Elder Neil L. Anderson (Apr. 18): "The Prophet of God"

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I was moved by the number of blessing Elder Anderson shared that come from following the prophet.  That thought was the catalyst for this activity.

The Activity:
  1. Make sure everyone has access to a copy of the talk (either on paper or digitally)
  2. Write the following questions on the board:
    1. Why does God call prophets?
    2. How does a prophet fulfill his calling?
    3. Why do we follow the prophet?
  3. Ask class members to look through Elder Anderson's talk and mark quotations that answer these questions.
  4. After a few moments (enough time for everyone to mark at least 2 or 3 quotes), ask class members to share some of the quotes they found.
  5. As a quote is shared, discuss it in the context of this lesson.
Using the Activity:

For me, having a living prophet is one of the grandest blessings of the plan of salvation and living at this time.  Consequently, I love this topic.  Also, as I have studied the talks from this conference and thought about this blog, I have been impressed to focus on the words that are used during conference.  As an English guy, I always enjoy words and think there is power and insight there.  However, with this talk those ideas have been more present in my thinking.  So, I think one of the strengths of this activity is that it provides some basic questions that all people (can) have at one time or another and seeks to answer those questions using the exact words of an Apostle.

You could also strengthen this activity by asking the class members to mark each quote they pick with a distinct color depending on which question it address.  For example, class members might mark all of the quotes about why God calls prophets in pink, all of quotes that explain how a prophet fulfills his calling in yellow, and all of the reasons why we follow the prophet in blue.  Our brains like color and will associate like colors with each other.  Therefore, marking all similar quotes in a particular color makes them more memorable and helps us to associate them with one another. 

Thank you for visiting my blog.  I hope you find it helpful.  Please let me know, if there is any way I can improve it. 

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