is (in my personal opinion) the best, most well-done of them all. It’s always so spiritually edifying; I always leave wanting to be better. And they do it in a way that is interesting, bringing a lot of wonderful insights to the table. I love how they pull in clips from the relevant Book of Mormon videos as they are talking about the stories, to help bring it more to life. And I love how humble they are. You can tell that they both have a great love for The Book of Mormon and are passionate about helping people understanding and appreciate the scriptures on a deeper level.
It reminds me sitting in a BYU religion class, or an extremely well-done Sunday school class. They both are professors at BYU and bring some very solid understanding and context into the scriptures. After watching these, I really wish I had taken a class from Brother Griffin when I was going to BYU. He’s a very gifted teacher! I love how grounded it is in the actual scriptures; They really stick to the doctrine and don’t spend too much time philosophizing over interesting but non-doctrinal stuff. (Lol occasionally Brother Halverson makes some slightly off-the-wall speculations about potential word meanings that make me laugh or cock my head a little, but for the most part I feel like a lot the stuff is pretty spot on, and I love so many of their insights). Highly recommended!
2. Latter Day Kids YouTube Channel
I love this so much! I came across this about a year ago, and was very impressed at the quality and simplicity of the videos. I LOVE how simple it is and easy to understand for kids. It makes for a great attention-grabber for a Family Home Evening lesson, as a launch pad to discuss a certain gospel principle. And the one who makes them does an excellent job finding creative ways to present gospel lessons in ways that kids can really relate with. I just love it and can’t say enough good about it.
3. The Conference Talks mentioned in the Manual
So technically I guess this isn’t really “supplemental” because it’s in the actual manual. But for a while I kinda just brushed over these while I was reading (in the manual where it says “See also [insert conference talk title here]”. But as I started to actually look up those conference talks, I’ve realized – Wow, these are super good ones! I feel like they hand-picked some of the very best ones to include in the manual. It seems like such a small thing, but I’ve noticed that when I read those talks, significant insights and impressions come to me that are super relevant and actually make a huge difference in my life and perspective for that week. And a lot of the principles and quotes from those talks have lingered with me and have come back into my mind again and again, even though I listened to them months ago– and they’ve really helped me! It’s made me want to go back to the beginning of the manual and read all of the ones that I missed!
Here’s an example of some of the talks that have been included, just to name a few:
It always amazes me how many of the most recent general conference talks are super related and relevant to the Come Follow Me materials for any given week. I’ve gotten into the habit of listening to one every day, and I’ve found that immersing yourself that way makes you super familiar with the messages so that, as you’re going through the Come Follow Me chapters, you can be like “Whoa! Elder Renlund’s talk goes along perfectly with this week’s lesson!” General Conference talks are so inspired!
5. The Friend and The Ensign Magazines
Probably one of the best supplemental resources, honestly! Put together by the church- it can be a great blessing for families. I don’t always have time to read them through cover to cover for each month, but I’m always amazed at how edifying and inspirational the stories and articles are, and they always include several that go along with the Come Follow Me lessons for that month. It’s great. The Ensignincludes sections with weekly Come Follow Me insights and support articles/activities. The Friend has fun FHE ideas or little lesson cut-outs to go along with Come Follow Me, which I’ve used and loved. And lots of stories geared for kids that often go along with Come Follow Me principles for that month. My kids love listening to stories from The Friend at night as they’re going to sleep.
6. The Primary Manual
I love the Primary Come Follow Me manual. There are often object lesson ideas and video clips that go along with that week’s lesson to help teach the concepts in a way that is great for more concrete learners. And I love simple. The primary manual is a resource that breaks things down very simply and outlines key principles that can be drawn from each week’s lesson, for children. But it can be a great reference for adults too. The primary manual is a great one to refer to when I’m feeling overwhelmed about teaching all these things to my kids.
One last note: As we were doing home-church, I was all excited about finding some online “Primary singing time” videos on YouTube for my children to watch, and I found some really great ones! But one day my daughter straight up asked me “Why can’t we just do it ourselves?” and told me that she preferred me teaching them. That surprised me because I felt like some of the online resources were a lot more creative and well-done than the stuff I usually come up with. But that’s what my children actually preferred. It taught me that there’s nothing that can replace parents teaching their children, simple as it may be. No matter how amazing the supplemental materials are, there’s something about that simple personalized one-on-one interaction between parent and child that children apparently treasure the most.
Centered my Life on Christ More
I love the Come Follow Me curriculum. It’s been a huge blessing in my life and I feel like it’s helped me center my life on Christ more than I ever have before. The weeks when I’ve taken it the most seriously, I feel more spiritually anchored and strengthened. And I’ve come to strongly believe that doing it every week will bless our lives immeasurably. I’m amazed at how relevant it always seems to be with what’s happening that week. Like, world events that unfold and things I’m worried about that week: Always there’s something in that weeks’ lesson/scriptures will speak to me and turn out to be EXACTLY what I needed at that week.
This is an inspired curriculum. There’s no doubt about it. The Lord’s hand is in it, and He has prepared it as an amazing tool to help us spiritually thrive, no matter what’s happening in the world around us that seeks to drag us down. “Feasting on the words of Christ” will keep us afloat!
