Here's one I used on my mission to explain the apostasy and restoration of the gospel. It would also work well as a reminder of our responsibility to do our missionary work; however, it wouldn't be appropriate for church, because an open flame is involved, but it makes a great Family Home Evening lesson!

This is best done in a dark room. You will need twelve tealight candles (these represent the twelve apostles), one large pillar candle (represents Jesus Christ), one medium size pillar candle (represents Joseph Smith), and some matches (authority from Heavenly Father).

Set up: Arrange the twelve tealights together in two rows of six; place the large pillar candle behind them, and the medium size pillar candle off to the side.

Lesson: Begin by talking about Mary's calling as the mother of the Son of God; talk about the new light that would be the sign of Christ's birth. At this point, light the large pillar candle. Remind everyone that as a babe, men were drawn to Christ, and followed this new light in order to worship him, and even at a young age Christ was busy sharing his light with others (teaching in the temple). Then the time came for him to give the light to twelve others (make sure you emphasize the difference between sharing the light and actually giving the light to others). Mention a few of the apostles as you light each of the twelve tealight candles from the large pillar candle. After lighting the tealights, remind everyone that just a moment ago they were sitting in the dark, but now they are sitting in a warm, inviting light. Explain that Jesus and His apostles shared this warmth and light as they traveled around spreading the gospel. Then, very somberly, tell the story of Christ's crucifixion, and blow out the large pillar candle. Explain to everyone that although Christ's light was extinguished, he had given it to the apostles, and so the world still had the light; but gradually, each apostle died, and so did their light (one by one blow out each of the tealights). I even like to talk about how some of the apostles died. Keith Marston's book "Missionary Guide" talks about the death of each apostle. Look in the index under "Apostles Deaths" for the exact page numbers. After all the tealights have been blown out, tell everyone that this was a very dark time for the earth; it is one of the reasons it is also called the Dark Ages. People were confused, and stumbled around looking for the light, and clung to whatever they could remember the apostles and Christ had taught them. But without the light to keep them on the right path, they fell into unbelief in the darkness. We call this time period The Apostasy, and many new churches were formed by man during this time. Then, in 1820 a young fourteen year old boy by the name of Joseph Smith began to question these churches. His desire was to find out which one was God's church. Continue by telling the story of the First Vision, and as you reach the point where Joseph sees the pillar of light, light a match, and then light the large pillar candle again. Go on to tell everyone that later Joseph Smith was given the light (light the medium pillar candle from the large pillar candle), and told to give the light to twelve others (light the tealights from the medium pillar candle). Explain that today we enjoy the warmth of this light, and should always do our best to be a reflection of it. If you were using this to emphasize missionary work, you could talk about the importance of sharing this light with those around us. I used it for FHE this way, and closed up by giving each of the kids a glow stick, turning off the lights, and letting them dance to the EFY song "Share the Light". It was a very powerful FHE that has improved the missionary habits within our family!